The Black: Outbreak

by Paul E. Cooley

  “Like my team,” Harrel said in a dead voice.

  Sarah glanced at the CDC team lead and then back at Mathis. “Okay. So it was liquid to start with. But it changed state.”

  “Yes,” Mathis said. “At least I think that’s right. What we saw in the hall was…” He paused, his eyes staring off past her face as if he was reliving the moment. After a few seconds, he seemed to find himself again. “What we saw in the hall, Lieutenant, was an amalgam. That’s the closest word I have for it.”

  “Amalgam? What do you mean?”

  For the first time since the conversation started, Harrel finally looked engaged and awake. “He means it’s a new life form. Something that has properties of both liquid and solid. Perhaps it can partially transform into either while remaining whole.” A short, bark of unhappy laughter escaped her mouth. “Just hope like hell it can’t transform into a gas. Or we’re totally fucked.”

  Sarah shivered at the thought. “So this amalgam can shift between the two states. That said, it could do something like flow down a pipe?”

  The two doctors nodded in unison. Harrel wiped at a bead of sweat on her forehead. “If it can transform into liquid, I assume it can do whatever liquid can. Same while it’s a solid. There’s probably some intermediate state between the two, but I’d be hard pressed to describe what that might be.”

  “Conjecture,” Mathis said with a grin. “All conjecture. No proof. Just theory. And that’s pretty much all we have.”

  The pit of Sarah’s stomach churned with acid. The thing had fed and grown larger after it consumed all the people in the ER. If it found another meal in the basement, there was no telling how large it was now.

  “What does it want?” she asked the scientists.

  Mathis rubbed at his temples as if he was getting a headache. “Hard to say. This thing is, well, like nothing we’ve ever seen or theorized about. But in our experience, all life wants to grow and live. Live being the important part and it will do whatever it has to in order to continue doing so.”

  “I know it’s all theory,” Sarah said, “but how much energy would it take for it to make those state changes?”

  Harrel shook her head. “God, I can’t even imagine. For it to keep doing what it’s been doing must require a tremendous amount of energy.”

  “So it’s going to be very hungry.”

  “Probably,” Harrel said. “And then it’s a question of what matter it…” Her voice trailed off. A second later, her eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”

  “What?” Mathis asked.

  “I see what you’re getting at, Lieutenant.”

  Sarah’s skin broke out in gooseflesh. “I was afraid you’d see it too.”

  “What are you talking about?” Mathis asked, his voice sharp and impatient.

  Harrel nodded at the SWAT commander. “She thinks it’s going to be hungry for biological matter.”

  Mathis blinked, still not getting it.

  “Richard?” Harrel said with incredible patience. “It’s hungry for us.”

  Mathis stared at her for a moment and then put his head in his hands. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Are you saying it went down a pipe? Like into the building’s plumbing?”

  Sarah pursed her lips. “That’s what my men are saying.”

  “Lieutenant?” Harrel said. “We need to know where that pipe leads.”

  Sarah nodded. “And fast.”

  Chapter 27

  Perkins and Givens had been staring at the hole in the floor for far too long. Perkins knew they should be walking the perimeter and checking to make sure it hadn’t come out behind them. Or somewhere else.

  But the drain in the floor looked like an abyss from which they couldn’t escape. When his radio crackled to life, he nearly jumped.

  “Control to Alpha.”

  “Alpha. Over.”

  Celianne’s voice sounded tight and more than a little concerned. That made him frown even before she continued. “Hostile probably went down that pipe. Might be best if you go to the security office and find out if those guards know where that goes. If they don’t, it’s time to find some blueprints. Over.”

  “Acknowledged,” Perkins said. “Out.”

  “Well this will be fun,” Givens said with a grin.

  Perkins didn’t reply. He took a last look around the room, wondering how the shelf in the wall got opened, and who had been inside. The fragments of metal laying on the stainless steel tray were enough to convince him the creature had…absorbed whoever had been there.

