DT 2020: Christmas In A Graveyard

Merlin-D032 contemplates a holiday of faith despite celebrating in New Phoenix, a graveyard of invisible corpses.
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:"Christmas In A Graveyard"
:UNSC Military Calendar: 1828 Hours, 25 December 2557
:New Phoenix Quarantine Zone, Arizona
:United Republic of North America, Earth
Despite sunset at ground level, trickles of sunlight still hovered as a gleaming blind behind peaks in the Colorado Plateau as seen from the Atlas Comm-Corp Tower’s Floor 148.
Darkness seized the sky as the last of reflected sunlight on pink-colored clouds turned indigo and escaped on an evening gust. Despite the arrival of night, a light show of an urban center coming alive did not repeat as it had for the last three hundred years.
Instead, the planned interior cityscape forged by the ancient Phoenix-Flagstaff symbiote called ‘New Phoenix’ stagnated with the flickering of mere street lamps and the brief sparkle of overhead beams for the few individuals still wandering the desolate streets. If the city received compare to a personal device, it would be operating in ‘low battery mode’.
For the two teenagers passing from the Atlas building elevators and into the wind-blasted spaces at ground level, this low-energy megacity represented a degree of normalcy. The accelerated ride on the Maglev public transit system reinforced this absence – not a person but the girl and boy riding and the thrice-integrated train cars left to the themselves.
They didn’t speak up, used to their own silence and more than comfortable in lying on benches while scanning Chatter handhelds in the shared monotony.
Out the windows, six-month-abandoned automobiles were set aside and halfway raised on the sidewalks to make way for heavy military vehicles now out of sight. Pocked rubber marks stretched along the street surfaces, the only hint to the recency of a mass vehicle migration.  Tall skyscrapers and multi-floor complexes zipped by over the stagnant roadways; neon and holographic signs for corporations and interworld brands glowed but no windows followed their example – vast structural interiors remained dark for no souls wandered their many halls.
For the imagined apocalypse, the visual proved too neat, too clean. Trash and dirt didn’t scatter in the streets. The urban spaces just appeared sanitized, lifeless. They shared more in common with a simulation than reality.
But for Merlin-D032, the physically-augmented boy riding the magnetized tram car, this was the reality. There was no world- or worlds-ending event here. That already occurred, passed. He wasn’t even present when more than seven million people were zapped from existence and reduced to sparkling piles of synthesized dust.
His best friend across the foyer, Andra-D054, was similarly, absent from the event – lest they both died in the same manner as the invisible victims of New Phoenix. Instead, they were a party of new inhabitants, Spartan supersoldiers added to the military roster and sent to secure the ‘New Phoenix Quarantine Zone’.
Four weeks, maybe more. Merlin and his fellow Spartan child-soldiers of Ferret Team Boson received assignment to the quarantined city in early November after graduating from their Delta Company training unit and supplementary preparation with the Headhunter operatives of VIOLET-III. Since then, New Phoenix and its lifeless contents became their home.
What Team Boson expected was killing alien terrorists and capturing human rebels; there was some of that in fact, however, what they didn’t expect was the monotony, the quiet. Most days they helped the National Guard repair electronic sub-grids, patrol the quarantine border, and perform odd delivery jobs for officers. And then there was that most recent job, city wide – the New Phoenix garrison was to report to the city center – all hands, on deck.
The order came down five minutes ago; Merlin got the gist given the day’s date. Thinking back on his childhood before his Spartan training, all he could remember were the neat little presents given to him and other children at the military orphanage. Oh, and those colorful cookies with the sprinkles and pastry pictures of deer and men in red onesies!
Huh, now he felt just a tad hungry – more so than normal given his energy-burning muscular enhancements.
“We need some cookies,” Merlin mumbled aloud. Andra glanced up from her tablet out of curiosity. Waiting for some further explanation but as none came, she turned back to her device.
“Okay,” Andra vaguely acknowledged.
Her response pulled Merlin from his memory of holiday snacks as surprise and embarrassment flashed in his brown eyes. “Oh, uh, didn’t mean to say that aloud…”
Andra glanced back up, “Well, what were you thinking about?”
“Today – what is today about?”
The brown-haired girl frowned, “It’s Christmas. That shouldn’t need an introduction, right?”
“I don’t know… I didn’t really pay much attention to it back then. Family was always off-world; things didn’t really change when they died. Spent three weeks in a bunker and then the Covenant War was over. Joined Delta shortly after, all I remember are cookies and gifts.”
