by Ricky Cooper
Turning right, Fadei sped up, the sound of taping keys growing louder by the second. He approached, his heavy booted feet thudding against the iron and steel lattice work beneath him as he purposely made his presence known. Swinging out through the thickening haze of steam and smoke, Fadei burst forth, his white steam laced form looming large as his shadow danced off the buffeted vapour. It twisted and swirled as if it in itself was a living being. The clicking keys came to a crescendo as he stood; his breathing shallow. Staring, he cast his gaze about the platform.
Desks formed a disjointed maze of paths and alleyways as he moved toward a white coated form, raven tresses pulled back into a loose pony tail. The clacking intensified as Fadei drew closer. He watched as lines of text flew across the screen. Fadei's eyes widened as he began to read.
'You don't have to point that at me; I am of no threat to you.'
Fadei looked down from the back of her head, to the chair in which she sat. The light weight titanium frame glinted lightly as his torch beam played across the reflective squares mounted on the back of the chair. The typing stopped making him snap his head up sharply, a small red blush creeping across his cheeks as he watched the woman before him reach down and roll away from the desk. He listened to the soft rumble of the tyre treads as they rattled over the diamond lattice beneath them. The front wheels chattering in a language all their own as she whirled the chair to face Fadei, her hand clamping down hard on the protruding titanium ring on the outer edge of the wheel.
Her clipped personnel badge glimmered in the lights from the screen, flaring white as Fadei's torch played across it. The heart-shaped, blue eyed face staring out of it looked a million miles away from the haggard and black ringed visage that faced Fadei now. His hands went weak as he stared at the woman before him, the weapon, once so fiercely grasped in the unyielding grip of a warrior cast from the molten fires of the battlefield, now hung dancing from the cables of its sling. Hot, barbed tears of loathing and despair clawed at the backs of his eyes as he stared into a face he had not seen in a very long time.
'Anna?'
His voice was chaste almost childlike as her name left his cold bitten lips; her deep blue hues locked on to his as he gazed down at her.
'It's Anastasia. Doctor Anastasia Stanislova.'
Fadei stared at her, bitter tears threatening to burst forth, as images fell in torrents, cascading through his mind as he fought desperately not to think of the last time he'd seen the woman in front of him.
'I...I am sorry.'
Rage billowed in her eyes as she stared up at him. Her face darkened as she quickly dragged the right wheel, spinning the chair as she began to roll away rapidly. 'It is far too late for that Fadei. Far, far too late; what do you want?'
Fadei stuttered as he tried to articulate his reasons for being there.
'The pathogen.'
She grabbed the tyres with both hands, the front wheels rising off the decking as she stopped the forward momentum of her chair. 'Which one?' The words came out of her in a harsh whisper as she turned her head and gazed over her shoulder at Fadei standing cradling his weapon.
'You know which one Anna... sorry, Anastasia.'
She sagged in the chair as she slowly turned to face Fadei. 'I tried to warn them; I really tried to warn them.'
She pushed her hands across the wheels, rolling back towards her work station. She picked up the microscope as she rolled by planting the heavy lump of cold steel and plastic next to the computer. Plugging it into the side of it, an image of a swirling blood sample bloomed on her monitor a second later. Picking up the mouse she clicked and dragged a box across the screen zooming in on that sector of the image.
'You see here, this sample is my own blood the Erythrocytes or red blood cells are uniform in size and shape. The Platelets or Thrombocytes and Leukocytes or white blood cells are all normal; as well as the level of Thrombocytes which in my case is three hundred thousand.'
Clicking on the edge of the screen she pulled up another image. 'This is a sample of Infected blood drawn from a patient.' The last word left her mouth in a stilted half whisper, the look in her eyes and turn of her lips showing clearly what she thought of the “Patient.” 'As you can see from this, the Thrombocytes, Erythrocytes and Leukocytes are all of a disproportionate size and mass to regular examples of cellular structure. The same applies to the haemoglobin in the Erythrocytes and levels of Thrombocytes are six times the highest normal level.'
