Precious Cargo
A Simple Delivery, That's What They Said...
An icy breeze blew through the flat desert landscape beneath a starless sky. I took another drag from my cigarette with a shaking hand and checked my watch for the fifth time in the last three minutes.
The government warehouse loomed tall and ominous behind me, surrounded by fencing topped with barbed wire. Cameras hung like silent vultures from every corner of the building.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I stamped out the cigarette and pulled it out.
Molly, my handler. I let the call go to voicemail.
"Roy Carter?" a voice asked.
I dropped the phone back into my pocket and spun around. A man dressed in army fatigues with a chiseled jaw and steely eyes stood holding a clipboard.
"Yeah, that's me."
Behind him, four men moved toward the back of my white van with tinted windows.
My eyes wandered over to the men. The one in the front carried a small, unassuming, brown paper box in shaking hands. The other three stood with armed rifles, fingers on the trigger, ready to open fire at a moment's notice.
"Not quite what I expected. Just what the hell am I transporting?" I asked.
The soldier jotted down a few notes on his clipboard and then passed it to me. A pen dangled from a short chain.
"Sign this please."
"You didn't answer my question," I said, taking the clipboard from his hands.
"It's classified, Crimson-6."
“I didn't even know it went that high.”
I looked down at the clipboard. It was an agreement, or more accurately, an NDA on steroids. Say nothing, don't touch the box, drive straight to the destination without any stops, never speak of this to anyone.
Simple enough.
I signed the document. It was a simple job. Creepy as fuck, but simple. The pay was nice too. Molly sure did know how to pick them. The soldiers finished loading up the seemingly innocent cargo and departed without another word.
I climbed into the driver's seat of the van, taking time to adjust the mirrors, the air vents, the seat, and the rear view mirror. Everything had to be just right. My phone vibrated again in my pocket as I started up the engine.
Haven't even had time to set up the GPS. What's got her so worked up?
I pulled out the phone and tucked it between my chin and shoulder.
"This is Roy."
"Why haven't you been answering? Are you on the road already?"
"Calm down Molly, I'm just leaving now."
Molly was quiet on the other end. I heard the clacking of her keyboard.
"How is that possible," she whispered.
"What's wrong? I'm still on schedule, they just took a while to load up whatever the hell it is that I'm transporting. Crimson-6 classification, can you believe it? The damn thing is just a brown paper box. This is a weird one."
"It's fine, I just needed to make a note on my end. Crimson-6 is about as dangerous as it gets. You need to take this one seriously."
"You worry, I’ll call you when the job’s done.”
I hung up the phone and placed it in the center console before setting off. About an hour into the trip, I noticed the temperature had dropped significantly inside the car. I considered rolling down a window, but decided against it, instead turning on the heat.
Weather wasn’t cold last I checked. Could it be the package?
I stole another glance at the box in the back. A soft whisper carried through the air and into my ear, chilling the blood in my veins.
I was transfixed. Staring at the box instead of the road, unable to look away. The words that seemed to emanate from it were not like any language I had ever heard, but their effect was undeniable.
A fear unlike anything else I had ever experienced gripped my chest. I could feel the icy chill crawling its way towards my heart.
The thunderous sound of a horn broke through the silence and somehow shook the box's hold on me. I spun around in my seat to see the blinding headlights of a semi barreling down on me.
My instincts kicked in as I wrenched the wheel to the right, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision. Beads of sweat cascaded down my face as I switched off the heat and put down the driver's side window.
Can’t let my guard down. It’s fine, I just need some fresh air.
I took a deep breath, held it in, let it out. Just like I was taught. I could feel the box pulling my gaze back toward it.
My phone buzzed in the console beside me. I swiped to pick it up. Molly's voice came through on speakerphone.
"Roy, what the hell is going on? I'm seeing spikes in your vitals."
"It's the box, Molly, the fucking thing hypnotized me! It was talking to me!"
"Roy, just stay calm. Keep your eyes on the road. Don't touch the box, don't look at it, just stay focused on the mission."
“Yeah, sure thing. Are you sure you can’t tell me anything about what I’m hauling?” I asked.
“I can tell you it’s dangerous. Be careful.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the passenger seat. I was rattled, but otherwise fine. I decided to put on some music.
Smooth jazz emanated from the speakers. The hypnotic rhythm of a good saxophone always calmed my nerves. After the song was over, the DJ’s voice replaced the music.
“Alright, and that was Ezra Collective, doing what they do best. Before we get into the next track, I just wanted to give a shout out to my boy Roy.”
My eyes shot down to the radio dial.
“He’s doing something real important tonight. Maybe the most important thing he’ll ever do.”
What the hell?
The radio cut out, replaced by static. My phone lit up on the seat beside me. I grabbed it and answered.
“Molly, there’s some really weird shit going on.”
“Are you okay? Usually by now you—” she paused, “Nevermind, it sounds like you’re okay.”
“Usually by now? What the hell do you mean by that?”
“It’s nothing. Just stay focused on the road.”
Another horn cut through our call, followed by bright headlights flashing through the rear window. I shot a glance at the side mirror and saw a pickup truck fast approaching.
"Molly, I gotta go, someone's following me."
"Roy, whatever you do, do not stop!" Molly shouted.
"I'll call you back once I lose them."
"No! Don't hang up!"
I ended the call and leaned over to the glove compartment. With a flip of the latch the lid popped open, revealing a M9 handgun, fully loaded. It had been a long time since I needed it during a delivery.