  “We going, or what?” Givens asked.

  Perkins turned and looked at his partner. The Kentuckian had a manic gleam in his eyes. After the adrenaline surge of moving through the basement and following the thing’s trail, just standing here had given them both too long to think, too long to recover. When you had time to think, you had time to second guess. And you also had time to fear. Givens wanted another mission. Perkins knew how he felt.

  “Yeah. Let’s see what the two rent-a-cops know.”

  They moved quickly through the basement. Although they couldn’t be certain the creature was no longer on the floor, the air seemed cleaner. The stench had disappeared as if it had never been there. No longer crouch-walking, it took no time at all to return to the security office.

  The two guards were glad to see them, but Max had closed the door behind them and locked it just the same. Perkins knew no matter how they reassured the man, he was going to treat the basement as though the boogeyman was out there.

  “We need blueprints.”

  Max blinked at him, but didn’t respond.

  Perkins rolled his eyes. “Max. We need blueprints for the building. Do you know where I can find them?”

  “Uhh…”

  “Simple question, kid,” Givens growled. “Do you or do you not?”

  Carter cleared his throat. The two SWAT members turned to him. “I— I think they’d be in Mixon’s office.”

  “Mixon?” Perkins asked. “Who the hell is Mixon?”

  “He’s the nightshift maintenance man,” Max said. “His office is at the other end of the hallway.” Perkins and Givens exchanged a glance. “What?”

  “Nothing,” Perkins said. “I need you to lead me there.”

  Max shook his head. “No fucking way. I’m not leaving this office.” He pointed to the door. “That goddamned thing could still be out there!”

  Givens walked forward and then leaned down until he was face to face with the sitting security head. “Listen to me, son,” he drawled. “That thing went into the goddamned plumbing. If we don’t find it and cut it off, it could go anywhere in the hospital.”

  Max blinked. “What?”

  “Don’t make me repeat myself,” Givens said. “One of you are taking us to Mixon’s office. I don’t give a shit which one of you it is, but we’re going.”

  Carter cleared his throat and then swallowed hard. “I’ll take you there.” His face was pale and his hands shuddered slightly. “Besides, you’ll need one of us to get your through the security if it’s still up.”

  “Can’t you kill the security from here?” Perkins asked.

  Max shook his head. “Not without taking it down for the whole damned building.”

  The two SWAT members exchanged a glance. Perkins narrowed his eyes. “And how would that be a bad thing? We’re going to have to get the partition up between the ER and the main building anyway.”

  “That I can do,” Max said. He left his chair and headed to the cabinet. He pulled one of the three radios from the charger and tossed it to Carter. “He can stay in touch with me on that. I can shut down some of the lockdowns from here. But not all of them. Not without more power up.”

  “Okay.” Perkins wanted to call the guy a coward, a pussy, berate and belittle him, but knew it wouldn’t do any good. Besides, maybe he’d be more use in the office than out there in the clear. He pointed a finger at Max. “You keep the door locked when we leave and you stay in constant radio contact. But don’t sho
ot through the fucking door again. Understood?”

  Max gulped and then nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “Get your shit,” Perkins said to Carter. “And as much ammo as you can grab.”

  Carter walked to the cabinet, opened it, and grabbed two spare mags, checked to make sure they were loaded, and then placed them in his pockets. He pulled his pistol from its holster, chambered a round, and then placed it back in. “Okay,” he said. “Guess I’m ready.”

  “Good,” Perkins said and gestured to Givens. “He’ll take point. You stay on my six at all times and follow my lead, okay? And try not to make too much noise. Heel-toe walking. No clomping. Got it?”

  “Okay,” Carter said.

  The kid was terrified. Perkins smiled. “It’ll be okay, man. The, well, whatever the hell it is, ain’t here anymore. But we need to find where it went. There’s a whole damned hospital filled with people that have no idea what’s going on.”

  “We need to find it and kill it,” Givens said. “You’re going to help save a lot of people, Carter.”

