***
Priya knelt beside the shredded, bloodied clothes in front of her. It was a security uniform, as far as she could tell, and if she was lucky…
“Yes!” she exclaimed, pulling a handgun from under what was once a man’s jacket.
She checked the magazine, discovering to her great relief that it was full. Sliding it back into the weapon, she checked that the safety was on, before standing up again. She had been wandering the ghastly halls for a while now, documenting what she could.
What was weird was that she hadn’t run into any creatures or survivors. The Kingdom appeared deserted. She even seemed to be moving away from whatever had melded itself with the walls.
Not that it helped her at all, considering she had no idea where she was. She swore, looking around her, despairing at her situation.
“I’m tired, I’m scared, and I just want to get the fuck out of this place,” she said out loud.
Nothing answered her. She really was all alone. Her eyes started to sting. The tears were threatening to flow. Her father had always told her not to cry, but her grandmother had taken her aside one day and told her that it was okay.
“Cry it out, child. Go somewhere quiet, where you can be alone. Cry all you want. But when you’re done, you stand up tall, and you keep going.”
So she cried. For a few brief moments, Priya let it all out. The loneliness, the frustration, the fear, the worry. She sobbed, her shoulders racking, her chest heaving, snot and tears running down her face and staining her clothes.
Then she stopped. She steadied her breathing and stood tall. It wasn’t fair. People had died, she didn’t know if she was going to survive, and she was all alone. But life wasn’t fair. So she put one foot in front of the other and started moving. If she was going to die, she was going to die fighting.
In front of her, by some miracle not obscured or damaged by the rot that invaded the rest of the station, was a sign with an arrow pointing toward a set of stairs. It read “Ballroom.”
Priya heaved a sigh of relief. From there, it would be a straight shot to the submarine bay and freedom. All she could do was hope that Calder and the others were waiting for her there. It was only a sliver of hope, but it was enough to spur her forward.
From the walls, dead eyes watched her pass. Somewhere inside their heads, what was left of their human selves wished for death.
32
“Okay, this is it. Ekkow, check your ammo,” Calder said. “Anna, Billy, you hang onto those Molotovs, okay? Wait for my say so before using them. And stay behind Ekkow and me.”
They nodded. Calder checked his magazine. It was his second to last; Ekkow was on his third to last. He had a feeling that whatever was behind the doors to the ballroom in front of them was going to need more than that. But they were out of options.
He had noticed that the black slime that Billy had talked about was creeping down the corridor toward them, almost imperceptibly. Something wanted them to meet it. And whatever it was had killed people, fucked with their minds, and herded them here like cattle.
Calder could almost feel the power radiating from behind that door. His skin crawled, his hair standing on end. The others had noticed it too. There was a feeling of unease shared by all of them. Their hearts were beating faster, and it felt like something was trying to work its way into their heads.
The force was pushing on their consciousness, causing all of them to experience the worst migraine they had ever had. It was almost blinding. Calder’s head throbbed, sweat beading on his forehead. He didn’t even know if he could still put rounds on target.
“Ready?” he asked, putting his hand to the door.
Everyone nodded. He took a breath, turned the handle, and pushed the door inward. He and Ekkow went in first, weapons up and ready. They were the first to see the unimaginable horror on the other side.
The first thing they noticed was the overwhelming coppery stench of blood, followed soon after by what could only be described as the very essence of rot. It assaulted their noses, almost causing them to gag.
Next came the almost indescribable horror of the scene before them. Bodies, or bits of bodies, were scattered everywhere in great piles that heaved every now and then as things moved among the dead.
Blood coated the floor, making it slick and dark brown. Snaking tentacles of the black substance weaved their way in and out among the pieces of the dead, spreading out to the walls from a central mass in the middle of the ballroom.
Calder couldn’t comprehend what it was. It had no shape that could be described by human eyes, and seemed to change and morph as he looked at it. It was huge, reaching almost to the domed ceiling, and made up of some translucent, slimy black substance. Human bodies and strange, alien organs could be seen under its skin—a skin that rippled and shone in the dim light. It didn’t seem to have anything that could be described as a face, but there were two dark circles near the top of the thing that made Calder think of eyes.
Tentacles waved about its mass, and creatures crawled and swam through its flesh. Every now and then, one of the bodies inside it would thrash about and then go still. They floated in some kind of substance that seemed to be dissolving their flesh, some of them obviously still alive in there.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Calder breathed.
The four of them stood, their heads pounding, their stomachs threatening to spew bile out their mouths, and their eyes unable to comprehend what they were seeing. Soon a sound came into their heads that could only have been described as laughter. A strange, inhuman, wretched sound that made Calder’s heart skip a beat.
You have been interesting.
The words seemed to form inside their heads, and Calder had the feeling that he only understood it through some ancient, terrifying magic. A magic that took the thing’s original, alien language and chose the most suitable English equivalents.
After so long down here, you have been most interesting. But some of you are stronger than others.
“What the fuck are you?” Ekkow asked.
That dreadful laughter started again, and they all cringed as it pounded away at their brains.
