by Kyle West
“Makara, you have a copy?”
I walked a few steps more. I left the grow lights behind, entering a shadowy area of the Hydroponics Lab. Thick foliage covered the lane I walked on, reducing Anna’s and Ruth’s voices to nothing. There was nothing but the buzz of lights, the clack of my boots on metal, the hissing of static. On my left rose the one living walnut tree in Bunker 108, its upper roots bathed in translucent hydroponic fluid. The nuts in their thick husks carpeted the floor thickly along with fallen leaves, so much so that as I walked, my boots crunched over them.
I listened intently to my radio, but no voice came through – as expected. I sighed, stopping on the other side of the lab. I was far from both Anna and Ruth. If I couldn’t pick up Makara here, then I couldn’t pick her up anywhere.
I had raised the radio to my mouth once more when...
“...Hello, Alex.”
A male voice I didn’t recognize garbled through the radio. I stared at it, wondering if I’d misheard.
“Who is this?” I asked.
Silence. My heart raced. Finally, the man answered.
“You let him in, three months ago,” the voice rasped. “Now, you’ll have to let him out.”
I let him in? It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about: the infected man from Bunker 114.
“I asked you a question,” I said. “Who is this?”
The man didn’t respond for a long time. When he finally did, his voice sent chills down my spine.
“You have to let him out.”
“What do you mean, him? No one’s in here.”
I had no idea who or what this crazy man was talking about. I thought of what Ruth told me about Old Darcy. Could this really be...?
“Darcy?”
There was silence for a moment.
“Yes,” Darcy said. “Good to know I’m not forgotten.”
“Everyone knows about you. I didn’t think you were alive.”
Darcy gave a sigh, long and tired.
“I never got enough credit,” Darcy said. “No one believed me about Bunker One. They were hiding it from us. There’s a lesson for you, Alex. You tell the truth and they lock you up.”
“What truth was that?”
“They let it in there. Just like you let it in here.” The man sighed. “It was only a matter of time.”
“Is that why you killed them, then?”
Darcy went quiet. “You know nothing. I loved my family. It had to be done. They were infected.”
“Or maybe you were just paranoid.”
“Lies,” Darcy said, with a snarl. “We will all fall, one day. I had to stop it while there was a chance to. Something you should have done, Alex. Sacrifices must be made.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I heard your girlfriend talking to you. Makara, was it? She’s got a pretty fancy toy. Not every day you hear Odin mentioned.”
“How do you know about that?”
Darcy laughed. “I know more than you think, Alex. Much more.”
I realized that Darcy knowing about Odin probably wasn’t too Earth-shattering. He had been a colonel, after all, and could have been privy to that information.
“But let’s get back to you,” Darcy said. “Maybe I should thank you for letting him in. When you did, they let me out.”
“Why?” I asked.
Darcy chuckled. “Why? Because I told them what they wanted to hear. And they believed me. People will believe anything they want to be true, Alex. Never forget that.”
“Who let you out?”
“Officer Burton did personally. Put a gun in my hand himself. Maybe they all died, in the end. I survived. And that’s what matters.”
“Where are you?”
Darcy sighed, disappointed. “Alex, I’m not going to tell you that. That would be no fun.”
“What do you want from us?”
“I want out of here. I want the open air and freedom and...” Darcy sighed. “I don’t know what I want, to be honest, Alex. I thought I wanted the girl for a while. Elusive, that one. I’m very lonely, you see. I’ve been living in the dark too long.”
I said nothing for a moment. I wondered if I was being too loud – if my voice was only serving to draw the Howlers back to me.
“I’m tired of this,” I said. “Goodbye.”
I paused, waiting for a response. But nothing came.
That was when I heard a metal door slam open from somewhere beyond the lab. All doors to the lab itself were shut and barricaded. Still, I heard the cries of Howlers from outside the door nearest me, maybe twenty feet away. Suddenly, that door was getting slammed, rattling the furniture gathered in front of it.
