Rimmer placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a firm push, getting him walking again. “No one is going to kill you, Jerry.”
“Kane said to take care of me.”
“I’m going to put you in a cell.”
“With what? The Loch Ness monster?”
“No.”
“A Medusa, with snakes for hair? Medusas freak me out. They’re like my nightmare fuel.”
“Your own cell. Jerry.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Jerry considered it. The relief he felt was short lived. Being locked up down here, possibly forever, would be even worse than death. Just one more exhibit in Hell’s zoo. He wondered how often they’d change the hay in his cage.
“What’s going to happen to Wolfie’s body?” he asked, mostly to take his mind off of his own situation.
“The werewolf?”
“He’s not a werewolf. If he was, he would have turned back into a man when that fascist, Kane, killed him.”
“Not all werewolves are shapechangers. That’s a legend. You know that vampire sucker thing on level 5? The Nosferatu? That’s probably where part of the werewolf legend came from. Men who turned into monsters with sharp teeth who acted like animals and ate babies. Wolfie, as you call him, probably got mixed up in the legend. I was surprised he died so easily. He may not have been a man who changed when the moon was full, but he was more than just a big dog. Incredibly strong and resilient. Resistant to aging and injury. The only thing he reacted negatively to was silver. Classic werewolf traits. He was…” Rimmer’s eyes seemed to go out of focus for a moment. “Well, he was one helluva animal.”
Jerry raised an eyebrow. “It almost sounds as if you liked him.”
“You were playing ball with Wolfie?”
“You know I was.”
“Who do you think gave him that ball?” Rimmer asked.
“Nessie did.”
“Nessie liked him. But the ball—that was mine.”
Jerry considered it. Maybe Rimmer wasn’t as big of a tool as he’d thought. “So where is he?”
“He’s in the morgue now. I’ll make sure his body is properly disposed of.”
“He won’t be fed to the spiders?”
“No. He’ll be studied and preserved. He was one of a kind.”
“So, aren’t you pissed off? Your commanding officer killed Wolfie for no reason at all.”
“Being pissed off doesn’t keep me from following orders, Jerry.”
“That’s a total cop-out.”
“Whatever. We’re here.”
They were in front of a seemingly empty cell.
“You sure it’s empty?” Jerry asked, dubious.
“Do you see anything inside?”
“Could be filled with invisible, man-eating pythons.”
“It’s not.” Rimmer used his fob to access the LED panel and opened the steel door.
“Well, bugger it, what am I supposed to do in here? Is there a television?”
Rimmer shoved him in and began to shut the door.
“C’mon, mate! At least give me a magazine or something!”
Rimmer paused. Then he reached into his pocket—
—and took out a rubber ball.
Wolfie’s.
He tossed it to Jerry, and then a siren began to wail, the overhead lights starting to blink.
“What the fuck is that?” Jerry asked, pocketing the ball.
Rimmer’s eyes narrowed. “Security breach. We’re in lockdown.”
The idea of a security breach in the Spiral scared the piss out of Jerry.
“Shit. Did something get out? Are we trapped down here?”
Rimmer didn’t answer. If there were monsters running around, the last place Jerry wanted to be was locked in a cell, unable to run. If it was Bub—and Jerry had a hunch it was—that demon was smart enough to get out of his cell, which meant it was smart enough to get inside the cells. If Jerry stayed locked up, he would basically be the equivalent of convenience food.
Out of all the terrible ways to die, being eaten was probably the worst.
Jerry made his eyes go wide as he looked beyond Rimmer. Then he raised his hand and pointed. “Oh, shite! Behind you!”
Rimmer swung around, reaching for his sidearm, and Jerry bumped him hard as he could, sending the man sideways, and then went running down the hallway in the opposite direction, heading for the elevator. He pressed the button and the doors opened immediately. Jerry popped inside and watched as Rimmer snarled at him. Jerry frantically looked for some button to press, but there were none.
