Cold Sanctuary (John Decker Series Book 2)

by Anthony M. Strong

  That thought sobered her, and she felt a flutter of panic. What if she couldn't outrun the creature? What if she tripped or ended up cornered somehow? She had been lucky the last time she crossed paths with it. She hoped her luck would hold. More than that, she hoped this was the last time she would have to flee the creature.

  The tape deck was bulky, cumbersome. That was another concern. She would need to have the machine with her the entire time. Dominic had recorded an hour of vocalizations on the tape, more than enough to keep the creature following her, but the clunky tape player was an added hindrance, the pack weighing her down. If all else failed, if she thought she was not going to be able to stay ahead, then she could ditch the backpack, but hopefully it would not come to that.

  She looked upward, pleased to find the end in sight. Just one more flight and she would be at the surface. She ignored the pain in her calves, her thighs, and climbed the last few stairs, pausing when she reached the top to catch her breath.

  The door was a one-way exit similar to the door at the bottom of the stairs, just as Hunt said it would be, with a push bar. She scoured the area for something to hold it open, and selected a piece of two by four that was leaning against the side wall. With the wood jammed between the ground and the push bar, the door would not be able to swing shut.

  Pleased with her fix, Mina stepped outside, giving the door one last tug to make sure it would not close, and then took stock of her surroundings.

  It was dark, the land swathed in moonless gloom.

  A light drizzle filled the air, and a cold breeze nipped at her face.

  She had no idea what time it was, but it must be some time after midnight. It felt like such a long time ago that she was in her apartment looking out over the bay as the sun slipped below the horizon. So much had happened since, and it wasn’t over yet.

  The emergency exit came up into a small building that stood some fifty feet from the north tower. It was a nondescript block structure that would be easy to ignore, but just to be on the safe side, the builders had stenciled a dire warning on the exterior of the door.

  DANGER – KEEP OUT

  ELECTRICAL ROOM

  HIGH VOLTAGE

  If anyone were curious about the odd little building stuck out in the barren wasteland behind the tower, that notice on the door would be enough to give pause. Now that the door was propped open, however, the true reason for the room was easy to see; not that it mattered, since there was no one around to look.

  She raised the two-way radio and depressed the button. “I’m up top.”

  There was a moment of silence, then Decker’s voice sounded from the speaker. “Understood.”

  “I’m heading toward the tower now.”

  “Roger that.” The radio crackled, but the reception was pretty good, considering. “Be careful. Let us know when you are on your way back.”

  “Will do.” With one last lingering look back down the stairwell, toward John Decker and the safety of the base, she pushed the radio back into her pocket and struck out toward the tower, her feet crunching the gravel underfoot.

  As she walked, she glanced up toward the south tower, at the few windows that still glowed with soothing, warm light, and wished that she could swap places with those people, none of whom knew what was about to happen hundreds of feet beneath their home.

  Ahead of her loomed the north tower, dark and foreboding, its windows black and soulless. A shiver of fear ran up her spine, and all of a sudden she wished that Decker had insisted on going in her place, because even though she didn’t want to admit it, she was more scared than she had ever been in her life.

  68

  The lobby reminded Mina of a tomb. It wasn’t merely the darkness, or the bone gnawing cold, but more the stench, a malignant odor that seeped from the very walls of the building and curl around her.

  She slipped the backpack from her shoulders and rested the tape player on the reception desk, the same desk she had rescued the bag from the previous morning, and held her breath, listening.

  Only dead, empty silence met her ears.

  She stood there for a long time, not moving, not making any attempt to play the recording on the tape. Once she committed, once she pressed that button, there would be no going back. When the creature came, it was only going to end two ways. Either she stayed ahead of it and lived, or she got caught and died. Even though she had insisted on being the one to do this, it didn’t feel like such a good idea now. She experienced a moment of blind panic, and considered leaving the player where it was and going back to the comfort of her apartment. She could lock the door, climb into her warm, soft bed, and forget all this.

  Let someone else be the bait.

  But she knew she would not do that. If she gave in to her fears more people would die, more people she knew as neighbors and friends, and that could not be allowed to happen.

  And then there was Decker.

  He had accepted her, asked for her help. She liked him, and liked the way that he worried about her, something she had missed since her mother died. She wanted to show him that she could do this.

  With a deep breath, she let her finger drop onto the PLAY button.

  The strange, eerie sound rose from the speakers, chilling and inhuman. It filled the air, a plaintive, mournful call that sent a shiver down her spine.

  Mina listened to it for a moment, caught between a sense of awe and an urge to turn it off again. Instead she reached out and turned the volume knob until the noise hurt her ears.

  Now she would wait, and watch.

