Nen

by Sean Ding

  The creature swerved and its powerful tail almost swept Kenso off his feet. Kenso ducked from another swerving tail and scampered to one corner of the room, away from the steel cabinet. The enormous glowing body of the creature jumped and landed a few feet in front of Kenso and it almost blocked his field of vision but from the corner of his eye, he could see Sarah heading for the steel cabinet and then half dragging a terrified Mami-san out.

  “Go now, Sarah! Run!” Kenso yelled, trying to fight off the slithering tentacles that suddenly emerged from the creature’s gaping mouth.

  “No!!” Mami screamed as she was almost being carried out of the iron door by Sarah.

  By the time Sarah and Mami emerged from the dark room, Kenso had been pinned down by the creature and blood had gushed out of his arms and thighs. The slimy tentacles had razor sharp ends and they were all over Kenso’s body. Before one of the tentacles plunged hard into Kenso’s face, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and whispered, “Mami, Watashi wa anata o aishite.” Mami, I love you.

  CHAPTER 32

  The creature was crouching over Kenso on the floor, lunging downward with jerking motions, producing a bone cracking sound that reverberated in the dark room. It had retracted all its slimy tentacles back into its mouth, one of which had essentially ended the life of young Kenso.

  It lifted its horned head and howled. Blood oozed from its crimson mouth and was splattered all over the place as the animal wriggled its massive body like what a dog did when it’s wet. Then the hungry beast gingerly stepped away from Kenso’s disintegrated body and scuttled out of the room at great speed.

  Sarah led the way down several corridors and stairways. Mami followed closely with tears flowing down her cheeks. They had completely lost their sense of direction and were just keeping themselves away from the murderous creature.

  “Sarah, are we lost?” Mami cries, “I think… the monster is behind me…” Mami cried out. Her legs were weak and she almost fell over as she spoke.

  “There’s light coming from that left bend.” Sarah said, slowing down and gesturing at the far end of the corridor. “Looks like sunlight! Let’s go!”

  Mami nodded obediently and she followed Sarah closely. They took the left turn, went through a doorway and arrived at a small but bright opening surrounded by rocks, shrubs and thick undergrowth. It’s a deserted Japanese garden so tiny that it could have been mistaken for one of the countless bunker rooms in the camp. Except that there was no ceiling in this cul-de-sac and the four walls were high cliff-like slabs that extended at least thirty feet up. Bars of sunlight descended from high above alongside dribbles of water that pelted onto the broad shrub leaves and mossy undergrowth that carpeted the entire ground.

  “Damn it!” Sarah yelled, balling her fists and pounding hard on the rock wall in front of her. A loud growl echoed and it swept a deadly chill up Sarah’s spine. She grabbed Mami’s hand and retreated to a small hollow in a wall on one corner of the garden.

  We sought an exit and found another dead end, Mami thought, huddled in the tiny grotto with Sarah. This is it. I will be dead in a few minutes. See you soon, Kenso.

  A few seconds passed and it felt like eternity. Sarah couldn’t think of any other way out. She could hear the footfalls of the creature getting louder and louder. How I wish I was invisible, Sarah thought, or at least wearing something green or brown so that I can blend in with the shrubs around me, but I am wearing a damned purple coat, making me look like a big violet rose growing on a greyish cavern wall!

  With that thought, Sarah scrambled to take her coat off. She realized that she was wearing a red T-shirt inside and wanted to take that off as well but it was too late, the beast had entered the doorway and was moving gingerly toward the grotto.

  “Mami, I will be doing exactly what Kenso did.” Sarah whispered into Mami’s ear, “Once I catch its attention, you got to dash for the doorway and run as fast as you could.”

  “No…Please don’t...” Mami stammered, her hands gripping Sarah’s arm in the small enclave.

  “That’s the only way one of us can live.” Sarah said grimly. Mami shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears.

