Apocalypse Control: 1

Chapter 1

It happened while he was getting a coffee.

Sebastian had been standing in the line of a multinational coffee shop for about two minutes, staring at his phone, just like the other zombies had been doing. It was while he’d been texting his friend that a tall man had walked straight past him, cutting into the line.

“Um, excuse me-” Sebastian began, moving to tap the guy on the shoulder, before quickly retracting his hand as he saw the pistol in the man’s waistband.

Backing away slowly, bumping into the lady behind him, who then stumbled into the guy behind her, Sebastian felt his voice catch in his throat. What was the best course of action? Ignore him? Run out of the shop?

Before he could make his mind up, the man stepped towards the barista.

“I’ll take a coffee, and the intel you stole,” he stated coolly.

With that, he pulled the pistol from his waistband, and shot the barista in the shoulder.

The woman fell backwards, slamming into the coffee machine, though she wasn’t down and out. She hastily yanked a pistol of her own from beneath the counter, firing blindly.

Every customer in the shop sprinted quicker than any of them had moved in their lives, all heading for the only door available, shoving each other out of the way, clawing for the exit.

Sebastian, having been so close to the front of the queue, was left at the very back of the crowd.

Gunshot after gunshot rang out, tables splintered, painted plaster turned to dust as it fell from the walls.

Sebastian tripped. He didn’t know what on, but before he knew it, he was sprawled on the floor, his phone flying from his right hand, sliding on the tiled ground. For a second, he thought that he’d been shot.

He twisted around to see what was happening.

The double doors to the right of the counter had been propped open, Sebastian seeing for the first time ever what was on the other side: what looked like… a server room? On top of that, there were at least three people taking cover to either side of the doors, each of them wielding semi-automatic guns.

“How many of you are there?!” The man cried out, ducking behind the counter. He’d dealt with the barista, the woman now draped backwards over the coffee machines, her blood oozing onto the counter.

Sebastian glanced back to the exit. Most of the crowd had gotten out, only a few stragglers left who’d been tripped up like Sebastian.

Someone from the server room rushed out, swivelled around, and took aim at the man, though was promptly shot in the head, dropping only metres from Sebastian, their semi-automatic gun clattering to the floor.

The muffled, well-pronounced voice of a woman came from the man’s general direction. “How’s it looking?”

“I’m in a gunfight with a fuck-tonne of goons,” the man replied, exasperated, pressing the fingers of his pistol-less hand to his ear. “It’s definitely here, it’s just getting to it.”

“Be careful,” the woman urged. “If that intel gets out, every agent is at risk.”

The man peeked out from cover, fired twice, catching one of the goons, as he’d called them, in the shoulder, then ducked down again, his hand shooting back to his ear. “I’m pinned down here!”

“The police are on their way as back-up.”

“How long?”

“Five minutes.”

“I’ll be dead by then!”

Again, he rose, fired once, then ducked back to cover to reload.

Sebastian didn’t know what urged him to do it. Maybe it was the thought of peoples’ lives being in jeopardy, maybe it was his years of airsoft experience which made this feel less scary, maybe it was his childlike desire to be a hero. Whatever it was, it made him grab the gun from the floor beside him, quickly taking aim, and shooting two of the goons as they tried to rush the man.

The man’s head shot around, making eye contact with Sebastian, before giving a short, thankful nod.

Before Sebastian could say anything, more goons appeared in the doorway, immediately taking aim at him at the sight of the gun in his hands.

Sebastian threw himself forwards, taking cover behind the counter, right next to the man.

“We rush them on three,” Sebastian panted, to which the man grinned.

“One,” Sebastian began.

“Two,” the man continued.

“Three,” they finished together.

They jumped to their feet, firing immediately. Sebastian’s semi-automatic instantly outshined the man’s pistol, tearing into one of the goon’s shoulders, making the woman tumble backwards, knocking her friend with her.

The man moved around the counter, shot one guy in the head, then ended the two who were now sprawled on the floor.

Before Sebastian could say anything to him, ask any questions, the man’s free hand was at his ear again.

“I’ve got a helper.”

“You WHAT?!”

