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Chapter 42 – No one will ever…

Chapter 42 – No one will ever…

[Location: Decontamination Depot t3rm1nu5 – Machine Tool Shop]

Linda reached into the cardboard box again and pulled out a ball peen hammer. She closely inspected it and then walked a few steps toward the trash shoot. She had found the hammer lying near her battered husband when she came to pick him up with the gurney and had slipped it into the box when Charlie was recuperating in the infirmary. She paused as she stared at it, biting her lip.

I didn’t think anybody would ever find this.

She smiled a bit and shook her head.

Leave it up to Charlie.

She tossed the hammer and heard it clang on the sides of the metal shoot as it headed into the darkness. Then she lifted the cardboard box and flung it down the shoot as well. She closed her eyes, placed her hands on her hips, and sighed as memories flooded her mind. Then she yanked the dirty metal siding door back into place and slowly walked out of the tool shop, heading for their quarters.

###

Linda walked through the hydrogen plant, helmet and muffs in place and safety glasses covering her eyes. The horrible smell of rotten eggs and oranges as well as the roar of the compressor had become bearable as the years went by and they had actually become a comfort for her. A comfort, knowing she was at home on D.D.315 with Charlie.

She closed her eyes and turned away as a relief valve popped open in front of her, exhausting a cloud of steam in her direction. She stepped through the mist, opened her eyes, and continued forward. She stopped for a second to get her bearing and then realized the path she needed to follow.

After a few more steps, she turned a corner and saw a small gray concrete building in front of her. It was actually more like a closet than a building, and had the words Facility Security Equipment stenciled on the door in yellow paint.

As she reached for the door, she realized that it was slightly open, as a bit of light leaked between the door and its frame. Linda stepped forward and tapped her knuckles on the partially open door. “Helloooo? Anybody in here?” Linda pushed the heavy metal door a few inches wider and peered inside. Then she slid the muffs from her ears.

“Yeah, come on in.” Roy continued to look forward as he tapped a few of the controls on the console and watched the monitor.

“What’cha doin’?” Linda pushed the door fully open and walked in. She looked around at the electronic equipment and then closed the door behind her, quieting the noise coming from the plant. “Could this place be any smaller?”

Roy continued with his work. “Your husband sent me down here to check some of the video…” Roy froze for a second, then tapped a button on the console that paused the video that had been rolling on the monitor. He swiveled his seat and glanced at Linda. “What are you doin’ down here?” Roy rested his elbows on the armrests of the chair and propped his fist under his chin.

Linda removed her safety helmet and tried to fix her hair a bit. “I was walking buy and saw the door was open. I wasn’t sure if somebody was in here or what the deal was.”

“You seen your husband?”

“No…why?”

“Just wonderin’.”

Linda looked across the console at the frozen video on the monitor, realizing it was footage from the heavy lab. “What’re you looking for?”

“Charlie thought the Elysian Fields might have clipped the dock door when they landed and he wanted me to check it out.” He swiveled back and continued to adjust some of the controls.

Linda stepped back and leaned against the door in thought. The pungent odor of the plant reminded her of the first day they had arrived on D.D. 315. Charlie had surprised her with a bouquet of Black Eyed Susans he had brought from Earth as he carried her through the front door of their quarters.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and her eyes welled with tears. She took a breath and then slowly exhaled to try to keep her emotions under control. She glanced down and saw Roy’s ball cap and tool belt innocently lying on the floor. Sticking from the side of the pile of tools was a light colored wooden handle. Her eyes followed the handle to its head and she realized it was a ball peen hammer.

She raised her eyes and glanced at Roy as he sat with his back to her, continuing to tap on the controls. She could hear her breathing as it rushed through her nostrils and beads of sweat appeared along her hairline as she began to concoct a plan. She inhaled deeply and held her breath as she leaned forward reaching for the hammer. She quietly slid it from the belt and held it in front of her.

Her heart continued to gallop inside of her as the rest of her body went numb. She squeezed her hand tightly around the wooden handle as a picture of Charlie handing her the bouquet of flowers flashed through her mind. A tear fell from her eye and trailed down her cheek as she looked at Roy in front of her. The picture of Black Eyed Susans was replaced by flashes of memories with her husband and their life together.

She lifted the hammer above her head and dropped her helmet to the floor as the room spun around her. She focused her eyes slightly to the right of her target and thrust the tool down into the back of Roy’s head with all of her strength. The end of the weapon hit its mark and made a quiet thud as Roy let out a surprised shriek. Dazed, he fell forward, but caught himself before hitting the console.

Linda continued to focus to the right as she lifted the hammer again and slammed it into the back of Roy’s head. Roy let out a weak scream, fell onto the console, and used his hands to try and cover the back of his skull. Linda clenched her jaw tightly as she hit Roy over and over again.

No one will ever take this life…this love away from me. I will fight to my dying day and do whatever is necessary to stay with my husband.

Roy’s body convulsed with each impact as a hole opened in the back of his head. His bloody hands fell, resting on the console. The repetitive swinging of the hammer tossed small droplets of blood and skin in every direction. Linda continued to look past the victim in front of her and lost all control of her actions as she increased the force and frequency of the blows. As Roy’s body went limp, she forced herself to release the tool as blood covered her face and glasses.

As the hammer hit the concrete floor, she glanced at Roy and fell back against the door, horror twisting her mouth into a contorted shape. She inhaled a huge breath as she had forgotten to breathe during the attack and then began to hyperventilate as she tried to replenish the oxygen in her system. She squeezed her eyes shut hoping the scene in front of her would somehow disappear.

Linda lowered her head, as her breathing recovered and curled her lips to try and hold back her sobbing. Her tears dropping to the dusty floor. When she opened her eyes, she realized that drops of blood, and bits of skin and brain matter were sprinkled on her clothes. She lifted her head and used the back of her hand to wipe the snot from her nose, leaving a smeared trail of blood behind.

Her eyes darted in every direction and she wrung her hands together as she thought about her next move. Then she bent down, picked up the hammer, and began to pound the controls of the console, the exertion burning through the adrenalin that was left in her veins. As the monitor flickered and went black, she stopped and leaned back against the door with her lungs puffing like a steam train.

As the thoughts in her mind began to run clear, Linda glanced to the left side of the console. She located a small rectangular opening labeled Storage. She stepped forward and pushed the small button next to the opening to eject the memory disk. She removed the small orange disk from the console with her bloody fingers and placed it into her front pants pocket. She lifted her blood sprayed helmet, placed it on her head, lowered her muffs, and began to leave the room, her weapon still in hand.

No one will ever...ever…ever…

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