by C A Bird
“Sure, I’m on my way.” He and Lori went down the winding stairs since the elevator was out and continued down to the lower level. “Uh oh.” They had stepped into several inches of water when he reached the bottom corridor. “This can’t be good.”
They ran down the corridor to the generator room and saw the water leaking under the door. Mark decided not to open the door, hoping that keeping it closed would slow down the volume of water entering the room.
Back in the tower he told them what they’d found.
“How bad is the flow of water?” Will asked him.
“Doesn’t seem too bad yet, and I know the generator is elevated but I don’t know how bad the leak in the aqueduct is. If it gets worse we could lose the generator. Obviously, it’s being affected somewhat, even now.”
“When the shelter was designed, we knew that flooding was the greatest danger we faced due to the lake above and the fact that we piped the water down into the shelter for power. The blast door at the tunnel’s terminus is sensor controlled to close if we flood and the tunnel slants slightly upward to keep the flooding from the escape cave. I hope that aqueduct holds out.” Will said.
“I’ll keep tabs on the water level and notify you if it gets worse. We can begin evacuation if that happens.” Bone weary, Mark returned to the auditorium to try and get some sleep. Lori went downstairs to be with the children. Mark was partially successful, dozing on and off for the next few hours.
May 8, 6:10 a.m.
Hours had passed and the man-creatures hadn’t returned. The monsters were not only hungry, but the red lights in the cave and the hallway beyond the door had begun to pulse slightly and it was disorienting, agitating the creatures. A low pitched whine could be heard from inside the building, and curious, some of them warily slunk toward the sound.
Passing through the main room, they approached the gigantic hole in the floor where the upper portion of the turbine protruded through. The noise came from the turbine, still spinning, though a thin tendril of smoke now rose from somewhere below. The deafening sound of the water rushing through the penstocks and the whine of the failing turbine infuriated them.
They wanted it to stop!
More of the creatures left the ledge and approached the turbine. One of them picked up a piece of metal that had fallen from somewhere during the quake and heaved it at the offending piece of equipment. It bounced off and others grabbed everything they could find, throwing it at the turbine.
Arby reached up and touched the penstock over his head feeling the vibration. He remembered the man’s face, looking up at him, remembered him putting his arm around the female and leading her away from Arby. He screamed, a furious, frustrated scream. He whirled around, looking for something to hit. He spotted the wrench on the wall, a wrench that required a winch overhead to normally lift it. He plucked it off the wall with little effort.
Carrying it over to the penstock he swung the heavy, formidable weapon and smashed it into the six foot diameter metal tube leaving a dent 18 inches across. He swung again leaving a bigger dent. Again and again, with total fury he smashed at the hateful tube until he finally succeeded in bending the metal enough to split a seam. Water squirted out, spraying the creatures. Arby took the wrench and heaved it at the turbine. It crashed into it, bounced off and hit one of poles of the railing and bounced back into the side of turbine.
The low pitched whine increased in frequency gaining in pitch until the creatures put hands over their ears and screamed in agony. The room swayed as another large aftershock struck the shelter. Heavier dark smoke poured up through the hole and bright flashes of light lit up the room. One creature that had descended to the floor of the cave to search out scraps of Lenny’s body, and was standing in waist-deep water, screamed once and then collapsed as he was electrocuted by a massive amount of electricity traveling through his body.
The sound of metal tearing itself apart filled the air and the turbine suddenly quit spinning, the ear-splitting whine ceasing completely. Except for the thunderous sound of the water, silence ensued.
Then they heard another sound of rending metal and the penstock ripped open, tons of water crashing into the plant and washing one of the creatures into the hole containing the now dead turbine. The others scurried to the rear of the room. The water flowed forward into the abyss below the plant. Unable to reason as humans but still possessing survival instinct they ran out the front opening, remaining on the second story ledge away from the water that now filled the cavern floor. The wall covering the waste water channel crumbled and whole parts of the building above collapsed into the churning torrent below. Huge chunks of concrete and limestone crashed down from the ceiling of the cavern, splashing into the deepening pool of black water.
The creatures crouched back against the wall on the second floor trying to stay away from the destruction, trapped on the ledge with nowhere to go. There was a thirty foot drop to the cavern floor and the power plant had collapsed in front of them, blocking the staircase. Water still rushed from the broken penstocks, much of it flowing into the, now, uncovered aqueduct but also onto the floor of the cavern as well. They milled around, growling and pushing one another, agitated and angry. Arby hunched down against the wall, his thoughts dwelling on the creature that had stolen the female and escaped from him. He grew restless and began to pace, swinging his arms violently as the others struggled to get out of his way, one of them inadvertently backing into the mechanism that opened the door into the tunnels connecting this cave with the farm complex. As luck would have it, this door worked perfectly.
May 8, 6:15 a.m.
Mark was jolted awake by James, who had been sent by Will, running into the auditorium with news that the dragon door between the Power cave and the farm cave had opened. Mark’s back and neck were stiff and sore from dozing in the uncomfortable auditorium seat. The others started awake, wondering what the commotion was about.