The man shrugged as if the woman could see, turning his head nonchalantly to look at Sebastian. “Some guy’s just helping me. He’s a natural, Roxy,” he chuckled.

“That doesn’t matter! You can’t let a stranger in on the mission!”

Again, the man shrugged. He lowered his hand from his ear, stretching it towards Sebastian. “What’s your name, bud?”

“Sebastian,” Sebastian replied, staring at the man’s hand, unable to take it thanks to the semi-automatic which he was still clutching.

The man’s hand hovered there for a moment before he realised that it wasn’t going to be taken, sheepishly lowering it. “Jake,” he stated.

“I do hope that silence doesn’t mean that you’re briefing them.”

Jake returned his fingers to his ear, rolling his eyes as he did so. “Just bein’ polite, Roxy.”

Roxy sighed. “Please, Jake, get a move on. It looks like you’re close to the computer I’m tracking. If you can get into it, you may be able to access the server that the files are on.”

Jake nodded, then glanced at Sebastian. “Mind covering me?”

For some reason unknown to him, Sebastian nodded.

The two of them pushed through the doors, Jake rushing over to a terminal, pulling a tiny device from his pocket, before he connected it to a USB port. He then tapped a rhythm on the device in his ear, letting him talk to Roxy without having to touch it. “Okay, Roxy, I’m on the terminal. Looks like there’s a firewall-”

“On it,” Roxy replied, Sebastian barely able to hear her from where he was standing.

“Those guys that came from here,” Sebastian began, staring at the wreck of the coffee shop which he’d gotten so used to visiting, “what were they doing?”

“Dunno,” Jake replied. “Roxy tracked the threat we were sent to here, so it was probably just an ambush.”

“Are you still with-”

“Yes, he’s covering me, Roxy. It’s fine,” Jake assured, but Roxy wasn’t convinced.

“What if he’s undercover?”

“If he was, I’d be dead by now.”

Roxy’s tone made it sound as if she was ready to clap back with another argument, though she restrained herself. “I’m through the firewall.”

“Shit,” Jake breathed, staring at the terminal in disbelief.

“What?” Roxy pushed.

Sebastian glanced at Jake over his shoulder, curious.

“It’s more than just agent files,” Jake began to explain, frantic. “They know where the base is, they know it’s me out here, they… Fuck! There’s a live transcription of what I’m saying right now!”

“Jake- get out of there! Now!” Roxy demanded.

“I gotta hack the server,” Jake countered, his fingers moving frantically over the keyboard. “This isn’t the root directory, just a connection. We need to get this stuff off here!”

“The building’s rigged to explode!”

Sebastian felt his breath catch in his throat. He stared at Jake, who quickly glanced at him.

“Go!” Jake demanded.

Sebastian didn’t waste a second. He darted through the open doors, dropping the gun as he did so, vaulted an overturned table, and crashed through the glass doors to the shop, shards of glass cascading behind him as he stumbled onto the pavement.

The street was vacant already, the terror from the gunfight likely having scared everyone away, even the traffic.

He fell onto the pavement on the other side of the road.

Then came an ear-rupturing explosion.

Instinctively, Sebastian curled up on the concrete, covering his head with his arms.

He felt the rush of air from the debris zooming over his head, felt the heat of the flames, the vibrations of the shockwave.

Apprehensively, Sebastian lifted his head once the noise had stopped.

Jake was nowhere to be seen.

Roxy sat across the table from Sebastian, her head in her hands.

Sebastian didn’t know what to say.

Everything since the explosion had been a blur. Before he’d known what was happening, a helicopter had landed in the park behind him, Roxy had grabbed his arm, and he’d been dragged on board. He hadn’t even processed her appearance for the first thirty minutes of being in her presence.

After the helicopter had landed on top of a normal-looking building, he’d been ushered inside, given new clothes to wear- a black t-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans- to replace his own, damaged clothes, had been strode through the building, and had finally been sat down in what looked like a meeting room to recall the events of the previous hour.

“That’s how it happened?” Roxy asked after a moment, raising her head as she did so from across the table. Her vibrant, blue eyes met Sebastian’s brown gaze, drilling into his mind.

Sebastian nodded weakly.

