What the hell was it?
"Are your legs growing back?" Jeff asked incredulous.
Chen smirked. "We both know that's impossible. Although this bandage you put on there is really strange."
"I didn't put a bandage on there. When I found you, you already had this strange blue membrane covering the stumps of your legs."
A frightened and shocked look passed across Chen's face before fading into a partial smile.
"Seems like someone was looking out for me then," he said mysteriously.
Jeff backed away from Chen. Something was not quite right about him and there were far too many unanswered questions about his condition and how he arrived here in the past.
“By the way, how is my beautiful young Holly Scarborough doing?” Chen asked. Holly had moved further down the tunnel.
Not a very professional way to refer to her, Jeff thought, still freaked out by Chen’s legs.
“She’s doing better than a few hours ago. I had to amputate her arm; it was infected with nanobots.”
“You what!” Chen yelled out, furious. “You cut her arm off? What kind of crazy butcher are you?”
Jeff felt guilty enough without Chen riding him now. “It was the only choice I had. Nanobots were crawling all over her arm. If I'd waited longer, they would’ve devoured her whole body. There was no other way to get them off.”
“Apparently I was able to get them off. Where is Holly? I want to see her.”
Chen shoved Jeff out of the way. When he saw Holly on the other side of the tunnel, he started dragging himself over to her, wincing all the way.
Jeff had no desire to help the nasty old man.
Holly was busy stacking small pebbles into tight rows along the floor of the cave, counting quietly to herself.
“Holly, my dear, how are you doing?”
She broke free from her trance and glanced up at Chen, careful not to knock over the pebbles.
“I’m feeling better, sir. I’m glad to be alive and away from the virus and those nanobots.” She stole a quick look at his legs, but quickly lifted her gaze back to his face. “I’m sorry about your legs.”
“It's okay, I'm just happy I made it here. And don’t worry, dear, we’ll get you fixed up very soon. You’ll be as good as new.” Chen smiled. “Maybe even better.”
The man had gone crazy, Jeff concluded. He leaned against the tunnel wall and didn’t bother to pretend he wasn’t listening.
Chen hugged Holly, holding on longer than even the circumstances dictated. Holly tried to pull away, but Chen didn’t release his hold.
“Uh, Dr. Chen, you’re hurting me, my arm.” Holly whimpered.
Chen released her and then scooted closer, staring into her face without moving, until his head titled slightly to the side, as if he were studying her.
“As much as I’d like to watch more of this reunion, we still need to get out of here,” Jeff said. “When I was digging yesterday, I discovered that the main cavern, where we expect the Chronos Project to be built, has been completely caved in.”
He scratched his chin. “The way I see it, we have two choices. We can wait here, see if I get a cell signal when the construction crew eventually gets here and use the walkie-talkie feature on my portable to send a message, or we can try to find another way out.”
“With the cavern filled with rocks, I doubt they’ll build the base in that particular cavern,” Holly said. “We can go back over there to see if we get any cell signal, but we have no way of knowing what they’ll do if they discover a buried cavern.”
“The alternative is to just stumble blindly into the cavern, hoping to find another way out?” Chen’s face wore a sour look. “I don’t think that’s such a bright idea.”
“Well, we would be blind for a time,” Jeff said, “but if we can find some identifiable landmarks, then I should be able to use the maps I downloaded onto my portable to find a way out. It may take some time, but we would get to an exit eventually. What do you think, Holly?”
“Let’s give it a little bit longer here. I think we all could use some more rest before we go exploring the cavern. The going will be slow, and Dr. Chen will need both of us to help carry him.”
She was right. Jeff thought momentarily about going out on his own for help, but he might not be able to find his way back to Chen and Holly. The cavern was vast, with too many paths for someone to get lost in. No, it was best that they stick together.
“Okay, let’s rest. I’ll set an alarm on my portable to notify me of any cell phone activity in the area.”
