by Oliver Tuson
And they did. With a chorus of coughs Hawkins came to. Sanchez’s eyes beamed with delight and almost tears as his friend rolled over and vomited up the residue of the gas effects. A moment later he looked up at his friend with a smile, but clutching his heart.
“Jesus old man… you broke a rib!” He managed through heavy breathing. Sanchez simply made a fist and hit him in the chest causing him to whine with more pain.
“Don't be so fucking stupid again! What the fuck were you thinking!” Sanchez said with anger. Looking down on them, Clarkes relief at seeing him alive was also quickly turning back to rage at the man's actions and risks. The last in many he thought. He went to start shouting at him but was cut short by Millerchip’s distressed voice.
“No… no…no…” His voice was soft, almost a whisper as he moved over to the lifeless body of Frost that now sat slumped against the wall in the cover of the stairwell. The wound on his leg had bled heavily through the bandages and now pooled around him. The loss of blood finally taking its toll. He knelt beside him placing a hand on his shoulder.
All the survivors looked at their comrade with sadness building up on their already stressed emotions. It wasn’t lost on Clarke that Millerchip was the last alpha left. All his team were dead. He looked at bravo team who were all getting to their feet. Williams took his eyes off of Frost and was checking over the woman’s condition. “I got a pulse, she’s alive but that knock to the head has done some damage. She’s still unconscious.” He held up a security card. “I found this on her when checking her over…” Clarke walked over and collected it.
‘Head of Security’. The picture on the card wasn’t of her. She must have picked it up somewhere else. He walked over to the door with ‘Security and Control' stamped above it. Holding it to the sensor panel beside, it flashed green and the doors slide open revealing an airlock. Another door was set a few meters back that wouldn’t open until the other closed again. He raised his weapon as he stepped in to investigate. Behind him the survivors were walking towards Millerchip and the body of Frost. All sharing a moment of grief for their friend.
Then they heard it. The distant shrieks of more of those creatures coming from where they had found the mutilated corpse and first encountered the creature. They looked towards Clarke and the airlock. Another Shriek echoed, closer this time, coming out of the common room.
Without hesitation, they all moved into the air lock. Williams and Sanchez stopping to quickly pickup and carry the young woman. They could now hear the scuttling of more monsters as they scrambled through the vents getting closer and closer.
With a final look at Frost, his body illuminated in the dull red emergency lights still flashing around the centre, Clarke closed the outer door. Once it locked itself tight, there was a brief pause. Silence filled the small space. The wash of emotions and adrenaline starting to take its toll on the survivors. Clarke looked at Hawkins who had seemed to have bounced back from the dead with enthusiasm as always. The man takes too many risks, he thought as the weight of keeping his men alive was becoming heavier and heavier. Hawkins must have felt his team leader’s stare as he turned his head and made eye contact. The young solider read his mind in an instant and went to speak, but suddenly changed his mind, as if he couldn’t find the words. Or didn’t want to have another argument.
The inner door hissed loudly as the hydraulics started to open the airlock, breaking the silence and making the group jump slightly. Their bodies and minds on edge. They squinted as bright light flooded through the gap as the door continued to open. The first proper light they had seen since entering the cave entrance, now far above them. Half shielding their eyes as their vision adjusted, the six men all raised their weapons ready to enter the unknown once more.
The survivors stepped in to a large control room. A sturdy table was positioned in the centre where various papers and coffee cups sprawled across it. Against one wall ran a bank of monitors, all displaying ‘No Camera Signal, Main Power Failure’. Below them ran a series of computer terminals and other IT kit. The team peeled off and cautiously checked around the room and the series of smaller offices that branched off the main area. Moments later a series of “Clear!” rang out.
“Check for vents, we don’t want any more surprises from those creatures.” Clarke said as he investigated the area. The soldiers all looked around the ceilings and walls. Nothing. Just smaller vents the size of plates. Nothing is coming through there Jasper thought as he inspected them closely before answering Clarke.
“If there is an airlock into here boss, then it stands to reason that this area is sealed off from the rest of the facility. A security measure of some type.” Looking over the banks of computers and technology around the room, he smiled as he added whilst pointing to the lights. “Must have its own limited power supply too.” He went to one of the computers and got to work, doing what he did best.
Williams and Sanchez carried the woman and laid her on a desk in one of the small offices. After checking the airway and breathing, the medic set to work bandaging the wound to her head. As he did, he noticed the looks of the young woman. Her thick dark hair and round face reminded him of his wife, far from this hell back in their home in Hampshire. For a moment, he felt a longing to be back there. Safe and away from all the recent death and destruction. He stopped his mind from thinking. Knowing he needed to stay mentally strong. Thinking of anything other than the now would not help him. With a sigh he pushed his thoughts back down and finished up the treatment as Clarke joined him.
“I've stabilised her and made her comfortable. She’s alive, but she needs proper medical treatment.” Clarke nodded as he looked at the unconscious woman lying on the desk. Sanchez had found a coat in the office and laid it over her. It suddenly reminded Clarke of the chill down here, now the adrenaline was wearing off from the recent fighting. He unconsciously shivered slightly. The movement making Williams look at the man.