  The creature watched as Sarah stepped out of the small grotto. Its devilish eyes followed her when she moved away from the grotto towards the right, her back sliding against the slippery wall that lined the garden. Sarah inched herself slowly into an area where tiny streams of water were flowing down the surface of the wall. In no time, her shivering body was completely drenched by the running water. With the icy water gushing down her neck and her face, her weary eyes did not blink at all, not even once as they were firmly glued to the pupil-less eyes of the hideous creature which had shifted itself from the grotto and was moving towards her.

  Sarah paused and so did the creature. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the coarse hair on the creature’s back standing up and then the animal opened its gigantic mouth with a grunt and four bloody tentacles shot out. Sarah closed her eyes. The razor sharp tentacles were only three inches from Sarah’s face when they screeched to a halt. What happened next was unbelievable. The creature backed off and its nasty tentacles hovered in the air for a few seconds before they were fully retracted into its mouth.

  The creature roared in rage but somehow it did not attack Sarah. What’s happening? Why is the gruesome predator backing away? Sarah thought. She moved a step forward and miraculously, the hideous monster took another step back. There’s something on me that is putting the creature off!

  Sarah grappled at her weird thoughts, took a deep breath and moved gingerly toward the creature. It backed away from her and made a terrible ear-piercing sound, and then it turned around and padded out of the garden. The murderous creature was gone!

  There was a brief, beautiful moment of silence before Sarah dropped to her knees and started sobbing. Mami came over and sat beside her. The two women wrapped their arms around each other and cried.

  CHAPTER 33

  Howard’s walkie crackled a few times and he almost missed it as the burrowing machine was making a deafening symphony of noise at the caved-in entrance. Howard took a couple of steps away from the roaring machine which Johnny was operating and thumbed his walkie.

  “Hey Howard, can you hear us. We fixed the radio!” Paul’s elated voice emanated from the walkie.

  “Loud and clear Paul,” Howard replied, holding the walkie close to his ear, “great job, guys! I am coming over right now.”

  He strode back to the burrowing machine and shouted at Johnny, cupping his right hand against his mouth when he did that. “Johnny! I am going over to Paul’s side. Are you okay with this?” Johnny nodded and gave Howard a thumbs-up gesture. Howard smiled and mouthed a thank you before he hurried off toward the two-story building.

  The red timber door slammed open with a bang and Howard stepped into the dimly lit hallway within the wing block that was connected to the two story command center building. As he made his way toward the big hall that housed the Panzer armor tank, he thought he heard a noise coming from his right. He paused and scanned the heaps of field equipment such as barbed wires, iron pickets and mining tools that were piled against the wall at his far right.

  Nothing.

  He shrugged and continued walking towards the command center office just ahead.

  A soft growl and a split second movement of shadows at the corner of his right eye swept a chill from his heels to his nape. The hair at the back of his neck rose.

  There is someone or something in here! Howard’s mind started racing. Am I being watched? It growls, could it be a dog?

  Howard increased his pace and did not stop but he craned his neck around so that he could see who or what was making the growling sound.

  There it is! Oh my god, it is so big and it’s moving so swiftly in total silence on the wall! How could that be possible? Am I hallucinating? Is that a giant lizard? Howard could hear his heart hammering against his chest as multiple thoughts crossed his mind
.

  Then, Howard’s brisk walk broke into a run and he dashed toward the command center office about twenty feet ahead of him. The dark shape picked up speed as well and it scurried across the wall like a gigantic crawling spider.

  “Paul!” Howard yelled as he crashed into the command center office door. His sudden intrusion and the loud metallic clank of the steel door as it was yanked opened made Paul and Nelson jumped from their chairs and scrambled for their rifles.

  “Hey! What the hell?” Paul cried, watching Howard slammed the door behind him. He raised his rifle and pointed it at the door.

  “Quick, block the door!” Howard shouted, pressing his shoulder against the closed door and trying to pull a nearby chair over.

  There was a loud boom and the steel door shuddered. Howard pushed himself against the door and he was using all his strength to stop whatever that was outside from barging in.

  “What’s happening?” Nelson asked, porting his rifle in a firing position.

  “Just block the damned door for Christ’s sake!” Howard yelled.

