The room was packed with old iron bed frames. She thought to push one of them against the door, but before she could, the thing smashed through with such force that it sent her tumbling backward across the beds. Every sharp edge and broken spring seemed to tear and poke at her as she bounced once, twice, then slammed into the far corner. This time she had the presence of mind to take hold of her pistol as she flew through the air, and she came up ready to fire.
The dark, snarling shadow flew at her, and she put two silenced rounds in its chest. The snarl turned to a howl of rage and pain as the bullets tore into its body. It hit the floor and scrambled away.
She lost sight of it in the faint light, but she knew it was somewhere within this maze of iron. She heard a huff of breath and a faint scuffling on the floor, and sent a shot in that direction. The muzzle flash gave her a brief, strobe-like vision of a hairy, muscled figure coming at her from the side, teeth bared and eyes black as night.
She tried to dodge, but she was stuck in the corner with these damned beds all around. The collision was worse than any punch, kick or body slam she’d ever taken. Her head rang from the impact, and stars flashed in her eyes as she was dashed against the wall. She went limp for a moment, her Mark 23 falling from her hand. Bits of old, crumbling plaster rained down on her as her attacker rode her to the ground. She felt moist, hot breath on her neck, and nails—or claws—sank into her throat. She tucked her chin and struck the thing in the temple. It was like punching a brick wall.
Fighting with strength born of desperation, she caught it by the throat, holding it at bay just inches away from her. She drove her knee up between its legs, eliciting an angry snarl and forcing the thing to shift its weight. For all its power, it didn’t seem to know anything about fighting, and was instead bent on biting and ripping her apart. Taking advantage of the momentary imbalance, she set her foot on the floor and rolled the attacking creature off her. Her left hand went to her KA-BAR knife and she stabbed blindly at where she knew her enemy to be. She felt the blade bite deeply into flesh, and this time the roar was one of sheer pain. She yanked her knife back and stabbed again, but in an instant, the beast shoved away from her and was gone. It seemed to have melted, wraithlike, into the darkness.
Knife held out in front of her, she scrambled back toward the corner, feeling around for her pistol. Her hand fell upon cool metal and she clutched it like a life preserver as a loud clang of iron on iron rang out. She caught a glimpse of one of the heavy bed frames hurtling toward her, and she rolled to the side just as it smashed to the floor with a thundering boom, landing in the spot where she had lain a split-second before. She looked up, searching for the attack she was certain would be coming any moment now.
She heard a bestial growl, the soft pad of running feet, and a shadow covered the single window for an instant before the glass shattered as the creature hurtled through the window and out into the night. Queen scrambled to her feet and climbed through the cluttered room and over to the window. She looked out in time to catch a glimpse of a hairy foot, as her attacker, whatever he or it had been, fled around a corner. Two bullet wounds, a stab wound and a two-story fall, but the thing’s not dead. What in the hell has Deep Blue gotten me into?
One thing was for certain. She now knew what had killed the boy. Well, she didn’t actually know what the thing was, but she was certain it was the cause of death. But what, exactly, was it? Even fighting it at close quarters she’d been unable to make out much about it. Its form was man-like, and just like a man, it didn’t like taking a knee to the family jewels, but it seemed…more than human. She wished she’d gotten a good look at it. In any case, she was going to have to be extra careful. Where there was one of these creatures, there could be more.
She decided to finish her search, and if the hospital did not reveal any sign of Manifold’s presence, she would next see if the thing had left a trail, perhaps blood spatter from its wounds. If the thing was a Manifold creation, it might lead her back to the place it had spawned.
She recovered her flashlight and continued her search, descending to the first floor, the basement and then the sub-basement. Pitch black and silent as a crypt, this level was a warren of mechanical rooms, their doors standing open or hanging loosely from rusted hinges. Fallen cables snaked across the dusty floor. Crumbling concrete pillars looked like they might give way at any moment. Deep Blue, if this place comes down on top of me, I’m going to climb out of here and kick your ass.