Voice activated. It’s voice activated.
“Level one,” Jerry said.
The doors remained open.
“Doors close.”
They didn’t close.
Rimmer began to charge toward the elevator.
“Come on, you bloody lift, move!” Jerry remembered he no longer had that fob thing. The elevator likely wouldn’t work without it. Rimmer was only a few meters away, and he didn’t look happy. Jerry winced at what he assumed would be a punch in the face at the minimum.
Then, magically, the doors began to close. They finished closing right before Rimmer reached them, and Jerry blew out a big breath of relief. The elevator began to rise, and Jerry wondered if maybe he didn’t need a fob after all.
It stopped on subbasement 1. Not the surface, but a definite improvement.
At least, it seemed like an improvement until the lift doors opened and Jerry found himself tackled by imps.
They leapt on him en masse, clinging to his limbs. Small, green, somewhat clammy Smurf-like creatures that freaked Jerry out so bad he began to scream as he tried to shake them off. They screamed in response, shrill like monkeys, but the family of four clung to his arms and legs like they were tied on; the world’s ugliest fashion accessories. Several of them were pointing back into the hall.
Jerry controlled his hysteria long enough to glance upward—
—seeing Sun Dennison-Jones in front of a cell, opening it up and releasing…
It’s the unicorn.
The cell opened and the magnificent equine trotted out, then let out a nicker. The nicker became a scream when Sun stuck it in the nose. But it wasn’t a simple slap. Jerry took a closer look and noticed that Sun’s hands had become claws.
She wasn’t Sun anymore. She was a monster.
A monster who was releasing all the other monsters.
The unicorn reared up on its hand legs, pawing the air, and then charged past Sun, toward the elevator, horn lowered like a rhino.
“Close!” Jerry commanded the elevator doors, the imps clinging to him momentarily forgotten.
The doors stayed open, but his shouting got Sun’s attention. She smiled at him, her mouth crammed with fangs.
“Close, goddammit!”
The unicorn picked up speed. It’s eyes were wide with terror, and Jerry imagined getting impaled on its horn. It truly would be one of the most painful ways to die, while also being one of the gayest.
“No no no no no no…”
The imps clutching Jerry began to repeat “no no no” as well, but higher-pitched and faster. It would have been kind of cute if Jerry wasn’t seconds away from wetting his pants in fear.
When the unicorn was less than a meter away from the lift, the doors finally began to shut—
—and the horn wedged itself between the doors. Jerry backed away, bumping into the rear of the lift, his jaw hanging in horror as the creature forced the doors back open.
And that’s when the imps dropped off Jerry and attacked, flinging themselves at the unicorn going straight for its eyes with their tiny hands. The beast grunted, retreating a few meters back, and the imps jumped back into the elevator just as the doors shut.
“Yes!” Jerry shouted, pumping a fist into the air.
“Yes yes yes yes,” they said in their preternatural helium voices, also repeating his fist gesture.
Cool.
“You guys are little gangsters. Cheers.”
The imps began to chitter at one another. The elevator continued to rise, coming up to the Nucleus.
“Get behind me,” Jerry said. “We don’t know what’s on this floor.”
The imps stared at him. Jerry got on one knee, using his arms to corral the family behind him. When the lift stopped, Jerry held his breath, expecting the worst.
Which is exactly what he got, because as soon as the elevator doors opened, six men pointed automatic weapons directly at Jerry’s head.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Andy had an idea where his wife had gone.
Actually, not his wife. That thing his wife had become. That monster wasn’t Sun. It was Bub, controlling her DNA. Bub had infected her, altering how she looked and acted. Almost as if Sun were possessed. But he knew the cause was physical, not spiritual. Sun had some kind of disease.
Which meant, hopefully, she could be cured.
Hopefully.
Until then, he had to figure out some way to protect her. If there was even a tiny chance of getting Sun back, Andy would do whatever it took.
