Outpost H311

by Townsend, Sara Jayne

  CHAPTER 22

  Allison ran after her husband, Kevin. The snow held her back, and he was moving ever farther away. It was very important that she catch up with him, but she couldn’t remember exactly why. She had a vague memory of an argument about their marriage. He wanted out. He said she cared more about her work than about him, and he was tired of playing second fiddle to her career. She shouted at him that he couldn’t handle that she earned more than he did, and he was being a narrow-minded alpha male. But now she regretted those words, and she didn’t want him to leave. She knew that if she caught up with him and told him she was sorry, she would have a chance to save their marriage, to make it work.

  The distance between them diminished. She was catching him up. Stumbling in the snow, she called his name over and over again. But he couldn’t hear her. She had to get closer.

  She called his name again. He stopped. The wind tousled his light brown hair, his back broad and strong under the red ski jacket. Allison kept running. He was fewer than twenty feet away now. She kept going, wanting to hold him, to tell him it was all going to be OK.

  He started to turn around. He was only ten feet away now. She stretched out her arms towards him.

  Then his face came into view. His flesh was rotted, crawling with maggots. Empty eye sockets wept a black viscous fluid.

  Allison gasped. She sat up so violently she banged her head on the bottom of the upper bunk. She blinked against the torch beam in her face. Neeta looked down at her with a concerned expression.

  “Are you OK?” Neeta asked. “You were thrashing about in your sleep.”

  “It’s nothing.” Allison rubbed her eyes. “Just a bad dream.”

  “I had one too. What was yours about?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Is it my turn for watch?” Allison sat up carefully, holding onto the underside of the upper bunk, careful not to bang her head on it again.

  “Yes. Sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Allison swung her feet onto the floor and reached for her boots. “I’ll wake Ellen. We’ll come in to relieve you in a minute.”

  A couple of minutes later, Allison and Ellen, dishevelled from sleep, shuffled into the kitchen. Neeta and Pete reported that all had been quiet during their watch then went off to their bunks.

  The room was cosy. The coal stove had been lit for several hours, and it had warmed the room nicely. The light was on, emitting a low hum, but the room was adequately illuminated. Allison crossed to the stove. She had been nagging people to keep the bucket next to it full of snow so they always had water and was pleased to see that they had paid attention. She plucked the kettle off the camping stove and filled it with water from the bucket, turning on the gas and putting the kettle on to boil.

  Ellen rubbed her face with her hands. “I never was very good with mornings. I’d kill for a Starbucks coffee right about now.”

  “Can’t help you there,” Allison said. “We can probably rustle you up some instant, though.”

  “I’ll take it.”

  “Funny, I never would have touched instant coffee back home. Priorities change in a place like this.” Allison began to rummage around on the shelf where they had stashed their supplies. “There are so many things I took for granted that I’m really missing. Like taking a hot shower, for instance. I take a shower every morning and never thought about it. Now I'm in a place where I can’t and somehow I’m coping, even though I could never imagine not showering every day.” She extracted a tin of instant coffee and set it aside while she hunted for mugs.

  “I hear tell that Jake has got the hot water rigged up, so we can have a shower in the morning.”

  “That would be bliss.”

  “I was even dreaming about having a shower last night. At least I was briefly, until it morphed into a nightmare.”

  Allison looked back at Ellen. “You had a nightmare?”

  “It’s probably more a recurring dream, since I had the same one the night before,” Ellen said. “I was running through the snow trying to catch my brother who’s been dead for twenty years. I’m struggling to catch him and then finally I do and when he turns around I can see he’s dead and rotting. It was very disturbing.”

  “I had the same dream. Although I was chasing my ex-husband. And I got to him and he turned around and his face was rotting.”

  “Did you have the same dream yesterday?”

  “You mean the first night after the crash, the night we spent in the wrecked plane? No.”

  “I wasn’t in the plane,” Ellen said. “I spent that night here, with David and Jake.”

  “It’s funny, the plane crash was only two days ago,” Allison said. “It feels like we’ve been stuck here weeks.”

  “Your ex-husband, did he pass away?”

  “As far as I know he’s alive and well. Still shacked up with the younger woman he traded me in for.” Allison spooned instant coffee granules into the scarred tin mugs.

  “I’m sorry. About him being an ex and all that.”

  “Don’t be. I’m better off without him.”

  “Do you have kids?”

  “No.” The kettle began to whistle. Allison picked it up and poured boiling water into each mug. “We were very young when we got together, Kevin and I. We met in our final year of university. We were full of ideas then, making plans for the future. We talked about kids, and I always assumed we’d have them one day. But first of all, we had to finish studying and then we started renting a place to live and money was tight, and then we got married and money was tight again, and then we decided to travel first, and then my career started taking off and I didn’t want to take time out to have a family, and then suddenly we’re in our forties and our relationship is falling apart.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ellen said. “That doesn’t really seem enough, though. I’m sorry things didn’t go the way you wanted. Sometimes life is a bit rubbish that way.”

  “It’s something I came to terms with. Some things are just not meant to be.” Allison added powdered milk to the drinks and stirred until they went the right colour. An enticing plume of steam floated up from each mug. “Do you want sugar?”

