A chorus of affirmatives. “Soldiers on me.”
They gathered around her quickly. “Chief, were the doors breached?”
“No,” he said. “There wasn’t a sound all night.”
“Did we miss something? How the hell did they get in?”
A group shrug and she sighed. “We’re going to have to clear it again and figure it out people. If they walked through the door right now, I’m not sure we could drop seven of the things.”
“Commander,” McNeely said. “I suggest we recruit some more guns.”
She released a long breath. “Any objections?”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Ring said quietly.
She spared a quick glance at everyone. “Very well,” she consented, turning around to face the huddled civilians. “Who among you knows how to handle a weapon? We have a situation and it might come down to firepower.”
“I can,” Clovis said, rising to his feet and joined by several others.
She nodded and turned back to McNeely. “What do we have for them?”
“Nothing unless I can get to the armory.”
“We need to do that first then,” she said. “Alright, we need to…”
“Incoming!” DeSoto yelled from the hallway.
“Chief, you’re inside with Butler!” she yelled as she dashed for the hall.
She burst through the doors to see DeSoto already on one knee and aiming down the hall where three figures almost thirty yards away ambled drunkenly towards them. “Form a line!” she ordered and dropped down next to DeSoto. “Start on the right and stay on target until it drops!”
The men crowded into the small hallway, kneeling and standing shoulder to shoulder. “Fire at will,” she ordered and the deafening roar of gunfire surrounded them.
Blair almost disintegrated under the firepower directed at him and he fell to the floor stiffly, his bodily remains still quivering in the effort to continue forward.
Magazines fell to the floor and weapons were hastily reloaded as the distance between them and their enemies began to rapidly diminish. Malory dropped her empty shotgun and reached around to unsling her rifle, hurriedly taking aim and firing short three-shot bursts. Even with half of his head torn away, Danforth moved forward resolutely. His body flying away unnoticed in bloody chunks.
Finally he dropped, leaving only Gregory who was almost completely untouched and at an alarmingly close range.
Malory inserted a fresh magazine and stood. “Fall back!” she yelled, taking careful aim at the depressingly young body that had once belonged to the quiet and unassuming Gregory.
The men hurriedly retreated into the mess and Malory suddenly found herself alone and three body lengths away from the advancing creature. Her finger moved to depress the trigger but paused when Gregory stopped and stood unmoving in the middle of the hall. He lifted his hands to his mouth and jerked down savagely, completely unhinging his jaw with a sickening crack of bone.
Malory didn’t hesitate and emptied her rifle into the man’s face, neck, and chest. The assault of bullets only succeeded in knocking Gregory back a stutter-step and he turned a hellishly ruined-featured stare in her direction, abruptly lunging forward with his arms outstretched.
She dropped her rifle and turned to run into the mess, a scream dying in her throat. Her body barely a hairsbreadth across the threshold when Reynolds threw his weight into the door, barely missing her as the door meet a fleshy and unyielding resistance and she was seized by an impossibly strong grip in her hair.
McNeely lunged forward into the door to add his strength to the effort. “Get on the fuckin’ door!” he yelled.
All of Malory’s forward momentum was stopped by the power of the grip and she was ripped backwards, colliding with the half-open door painfully.
Alvarez leapt forward with a lightning fast draw of his knife and brought it down, cutting off a sizeable chunk of her ponytail to free her. Malory staggered forward with the unexpectedness of her liberty and turned to put her strength against the door.
Seeing the dilemma, Clovis let go of a frantically struggling Corky and ran forward with a roar. He lumbered powerfully across the room and utilizing all of his considerable strength, collided into both the startled soldiers and the door.
The force of his arrival slammed the door closed with a sickening crack of bone as one of Gregory’s arms was crushed and almost severed in the doorframe. Blood filled the doorframe like glue and Gregory’s fingers twitched madly as the crushed limb dangled from the precarious tissue still exerting a hold on the appendage.
“The door won’t hold!” Reynolds yelled.
“Back up,” Malory ordered. “Form another firing line!”
The words were no sooner out of her mouth when the door crashed open with stunning force, scattering the soldiers and Clovis in all directions. The edge of the door caught Malory on the side of her face and knocked her several feet backward to land painfully on her back. She groggily rolled over and brought herself to her knees, drawing her pistol.
“Malory!” Corky screamed.
The sound barely registered as she was yanked into the air by the scruff of her neck, catching sight of an evilly unnatural mouth filled with grotesquely gyrating worms descending upon her. She screamed and desperately thrust the barrel of her pistol into Gregory’s remaining eye. The bullet splattered brain matter on the wall behind him and the grip holding her aloft was suddenly released. She fell to the floor and collapsed to her knees, dimly aware of McNeely running forward to grab her by the shoulders.
He started to pull her away but Gregory’s wildly flailing arm caught him in the chest and propelled him into the air, dropping him with a grunt of pain several feet away. Malory was struggling to get to her feet when the swing that had dispatched McNeely returned to catch her in the side. The blow lifted her off her feet and sent her smashing into a table halfway across the room, where she lay motionless.
