by Ian Woodhead
Edgar laughed, “Doctor Phoebes is a second class vet. I wouldn’t trust that old bastard with a cut finger. A fully equipped hospital wouldn’t be able to sort this mess out now; I’m too far gone.”
Miles pulled the radio towards him and began hunting through the channels; he didn’t want to listen to Edgar’s matter of fact statements any longer. He was the closest friend he’d ever had, despite only knowing him for a few weeks, and now, just like his wife, Edgar wanted him to leave.
After spending a few moments of searching through the static filled channels, he gave up and pushed the antiquated thing away.
“It take it from your pissed off face that the radio is still buggered.”
Miles felt the urge to throw the bloody thing on the floor, “I can’t get anything out of it.”
“I’m not surprised,” he replied. “They hadn’t exactly supplied us with the best equipment.”
He smiled, and then closed his eyes.
“Jesus! Are you alright?”
Edgar nodded, “I am now, all my physical pain has just gone away. It appears that my transformation has just reached a new phase.” He jerked his head towards the stairs, “They’ve just caught scent of a group of humans entering the city. You should be safe to leave here in a few minutes.”
“How on earth could you possibly know that?”
Miles jumped when he heard the sound of a window exploding. He pushed back his chair and ran over to the window at the far side of the room.
“Don’t get too close to the glass, Miles,” shouted Edgar. “It appears that out our friends haven’t forgotten you after all; they’ll still take you out if you give them the opportunity.”
Mile took his advice and stepped away from the window, he still saw the huge fog blurred shapes emerge from the building and disappear into the mist. He hoped to God that those other people would see sense and turn away before it was too late. He turned and gazed at his friend, he decided that it was probably best if he stayed where he was fore the time being. Edgar’s baggy suit now resembled a white balloon stretched over a pile of engine parts.
“I can now hear them all, Miles. I feel their insatiable hunger.” He looked across at Miles; his eyes were now as black as pitch. “I can also sense your thoughts too. The fear and confusion pulsing from you is strong, I can almost taste it.”
Edgar picked up the shotgun; he snapped it open and checked both cartridges before he clicked it shut.
“One shot ought to do the trick Miles but it’s best to be double sure.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked. Miles knew damn well what his friend wanted him to do.
“Don’t try to feign ignorance, I’m asking you to do this as a friend. Do you think I want to turn into one of those things?”
Edgar slid the shotgun across the tiled floor.
“I don’t have long left.”
Miles reluctantly picked up the shotgun. “I don’t think I can do this.”
Edgar shrugged, “Then your unwillingness will doom you; when I do finish changing, I won’t be able to control myself and I’ll eat you. It’s as simple as that. It’s another reason why our friends left. They knew that I don’t have much time left and you are supposed to be my first meal.”
A dozen segmented brown vines ripped through the suit fabric, they quickly grew down to the floor then whipped out and wrapped around the table legs.
“I only have a few minutes left before the rest of my humanity is buried beneath this relentless hunger that’s beginning to surface.”
Miles watched in horror as Edgar’s eyes began to divide; within seconds they transformed into something insectile.
“Before you do pull that trigger, you have to listen to me.”
Edgar’s arms and torso had begun to fill out.
“They know about the Institute. If those people huddling in that place think they’re safe then they have a Major shock coming their way.”
Miles watched the man attempt to get a hold of his suit zip with fingers that now looked like raw sausages. When he did achieve his task, Edgar released an audible sigh as he pulled down the zip. Miles turned away as thick cords of compressed vivid purple flesh burst out and landed on the table with a wet smack.
“There are seventy one more of what I’m about to become spread out in a three mile radius, they are all busy hunting down the remaining two hundred and eleven humans.” Edgar gasped, “Oh Dear Lord, both the crèches have gone.”
Miles shook his head, “That’s impossible. They’re well defended and besides, we would have heard about it.”
“On that piece of junk? Two tin cans tied to a piece of string would be more effective than that.”
“You’re lying.”
“Suit yourself. Two more humans have just died by the way. Look, if you stay in Leeds, you’ll be dead in a few days. You need to get into the countryside, you’ll be safer there.”
He laughed, “What’s the bloody point?”
“In another couple of weeks, every single one of those things will keel over and die and that includes me if you don’t have the balls to kill me now. They’ll all die at exactly the same time because that’s what they’ve been programmed to do.”
Edgar gasped, “Oh Jesus, I’ve only seconds left, be sure you do me good, Miles.”
The vines around the table legs were thickening up, his whole body began to expand. Miles took one step forward and raised the shotgun.
“This wasn’t some freak accident, there was no virus released from some secret lab. We’re about to be invaded, all the generals and decision makers have all gone, and the rest of you are being slaughtered like fucking cattle. When they come, they’ll flow over the land, destroying whatever’s left.”
He screamed, “Oh fuck, this is bad. Do it, Miles. Please man! Do it now!”
Miles took one more step forward and pulled the trigger.