Fadei's brows furrowed, as he stared at the moving swarm of cells on the screen. Leaning in, he pointed to the doughnut shaped Erythrocytes. 'What are these black pieces on the edges? They look like octopus tentacles.'
Anastasia leaned in and shrugged. 'Honestly, I have no idea. I have been studying these for over a year now and I have absolutely no idea what they are. It could be parasitic larvae, it could be a base level mutation of the cell walls, I honestly have no clue. In over three hundred samples I have been through, they are the only thing that has been remotely similar, although even they have varied in shape, size and quantity.' She threw her hands up in the air as she leaned back heavily into her chair and ran her fingers through her hair, scratching at her scalp.
'Show me.' Anastasia gave Fadei a sceptical glance but brought up another digitally recorded sample. Fadei leaned in, resting his hands on the desk as his rifle dangled off its sling and thumped gently against Anastasia’s chair. 'Will you move that please; it's rather disconcerting?'
Fadei grunted, but pushed his weapon up onto his back, the weapon lying along his spine as the barrel rested against the base of his battle vest.
'It may be disconcerting but it is also the only thing that would stop you from having an Infected chew your face off and rip out your lungs.'
Anastasia gave a rather discomforted glance in Fadei's direction before casting her eyes back to the screen as she looked at the latest image. Tapping his finger against the image, Fadei pointed to a small clump of cells in the bottom left hand corner. 'Enlarge that.'
The mouse's cursor skated across the screen as Anastasia enlarged the group, the small tentacle like strands slowly drifted in the ebb and flow of the blood sample as the Erythrocytes spun lazily through the liquid.
'See these things?' Fadei tapped the image again pointing at the tendril-like barbs as Anastasia nodded. 'These ones are, well more cone shaped and obviously split at the ends. Whereas the others in the first lot were ridged and humped and looked like octopus tentacles as I said.'
Anastasia nodded, 'I can see that but what's your point?' Fadei rubbed at the bottom of his chin, scraping away the itch that had been building. 'Well, if they are supposedly Infected with the same pathogen then wouldn't these things be identical?'
Anastasia sat bolt upright in her chair stunned surprise registering on her face as she realised just how dense she had been. 'I cannot believe I didn't see that before. I just assumed it was a natural variation in the viral make up, but it's not, look!'
She pulled up a third sample then a fourth, moving quickly through a dozen more. Both saw that no two samples were in any way similar. 'You do know what you have found here, don't you?'
Fadei shrugged, 'No.'
'This shows that the virus changes itself entirely at the base level from host to host but,' she stopped as the realisation dawned once more, 'it also means that there is no way we can cure this.'
10
Baker rolled round the corner, his rifle pulled tightly into his shoulder as he exited the tunnel. Gunfire drenched the corridor in a wall of sound, it fell upon him like the crashing of the seas, gritting his teeth he snapped off his barrel mounted torch the darkness sinking in as he sprinted towards the flickering orange glow; his thumb dipped to the selector switch on his rifle and with a gentle flick of the opposing digit changed the selector. Andrey sprinted, clutching his AS VAL to his chest like a dying child as he hurried down the corridors after Baker. His boots barely skimmed the rough surface of the floor as he flew like a banshee. Spinni
ng round a corner he jumped, planting one booted foot on the opposite wall as he propelled himself forwards down the corridor. He saw the shifting shadowed form of Baker only metres ahead of him as he slipped his rifle to his shoulder.
Baker heard the approaching feet and grinned as he dropped to a knee, the reinforced pad on his knee skittering over the rough surface of the floor. As he hit the corner and spun round it, he pulled his rifle tight to his shoulder, firing as he sighted on the swarm of Infected at the end of the corridor. Andrey dug his foot into the floor as he snapped to a halt beside Baker, both men firing at will as they sent rounds down range and into the heads of any Infected they could get a bead on.