Andra turned over from her sprawled out form and curled up on her bench, eyes squinting at Merlin in imperceptible emotion. She was well-aware of Merlin’s story; Merlin was well-aware of hers. So why did she respond like that?
She huffed before speaking, “Christmas is an old Earth holiday based on the Christian faith – it’s especially popular in the Americas and Europe. Families get together and share presents and stuff.”
Merlin rose rather quickly at her remark on ‘family’, as if struck by lightning. Andra’s father, he—
“My father died close to Christmas,” Andra mumbled through her fatigue-wrapped thighs and completing Merlin’s thought.
The boy was at her side in a flash, kneeling and clasping her shoulder so they met at eye-level. “—really sorry, I shouldn’t have brought—”
“Don’t mention it, Merlin. We’ve been over this a dozen times before,” Andra thumped Merlin’s still-healing ribcage, the specific place where her Headhunter mentor broke three bones in a training accident. As Merlin froze, he felt the twinge of discomfort race through him like a seismic event. “You’ll never have to apologize to me for being you. And it’s an old wound.”
A soft smile and shimmering blue eyes stared back at Merlin. Andra’s thumping hand returned and affectionately rubbed the place she hit. Something warm burned in Merlin’s chest at the sensation but he didn’t give it a name. He’d felt it before with Andra and a few other girls from SPARTAN-III Delta Company but never let it have the time of day.
However, since coming to New Phoenix the heat also grew stronger, more frequent. Merlin’s cheeks burned red. Before he could comment on their proximity and her touch, something she started doing more often as well, the automated voice of the tram car interrupted.
“Arriving, Train 07 to… Verde Commerce Quarter. Please watch your step as you exit the car in an orderly fashion – New Phoenix appreciates your continued contributions.”
Merlin and Andra exited in a whirlwind, collecting their Chatter devices, and zipped out the doors before they even reached full recess. Despite the shared quiet and that last moment, the two Spartans developed a priority for timeliness – especially when their taskmaster team leader Daniele-D003 told them, “Guys, Major Duceppe wants us by the big tree in the plaza in fifteen minutes, be here in ten please.”
Given the almost half-mile distance between the station and the main plaza, they needed to match that ten-minute deadline. Andra shadowed Merlin’s sprinting form, not that it was clear who was faster. However, as the duo passed across two flights of stairs and a long atrium, the Verde Commerce Quarter’s central plaza came into view. A small public park surrounded by towering megamall facilities. Old product displays glowed under intense lights and in full view for the many weekend shoppers that once frequented the commercial district. Now they were gone – dead and dusted.
Merlin remembered when he first arrived in New Phoenix, UNSC Army National Guard cleaning crews wandered the plaza with giant vacuums strapped to their backs while ONI scientists in environmental garb joined them with scanners in hand. Examine, catalog, and vacuum. Each dust pile they picked up marked a former human being – a lost life reduced to crystalized particles and no one to remember them by. Forgotten, and treated with the same little respect of bacteria colonies on a petri dish. Merlin’s hands clenched into fists at the thought – remembering the diabolic attack that started this mess – leaving a city without people, and another strike against humanity.
Had it not been for the actions of the Master Chief, John-117, an ancient Forerunner general would have taken their superweapon and performed the same miraculous act upon the entire planet Earth. Instead, with the sacrifice of an AI and nearly the old SPARTAN-II’s life, only the people of New Phoenix paid the ultimate price – the New Phoenix Incident.
Merlin read the report in full when he received his security clearance and the details horrified him. But then he stepped foot in the city, and he wished he puked out his guts. Not for any smell or gore, but just the reality itself.
No respite, and no respect for the dead. No bodies to bury, no dignities left for the living. Spartans were made to prevent attacks like these – to stop the monsters of deep space from hurting humans ever again. Mankind fought an entire war for its continued survival against genocidal aliens, and before Merlin could even do his part – the war ended. But while he was off in training, another horrifying attack occurred. It kept happening – it keeps happening.
Attack after attack – the violence never stopped and the body counts keep climbing. For a Spartan like Merlin, he should’ve felt some level of rage at the loss of life, or remorseful purpose knowing his job remained a needed capacity. Andra remarked herself she felt those ways and so did many Covenant War veterans and members of Merlin’s team. But for Merlin, he felt something else – like an intruder – walking and living in someone else’s house, eating their food, going to their job sites, and wandering their streets.
