The Black: Outbreak

by Paul E. Cooley

  “Ready,” Perkins said.

  Bradfisch took a few steps back and put his back against the wall. “On belay.”

  “Belay on,” Perkins said and then dropped through the void. His left arm caught the edge of the burned and melted hole, but he slipped through the rest of the way.

  Givens’ heart beat picked up. This was the dangerous time. Perkins was ten meters below them and alone. If something happened down there, Givens would have to move and move fast. And that wasn’t at all safe. The only requirement of their friendship was they both come back from a mission in as few pieces as possible. That meant covering each other’s asses. And when one of them went down without the other, that was a tall order. Givens waited impassively for the all-clear. He’d never show it, but he was actually afraid for his friend. And all he could do now was wait.

  *****

  The lights from above cast a dim glow as Perkins slowly lowered himself into the abyss. The bright LED light clipped to his helmet stabbed through the darkness, but the beam wasn’t wide enough to illuminate much of the room. Shit, for all he knew, the goddamned blob was waiting down there to eat him. And if it was, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

  It was a long minute. He could have rappelled down faster, but he wanted to make sure he knew where he was and how the room was laid out before he hit the concrete below. Clearing the area before Givens dropped down was his priority. And that meant checking ingress and egress points and looking for hostiles. But hostile what? Boss seemed to buy the story of some creature, and considering the hole in the walls, the one in the floor, and the remarkably clean tile, he was willing to consider it too. If the Boss believed it, however, it was fucking gospel and he’d treat it as such until she was proven wrong.

  The hole led him into a large open space. Perkins wasn’t sure where the hell he was in the building, but there looked to be machinery below him. Or maybe equipment. He wasn’t sure which. The room was deathly quiet and every slip of the rope through the carabiner was too loud. Just. Loud.

  Holding on to the rope with one hand, he unclipped the more powerful flashlight from his belt. His finger found the button instantly and pressed down. The flashlight blazed to life. Next to this, the light on his helmet was a damned match.

  The wider cone of white light stabbed through the darkness revealing gleaming metal. Several large generators, tools, and various portable devices filled the room.

  He moved the light to shine directly beneath him. A rectangular block of metal stared back at him. Several control points and gauges rose from the top like chimneys. Perkins sighed. If he had come down as fast as he wanted, he probably would have broken a leg, arm, or worse.

  “Status? Over,” Givens’ voice said in his headset.

  Perkins licked his lips. “Clear. No combatants. Over.”

  Celianne’s voice piped up. “Any signs of destruction? Over.”

  “Well, I don’t see any rust in the room. It’s pretty dark, Boss. Hard to tell what happened in here. I’m going to hit the floor and take a look around. Givens? Come down slow. The landing is a bit cluttered. Over.”

  “Acknowledged,” Givens said.

  “Watch your ass, Perkins,” Celianne said.

  He grinned. “Yes, Boss. Over and out.”

  Flashlight off and back in his belt, he fed the rope through the carabiner until he was just above the dangerous-looking machine. He checked for a safe drop point and gently kicked himself away from the metal box. Swaying in the gap between two of the huge steel hulks, he let the rope slide through his fingers and caught it just before his feet hit the ground. The rope swayed just enough for his shoulder to clip the nearest machine’s side. His body armor took the brunt of the impact, but it still hurt.

  He dropped the six inches to the concrete floor, freed the rope from his carabiner, and stepped away from the landing spot. The rifle was in his hands and pointed forward. He clicked a button on its side and a light below the barrel flashed into existence.

  “Givens? You’re a go. Over.”

  “Roger that.”

  Perkins checked his six and then stood three meters away from where his partner would land. He played his light over the room. A wide swath of the concrete floor shined. Perkins frowned. He walked forward, his light following the gleaming concrete. The trail led to what used to be a doorway.

  Scraps of what was once a wooden door lay scattered beyond the wrecked entryway. Whatever had come out of this room, it had been wider than the doorway and took most of the sheetrock and the studs with it. Perkins swallowed.