Another scream from Corky and she wrenched free of the men holding her, racing over to her fallen lover.
Alvarez rushed into the hall to retrieve Malory’s discarded shotgun and walked back into the room loading it. He approached the blind and still thrashing Gregory from behind, coming to just within arms reach and shouldering the weapon. The blast removed what was left of Gregory’s head and he followed the shot with two more to the back of his knees, dropping the twitching body to the floor.
“Burn it, Hanson!” he ordered. “Terrel, get the ones in the hall. Everyone still standing find something to block the door with when he gets back, move!”
Corky frantically rolled Malory over and checked for a pulse, tears of relief filling her eyes when she found it strong and steady. She was in the process of searching out any obvious injuries when blue eyes fluttered open.
“Is…is everybody okay?” Malory croaked.
The threatening tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. “I think so.”
“Hey,” Malory whispered softly. “I’m alright.”
“You better be,” Corky sniffled.
“I just needed a little nap,” Malory said with a grin. “Now help me up, we got things to do.”
“Okay,” Corky said wiping at her eyes.
Malory got to her feet and winced, knowing that she had broken or at the very least bruised some ribs. She shook it off and smiled for Corky’s benefit, squeezing the hand in hers tightly before turning to assess the situation.
Evidently, she was the last person to regain her feet and the men were busily working to block the door. She turned a look at the broken table that had borne the brunt of her impact and spotted her gun on the floor several feet away. Not caring if anyone might be watching, she released Corky’s hand and leaned over to peck her on the cheek.
“We’re gonna be okay,” she whispered and ambled over to pick up her pistol.
———
Twenty minutes later, Malory gingerly sipped at a cup of coffee and surveyed the prison they had created for themselve
s. She had pointedly ignored everyone since obtaining her java and the men had only just finished shoring up the doors to their satisfaction. A task she personally thought was a waste of time; if they wanted in, they were gonna get in and a confrontation within the small confines of the mess hall was a prelude to disaster.
She shot a glance over her shoulder at Corky, who was going about the task of getting what food she could ready for consumption. Not that anyone had much of an appetite after witnessing Gregory’s bloody demise firsthand, yet she realized that the doctor was coping with things in her own way. A smile came to her face as Corky stuck an experimental finger into her concoction and brought it to her mouth, nodding slightly in satisfaction. Suddenly, the situation became intensely personal and a grim purpose fought for air. It was a feeling she had only experienced once before and she recognized it for what it was; resolve.
She rose to her feet and spared a long glance at all the people depending on her leadership. It was do or die time.
“Everyone gather around,” she commanded, waiting patiently for them to congregate and taking Corky’s hand when she came out of the kitchen. “We can’t stay here. You all saw what just one of those things did. We’re sitting ducks and I’m not going to sit here and play with myself until one of those things decides to make a meal out of me. We have to make some choices.”
“What choices do we have, Commander?” Lenard asked.
“There’s only one,” she said solemnly. “We flush them out and destroy them. I won’t order anyone to come with me but that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“Where do we start, skipper?” Alvarez said grimly. “I’m with you and I believe I speak for everyone in uniform.”
“Here, here,” McNeely chimed in.
“I’m with you,” Clovis said.
Every head in the room began to nod.
“It looks like we all are,” Lenard observed.
“Alright,” she said. “What do we have in the armory, Mr. McNeely?”
“Standard compliment of M16’s and 1911’s. About six Benelli M1’s and a thousand rounds for each weapon minus what we’ve already used.”
“Nothing heavier?”
“Afraid not,” he said regretfully. “This is a scientific outpost. The flame units, which we have about a dozen of, are only present because they’re excellent for creating tunnels in the ice. We have plenty of fuel for them and some small explosives. That’s it.”
She hummed thoughtfully. “Lemme hear some opinions.”
“I think we need to find out how the hell they got in here,” Reynolds said. “As strong as they are, they’re not strong enough to break the seals on the fire doors. There has to be something we missed.”
“I suggest that we reestablish the perimeter once we determine how they got in,” Alvarez said. “Then I recommend we travel as a group, rifles up front, shotguns in reserve for close work and flame units to finish. Fire teams in front and behind.”
“I have no objections to any of that, skipper,” McNeely said. “But if we can manage to reestablish a perimeter we still have to count on them getting in sooner or later.”
“I agree,” Ring chimed in.
“Alright,” Malory said. “First trip is to the armory so we can get everybody packin’. Then we inspect the quarters of those dead or missing from last night, I’d be willing to bet those rooms can tell us how they got in. Once that’s done, I intend to hunt them down. Anyone disagree?”
She looked around. “Good, because it wasn’t up for debate. Let’s get it together, I don’t want to be caught in here. Stock up on the C-rations, gear up and clear one of the doors.”
Corky squeezed her hand and she turned to her curiously. “I’m coming too, right?”
“You’re not getting out of my sight.”
———
Malory stood in the hall outside of Laroux’s quarters with her shotgun at the ready, her army of armed civilians standing by behind her. They had proceeded to the armory without incident and had cleared all of the rooms to Laroux’s thus far.