Roxy sighed deeply, tears stinging her eyes.

“If you don’t mind me asking…” Sebastian began, though his voice trailed off as he examined Roxy’s face, trying to judge if she needed a moment. “You were so adamant that I shouldn’t be involved, so why am I here?”

“Because you’d be killed out there if we left you,” Roxy replied simply. She took a quick breath, squeezing her eyes closed as she did so, before she met his gaze again. “Jake was trying to recover confidential information which has somehow been leaked. As you heard, whoever’s done this had access to our line of communication, too, as they were transcribing our conversation, so they definitely knew about you.”

Sebastian gave a weak nod.

“I also ran a quick background check, and determined that you are a regular person who’s been caught in this web.” Roxy hesitated for a second, trying to decide how to continue. “So, I’m sorry to say,” she said softly, “but your life can’t return to normal for a while, not until this entity, or group, has been dealt with,” she elaborated. “If you continue as you were… well, let’s just say that it won’t end well.”

Again, Sebastian nodded. Why did he feel okay about that?

“What now?” He posed.

Roxy shrugged. “As much as I hate to say it, I really don’t know,” she admitted. “I suppose I can show you to your room.”

“My room?”

“I thought it was implied that you’re staying here?”

“Well, yeah, but…” A question nagged at Sebastian. “Where is here?”

Roxy smiled lightly, pushing herself to her feet, almost using the table as a crutch. “This is the headquarters of Apocalypse Control.”

Apocalypse Control: 1

Chapter 2

Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed in the cosy room which he’d been designated. It was only a few metres in width and length, containing only a bed, desk, wardrobe, TV, and a door which led to an en suite bathroom.

Roxy stood in the doorway, watching him as he took in his surroundings. “It isn’t much, I know, but it’ll let you get by for a while as we deal with this situation.” She smiled at him- for the first time, Sebastian noted- her face softening substantially. “I suppose that you could think of this as a holiday.”

Sebastian almost snorted. “Not likely,” he retorted. “I hate being confined.”

Roxy fidgeted with the collar of her white business shirt, then brushed some loose hair from her black tie. “I’m sure that you’ll get used to it.” She stepped further into the room, taking a moment to gaze at herself in the mirror on the wardrobe’s door as she pulled the clip from her hair which had been keeping it in a tight bun at the back of her head, letting her elbow-length, auburn hair fall messily.

“I wanna help,” Sebastian stated before he could have a chance to stop himself.

Roxy looked at him quizzically through the mirror’s reflection. “Why on Earth would you want to help? You were just on the field with an agent, and you saw that hardly ended well…” Her voice grew weaker as she spoke, and her eyes seemed to darken before she gave a small, sporadic shake of her head, and forced another smile. “Anyway, you have helped. You gave additional context about the situation.”

“But…”

Roxy’s forced smile grew genuine, yet sad. “Stand up,” she ordered, holding a hand towards Sebastian, to which he took it, letting her pull him towards her.

For a moment, the two of them were stood inches apart, and something about the messiness of Roxy’s hair, and the smile on her face, almost made Sebastian blush.

Roxy stepped back, letting go of Sebastian’s hand, and motioning towards the mirror. “What do you see?”

Sebastian stared at himself. His short, dark hair was matted with sweat, no longer standing in a quiff as it had been that morning, instead almost plastered to his forehead. His brown eyes seemed darker than usual, and he looked surprisingly pale. Despite being average height, he suddenly looked much shorter, matching Roxy’s height, who, while not short, necessarily, also couldn’t be considered as being tall.

“Do you look like someone who should be going into training? Or back onto the field?” Roxy questioned.

Sebastian continued to stare at his reflection, reluctant to answer. He played the events from no more than an hour before in his head, everything an oddly comprehensible blur of gunfire and flames. Did he want to return to something like that?

After a moment, Sebastian realised that he’d been silent, and that Roxy was clearly waiting for him to say something, watching his face through the mirror.

His stomach growled, answering for him.

“I haven’t had breakfast yet,” he realised, embarrassed.

