by Scott Shoyer
Steele looked around the weapon’s room and saw the various rifles and pistols that still hung on the wall. He approached the shotguns on the wall and reached for the one that looked like the M4 carbines Wilder and Butsko used to carry around. The card underneath it described it as a USAS-12 automatic shotgun. The banana-shaped magazine held ten rounds, but there was also a drum magazine that held twenty 12-gauge shells. Steele picked it up, grabbed a box of ammo that’d been left behind, and walked out of the armory.
He’d never abandon his sledgehammer, but he knew the game had changed once again. A sledgehammer might not work against aliens that’d come from a distant part of the universe.
As Steele walked out of the armory, he ran into Howard and Josef as they made their way to the garage.
“The armored vehicles are ready to go,” Steele told the men.
“So is this,” Josef said as he held the detonator in his hand. “With the press of a button, this bunker and upper facility will explode and cave in on itself. Nothing will be able to escape.”
Josef walked past Steele, and Howard caught the look on Steele’s face.
“The man’s friggin’ crazy,” Steele said.
“Let’s just be glad he’s on our side,” Howard said as he too walked past Steele.
The three men joined Stefan and Jennie in the garage and were met with the loud engines of the Wisent armored vehicles. Each vehicle had a large driver’s cab that could comfortably seat three people, an engine compartment, and a detachable rear module. The rear module on the lead vehicle was filled with water, ammo, and MREs, while the other was fitted with four fifty-caliber machine guns, two on each side.
“I knew these vehicles were going to be a good investment,” Josef said as he ran his hand along the lead machine.
“We’re just waiting for Wilder and Cheryl,” Steele said, “and then we can bug out of here.”
“How do we even know they’re still alive?” asked Jennie. Everyone turned to look at her. “I’m sorry, but those alien-creatures got through the hatch and two security doors pretty damn fast.”
“Don’t start thinking like that,” Stefan said. “They’re alive.”
“Oh yeah?” Jennie asked. “How the hell do we know those things haven’t already gotten through that last security door?”
“Because if they had,” Josef answered, “we’d all most likely be dead by now.”
“Let’s all get into the vehicles,” Steele said. “We stay inside them with the engines running. As soon and Wilder and Cheryl are inside, we’re outta here.”
2
1 Mile Outside Schoepke Springs
Teagan and Riker leaned against a thick-trunked tree as they caught their breaths. For the last mile-and-a-half, they’d run at a strong pace. They’d done their best to stick to the denser parts of the woods, but the more they’d ran, the thinner the trees had become.
“Holy shit,” Riker said as he caught his breath. “I never did like running.”
“Running is one thing,” Teagan said, “but running while trying to avoid alien-creatures is something entirely different.”
Both drank from bottles of water and looked at the others as they leaned against their own trees. Braden and Kimberly breathed hard as they rested and Greg sat alone and checked his weapon.
“I can’t believe we lost Murphy back there,” Teagan finally said. “He was a good man.”
“We lost a lot of good people,” Riker said.
“Well, not everyone,” Teagan said. “I know it is terrible to say, but I think Noonan got what he deserved.”
Riker sat in silence and thought about what Teagan had said. He remembered the tortured and brutalized body of Emily tied up in that room back in Round Rock. He thought about what her last moments must have been like.
Emily had been scared, scared enough to run into an abandoned building when the alien had attacked. She’d been alone and had probably thought no one was going to save her. Then Noonan had appeared and she’d probably thought she’d been safe and saved.
And then Noonan had done those things to her. Those horrible things.
Riker had been a cop all his life. His father and grandfather had also been cops and he’d always been proud to wear the badge and serve. He’d seen a lot of terrible things and had witnessed humanity at its worst, but he’d never seen anything like what he saw in that room. Emily hadn’t just been raped and beaten--she’d been tortured. Tortured by someone who thoroughly enjoyed and who was good at it. Noonan had dished out some unthinkable horrors on Emily, but he’d also showed restraint. He hadn’t wanted her to die too quickly.