  Paul and Nelson realized it was serious and they immediately slung their rifles over their shoulders and dragged a heavy wooden desk across the room towards Howard.

  Another crash followed. The door groaned and its hinges popping. Howard forced himself to turn his back toward the door and leaned on it using his body weight.

  “Quick! I can’t hold on much longer!” Howard cried.

  Paul and Nelson struggled frantically to push the heavy desk toward the door.

  “Get out of the way.” Paul shouted at Howard before he and Nelson gave one solid thrust on the wooden desk. Howard jumped to his left. The heavy desk glided about two feet across the floor, producing a sharp screeching sound before smashing onto the steel door.

  “Get those chairs!” Nelson shouted, pointing to a bunch of furniture at one corner of the room.

  The three unnerved men grabbed whatever weighty stuff they could find in the room- chairs, cabinets, tables, boxes and they frenziedly stacked them up against the steel door.

  An explosive shriek of tearing metal came unexpectedly. It lasted for about five seconds and was followed closely by another heavy blow that jolted the steel door again. This time the impact brought down some of the furniture that was piled up and propped against the door. Howard and Nelson quickly picked up those fallen furniture and braced them up against the door. They were prepared for another impact but in the next five minutes, there was none.

  Nelson could see three long jagged holes on the steel door and the dim light from outside trickled through the cracks that resembled an animal’s claw on the door. He walked toward the door and slowly inched forward to peer through the jagged holes. At first, Nelson could see the Panzer tank and everything seemed peaceful outside. Then all of a sudden, an intense and fiery green eye appeared and a gush of hot, putrid air hissed loudly on the other side of the steel door, filling his nostrils with foul animal breath.

  “Shit! That thing is still outside!” Nelson cried, backing away from the door and almost falling over.

  “What did you see Nelson? What the hell was that? Howard, don’t tell me a bear or a lion was after you?” Paul asked.

  “No Paul, it’s not a bear, it can crawl on walls and walk on the roof!” Howard replied, “And it is big, with horns, like an African rhinoceros!”

  “I saw its eye, it is cold and deadly, like a...it’s like a Lizard’s eye!” Nelson stammered. The banging of the door resumed and Paul threw a loaded rifle to Howard. The three men retreated to the far end of the command center room and leaned their backs against the wall.

  “How long do you think the door will hold?” Paul asked, pointing his rifle at the shuddering door.

  “Probably another five minutes.” Nelson said, cocking his rifle.

  “Maybe less than that,” Howard said, watching helplessly at the pieces of furniture that toppled upon each heavy blow on the door. He checked to make sure his rifle magazine was fully loaded and then he aimed his rifle at the door as well.

  The door burst open and the creature leapt into the command center room with a roar.

  “Holy shit!” Paul cried, deeply appalled by the creature’s hideous appearance. He squeezed the trigger and fired his weapon first, followed by Howard and Nelson. Hundreds of rounds were fired at the creature.

  The creature backed away a few steps but the piercing bullets did not seem to bring it down. In fact, the bullets did not seem to hurt or cause any damage to the creature at all!

  The men stopped firing to access the situation.

  “What the hell?” Nelson cried, finding it hard to comprehend how the creature could still be alive.

  We are in deep trouble! Howard thought. This creature couldn’t be taken down by guns! Its scaly body or whatever under that coarse hair is like a bullet proof vest and all the rounds that were fired didn’t seem to penetrate its skin at all!

  The creature’s body glowed bright green and it let out a terrible sound that was quite human-like, as if it was screaming for help.

  Then it jerked its long ugly head and opened its foaming mouth, revealing rows of razor sharp fangs and gory tentacles. The tentacles lurched out of its gaping mouth and one of them rocketed towards Paul and swept his rifle away from his grip.

  “What the…” Paul exclaimed in shock, his legs turning rubbery and his upper body froze in fear. His mind was a complete blank after he realized that his firearm was effortlessly removed from him. What else could he or his buddies do to survive this?