Roxy chuckled. “Well, that won’t do, will it? Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

She turned, leaving the room, Sebastian following her, quickly catching up to walk beside her as he brushed his hair with his hands, trying to make it look at least somewhat better.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Sebastian asked, curious, cringing as he realised how rude he sounded, though Roxy didn’t seem to notice, or care.

“There are multiple people who do my job,” Roxy stated. “And I haven’t had breakfast yet, either.”

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Wait- aren’t you the boss?”

Roxy raised her eyebrows, glancing at him. She almost seemed flattered. “No, no, of course not! I’m simply the head of communications. I guide and aid only our most valuable agents while they’re on missions. I have subordinates who are responsible for filing events, and who are on call for everybody else.”

Sebastian blinked, having not expected so much information at once. “Sure,” he replied. “So… who is the boss?”

“You’ll meet her soon enough, I’m sure,” Roxy assured, leaving it at that.

They walked in silence, though it wasn’t nearly as awkward as Sebastian would have expected, but that might have just been because he spent the entire time examining his surroundings. There was a strange feeling of openness to the base, like he could tell that it stretched for miles and miles underground just from this hallway.

“How big is this place?” Sebastian asked after a moment of trying to figure it out without any basis for an estimation.

“Oh, gosh… Probably about one hundred square metres in diameter?” Roxy guessed. “There are two floors. The cafeteria’s downstairs.”

They emerged into a large atrium, its main feature being the grand, bifurcated staircase which led to the hallway which they were emerging from, and to another at the other side of the room.

“If you picture the building while facing this staircase, the right wing of the second floor of the building is reserved for the sleeping quarters, and for our hospital,” Roxy began to explain as they crossed the internal balcony, and took the first steps down the staircase. “The left is for the main offices behind each department, the boss’ office, meeting rooms, places like that- that’s where I work, for instance.” They turned left, onto the main set of stairs. “Then the left wing of the bottom floor is where everything regarding the agents and missions happens, essentially; training, research, development, everything like that. Finally, the right side of the bottom floor is for leisure. I mean, all agents, managers, department heads, and, of course, the lady in charge, all live here, so we need somewhere to relax. That’s where the cafeteria is, so I can show you the fun things, too, if you’d like,” she concluded as they reached the bottom of the stairs, and turned left again, heading towards the cafeteria.

Sebastian nodded slowly, a little overwhelmed. It was too early for exposition, especially considering that he’d never even gotten a coffee from the shop before it had been blown to bits.

Roxy noticed his dazed expression, a small smile forming. “I know that it’s a lot to take in, but, as I said, you’ll get used to it.”

Sebastian forced a small, weak smile.

“How about a game of ping pong after breakfast?”

“Is that appropriate?”

Roxy chuckled. “Perhaps not, no, but it might help you to focus.” Her smile faltered, and she stopped walking as soon as they’d entered the hallway leading from the atrium. She placed a tentative hand on Sebastian’s right forearm, squeezing it lightly. “This is all a shock, I’m sure. I know that I’d be shaken after seeing… Well, you know.” She forced another smile. “Take your time to adjust. I’ll be here to help you.”

Sebastian couldn’t prevent himself from blushing this time. “Why?” He asked. “I mean- surely you’ve got better things to do?”

Roxy shook her head slightly as she started walking again. “Not at the moment. Nearly all of my agents are out on missions, yet they haven’t seemed to need much of my input recently. As for our situation, I recorded our earlier meeting, so the boss is likely listening to that, and is likely reading my own debriefing of the situation from our end. We’re just waiting for her to make a call on what to do next.”

“And what d’you think that’ll be?” Sebastian pushed.

“I’m not sure, to be honest,” Roxy admitted. “But I would like to think that Jake succeeded in doing something on that terminal. I didn’t get an IP address for another server to trace, but he could obviously see something on there. He may have bought us some time, or managed to delete the most crucial data. I’m not sure, but-”

Roxy stopped in her tracks, her left hand shooting to her face to wipe at a tear which had escaped her professionalism.

“Excuse me,” she mumbled, her voice suddenly unstable, as she rushed towards a nearby door which was marked as a female bathroom.

Sebastian didn’t know what to do. They were about halfway down the hallway, so at least he wasn’t standing in the open, gawking at his surroundings like an idiot, but he didn’t exactly feel comfortable suddenly being alone.