Chapter Seven
Amber rested the back of her sweat-drenched head against the cool wall. She took a deep breath and cool, sweet air flowed into her burning lungs. The action threw her off balance and she had to slam both hands onto her thighs so she wouldn’t over balance.
She had lost them, for the moment anyway. How long would it take them to realize that their quarry had double backed on herself? Seconds or minutes? For the sake of her poor knackered body, Amber hoped it would be fucking hours.
If it hadn’t been for the fact that she knew this place intimately, those bastards would have collared her ages ago. Even so, this couldn’t carry on for much longer. If she didn’t find somewhere to hole up quickly, she’d be dead in the water.
The sound she’d been dreading, combat boots striking linoleum floor, reached her ears.
“Can’t you just give this girl a break?” she muttered.
Perhaps they’ll run straight past the left turning she took. They couldn’t possibly know which way she went, could they? The boots slowed down and Amber heard the muffled conversation of two male voices.
She pushed her body off the wall. The way her luck was running, just staying here and hoping those men ran past would surely doom her. She darted along the plain, white corridor, toward the first set of double doors.
Her hope of losing those two idiots down here had seemed like a good idea at the time. There was nothing down this part of the Institute save for a few dozen abandoned rooms and a maze of corridors that seemed to lead to nowhere. How the hell they had managed to keep up was beyond her, unless they were part bloodhound.
Amber wasn’t just trying to lose them down here; she also had a destination in mind. Despite losing her friend earlier, Amber still intended to get to the surface and warn Miles before it was too late.
She burst through the double doors and into a large, dusty room that must have served as a canteen sometime in the distant past.
When Amber first arrived here, the Institute was almost deserted. There were only a few survivors here. All trying to make sense of the incomprehensible blight t
hat had taken away the older generation. The shock of what had happened had such a profound effect upon her psyche. Whilst the others attempted to find solace in alcohol or drugs or sharing their experiences, she took a different route.
Amber spent every hour of each day exploring and mentally mapping the interior of the vast complex. Finding and exploring all those forgotten rooms and corridors kept her traumatized mind away from thinking about the catastrophe.
She knew from her last visit down here that two more rooms after this one lay a two-foot rectangular panel recessed into the wall of a corridor outside the last room. In passing, it didn’t seem to be of any significance but upon closer inspection, the panel revealed an abandoned service lift. Amber knew without doubt that this was the lowest level so the only way would be up, hopefully toward the departure lounge.
As she weaved her way through the rusted metal tables, she heard the unmistakable sound of approaching boot steps; so the bastards had come this way after all. Amber had almost reached the exit when the doors behind her flew open.
“Keep fucking still, bitch or we’ll gun you down.”
“Bullshit,” she muttered, reaching for the door, “They wouldn’t dare.”
Hayder cursed, she risked a glance behind her and yelped when she saw them climbing onto the tables.
“Come back here,” he snarled.
Amber almost fell through the doors in panic. She got to her feet and saw another door a few metres to her left. Amber chose that route instead of running for the lift. There wasn’t a chance in hell of reaching the service lift before they would catch up to her.
The last time she was down here, she spent nearly a full hour going through all the cupboards and drawers. This area had always held her attention for more than a few minutes.
The doorway led into a kitchen area that looked like it had been frozen in time. The place was still fully stocked up and judging from the state of the antiquated equipment and the state of the cans of food in the cupboards, it hadn’t been occupied for at least half a century.
As she raced into the kitchen, she noticed straight away that one of the cupboard doors under one of the preparation tables was wide open. That door had been shut when she’d left, she’d stake her life on it. Amber wondered who could have been in here but she heard those boot steps getting closer and realized that it didn’t really matter.
There was no time to find a better hiding place, that cupboard would have to do. Amber climbed backwards into the cramped space and used the narrow slats cut into the wood to close the door.
Her stomach sank when the two soldiers rushed through the doors; oh this was just not fair. How could they possibly know where she was going all the time? Amber attempted to slow down her ragged breathing and attempted to relax. She looked at the two tins beside her knee and tried to imitate their stillness, pretty fucking difficult when sweat flowed into her eyes and her heart sounded like a bloody drum roll.
“Are you sure she’s in here?” asked Pembroke
This really wasn’t right; the bastard wasn’t even out of breath.
“Of course I’m bloody sure,” replied the gingered haired soldier. “We’ve just spent the last half hour running her down. She’ll be well fucked by now, it makes sense that she’ll go to ground.”
Amber watched them through the slats. The fuckers were checking everywhere.
“She’ll be well fucked by the time I get hold of her,” chuckled Pembroke as he pulled open a drawer.
“What the fuck are you looking in there for? How small do you think she is?”
“What do you think Jackson will do if we don’t find her?”
Hayder stopped pulling out pans from a cupboard next to him, “That option just doesn’t fucking exist.”
“But what if we don’t?” he persisted. “I still can’t believe we bumped into Jackson in the medical section.”
Hayder sighed loudly, “If you hadn’t looked so fucking guilty when he barked at you, I may have been able to blag our way through.”