“Jesus Clarke… your back!” The medic went to touch the shrapnel wound on the bravo leaders back. “It’s nothing, check the others.” Williams ignored him and pushed him gently towards the large table in the middle of the control room. He set his rifle down on the surface as the medic went to work, making him wince in pain. Through gritted teeth he watched Jasper working on the computer terminal.
“What you got Jas?” Jasper didn’t look up as worked on the system. “This room only has a limited power supply for some systems, but wait a second,” he replied as he kept tapping away until one of the monitors on the wall flashed to life displaying the same map they had discovered in the reception room on the level above. But this time the lower levels were displayed.
The next level below them was marked up as ‘Facilities’. Huge rooms branching off from a similar central area as they had just been. A large power generator room, water and air supply. It was all there. All fuelling this massive facility. Clarke looked to the level below that one, marked Research and Development. Another central atrium with six more areas branching off. All were labelled ‘Research and Development Laboratories’.
They all looked at each other. “This must be it! The weapons, the nukes, they gotta be down there. This must be a WMD facility.” Hawkins looked at Clarke his eyes bright with the thought of success. Williams tapped Clarke’s shoulder to say he had finished. The bravo leader nodded his thanks before looking back at Hawkins.
“I don’t know. I've got a feeling this isn’t about nukes.” The survivors all looked at him questioningly. “I’m not sure, but I read some notes in those offices just before we were attacked back there. It wasn’t clear, but…” He paused as he tried to find the words. “But I think this is about something else. Something bigger, something more controlled and precise… something more deadly.”
“More deadly than a nuke?” Hawkins added as he pointed to the research and development area on the map. “Besides, Amed was a nuke scientist? Right?” He added. Clarke shrugged.
“That's what they told us.”
&
nbsp; “What? You think they were wrong?” Hawkins asked in surprise.
“Or lied to us.” Clarke regretted saying it instantly and moved on quickly. “Look, I don’t know what's going on here. But this whole place makes no sense. From Ahmed’s capture and death, to those things out there… and in here. And not a trace of anything Arabic, all the way out here in Iraq’s deserts.”
“Guys, I got something. A file marked Weapon Trials.” Jasper interrupted the conversation to Clarkes happiness, wanting to change the subject. “Open it.” Jasper went to work and a second later a few monitors came alive.
A series of camera angles showed a simple Iraqi village. Its plain buildings clustered together around an open area in the middle where a well sprung up from deep in the ground. A ring of fences ran out from one side were goats and chickens roamed the dusty ground. A farmer was just beginning to throw feed down for the chickens that darted towards him, clucking in anticipation of the meal. The rest of the village’s inhabitants were going around their everyday tasks. A woman carrying water from the well towards her home. A group of men stood in the shadow of a hut talking. On the far side of the village children were playing. Chasing each around and excitedly playing various energetic games. At the bottom of one of the screens a countdown titled ‘Time to Extinction’ was counting down from thirty minutes.
The group watched the screens uneasily as a large military style helicopter rolled into view by the side of the farming section. The noise startling the goats that were milling about. Hanging from a cable was a large cluster of six cylinders. The metal shining in the bright sun. The aircraft descended until the bottom of its cargo was touching the ground. After detaching its cable, it then rose into the sky and flew away leaving the large cylinders on the ground.
The farmer put down the remainder of the feed and inquisitively started to walk through the startled animals towards the strange cargo. As he did, the lids of the tall tubes slowly opened on their hinges. Like a missile silo opening up ready to deliver weapons that would soon be rocketing into the air. The farmer froze amongst his live stock.
The soldiers then watched the monitors in horror as the same creatures bravo had encountered earlier in the conference room, leapt out the cylinders. Six of them racing towards the goats that bolted away in shock and fear. One by one, the creatures fell onto the helpless animals. Their claws tearing them to pieces with ease. Blood and limbs flying across the dry ground. The farmer was running in terror towards the safety of the buildings as the creatures finished of the last goats and bolted after him.
He made it as far as the first building before the lead monster was on him. Knocking him to the floor and savagely tearing at his throat until the head came away. The woman carrying the water saw the sight and screamed in horror. Villagers nearby came running towards her aid, unaware of the focus of her terrified screaming.
The monsters leapt and darted on to them. Killing them in moments. They darted into the buildings through windows and opened doors, emerging back out dripping with more blood. A man ran out from a building and stood in the open area by the well holding a shotgun. As the monsters flowed like a deathly water towards the square, he fired again and again. Eventually one fell wounded close to his feet, withering in pain as its blood poured out.
The shooter was already aiming at the next one when the gas from its blood hit him. Coughing and blinded from the incapacitating gas, he dropped his weapon as he rubbed at his eyes and mouth. Seconds later the pack of monsters hit him. Their savagery appeared increased at the sight of their wounded member still writhing around.
The pack kept going. Through the buildings finishing the final inhabitants until they reached the distant end, where the children had stopped playing and now desperately ran for their lives away from the village. But they were not quick enough. Helplessly they fell, one by one as the pack of monsters finally claimed them all.