There is no word to describe what we are. You are new and pitiful. Nothing but a speck in this infinite universe. We are older than you, than this place, than this world.
“How old are you?” Anna asked.
You cannot comprehend it. Of that we are sure. We have seen your kind before—when you wore nothing but the skin of animals and fought with sharpened stone. We feasted on you then, your flesh juicy but your minds primitive and uninteresting.
Visions flashed in their minds. Pictures of hunters from thousands of years ago. Ancient people fighting the creatures with nothing but spears and arrows. They watched the early humans die in unimaginable pain. A feeling overcame them, not one of horror or sadness, but of disappointment.
Your species was uninteresting. But now, there is more to you. We have been entertained. We wanted you to see us. But already your minds are starting to break.
Calder felt blood, hot and sticky, leaking from his ears and his nose. Ekkow collapsed to his knees, a cry of anguish escaping his lips. Billy followed suit. Only Anna remained standing, fighting desperately against the pounding in her head.
A shame. We will find more. The one who stands is interesting. More than the ones who fall. So much pain in your heads, so much that we can feast on. We have learned much. We shall learn more.
Calder could stand it no longer. His weapon clattered to the floor and he collapsed onto all fours. Blood poured from his nostrils. He could feel his mind melting in his skull. He screamed. Beside him, Ekkow and Billy writhed on the floor, crying out in agony.
“Hey, fuck head!” came a shout from behind the creature.
Anna looked up, seeing Priya standing on the balcony behind the thing, a pistol in her hand. She started to fire, and the throbbing in Anna’s head eased. Seizing her chance, Anna lined the Molotovs along the floor and lit all of them.
It didn’t take long for Priya to run out of ammunition, and the creature started to laugh again.
Your weapons are nothing. We come from the depths of the great black. We come from the cold and ice and the hostile. Your weapons are no better than sharpened stone.
“Yeah, well try this on for size, arsehole!” Anna shouted and started throwing the Molotovs at the creature.
The first hit it in the middle, the bottle bursting against its flesh, spreading burning alcohol across its body. The thing started to scream almost immediately, its flesh catching fire like tissue paper, the flames racing across it.
As the other Molotovs hit it, it became engulfed in flame. Its scream became louder, a hideous cry of inhuman anguish that ripped through their heads.
Anna was screaming something, but she didn’t know what, as she tried to drag the men to their feet. Eventually, Calder came to his senses, grabbed his weapon, and stood.
He saw the smaller creatures trying to extinguish the flames, and raised his weapon when he saw Priya running past the hulking monstrosity. He put two rounds into something that made a grab for her as she sped past. It wasn’t long before she was at his side, trying to help him up.
“Get Ekkow,” he said, waving her off.
He fired another couple of rounds at some of the things crawling about on the flaming mass, trying to stop them from putting out the flames. One of the thing’s thrashing tentacles hit the glass dome, and a crack immediately spread across it.
“Fuck. We need to move!” Calder shouted.
Ekkow was standing, Priya at his side. Anna heaved Billy up, Calder coming to her aid, and they started to move. They burst through the doors and started to run, slowly at first, clumsily, but then slowly picking up speed as the thing lost its influence over their minds.
Around them, the walls bent and splintered as the black tentacles thrashed in pain. They dodged and ducked as pieces of metal and bits of wood flew through the air around their heads. A creature stumbled into view in front of them. Ekkow raised his weapon and emptied his magazine into it.
The creature screamed and spasmed under the volley of fire, falling to the floor in pain, allowing Ekkow to jump over it as they ran.
“Almost there!” Calder shouted, glancing over his shoulder.
A wall of black, gelatinous ooze was advancing toward them, and it was then he noticed that the thrashing had stopped. He knew immediately that the glass dome must have broken and put out the flames.
“Go faster!” he screamed as they came to the bay.
By some miracle, there was already a sub in the water, and Billy, Anna, and Priya sprinted toward it as Calder and Ekkow closed the big metal door behind them. They spun the hatch wheel to seal the door.
“That should buy us some time, bruv,” Ekkow said.
“But not enough,” Calder said.
Calder looked around desperately for something that could work, his eyes settling on the barrels of fuel in the corner of the bay. Ekkow followed his gaze, a smile forming on his lips.
“Let’s blow the fucker to Hell.”
The two ex-soldiers ran toward the fuel dump. Billy stopped heading for the submarine when he saw what they were doing. He started toward them. Priya saw him go and followed, meaning to pull him with her. Anna stopped as she was halfway into the hatch.
“What are you doing?” Billy screamed. “Let’s just leave!”
“Can’t,” Calder said, tearing his shirt off and cutting it into strips while Ekkow took the caps off of the barrels.
“We can use this to create a suitable fuse!” Ekkow said, lifting a small jerry can full of fuel up, as Calder stuffed trails of his shirt into the barrels.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” Billy said.
“What?” Calder asked, turning to Billy.
He realised with horror that the man’s eyes were entirely black, and stood dumbstruck as his skin started to fall off of his body in wet, bloody chunks, revealing the translucent black substance beneath.
33
As the thing lifted its clawed arm to strike, the terrible laughter started again.