  That put some color back in the guard’s cheeks. Perkins was glad to see it.

  “Let’s go,” Perkins said.

  *****

  They made their way through the dark basement and to the junction between the two buildings. Givens slowed every twenty steps or so to sniff the air. Each time, he continued going at a normal pace. Perkins knew that as long as Givens wasn’t holding up a fist, they would be fine. But that didn’t stop him from keeping his head on a swivel, searching for possible threats. Only an idiot would think they were safe. He might be able to fool Carter into some false bravado, but Perkins knew better. That thing might come down on top of them at any minute. There was no guarantee they’d even make it to the end of the hall without having to fight it.

  When the trio walked past the morgue, Perkins felt Carter stop behind him. “Keep walking,” he said without turning around.

  “What the hell happened?” Carter’s voice trembled.

  “Nothing good. And keep your voice down.”

  The guard’s footfalls were heavier than he liked, but at least the kid wasn’t stomping down the hall. They continued forward until the security lights gave way to real light. Apparently the entire basement hadn’t been shorted out—just the adjunct basement and the area near the apron. At least now they could see better.

  Perkins and Givens each snapped off their LED lights to save battery power and continued forward with Carter in tow. Several offices were off to the left, most marked as “Storage.”

  “Here,” Carter called out.

  The trio stopped. Carter walked past the SWAT members and to a door marked “Maintenance.” The door was ajar.

  “Wait,” Givens said. He gently pushed the guard aside, raised his weapon and then kicked open the door.

  No one was inside. A computer terminal sat on an old and scarred wooden desk, a cup of coffee next to it. The phone beside the desk blinked with rapid red flashes.

  “Shit. He’s not here,” Carter said.

  Givens walked to the desk and stuck a pinky finger into the coffee. “He’s been gone a while. It’s cold.”

  “Wonder if he’s one of the ones we found in the hall,” Perkins said.

  “What do you mean?” Carter asked.

  Givens turned and looked at the guard. “We found some metal debris in the hall. That thing can’t eat metal, so it leaves things behind if it takes someone. Might have taken this guy.”

  Carter gulped and then picked up the phone on the desk. He listened to the receiver for a moment and then dialed some numbers on the pad. He listened again and shook his head. “You need to hear this,” he said. He pressed another button and the speaker came to life.

  “Mixon! We have a backup in the diagnostics lab. We can’t flush the biohazard tank. Can you check it out? Getting pretty nasty in here.” The speaker went dead and a robotic voice announced it was the last message.

  “What are they talking about?” Givens asked.

  Carter shrugged. “I don’t know. But the diagnostics lab is on floor two.”

  “Fuck,” Perkins said. He touched his mic. “Alpha to Control, over.”

  “Go, Alpha.”

  “We may have a serious problem. The superintendent is missing, but at least one floor of the hospital reports having difficulties flushing biohazards. Over.”

  “What floor? Over.”

  “The diagnostics lab on floor two. Over.”

  “Stand by.”

  Carter walked to a sheet of paper attached to the wall. He followed the lines on the paper with his index finger until he found what he was looking for and started punching numbers on the phone.

  “What are you doing?” Givens asked.

  “Calling the lab.” He put the phone to his ear and waited. With each passing second, his face became more anxious. Finally, Perkins heard the receiver beep and a robotic voice babble something. Carter clicked the button and looked up at Perkins with a frown. “No one is answering.”

  Perkins thought for a moment and then clicked his mic. “Alpha to Control. Over.”

  “Control. Go ahead.”

  “Diagnostics lab on floor two has gone dark. Repeat Diagnostics lab on floor two has gone dark. No one is picking up.”

  Chapter 28

  The bad feeling was only getting worse. Sarah walked past the two CDC doctors and into the trauma OR where the surgeons and nurses had congregated. “Hey,” she said to the head of the ER. “Where does bio-hazard waste go?”

  The Indian man looked at her. “Bio waste?”