“I’m not going to lie and say Noonan didn’t deserve what he got,” Riker finally said, “but damn, that was a horrible way to go.”
“He used this tragedy as his twisted playground,” Teagan said. “I hope he suffered a lot.” Teagan looked at the ground. “I know that’s a terrible thing to say, but Noonan was no more human than the thing that killed him.”
“Don’t ever feel bad for the way you feel,” Riker said, “but also don’t linger on those feelings. If you focus on them too long, they will take you to a very dark place.”
Kimberly walked over to where Teagan and Riker sat and asked, “Do you think we’re safe now?”
“Safe?” Riker replied. “We’re in the middle of nowhere surrounded by aliens that want to kill us.”
“Not about that,” Kimberly said as her voice got softer. “About… you know… Noonan.”
“We were just talking about that,” Teagan said. “Yeah, I think we’ll be okay now.”
“I’m just a little concerned because we don’t actually know for a fact that it was Noonan who did those things,” Kimberly pointed out.
“Well, look at the other possibilities,” Riker said. “There’s Braden, not exactly a killer in sheep’s clothing. And besides--he was around the bus when Emily disappeared.
“Then there’s me and Greg,” Riker continued. “I’m the one who found the body and was with the search team. The timeline for me being the killer doesn’t match up.
“Then there’s Greg,” Riker said. “Greg was on the top of the bus as a lookout the whole time. The only person it could’ve been was Noonan.”
“I guess so,” Kimberly said. “It just doesn’t feel right.”
“Nothing feels right,” Teagan said. “Our nerves are all frayed and we’re scared. We know those things are out there and we’re lucky we didn’t run into any more of them yet.”
“Hey, guys,” Braden hissed as he ran toward Riker, Teagan, and Kimberly. “We’re close.” He reached the others and bent over slightly as he leaned his hands on his knees. “I just made my way to the edge of the woods, and about another mile away is Schoepke Springs. We’re almost there.”
“Finally,” Teagan said. “Some good news.”
“Well, hold on before you start celebrating,” Braden said. “The closer we get to the main entrance of the Spring, the more of those alien pricks there are.”
Everyone’s faces grew long.
“What’s going on over here?” Greg asked as he joined them. “You all talking about me?”
“Not quite,” Kimberly said. “Braden said we’re close to the Spring’s entrance, but it is full of those alien-things.”
“How many?” Greg asked. “Can we all fight through them?”
“I didn’t get an exact number,” Braden said, “but I stopped counting after a hundred and ten. I’m guessing there’s at least two, three-hundred of those things by the entrance.” Everyone looked deflated. “What’s worse is that the front entrance looks like the only entrance.”
“Fuck,” Greg almost shouted. “What the hell are we gonna do now? We’re stranded out here with nothing. No transportation, no shelter, no nothing.”
“Wait a second,” Teagan said. She turned to Braden. “Which direction was the main entrance?”
“Straight ahead of us,” Braden answered, “but I don’t see how that’s gonna help.
There’s literally hundreds of those things all around.”
Teagan turned away from the group. “There is another entrance,” Teagan finally said as she turned her attention back to the group. “When I was here with my ex-boyfriend, we wanted to go night swimming, but the springs closed at seven. We walked around the property and found a huge gap in the fence and snuck in that way.”
“Really?” Greg almost shouted. “That’s your solution? We’re gonna look for a gap in the fence you climbed through… what? Five or six years ago?”
“Got a better solution?” Riker asked. “If you do, we’re all ears.”
“This is fucking crazy,” Greg said. “That fence was probably repaired years ago.”
“I think if the fence is fixed, then we find a vehicle and get the fuck out of here,” Braden said.
“Okay,” Greg said, “but you’re forgetting one little detail.”
Braden and the others looked at him as they waited for him to continue.
“There’s a fucking impenetrable wall of energy around this fucking town that we can’t fucking break through!” Greg yelled.
