by J E Feldman
An arm with a wickedly taloned hand dropped from above, grabbed Petrov by the face, and dragged him upwards. He didn’t even have time to scream before he disappeared through the hatch.
Slowly, the other men in the room started to regain their senses and looked in horror at the torrent of water pouring into the boat. A few men moved towards the ladder but were brought up short when several figures rose from the surging waters. These didn’t even bother with the pretence and appeared in their normal form.
I stared, dumbstruck, at the monsters before me. They were eight feet high with huge bulbous eyes and downturned mouths with rows of needle-sharp teeth. On their necks were openings that could only have been gills. Their hands were webbed, with long, thin fingers sporting wickedly sharp-looking talons. At the same time, each monster grabbed a man, plunged their heads down, and ripped huge chunks of flesh from their necks. Blood sprayed forth, dousing the other men who screamed in panic.
I noticed Yegorov pull his pistol from its holster, move forward, and point it at a monster’s chests. He fired at point-blank range but the bullet simply ricocheted away into the pooling water. The creature looked up from his feasting and swung his arm towards Yegorov, backhanding him across the room. He crashed into the door, his face mashed against the glass of the window I looked through.
I watched him slide out of view, which revealed one of the creatures behind him. It sloshed through the water, towards the door, and reached down to pick up Yegorov. As it was about to take a chunk out of the bleeding man, it noticed me. Our eyes met for a moment and my mind felt as though it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. I shut my eyes to the pain and tried to move away from the door.
In my mind, I heard my wife’s voice, “Dmitry. Dmitry. Come join me, Dmitry. We can be together forever.”
I opened my eyes and saw Elena standing on the other side of the door. My hands rose up to the locking mechanism on the hatch and began to turn the wheel.
“That’s it, Dmitry. Come to me. Join me. Forever.”
Elena moved slightly and I spied the other creatures feasting on the remains of my crew mates. I looked down. The locking mechanism was almost opened. I panicked and wound it the opposite direction, then I looked back at the visage of my dead wife.
“You’re not real. I can never be with Elena. Ever again,” I said.
The creature tried once again, with an angrier tone that reminded me of my wife all the more.
“Dmitry, open this door, now. Come to me,” it said.
I shook my head. “No,” I said and slammed the lock home.
I turned, opened a nearby storage cupboard, and searched for something to jam the lock with. There was a set of tools in the bottom drawer. I grabbed a screwdriver and jammed it into the lock sleeve.
That should hold it.
I turned and caught of sight Elena one more time. Her face pleaded with me to join her. I cast my eyes downward and moved away.
I ran down the ladder, through another hatch, and into the forward battery room. It was devoid of humans, but it was still stiflingly hot. A small walkway split two banks of huge lead cell batteries. Curiosity plagued my mind as I shuffled, hunched over, along the walkway. We’d been down here for a good hour and a half. I wondered how much longer these batteries would power the submarine and where were the mechanics that monitored their performance?
I came to another hatch and peaked through, into the corridor that split the cold storage and freezer compartments. Nothing moved, so I assumed it was safe.
I made my way through but noticed the cold storage door ajar. I prodded it and looked inside. Nothing seemed to be moving amongst the stores and shelving that held enough food and drink to keep all the men happy for over a month at sea. The freezer was closed, so I carried on.
Up ahead was the galley. My stomach grumbled at the thought of food, but I didn’t have time. I had to get off this doomed boat. I looked through the window and finally found the mechanics seated around the galley. As I opened the hatchway, I surprised them all. Several of the men recognised me and smiled. Anatoli, the head mechanic, held up a small glass of clear liquid, I guessed vodka, probably from the captain’s personal store, in salute.
“Dmitry, come to join our little farewell party, have you?” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“We are all dead men. This is our way of going out with a bang. Is that not right?” he asked, saluting the other men. They all cheered and downed their glasses.
“I assume that vodka is the captain’s?”
He smiled, “We did not think he’d miss it.”
I shook my head and answered, “You have that right. He is dead, along with all the senior officers.”
Anatoli looked shocked at this.
“How? There was no damage to the upper decks or mid-ship. The damage was just in the stern wasn’t it?”
“Someone went mad and opened the outer hatch. The control room flooded before anybody could shut it.”
Oleg, one of the cooks, piped up, “How come you survived?”
“I was trying to fix the sonar in the forward torpedo room. There’s water coming in their too. I found the sonar destroyed, when I got back to the control room, they were all gone. So, I came down here.”
I looked around the men. They all wore a mix of expressions, of lost hope, of lost loves, of giving up, but with a glint in their eyes brought on by the alcohol.
Anatoli started up again, “So Dmitry, drink with us. The engines are gone. The boat is holed and filling with water. Above us the German dogs circle like sharks. We may as well go out in style, yes?”
A crewman filled up a small glass for me. I knew this was wasting time but it may be the only way to bring these men on side. I downed the vodka in one hit. The warmth that hit my gullet was welcome indeed.
“Good, good,” Anatoli said and slapped me on the shoulder as he refilled my glass.