  Something creaked above him, but it didn’t startle him. Givens was making his way down. For the first time in a long time, Perkins felt real fear. Anything that could crash through a heavy door and doorjamb like that was certainly powerful enough to kill a man outright. When he heard Givens’ feet touch the floor, the sensation departed.

  “About time,” he said softly.

  “Team Alpha is on the ground. Over,” Givens said behind him. Perkins remained with his weapon pointed at the large hole as Givens unclipped himself from the rope.

  “Acknowledged,” Celianne’s voice said. “Any updates? Over.”

  “Boss?” Perkins said. “Whatever came down here went through the door. Over.”

  “Clarify? Over.”

  “It took out the door and most of the doorway. Over.”

  Givens walked up next to him. They traded a glance and then both returned their eyes to the ruined doorway.

  “Be careful, Alpha. I want status every five minutes. And if something goes wrong, I want your asses back in this room and up that rope ASAP. Understood? Over.”

  “Boss,” the two men said in unison.

  “Good hunting. Over and out.”

  Perkins gestured to the door with his rifle. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Givens nod. The lanky Kentuckian walked forward with silent steps. Perkins let him get a meter ahead and then followed, his eyes constantly swiveling and looking for movement in the shadows.

  Far up ahead, a red emergency “EXIT” sign sputtered with dim light. Givens’ rifle light stabbed out ahead of them. It cut through the blackness like a knife, but the glow quickly gave way to shadow a mere four meters ahead. Beyond that, darkness swallowed it completely.

  Perkins kept his breathing quiet and steady even though his nerves sizzled with adrenaline. They’d done this before beneath a new moon in a tiny village. Only then, they’d had no lights at all, the two of them staring into darkness and moving across the desert floor with lethargic, careful steps. That time, they only had to worry about walking into the middle of a Sunni or Shiite militia. This time? Their enemy was something they didn’t even understand.

  Their lights parting the darkness, they continued down the hallway. Perkins’ eyes flicked from one side to the other, noting the location of closed doors. But he was also looking for signs of whatever the hell came down here. The tile floor sparkled beneath their lights as though it was freshly mopped.

  Givens stopped. Perkins watched him lift his head and sniff the air like a bloodhound. Then Perkins smelled it too. A mixture of rotting flesh and cooking meat. Givens raised a hand in a fist. Perkins waited. The Kentuckian was a hell of a tracker. His sixth sense for danger had kept their unit alive more than once. And if he raised his hand like that, Perkins knew well enough to obey the call for caution.

  The hallway ended up ahead and split into a wide open area much like the one they’d left. The difference was the shadows. It looked like there might be furniture in the room. Where there was furniture, there were likely to be, or have been, human beings.

  The pungent stench retreated. Givens’ nose was much more sensitive than Perkins’, but Givens seemed to relax as well. Whatever made that smell had moved on. Givens lowered his hand and pointed forward, and then he moved, one foot in front of the other in complete silence.

  They reached the large room and, yes, there was furniture. Couches, chairs. Some kind of waiting area. While Giv
ens moved his rifle light to cover and examine the far wall, Perkins did the same to the sides.

  Destruction. That was the simplest way to put it. The couches and chairs had no fabric. The metal chairs were simple skeletons. The couches were little more than metal frames and springs. A clutter of gleaming staples, nails, and screws sat beneath their remains.

  On the west wall, Perkins saw a trio of wide metal shutters. They ended at the floor. He trained his light above the shutters and saw several signs. Menus. This was the cafeteria. You mean this once was the cafeteria. Now it’s just a junkyard.

  He turned in a slow circle looking for more signs. The LED beam caught the edge of something beige and protruding from the wall. Another sign. He walked toward it and raised his light to fully illuminate it. The sign had the word “Security” accompanied by an arrow pointing down an adjoining hallway. He tapped his foot softly on the tile floor. Givens stiffened slightly, and then turned to his partner, eyebrows raised. Perkins gestured to the sign. Givens looked up at it and then nodded.