And judging by the way the furniture was being scooted back along the floor, that barricade wasn’t going to last long.
“Good luck, Alex,” Darcy said.
Somehow, Darcy had let these monsters in.
Chapter 5
I ran back through the foliage, past pea plants, fruit-laden trees, and rows of potatoes. We were getting out of here a little sooner than we’d thought. That was when I ran smack dab into Anna.
She cried out as we both collapsed to the floor. Ruth stood above the both of us, offering us each a hand, her face an expression of alarm.
“What’s going on? We heard the door slamming.”
“There’s Howlers out there,” I said, pointing behind me. “Your friend let them in.”
Ruth narrowed her eyes, looking through the foliage toward the door. “He’s trying to flush us out.”
“Well, where do we go?” I asked.
“The only way we can go,” Ruth said. “Out. Follow me.”
She led us through the rows of plants at a run. She turned sharply toward the entrance we had come through to get in here.
“That way?” I asked. “Isn’t that what he would expect?”
“We’re sure as hell going to try!” Ruth said.
She stopped before the thick metal door, unbolting it.
“Have that flashlight ready,” she said to me.
Anna drew her katana.
Ruth opened the door with a creak, revealing the dark chamber containing the recycling tanks beyond. As I shined my flashlight around, I saw the cylindrical forms of the tanks along with the unused vats of hydroponic fluid.
Anna and I took the lead, Ruth behind with her pole and hook. After we entered the chamber, Ruth shut the door behind. If the Howlers broke into the Hydroponics Lab, then we didn’t want them ambushing us from behind.
I followed the dark line of the corridor, so narrow that it felt like it was pressing against me. Finally, we reached the spiral stairs – the ones that led to the atrium. We began to climb quietly. The screams of the Howlers emanated from behind. They had finally busted through the door leading into the Hydroponics Lab. It probably wouldn’t take them long to find out where we had fled. We picked up the pace.
Finally, I reached the top. I pressed an ear against the cold metal of the door leading into the atrium. I had no idea what lay on the other side, but it was the only way out. If we couldn’t get out this way then were probably going to die in Bunker 108.
“Go,” Anna said quietly behind me.
I unlatched the door, and opened it into darkness. I drew my Beretta, pointing it ahead.
There was absolutely nothing.
“Now’s our chance,” I said.
We walked into the atrium, shutting the door to the stairwell behind. We faced the dark corridors leading deeper into the Bunker, weapons ready, as we backed toward the rock tunnel that would lead out of Bunker 108. The linoleum of the Bunker floor gave way to hard rock as we entered the tunnel. The temperature dropped instantly. I took a few more steps, pointing my flashlight upward –
Only to find that tunnel completely blocked by a Behemoth – at least twelve feet tall, its legs as thick as tree trucks and its torso a sickly pink and ripped with muscle. Instantly, I clicked off my flashlight. It breathed heavily in the darkness,
giving no sign that it had noticed the light or our entrance. Its two white eyes glowed like fiery stars.
The radio at my side crackled. I rushed to turn it off, cursing myself for leaving it on. Before I could manage, however, I heard his voice.
“I told you that you would have to let him out, Alex.”
From ahead, a low rumble emanated from the Behemoth’s throat as the man cackled from the radio. I cut off his taunting at last and the tunnel was silent once more.
But it was too late. The Behemoth started forward, almost uncertainly, toward us. Obviously it could not see well, otherwise it would have charged right away – but it was quick to pick up some sort of scent, because I could hear its nose sniffing heavily. I also remembered what Ruth had told me – these things were attracted to movement and were able to home in on it, even in darkness. The worst thing we could do right now was run.
We all looked at each other, not saying a word. Together, we backed slowly out of the tunnel as the Behemoth pressed forward at the same pace. Its shadowy bulk paused at our movement. It sensed us.
