by L. D. King
The other two drivers, who also served as bodyguards, were not fond of being in the open like this. It was more difficult for them to keep their employers safe.
Vyacheslav was walking on the inside of the sidewalk next to the buildings. As they came to an alley, he stepped off the sidewalk into the alley in order to give the others more room to walk. At the edge of the alley the three men heard the noise. It was a low, guttural sound. In less than a moment it happened; several of the same creatures that had been reported in other parts of the world were standing in the darkness of the alley. The closest one stretched out its damaged arm with a claw for a hand, grabbing Vyacheslav by the throat and pulling him back into the alley. With a simple squeeze and twist of its clawed hand, it ripped his neck open, severing his jugular vein and carotid artery along with his larynx and trachea. With this one simple motion, Vyacheslav’s spine became visible through the gash in his neck. The creature released his body and let it fall to the cobblestone surface of the alley. As he fell, he could not make a sound. Everything in his throat had been severed. The only thing he could do as his death was upon him was stare vacantly in horror.
Ivan, walking in the center of the three, turned to see their friend being dragged into the alley. All Ivan could do was stand frozen at the sight of the creature that was killing Vyacheslav, as it dragged his friend into the alley to kill him.
Ivan stood frozen in his steps, and a second creature reached out, grabbing him. It tugged him back into the alley, wrestling him to the ground next to Vyacheslav. It knelt beside Ivan, who was lying on his back, as it began to swing its ridged, bony arm and ripped his chest open with the furiousness of a blood-crazed animal.
Swing after crazed swing, one after the other, it savagely killed Ivan, slinging his blood and bits of flesh onto the walls of the nearby buildings and the cobbled pavement of the alley.
The two bodyguards, who had been walking two steps behind the wives, saw the men dragged out of their sight into the alley. They pulled their sidearms and ran forward to help. The women, walking behind their husbands, were shocked by how quickly it all occurred. They abruptly stopped walking as Dunyasha began screaming.
“Hurry! Something has grabbed Vyacheslav and is dragging him into the alley! It’s killing him! Please help him!”
“It has my Ivan, too! It’s pulling him away from me! Sergei! Grigori! Do something! They’re dying!”
“Mrs. Orlov, we are here. Please move back down the sidewalk out of our way so we can protect your husbands.”
The three women, along with Boleslav, backed down the sidewalk half a dozen steps, giving the bodyguards room. Sergei and Grigori drew their guns while running to the alley.
When they got close enough, they began to fire at the creatures. There were six or seven of them milling around in the alley. The bodyguards fired again and again, emptying their weapons and quickly reloading.
The creatures’ mutated and torn bodies were twisted by the impact of the bullets, but then they turned back to the task of killing the men. Grigori shouted to Sergei, “Our guns are having little effect on these creatures. One of them has fallen and has not gotten back up, but we do not have enough ammunition to stop all of them. We need to get the others back to the theater. They will be safe inside the building. I’ll call Dmitri to bring his car here. As far as I can tell, Mr. Konstaninov and Mr. Orlov are dead. We need to get the others out of here. Start moving them back to the theater as fast as we can.”
They ran as fast as the women could manage. Dunyasha shouted to their guards, “What about our husbands? What if they are still alive? They need to be brought home so we can tend to them. Do you think this was a planned attack against our husbands?”
“No, Mrs. Orlov, it does not look like it was planned. I think it is something much worse. I have never seen anything like the things that attacked your husbands.”
“Sergei, look! Those things are coming this way. We need to get the hell out of here!” shouted Grigori.
“Mrs. Orlov, we need to return to the theater. The building should give us the protection we need. Then we can decide what we need to do. Come on, we need to hurry. They are not moving quickly. We can outrun them,” Sergei said.
“Sergei. I want you to bring up the rear,” said Grigori. “I will get everyone to the theater. Do you have any ammunition left?”
“Yes! You lead the way, and I will cover the rear.”