She made a thorough search, looking for a door, hidden or otherwise, that might lead to a secret Manifold base of operations, but she found nothing. On the positive side, nothing came leaping out of the darkness at her. Score one for the good guys, or girls, as it were. Only one door remained unchecked. This one, unlike the others, was closed. Holding her Mark 23 at the ready, she grasped the handle, turned it slowly, and yanked the door open.
The shrill scream practically made her hair stand on end, so high was the pitch, but she knew instantly that there was no threat here. A dark-haired teenage girl cowered on the floor. She lay on her side, her knees drawn up tight to her chest and her hands covering her face. Her jeans and t-shirt were coated in dust, and she trembled from head to toe, but she appeared otherwise unharmed.
“It’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you.” Queen didn’t bother to keep the annoyance from her voice. She hadn’t come on a rescue mission and she sure as hell wasn’t here to babysit.
The girl continued to quake, crying softly into her hands, which she still held pressed to her face. Queen knelt and put a hand on her shoulder. She tried to speak to the girl in soothing tones, but it was futile. Cursing her ill luck, Queen hauled the girl to her feet, yanked her hands away, and gave her a sharp slap on the cheek—just enough to get her attention. The girl gasped and looked at her in surprise.
“You are not,” she began in a quavering voice, “one of those things?” So, she not only spoke English, but had enough presence of mind to register that was the language Queen had been speaking. Queen turned the flashlight toward her own face. The girl’s frozen features sagged in relief, and she fell into Queen’s arms. “Thank you for rescuing for me.” She stayed there for a long, dragging moment, and then her head popped up and she frowned. “But how did you know where I was? We didn’t tell anyone where we were going.”
“Sorry, but I didn’t come for you,” Queen said. “It’s just dumb luck that I found you. And nobody’s been rescued yet. That thing is still out there.”
As though to punctuate the point, loud footsteps thumped past on the floor above. The creature was still hunting them, despite its recent injuries.
Queen bit her lip. What was she going to do with this girl? She could shove her back into the closet and come back for her later, but what if the beast found her? It had hands, so she assumed it could open a door with ease. One problem on top of another. “You have a name?”
“My name is Armina. My friends and I were recording our web-show when…” She shuddered, her words driven away by the memory of whatever had happened to them. “Did you find Alexei and Oleg?”
“No.” Queen figured the dead body was one of the two, but this didn’t seem the time to tell her new charge that. “How long have you been hiding down here?”
“I don’t know. A few hours, maybe. It is so dark down here, and I am so afraid.” Armina folded her arms and gave herself a squeeze, as if she could hug the fear out.
Queen looked at the girl’s shaking arms and knew she needed to get the girl settled before asking her the hard questions.
“You said you were doing a web-show?” Queen asked, feigning interest.
Armina nodded and wiped her arm across her nose. “It was supposed to be our first full length episode. We were looking for ghosts, but didn’t think we’d get anything more than some sounds made by the wind, or shadows shifting from moving trees. We didn’t think—we didn’t know…”
“There was no way you could have known,” Queen said. She could see the
survivor’s guilt kicking in. If the girl went down that dark road, there might not be any recovering. “How old are you, Armina?”
“Sixteen.”
“And the boys?” Queen asked.
“Seventeen.Both of them.”
Queen saw a familiar hardness in the girl’s eyes. “Why were you really out here?”
“I told you already,” Armina said, a tinge of anger seeping in. “We weren’t doing drugs or fooling around.”
Queen held up her hands. “That’s not what I meant.”
Armina looked confused.
“I meant, who are you escaping from? Even if you didn’t know those…things were here, Pripyat isn’t exactly a safe place to visit. Not only could there be gangs hiding out in the abandoned buildings but there are still radiation hotspots.”
“They’re well marked,” Armina said, crossing her arms.
“Were you looking for signs when you ran to the hospital?”
Armina’s arms dropped. Point made. “No.”
Both women held their breath as footsteps passed by overhead once more. Queen waited until they faded completely before speaking again. “So, who is it?”