  “Yes,” she said, trying to hide the exasperation she felt. “Where does bio waste go when you flush it?”

  “Into a tank,” he said. “Down in the basement.”

  Sarah frowned. “Which basement? The one below us?”

  He shook his head. “No. The sub-basement. There’s a tank there that is emptied twice a day. All of the labs and the morgue dump into it. It’s used mainly for—”

  “What subbasement?” she said. “No one said anything about a goddamned subbasement.”

  He blinked. “That’s because no one ever goes down there. The waste is emptied through another system into special bio-hazard trucks and then disposed of. It’s meant especially for liquid waste like blood, stool, left over chemicals, and things like that.”

  “But all those labs are connected to it?”

  “Yes,” he said. “And the morgue, as I mentioned.”

  Her radio squawked. “Alpha to Control. Over.”

  She clicked her mic. “Control. Go ahead.”

  Perkins’ voice sounded a little shaky. “Diagnostics lab on floor two has gone dark. Repeat Diagnostics lab on floor two has gone dark. No one is picking up.”

  The bad feeling had turned to alarm bells inside her head. The goddamned thing had gotten into the waste system. It had no doubt feasted on whatever was there and then…

  “Dammit,” she said to herself. The doctor looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Alpha. Get your asses up those stairs and into the main wing of the hospital. And find someone who can open the goddamned divider. We need the entire team in there. Stat.”

  “Acknowledged,” Perkins’ voice replied without hesitation.

  She pointed at Sharma. “I want you to keep your people here. I’m going to leave one member of my squad with you just in case, but I think we have bigger problems.”

  The doctor looked terrified. “You think it’s gotten out of the basement?”

  She nodded. “I don’t think it. I know it.”

  Sharma shook his head. “Then we are in big trouble.”

  “No shit,” she mumbled. She clicked her mic again. “Beta. Charlie. Delta. Meet me in the ER lobby. Now.” A flood of acknowledgments rang back at her. “You stay here. You stay down. Understood?”

  Sharma nodded, his face white as a sheet.

  She turned and walked back into the hallway. Mathis and Harrel were already on their feet.

  �
�What’s going on?” Mathis asked.

  Sarah debated what to tell them for a moment, and then decided the truth was a good start. “I think it’s broken out of the basement using the pipes into the biohazard tanks. We’ve lost contact with the second floor diagnostics lab after they called maintenance about a backup.”

  “Oh, shit,” Mathis said. “How the hell did it do that? Changed back into a liquid?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” she said. “But I think it’s out now. And that means every patient and person in this hospital is at its mercy.”

  Chapter 29

  The creature waved its eyestalks in search of more food. The dark room was perfect for it. Feeling less vulnerable, it retracted several of its tentacles and some of its legs. The squat form elongated, and then became bulbous at one end. Looking like a giant black, malformed arachnid, it dragged itself across the floor. With each step from its remaining front legs, it absorbed skin cells, aerosolized blood that had drifted to the concrete floor, and other biological detritus.

  With each pass, it became infinitesimally larger, transforming the biological matter into more of itself. When the creature exhausted the floor, it found the autopsy table. It lifted its great mouth and extended a liquid pseudopod. It consumed the blood, offal, and skin cells from the last corpse while the sound of frying bacon echoed off the steel walls.

  When it found no more food to consume, it traveled the room again, covering counters and even the instruments. Nothing. No more. It wanted more. It needed more.

  It headed for the exit and then stopped. Its liquid underbelly partially descended into the drain in the floor. There was more organic matter there. It absorbed the residue and dipped further down. Food. More food. The creature crackled as it retracted its remaining limbs and maw. Once turned to liquid, it was nearly three centimeters deep across the floor of the autopsy room.

  Soundlessly, it pulled itself down the drain. The pipe gurgled loudly as the huge black puddle flowed further and further. Each millimeter of depth provided more food. It sensed more below. Much more. The creature hurried down until it left the room behind.