  69

  Mina stood in the middle of the lobby, feeling like a sacrificial offering. Her hand rested on the tape deck, her fingers curling around the hard plastic handle. She wished she could abandon the heavy piece of equipment once the creature appeared. She would be able to move much faster, react quicker, without something like that weighing her down, but if she didn’t take it, there was no guarantee that the creature would continue to follow her. Not that there was any guarantee that the sound would draw the creature out in the first place. It was all theory, and untested theory at that.

  She glanced over at the main doors, now propped open in anticipation of a speedy exit. She had climbed in through the same window twice already, but once inside was able to unlock the front doors with ease since the padlock and chain had already been removed earlier by Decker. That was a good thing, because if she had to climb back through the window she would lose valuable time and might get caught. After all, the creature had almost killed her last time she tried to get out that way.

  The darkness was unnerving.

  It was all Mina could manage to stay put. Even so, she wished the creature would hurry up and find her. At least then she could do something.

  But as the minutes ticked away and became an hour, Mina started to wonder if the creature was even in the building anymore. Maybe they were wrong in assuming the beast had a lair in the crumbling north tower. Maybe Dominic was wrong and the sound would not draw it out, or maybe she was still too far away for it to hear the tape. After all, if the creature was on the tenth floor there was no possibility of the recording reaching that far. They had assumed the creature would be on one of the lower floors, the second or third, but if it could navigate the stairs it could be on any floor.

  "Damn it," she cursed under her breath.

  The thought of venturing further into the building didn’t appeal in the least, and the idea of exploring the upper floors, wandering around with the tape playing, appealed even less. So that left her with a choice. Give it more time, or go looking for the creature.

  In the end she came to the conclusion that she was wasting her time standing in the lobby. If she were to have any hope of luring the beast out, she would need to take the tape player further into the building.

  With shaking hands Mina lifted the cassette player off the desk, returned it to the backpack and swung the pack over her shoulder. The sound became quieter, muffled, but it would have to do. />
  She was about to move off when the radio sprang to life. She recognized Hunt’s voice this time.

  “Mina?”

  She pulled it out and answered. “What?”

  “Just checking in. Making sure you’re still with us.”

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Standing in the lobby. No sign of the creature.”

  “It might be out of earshot.” Hunt sounded relieved to hear that she was safe.

  “I was about to go deeper into the building. See if I can draw it out.”

  “No.” Hunt sounded alarmed now. “Too dangerous. Stay where you are. Can you turn the sound up?”

  “It’s at full volume.”

  “Stay in the lobby. Keep the tape playing and keep alert.”

  “I think I should…”

  “Do not go further into the building. You hear me?”

  “I don’t think I have any choice. This isn’t working.”

  “Dammit,” Hunt snapped. “We’ve put you in enough danger. Stay put. That’s an order.”

  “Fine,” Mina replied. “Whatever you say.”

  “If the creature doesn’t show up in the next half hour we’ll call it a night. Make your way back down. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Mina waited a moment, torn between obeying Hunt and doing what she knew was the right thing.

  To hell with that, Hunt wasn’t here.

  She returned the radio to her pocket and took a step toward the long, dark corridor leading to the stairs. At the same time she pulled a flashlight from her pocket and switched it on. The beam shot out, illuminating the way ahead. Outside, under the stars, there was enough light to see by, but here, within the decaying building, it was pitch black.

  She walked along, picking her way around the larger pieces of debris that littered the floor.

  When she reached the corridor she slowed and shone the beam into the void, but all she saw was emptiness.

  The pack sat heavy on her shoulder.

  She took another tentative step into the corridor, the flashlight beam bobbing around as she walked, and then she saw it.

  The creature was hunched down, close to the ground, watching her with a curious gaze. If she had not been watching the path ahead with such intent she might have missed the creature and stumbled right into it.

  She stopped, her heart thudding loud in her chest.

  For a moment, time stood still.

  She locked eyes with the beast, and when it looked back at her she saw a moment of confusion on its face. Was it expecting to see another of its own kind? Did it recognize her from earlier in the day?

  Either way, it didn’t matter.

  The creature shot forward with a blood-curdling screech.

  Mina screamed.

  Her first instinct was to slip the backpack from her shoulder and throw it at the approaching nightmare to slow the creature down, but she knew that was a bad idea. Instead, she turned and fled in the direction of the main doors.

  The creature followed, too close for comfort.

  If she had waited a while longer before getting the idea into her head to go exploring, she would have given herself more of a chance. As it was, all she had done was diminish her own head start.

  She was back at the reception desk now. She skirted it, running for the most direct route to the main doors, and kept going.

  When she reached the door she risked a glance behind, and was horrified to see the creature had gained a few feet. At this rate it would be upon her before she got half way to the concrete room and the stairs down into the underground lab complex. Unless she ditched the backpack with the tape player inside, which was acting like an anchor, and she could not do that.

  Instead, she threw the flashlight, hoping it would at least cause the creature to alter course, then reached out as she passed and slammed the main doors closed.

  It was a small gesture, but even if it gave her an extra few seconds it was worth it.