“Well Patterson, you wanted to know if they could get out of the power plant cave. It looks like the answer is yes. Let’s hope it was accidental and they still can’t get into the farm through the Chicken Ranch. Come on let’s go.” Mark climbed stiffly to his feet and headed for the door, a 12 gauge shotgun slung over his shoulder.
***
“I want my mommy!” Kevin cried out again, waking Barbara from a fitful sleep. She wondered what had happened in the power plant cave during the night. Lori had told her the creatures were trapped, and they were hoping the things would retreat into the tunnels they had entered through, and that the Dragon doors could be locked to keep them out. She prayed they wouldn’t have to confront them. Lori, after checking on the kids and grabbing a couple hours of sleep, had gone back to the auditorium in case they were needed.
There had been additional aftershocks, one of them rather large and the children were frightened. “Your mommy should be here before too long, Kevin. I’m sure she’s almost finished.” She tried to coax him back to sleep but he tossed about, unable to fall back asleep. Barbara had fashioned a bed for the kids on the couch since they had been too scared to sleep in one of the two small bedrooms in Jerry and Barbara’s apartment. Lori had been able to use one of the beds earlier. Jerry sat in a chair sound asleep, his head thrown back and his mouth wide open. Barbara was on the other sofa with Jeremy beside her, his head in her lap. Barbara knew she should go to the infirmary to see how Sandi was doing, but Pete promised to let her know when the baby was close. She thought she would hear something before this, but first pregnancies often had long labor.
The intercom startled her as it announced, “This is an emergency. Everyone report to the auditorium at once!” It was Will Hargraves voice. He repeated the message twice more.
“Now what?” Jerry mumbled as Barbara woke her husband and told him about the page. They woke Ashley and Jeremy and had the three kids hold hands as they left the apartment.
Residents, ripped from their slumbers and still sleepy, filed into the room, over half of their number
missing. Most areas didn’t have intercom service restored. People milled around and many remained standing.
“I don’t have all the details,” Will announced, “But apparently there are several more of the animals that killed Bud and Rick and we think they’ve managed to get out of the power plant. You all need to take refuge in the exit cave until they’re hunted down and destroyed and we can repair some of the damage to the shelter.” Questions were shouted from the audience but he cut them off.
“Please, there’s no time for questions. Get moving now! There’s been damage to the power plant and the lower level is flooding. It’s imperative you get to the cave quickly before the exit is cut off! I need several of you to act as runners and notify those that don’t have intercom service. You’ll have to go door to door. Hurry!”
Jerry hugged Barbara, “Come on honey, let’s go. I’ll run over and tell everyone at the infirmary. They’ll have to evacuate too. I’ll help them out and I’ll meet you at the cave and let you know how Sandi’s doing.” He kissed her and hurried out the door. She stood a moment looking at the door and then, realizing time was running out she turned to get the kids.
“Oh my God!” She stood stunned. The kids were gone.
May 8, 6:30 a.m.
Mark’s party, armed with AK-47s, Uzi’s, AR-15s and Mark’s shotgun had hurried back to the power plant. Wading through water, they carefully slid through the narrowed door into the cave, pushing against the current of the water rushing through the aperture.
The creatures had left the cave!
Much of the cave had collapsed and the plant was obviously beyond repair. A torrent of water rushed from pipes, the erstwhile penstocks, most of it going into the waste water canal but a good portion flooding the cave and pouring into the hallway through the jammed door. They wedged back through the door and again waded through the water, weapons ready, trying to figure out where the creatures may have gone. They had somehow managed to exit the cave.
“Shit, where do you think they are?” asked Doug.
“They could be in the farm or reservoir caves. If they were anywhere else we would know about it.” Mark said. “We all need to evacuate before this level floods completely. Get your families and get out quickly. Good luck everybody!”
***
“Kevin, come on!” Jeremy tugged at his arm. “We have to go back. Mom’ll be so mad!” Kevin pulled free, ran into the stairwell and started down the stairs holding on to the railing.
“I’m gonna find my mommy!”
“She’ll come back when she’s done.” Jeremy followed him holding on to Ashley’s hand. “Mr. Hargraves said we’re s’posed to get out of here! Come on, Kevin, please!” They went down the stairs to the second level where Kevin exited the stairwell and ran for his apartment. They passed others running through the halls in the opposite direction. There were stairwells in three of the four corners of the upper level, the central elevator, now out of commission, and the large freight elevator in which they had originally descended from the outside. On lower levels, which were much larger than the first, the stairwells came out mid-way along the perimeter hallways.
They chased after Kevin as he entered the apartment and went straight for his fire-truck, having to go through the debris caused by the earthquake. He wasn’t going anywhere without it.
“Okay, you got it! Now can we go back to my mom?”
Kevin looked around the apartment. He had been convinced his mother would be here.
He started to cry, “Yeah.”
“Ashley, do you want to take anything?” Jeremy asked. He was back in charge. Her face brightened and she ran to the bedroom returning with her ragged Barbie clutched tightly in her arms.