“My father,” Armina admitted. “My mother left with another man, who didn’t want me either, but I don’t blame her. My father is…violent. Nearly killed her once. I try not to go home. If I do, I wait until he’s asleep and try to leave before he wakes. He seems to prefer it that way, too.” She shuddered. “That’s why I do the web-show. When the camera is rolling, I see the world differently. It’s filled with possibilities that aren’t there in my ordinary life.”
Armina’s story struck a chord with Queen. Her childhood hadn’t been too dissimilar and she’d become a violent person in her own right, though she directed it toward the right people. That Armina had found a different, more creative outlet for the hardships in her life made Queen proud of the girl. While Queen joined the military to escape her past, Armina looked through the lens of a camera and asked, “What if…”
That violence had followed the girl was a shame. She’d never be the same if they survived the night. Not without a loving family to support her. As much as Queen wanted to comfort the girl, the footsteps hadn’t returned and Queen had a mission to complete.
“I’m sorry,” Queen said, “but I have to ask. Did you get a look at the thing, or things?” Queen pressed her. “Do you have any idea what they are?”
Armina looked her in the eye and nodded. Slowly, she bent down and picked up something up off the floor. She held it out to Queen, who saw that it was a digital recorder.
She flipped it on and switched it to playback mode. The faces of two laughing boys appeared on the screen. The one on the right, the one they called Oleg, was definitely the one she had found lying dead on the side of the road.
“Here, let me.” Armina took the camera from her, scanned forward, and handed it back.
Queen watched as Alexei disappeared from sight, and then as something hurtled out of the darkness, coming right at Oleg. As a shaft of moonlight fell upon its dark form, Armina hit the pause button.
Queen did not permit surprise to register on her face. In fact, there was not much in this world that surprised her anymore. The creature was, as she had thought, humanlike. Its face was in shadow, but she could clearly make out its powerful frame coated in fine hair. One hand was upraised, the light glinting off short claws. Not for the first time in her life, she found herself staring at something out of legend.
“It is the oborot.” Armina’s whisper was soft, almost reverent.
“The what?” Queen cocked her head.
“I think you would call it,” the girl said, her voice quavering, “a werewolf.”
Chapter 5
“A werewolf.” Saying the word aloud somehow gave substance to the mythical creature, making it seem a little less surreal in Queen’s mind. Someone who had not seen and experienced the things Chess Team had faced might have scoffed, but not her. “All right, then. I don’t have any silver bullets, but I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.” Time and supplies had been short, and Deep Blue had been correct when he said his connection had limited resources at her immediate disposal, but she had a couple of surprises in her backpack in case she should need them. “Okay Armina, let’s get you out of here.”
It grated on her not to see the mission through, but Deep Blue had made it clear that she was to slip in and out quietly. Besides, she now had Armina to deal with, and she wasn’t going to let the girl get torn apart like Oleg. She’d get the girl to safety and report in.
She returned the camera to Armina and led the girl back up the stairs. When they reached the first floor, she turned off and pocketed her flashlight. Letting her eyes adjust to the moonlit shades of gray all around her, she thought about the situation here. What would she tell Deep Blue? That she had reason to believe Manifold was manufacturing werewolves in Pripyat? That wasn’t anywhere near good enough. At the very least, she needed to confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that Manifold was here, and locate their base of operations. Without that information, there would be no possibility of a surgical strike under the noses of the Russians. Anyone they sent in would be going in just as blind as she was. Like it or not, she wasn’t finished yet.
“Armina, we need to find a safe place for you to hide.” The girl frowned and began to protest, but Queen put a finger over her lips. “I promise I won’t leave you. I have more work to do here, and I have to be out before sunrise, but I swear I’ll take you with me.”
“Don’t just leave me here. Maybe I can help you.” Armina’s words were brave, but her voice was a frightened whisper.
“I don’t think so. I don’t have time to explain, but I am in a dangerous line of work, and I believe there are some people here who are just as dangerous, if not more so, than the oborot.”