Before Riker could warn Greg to keep his voice down, four of the alien-creatures burst through the trees about twenty feet away and raced toward them.
Riker leapt to his feet and aimed his rifle at the lead creature. He shot the thing twice in the chest as it charged, but the rounds did nothing to slow it down.
“The eyes!” Teagan yelled. “Go for the eyes!”
Riker raised the rifle and fired twice more. He hit the alien in the left eye and spun the creature around. He heard Teagan and Greg fire at the other creatures, but they were too fast. Teagan shot another alien in the head, but missed its eyes. The creature looked stunned, but was somehow unfazed by the shot.
“Their fucking skin is like a bulletproof jacket,” Greg said.
“Fuck this!” Teagan yelled as she switched her carbine to fully automatic. She leveled the rifle and pressed the trigger. The woods filled with the bark of the machine gun as she kept the sights on one of the creatures that charged her. The continual barrage of bullets slammed into the creature’s chest and knocked it back. Riker saw Teagan run toward the creature and did the same. He didn’t have time to put a full magazine in his carbine, so he charged the alien in front of him as he held the Sig Sauer like a baseball bat. He swung at the alien, but the creature raised its forearm to block the blow. The butt of the Sig cracked against the creature’s forearm and the alien grabbed the rifle before Riker could pull back for another swing.
Riker took advantage of the creature’s brief distraction with the rifle and drew his Beretta from the holster. He was only a couple feet away from the alien and aimed for its eyes. He fired three bullets into the creature’s face, but only one hit its intended target. The alien’s head snapped back and Riker quickly removed one of the machetes they’d taken from the Walmart distribution center and buried the blade in the right side of the creature’s throat. The clear, thick fluid spurt from the thing’s neck as Riker pulled the machete out of its neck and struck it again. The second blow landed on the left side of its neck and did exactly what Riker wanted it to do.
The neck wounds stunned the alien enough that it stopped moving around long enough for Riker to put two bullets through each of the creature’s eyes. The alien fell over as the clear fluid seeped from the eye wounds.
Riker looked over at Teagan and saw she was doing a similar move with the alien she battled. The barrage of bullets to the creature’s chest had slowed it down and Teagan took advantage and shot the creature in the eyes at close range.
Teagan and Riker heard Braden scream and turned to see that one of the aliens had him pinned against a tree. Braden had a large gash across his face and blood poured from the wound. The gash ran from his left temple and cut a diagonal path across his upper and lower lips and ran down his chin. Luckily, the alien’s claw had missed Braden’s eye.
Teagan ran over to Braden and grabbed the shotgun that he’d dropped. She couldn’t take a shot because Braden was directly behind the alien, so she raised the butt of the shotgun and slammed it into the creature’s head. The creature grabbed Braden by the throat and slammed him harder against the tree. It turned its head to face Teagan and stared down the barrel of the shotgun.
Braden kicked at the creature’s chest and tried to loosen its claws that were around his neck, but it was no use. He reached above his head and snapped a thin branch off the tree.
“Hey, ugly!” Braden yelled at the creature to get its attention. The creature’s head swiveled back to Braden. A think liquid dripped from the alien’s teeth.
“Do it, Braden!” Teagan yelled.
Braden stabbed the branch into the alien’s eye and kept it steady as the alien thrashed around.
The alien released its grip around Braden’s neck, but before he dropped to the ground, he twisted the branch around in the alien’s eye socket and snapped away the part of the branch in his hand.
“Try pulling that out of your eye, you fucker!” Braden yelled at the creature.
“Duck!” Teagan yelled as she stepped forward and thrust the barrel of the shotgun into the creature’s undamaged eye.
Braden dropped to the ground and covered his head with his hands. The shotgun went off and sprayed Braden with sticky liquid.
“Holy shit,” Teagan said as she looked at the alien.
She saw Braden was okay and turned to find Greg and Kimberly.
Behind her, Teagan turned as Riker jumped on top of a creature and jammed the machete into its mouth. The first two rows of the razor-sharp teeth broke off like icicles, and Riker put all his weight behind his thrust as the blade struck the back of the alien’s throat.
