«Report to Seagull immediately», Macready replied. «You have to reach the jeep driven by those men – or what the hell they have become – before they can reach inhabited areas with human beings or animals. Don't try to catch them in any way. It's imperative to exterminate them. Use fire, you have to incinerate all trace of them. I will send a support team with the other helicopter as soon as possible. I want updates every 5 minutes.»
Since then, Jennings team is trying to contact the other car, without success.
USA base CNT222
«They can't have vanished into thin air, and they have not gone very far either. I can't see any traces to the elevator. They are still on this floor», says Vasquez, watching the two scientists as seeking confirmation.
Moore and Ivanov exchange a meaningful look. Both came to the same conclusion. It's the Russian speaking, addressing the soldier and giving voice to the thoughts of both. «The tiny being that we have seen in the lab was just a fragment of the body of the boy that you held in this room. It's not human, and it's able to replicate the shape of his victims.» Vasquez seems suspicious and uncertain, as if talking to a fool. The eyes of the young soldier bounces between the woman's and the doctor's face, looking for a reflection of his own thoughts, but the face of the doctor seems to confirm that the Russian is telling the truth. The latter continues, ignoring the disbelief of the soldier. «The guards are gone, there are splashes of blood. It's reasonable to think that it has attacked and assimilated both of them.»
«Are you saying that my colleagues, my friends, are dead, that that being has eaten them and now it's free in the base?», says Vasquez, pale again.
«That's right, now it has access to all floors of the structure. We don't know when it happened, the rooms are soundproofed and we remained in the laboratory for long enough. They could still be on this level, or they could have moved to the other floors. This means that your two colleagues are no longer human and that anyone we will meet from now on is potentially one of those creatures.»
«We need weapons, and we must act now», the Russian scientist goes on. «Contact Major Macready. Tell him to hold and quarantine anyone who comes out of the elevator on the surface. We will have to test the blood of all. Fire is the only way to kill the creatures, are there any flamethrowers in the base?»
After a moment of hesitation, the soldier shakes his head. «No, not that I know. We are in the Sahara, there is already the sun to burn everything, what good would a flamethrower be in this place? However, there is a supply of grenades, incendiary too. They are in the armory, the deepest floor.»
«We can't go down there, it's a suicide», Moore intervenes. «We must try to get out of here ASAP.»
Ivanov seems to consider various alternatives for a moment, then he nods. «She's right. The base got compromised. There are at least three of those creatures on the loose: in a few minutes they will have infected the entire staff.»
«We must leave», Moore adds. «We must reach the surface and seal the base, then we'll think what to do next.»
Vasquez appears not to believe the words of the woman. «There are a lot of people down here, I know them all, they are all my friends, we can't leave them behind!»
«Put it this way: your friends are probably dead. They will soon be chasing us, and we are unarmed.» The sharp response of Ivanov earns him a resentful look from the soldier in front of him. Vasquez leads instinctively a hand to his holster.
«That gun will be useless», Ivanov goes on, pointing with his chin to the gun of the soldier. «You can't kill by mechanical means something that is able to regenerate itself in real time. You require complete destruction of the cellular activity, and right now only fire can do that.»
At that moment a jingle attracts their attention; the three turn around in unison aiming their frightened looks at the elevator down the corridor. After two long seconds, a beep signals its arrival to their floor, while the red light on the side turns green.
The three are petrified by fear, while the sliding doors start to move, slipping sideways.
Algerian Desert
On the trail of the raiders
The Humvee carrying Seagull's team approaches with studied slowness, stopping at twenty meters from the white jeep. The soldiers watch the scene, cautious and almost without breathing. No noise interferes with the slight blow of the hot Saharan wind.
There is no trace of the enemy, their car seems abandoned.
«You stay here, it may be a trap. I'm going to check. Will, cover me.»
With that, Seagull steps down from the military vehicle, walking slowly toward the jeep. The car is apparently intact. It's been abandoned with the keys still in place. A quick inspection reveals the cause: in the back, next to the reservoir, a large metal fragment protrudes from the twisted metal.
Beyond the jeep a series of footprints proceeds towards the sand sea.
Seagull makes a gesture to the team, signaling them that they can approach.
Bailey yells something, leaning half out of the car and waving to point at a tiny spot behind him, just darker than the sand of the desert.
The three marines quickly head to their vehicle, while the voice of Jennings finally emerges from the forest of electrostatic discharges.
* * *
Ralph directs the vehicle, quickly closing the few hundred meters that separate his team from Seagull's squad. With consummate skill, the man stops the vehicle about two meters away from the other.
The interrogative faces of Seagull and of the other men under his command turn into masks of disbelief and disgust while Jennings updates them about what happened to their mate.