The truck swerved into the oncoming lane and accelerated. The engine wheezed and groaned as it struggled to catch up. I flipped the safety on the handgun and rested it in my lap as the vehicle approved on the driver’s side.
I looked over as the truck pulled up, matching my speed.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll back the fuck off!” I shouted.
I raised the gun and pointed it at the passenger's window as the dusty and tinted glass slowly descended. Inside, a man sat hunched over the wheel, gripping it with white-hot knuckles.
In the passenger seat, a woman with bright auburn hair and pale skin turned to face me. Where her eyes should have been were empty sockets, dripping with fresh blood.
She reached out with blood-soaked hands to close the distance between our two vehicles. A severed tongue thrashed about in her open mouth as she uttered the same broken words that I heard from the box earlier.
The icy grip returned, this time forcing its way into my right hand. I watched helplessly as my hand picked up the gun and pointed the barrel against my right temple.
I fought against the influence with everything I had, but still felt my finger curl around the trigger. The woman shrieked and a gunshot pierced through the sound of our dueling engines.
Her influence departed long enough for me to drop the gun onto my lap. Across the highway, the truck's driver laid flat on the horn, blasting a long note into the night. Blood ran from a wound in the side of his head.
Without its driver, the truck swerved to the right and crashed into my van. The force sent my vehicle flipping through the air. My phone, gun, and that damned box bounced across my vision.
The van landed upside down amidst jagged metal and broken glass. I spotted my gun laying on the asphalt about four feet from the crash. I unbuckled my seat belt and crawled through the remains of the windshield.
Something sharp pierced my back before it was quickly removed. I felt a gush of hot blood soak my shirt as a pair of scrawny hands gripped my shoulder and flipped me over.
The woman stood over me with a blood-soaked knife in her hand. From my left, I saw the driver of the vehicle carrying the brown paper box from my crashed van.
He grinned through rotting teeth as he held it up like a prized trophy. The bullet hole in the side of his head was still fresh.
Before I could even question the string of events, I lost consciousness.
When I woke up, I was being carried by my arms and legs. Two hooded figures swung my limp body once, twice, and then threw me into the air.
I landed in a sea of bodies, a mass grave. They were all dressed differently, some had different hair styles, but all of them had one thing in common:
They were all copies of me.
So many questions flooded my mind, but my senses were fading. My heart sputtered like the engine of the truck that ran me off the road. I reached out, touching cold flesh, and pulled myself towards the edge of the pit.
I tried not to look, but curiosity was too strong a force. I saw versions of me with bullet holes in their heads. Versions with deep, coagulated gashes in their necks. Versions missing limbs, missing eyes, missing teeth.
It didn’t make any sense, but it didn’t matter. I had to escape. I had to get the package back. When I reached the edge of the pit, I pulled myself over the lip of freshly dug dirt and looked into the distance.
The sky was filled with swirling stardust. Whole galaxies filled the air above me, so close I could almost touch them. A group of hooded figures stood mere feet from the pit, all gathered around a structure of stone that defied all possible reason.
Another hooded figure approached, carrying the brown paper box from my truck.
“No, give it back!”
They all ignored me. The figure set the box down and opened it. Inside was a piece of stone, the same color as the structure. They lifted it into the air and it flew from their hands like a bird seeking its nest.
It merged with the larger structure. I felt the air shake all around me as cold metal pressed against my neck.
A knife.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice asked.
“Please, don’t do this,” I pleaded.
“Do me a favor, Roy. When you see Molly again, give her my regards.”
The blade dug into my neck, sending a fresh tide of blood pouring from my already fading body. I slid back down into the pit, looking into my own eyes as my vision went dark.
My last thoughts were of Molly. We had plans to settle down, to leave this all behind.
Perhaps in another life.
"EMERGENCE DETECTED! WARDEN PROTOCOL 23 IS IN EFFECT. SELF-DESTRUCT INITIATED!"
I stared at the computer screen as tears burned in my eyes. I slammed my fists on the deck and let out a tortured scream. I gripped the sides of the monitor, ready to throw it across the room.
"Molly, it's over. He failed, again." a voice said from behind me.
I let out a defeated sigh.
"I realize that. I just thought this time would be different. At this rate, they’ll have all the pieces before we know it."
"Start the upload. This realm is lost, but we can still save the rest of the Sprawl."
I spun around to face Raymond and stopped when I saw him pointing a handgun at his head.
"I fucking hate this part," he said.
"See you soon," I replied.
I looked away as he pulled the trigger. I heard his body land on the floor with a soft thud as I turned back to my computer screen. With a few keystrokes, the upload began.
I lowered my head into my hands and let the tears come. My body shook with sobs as the countdown reached its end.
Explosions shook the entire facility. I shut my eyes as the flames embraced me.
My eyes shot open almost immediately. I was sitting at a desk in front of a computer again. The same, but different.
A name, time, and destination flashed on the screen, along with an iteration ID: Earth-615217.
I picked up the flimsy headset beside the keyboard and pressed the enter key. A phone began ringing on the other side of the line.
A man picked up.
"Hey Molly, just waiting for them to load the cargo."
"Right on time, Roy. Let's get started."
Oh my GOSH I can't believe that I missed this story!
I absolutely love how well the twists are done, this story gave me anxiety and confused me so much, but all of my questions were answered in the end! I love it!
Nicely timed twists. Could see this being a full length novel.