Riker pushed down on the blade with both hands, but the alien still swung its claws at him. One of the fingers grazed over his shoulder and effortlessly sliced through the meat and almost hit the bone.
“Move out of the way,” Teagan said.
Riker rolled off the alien, and before it had a chance to pull the machete out of its mouth, Teagan took the barrel of the shotgun, violently forced it into the alien’s eye socket, and pulled the trigger. A muffled crack shot through the woods and the creature stopped moving. Teagan panted as she stood over the dead alien.
“Oh Christ!” Braden yelled as he tried to wipe the alien’s thick blood out of his hair and off his arms. “This is fucking disgusting!”
“Where’s Kimberly and Greg?” Riker asked.
“I don’t know,” Teagan answered. “I didn’t see anything. I was a little preoccupied.”
Riker looked around and tried to find anything that would tell him where the two had gone. He saw blood against one of the trees and thought the worst.
“Over here!” Riker yelled over to Teagan and Braden. “There’s blood, but no body.”
“Think they’re still alive, then?” Braden asked hopefully.
“Well, they haven’t taken any dead bodies with them yet,” Riker said, “but I have no idea.”
“It looks like the blood trail goes this way,” Teagan said as she followed the faint trail of blood. “One of them must have been injured and the other helped them get out of harm’s way. Right?”
“Or something like that,” Riker said in a hushed voice.
“You don’t think,” Teagan started, but let her thought trail away.
Riker’s gut told him something wasn’t right. His cop instincts screamed that there was something very wrong with this scenario.
“I don’t know,” Riker finally said, answering Teagan.
“What… you guys, what?” asked Braden. “What the hell is going on? You both look as though you’ve seen a ghost. Newsflash for you both: there’s no ghosts out there, only killer aliens.”
Riker and Teagan looked at each other and Riker nodded. Teagan walked over to Braden and told him everything. She told him about the condition in which they’d found Emily’s body and that whoever had done that hadn’t been alien. S
he also told him they thought the killer was Noonan, but that they had absolutely no evidence.
“So just because Noonan was in prison you thought it was him?” Braden asked as he wiped more alien blood from his hair and forehead.
“It wasn’t just an assumption,” Riker said. “Noonan had an explosive temper and a history of violence towards women.”
“In case you didn’t notice, Greg isn’t the Dali friggin’ Lama when it comes to his temper,” Braden pointed out.
“Come on, you two,” Teagan said. “Let’s follow the blood trail. Let’s hold our suspicions until we find them. For all we know, they might be huddled under some tree fighting for their lives.”
Teagan led the way as she, Braden, and Riker disappeared in the woods.
3
Sub-Facility, Schoepke Springs
Wilder and Cheryl ran to the final security door that remained locked. This was the last door that remained between them and the aliens that were coming after them. The room the door fed into was a smallish room, about as big as an average-sized kitchen. The room had plain walls, was absent of any furniture, lit by two long fluorescent lights positioned in the center of the ceiling and was built for the sole purpose of being a way station before entering the bunker.
As thick as the security door was, they could still hear the aliens as they worked on the door from the other side.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Cheryl asked Wilder, hesitating before entering the room.
“If these bastards break through the door,” Wilder said, “we’re dead anyway. If we’re in the room with them when they break through, at least it’ll be over quickly for us.”
“Thanks,” said Cheryl, “that offered absolutely no comfort.”
Wilder kneeled on one knee and began taking the C-4 out of the backpack. He placed a few of the blocks around the thick security door and then placed the remaining blocks all around the room.
When he was satisfied he’d placed enough explosives, Wilder inserted the detonators into each block. He then set a trip wire that stretched across the security door. Once the security door was breached and the door was opened, this would trigger the first block of C-4 which would then set off a chain reaction around the room. Wilder’s intent was to seal off the entire room by bringing down the ceiling and caving in the walls. If his plan worked, nothing would be able to get through this room.