They sat huddled together without saying anything for a long time. Holly picked up a few rocks and began tossing them methodically in a set sequence. Jeff assumed she was counting them in some way, how far they bounced or how many sounds they made until they stopped moving.
She cleared her throat. “We haven’t talked yet about who we think is behind the attacks. The virus and the nanobots are highly advanced technology.”
“You don’t think it’s possible that the Chinese or the Russians or some other government is responsible?” Jeff asked.
“We don’t have the intel that the U.S. government does, so it’s hard to say,” Holly said. “But from what we were shown earlier, it’s doubtful.”
“They couldn’t have done it,” Chen said with certainty. “They are too primitive.”
Jeff cut his eyes over at Chen. “I don’t know about primitive. If they didn’t do it, then maybe the virus and nanobots were some type of experiment conducted by U.S. scientists that got out of hand. Maybe the nanobots escaped or the virus was accidently released.”
“That’s a possibility,” Holly said.
“Too primitive,” Chen responded again.
“So, what do you think then, Doctor?” Jeff asked, since Chen obviously thought he was the expert.
“I think it would take humans hundreds of years to develop these types of technologies.”
“So, what, the virus and the nanobots came from the future?”
Holly turned toward him. “We did discuss that possibility during our meeting. Remember? There is a distinct possibility that we are in the middle of a temporal war that we don’t even know about.”
“Well, we don’t have the name of the attacker, but we do have the method and date of the attack. This time we’ll be prepared. Right, Doctor?”
“Perhaps,” Chen said quietly. Then, louder, he said, “I’m thirsty; what do we have to drink.”
“Well, I’ve prepared some delicious filtered urine for our dining pleasure. Just try to think of it as an aged fine yellow wine.”
Holly laughed and Chen snorted gruffly.
After downing just enough water to moisten their dry mouths and throats, Jeff stood.
“I should at least start searching for a water source.”
“I’ll go with you,” Holly said eagerly, glancing at Chen. “You’ll be okay by yourself here, won’t you, Doctor?”
“Oh, I’ll be just fine,” Chen said coldly. “I feel myself getting stronger by the minute.”
Jeff didn’t doubt that, not with the strange nanovirus spreading through his body, healing his wounds. What he still couldn’t figure out was why the bots were healing Chen instead of killing him, as they did everybody else. Apparently Chen didn’t know the answer to that question either.
Or did he?
Forty-Eight Hours Underground
Jeff woke up and felt something sitting right beside him, breathing heavily. He could barely make out what looked like glowing blue eyes staring at him. He quickly turned on his flashlight to reveal Dr. Chen sitting with his head extended close to his own. Chen's gaze was fixed directly on Jeff's face.
“What are you doing?” Jeff asked. “What . . . what happened to your face?”
Bluish veins protruded around his temples and eyes, and sections of his hair were falling out, revealing more large veins under his skull. He didn’t say anything.
“Doctor?”
“I don�
��t know,” Chen said, his voice noticeably deeper.
Jeff was a little scared of this strange, new Chen.
“Maybe we should check you again with the MedKit. How do your legs feel?”
Jeff turned the flashlight on Chen’s legs. Incredibly they had grown even more. The small root-like structures had spread out and solidified into legs. They had begun to mold together just past the knees and were progressing into calf muscles. The flesh, however, wasn’t normal skin color. It was the same as the blue-silver membrane that had covered his legs when Jeff first found him.
Jeff quickly ran the MedKit scanner over him while Chen sat silently staring, still breathing hard.
“Identification unknown,” Nancy reported. “Subject’s internal organs do not match human criteria. No database match.”
Jeff picked up the MedKit and started to back away from Chen.
“What are you?” Jeff asked.
Chen looked up at Jeff, the blue tinge around his eyes glowing brighter. Without warning he lunged toward Jeff. He was incredibly fast and grabbed onto Jeff’s arm with a vice-like grip, his nails digging deep.
Jeff tried to break free, and Chen reached up with his other hand and grabbed his throat. With ease he pulled Jeff down to his knees. Helpless and struggling, Jeff couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t break loose. He grabbed Chen’s wrist to pry it away, but it felt like a steel rod locked into place. Chen had the strength of ten men.