The six of them ran as fast as they could. Their speed was hindered by how quickly the women could run in their evening gowns and high heeled shoes. In the middle of crossing the street to get to the theater, the women kicked off their shoes and ran barefoot so that they could go faster. As they got to the theater, five or six couples were standing on the steps watching what was happening.
As Grigori reached the door, he pulled on it. Luckily it was still open. As he forced his way through the door into the theater, he grabbed the few remaining theater patrons, pushing them out onto the steps. Holding the door open, he grabbed his four charges, dragging them inside. They were followed by Sergei behind their charges. Sergei and Grigori slammed the door shut. They found a chain on the floor that they used as a lock, threading it through the door handles.
“Grigori, stand guard at the door! Do not allow anyone to enter the building other than Dmitry. He should arrive soon. I will make a quick inspection of the theater,” said Sergei. He went off to round up the other people inside with them.
After fifteen minutes, Sergei returned with three people that he had found during his inspection: Luka Petrov, Nataliya Alkaev and Sofya Kozlov. They were the building custodians responsible for keeping the building clean. Grigori asked them who was in charge; Luka raised his hand.
Grigori told Luka, “You are in charge of your people. My name is Grigori. By the door is my partner Sergei. Our third partner, Dmitry, will be joining us shortly. The four people behind me are our employers. We are their security personnel. They have attended many theater events here. They are Boleslav Nikolayevich Volkov and his wife Evdokiya, Tasha Konstaninov, and Dunyasha Orlov. They were attacked while leaving this theater. Ivan Ilyich Konstaninov and Vyacheslav Ivanovich Orlov were killed. They were Tasha and Dunyasha’s husbands. We have been with them for so many years that we think of them as friends, as I believe they do us.”
Luka nodded.
“I am the security leader of our group,” he continued. “Before you do anything, you must clear it with me first. No one will enter or leave this building except Dmitry. Now, the first thing we need is a safe place for all of us tonight. Do you know of such a place where everyone, including the three of you, can stay? Second, we need to ensure that this building is locked up tight.”
Luka thought about Grigori’s request for a moment before answering. “As far as a safe place is concerned, I would think that the dressing rooms behind the stage and one floor down would be the best place for all of us to stay together. They are against the foundation wall of this building with access via only two doors, one at each end. There are beds there. Some of the dressing rooms have sinks and showers, with a small bed. There is also a small dining area for meals. As far as securing this building, that will be easy. There are but two ways into this building. One is through the front doors you came through. The other way in or out is by the doors at the rear of the theater for the cast or supplies. Those doors were locked two hours ago. What would you like to see first?”
“I would like Nataliya to take our four friends to the dressing rooms. You will show me the rear door so I can make sure that it is locked. In the meantime, Sofya will wait here with Sergei until Dmitry arrives. Once he gets here, Sofya will bring them down to the dressing rooms. Will that work for you?”
“Yes, it will, Grigori. Nataliya, please take our four new friends to the dressing rooms. You are to remain there with them until we all return. Sofya, I want you to stay with Sergei at the door. When Dmitry arrives, bring him down to the dressing rooms. Do you both understand what I wa
nt?”
“Yes we do, Luka. I will take these four to the dressing rooms. Sofya will stay with Sergei.”
“All right,” said Grigori. “Everyone knows what needs to be done. Tasha, Dunyasha, Evdokiya and Boleslav are to follow Nataliya to the dressing rooms. Luka will take me to the rear doors. We will meet you in the dressing rooms shortly. All right, everyone, let’s get going. Luka, show me the back doors, please.”
As Nataliya led the four to the dressing rooms, what had happened to their husbands started to sink in. Tasha and Dunyasha began to shake. Their eyes filled with tears. They held on to each other as they walked. Evdokiya and Boleslav walked with them, consoling them. The four of them talked among themselves. What had happened to the two husbands was terrifying. Dunyasha was the first to speak through her tears.