I knew there was no point in telling them about the creatures. I hardly believed what I’d seen but I needed to know more about the condition of the aft rooms.
“There is a way off the boat,” I began. “We have a locker full of emergency rebreathers that we can use to swim to the surface.”
The men’s faces changed to curiosity.
Oleg was first to ask, “Where?”
“In a cabinet at the back of the crews’ quarters. There are about twenty of them. I just hope they still work. If we can get to them, we can escape out of the aft hatch.”
“Why don’t we go out the control hatch? You said it was already open.”
I had to think fast. I didn’t want to go back into the control room in case the creatures were still there. I used my knowledge of diving and said “I’ve thought about that. The rebreathers will last up to ten minutes. We are three hundred feet down. To rise safely and avoid the bends, it will take about ten minutes. If we get stuck in the control room, we would be as good as dead. At least at the aft hatch we can close off the hatch and flood the room before using the rebreathers and exit at the same pressure.”
Anatoli nodded his head in admiration, “You really have thought this through, but I’m staying here. We’ve got a lot of vodka left. Supplies for a month. As long as the batteries hold out we can live down here very happily for a while yet. If you make it, send some help.” He raised his glass and the other men cheered. With that Anatoli sat down and swigged more vodka.
I looked around at the rest of the men and asked, “Anybody else want to try and escape or do you all just want to die down here?”
A couple stood up. I recognised them as Daniil and Ilya, mechanics and good men. I nodded towards the ladder that leads to the mess and then headed in that direction. They fell in behind.
Anatoli shouted, “Na Zdrovie!” and the rest of the men cheered us on.
We climbed the ladder and came out in the crews’ mess. It was empty and dry. The closed hatch at one end led into the crews’ quarters, the open hatchway in the other direction led into t
he officers’ mess and on through to the control room. As I looked in that direction for a moment, I dropped my head in remembrance of the friends I had lost during the creatures’ attack. I turned back to the present then and carried on, towards hopeful salvation. Ilya followed closely behind.
Daniil stopped and looked towards the control room. Movement at the small window grabbed his attention. He hurried along the walkway until he came to the control room door and looked through.
“Mama?” he said and craned to look into the murky water beyond. His voice became agitated as he grabbed for the locking wheel.
“Mama, hold on! I’m coming for you,” he yelled.
I turned and saw what he was doing. “No,” I yelled, but Daniil put all his might into turning the wheel. It spun and the door burst open, knocking him off his feet. I grabbed the lock on our door and opened it quickly. I stepped through as Ilya started to move backwards, towards his friend.
“Don’t,” I warned. “He’s dead. Come now or you’ll join him.”
He looked at me as if I were insane and turned back towards Daniil. Just then, one of the creatures stepped through the door. Ilya stopped in his tracks and gaped at the monster. It looked around for its prey, found Daniil, and stepped over to him. As Daniil looked up at the creature, he threw his hands up to protect himself and screamed.
The monster reached down with its longed-fingered hand and grabbed Daniil by the chest. Its mouth opened wide and crunched down on his face. The young seaman went still as blood streamed out of his ruined visage. The creature looked up at Ilya and took one step forward.
Ilya cried in terror and ducked through the doorway. I slammed the door shut and spun the wheel just as the creature hit it. Its horrid face filled the window as it peered through at us. It charged the door a few more times, looked through at us once more, then moved away.
After a few moments, I peeked through. Water streamed into the mess and poured down the ladder. Several of the creatures stalked into the room and followed the water downstairs.
“What about Anatoli and the others?” asked Ilya.
I shook my head.
“There’s nothing we can do for them now,” I replied. I turned and looked towards the storage cupboards at the end of the room and said, “We have to save ourselves.”
I quickly moved to the end cupboard and rummaged around inside. Beneath a pile of life vests, I found a sealed container, pulled it free, and placed it on the floor. I tore the top off and found a pile of individually wrapped masks with hoses leading into glass bottles. I pulled one out and opened it.
I placed the mask over my face and tried to breathe. The air smelled of chemicals but was pure and didn’t make me choke. I handed one to Ilya, who unwrapped it and studied the strange-looking apparatus. I pulled my mask off but secured the straps around my chest.
“We’ll have to go through the engine room into the tool room. That’s where the hatch is. The best way will be to open the hatch and flood the tool room before leaving. Otherwise, we’ll have to fight the water coming in and it will waste too much time.”
Ilya nodded and said, “We checked the stern when we were first hit. The aft engine room is…gone.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
“The depth charge blew the whole stern off the boat. That’s why we knew we weren’t getting off any time soon. But I needed to try and escape. I still have a wife and children. I want to go back to them. I want to see them again.”
I patted him on the shoulder, “Do what I say and you will,” I promised.
He nodded. “Here’s hoping.”
I looked through the hatch that led into the engine room. The room was empty. The two powerful engines lay dormant. The silence coming from a room that generally pulsed with noise was eerie and unwelcome.
We climbed out onto the gangway that was suspended above the engines and hurried to the other end. When we got about halfway across, Ilya stopped me. I looked back at him. He held up a finger for silence and craned his head towards a soft noise.
