by JN Chaney
Terry tied the shirt around his mouth and head, securing the sleeves in a knot behind his ears. He was never any good at knots, but this time he’d done alright. The shirt felt snug and secure, but not so much that the pressure got to him.
“Move in,” ordered Roland, leading the charge.
Mei, Alex, and Terry followed, with John bringing up the rear.
The tunnel felt neglected, like a long abandoned storeroom. It smelled dank and earthy and was surprisingly cool.
The goggles made the darkness bearable, but the air was full of dust particles. There weren’t so many that Terry couldn’t see, but because they kept hitting his goggles and accumulating, he had to keep wiping them off.
Terry looked back at John. “This sucks,” he said.
“Your idea,” said John through a ripped piece of cloth.
“Sorry,” said Terry.
John shrugged. “Better than climbing cars, right?”
They were approaching an open room near the back of the corridor. Roland stopped and threw his fist up. Everyone stopped, waiting. He readied his gun and leaned in, looked around, and then waved the others in.
The small room was filled with electrical equipment which no longer functioned. “Where to next?” Roland asked.
“The map’s on the pad,” said Mei. “One sec.” She turned it on and proceeded to take her goggles off.
“What’re you doing?” asked John.
“Can’t see the display with those on,” she said, tucking the goggles under her arm.
“Well?” asked Roland.
“We go out there,” she said, pointing to another door at the far end of the room. “Follow the hall nearly to the end, take a left, then straight. That’ll bring us pretty close to Cole’s signal.”
Roland struggled to take his goggles off. “That can’t be right,” he said. “The target’s on the other side of the tunnel outside. It’s supposed to be in the city.” He set the headpiece on the ground. “Let me see.”
Mei handed him the pad. “Then, it must have moved,” she said, referring to the target. She and Roland both hovered above the light of the pad, waiting. “Look!” screamed Mei. “See there? It’s moving again! Oh, that’s so weird.”
“Wait a second,” said Roland. He stared at the pad, blinking and wiping the dust out of his eyes. “Are you sure this thing isn’t acting up? Let me check mine.” He pulled out his own and turned it on. Once it booted, he sighed. “Looks the same.”
“See?” said Mei. “We’re not as far off as we thought.”
“Great,” said Alex. “Tell me you idiots understand what’s happening here.”
“It means Cole’s alive, doesn’t it?” asked John.
“Hey, yeah,” said Mei. “He must have escaped!”
“What a relief,” said John.
“No!” Alex said. “Cole’s dead! How many times do I have to say it? I saw him get ripped apart…torn to pieces, do you understand? There’s no way in Hell he’s breathing, let alone running around. Don’t you idiots get it? The only thing we’re gonna find when we get to the source of this signal is a pile of bones, and the only reason it’s moving right now is because one of those rabs has it. One of them’s got a piece of Cole around its neck. That’s what you’re seeing on your stupid pad—a monster with a trophy, and it’s coming this way.” He laughed. “Don’t you get it? They’ve caught our scent! They’re coming for us. They’re coming for their food.”
*******
Terry watched as the signal moved through the corridors and rooms, stopping occasionally at an intersection, only to continue a moment later. If it really was one of the rabs, maybe it was stopping to smell the air—trying to figure out which direction the team was in before finally moving along. He didn’t like the idea of the rab hunting them—the same, twisted kind of animal that nearly killed both Alex and Mr. Nuber. Terry had never seen one himself, but the image Mr. Nuber painted was a frightening one. Please let it be Cole, he thought. Please let him be alive.
“It’s gotta be Cole,” said Mei.
“No,” insisted Alex. “I’m telling you. There’s no way he could’ve survived.”
“You did. Or don’t you remember almost dying?”
“That was different.”
“Why, exactly? Because you’re you? Don’t be silly. Variant did it. Cole’s got the same stuff running through his veins that you do—that we all do. The truth is you don’t have a clue if he’s alive or not.”
“Don’t tell me what I know, bitch!” screamed Alex.
“Excuse me?” demanded Mei. She took her goggles off, marched to Alex and pressed herself against him, staring at his face. He was almost a foot taller than her, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. “Call me bitch again,” she said, almost whispering. Her voice was cold and still.
Roland snapped his fingers. “Both of you, stop it. Are you hearing me?”
Neither backed down. “What’ll you do?” asked Alex. “You’re half my size, little girl. Look at you. You’re not even a woman yet.”
“Shut up!” said Mei. Her voice echoed through the room. “I’m sick and tired of you bullying everyone. You’re nothing but a scared little kid.”
“Says the baby,” Alex teased.
Alex was so much larger than Mei. What was she thinking? Even with his injury, he’d overpower her with ease. John quietly stepped next to Terry. He tapped Terry’s leg, the nonverbal signal for “get ready.” Terry didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. If Alex so much as breathed on Mei, they’d show him the definition of excessive force.
Alex looked at Terry and John, then at Mei. He grinned and took a step back. “Relax,” he said with a smirk. “You kids take everything so seriously. I was only joking.”
Mei didn’t laugh.
Roland still had the pad out. He handed it to Mei. “Looks like whatever it is, it’s not far now.”
