The Fallen

This story is by Miguel A Zamora and was part of our 2020 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

Rune slammed his fist into the steel door, denting it on impact. Another strike and the door shook loose a part of the concrete wall. He grabbed the edge of the door next to the exposed wall and yanked at it. An alarm went off, and Rune stopped and looked through the door’s glass window. A red-haired woman was leaning on it.

“Ru, stop. You need to leave. Now!” She yelled.

“No, I can get you out,” he said as he threw a front kick at the door. The door shook, and a large crack formed in the wall, but the door stayed in place.

Rune stopped and looked down the hall as he heard footsteps coming his way.

“Rune!” She put her hand on the glass. He did the same and took a deep breath.

“I can’t lose you again. I can do this.” He hung his head in frustration.

“You’re out of time. You need to go, love,” she said.

“Stay alive.” He slammed his hand on the door and took off on the run.

“Stay strong, love,” she whispered.

The window on the fifth floor of the complex shattered as Rune flew out and hit the ground below on bare feet. He grabbed his left knee. It was out of joint, but he slammed it back into place. He looked up and stared at the window. The guard at the gate opened fire, and Rune swatted the bullets away as if they were mosquitos.”
He ran toward the guard and leaped over him and the fence to the ground on the other side.

“Ru. Ru. Rune!”

Rune snapped out of his daze. He stood atop of Tower Two of the Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza in China.

“Ru.”

“Yes, Mox.”

“This is the closest we’ve been, but this is crazy, even for you. I’ve been with you for two years, and I have seen you do a lot of superhuman feats, but I don’t know about this one.”

“You losing faith?”

Rune laughed as he waited for a response.

“No, but I’ve done the math. You have to push yourself beyond belief. That gap between the towers is over 100 meters.”

“Details, details, it’s going to be fine, trust me.”

“It’s your ass, not mine.”

“You know what to do. Just be ready. Rune out.”

The fire alarm went off in Tower One.

He switched off his earpiece and walked from the edge towards the center of the roof. The sun felt good against his skin as the cold air rushed all around him. He took a knee, bowed his head, closed his eyes, and took three deep breaths. He opened his eyes, and they were solid black. He pulled biker goggles over his eyes. Rune got into a runner’s stance. His hands and feet dug into the concrete on the roof, and like a bullet, he was off.

He pushed off the edge of Tower Two toward Tower One. The side of the tower crumbled from the force. Rune’s arms and legs moved like he was running on air.

He rolled into a ball as he descended, crashing into the three-inch-thick window on the fifty-first floor. He rolled onto his feet, shook himself, and removed his goggles.

“Mox.”

“You’re clear, head down the hall to lab 231A, and you will find the service lift to the lower labs.”

“Resistance?”

“Two armed guards and a tech.”

“You in place?”

“Yes’ um.”

“Stick to the plan, Rune out.” He switched off his comm.

He exited the room and ran down the hallway and threw a jumping knee at the door. The door dropped one of the two guards to the floor. He grabbed the second guard by the back of the head and slammed his face on the wall. He turned his attention to the tech.

“Get away from me I won’t help you,” the tech said.

Rune’s right hand started to glow, and the tech backed up against the wall and screamed. Rune grabbed him by the face. He struggled and clawed at Rune’s arm and then went limp.  He dropped the tech, with burned-out eyes.

He punched a code into the computer, and the lift opened.

 

Moments later, Mox sat behind the wheel of a van in the underground parking garage. The window exploded, and a gun shoved in his face.

“Hands where I can see them,” the guard said.

Mox put his hands on the wheel. He looked at the guard and smiled as he shot him through the van door. Mox shook his head and stepped out of the van holding a gun in his third, cybernetic arm.

“Amateur,” Mox said as he lifted the man’s body and threw him in the back of the van. He hid his third arm under his leather jacket.

 

The lift doors opened moments later, and Rune stepped out into the lab.

“The prodigal son returns,” a voice said through the intercom.

Rune looked around at the dark room.

“I studied your kind, and I know what you are, and I’m ready for you,” the voice said.

“What am I?”

The voice said, “The fallen ones, the sons of God.” The sprinklers went off in the room. Rune looked at his arms as the rain evaporated upon hitting his skin. He laughed.

“Holy water. You think I’m a demon—you’re wrong.”

“You’re not human, that I know. Y’all are more than that, this world does not bound you, or her,” the voice said.

The lights flickered on, and the red-haired woman hung on a cross. Two gladiator armored men stood on either side of the woman armed with short swords.

“You should have read further, and you would have known the truth. It is written, ‘When the sons of God went into the daughters of humans, they bore children to them. These were the heroes of old, warriors of renown.'”
“Impossible, they were all killed in the great flood,” the voice said.

“Not all. I’m sure you’re watching from afar. Know this old-timer I will find you. Soon.”

Rune pulled out two karambit and held out his arms. He cracked his neck, and his eyes turned black.

The water stopped, and the two men charged toward Rune.

Rune blocked the attack from the first man and pushed past him. He stabbed the second man with both knives in the chest. He dropped to his knees, and Rune kneed him in the face. He turned and blocked a second attack, and punched the man in the throat. The man gasped for air as Rune snapped his neck.

“This was too easy.”

He noticed a cut on his shoulder as it healed instantly and left a scar.

The floor opened beneath the woman, and she fell. It closed before Rune could get to her.

“What? Did you think you could just take her from me?” The voice asked.

“What? Did you think I wouldn’t have a plan in place?”

“Plan?” The voice asked.

“I didn’t come alone, and I learned from last time. I have what I came for, leave us alone. If you insist on this fool’s quest, I will kill you.”

“Why should you be the only one with this power? Humanity deserves it,” the voice said.

“Humanity or a dying old man?”

“Trivial,” the voice said with a laugh.

“Hear me. It’s over.”

Rune heard the click as the room exploded.

 

Moments later, Mox had the van backed up to a service elevator. He was armed, and he scanned the area. The elevator doors opened, smoke billowed out. Rune stepped out.

“You good?” Mox asked.

“Sure, any issues?”

Mox grinned and looked past him at the two guards slumped up against the wall.

“You got the package?”

Mox nodded, and Rune opened the sliding door to the van.

“Galina.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. They held each other tight.

“You found me. Thank you, love,” she said.

“I won’t lose you again.”

He kissed her on the forehead, and she laughed.

“Hate to break this up, love birds, but we need to go.”

“You’re right. Let’s roll.”

 

Dr.Webb leaned back from his computer and grinned. He crossed his hands and put them behind his head.

He laughed. “It’s just the beginning. Fallen one,” he said.