“Okay, you guys do what I say, alright?” They nodded. “Let’s go. Mr. Hargraves said we need to go to the back tunnel on the bottom floor. Ok?” They nodded again. “Alright, let’s go.”
He led them out of the apartment but he wasn’t sure in which direction the tunnel lay. It seemed darker than before and they hurried to the left, back to the stairwell they used when they descended from the top floor, one that comes out at the intersection of the long hallway that goes to the farm cave and the cross hallway that bisects the lower level. The stairwell was very dark, only dim lighting shining through the door from the hallway as they entered. They held hands and slowly descended in the dark, Kevin terrified of the dark.
“Oh no.” Jeremy jumped back up to the higher step. “There’s a whole bunch of water down here.” They hunkered down together on the steps in pitch dark not wanting to descend into the water and not knowing what to do next.
May 8, 7:05 a.m.
Chris took a last look around the farm cave. “Let’s go everybody!” Sam and Rana ran out of the office, Rana carrying an armful of books. The red lights in the office and lab had dimmed perceptibly from the original intensity a few hours ago. Chris waved her arms, ushering the others toward the door. The intercoms had gone out completely and they had only been informed of the emergency when messengers had awakened them twenty minutes ago. Several of them, all having the same idea, had felt it worthwhile to save the animals. Unfortunately, communication was breaking down and the fact that the creatures had escaped the power plant wasn’t part of the message.
“Come on everybody, move!” She hit the button, the door swished open and water cascaded into the cave from the corridor.
“Oh brother! Come on you guys, we’re flooding!”
The entrance to the animal compound opened and groups of animals, herded by several people, tramped across the soaked crops and the wet floor toward Chris.
“Let the chickens loose, too!” someone called out. A man and woman went back into the animal area, crossed to the chicken ranch and using the manual lever, opened the door. They ran down the rows unlatching cages and pulling birds out. The birds were decidedly unhappy about the rising water on the floor, flapping their wings and flying clumsily into the animal cave.
Someone knocked on the back door. “That’s weird. I’ll get it.” the man said. He pulled the manual lever, opening the door and giving ingress to a band of the most horrific creatures he had ever encountered.
The woman screamed as the monsters rushed into the chicken ranch. She ran for the door, the birds fleeing before her. The man’s cries cut off almost as soon as he commenced screaming. Pulling the lever back up she tried to close the door but the creatures were quickly crossing the other cave having savagely murdered her companion. She turned and fled, past the corrals, to the main door of the compound. The monsters were confused and distracted by the flapping birds, giving her an opportunity to escape to the next room. The main door closed when she yanked the lever up.
“Go, everybody out! Those things are in the cave. Oh God, they killed Steven!” The remaining people quickly finished herding the animals and a few chickens that had managed to get into this cave out the front door and closed it.
“I don’t think they can get through the door unless someone opens it,” the woman told Chris as they shepherded the animals through the calf deep water.
Mark’s hunting party had gone their separate ways looking for their families to begin evacuation. Mark and Lori started back through the hallway to go upstairs. Wading through the water and fighting their way through the frightened animals, they ran into Chris.
“The monsters are in the animal compound,” Chris told them. “Come on, we’re evacuating. Looks like we’re out of here for good.”
“We’re going to make sure everyone is out first.” Mark told her. “The intercom is still down in some areas. Where’s Aaron?”
“He’s helping the injured to evacuate. Keep your eyes peeled. Very soon the water’s going to make it difficult to get out of here. Dad says the exit tunnel slopes upward. If the water gets too high and starts flooding the exit cave the blast door will activate. That means no one else can get out. Don’t wait too long.”
“We’ll be there. Count on it! Where’s Will?”
“I think he’s in the Crow’s nest. Make him leave, promise?”
“We’re on our way.”
Others joined and assisted Chris and the others in herding the animals through the hallways to the back corner, getting the dragon door open and the animals through. As each group entered the long escape tunnel the door was closed behind them.
Chicken carcasses and feathers were everywhere. The beasts crashed through and tore apart corrals and enclosures casting the debris around the cave. One pounded the door and jerked the manual lever leaping back, surprised, when the door opened. He slithered through the opening, traveling in the same direction he’d seen the humans go, the others trailing him. They trashed this cave as well, jerking down the lines in the hydroponic gardens and throwing pieces of the planter boxes through the windows of the offices. Eventually finding their way to the shelter door, Arby pulled the lever, having watched the man-things open the door this way.
Now there was nothing stopping them as eight monsters moved forward into the shelter.
May 8, 7:20 a.m.
“What do you mean gone?” Lori asked.
“They were with me in the meeting.” Barbara explained through tears. “I think they went with Jerry to tell Pete about the evacuation. I missed them right after he left. I just turned around and they were gone!”
“Oh no!” She moaned. She took Barbara by the shoulders. “Listen to me. You get to the exit. I’m going to look for them. It won’t do any good for you to stay behind and maybe Jerry has them after all. Go!” She pushed Barbara toward the door of the daycare where they had encountered her yelling at the top of her lungs for Jeremy and the others.