Terry calmed himself. At least Alex wasn’t completely stupid.
Mei tapped the screen, zooming in, and stared at it for a moment. “You’re right. It’s moving pretty fast, too.”
Roland pointed at the screen. “There’s a larger room along the hall. If it keeps heading this way, it’ll run right through there. Might be a good idea to wait in that spot.”
“Sounds good,” said John.
“What do we do if it’s not Cole?” asked Terry.
“They armed us for a reason,” said Roland, matter-of-factly, then walked toward the hall.
Most followed, although Mei stayed back and away from Alex this time. It broke the formation, but Roland didn’t complain. Maybe he understood that it was better this way. Instead, she filed between Terry and John, as though it were her natural place.
They made space. She didn’t even have to ask. She never would.
The walk to the large room was a quiet one. No one spoke, though the sound of heavy breathing and all their shuffling feet filled the hall without much effort, destroying any hope they might’ve had for a stealth approach. Still, it hardly mattered. They were nearly there.
When they arrived, Roland went first. A moment later, he gave the signal to follow. They filed in, one by one, gathering away from the other door on the opposite side of the room. They each took a position around the walls. Roland settled near the front, nearest to the two doors, while everyone else waited at various spots behind him. “You’ll be able to see me from here,” he said. “I’ll give the signal to fire if we have to, so be ready.”
The room was filled with crates and equipment. “Looks like military,” said John.
Mei shushed him. “Quiet,” she whispered.
Terry took his goggles off and glanced at the pad. Indeed, the beeping dot grew closer with each passing second. It appeared to be entering the tunnel connected to the opposite door that they’d entered. Terry swallowed hard as the dot made its way along the hall toward them.
Quietly, he slid the goggles on and flipped from night
vision to infrared, staring in the direction of the oncoming enigma.
An odd hum filled the room, followed by a flutter of hard clicks in waves. Terry clenched the stock of his rifle, raising his eyes to the archway.
From behind the stone, an arm stretched out, gripping the side of the wall. Long quills covered its skin, which rose and fell to the rhythm of the clicks. At its end, a set of eight-inch claws pierced the rock wall, chipping away dust and pebbles with ease.
The rest of the razorback soon followed. The same barbs from its arm covered the rest of its body, scratching against the doorway as it entered. The only exception was the face, which appeared to contain the snout of a dog and the eyes of a deer, though the details were difficult to make out through the infrared. The rab stopped walking a few feet into the room, leaned back, and stared blankly into the dark. After a moment, it rustled its quills again, a series of clicks soon following. Finally, it opened its long snout, letting out another ominous hum, filling the room and gently vibrating the walls. Terry felt a crawl inside his stomach.
On the opposite side of the room, Roland sat alone against the wall, behind a metal slab. He raised his hand, giving the signal to ready their weapons.
But the creature stirred at the sound of the movement, shifting its weight. It snapped its head in Roland’s direction, tilting it sideways. There it waited, staring expressionlessly toward him.
Roland didn’t move, but neither did the rab. It continued to stare at him, humming gently—clicking its barbs over and over again.
Roland gulped.
Suddenly, the animal charged, lunging at Roland faster than its weight should have allowed. Roland scurried back, firing wildly. At the same time, the others began their assault.
Terry took a deep breath and fired his rifle, aiming at the rab’s backside. A barrage of light filled the room immediately, making it difficult to see through the infrared. Still, Terry kept his aim steady.
The creature let out its arms and extended its quills, inflating its size and sending endless rattling clicks throughout the air. It hovered over Roland, who now found himself against the far wall, still firing. In an instant, the monster’s body overtook Roland, making it impossible for anyone to see if he was okay.
“Move forward!” yelled John, who had already taken it upon himself to reposition.
“No, wait!” screamed Mei. She stopped firing. “Look! Something’s breaking!”
Terry eased off the trigger, flipped the switch on his goggles to night vision, and very quickly found the massive crack that formed high above Roland and the monster.
“There!” Mei yelled, pointing. “It’s going to break!”
Terry jumped over the crate he’d been using for cover and moved closer to the fight. “Roland, get out of there!” he screamed.
But Roland’s firing had stopped, and there was no answer.
Terry took another step, but a hand gripped his shoulder. “Wait,” said John.
Terry shook the arm away and dashed toward the slaughter. His body began to pulse wildly, and as he ran, every step he made grew longer. The light from the rab grew brighter in his goggles, so much that he could no longer see. He threw the headpiece aside, and suddenly he saw the animal clearly. The entire room, in fact, was clear as day. He saw it all.
As he neared the hunching beast, he fired a quick burst of bullets at its back. The rab turned, revealing its bloody face and chest. Terry leapt from the ground, shooting directly at its empty, distant eyes. He dove toward it, firing shot after shot until the barrel of his gun smashed into its forehead. Terry collided into the monster, flinging it against the wall. With its snout riddled with blood and bullet holes, the monster rattled its quills a final time, and then fell lifelessly to the floor.
Roland was nearby, motionless and covered in blood. Terry lifted his body on his shoulder and started moving.
“Hurry!” yelled Mei. “It’s collapsing!”