“What people are you talking about? Where are they? We didn’t see anyone out there, except…”
“What?” Queen’s pulse raced. If Armina could give her a clue to the whereabouts of Manifold, that would put her one step closer to success. “Did you see something?”
“I was just thinking about the moment before the oborot came after Oleg.” She shivered and her face fell. “Alexei was not attacked. He just disappeared, as if someone grabbed him. Could it have been those people?”
“I don’t know,” Queen admitted. “Let’s have another look at your video. Back up to the part where Alexei was taken.” Armina complied, and they watched as the boy was there one moment and gone the next. “Back up and play it again,” Queen said. “Can you slow it down?” Armina nodded, and the scene unfolded again in slow-motion. “Freeze it there!” Armina paused the video. “Good! Now zoom in on Alexei.”
Armina complied. As the image expanded on the screen, her eyes widened and she tapped the image. A gloved hand was wrapped around Alexei’s wrist. “I was right! Someone did take Alexei.”
“Definitely. I don’t know for sure how it fits together, but it’s worth investigating. I see this was over near the amusement park.” Queen froze. Something strange about the video had just registered with her. It was so obvious that she had to laugh. So intent was her focus, first on Oleg and the oborot, and then on Alexei, that she had ignored the other oddity.
“What’s wrong?” Armina looked all around, as if Queen had spotted some danger.
“Nothing. Hit play for me.” This time, her eyes were not on the boys, but on the Ferris wheel in the background. It was turning. “When you were out there, did you see the Ferris wheel turning?”
“Yes, we did. You missed that part when I forwarded it to the attack, but we noticed it right away. We were going for a closer look when all the rest happened.” Armina winced as if the very words pained her. “I have heard that Pripyat is haunted and I never believed it. But abandoned rides that start up on their own, and oborots roaming the streets? It must be true.”
“I don’t think Pripyat is haunted.” Queen grimaced. If her instincts were cor
rect, Manifold had set up operations somewhere in the vicinity of the old amusement park, and as an added security measure, they had run a line to the old Ferris wheel and put it in working order again. Turn it on when the occasional stranger sneaked into the park, and the person would hopefully run away in fright, telling everyone the place was haunted. Get enough people spreading the ridiculous tale of a haunted amusement park, and you’ve got a surrounding community of skeptics ready to dismiss the story of an oborot, should one ever get out. And she had no doubt that this oborot, werewolf or not, was a product of one of Manifold’s twisted experiments. She gave the girl’s shoulder a squeeze. “Now, let’s figure out where to hide you, and I’ll be off.”
“No!” Armina didn’t sound frightened, but determined. “I will be safer with you. You have a gun. Besides, I can take you right to the amusement park. It will be faster for you.”
“But what will I do with you when we get there?” Queen couldn’t believe she was even considering this. It was ridiculous. She couldn’t have the kid slowing her down. Then again, if the girl could quickly guide her to the amusement park, that would be a great help.
Armina screwed up her face in concentration. “There are some old soft drink machines nearby. They’re empty. Close me up in one of those until you can come for me.” She saw the hesitation in Queen’s eyes. “If you don’t take me, I’ll just follow along behind you.”
“Try that, little girl, and I’ll truss you up and hang you from the ceiling like a wind chime. You got me?”
“I’ll scream.” Tears welled in her eyes, but the resolve there was evident. “Or I’ll make whatever noise I can and the oborot will get me anyway. Just let me go with you. I don’t want to be here alone anymore.”
For a brief instant, Queen considered hauling the girl back to the basement and sticking her, bound and gagged, into the closet where she’d found her. Of course, then Armina would have no way of running if the oborot should return. Besides, Queen already knew she was not going to leave the girl behind. When she looked into Armina’s eyes, she was taken back to a time when she had not been Queen, but simply Zelda—a frightened, mistreated girl who survived by keeping the tiniest spark of determination burning inside the walls she erected between herself and the outside world. Armina had a little spark of that same determination enshrouded in a fog of fear and Queen would not extinguish that flame for anything in the world.
Callsign: Queen - Book I (A Zelda Baker - Chess Team Novella) Page 3