  “Yes, please. Just one.”

  Allison stirred a spoonful of sugar into Ellen’s coffee and handed her the mug.

  “Thanks.” Ellen sipped at the mug. “So you mentioned you’re divorced, but are you with anyone else now?”

  Allison switched off the gas and sat down in one of the chairs with her mug. “No. There’s not been anyone since Kevin. I always said I was too busy to meet anyone. Work always gets in the way.” She took a sip. The coffee was weak and tasted awful with the powdered milk but still managed to be wonderfully reviving. “But I think, deep down, I’m afraid of being dumped again. We spend a lot of time fooling ourselves about things we don’t want to think about. That’s the thing about being in a place like this. You spend a lot of time rethinking things.”

  “I know what you mean,” said Ellen. “I’ve already decided things will be different when I get home. And I will get home. A positive attitude is key to survival.”

  “If we can fix that radio, that would be our best bet of getting out of here,” Ellen said.

  “Jake’s convinced we need parts. We haven’t found any yet, but there’s a lot of the base we can’t get to.”

  “So many sealed doors,” Ellen said.

  “I’m still wondering why the Nazis sealed them in the first place.”

  “Yes, that’s strange.” Ellen sipped her coffee and grimaced. “Until we get them open, we won’t know.”

  “You’re right, we have to get them open. We have no hope of getting out of here without getting to those supplies. I just can’t help thinking maybe there’s a reason they are sealed and we’re about to open a Pandora’s box.” Allison set her cup down. As she did, a faint but distinct clanking noise came from the direction of the corridor. “What was that?”

  The noise came again. A rhythmic clanking.

  “I
t’s coming from down there.” Ellen pointed down the corridor towards the trap door.

  Allison stared at Ellen in dismay. “Something’s coming down the ladder.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Allison hunted around desperately for something she could use as a weapon. She grabbed the shovel that was propped in the corner of the room.

  “Let’s go take a look,” she said. Ellen nodded, wide-eyed, and followed close behind Allison.

  The two women entered the corridor and headed towards the comms room. Jake appeared from the other direction, coming from the bunk room, revolver in hand. He looked hard at them then gestured towards the opening to the tunnel with the gun.

  Allison nodded, letting Jake take the lead as they headed through the comms room into the entrance passageway. Jake paused at the end of the corridor, looking up at the trap door that covered the opening to the tunnel. It was not sealed off in any meaningful way; they had fashioned a trap door out of a sheet of wood and used it to cover the tunnel opening to protect the base from the elements and stop snow falling in. As they looked it was visibly vibrating, as if someone – or something – was banging on it.

  There was a loud splintering crash. The tunnel’s cover split in two and crashed down. With it, a figure.

  Jake ducked back, shoving into Allison and Ellen The figure clambered to its feet. It growled and snarled. It wore snow boots and cold weather gear. Flaky grey skin revealed patches of discoloured bone. Its mouth pulled back in a snarl. Red orbs floated in the skull-like visage, surrounded by tangled white hair.

  “Oh my God, David!” said Ellen.

  It lumbered towards them, claw-like hands reaching out to them.

  “Jesus Christ,” Jake said. He pointed the gun at David and pulled the trigger. The skull exploded, pebbledashing the tunnel walls with black ichor, grey brain matter and bone fragments. David’s headless body teetered for a second then collapsed to the ground. Smoke and the hot aroma of gunpowder filled the air.

  Daniel yelled from his bunk, “Will someone tell me what the hell is going on!” His cry galvanised everyone into motion. Allison hurried into the bunk room to find Daniel struggling to get out of the bunk with his injured leg.

  “You shouldn’t be moving,” she said.

  “To hell with that. What happened out there? Who got shot?”

  “It was David.”

  “What? David’s dead.”

  “Yes, but he was there. He broke his way into the tunnel. His face…it was awful.”

  “I shot it.” Jake appeared behind Allison. “Whatever it was. It might have looked like David, but it wasn’t. I blew its head off.”

  “Help me up,” Daniel said. “Get me into the refectory and gather everyone together. I’ve figured out some stuff from the lab notes, and it’s important everyone hears it.”

  Jake and Allison between them carried Daniel into the refectory and settled him into a chair, with his injured leg, wrapped up in filthy bandages, propped up on another chair in front of him. There was an unpleasant smell coming from his leg that worried Allison. If they didn’t have any antibiotics, he could die from infection.

  Jake then went off to deal with the body in the hall, ordering Ellen and Pete to come with him. No one put up any argument. Everyone was up and awake, and in a state of shock as they sat around the table. Allison put the kettle on to boil again and made tea for everyone.

  Ten minutes later Jake, Ellen and Pete returned. Allison pushed mugs of tea towards them. They took them and sat down without a word.

  Daniel spoke first. “We need to talk about what just happened.”

  “What just happened is that someone who was dead was up and moving around,” Jake said. “That just doesn’t happen. But it did, and how the fuck are we supposed to understand that?”

  “I’ve been trying to decipher the lab notes that you found in the wrecked lab,” Daniel said. “I think I may have a solution. You said you found a machine in the lab that still seemed to be working.”