Sure enough, the rocks began to break apart, falling like an avalanche. Terry ran, Roland on his back, toward John and Mei, each of whom had started toward him. As he fell into their arms, the boulders collided all around him, shaking the walls with thunder.
Terry let Roland down, then staggered back as his knees buckled. John and Mei were quick to catch him, but not before he vomited.
Mei pressed her hand to his chest. “It’s okay. Try to breathe, alright?”
When he tried to breathe, he gasped. His stomach felt scrambled, like it was on fire. He touched his gut with his hand, it felt warm and wet. When he pulled his hand away, he saw the blood, and it scared him.
John must have seen the panic in his eyes. “Relax. It’s not bad. Remember how Alex was? He still made it, didn’t he? And that was way worse than this.”
John was right. The pain wasn’t even very bad. It felt more like a pinch than a wound. Roland, on the other hand, wasn’t even moving. “Check him,” said Terry. “Quick, see if he’s alright.”
Alex leaned over and checked his pulse and his breathing. After a moment, he shook his head.
“No,” whispered Terry, his voice trembling. He pushed John and Mei away from him, and then crawled to Roland’s side. He clutched Roland’s jacket, drenching his hands in blood. “This can’t be right. I saved him. I stopped that thing before it got to him.”
Alex backed away from the body. “We have to get out of here,” he said.
Terry ignored him, checking Roland’s pulse again, but the blood on his fingers and palm made it difficult to find the right place.
John bent beside him. “Terry, he’s right. There could be more of them.”
“We’re not leaving him like this. We can’t…” Terry wavered a moment. The room was beginning to fade. He felt around for his goggles, but then remembered how he’d left them on the other side of the room. “I can’t see,” he said, quietly.
“Hold on,” said John. He left Terry’s side for a moment, then returned, placing the back strap in Terry’s hand. “Here.”
Terry started to put them on, but stopped. He clutched his stomach. The pinch was beginning to feel more like a burn, quickly rising and filling his gut. He dropped the strap and pressed his hands against his ribs, tears rushing down his cheeks. “Ah!” he cried. The pain moved its way through the rest of his body, up toward his eyes. He reached out a hand in the darkness, struggling to grasp at something, anything.
He found a hand. Mei’s hand. “Calm down,” she said, squeezing his palm.
But Terry couldn’t keep from panicking. He was getting dizzy, and there were spots everywhere. His legs went numb and in a flash of pain that consumed his entire being, he cried out again. “Fire! I’m covered in fire!”
Then he passed out.
Chapter 19
Amber Project File Logs
Play Audio File 209
January 08, 2347
ECHOLS: Any news from the surface yet?
ROSS: I’m afraid not, ma’am.
ECHOLS: Then, we were too late. Dammit! We should have acted sooner.
ROSS: I don’t think we could have. The opportunity had to be right for us to move.
ECHOLS: Regardless, there’s got to be something we can do.
ROSS: I’ve considered alternatives, but they’ve gone so far out of range that the only way to contact them would be to send a search party. Unfortunately, we don’t have the capabilities to man an expedition for the length of time it would require.
ECHOLS: Is there anything you can do?
ROSS: I can try to boost the signal, but it would require us to send a team to the surface.
ECHOLS: Would you mind?
ROSS: Not at all. Henry’s already talking to a few engineers right now. They’re working on a way to amplify the tower’s signal strength. Hopefully, I’ll have better news soon.
ECHOLS: Good, thank you.
ROSS: If we’re lucky, maybe something will come of it.
ECHOLS: Anything’s bet
ter than silence, right?
End Audio File
January 08, 2347
The Surface
Terry awoke in the darkness, except it wasn’t dark—not to him. He could see everything nearly as well as the daylight. The cracked stone walls, full of dust and grime, stretched high above the floor into a vast ceiling. It was a different room than the previous one, at least three times the size. Mei and John sat nearby, with Alex several feet removed, each with goggles on. No one seemed to notice him stirring.
He touched his wound, but instead of blood or flesh, he found a bandage, wrapped several times around his torso. He must have been asleep for a while if they’d found the time to move and mend him. For a long moment, he searched the room with his new eyes.
There were supply crates, worn and filthy, all throughout. A few had been pried open, their guts spilled onto the floor. Tables stacked the walls across from him, still supporting long unused equipment. To their left, and several feet away from anything else, a pile of oddly shaped bags lay stacked atop one another.
“Someone want to tell me what happened?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.
“Oh, thank goodness,” said Mei, scurrying over to him. “You’re finally awake.”
John followed. “You passed out. I had to carry you.”
“Thanks, but where are we?”
“Somewhere farther in,” said John. “Looks like some people gathered here at one point, hoping to ride out the Jolt. They didn’t make it, but they left a bunch of equipment. Mei’s been trying to get some of it working.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” she said. “Most of the electronics are fried.”
“What do you mean, ‘they didn’t make it’?” asked Terry. “Are the bodies still here?”
Mei looked at the oddly shaped pile in the corner. “We moved them out of the way…but yeah, they’re here.”
“Gross.”
“Hey, tell me about it, but at least you didn’t have to move them,” said John.