Jeff desperately reached into the MedKit, hoping to lay his hands on anything he could use as a weapon. He pulled out the bone saw he’d used to cut off Holly’s arm. The saw started buzzing immediately, and Jeff swung it up and jammed it into Chen’s chest. Chen screamed, let go of Jeff’s throat and arm, and fell back, clutching his chest. Jeff jumped to his feet, kicked Chen in the face, and knocked him on his back.
Holly woke up and said, “What are you two doing over there?” She must have gotten a good look at them, because she then said, “Oh my God!”
Jeff watched as Chen rose to his knees. The spot where Jeff had jammed him with the bone saw was bleeding profusely, but slowly starting to heal. Bluish tendrils were weaving their way across the area like a patchwork quilt, stopping the blood flow and sealing the wound.
“He’s not human, Holly! Stay back!” Jeff yelled as he crossed over in front of Holly.
Chen's face twisted from a cold lack of expression to shock and surprise.
"Run Holly! I . . . I can't control myself!" He struggled to blurt out before his face turned cold again.
“She’s mine, and I’m taking her,” Chen said in a deep booming voice, the apparent winner of the battle inside his mind.
He scrambled forward, crawling like a demonic spider across the rocky tunnel floor, dragging his still-growing legs behind him.
“Get behind me,” Jeff yelled to Holly as Chen quickly approached.
Jeff was still holding the bone saw, its buzz cascading through the tunnel. When Chen was close enough, he lunged out with it. Chen dodged to the side as deftly as a man could with half legs, and swung his hand, bashing Jeff on the shoulder with force. The pain was immediate and intense.
Jeff quickly flipped the bone saw to his other hand and lunged out again, this time clipping the side of Chen’s ribcage. The flesh sliced away as the cutting blades of the saw dug in. But the cut wasn’t deep enough and immediately began to heal over.
Chen backed away slightly, and Jeff stood in front of Holly, holding the saw out to keep Chen from moving closer. They were cornered, their backs to the wall. Chen was blocking the only way out, a path deeper into Lechuguilla.
“Patrick, please stop this,” Holly pleaded.
“I don’t think that’s Patrick anymore,” Jeff said. “I don’t know who or what it is.”
“Holly, come over here with me,” Chen growled. “There’s so much I can show you.”
“I don’t want to see anything you have to show me, Dr. Chen. Please stop this. We can help you.”
“Do I look like I need your help! I’m advancing beyond anything your pitiful little hands could create.”
Chen glared at Jeff, his brow furrowing in anger. “I’ve had enough of this. It’s time you both die, deep underground and forgotten.”
Crouching tiger-like, Chen shifted his weight to the right, and started to lunge to that side. Jeff flinched and jerked the bone saw in that direction, but it was just a body fake from Chen. He shifted his weight fluidly back to the left, then leaped into the air, catching Jeff off balance. In midair he grabbed Jeff’s hand and twisted it violently. Pain streaked to Jeff’s shoulder, his hand went numb, and the saw dropped. It fell to the ground, silent, no longer spinning.
Chen punched up into Jeff’s jaw with a vicious uppercut. It was like being hit by a brick. Jeff’s teeth slammed together and his head jerked back. Streaks of lightning flooded his vision and agony pulsed through his jaw as he fell back into Holly. When he landed against her, he was barely conscious. Blood streamed from his nose, and he could taste it in his mouth.
Chen pulled him off Holly, then jammed his hand between Jeff’s legs and crushed his balls. Chen lifted him by the hair and balls and threw him across the tunnel. Jeff flipped once in the air and slammed into the rock wall upside down. Pain pierced through him as he fell to the ground in a broken mess.
Springing off both hands and knees, ape-like, Chen leaped across the tunnel. Jeff could feel and smell his horrible breath on his face as Chen leaned over him, grinning like a maniac.