“What are you on about? I didn’t look pissing guilty.”
“Bollocks, you looked as though he’d just caught you with your hand on his wife’s left tit.”
“It weren’t you he stared at though was it Hayder? His eyes drilled right into my skull.”
“It’s about time you grew a pair, Pembroke. I’ve told you before. Jackson sees the worse in everyone. You just need to act all offended and get all uppity back at him.”
Pembroke abruptly spun around. Amber let out an involuntary gasp. Oh shit, he was looking right at her.
“Did you hear that? I’m sure I heard a noise over there.”
She glanced to the side of her and silently moaned. She’d knocked over one of those tins and not even bloody noticed. How fucking clumsy could she be?
Pembroke giggled, “I do believe that I can see a painted nail. Hello in there? Do you want to come out and play with us?”
She picked up one of the tins and shuffled back, Amber didn’t intend to be captured without putting up some sort of fight. The man padded over, taking his time, grinning like a mad clown. She was so glad it was him instead of that other one. Hayder scared her. As soon as the bastard pushed his ugly mug through the opening, he was going to get this tin slammed right into his mouth. Amber wanted the fucker to choke on his own teeth.
Oh God, listen to her, as if he was going to poke his head in here like a bear groping for honey, he would shove his arm in either that or his pissing rifle. As he reached for the door, Amber crawled further into the tight space.
She yelped in utter shock as her legs fell out from under her, Amber looked back, panic bubbling up as she felt her torso slipping back. Oh Jesus. Someone or something had burrowed up from fuck knows where, right into the back of this cupboard. Pembroke opened the door and reached in with both arms. Amber didn’t know what scared her the most her falling backwards or the look of sheer terror etched on the soldier’s face.
“Grab my arms, woman!” he shouted.
She dug her fingers into the edge of the wood and fervently tried to pull her body up. Amber just couldn’t hold on for any longer, the interior of the tunnel was coated in a thin film of gloss black glutinous slime. Pembroke leaned further in, trying to wrap his fingers around her wrist but he just couldn’t reach. Amber’s already exhausted muscles couldn’t hold her any longer. Her fingers let go and she plummeted backwards, shrieking.
Before she had time to try to slow her descent, Amber fell through and landed on a pile of what felt like soft material. She dared to open her eyes and found herself looking up the hole she’d just fallen through and at the tiny features of Pembroke at the top.
That soft material turned out to be a thick carpet of huge, black mushrooms. She cried out in revulsion as the crushed caps and stems beneath her released a rank, foul stink. Amber rolled of the stuff, stood up, and wiped as much of the crap off her clothes as she could.
Where the bloody hell was she now? No way could this dark room be part of the Institute. It looked as though the cube shaped room had been hewn out of solid rock; was this a natural cave?
As Amber slowly turned around, she saw that the hole she fell through wasn’t the only one. Above her head were five more next to each other in a circular pattern. They remind her of the barrel on a revolver. She looked up and in the distance glanced pale blue sky. The exit looked like it was miles above her head, Amber reached up and gingerly touched the surface of the hole, it was just like the other one, gross and slimy.
“I won’t be getting out that way,” she murmured.
She padded back toward the opening she’d emerged from, stepping over that vile carpet of strange looking mushrooms. Amber crouched down and gazed up the hole. The face was no longer there. She wasn’t sure whether she was upset or relieved. The gradient didn’t seem to be too steep; if she could find something to dig into the side there may be a chance of getting out of here. Amber stood up, wherever, here was.
Opposi
te from where she stood there was a huge lump of dark stone jutting out from the wall, Amber made her way toward it, and as she got closer, Amber saw with surprise that it wasn’t natural. A human face had been carved from the rock. As her eyes got used to the dim light, she noticed more discrepancies. Close to the opening was what looked like a pile of broken stone columns, next to those were the remains of the statue of a naked man.
“Oh how fucking fantastic. I’ve fallen into what could be one of the greatest archaeological finds of the decade.” Her voice echoed around the room, “Yippee, I’ll be famous.”
Then her eyes saw something else that wasn’t so ancient. Amber’s stomach flipped when she noticed a pile of glistening bones next to that broken statue. She looked around and saw with growing horror that there were another four piles. She took a step back and gasped when her foot crushed what felt like a snail’s shell. Despite knowing what it must be, Amber still looked down.
She’d just stood on someone’s finger bone. Amber felt her gorge rising when she saw a piece of ragged material sticking to a thick bone next to her other foot. The realisation of what this place was quickly dawned on her.
“Oh Jesus,” she moaned.
She was standing in the middle of a creature’s lair, a creature that obviously wasn’t a fucking vegetarian. Amber then saw several more openings in the side of the cave walls. Her heart lifted slightly; maybe one of them wasn’t so steep.
Amber’s heart sank back down when she heard a snuffling noise coming from one of those openings. She frantically looked around the cave for anything to use as a weapon. After what she’d been through, no way did Amber intend to end her day as a pile of wet bones.