by Maxey, Phil
“He’s got a point, cap.”
Sam sighed. “Fine, but if you’re not back out in fifteen, we’ll have to come in after you.”
“I get it. If I run into any problems I’ll let you know.” Miles got to his feet, running out from the cover of the bus they were hiding behind, and into the stairwell of the apartment building. The entrance lobby was intensely black. He switched on a small flashlight and waved it around. A small counter sat looking unused, while suitcases lay scattered on the smooth floor. He scoured the wall until he found the sign which said stairs, and ran to them. The silence around him was as pervading as the darkness as he ran up the steps. When he arrived at the first landing he swore to himself realizing he already was starting to forget exactly what floor the lights were illuminating from.
Was it fourth or the fifth?
He placed his foot on the next step. The back of his neck felt tingly.
E.L.F.
Pointing his light up into the next flight of stairs, he ran up them, then again ignoring the exits until he got to the fourth floor. The feeling of a creature nearby was stronger but still didn’t feel like it was on top of him. He realized if he did stumble across it, it probably would have already been imprinted and therefore his attempts to stop it from killing him, without its owner around, might not amount to much. He reached down placing his gloved hand on the exit handle and gently pulled it open, peering into the darkness. Keeping his flashlight pointed down, he strained his eyes into the gloom looking for any glows seeping out from behind apartment doors, but couldn’t see any.
Fifth.
Closing the door, he shone his light upwards again. He knew there was a strong chance there was an E.L.F somewhere above him, but as far as he knew they wouldn’t have been able to turn a light on either. He walked up the stairs slowly, straining all his senses and was soon standing at the fifth floor exit.
Sam’s voice came from his radio, echoing around the stairwell. “How’s it going? Over.”
He fumbled to cover the speaker then held the mike to his mouth. “I’m almost at the source of the light… Over,” he whispered. He thought about telling them about the E.L.F, but then realized they would probably all come storming inside and that was the last thing he wanted.
Opening the door, he once again looked into the shadows of a long corridor, this time immediately noticing the faint white glow emanating from under one of the doors about halfway along. The rest of the corridor seemed empty, but he was now sure that the E.L.F was on this floor.
Could it be in the apartment with the light?
It seemed a crazy idea, but then he had seen a whole lot of ‘crazy’ in his time. He slipped through the gap of the open exit, and stepped carefully over the hard floor toward the light. Once he arrived at the door, he placed his ear to it and listened.
Is that voices?
The sounds of muffled humans whispering to each other were just audible through the white wood of the door. Then he noticed it. Some of the light at the bottom blinked out momentarily.
Definitely someone in there, maybe more.
He cleared his throat and went to knock on the door, when the entrance to the stairwell filled with the sound of boots. He sighed.
I told them to wait.
He turned back to the apartment door, when it swung open and humanoid shape constructed entirely of shadows burst outwards. Miles flung himself backwards, landing hard on the ground, his flashlight scattering behind him.
He went to try and pull his rifle from his shoulder, when an immense weight landed on him, pinning his arms to the ground. As he looked up, multiple layers of white teeth glistening in the faint light from his flashlight started to appear and expand just a few inches from his face, and with it fear started to overwhelm him.
A flashlight flooded the hallway from the apartment, this time hovering just above the double barrels of a shotgun. “Jerry, don’t you kill him. We’re just trying to scare them off,” shouted a scratchy voice.
Miles looked at the worn boots and socks just visible at ground level. “Err… hi, could you get this thing off of me?”
The entrance to the stairwell swung open and Boe appeared and immediately raised his rifle. “What the hell?”
“It’s okay Boe, don’t start shooting!” said Miles still unable to get up. Some of the creatures drool dropped on his cheek, which he flicked his head to get rid of.
The E.L.F thing above him, looked at the justice force member at the end of the corridor and let out a low growl.
“Jerry’s going to tear your friend here to bits, and I’ve got a shotgun pointed at your manhood, so you better be off, both of you!”
Boe lowered his rifle slowly and walked forward. “I don’t know what that thing is, and I don’t know why it’s on my friend here, but we only came up here to get you to turn your light off, you’re gonna attract the aliens.”
The old man seemed to hesitate. “We… he likes the light.”
“Who likes the light?” said Miles.
Sam’s voice came from Boe’s radio enquiring what was going on, which Boe quickly replied too.
“Jerry, he likes us to keep a light on when we sleep… You haven’t come here to get us to leave? Or to take Jerry?”
“No one’s taking anyone if they don’t want to go!” said Miles slightly pleading. “Jerry’s kind of heavy, can you get him off of me?”
The old man’s flashlight dipped to the ground and without him speaking, the large man sized creature slid off Miles. He quickly scrambled to his feet, and grabbed his own light from the ground. “What’s your name?” He said to the old man.
“Walter, my wife is Judith.”
Miles noticed some movement in the hallway behind Walter. “Hi Judith.” He switched his attention back to man controlling the E.L.F that was the stuff of nightmares, and had an idea. “Look, we’re out here trying to rescue some friends of ours, who were last seen a few blocks from here. I’m basically not sensing any other E.L.F’s other than yours around here.”