“I think I’ll break both legs and both arms, then let you sit here and watch as I have fun with your little friend Holly. I want to hear her scream.”
Jeff could barely even lift his head to see Chen making a nasty thrusting motion with his hips.
“Oh and she's going to scream loud too.”
Jeff flinched when a rock came slamming down on the back of Chen’s head. It hit his skull with loud thump and broke into pieces. Chen looked stunned for a second, then shook it off. Bits and pieces of dust and rock fell down onto his shoulders.
Chen laughed, a deep, dark, evil sound. And Jeff couldn’t suppress the shudder that rippled through him.
“Don’t worry, my dear, you’ll get your turn soon enough.” He reached out and pulled Jeff’s right arm straight and rigid.
“Make a wish, Congressman.”
Jeff tried to pull his arm away, but this Chen was way too strong. Chen jerked suddenly, and Jeff waited for the inevitable snapping sound and the wrenching pain of his arm breaking, but nothing happened. Chen was still holding him. Jeff rolled, turning to see what had happened. A needle protruded from Chen’s neck. He dropped Jeff’s arm and pulled the needle out, but it had already delivered its ingredients.
Holly, shaking and pale, stood behind Chen. She’d managed to inject him with something from the MedKit. Chen’s eyes rolled back and his breathing slowed. He stumbled backwards, then fell forward, landing face first on the rocky floor beside Jeff.
“I gave him all the tranquilizer we had,” Holly said as she rushed over to help Jeff up. “It would probably be enough to kill most men, but with him, I have no idea. It may just knock him unconscious for a while. Come on, we need to get out of here before he recovers.”
Jeff grunted, still dazed and throbbing. He struggled to his feet, leaning on Holly.
“We need to go deeper into the cave and look for a way out,” she said.
“Should we finish him off, while he’s out?” Jeff asked, weaving and wobbling until he fell against the cave wall. “He was going to kill us both and rape you.”
They stood over the unconscious Chen, but studied one another’s faces.
“I’m no killer, Jeff.”
Jeff wasn’t either, but he could make an exception this time. He bent over and picked up the bone saw. He switched it on and moved it to Chen’s neck.
“Should I cut his head off?” Jeff asked.
Holly just walked away.
Jeff hovered over the other man, wondering
what to do, the bone saw inches from Chen’s neck. He'd only met the man two days ago. They hadn’t started out on the right foot and had fought more times than Jeff had ever fought anyone in his entire life. Now Chen had turned into some crazed homicidal maniac bent on killing both him and Holly. Despite all that, Jeff was having a hard time cutting the man’s throat while he lay helpless and unconscious.
“You know it’s the nanovirus making him act this way,” Holly said, her voice soft. “They could be controlling his mind, or maybe it just makes you crazy. If we get him out of here, maybe we can cure him. The old Chen may still be in there.” She shook her head. “And we might need him, Jeff.”
Jeff didn’t think he could cut the man’s head off if there was any hope he could be cured. Plus, even the idea of using the bone saw again nauseated him. He thought back to cutting Holly’s arm off, all her blood splattering over his face, and he shuddered.
“Okay. We’ll leave him here and come back for him after we find a way out. Then we’ll see if there’s anything left of the real Chen.” Jeff let out a sigh of relief and lifted the bone saw from Chen’s neck. He was glad he didn’t have to kill the man; he didn’t have the stomach for it.
“Come on, then, let’s get out of here before he wakes up,” Holly said. “And we’ll get you a painkiller.”
"Wait," Jeff said. "We should at least tie him up first. Is there any rope in the MedKit?"
"I don't see any rope, but perhaps we could use this tourniquet?"
Holly reached into the kit and pulled out the device, still covered in her own dried blood. Jeff grabbed it while suppressing a flashback to when he had to use it on Holly's nanobot infested arm. He pulled Chen's arms behind his back and tightened the tourniquet around his hands. It was a tight fit, but not tight enough to cut off the circulation.
"This should work," he said.
Extermination Day Page 21