  As usual, the Kentuckian took point. They entered the hallway and both stopped. The walls were destroyed. Long, irregularly shaped gouges marred the cream white walls. Exposed pipes, electrical wiring, and metal fasteners twinkled beneath their lights.

  Perkins looked up. Some of the tiles were missing. Whatever had eaten all the plastic, wood, and nuked the walls had even hit the ceiling. A shiver crawled up his spine. He did his best to ignore it, but the adrenaline had him more keyed up than he’d ever been in his life.

  A metal door stood ten meters away at the end of the hall. They both knew what it was—the security offices. A camera mounted on the side had a single, glowing red light. Perkins exhaled as softly as he could. Finally, they’d get some answers from the assholes that were supposed to protect the hospital staff and patients.

  They continued down the hall, their heads constantly swiveling to check for threats. When they neared the door, Givens stopped. He tapped his throat mic twice.

  “Celianne. Over.”

  Givens tapped the mic another three times.

  “Understood. Be careful. Over,” the commander’s voice said in their ears.

  Perkins grinned. Givens had told her they were at the objective and were about to engage unknown hostiles. Now it was time to figure out if anyone was in there.

  Givens sidestepped to the wall. Perkins walked to the opposite side. They both crouched and duckwalked to either side of the door. It was a very old habit of theirs. Combatants, when cornered in a building, often shot through doors if they thought they heard a threat. And if you were standing in front of one when an AK opened up, chances were some of those bullets would end up in you.

  They didn’t have anything to force open the door. Grenades might do it, but that was overkill. Givens held up his hand with three fingers. Perkins nodded. The fingers slowly disappeared into a closed fist and then he pounded on the wall.

  Someone screamed inside the office followed by the explosion of a bullet coming out of a barrel. The loud bang echoed in the hallway. Givens and Perkins exchanged a glance.

  “Stand down!” Perkins shouted. “Houston SWAT. Open the door and slide your weapons out! Now!”

  From inside the office, they heard the sounds of low conversation. “Is it out there?” a trembling male voice asked.

  “Houston SWAT. Open the door, slide out your weapons, and come out with your hands up!” Perkins bellowed.

  Another bout of conversation followed. Time stretched like taffy. Finally, the click of a lock disengaging, sounding much too loud, echoed in the hall. Perkins took a deep breath and held it.

  The door rattled a little and then squeaked open just enough to allow a hand through. It dropped a pistol in front of the door. And then another.

  “Open the door fully,” Perkins said, “and then step back as far as you can. Do it now.”

  The door swung open. Whoever was in the room stepped back with loud, undisciplined steps. Perkins fought the urge to shake his head. Fuckers might as well be wearing taps.

  “Are you at the back wall?” Perkins called.

  “Yes,” a trembling voice replied.

  Givens nodded at Perkins and spun into the doorway, rifle pointed into the room. When no shots rang out, Perkins popped around behind his partner who was already walking into the room.

  Two security guards stood with their backs up against a heavy metal desk, hands raised. Givens moved forward and took the left side of the room, rifle pointed more toward the floor than at the men. Perkins took up position on the right. He held his rifle toward the ceiling. The two guards’ eyes were wide and their mouths set in grim, terrified lines. “I’m Sergeant Perkins.” He gestured toward his partner. “That’s Givens. Who are you?”

  The larger man on the left cleared his throat, his hands shivering with fear. “I’m Max. I’m in charge.”

  Givens grunted, but said nothing. Perkins tried not to smile.

  The guard gestured to the other man. “He’s Carter. My second.”

  Perkins turned and gently closed the door. He locked it and then faced the men. He shouldered his rifle. Givens followed suit. “You can drop your hands. But if you reach for a weapon, we’ll put you down. Understood?”

  The two guards nodded.

  Perkins tapped his mic. “Alpha to Boss. Over.”

  “Go Alpha.”

  “Have found the security office. We have two civilians, I repeat, two security guards in the office. Over.”

  “Understood, Alpha. Find out the situation and report back. Over.”

  “Acknowledged. Alpha out.”