The creature which Miles realized was covered in a form of intensely black long thin spikes, which made it almost impossible to see unless light was directly shone onto it, sauntered across to the old man and lowered its head. Walter then started to stroke it.
“No time for games Miles, we need to be on our way. Old man, keep that damn light off!” said Boe, turning and walking back towards the stairwell.
Miles looked back at the apartment and the strange sight of the man with his E.L.F. “I have a request.”
“Yes?”
“I would like to borrow your pet.”
Sam waited impatiently outside the apartment block, but then noticed the light go out on the fifth floor. The sound of the entrance opening drew his attention and Miles appeared and quickly walked forward. “Don’t be scared, but I’ve borrowed an E.L.F.”
Sam looked confused. “What?” He then looked over Miles shoulder at the ape like form that was moving amongst the shadows in the lobby. “Can you control it?”
“Its Cascader has allowed me to partially bond with it. So yeah I can control it to a certain extent.”
“I didn’t know that was possible?”
“I leaned a lot in the arena.”
“Okay fine.” Sam looked along the stretch of buildings that ran all the way to where Isaiah was last reported. “We have about three miles to go.” He then flipped his NVG’s down over his eyes.
Miles looked back to the building and beckoned the E.L.F out into the night air, and then they all ran forward keeping as close to the shop fronts as they could. He briefly tried to track where the creature was, but its natural ability to blend into the darkness around them, made it almost impossible to see.
They arrived at the third junction. Small fires burned in some of the nearby skyscrapers, appearing as intense light green glows in their goggles.
Sam clicked on his radio. “Hold up here. I want to try his radio again. Over.”
The other group sto
pped, kneeling against a small wall.
“Isaiah you out there buddy. Over?”
Wind caused some tarpaulin to flap over some buildings that were part of a building site, but only white noise came back from Sam’s radio. He tried again but after a few seconds shook his head. “We go street by street. Keep your eyes on the build—” He suddenly realized the noise coming from his radio was interrupted by pauses. He held it closer to his ear. “Pause… pause… pause… long pause…”
“Morse code,” said Miles.
Sam flipped his goggles to the top of his head, and looked at the signal strength of the incoming signal. He then put the radio back to his mouth. “Joan, you picking up any white noise with pauses from your radio? And if you are, what’s the signal strength?”
A few seconds later the medic replied. “Yeah, it’s Morse code. Signal strength is about eighty percent. Over.”
“I’m at sixty here. Stay there, I’m trying to triangulate the signal. Over.”
Sam, Miles and Boe moved across the junction, where he checked his signal strength again. It was fifty percent. “Joan, move your group to the opposite corner, and check it again. Over.” He watched as their dark forms moved across the street in the distance, then stopped.
“Eighty six percent. Over.”
Sam looked at the building site Joan and the others were close too.
He’s in there, that’s where I would be.
“Stay there, I think they might be in the building site. We’re coming to you. Over.”
Sam and Boe took off across the street to the others, while Miles looked for where the E.L.F was but still couldn’t see the creature anywhere. Luckily he could still sense it.
Hopefully I won’t lose their pet.
They all converged on the street corner, with metal poles shielded by plastic tarpaulins just behind. Sam took the lead, moving along the sidewalk, trying to find the entrance to the site, while repeatedly checking the signal strength on his radio.
Eighty eight percent… Eighty nine…
A large gate laid half off its hinges. Sam stepped on top of it, testing its stability then walked across it, landing on a dusty concrete floor. Cement mixers and blocks with pieces of steel wire emerging from them sat at haphazard angles, some on their sides. They all moved forward into the open ground floor of a newly formed building.
Once inside Sam raised a clenched fist and they all stopped behind him, he went to click on his radio, when he realized there were a number of dark shapes on the ground, spread out in all directions in front of him. He walked forward slowly, flipping his goggles to his forehead, then turned on his flashlight. Lying in front of him was a man in body armor, smears of blood across his face. His eyes were open.
“It’s Briggs,” said Sam. “One of Isaiah’s—”
An intense beam of light scythed through the darkness causing all but Sam and Miles to collapse to the ground, most clutching their faces.
“Spread out!” Shouted Sam, trying to grab the closest person he could, then realizing Boe’s arm was detached from the rest of his lifeless body. He turned and dived behind a thick cement pillar, as the laser flashed across the cavernous space once more, this time hitting another pillar, illuminating some legs that were scrambling to get behind it.
He pulled his rifle from his shoulder, when a noise made him whip around.
“It’s me!” said Miles as the rifle’s barrel moved in his direction.
“You hurt?”
Miles shook his head. “No. Is there a Hulathen in here? I just saw like a laser or something…it sliced Boe in half.” He swallowed not wanting to say the words.
Sam nodded. “I know… It’s some form of weapon, but if there’s an alien on the end of it, I haven’t seen it.”
He clicked on his radio. “Joan? Flores, Jenkins? Over.”
“We’re all here Cap,” said Joan. “Is Boe dead? I can’t see him properly from over there. Over.”
Sam went to answer when another light beam, burned into the pillar above his head, causing him to further retreat behind the pillar. “He’s dead. Over.” He paused then clicked on the radio again. “Can you see what’s attacking us? Over.”