  She turned left and followed the line of the tower, hugging the wall, until she reached the corner.

  A wide-open expanse now presented itself, with the small concrete building at the far end.

  She pulled the radio from her pocket. “I’m on my way back. The creature is following me.”

  “Roger that,” Hunt replied. “We’re ready.”

  She slipped the two-way back into her pocket. For a moment she had considered abandoning the radio, but if anything went wrong she would be on her own, and that thought terrified her.

  From somewhere behind her there was a loud crash.

  The creature was outside now.

  It must have barreled through the doors with such force that it slammed them back against the building, smashing the panes of glass within the frames.

  With a grunt of effort Mina struck out across the open ground.

  The concrete building was a good seventy feet from the main tower. Mina felt more vulnerable and exposed now that she was out in the open. She took a deep breath and put on an extra spurt of speed.

  Her legs burned, muscles protesting the unusual work, but she kept going until she reached the building, and the stairs.

  Now all she had to do was make it down several flights of stairs and then she would be safe behind Hunt’s gun at last. The good thing was that the decent should slow the creature as much as it slowed her.

  She wasted no time in tackling the first set of steps.

  Her feet rang on the metal stairs as she descended. Three steps above the first landing she gripped the railing and leapt down. As her feet struck the deck she used her body weight to pivot around onto the next flight.

  Above her the creature was in pursuit. It was following hard and fast, its own footfalls heavy enough to shake the staircase.

  She reached the second landing and jumped again. She came down hard, her right ankle twisting and giving way.

  The backpack slipped from her shoulder, the strange wailing still blasting out, almost deafening her. But that was the least of her troubles.

  She stumbled forward, her hand shooting out and gripping the rail, just as she felt herself topple forward.

  She lifted her other arm, trying to jostle the bag back into place, but it was too late. The backpack, and the cassette player within, slid free. It pitched sideways, striking the railing inches from where her hand was, and slid into the chasm between the stairs, disappearing from view.

  There was a sharp crack, then another, before the tape fell silent. One final splintering crash signaled the destruction of the cassette deck on the unforgiving concrete below.

  Mina gripped the rail tight even as her body tried to carry her down the next flight of stairs without the help of her legs.

  She reached out with her other hand and grabbed the rail on the other side of the stairs, halting her forward pitch.

  No longer in danger of tumbling headfirst down the stairs, Mina stepped onto the next stair, but when she tried to put weight on her ankle, a sharp stab of pain shot up her leg.

  She let out a whimper and tried again, all too aware of the proximity of the creature.

  This time the pain was bearable.

  It didn’t look like she had broken anything, but the near miss had cost her precious time. The creature was one landing above, and moving fast.

  She glanced down.

  There were four more flights to go, and she could not take the easy way, like the backpack did.

  She cursed her own carelessness. At least the loss of the taped vocalizations hadn’t dampened the creature’s desire to catch her. It was descending faster than ever.

  She reached the next landing and pressed onward.

  Her ankle throbbed, but the pain was bearable. She was sure it was swollen though, and once she took her weight off it for any length of time she would be done for.

  She pushed the thought from her mind, focusing instead on making it down the last steps. She could see the open door leading into the base now. She was so close. Just a few more minutes and she would be behind Ad
am Hunt’s gun, and then this would all be over.

  She was one flight from the bottom, at the entrance to the second level, but she could not use this door. Decker and Hunt were still one floor down, waiting for her. Besides, the door did not open from this side. With a final renewed effort she picked up the pace, ignoring her damaged ankle, and headed down the last set of stairs. Behind her, sounding closer than ever, the creature followed.

  70

  The crash as the tape deck hit the ground reverberated down the corridor.

  “What the hell was that?” Hunt stood blocking the corridor, his feet apart, the gun raised in the direction of the stairs. “Do you think it got her?”

  “No.” Decker stood next to him. “Listen, I can still hear her on the stairs. But I don’t hear the tape player now.”

  “I knew this was a bad plan.” Dominic hovered behind the other two men, shuffling from foot to foot.

  “Quiet.” Decker watched the corridor, willing Mina to appear. He wanted this to be over.

  “I still think…”

  ”Hush.” Hunt snapped his head back toward the corridor. “She’s getting closer.”

  “I wish she would hurry up,” Dominic said.

  “Any moment now.” Decker stared at the stairwell door, propped open with Hunt’s screwdriver.

  As if on cue, Mina appeared. Her face was flushed, and she was limping, favoring her right leg.

  “Oh thank God.” Dominic let out a long sigh.

  “She’s hurt.” Decker resisted the urge to run forward and help her.

  Mina ran the last few feet and came to a stumbling halt. She gulped down air, trying to regain her composure. “It’s right behind me.”

  “I don’t see it.” Hunt kept his eyes on the doorway.

  She glanced backward, surprised. “It was steps from me. I thought it would catch me.”