«Shit, nothing about Ebola... Motherfucking Russians!», Will Bailey spits in the sand.
«Have you reported to Major Macready?", Seagull asks.
«He ordered to seek the creatures before they further spread the infection. We must destroy them and burn their bodies to ashes.»
«They won't be far away, they proceeded on foot. They were left without fuel. A metal fragment pierced the fuel tank of their jeep. It must have happened when the other car exploded.»
«How long can a man walk in the Sahara in broad daylight?», Stu wanders.
«Those aren't men anymore», Jennings echoes.
«Let's follow them before the wind raises to hide their tracks», Seagull's conclusion. «We must find them and kill them before dark.»
At the thought of facing the creatures by night in the desert, an icy shiver runs on their backs. Once back to the vehicles, the soldiers proceed immediately on the trail left by the fugitives.
In the full light of the early afternoon, the footprints of the five men are clearly visible. The soldiers follow them along a straight path leading away from the direction of the rocky areas where there is the Berber village, initially believed to be their goal.
«It makes no sense», says Jennings, while scanning the horizon to see any signs of their presence. «These tracks are heading to the middle of nowhere...»
After a good half hour, Seagull nods to Jeff, stopping the vehicle: he noticed something on the ground.
The tracks interrupt abruptly in an area where the sand has a darker color and the ground seems loose and uneven.
«What the hell could have happened here?», Seagull whispers softly, then he adds in the intercom: «Ralph, with me, let's go and check.»
The two men head with careful step toward the area where the sand appears stirred. The soldiers explore the scene when Ralph sees something. The man emits a snap with his lips, drawing Seagull's attention, then he bends and he uses the barrel of his assault rifle to pull up something from the ground. Torn rags emerge from the sand. They have dark spots on which the dust has adhered.
«Goddammit...» Ralph bursts, while Seagull watches him pulling other clothing torn to shreds.
Jennings approaches in the meantime. The horrified man recognizing the clothes worn by the robbers and the prisoner.
«Those are their clothes», it's all
I can say. With his mind's eyes he keeps seeing the footage retrieved from the camera.
The three men turn to look over the area in which the sand appears loose and come close to its limit.
Like a river flowing from a lake, a clear track departs from the dark sandy spot, into the wilderness.
The track is flanked on both sides by starry prints.
Seagull and Ralph have a bewildered and worried look. It's the low tone of Jennings that gives voice to their suspicions. «Those monsters... they have turned into something else. Something that can withstand the heat of this desert climate...»
«And it seems pretty damn big», Seagull adds.
«Son of a bitch...», Ralph's conclusion, before spitting another lump of yellowish saliva and partly liquefied tobacco.
USA base CNT222
The elevator doors slide sideways; four soldiers in bio-hazard suits armed with assault rifles come out. At the sight of Moore, Vasquez and Ivanov, they arrange themselves on either side of the corridor. With synchronized gestures they kneel and point their guns forward. A fifth soldier follows close behind them, watching the three people that the soldiers hold at gunpoint. Their faces are terrified and surprised, as the soldiers order them to kneel, slowly and with their hands up.
An unknown voice reaches them, made slightly metallic and amplified by a loudspeaker. «Dr. Moore, Dr. Ivanov, I suggest you to cooperate. It's for your own sake.»
The scientist doesn't believe her ears.
This can't be happening to me...
She takes instinctively a step toward the military group, which in reply make a quick gesture with their guns, loading the round in the chamber.
She freezes, uncertain and afraid. «We have a good test!», her voice cracking with tension. «The three of us are human, we can prove it.»
No reply. The scientist launches a questioning look to Ivanov.
The Russian nods a negative sign with his head. «These men were alerted by someone, or something. We don't know what information they have, or what they may have seen. They found us here...», pointing with a gesture of his head to the traces of blood and broken glass window. «... they have good reasons to act this way. We are now a potential threat to their eyes.»
The man is the first to kneel with his hands in plain sight, shortly followed by the woman and Vasquez.
From their position they can't see the shaded faces behind the visors of the soldiers.
Long moments go by in an oppressive silence, while the soldiers keep them at gunpoint, apparently awaiting orders. The trio of kneeling people can't listen to any conversations over the intercom of the suits, all they can see is a team of armed soldiers. The black muzzles of their assault rifles pointing menacingly toward them.
Suddenly, without any notice, the lights go out of the base.
«Don't move or we will open fire!» One of the soldiers shouts, while the lights placed under the barrels of their assault rifles turn on one by one.
Four cones of light projected by the torches dart in the darkness, illuminating the crouching trio on the floor.