“I can’t see shit. I’m still seeing light echoes in my eyes. Over.”
Sam lowered his radio, briefly pushed his rifle’s barrel outside of the pillar and fired off a few shots in the direction they were originally heading. The sound of ricocheting was quickly followed by another burst of energy. The smell of burning concrete filled the air and a plume of dust started to rain down to the floor.
“I don’t think it’s an alien, maybe some form of drone that has been waiting for us to appear,” said Sam.
“It has not moved any closer to us…” said Miles. He suddenly sensed the E.L.F close by.
“What?” said Sam noticing Miles’ distraction.
“The E.L.F, it’s near us, but I can’t spot it in the dark.”
The bright orange stream of light once again pierced the absolute black around them, but this time it was concentrated on a completely different area. Close to where they came in.
Sam flicked his goggles back on, but held them away from his face. “I think I can see—” The laser targeted the same area, causing Sam to momentarily close his eyes. “— Yeah, I can see the E.L.F it keeps darting around, the drone thing can’t target it quick enough.” He raised his head. “This is our chance.” Using the pillar behind him, he pushed himself up, and looked away from where the light was spewing from. He clicked on his radio. “Everyone get ready, the E.L.F is drawing the things fire, next time you see a flash of light, aim your fire where I’m firing. Over.” He stood, waiting, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
Come on...
A bright flash turned on and off and he stepped quickly out from behind the pillar and scanned the area for any sign of the source. A tiny sparkle emanated on a far wall which he began firing at. The others joined in. Deafening cracks and clatters echoed around the plain walls.
Sam stepped forward letting off more volleys towards the point, which was still sparkling. It suddenly grew brighter in intensity, and he ducked, the shearing light sliced through the top of his helmet, burning his scalp. “Keep firing!” He shouted.
He walked forward again and then felt a sudden presence close by. Looking to his right, the creature seemingly made of shadows bounded forward, zigzagging, then leaped through the air. The laser streaked outwards again, but missed the creature, which smashed into it. Sparks jumped from where he impacted, and then darkness returned to the ground floor of the new skyscraper.
“Is it dead?” shouted Miles from behind a pillar. “Did Jerry kill it?”
Sam pushed his goggles up then returned to using his flashlight. He waved it in the general direction of the far wall. The creature known as ‘Jerry’ was sniffing pieces of what looked like some form of alien gun turret. “Yup, he sure did.”
Everyone else stood and walked forward.
Sam looked back to Boe and sighed, then swept his lights beam around the other bodies which lay like dolls, some not complete. He listened to his radio again. The white noise with the intermittent pauses was still playing out. The signal strength was ninety percent.
“The source of the S.O.S is in this building somewhere. Let’s find the stairs, but keep alert for any more of those devices.”
They all moved forward stepping over the dead until they reached the far corner, and a rectangular gap in the wall. Stairs with no railings reached upwards.
Sam pointed his light at the steps which had a trail of blood over them. “We got blood here.”
They all slowly ascended, peering around every corner slowly, expecting a bright flash of light to end them. After a few anxious moments they came out to the first floor.
Sam immediately saw two men lying against a wall. “Isaiah?” He ran forward trying to keep his flashlight pointed at the men.
“I knew you’d be fool enough to rescue me,” said Isaiah.
> Sam then Joan kneeled next to him. She immediately felt his neck.
Sam went to ask if he was injured but then noticed the dark red patch on his friend’s pants.
“Got a busted leg, doc, but ain’t nothing I can’t deal with. Check on Kyle first. I tried to keep him awake, but he stopped talking about an hour ago. He’s still got a pulse.”
Sam grabbed and squeezed his friend’s shoulder.
“Owwwl man, what you doing,” responded Isaiah curtly.
“I thought it was your leg that was hurt?”
“It all hurts!”
Joan quickly examined the man lying next to Isaiah. “His pulse is okay, but he has a head wound, and looks like some internal injuries. We need to get them both back to the bunker.”
CHAPTER FOUR
General Mitchell's knuckles had turned white a few minutes earlier as she stood in her office, gripping the front of her desk. “How do you lose a twelve foot high alien!?”
Abbey, Erin and Captain Knave who was responsible for bunker security stood in front of her.
“We had it confined to one section near storage room—”
“I don’t care where you thought it would be Captain, I want to know how it managed to leave our bunker system without anyone even knowing it had left?”
The Captain fumbled for an explanation.
“General—” Erin walked forward and sat sideways on the front of her desk. “—It’s not the Captain’s fault if a being of advanced intellect and technology finds a way to evade our primitive security measures.”
Abbey watched the general visibly relax, and a chill ran through her. From what she knew of the general she was not a woman who let go of her anger so easily.
Mitchell sat down on her chair. “We can’t have these things coming and going as they please. What’s stopping any of them from just killing all of us? Do we even know how it escaped?”
“Elcher was never our prisoner general,” said Abbey.
Mitchell looked at her angrily. “And you! That thing was your friend, correct?”
Before Abbey could talk Erin interjected. “Jessica. May I call you Jessica?”