The heavy thump of a belt fed weapon filled the corridor as Kingsley strode out the door of the office. The belt of the PKP 6P41 rattling as it was drawn up from the box beneath it. The machine gun drove against his shoulder, over-and-over, as the bolt flew back and forth sending round after round into the mass of bodies before him.
A whooping cry of exultation rolled down the corridor drawing out the gunfire. Baker looked across the sea of writhing bodies as they fought to push through the hailstorm of lead that was being driven into them. Rawlings knelt in the doorway, his rifle perched against his hand and the door frame as he covered Kingsley's back. His weapon danced from head to head as he fired, his optical sight turning the world a hazy mix of greens as he stared through the scope of his rifle.
'Running out of ammo here!' Bolton slid a magazine across the floor to Rawlings' feet as he continued to fire. For seventeen minutes they held off the tide of Infected, bodies falling amidst a swirling rain of blood and gore. The harsh and heady mix of blood and cordite filled the air as they began to slowly back down the body strewn hallway.
'Come on, fucking move it. Andrey, get them out of here. Kingsley, give me that gimpy and get the hell out of here, I'll hold them off.' Kingsley glanced at Baker a cursive filled retort bubbling its way up only to be stomped back down by a single glance from Baker. 'Now, soldier!'
Slowly, and with a heavy heart, Kingsley lifted the machine gun's sling from around his shoulder and handed the weapon to him. Shifting the sling so that the weapon sat braced against his upper arm, Baker stepped into the middle of the corridor and squeezed the triggers of both weapons.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, the professional soldier was throwing himself against the walls of Derek's mind, screaming at him in disgust as he threw aside any semblance of training and drenched the hall way in a mire of barely aimed lead.
The report almost deafened him as he unleashed a wall of death, the first seventeen Infected dropped as their heads simply disappearing in a glimmering haze of red. The cases cascaded around his feet in a dancing shimmer of hot brass as they bounced off the floor.
Andrey skidded to a halt. 'Down there and turn left. Watch your footing the floor is covered in shit. Take the ladder down to the lower levels and head for the control centre.'
Rawlings looked at Andrey and nodded, 'What about you?' Andrey grinned, his missing front teeth leaving his smile slightly twisted.
'I am going to go have some fun. Can't let your boss have it all, can I?'
Rawlings shook his head as he turned down the corridor, 'You're fucking nuts, mate. A good shot, but bat shit-crazy.'
Andrey shrugged as he moved off. 'Blame my mother.' With that the Russian squad commander vanished round the corner and was gone.
****
Rawlings sagged down against the wall of the control centre as he turned a bullet end over end. Lifting it to the bright strip lights, he stared at it, the smooth polished casing reflecting his gaze as he rotated it through his fingers. 'You know, King, they say there is a bullet out there with your name on it. I wonder who has mine.'
Kingsley shrugged. 'Don't know, mate, but I know who has mine.' Rawlings' interest was piqued as he sat up slightly looking at his team mate.
'Who would that be?'
Kingsley grinned and reached inside his tunic pulling out a glittering gold chain. Set into a small hoop at the end was a single nine-millimetre round.
'Me!'
Rawlings grinned as he stared at the bullet for a moment before sliding his knife from the sheath and raising the tip to the round he held. 'Think I'll join you there.'
For over an hour they waited in that small room two hundred feet below the surface. The seconds seemed to stretch forever as they waited for the smallest sign of Baker or Andrey. They sat there staring ahead of them as the time slowly slid away; dripping into a void so deep that not even the hand of God could reach it; but, for the men and woman trapped in the darkness God was the last person they would look to for help.
Fadei had arrived twenty minutes after their arrival, with Anastasia, her lap filled with the discs and papers she had managed to scavenge from her work station before Fadei had carried out one of his directives and liquidated the room.
