Doom 3™: Worlds on Fire

by Matthew Costello

  “Collapse of fluid control imminent.”

  Shit…

  “Convergence Chamber unstable.”

  On and on. Kohl licked his lips.What the hell is going on here?

  And then another thought:Is there anyone out there? Could he be the last person left alive in Mars City?

  Then the door opened.

  Sergeant Kelly took big steps over the dead bodies of what had been some of his best men and women, now piles of bone, skin, and whatever they had in their veins.

  One of the newer marines came up to him, eyes all wide, nearly stammering as he spoke.

  “Sarge, all secure on the right flank of the lab.”

  “Right.”

  The security doors to Delta had been shut down tight. So whatever the hell was going on in there…was sealed in there.

  And it looked—so far—that most of Delta had been cleared of the marines turned maniacs.

  Maniacs…is that what they are?he thought.

  He heard some chatter from Team Bravo over in Alpha before communications went down in Delta. Calling them zombies.

  Idiots.Zombies. Like they were in some ancient cheesy horror movie.

  Stupid morons.

  These guys had been infected. Something from the lab got to them during the explosion. Some disease.

  Just a good goddamn thing that he and enough of his marines had dodged it. Somehow immune.

  That is, if it was a disease. If it was anything medical.

  Funny, though—all the guys who would know something about it were behind the sealed doors of Delta. They’d be the guys to have answers, and the guys to get a cure.

  Kelly didn’t know the private’s name.They give me too many marines. Too much goddamn responsibility. “Good. Tell anyone you see to begin a regular patrol. I don’t care if we double efforts. Let’s make sure there are none of”—he looked down—“these things left stumbling around. Got it?”

  The private remained rooted to the spot.

  “Okay then—move it!”

  Still dazed, the private eventually turned and headed back the way he had come.

  Theo forced himself to look up one more time. His mom—the thing that looked like his mom—now only feet away. He screamed at it, hoping that might make it turn away. He could see the skin of the thing through the big gashes of the blouse. The skin all smeared colors, like the paints he used to use in school, smearing them together in a swirl with his fingers.

  Closer now. So close.

  And he sprang to his feet and started running. Down the corridor. The lights still low.

  Running as fast as he could, even though he knew his mother had to be right on his heels.

  Kane stopped, sweating now. The cooling systems were down, he guessed. Comm systems down. The whole place falling apart.

  And now he saw that the path to the elevator up was blocked by a gas jet shooting fire. No way he could go forward, at least not with the gas torching everything in it path.

  He looked up, following the path of the pipe, tracking it to the wall, then down to a control board. Which would, or course, be inoperable. Not until some of the core systems came back online.

  But there might be another way.

  He followed the pipe some more, looking for a bit of old technology. And then he found it. A small valve with a round handle.

  I know how to workthat, Kane thought.

  He went over there and started to turn the small handle. For a second it didn’t budge. More pressure, and it moved only a bit, but enough for Kane to know that he could get it shut. Harder now, hurrying, until he heard the gas jets sputter to nothing and the flames die.

  The way to the elevator was clear.

  He double-timed it back to the elevator, not even letting himself wonder what things might be like on top.

  But as soon as he got to the doors, he knew that this way up was useless. The blast had kicked in the heavy doors, pushing the twin sheets of metal right into what had been a waiting elevator car.

  He took out his PDA. Even with communications down, he assumed he could access material downloaded. He scrolled to find the Mars City map file.

  Searching the underground, and then looking left and right for another way out.

  Kane spotted it. Not far. But he also saw that to get to it, a tramway had to be moved into position to cross a gap between two sections of this underground area.

  He turned on his heels and ran back the way he had come.

  Kane watched the mechanical girderlike walkway swing into position. Whatever backup power still worked down here seemed enough to operate the walkway. He let the engine run a few seconds past the connection point to make sure it locked in place.

  Then he started across the tram, the freight elevator directly ahead.

  When halfway across, something happened. One moment there was nothing ahead of him, and then there was.

  He stopped. Something blocked his way.

  Not a marine, not a scientist, nothing human. The head looked to be encased in a metal jacket, but as this thing moved, the metal-like skin of its face moved…shifted…

  But eyes…Does it have eyes?Those dozens of whitish things—were they eyes? Though it certainly had a mouth. No doubting that. And the legs—massive, ending in giant wedge-shaped claw feet.

  It raised its hands. At least it didn’t have any weapons. Still, those claws looked nasty.

  An alien,Kane thought.We have aliens here?

  But even as the thing took a towering step close to him, Kane doubted that.

  Aliens. Arriving in spaceships? Was that what was happening here?

  He raised the shotgun. Whatever the hell it was, Kane was about to blow it off the walkway when he felt something close around his head.

  Peripheral vision told him the bad news: another one of those things had appeared the walkway behind him.

  And now it held Kane’s unhelmeted head firmly in its massive hand, squeezing tight.

  Kane quickly brought the muzzle of the gun up and behind him. With the pressure on his skull, he’d be lucky to get off even one shot.

  And he hoped that one shot hit something the creature used for an eye.