McNeely and Alvarez had point and stood on either side of the door; waiting for her signal. She nodded and waited tensely as McNeely pushed open the door and fell back to a cover position as Alvarez dropped to a knee in the open doorway. After a careful inspection, he entered slowly only to emerge a handful of seconds later.
“Clear,” he said casually. “Laroux is dinner scraps. No sign of Garret.”
Malory sighed, slightly ashamed that it was a sigh of relief. One meal meant one less enemy. “Was Garret his bunkmate for the night?”
“Yeah,” McNeely confirmed, curiously peering into the room. “We need the Chief up here.”
“Alright,” Malory agreed. “Alvarez relieve him and send him up front.”
Alvarez nodded and began making his way through the crowd gathered in the narrow hall towards the rear.
“What’s up?” Malory asked, reluctant to look inside of the room. Viewing Ballenger’s remains had been enough to witness.
“They came in through the floor,” McNeely stated factually.
“Huh?”
“There are service tunnels under the complex that contain heating ducts, electrical cables, network cable, and so forth,” McNeely explained. “They used those tunnels to get in.”
Malory closed her eyes as the information sank in. They could be anywhere, including the places they’d already searched. “Jesus, where are the access points?”
“I only know of the one outside of Operations, the Chief will know,” McNeely said quietly. “Here he comes,” he added as Reynolds came forward.
Malory turned to him immediately. “Chief, where are the access points to the service tunnels?”
He looked at her in sudden understanding. “Shit,” he exclaimed. “One outside of Operations, one in Receiving, and another in Mechanical.”
“Can they be sealed?” she asked.
“Yeah, they seal with a vacuum door a few yards after the access point.”
“Why didn’t they close when the complex went into lockdown?”
“They should have,” Reynolds said with a shake of his head. “I can only assume they were propped open.”
“Did we do that?”
“No way,” he said quickly.
“Would they seal automatically if the prop was removed after lockdown?”
“No,” Reynolds replied. “After the computer verifies lockdown it won’t send any further commands until it is rescinded.”
“Why didn’t the computer tell us the damn doors were still open down there?”
“It should have. I can only assume that whoever kept them from closing, blocked the sensors on the lock mechanism. It’s the only way I know to fool it.”
“So someone was down there when the command was given and was smart enough to block the sensors,” she asked unbelievingly.
“That would be my guess,” he admitted. “Or someone knows a trick I don’t.”
Malory chewed on that in dismay. “Alright, where would the safest point in the complex be that is not vulnerable to entry through use of the service tunnels?” she asked, suddenly feeling terribly exposed.
“The lab,” Reynolds said quickly. “All heat and power is routed in from overhead. The service tunnel is cut off from entry to that area by another vacuum door. The door itself is permanently sealed. Only you can open it via computer command.”
“Then lets roll,” she said quickly. “That’s the only safe place in the entire compound right now.”
“Commander,” McNeely said. “The lab is huge, it’ll take some time to clear it.”
“Do we have another option at this time?”
McNeely considered. “No.”
“Then let’s go there directly,” Malory said. “Chief, you’re on point with the Sergeant Major.”
“Aye, skipper.”
“But first,” she added. “Hanson, burn what’s left of Laroux.”
Hanson nodded grimly and stepp
ed forward, illuminating the hall as he sprayed fire into the room.
———
The going was excruciatingly slow as every door they encountered was treated as a potential threat and they darted two at a time past each one. They made no overtures to conduct a search effort and traveled grimly toward their destination. Finally, as their objective came into sight, movement became quicker as all hoped to get behind the relative safety of the laboratory’s pressure door.
Within twenty-five yards of the entrance, Malory had begun to harbor the small hope that they would arrive unscathed. A hope that vanished as the floor suddenly rushed up in the middle of their party, immediately dropping two men into the tunnel below. The pit in the floor creating two groups, one in front and one behind. The screams started from below instantly.
“Leave them, we can’t help!” Malory yelled. “We’re running for it, everyone over as fast you can!”
Those trapped on the other side didn’t ask questions and took several steps back, initiating a running start to propel them over the four-foot gap in the floor.
“Sergeant, Chief, form a firing line in front of the lab!” Malory ordered, darting around the running bodies and grabbing Corky’s frightened hand.
“Stay with me,” she said quietly and began pulling her down the hall toward the assembling men.
McNeely started barking orders to get everyone positioned and Malory ran toward him with Corky in tow, turning a quick look behind her to see Isaaks seized in midair from the tunnel below. His face crashing sickeningly into the edge of the floor with a grisly thud that left behind teeth and blood before he disappeared into the tunnel.
His fate went almost unnoticed as the remainder of the men jumped across the void without hesitation and ran forward. As Alvarez passed her and joined the firing line, she released Corky’s hand and dropped to one knee.
“McNeely, clear the lab. Use as many as you need to get it done as quickly as possible,” she ordered. “Everyone else shore up and hold the hall.”
McNeely turned at once and slapped several men on the shoulder to follow him and within seconds, a deadly quiet descended upon the hall.
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