That, however, would pose a problem. Shortly after Sun ran off, the Spiral went on full alert. Rimmer’s men were all armed and looking for targets to shoot. One target in particular.
Andy had gotten to Kane’s office just as the General was leaving.
“You can’t kill her,” Andy demanded, holding out his palm and keeping the older man from advancing.
Kane’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t your wife anymore, Mr. Dennison-Jones. It’s a demon.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“Oh, really?” Kane stepped back, and Andy followed him to his computer monitor. Kane typed in a command, and Andy stared at the security footage, watching as Sun opened cell after cell, freeing terrifying creatures.
“If we don’t stop her right now, at this rate she’ll have released every guest within the hour.”
“You don’t have to kill her.”
“Dr. Gornman tried a sedative. It didn’t have any effect. The knock-out gas didn’t work on the faustling, either.”
“You can capture her. A net. Or force her into a cell.”
“And risk the lives of those under my command?”
“Please, General. It isn’t Sun who’s doing this. It’s Bub. If you kill Bub, she could return to normal.”
“Is that so?”
Andy didn’t think so. Sun had an infection, and the infection affected her thoughts. It was unlikely that Bub, if destroyed, would cure Sun. But if Kane focused on killing the demon, maybe it would buy Sun some more time.
“What if it was someone you loved?” Andy implored. “Wouldn’t you try?”
Kane sighed, his lips pursed. Then he said, “I can’t make any promises. My first duty is to this facility, to make sure the visitors are detained and never reach the outside world. My second is the protection of those who work here. But if I can fulfil those duties, and still contain your wife without destroying her, I’ll try.”
“Thank you, General. Do you know where she is?”
Kane frowned, then typed another command on the keyboard. It was a camera on subbasement 5, Sun rushing up to it and tearing it off the wall, making the image go dark.
“She’s destroying some of the surveillance cameras as she opens the cell doors. We’re sending a team down.”
“How is she opening the cells?” Andy asked.
Kane didn’t answer.
“General?”
“She apparently got a key card and the access code from Dr. Chandelling, after she tore off his ear. He’s in the infirmary.”
“Can’t you change his code?”
“No. It’s a safeguard. The key personnel all have unique codes. That way, if there is a breach in the chain of command, others can override it. Several of us have the power to secure the facility.”
“What do you mean by secure? You mean fill it up with cement?”
Kane stayed silent. Andy made his hands into fists, trying not to let his anger bubble over. This was Samhain all over again. History hadn’t taught these people anything.
Then again, it apparently hadn’t taught Andy anything either, or else he and Sun would have never come here.
“Just don’t kill her,” Andy said, quickly leaving the office.
Out in the hall, he startled to the sound of automatic gun fire. It was very close. Andy placed his back against the wall and peeked around the corner.
Three guards were shooting at something unseen further down the hallway.
A millisecond later, one of the men was pounced upon by something large, covered in colorful feathers.
It was the dinosaur. Achillobator. Tall as a man, five meters long, with a head bigger than a crocodile’s and taloned feet that tore open the soldier as easily as unzipping a sleeping bag. Guts spilled out, and the creature immediately opened wide and bit off the second man’s head before the soldier had a chance to adjust aim. The third turned and tried to run, but the achillobator’s tail whipped around like a stingray, impaling him through the back and out his chest.
Charged with adrenaline, Andy sprinted in the opposite direction, heading for the elevator. A small tree fell before him, and Andy jumped over it before realizing it wasn’t a tree at all, but a giant centipede, brown and thick as the trunk of a forty-year old oak. He glanced over his shoulder as he ran, and the insect reared up, its mandibles clicking and antenna whipping around furiously just as the dinosaur plowed into it. The centipede quickly wrapped around the prehistoric creature, coiling like a python, and Andy called the elevator with his key fob, unable to turn away from the two monsters as they locked in mortal combat.
As they battled, something else slunk around the corner. It looked like a giant bird of prey, with a massive, curved beak and sharp black eyes. But as the full animal came into view, Andy saw its back half was that of a lion.