  At first he heard a hard rocklikethwack, and Kane knew his shot had only hit its bony head. But the muzzle slipped on that bone skull, and then into something soft.

  Kane fired again—and the claw mercifully loosened on Kane’s head.

  Just as the other creature got to Kane.

  He fired the shotgun without aiming, the blast right at the second creature’s midsection.

  It was flung back—but hard to tell if the blast did any damage. Both creatures were still in the game.

  No matter—Kane turned, his finger already clenched tight on the machine gun trigger, as it pumped out an incredible volley of rounds.

  Kane made sure the gunfire arced up so the line of bullets curved up to the thing’s head. He saw a bunch of shells cut a line across the first creature’s skull; the holes immediately began spraying out a thick liquid.

  But Kane kept spinning until the same machine gun ride sliced into the second creature, its fingers digging at a crater the shells made in its midsection.

  Kane took care that the thing also got a good dose of shells to its head.Never can have too many head shots…

  He watched it tumble forward, then down to its knees.

  Then amazingly—the body of the thing began to fade. Until it was gone.

  Is this what happened to them when they died, or was it bugging out of here because it was wounded?

  He’d leave that for the scientists to figure out. If there were any scientists left.

  He finished moving across the walkway to the service elevator, pressed the button, and heard the banging of gears and cables that showed that it was moving.

  Then the door opened. And two former space marines stumbled out.

  One of them had a right arm in flames, like a torch. Not that it seemed to mind.

  “Shit,” Kane
said.

  But Kane hadn’t lowered either the machine gun or the high-powered shotgun. He fired both, and the ex-marines fell to either side of Kane.

  He quickly got in the elevator, knocked the dead marines’ legs out of the way, and hit the button, heading back to the main floor.

  Kane hesitated as the elevator doors opened. Best not to simply walk out without taking a look around. The door began to close again, and Kane hit a button, forcing it back open.

  All clear and quiet here.

  Kane stepped out. He lay the shotgun against the wall and dug out his PDA. He scrolled down to a name.

  Suddenly the earpiece came to life. Communications must be back.

  “Kane? Where the hell are you?” Kelly, sounding a bit stressed.

  “On the main level, Sergeant. Heading to—”

  The sound of scattered bullets.

  “Scratch that, Kane. I want you to get to Administration, check damages, set up patrols. Anyone who’s still okay, get them patrolling the full perimeter around Admin.”

  Kane felt he should ask,Why me? Aren’t there some senior people around, some smart-ass lieutenants, some crack PFCs? Instead: “You wantme to do this?”

  Kelly hesitated. “Shit, yeah. I know where you came from. Put your goddamn skills to use, Kane.”

  “Got it. And how are you there?”

  “Just doing cleanup. Delta is sealed, so that’s okay. Got my team here checking every damn corridor.”

  Kane thought of Maria. “And Team Bravo?”

  “Doing the same in Alpha. Looks like that’s all okay too. Get hustling, Kane.”

  “Right.”

  The radio went quiet. But before he started, he hit an icon on the PDA, and the earpiece came to life again.

  “Yeah?”

  “Maria? It’s Kane.”

  “Kane, you okay? You catch any shit down below?”

  “You might say that. But I’m up here, going to Admin. You okay?”

  “Yeah. Could use an officer or three, but we got everyone spread out. Looks like the thing is over.”

  Kane thought of the creature on the walkway—appearing, then vanishing.Over? He wasn’t too sure of that.

  “Be careful, Maria. I think there are still some surprises.”

  A beat, then her reply. “You too, Kane.”

  “Always. And when you think Alpha is clear, maybe bring everyone back to Admin. Lot of questions we’re going to need answers to.”

  “Got you, Lieutenant.”

  “Private.”

  “Right, sure…”

  He heard her laugh. A good sound. So human. Then—a scream from down the hallway. “Got something here.”

  “Be care—” She started, but Kane had already killed the signal.

  37

  ELLIOT SWANN TOOK A FEW STEPS, STOPPED,then looked left, right, and then left and right again. As if he were making his way across a narrow mountain cliff edge, a mile above the ground. His breathing came so fast, the room felt like it had no air. He kept rubbing his eyes; did fear make then go watery, teary?

  A few more steps, hands flush against the wall.

  (Don’t want to fall off that cliff.)

  He heard some distant gunshots ahead. Maybe already killed. Maybe dead like the others he had seen, the other—

  (What are they? What happened to them? What’s happening here?)

  Left, right, left, right, and—

  A voice in his ear. “Swann?”

  He whispered through his gasping, heavy breaths. “Yes?”

  “Campbell here. They’re getting systems back online, counselor. But any deep space comm is still going to depend on your getting there, creating a secure channel, and getting the word out to the armada. Where are you now?”

  Though it was just a voice in his head, Swann shook his head. His voice was annoyed, raspy.

  “I—I don’t know. I haven’t checked the layout in a bit. B-but I’m going the right way.”

  Nothing for a second. Then: “Good. Just stay calm. You got to be pretty close. Just let me know when you’re there, okay?”