As they all sat in a brooding silence, the door hissed and slid open. A beleaguered Andrey entered, his hand clutched to his side, as blood slowly seeped between his fingers. He cast a cocky grin around the room before he pitched forward, a dull clunk issuing forth as his unconscious form hit the floor. Kingsley stared at the prostrate man before he climbed to his feet and lifted him on to the only table in the room. He pushed the neat stacks of Anastasia's files to the floor before laying the still bleeding body upon its matte-grey surface.
An angered cry of indignation spilled forth from the wheelchair bound scientist before she was rudely quieted by Kingsley. 'Shut it, woman. This man's life is more important than your anal retentive OCD.'
Pulling his suit from his unconscious body, Fadei examined Andrey's wounds. 'Thank the Gods.'
Rawlings stuck his head in and sighed with relief.
'Thank fuck for that, I would have hated to shoot the guy who saved our arse.' Bolton stirred from his stupor long enough to ask, what everyone was carrying on about. 'He wasn't Infected.' Nodding his satisfaction at their answer, he lay back down and went back to sleep. Four hours after falling face first to the floor, Andrey stirred. A harsh pain filled moan escaping his lips as he tried to push himself upright. A gloved hand clasped his shoulder and pushed him back down.
'Don't move you gap toothed tit, you'll bust the stitches.'
Andrey smirked as he cracked open an eye.
'Well it's just as well for you then, I would love to kick your arse right now!'
Baker smirked, as he stared down at the man he owed his life to.
'And why would that be?'
Andrey chuckled as he pointed at his side, wincing in pain at the twisting muscles as they tugged the stitching holding his torn flesh together. 'For avoiding that damned saw disk and letting this happen, although it is probably a good thing. Otherwise I would have had my head ripped off by that one behind me.'
Baker chuckled, patting the Russian on the shoulder as he pulled up a chair and sat down.
'How long have you been here?' Andrey quizzed a still grinning Baker as he lay his head back down on the cool surface beneath him.
'About twenty minutes. I managed to lose them in the eastern tunnel and then doubled back and made it inside just as the doors were closing, good thing you told me about that time lock on them.'
Andrey grinned as he shut his eyes and tried to relax his over tense muscles. 'Thought so too, almost forgot about it with all the fun we were having.'
Baker snorted as he took a mouthful of water from the bottle in his hand. The clear alkaline liquid dripping out of his nose as he tried to breathe. Half choking he managed to croak out a reply.
'If that's fun for you, I would hate to see what your idea of a holiday is. Now shut up and get some sleep, you'll need it for when we get the hell out of here.'
Andrey looked quizzical as Baker glanced at his watch, the sudden rapid beeping drawing glances from all in the room.
'Pack up, load up and get ready gentlemen; we are officially into overtime. The extraction team should be arriving any
minute now.'
Patting Gervasii on the shoulder he walked away, his foot falls echoing slightly in the bare concrete room. Gervasii smiled as Baker sat down next to the Doctor content in the knowledge that he had in some small way made penance with the souls of his brothers.
A bubble of chattering voices rose behind him as Anna went over the layout of the facility with Fadei and the others.
****
The rotor blades cut the air to ribbons as the helicopter beat its path forwards. Carl sat in the open doorway, his wind torn clothes ruffling harshly in the frigid air. He lifted his gloved hand and twirled it through the air as the twin rotor air frame settled into a snow blitzed hover. Dumping the coiled rope in his lap out the door, Carl spun, his gloved hands rasping over the coiled fibres as they burned a path to the ground.
His boots skimmed the snow crusted soil, a half second before his hands released the rope. Within three, he was twenty feet away on one knee his rifle pulled tightly to his shoulder as he scanned the area around him. Heckleworth and Billings appeared mere moments later at his two o’clock and ten o’clock positions. Eight seconds after his feet had hit the floor the remaining five members of his team were hunkered down facing all points of the compass.
Tapping his fingers against the call button on his throat mike, Carl rose to his feet and peeled away, only the soft crunching of crystalline snow gave any indication that the others had even moved.
Heckleworth waved his hand over the back of his head and glanced up watching as the load master ejected the rope and slid the bay side door closed.