“Tasha, do you know what happened out there? Whatever attacked my husband killed him instantly. You lost your husband just as quickly as my Vyacheslav was killed. Where are the police when we need them? Why did this happen to us? Was this a hit on our husbands? Who would do such a thing to them? Our husbands are not gangsters. Why did they have to die like common criminals?”
“Dunyasha, I lost my husband as well. I do not know what happened to them. They were walking with us one moment and the next moment they were dead, just that quickly. I could see a bit of what killed our husbands. They did not look like humans... They looked more like some sort of animal. I could see them get back up time after time as they were shot. You saw them shot them, over and over again. It did not have any effect on them. What killed our husbands was not human, yet they were not like any animal I have ever seen before, either.”
“I understand that what happened to your husbands was horrible. We are nearly at the dressing rooms. You can rest there. If you are hungry, I’ll get you some snacks from the dining room. We only have to walk down these few steps.”
“Thank you, Nataliya. I’m sure that all we need to do is get a quick bite to eat. Then we can rest a while.”
As they stepped off of the last step, Nataliya turned a corner, opening the door to the dressing rooms.
“Here are the rooms that I have been talking about. I think you will be most comfortable in the biggest room over here. It has a table, sink, shower, two couches that are pull-out beds. While you get comfortable, I will go make a plate of snacks for you. It will only take me a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”
As Nataliya was getting everyone settled in the dressing rooms. Dmitry was hammering on the main theater door. Sergei unfastened the chains holding the doors shut, letting Dmitry inside. Then Sergei secured the chains back to the doors, holding them shut.
“Dmitry my friend,” Sergei said. “How is it outside?”
“There are some sort of creatures wandering around on the streets. They look like they are searching or hunting for something. I don’t know what they are after, but they look mean as hell. They look like a cross between a human and a blood-crazed animal, vicious and deadly. They seem to be wearing human clothes; they have huge, gaping wounds with chunks of their flesh missing. They move while upright. I saw one with a missing foot, and it was still doing its best to walk. I had to take a different route to get here than the one I usually do. The creatures are all over the place outside. We need to find someplace to go to get away from these things.”
“Dmitry, it has gotten worse. We had to fight several of them across the street. Ivan and Vyacheslav were killed. We barely got away with our lives. We shot at them so many times we reloaded our guns twice. Bullets do not have much effect on them. They just kept getting back up after being shot. I think one of them did not get back up but it took so much firepower.”
“Grigori is with Luka, checking all of the doors in this place. This is Sofya. She will take us down to where what is left of our people are resting. Are you ready?”
“I am, my friend. Sofya, lead the way to our people, please. Sergei, are you sure that this chain will keep the door closed?”
“I was told by Luka that for many years, all they have had was this chain since the keys to this door were lost. Whoever or whatever wants to come through this door will have to break it down to get in. If you are ready, we can go find our people.”
Sofya led the men to the dressing rooms behind the stage. As they arrived, they were met by Nataliya with a tray of food in her hands. Seeing Nataliya, Sergei asked her where everyone was. Pointing towards the room that she was walking towards, she said.
“Please, follow me. I have them in the largest suite so they can get some rest from tonight’s terrors. Sofya, will you grab the bottles of water for me, please?”
“Certainly I will,” said Sofya.
Nataliya walked into the room, followed by Sergei, Grigori, and Dmitry, with Sofya bringing the water. As they entered, Tasha looked at her security staff. She sat down on the couch, beginning to cry again. Tears were running down her face. Grigori walked over, sat next to her, and placed his arm across her back. As he held her, he whispered to her, “Tasha, everything will be all right. I don’t know how, or what I can do to make it better. All I know is that all of us are here together. I understand that you lost Ivan and that Dunyasha has lost Vyacheslav. We need to do more than just survive what is out there. We need to prevail over whatever those things are. I do not know who is attacking Russia, but whoever it is can have it. We need to get the hell out of here before whoever is attacking Russia finds us again. That might be the end for us.”