  He blew a sigh through his teeth. The massive adrenaline dump that had sent his nerves into overdrive was leaving. A period of exhaustion would follow. With any luck, both he and Givens would be able to take a little bit of a rest before they had to go back at it. But if Perkins was asked, he sure as shit didn’t want to go back out of the room and into the darkness.

  “Are you here to save us?” Carter asked.

  Perkins and Givens exchanged a glance. “Save you from what?” Perkins asked.

  “From that thing!” Max yelled.

  Givens, normally adverse to speech, narrowed his eyes and spoke in a clear, growling drawl. “What thing, sir?”

  Carter started to cry. Max looked as though he was about to join him. “We have video,” Max said.

  “That’s what I wanted to hear,” Givens said.

  “Carter? Get your shit together,” Max said as he wiped at his eyes. The young guard looked at his boss and sniffled. “Show them.”

  Without saying a word, Carter moved to a workstation with a large LCD screen. He touched a button on the keyboard and the screen lit up.

  “What’s up with the lights?” Perkins asked.

  Max frowned. “Power’s out. Whole goddamned floor.”

  Givens pointed at the computer. “Then how’s that working?”

  “We have our own generator,” Carter said, his fingers tapping on the keys. “We’re on a separate circuit from the rest of the building.” He swiped at his eyes. Perkins was sure the man was going to cry again, but he didn’t. “We got video from the ER.” He looked up at Perkins. Carter’s mouth twitched. “Really fucking glad you’re here.”

  Perkins didn’t feel like smiling, even though he knew it would put the 20-something at ease. Probably his boss too. Neither of them looked like they were much past the age to drink. Before he had a chance to react, the kid looked down at the monitor again, his expression little more than stone.

  The screen went black and then came back up. Four different camera views appeared. The top left showed the entrance to the ER. The top right displayed the hallway to the trauma theaters. The two on the bottom displayed the ER room and the waiting room. The guard pushed a dial on the console. The screens flashed and blurred as he went back in time. The images went by too fast for Perkins to make much out of them; the timestamps in their corners fluttered backward at insane speed.
<
br />   “Here we go,” Carter said, and tapped the spacebar.

  The camera views stabilized. The view of the ER entrance showed the intact tunnel swaying in the wind. Givens walked forward to get a better look. Perkins saw him out of the corner of his eye, but ignored him. He was too busy watching the carnage on the screen.

  The view of the ER ward showed a patient on a stainless steel table, the sheets stained with red, yellow, and something dark. The three moon -suited doctors suddenly panicked. The video had no sound to go along with it, but Perkins was pretty sure the patient had flatlined. When they pulled back the sheet, he took a step back. Her flesh looked rotted, creamy. As far as Perkins was concerned, death would be a better state of being. And then it happened.

  The doctors tried to revive her. And then a monster burst from her chest. “Jesus,” Givens whispered. Perkins stood, mouth agape, as the black thing consumed one doctor after another. A patient fled the room. Perkins watched as he disappeared from one camera view and then ran through the tunnel and out into the rain. An HPD officer went into the tunnel to the ER and disappeared in a blindspot. Seconds later, something impossibly black, erupted through the tunnel and into the waiting area. The squat creature’s multi-jointed legs dug into the tile floor while it dragged part of its body across the floor behind it. That part looked like liquid. Shimmering and alive liquid.

  It rounded the corner and into the trauma hallway. Perkins watched the two CDC doctors escape into the Trauma Center entrance. The creature waved eyestalks and smacked its tentacles into the glass walls. They held. After a moment or two, the black monstrosity continued down the hallway and disappeared from view.

  “Fuck me,” Perkins whispered.

  Carter looked back at him. “Yeah.” He giggled. His face reddened as he laughed. He sounded half-hysterical.

  “Shut up, Carter,” Max said. “Show them the rest.”

  “I was getting to it.” Carter turned back around to the keyboard. He hit a few keys and the four-way view of the ER disappeared. Four new rectangles appeared, each showing a portion of the area Perkins and Givens had walked through to get to the security office.