  Howard and Nelson opened fire again. This time, they tried to aim their shots at the creature’s limbs and its head. What they did not expect was bullets and slugs ricocheting from the beast’s head and instantaneously turning the command center office into an enclosed death trap.

  A slug scraped Nelson’s upper arm and another almost hit Howard on his neck. They discontinued their firing engagement immediately.

  The entire room was filled with a heavy mist of gun powder and the creature was just a blurry dark shape crouching before Howard.

  “Is it… dead?” Nelson asked, coughing and waving off the smoke and dust in the air.“You guys…shot its head, didn’t you?” Paul asked frantically.

  “We did, Paul. But the bullets were deflected,” Howard answered grimly. Taking a step forward, he squint his eyes at the dark shape behind the cloud of smoke. “It’s not moving.” He said.

  By the time the smoky gun powder and dust in the air had settled, the three men knew that their fates were sealed. The hideous thing was still alive! The creature jerked its luminous body a few times to shake off some of slugs that were caught in its impenetrable armor of reptilian scales. Then it opened its mouth wide and a second set of jaws slowly emerged, like the pharyngeal jaws in a moray eel that was hidden in the throat and could extend out to grip struggling prey. The protruded pharyngeal jaws snapped a few brutal bites at the smoky air and then it retreated.

  The three wide-eyed men had their backs almost glued to the wall as they watched the strange creature in horror. From the oral pharynx in the middle of the creature’s fanged mouth, four tentacles ejected and they swirled around in the air, ready to strike anytime.

  “We are going to die now.” Nelson whispered in a trembling voice, his face white as paper. Howard nodded and his expression was a strange combination of fascination and despair. Paul closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as though it would be the last breath of air that he would be sucking into his chest.

  An arrow swooshed into the room from nowhere and plunged into the furry hip of the creature with a thump. The creature swirled its massive glowing body around and let out a terrifying roar. Standing at the doorway beside the badly dented iron door was Dr. Sarah who fired a second shot with a loud twang from a cross bow. The second arrow dart missed as the creature ducked to one side. Sarah reloaded her cross bow swiftly and walked into the room. Mami was behind her and she was carrying a bag of arrow darts. Howard’s lips
parted for a long time as Paul and Nelson watched Sarah and Mami tread sideways, slowly with their backs against the walls and their gaze fastened on the monstrous creature.

  The creature jerked its head a few times but did not lunge at its prey. For some reasons, it was keeping itself a safe four feet away from the ladies. At one point, it even backed away a few steps when Sarah leaned forward. The two courageous ladies moved gingerly until they were right beside Howard. The beast produced a deep growl and it started to back away until its hind limbs were almost outside the doorway, but its devilish green eyes were still staring straight at Sarah.

  “Watch this.” Sarah whispered to Howard and the rest. She then fired a couple of darts at the creature and at the same time she slowly moved forward. Almost all the arrow darts were deflected by the beast’s impermeable body but strangely, the beast seemed to be in pain and it bellowed a sharp shrieking sound. It almost fell on its side but quickly got up and darted out of the room, leaving the three men standing with dropped jaws and baffling facial expressions.

  Nelson grabbed his rifle and scudded out the doorway.

  “Hey, what the heck are you doing?” Paul shouted but Nelson was already gone. “You know what this crazy guy is up to?” Paul turned to Howard.

  “I think I know, Paul. He’ll be back soon.” Howard said, shutting the iron office door behind him.

  “I hope he is not trying to hunt down the animal by himself.” Sarah said.

  Howard shook his head with a half-smile.

  There was a long moment of silence before Paul spoke again.

  “How…how did you do that?” Paul asked Sarah.

  “Well, I was a silver medalist in the Athens Olympics. Archery” Sarah said.

  “I’m not asking you that,” Paul asked again in an anxious tone, “I am asking you … how on earth did you to make that thing go away?”

  “I have no idea, Paul. I thought you guys had already wounded it badly with your guns?” Sarah said, “I picked up this cross bow near the armory room and I thought some of my cracked shots had hit the beast on its soft spots?”