  “Yeah,” Ellen said. “It was making a humming noise.” She reached across the table for the sugar canister and added two more spoonfuls to her mug. Her hand shook so much she spilled granules all over the table in the process.

  “Isn’t that bad luck?” Neeta pointed at the spilled sugar.

  “That’s when you spill salt,” Allison said. “Not sugar.”

  Daniel indicated the file folder and the notebook which sat on the table in front of him. “The file folder contains notes about the experiments in the lab that were going on when the Nazis were here. From what I can gather, they were researching preservation techniques. They wanted to find ways of extending life.”

  “What, you mean human life?” Allison said.

  “I think that was the ultimate aim, yes. The experiments started a bit smaller than that. There are references to experiments on mice with tumours, and the tumours shrank, that kind of thing. There’s nothing unusual about that, many experiments into cancer drugs do the same thing. But then they start referring to the machine they are building. And that’s where things get a bit sinister.”

  “That’s the machine we saw in the lab,” Ellen said. “It seemed to be working, but I don’t understand how it can be. How can there still be electricity here, after all this time?”

  “This is the thing,” Daniel said. “I don’t think it’s running off electricity.”

  “What else can it be running off?”

  “I’m not entirely clear on that, because the lab notes are a bit vague. They refer to other experiments going on in relation to paranormal activity.”

  “Surely you’re not suggesting this machine of the Nazis is running on supernatural energy?” Allison said.

  “I’m not entirely sure what to suggest,” Daniel said. “The notes make clear reference to paranormal experiments. The experiments in the lab with the machine relate to research in preservation. It implies the two are connected, but I’m not sure how.”

  “But you think the machine in the lab is some kind of preservation machine?” Allison asked.

  “That’s the impression I get, yes. We know the tins of food in the pantry are remarkably preserved. There’s even meat hanging up in the freezer, and it still looks fresh. I think it has something to do with their experiments.”

  “But we ate the food.” Ellen wore an expression of disgust. “Now you’re saying it’s been tainted by some kind of unnatural experiment? What will that do to us?”

  “I really have no idea,” Daniel said. “But no one’s looking particularly worse for wear.”

  “I don’t understand how this connects to David coming back from the dead,” Allison said. “Are you trying to tell us that’s connected to this experiment to preserve life?”

  “I’m offering it as a potential explanation for something that otherwise has no explanation,” Daniel said. “We got to the base yesterday, and David was dead. What did you do with the body?” He looked at Jake.

  “We took it outside and buried it in the snow,” Jake said.

  “How far away from the base?” asked Allison.

  Jake shrugged. “About twenty feet, maybe. It was too awkward to carry it far. We dug down a couple of feet into the snow and put it there. I figured the snow would preserve it, and if rescue comes along and we wanted to take him with us for a proper burial, we could find him again.”

  “Was there any chance he wasn’t really dead, and he got revived somehow?” Neeta picked up her mug of tea in a trembling hand, the liquid splashing over the edge. She put it down again without drinking any.

  Jake shook his head. “I checked his vital signs. There’s no doubt he was dead.”

  “And yet there he was, a few minutes ago, walking around,” Nathan said. “That’s impossible.”

  “Impossible or not, that’s what happened. Look,” Jake said. “David was dead when I hauled his body out yesterday. A few minutes ago, something that looked like David broke through the tunnel. But I would say that whatever it was, it
wasn’t David.”

  “Did you see that thing’s eyes?” Ellen said. “They were completely red. They looked like demonic eyes. I agree with Jake. That thing wasn’t David.”

  “But it was wearing David’s body,” Daniel said. “And I think it has something to do with the experiments that were going on here, that still seem to be having an effect.”

  “All the more reason to get the hell out of here,” Jake said. He glared at Pete, who was moving in close to him, focusing the video camera. “Will you get that thing out of my face?”

  “This scene is gold,” Pete said, not taking his eye away from the lens.

  Jake slammed the table. “It’s not a scene, it’s a fucking serious situation. You move that thing away from me now or I’ll break it into pieces.”

  Pete didn’t stop filming, but he moved away from Jake, pacing the room to get clear shots of everyone.

  “But the question is what do we do now?” Allison said. “There’s still a lot of the base that’s sealed off. And we don’t know why.”

  “The Nazis might have had a good reason,” Nathan said. “Did they unleash something awful, so they sealed it and ran away? We should stay away from it.”

  “The problem is still that we have no way of getting out of here with the resources we’ve presently got,” Jake said. “If there’s some kind of plane in that hangar, that would get us out of here. Even if there are parts to fix the radio, we can contact someone. At the moment, we’ve got sweet fuck all.”

  “We also need to learn more about what they were doing here, and shut it down if we can,” Allison said. “The priority should be unsealing that infirmary door. There could be vital supplies in there. And we need to access the rest of the supplies in the base. Who’s with me?”

  Jake and Ellen raised their hands simultaneously. Daniel’s followed. Pete put up his hand a moment later, and Neeta followed. Only Nathan did not raise his hand, sitting with his arms folded and glowering at the others.