“Here is what I have been thinking. I believe another country has attacked Russia using some sort of chemical to make these creatures. I don’t know what they started with, but what they have is a nearly indestructible beast that kills everything they come across. Because of this, I think we need to get out of Russia so we don’t get caught up in what is going on. Once everything settles down back to where it was, we can come back and take our rightful places that we had before. What do you think, Sergei? Does my plan make any sense?”
“Grigori, you have always made the best plans. But how do we know if another country is attacking us? If they are, then what?”
“Sergei, we have been together for many years. Yes, I make most of our plans. I do this because I am usually right. If this is not an attack on Russia, what else could it be? Did our own country create something that went horribly wrong? Either way, I do not want to be caught in the middle of this and wind up dead. Dmitry, do you agree with me?”
“I don’t know what those things were tonight,” said Dmitry. “All I know is that I don’t want to be in another fight with them. They cannot be killed easily. What is your plan, Grigori?”
“I think that we need to get as much rest as we can tonight. As Luka was taking me around the theater, he showed me the tunnels that run from one theater to the next. Tomorrow we will take one of those tunnels to a different theater. From there we can steal a car, or maybe two, and drive to the border. One thing that Luka told me was that they almost did not have the show tonight because so many of the actors and theater staff did not come in. The manager had his secretaries calling everyone, but no one answered their phone. They simply did not come to work tonight. Something tells me this is not an isolated event. This may be happening in most of Moscow, if not all of Western Russia.”
Everyone was settling in for the night. The three security men went into the dining room to talk, while the theater workers took over another dressing room.
Tasha, Dunyasha, Evdokiya and Boleslav ate some of the snacks that were brought in before they pulled the beds out and lay down.
The three bodyguards sat at the same table. Dmitry, leaning over the table to be heard, whispered, “I did not want to say this in front of the others, but on my drive over here I saw many strange creatures out there. There were many people on the ground that the creatures had killed. All the deaths were clearly violent, gruesome attacks. The way the creatures attacked the people, it was clear that there was no way anyone could survive once they started. I passed 25 to 30
bodies on my drive over here. All the bodies were torn to shreds. It was the most horrible, gruesome thing that I have ever seen in my life. These creatures kill with a blood rage.
“The creatures were killing several people right in front of me. They using the claws at the ends of their arms to kill them. They swung their claws, ripping and slashing their stomachs open or ripping into their faces or necks. Wherever they killed someone, there were pools of blood with bits of flesh or internal organs lying in the street after they had moved on to the next kill.
“I tried to help the victims by shooting at the creatures, but it seemed to have no effect on them. There was nothing I could do to help. As I drove here, more of them were coming out of the shadows. They looked like they were hunting for their next victims. There was no method to who they killed. They just went from person to person, killing anyone that they could catch. I don’t want to go back out there again. Not at night, not while those creatures are out there.”
Grigori shook his head slowly. “Dmitry, that is a very vivid picture of death. We are glad you made it here. We can use your help. Sergei has secured the building. Vyacheslav and Ivan are dead. They were killed by a pair of those creatures in the alley across the street. And you are right, our guns do nothing to stop them.”
“We need to see how far this has spread,” said Grigori. “Tonight we need to make a plan for what we will do tomorrow. This is not going to be good for anyone in Moscow or Russia I believe. We need to do whatever is necessary to stay alive.”
“This building is safe for us now,” said Sergei. “We can only stay here for tonight. Maybe tomorrow. No longer than that. We need to get out of Moscow as fast as we can. In fact, we need to get out of Russia altogether.”
“Sergei, I don’t know what we need to do tomorrow. Right now there are too many creatures out there. Like you said, this might be an attack on Russia from England or America. I don’t know. Whatever is happening, it is not safe for anyone. There is too much death outside right now. Tomorrow, in the light of day, it might be better. I hope it is for our sake.”