After a few moments, he resigned to leaning against a wall.

Eventually, he heard a hand dryer whirring, and after a dozen seconds, Roxy emerged, her cheeks red, but no tears in sight.

“Sorry about that,” she apologised quickly, forcing yet another smile. “Shall we continue?”

Sebastian scratched his nose, avoiding eye contact, feeling as if it was his fault that Roxy had started to cry. As much as he wanted answers, he didn’t want to push the topic if it was going to upset her.

They walked in silence- awkward silence, this time. Roxy only broke it once they’d reached the cafeteria.

“So,” she began, her voice much more stable. Her previous emotions weren’t traceable in the slightest. “We have quite a diverse workforce here, all with different food etiquettes, intolerances, and allergies, so there are plenty of options at any time,” Roxy explained enthusiastically, much lighter than before. She almost gained a spring in her step as she strode towards the counter to grab a tray, and a plate, Sebastian having to rush to keep up.

While Sebastian took a tray of his own, Roxy bounced towards the bakery section, quickly grabbed a pair of tongs, and began to pile croissants onto her plate.

“I highly recommend the baked goods,” she beamed as she worked, then glanced at Sebastian, looked slightly embarrassed, and slowly returned one of the croissants to the serving tray.

A few minutes of indecisiveness later, Roxy and Sebastian were sat across from each other at a bench which reminded Sebastian too much of school lunch tables.

Roxy took a slow sip of her black coffee, sighing into the mug. “I apologise if my demeanour is slightly odd,” she said after a moment, placing her mug back onto her tray. “I wasn’t close with Jake by any means, but it always stings when we lose an agent.”

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “You’ve… dealt with this before?” He asked gently, sipping his own coffee, a small amount of relief immediately flowing over him as he did so.

Roxy nodded, buttering one of her many croissants. “Yes, I’m afraid that it happens at least once per year. It isn’t as common with the agents under my watch as, like I said, it’s a set list, much smaller, and composed of the very best, but it does happen.” She sighed as if she was only talking about being late on a rent payment. “I’m worried that I may be getting slightly too used to death. Though I only eat like this when I’m grieving, so I suppose it still affects me in some ways.”

Sebastian nodded lightly, almost absentmindedly. “Sorry,” he said.

Roxy turned her full attention to the croissant, taking a slow, dramatic bite, before groaning slightly. “Can you blame me?” She then asked around her chewing, accidentally spitting small flakes of the pastry onto the table in front of her, to which she blushed, quickly brushing them onto the floor.

“I still wanna help,” Sebastian stated after a moment, as if unable to help himself, to which Roxy nearly choked on a crumb.

“There’s nothing more that you can do,” she spluttered, covering her mouth with her left hand.

“You said you ran a background check on me,” Sebastian retorted. “I don’t know if it was included, but I’ve won a few, local airsoft tournaments. It might not be army experience, but I can carry myself.”

Roxy looked uncertain.

“You can do some body tests on me, too, if you want,” Sebastian continued. “I’m fit! I’m healthy! You said there’s a training area in this building, so why not put me through it?”

Roxy shook her head adamantly. “It’s dangerous. My agents are handpicked by the boss. She goes on expeditions to gather the best of the best from around the world,” she explained. “Jake was an exceptional soldier who exceeded anything that was asked of him. Tara- another agent- is an Olympic weightlifter, built like she’s made of cement. No offence, Sebastian, but you’re just a normal man.”

Sebastian stared at Roxy blankly.

Roxy sighed. “I’m sorry. I know that you don’t want to be confined here, but it’s safe. If I let you onto the field as you are now, you will die. Even if we give you basic training, you won’t be fit for this sort of work, and we can’t exactly wait around for a month for you to complete your full training.”

Not knowing what else to do, Sebastian, dejected, regretting having said anything, started eating.

Roxy, however, wasn’t done. “If you’d like,” she continued softly after a moment of hesitation, watching him, “I can put your request forward. I can’t guarantee that anything will come from it, but it’s your choice if you’d like to take your chances.”

“Thanks…” Sebastian mumbled. Was this what he wanted?