The griffon.
It focused on Andy, and the feathers on its neck ruffled, standing on edge. Then its maw opened wide and it let out a terrifying screech that made Andy feel faint. It hunkered down—
stalking mode—and its yellow talons click-click-clicked on the tile floor as it slunk toward Andy.
This is bad.
Andy thought of the countless nature shows he’d seen over his lifetime, where some predatory bird gripped its prey and tore off strips of flesh while it struggled to escape, and he was hard pressed to think of a worse way to die.
The griffon crept closer, and Andy shrunk against the elevator doors, no clue at all how to defend himself. What do you do when a gigantic eagle/lion hybrid attacks? Go for its eyes? Curl up in a ball? Or just pray it all ends quickly?
When it was a meter away, the griffin lowered its body to the floor, getting ready to spring.
The elevator still hadn’t arrived, and Andy wondered what his very last thought would be. That he’d failed Sun? That he blamed himself for getting them into this mess? That it sure hurt like hell being eaten alive by a griffin?
Then the creature squawked again, immediately spinning around and attacking the dinosaur that had locked its jaws onto its back leg.
The elevator opened—blessedly empty—and Andy retreated from the monster wars and told the lift to take him to subbasement 5.
That’s where Sun would be heading. To free Bub.
Andy had no clue how he was going to stop her, but he had to try. If there was even the tiniest bit of humanity left in his wife, he’d find it. She was strong. One of the strongest people he’d ever known. If anyone in the world had the willpower to fight back against the infection that had overtaken her, Sun did.
As the elevator took him deeper into the earth, Andy tried to get his breathing under control and considered the future. If he was able to help Sun, and if they got out of there, and if Bub didn’t destroy the world.
A whole lot of ifs.
If things did work out, he vowed he and Sun would
get off the grid. Go somewhere the government couldn’t find them. Hide away in a little podunk town where Sun could be a veterinarian and Andy could teach French or Spanish or something equally banal at the local community college. Change their names. Start a family. Get away from all the death and the monsters and the ever-looming threat of humanity’s annihilation.
When he reached subbasement 5, Andy tensed, but understood he couldn’t brace himself for whatever he was about to face. Maybe it would be crawling with creatures. Maybe Sun was waiting to kill him. Maybe Bub was already freed, ready to take the elevator to the surface and make good on his promise to destroy humanity.
But when the doors opened, the hallway was empty. Andy quickly made his way toward the cell Bub and Lucas shared. Bub hovered in place, eyeing Andy malevolently. Lucas sat in his chair, looking pensive.
“Your lovely wife?” Lucas asked.
“She’s… infected.”
“Aye. Controlled from within, so to speak. In 1518, in Strasbourg, there was a dancing plague. Over four hundred people afflicted and unable to stop dancing. It lasted almost a week, and some literally danced themselves to death. Their disease controlled their actions.”
“Was that Bub?”
“No. Least, I don’t believe it was. Just saying that people, sick people, sometimes aren’t responsible for their actions. Remember that, whatever happens next.”
“Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.”
Andy twisted around, and saw Sun had come up behind him. She had that toothed, demonic smile on her face, and there was blood on the front of her hospital gown.
“You… you can fight this, Sunshine,” Andy said. “I know you’re in there. You can—”
Sun backhanded Andy, sending him to the floor. Then she placed a key card up to the cell’s LED panel.
“Sun! Don’t!” Andy reached for her leg, and was summarily kicked in the face. Sun quickly punched some keys and the cell door opened.
Then there was a violent crash.
The batling was knocked clean out of the air by a flying net of steel, careening into Sun and sending them both sprawling onto the hallway floor.
The steel mesh fence that had separated Lucas and Bub fell on top of the batling, pinning it underneath. Sun lay to the side, unconscious and bleeding from a gash on her forehead. Andy quickly crawled to her. She had a pulse.
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