Once all the life in the village had been brutally ended. The pack of monsters began to feast on their prey. Savagely devouring the victims until a moment later the timer reached zero.
One by one the monsters all reared up, as if in immense pain, then dropped to the dusty ground. They thrashed about for a few minutes kicking up small clouds of dust, before eventually laying lifeless on the ground. The cameras kept recording for a few more minutes. The village that was once full of life, now a scene of horrific death. The monitors went blank as the footage ended.
No one spoke as they digested what they had witnessed. “Those kids…” Millerchip’s voice cut through the tension of the room. The graphic images slicing deep into the family man’s emotions. They all stared at the blank screens a moment longer until Hawkins broke the eerie spell of silence.
“Why did those things die? They just dropped dead?”
“No coincidence that it was when the countdown hit zero. Like they were trained… or programmed to do it?” Jasper added.
“Or bred…” Clarke said trying to solve the mystery of the place.
“You mean you think those things are being bred here?” Hawkins asked.
“I don’t know. Something I read about being able to wipe out a civilisation, but leaving the infrastructure intact.”
“Jesus. This place is fucked.” Hawkins stated as he leaned back against the wall.
“Either way, whatever is going on down here, we have to find a way out.” Millerchip stated as he brought the team back on track. Clarke watched as Jasper was quietly still searching the files and computer systems. Doing what he does best and what he loves. “Jas, give me a sitrep brother.”
“Situation report… right… where to start… Ok. Remember we were getting jammed outside? That is this place. It’s jamming everything within about five kilometres.”
“Can you shut it down?
“Not without the access codes. Even if I did, our satcom radio is still up there, or buried depending how much of the mountain came in with the cave entrance.” He shuddered at the memory of almost getting buried alive.
“And about the cave in. This whole place is rigged to go. Explosives set at key points to bury this facility under the weight of the mountain. That grenade must have triggered the explosives in the cave mouth. I think someone was about to detonate them too, as all the authorisation codes were already entered. But, for some reason, no one pressed the go button.”
“Shit,” Hawkins said. “We best be careful with any more grenades then.”
“Yeah, maybe. But there’s good news. It looks like this room controls the whole facility. If we can get the power on, then I think I can reboot most of these systems, including communications.”
“They got comms here?”
“Looks that way. Their very own satcom system all rigged up to go. Once powers on we might be able to get a call out to command. I'm assuming the jammer is programmed not to interfere with their own kit and uses a unique frequency. I'm also assuming the cave in didn’t affect the facility’s antenna, where ever it is hidden. But yeah. Get me power and I might be able to get a call out for reinforcements.”
The group all shared a sense of hope, smiling and slapping Jasper on the shoulder. “Nice one Jas!” Hawkins said as he ruffled the soldier's hair like a dog, instantly regretting it as the sweat and dust stuck to his hand.
“What other systems you got at your fingertips?” Hawkins asked.
“We got CCTV on the whole facility from here and this room controls access to all the lower levels. Elevator controls, door controls, lighting controls, camera controls, we got it all… but we need the power.”
“So, if we can get power back on. We can radio out. Get help on its way and sit in the safety of this room until it arrives. Safe from those fuckers stalking around out there?” Millerchip summarised as the plan began to take shape in the alpha’s mind.
“In theory, yeah. If you can get the power on and I can get the systems operating, then yeah. Simple.”
“You can do anything Jas.” Hawkins said enthusiastically as the plan em
erged. He stopped suddenly, his look turning to a more puzzled expression.
“Wait… how do we get the power on?”
“That's the bad news.” Jasper said as he turned his chair to face the men. “Either they turned the power off to the facility off on purpose, or something caused the power to cut out. Maybe a power surge tripped it or something else. I’m not sure what, but it should be a simple case of either switching the power back on or rebooting the power controls.”
“Sounds easy? What's the catch?” Hawkins asked as he looked at the worried expression on Jasper’s face.
“The catch is….” He pointed to the map. Running his finger from their current location, down a level and into an area marked ‘Power Facility’. “You need to get down to here to do it manually.
“Shit! So that means going back out there. With those fuckers hunting us in the shadows?”
“Fuck.” A few of them muttered almost in unison. Clarke looked about at the remaining men. All of them looked battered and broken. All with various injuries, cuts and bruises. Covered in dust and grime. As much as he didn’t want to risk any lives, he knew it was the only option.
“If we don’t go, then we die down here. Either from starvation or from those things eventually finding a way in.” That was motivation enough for Clarke who didn’t wait for a response as he emptied the contents of his assault vest on the table. Pulling out rifle magazines and grenades. “Weapons and ammo on the table gentleman, take stock of what we got.” One by one the soldiers did the same. Lining up spare ammo with Clarke’s.
“That's not great.” Hawkins said taking in the sight of limited ammo and grenades. Clarke nodded as he looked at Jasper who was pulling open a metal locker set against the wall. On the inside were small portable radios with stickers marked ‘security team’ stuck on the sets. Each with a lead and earpiece.