I gradually raised my hand, commanding Anna and Ruth to stand still. In my peripheral vision, Ruth shook from nerves. I wished she would stop.
We waited for what seemed a full minute. Something like a growl escaped the throat of the Behemoth ahead as it started forward again at a walk.
We couldn’t stay here. And we couldn’t back away at just the right speed to both get away from the Behemoth and not completely alert it to our presence.
We had to run.
I looked at Anna, trying to communicate that fact with my eyes. She nodded, slowly, and began to back away. Ruth looked at me nervously. The motor pool was now our only other way out of here.
That was when the Behemoth’s speed increased. We hadn’t even had the chance to start moving again.
“Go,” I whispered.
I spun on my heels, but already, Ruth and Anna were dashing from the tunnel. I charged after them.
From behind a horrible roar shook me to the bone. The ground vibrated as the giant monster gave chase, thundering toward us. Now in the atrium, we ran on into the darkness. I hurried to click my flashlight back on, but was having difficulty. We would be approaching the Caf soon.
From ahead came the screams of Howlers. My flashlight clicked on at just the right time, bouncing up and down, settling on a pair of white glowing eyes – then another...and another...
There were three Howlers ahead of us, mere feet away. And with the Behemoth right behind, we were trapped.
***
There was no time to do anything but raise my Beretta and fire. One of the creatures squealed as my bullets entered its chest as the other two Howlers charged ahead from the darkness. Anna stepped forward, slicing one of the Howlers in its abdomen, causing its fetid bowels to spill out. A horrible reek filled the corridor. The remaining Howler went for Ruth, who stepped backward and jabbed her pole right through one of its eyes. The creature wailed and toppled to the floor, writhing like a bisected worm.
“Keep going!” I said.
We ran past the bodies of the Howlers deeper into the darkness. The one I had shot down was still ahead, its body swelling and threatening to pop. We weren’t going to run past it in time.
With the Behemoth just a few yards behind, I pulled both Anna and Ruth toward the right, into the open archway that led into the Caf. As soon as we passed through, several plops sounded. Walls of purple slime shot across the archway. And still, the Behemoth thundered down the hallway, letting out another baleful roar
And from behind came still more wails. I swept my flashlight across the Caf floor, finding a maze of upturned tables and chairs. We could not escape quickly through that, and the Behemoth could crash through it all, anyway. We had to stick to the Caf’s perimeter – circle along the wall until we came out the other archway, not directly opposite of us, but along the wall to our left.
Even as I took stock of the situation, several Howlers spilled out of the kitchen doors, crawled over the buffet, slithered from beneath tables.
“Come on!”
I ran ahead, firing a few shots. One of my bullets connected with the shoulder of a male Howler, who hissed and snapped in pain. Though the Howlers felt pain, it sure didn’t do anything to stop them. We hopped overturned tables and chairs toward the archway. Once we exited the Caf, it would put us in front of the medical bay. Once there, we had only to follow the main corridor around a corner. Then it was a straight shot past the Officers’ Wing and then into the Rec. From there, we could take a corridor to the motor pool. It was the only chance we had, as I saw it.
We ran along the wall of the Caf as the Howlers pushed their way through the downed furniture. They kept getting caught in the tables and chairs, which worked in our favor. We easily made it to the archway and into the corridor beyond.
Only to have a Howler blindside me from the left.
Anna was on him in an instant, slicing him along the back. The Howler yowled and convulsed on the floor.
“Come on,” Anna said, pulling me up. “No time to finish that one off.”
I forced myself to my feet. Behind, the Behemoth charged into the Caf. We passed the medical bay. Its double doors were wide open, but I didn’t even bother to check for anything. It led nowhere where we needed to be. In the Caf, the Behemoth seemed to be fighting the Howlers by some miracle. Apparently, Radaskim xenolife fought amongst itself. Whatever the case, it was the distraction we needed. We sped down the corridor, finally reaching the corner.