Despite verbally referring to New Phoenix as home, he felt out of place. He wondered if Andra or his teammates felt it too but one thing dragged on him more as he and Andra neared the massive pine tree erected at the center of the public park.
What was a Christmas for the dead? A Christmas in a graveyard? That’s what this was essentially, as he looked on several UNSC Army companies reporting together in a loose formation, and other units mulling around – putting together final preparations or congregating.
Andra called out to a pink-haired girl, adding a wave for good measure as the teammates came together. “Roxanne, hey! How was your patrol?”
Roxanne-D107 waved back, catching her dear friend in an iron-gripped hug happily received. Merlin simply nodded at the display and did the same for Major Kyser Duceppe and Zachariah-D111, onlooking in kind. He glanced to Daniele-D003, a dark-skinned boy with a confident smirk pressed to his lips as his eyes remained locked on the unlit tree display.
“Hey Dani – we’re here. Pulled Andra from her overwatch duties – did I still make it on time?”
Daniele looked to Merlin, his contemplative stare turning into a joking smile. “As the last arrival – no, you’re late. Andra beat you too with that last jog there.”
Merlin gave a mock grimace in kind, mumbling “…you’re being unfair.”
Daniele’s grin only broadened, “Guilty, and always. That’s why you’re my deputy – I’ll always be unfair to you the most.”
“That my Christmas gift?”
“If you want to think of it that way – sure thing.”
A brief chuckle escaped both their lips as the mood warmed among friends. Merlin knew his growing discomfort around tonight’s event wouldn’t go away, however, he managed a broad smile at seeing his team in full celebratory spirit. It reminded him of graduation night for Delta Company. Simpler times, and a nasty jellyfish sting.
Before Merlin could escape into his thoughts again, Zach surprise-slammed a Santa hat atop his head and passed a few more around to other team members. Around them, the Army units and logistics staff were in motion. With nightfall, flood lights and colored bulbs along buildings came to life one by one. It was indescribably pretty and the sight warmed Merlin’s heart against the cold night and his depressed thoughts.
Andra’s words on family rang in his mind. Despite a lack of presents or cookies for tonight, maybe it’s really what mattered. He looked up as the Christmas tree came to life with a flickering of its festive lights – holographic orbs and fuzzy ribbons joined along, forging a celebratory display marked in an ideal-white Christmas.
Merlin listened as some in the Army crowd sang, their voices joining in low harmony: “Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright…”
On large television displays along the mall’s exterior, screens flickered to reveal the city management AI’s joyful and festive icon – a cartoon cactus dressed in a wreath of Christmas lights. Everyone had come out tonight to celebrate – above and with very limited light pollution from the city, even the twinkling path of the Milky Way galaxy joined in the song and light.
“Pssst, Andra. There’s mistletoe overhead – you know what that means!” Roxanne’s hoarse whisper cut through the dreamy, hard-earned performance.
Merlin glanced up the tree and spotted a slow-rotating spinner with strings of mistletoe hanging above. Looking back at Andra quickly, Merlin’s face turned a tomato color as he found her bashful face pressed much closer to his than ever before. Roxanne hadn’t pushed her – Merlin’s best friend took the steps herself. Stammering, he whispered out, “So… hey…”
“Hey yourself…” Andra whispered back, adding a painful-sounding inhale to the awkward proximity.
The two Spartans stared at one another for a while, uncertain how to proceed. Merlin’s nerves finally kicked in, driven to end the stalemate by any means. He raised his arms towards Andra, causing her to reactively lean in. She didn’t blink – her neck went rigid, as if afraid to take whatever next step she had in mind.
Merlin gave her an out, pulling her to his chest. She played along, despite a shared sense of abject confusion, and frustration. Their bodies vibrated against one another, but no words were passed in the embrace.
After a time, with whispers of wind and the soft, uneven chorus, Merlin felt Andra relax against him and finally so did he. Looking on and with her wrists clamped tight around his shoulder blades, he tried to look elsewhere and just enjoy whatever this was, for however long.
He watched as his teammates joined in song or watched on in comfort. Merlin observed Major Duceppe reveal a small photo from his coat pocket, an image of his deceased daughter and wife – lost to the war.
Despite their orphan status, this is what Merlin realized – this was his family. A broken but whole family. With friends near, and in a best friend’s embrace. Even in celebration or mourning. For Merlin, this was his Christmas – remembering the dead, and caring for the living. And finally, he decided he wished this moment would never end.
Category:Short stories
Category:Stories