I listened as well. A light scraping sound was coming from the exterior bulkhead. Ilya located the source and pointed.
“Over there,” he said, indicating a vacant area of the wall.
The scraping sound became louder and was replaced by a dull thumping sound. The wall began to buckle and suddenly a hole punched through. A fist opened and closed, showing long, taloned fingers. As it withdrew, water poured in.
“Go!” I yelled, and we hurried towards the other end of the gangway. Ilya opened the hatch and dove through. I took a quick look back at the hole. Scaly green hands appeared in the torrent of water and started to peel the metal back, widening the hole.
I ducked through the hatch and slammed the door shut. I looked around the tiny room. It was just used as a storage room for the mechanics and contained a couple of cabinets for their tools. A ladder led up to the aft hatch.
“We’ve got to get out quick. They’ll be through in moments,” I said.
Ilya nodded and climbed the ladder to the aft hatch. He looked back.
“Ready?”
I nodded and grabbed a couple of handholds. Ilya braced his legs against the ladder, spun the locking wheel, and pushed up with all his might. The hatch moved enough to allow a deluge of water to enter the room. Ilya almost lost his grip but managed to hold on to the hatch and push it open, against the pressure of the sea.
I could see Ilya was struggling, so I shimmied up the side of the ladder, tightened my grip with my legs, and pushed. Together, we managed to open it all the way. The flood of water forced us down, where we could escape the cascading torrent.
The water filled the room quicker than I expected. Within minutes, we were fumbling with our masks. I floated over to the hatchway, took as deep of a breath as I could, and pushed myself through, into the open water. I kicked away from the boat and checked that Ilya had followed. He waved a reassuring hand at me.
I looked around for signs of movement. I was relieved that I could see none in the murky water and a shiver of calm ran through my body. Above, the surface looked bright and inviting, but so far away. A small stream of bubbles came from the boat. I kicked my feet lightly to keep pace with them. I didn’t want to risk an attack of the bends whilst floating in the middle of the sea. Because then everything I’d done would have been for nought.
After a few minutes, I looked down to check on Ilya again. He was farther away than the last time I checked, and he had stopped paddling. In horror, I saw several shapes appear out of the gloom and surround him. One of the monsters moved in front of him and stayed still. Ilya seemed mesmerised by the creature. He simply stared at it for a moment then raised a hand to lovingly caress its cheek. The beast wrapped one massive claw around Ilya’s hand in a mimicked loving embrace. It brought the other hand up, to eye height, extended its taloned fingers, and punched at Ilya’s face. At the same time, the other monsters attacked.
Within seconds the water turned into a dark cloud.
I panicked. I had to get to the surface and get out of the water. I turned my face upwards and kicked with all my might. My breathing became ragged with the exertion of trying to ascend. Pretty soon my vision started to blur and black spots formed before my eyes. I stopped still and sucked at the air inside my mask. I started to feel dizzy and knew I was close to passing out. Somewhere deep in my mind though, a voice was screaming at me to calm down and breathe slower. My rebreather couldn’t expel the carbon dioxide quick enough.
Through the fog of my mind, I looked around and noticed shapes appear before me. Through the maze of black spots swimming before my eyes I could make out the beautiful face of my fair Elena. My angel. Something told me she couldn’t be here, but I ignored it and basked in her presence once more. I reached out for her and she came closer. So close that I could see the sparkling splendour of her blue eyes, the porcelain smoothness of her skin, and I imagined I could smell the scent of her hair.
I noticed the other shapes. The
ir faces were those of everybody I had ever loved in my life. My parents. My siblings. Past loves. Lost loves.
I turned back to Elena and reached out to touch her cheek.
Her hand extended towards mine in turn. Her delicate fingers caressed the straps that held my mask in place. They slid beneath the leather to achieve the intimacy of flesh-on-flesh contact.
My heart swelled with love.
Then shock.
Elena ripped the mask from my face. My mouth filled with salt water. I gagged and coughed, dragging the burning liquid deep into my lungs. I reached for the mask, but Elena had pulled the hose and mask away. They sank slowly to the shadowy bottom.
I turned away from my wife and thrashed about to gain the surface, kicking with all my diminishing strength.
When the air in my system was gone I stopped and floated for a moment as the last vestiges of consciousness remained. Elena floated up to face me. Her delicate features maintained a semblance of my wife. As my vision faded so did her beauty, to be replaced by the grotesque features of a deep-sea creature.
I screamed out the last of my breath.
And the darkness claimed me.
Antonio Gonzalez-Rodriguez
Biography
Antonio Gonzalez-Rodriguez has been a story teller since he could form sentences. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in several different cities throughout the United States. He spent most of his youth reading science fiction and fantasy and writing short stories, poetry, and even comic strips. AGR graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing specializing in Fiction in October 2015. Since then he has written several manuscripts and a number of short stories. AGR currently lives in southwest New Mexico where he spends his days creating new worlds and exploring the vast open spaces of the American Southwest. “Jenaro and the Crimson Sails” is his debut short story.