We made the turn, running down the dark, empty hallway. Our boots clicked on the linoleum. The screams of the Howlers faded. It seemed as if most of them were concentrated on the Behemoth in the Caf. That didn’t mean we were out of trouble yet. On our left we passed the corridor leading to the Officers’ Wing. I didn’t bother shining my light in that direction; I knew it to be a dead end, like the medical bay. I doubted the Howlers Anna and I spotted earlier were still there.
We passed a flight of stairs leading downward. The entrance to the bigger apartments broke off from the main corridor. This, too, was a dead end, so we ignored it and ran on.
At last, we arrived inside the Rec Room – a vast space taken up by basketball courts on one side and couches and flat-screens on the other. The room was completely trashed – the screens were broken, the couches torn and flipped, and blood smeared the floor. A rotten musk hung in the air. As in every place else in the Bunker, there was an absence of bodies. I didn’t know if the Howlers had eaten them, or if these bodies had become Howlers themselves. Perhaps a mixture of both.
“Where now?” Anna asked.
“The motor pool is off that hallway,” I said, pointing to our left.
“Hopefully it’s not locked down,” Ruth said.
“There’s only one way to find out.”
We pressed ahead. Silence reigned in the dark room, our footsteps echoing off the wide walls. The corridor to the motor pool approached as the screams of the infected monsters followed from behind. They were no longer fighting amongst themselves. We couldn’t stop now.
We entered the corridor. A sign along the wall read “Motor Pool,” with an arrow pointing down the hallway.
“We made it,” I said.
We continued running along the hallway. There were no other side doors, so it was a straight shot to the final two doors, which stood at the top of a small set of steps. The doors were electronic and needed a keycard for access. My hope was that there would be no power, so that we could force the door open.
Each of the doors was closed. A keycard slot on the right was the only way to open it. A green light on the slot still shined, meaning that the doors had power. And the doors having power meant that they were still securely locked.
Dreading what I would find, I pulled on one of the doors, heaving on it with all of my strength. It was useless. These things were designed to not be pulled open. A security card was needed – or the power needed to be shut off enti
rely. Even then, it still might not open.
We all stood there for a moment. Behind I could hear the pursuing screams of the monsters. They would almost be to the Rec – all some four hundred former citizens of Bunker 108.
“Should we go back out?” Anna asked.
I saw no other choice. We had to get to the beginning of the corridor and reenter the Rec before the Howlers blocked us in this corridor. We had to try the front entrance again. Only I had no idea how we would get there, because it would require going back into the main corridor.
Then, I saw that we weren’t getting out of this one alive. We had to either bust down this door or fight out way through dozens upon dozens of Howlers.
From the Rec, however, we could take other paths – toward the swimming pool, the light baths, the showers, or the locker rooms – maybe from there, we could access a lower level.
It was better than dying here.
Anna and I both started running back for the Rec, but Ruth stayed behind.
“Ruth!” I yelled. “Come on.”
I turned to see her kneel down on the floor. “A keycard!”
I ran back to her, taking the card from her hand. It read “Officer Michael Sanchez.” His portrait beamed at us with a goofy smile, looking younger than he did these days. A bit of blood smudged one of the corners.
“Michael, you beautiful bastard,” I said.
He must have left his keycard behind during his escape in case someone else needed it. That move had probably saved all of our lives.
I swiped the card, and the door beeped agreeably. The doors slid apart, opening the way to the motor pool. We ran into the darkness ahead.
That was when an axe head swiped down right in front of us.
I guessed that this was where Darcy was camping out.
***
My flashlight illuminated Darcy’s upper body and his crazed blue eyes as he leveled yet another downward swipe with his two-handed axe. Ruth dodged this blow, and the axe head hit the cement floor, sending a cascade of sparks into the air. Within a second, Anna advanced, placing the sharp edge of her katana at the man’s throat. He paused.