Calder tried to get his arms and legs to move, calling on all his training to get out the way. But it was no use. He was too tired, his mind too ravaged, his muscles too worn out. He was going to die, he realised, watching the arm come toward him with a grim fascination.
And that’s when he heard Priya’s scream. She barrelled into the Billy creature from out of nowhere, clawing at it with her hands. It was all Calder needed. He grabbed the jerry can from Ekkow, yelling at Priya to move.
The Billy thing lashed out, sending Priya sailing across the submarine bay. She hit the floor with a dull thunk, as Calder yelled out in fury. He splashed the creature with gasoline and kicked it backward, away from the fuel.
Ekkow struck his lighter and flung it at the thing, which immediately caught fire. It began to scream and thrash, running away from the two men and straight into the bulkhead at the other end of the bay.
There was no time to celebrate, as a banging sound came from the big metal door. The big creature was trying to get in. Ekkow and Calder moved fast, soaking the rags in petrol, and leaving a trail of the stuff from the barrels to the sub.
Anna was by Priya’s side, tears streaming down her face. Blood soaked the floor and Anna’s clothes.
“I’ve got her. Get in the sub,” Ekkow said gently, taking the woman into his arms and walking her to the submarine.
“Anna, toss me the lighter!” Calder called before she had lowered herself inside.
She threw it to him as the banging on the door intensified. The whole bay was shaking with each hit, and a dreadful pressure had started to build inside Calder’s head. The Billy creature still screamed and thrashed in the corner.
Calder ignored it all and climbed onto the top of the submarine. He struck the lighter, chucking it into the fuel trail, waiting just long enough to make sure it was lit, before slamming the hatch closed and sealing it.
“Go go go!” he shouted to Ekkow, who was at the controls.
Ekkow had already completed the set-up process and dove under the water. Outside, the flames reached the barrels, lighting the torn rags just as the metal door burst open and the black creature started flowing into the submarine bay.
The flame travelled up the rags and hit the fuel. The result was a massive explosion of heat and fire that hit the creature as it was coming it, igniting it. It thrashed and screamed and cried as the flames ripped through its flesh.
Inside the submarine, they all felt the shockwave of the explosion as it went through the water. Ekkow briefly lost control as the craft was tossed about in the current. Calder hit his head against the bulkhead, and Anna cried out in alarm. Finally, Ekkow regained control and aimed the sub toward the surface.
“Calder, help her,” Anna said, cradling Priya’s head in her arms.
Calder moved up to her. Blood was everywhere, soaked into her clothes, all over the floor, all over Anna. He tried to locate the source and found it pretty quickly. There was a huge gash in the woman’s midriff, exposing her internal organs.
“Get… thi… news…” she rasped, blood burbling up out of her mouth, pushing something into Anna’s hand.
Anna was nodding and trying to soothe her, telling her it would be fine. She was sobbing hard, blood, snot, and tears coating her face. Calder held Priya’s hand, knowing there was nothing he could do.
It wasn’t long before she was dead. Anna let out a terrible cry of anguish, pulling Priya’s head toward her chest and hugging it. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed. Ekkow glanced over his shoulder, a look of deep sadness on his face.
Calder let her cry. He sat next to her, tears stinging his own face as she did. No one spoke. They just sat in silence and wept.
34
“What the hell happened down there?” Richie asked.
Anna had come out first, covered in blood. She stood off to the side, something clutched in
her bloodied hands.
Calder and Ekkow were pulling Priya’s body out of the submarine. They laid her on the ground, Ekkow shrugging out of his shirt and laying it over the body. Richie felt bile rise in his throat at the brief glimpse of the mutilated corpse.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Calder said.
Anna looked down at the thing in her hand. She found a part of her shirt that wasn’t blood-soaked and wiped it.
“Here,” she said, handing over a phone to Richie. “I think Priya filmed it. Everything you need to know about what happened down there.”
Calder felt a wave of relief pass over him. There was evidence. They wouldn’t have to explain everything to people who would think they were insane. Then he heard it, the unmistakable sound of a helicopter’s rotor blades approaching.
He looked up to see a black military chopper land. One man in a suit jumped out of it and started toward the four of them.
“Who the fuck is that?” Ekkow asked.
“No idea,” Richie said, bewildered.
The man that approached them was a black man who looked to be in his fifties, bald, with a big moustache. He was tall and impeccably dressed in a well-tailored grey suit. His dark-brown eyes took in the scene with practiced professionalism, finally coming to rest on Calder.
“I take it you’re in charge?” the man asked.
“What’s it to you, mate?” Calder spat.
“My name is Vernon Brooks. Word reached me about what I think you faced down there.” He took the phone from Richie and fiddled with it for a bit.
“You know what was down there?” Anna asked, stepping forward.
Brooks remained silent as he watched the video. Finally, he looked up.
“You three need to come with me. I can help.”
Calder looked at the other two. Ekkow nodded; Anna shrugged.
“Richie, I want you to take care of Priya. It looks like we have somewhere to be.”
“I promise I’ll look after her, Axel,” he said and watched as the three of them followed Brooks to the helicopter.
Deep Fear Page 12