  Another pointless nod. Then: “Yes. I will.” And Swann took some more cautious steps down the corridor.

  Kohl looked at the two scientists who had entered the room. Ignoring him, they went to the monitors and began talking to each other.

  “We can divert to a different energy processor. And reroute the dedicated power from the Hydrocon—at least temporarily.”

  “Deep Space Comm will need a separate feed.”

  “Yeah, we can do that.”

  Then one of them looked at Kohl. “Lieutenant, we’re going to need another pair of hands in here as we change things. Just do what we say, okay?”

  “Sure,” Kohl said, but the scientist turned away without waiting for an answer.

  “Right. Good. Just keep me fully informed.”

  General Hayden looked away from the screen floating above his conference table and then right at Campbell.

  “A fucking mess, Campbell. And we don’t know what the hell happened? This may take down the entire Mars project.”

  Hayden waited for Campbell to answer, but the UAC security chief just looked around the room, as if sizing it up.

  “General, we don’t want to make any advance judgments on what may or may not happen, okay? We would of course like to know what the helldid happen today. If it’s a virus, there will be issues of quarantine, protection…I assume we can eventually get access to all of Delta’s video and—”

  A blast of gunfire from outside, and Campbell stopped.

  “Christ,” Hayden said, “I thought we had this area secure.”

  “Guess not that secure.”

  Hayden turned back to the holo screen. His finger jabbed at it as if stabbing someone. “I said I wanted updates on any activity in this sector. When you say secure, goddamn it, you better mean secure.”

  Then back to Campbell.

  “Cleaning up?” Campbell said.

  “Right.”

  “And General, I’m going to set up shop here, during the crisis. If you don’t mind.”

  The bastard,Hayden thought.Taking over just because he has Kelliher’s backing. “You’re going to stay here?”

  “Yeah. Once Comm is fully up and operational, I’ll want full access.” A beat. “Your access.”

  “I will have a lot to—”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t get in your way. And General, I even showed up with a little something to make us both feel better.”

  Campbell pointed to a large metal crate that had just been delivered minutes before.

  “A little insurance policy—just in case…”

  Hayden was about to ask what was in the crate, but then decided that—for now—he didn’t even want to know.

  Kane kept running in the direction of the scream, now horribly aware that it was the shrill and terrified sound made by a kid.

  He turned a corner and didn’t see anything. But he kept up his pace and came to another turn, to a corridor that didn’t look like it led anywhere.

  Another scream echoed horribly. Kane took the corner and kept running, sweat dripping off him, the air growing thick and heavy with the environmental systems down.

  Then, at the end, he turned and saw the boy. Curled up tight into a corner, yelling.

  “Son, it’s okay. You’re going to—”

  The boy interrupted his screaming for just a moment to point…right past Kane, behind him, to the other hall that led into this cul-de-sac.

  Kane turned. It was one of those things. Someone who used to be okay, Now, a stumbling creature ready to attack. He could see what was left of a woman’s clothing—patches of mottled skin exposed. The hair shooting out wildly from the skull. One eye drooped as if it had been damaged, the poached-egg eyeball rolling around in its socket. A long thick dark tongue lolled out of its mouth. The teeth—exposed to their roots—now all cracked, with sharp edges.

  Mom…

  Kane lowered h
is guns to her, then thought of the boy. He couldn’t. No fucking way. Not in front of the kid.

  He turned to the boy, quickly. His voice no longer soothing or reassuring.

  “Start running, son. Down there—the direction I came from.”

  The boy didn’t move. Only seconds left.

  “Start moving now!” Kane yelled, hoping that his voice alone could make the kid get up and move.

  The mother-thing kept coming, its one good eye straying from her son to Kane.

  Then, amazingly, Kane heard movement from behind.

  He lowered his voice: “That’s it. Just start running. And run as fast as you can.”

  Kane felt the boy whiz behind him, then the out-of-place sound of steps running down the hall.

  He snapped back to the problem at hand. He took the butt of the shotgun and carefully charged the zombie, smacking the gun butt into its jaw.

  It made only the slightest of grunting noises.

  But then it recoiled, which Kane knew too well meant that the thing was going to jump at him. The boy’s steps receded, faded, until Kane couldn’t hear them anymore.

  The kid was gone. And the mother was about to fly.

  “Sorry…” Kane whispered, not knowing to whom…or why.

  He pumped two rounds into the thing’s head. Large chunks of skull went flying away. Then, since it still wobbled around like—God—it could still move—he fired a third round. And finally, in its tattered and stained rags, what was left of the boy’s mother fell to her knees, then forward.

  His earpiece crackled on. “Kane? You there yet?”

  “Almost, Sergeant…almost.”

  38

  AS KANE ENTERED THE ADMINISTRATION AREA,he could see that chaos still ruled here. The floor was still dotted with bodies of things that had either been destroyed in the blast or transformed into the creatures, then shot.

  Civilians huddled together, wide-eyed, looking as if someone might slaughter them next. The few space marines in the area kept whipping their heads right and left, the fear blatantly obvious.