Then everything happens quickly.
Another side window, to the right of the soldiers, explodes. A dark shadow falls on one of the men. In the heat of the moment, he lets out a shot, who slays an arm of Vasquez.
Moore's frightened scream echoes the cry of pain of the soldier.
The chaos breaks free.
In the stroboscopic effect caused by the convulsive movement of the torches and gunfire in the darkness, she sees a knee of Vasquez breaking to pieces, while a red splash draws on the wall to her left. Ivanov's reaction is lightning fast. The scientist grabs the woman by her wrist and drags her without delay beyond the angle of the corridor. She stumbles as she tries to get up again and almost ends lying down, narrowly avoiding a blast that draws a series of blacks holes in the wall behind her. The mind of Moore is able to express only one single concept.
Run!
Then she in turn grabs strongly Ivanov's hand, running hunched into the darkness in front of her, trying to head into the laboratory and leaving behind the desperate cries of Vasquez, the unknown animal noises of the creature, and the sound of gunfire.
Helicopter crash site
Macready seems to have recovered from his momentary lapse of presence. Jennings updated him on what happened to Black, and on what they saw in the footage taken from the camera found in the camp of the marauders. Under normal circumstances he would order a rest for the marine, evidently prey to hallucinations caused perhaps by sunstroke. Not this time though. The breathless tale of the soldier and the horribly deformed bodies in the helicopter crash are a sad confirmation of the statements of Ivanov.
At that thought a twinge of anger tightens his heart in a red-hot vise.
He had to split from Ironside. He would have rather kept him nearby so he could personally ensure his safety. After all it's his base, and the responsibility for all who work there, as well as for the guests, is only his. Having a senior government official who wanders around in a situation like that, it's an outright mange. The dirty laundry is washed at home. Anyway, he needed someone trustworthy, someone who knew... and this is why Ironside went on the site of the crash of the Boeing to better coordinate the cover-up operations. Ironside was with him all the time, it's certain that he is human, for now, or rather, it's certain that both are human as much as they were when they arrived.
At least until they parted.
This story will drive me crazy...
A soldier approaches to update him.
«Sir, we finished incinerating what remained of the helicopter... and bodies. We're ready to move on». The marine speaks with a sad disappointment tone. After all those bodies were colleagues with whom he had eaten and slept until a few hours before.
Macready nods, looking at the blackened carcass of the aircraft. «We go on site, where the plane crashed.»
«There's more sir», the boy adds. «We have lost contact with the base, we can't communicate with anyone inside.»
Shit...
«Change of plans then, Mooseay and Leoni will come with me to the base, you gather together and go and give a hand to the others at the crash site. Let's move.»
Algerian Desert
On the trail of the raiders
«What the hell of a beast can leave a track like that?», wonders Seagull, while the Humvee follows the long and snaking trail, almost half a meter wide, traced by the creature on the sand.
«Almost four kilometers since we started following it, and we still haven't seen anything yet.»
«Indeed... We should already have sighted it, the beast can't be so damn fast», is Jeff's reply.
«At least we know it can't fly, and this is already an advantage», adds Will. «Although we haven't seen anything but sand so far... And what Jennings has told us is too absurd to be true.»
Hearing that Seagull stares at him with a look of reproach. «Why don't you shut up? Black is dead.»
«Are you sure? Have you seen his corpse?»
«Give it a cut», shouts Jeff. «I'm not in the mood to hear this shit.»
The other replies puffing, then opens the hatch on the roof of the vehicle and looks out on the outside.
«Dear God, I can't stand him sometimes. What a punk!», whispers Seagull, facing Jeff Michigan.
This one has a focused look, as staring at an unspecified point in front of them.
Noticing his expression, the sergeant turns quickly to look in the same direction. Sparse ruins are barely visible in the distance.
Seagull shouts immediately at the sniper: «Will, two o'clock!»
«Got it!»
As they approach, the ruins take the shape of a wall of earth, half crumbled. A little further the miserable remains of a gutted hut struggle to survive and stand. On the right, about twenty meters ahead, there's a small pile of stones surmounted by the remnants of a rusty crooked arc.
Seagull orders the teams to slow down and stop at a safe di
stance.
Observing the scene it's quite clear that the tracks of the creature point straight toward the small well.
After being sure that, apart from the trail on the ground, there is no trace of the men nor of the creature in the area, the group of soldiers stops.
«Jeff, stay here with Bailey and keep the engine running, I will move with the other team. Roger, you're coming with me», orders Seagull, making sure that the Humvee stays at about two hundred meters from the meager ruins. Then he turns to Bailey. «Will, keep your eyes on the area and cover us. But you must not take any risks. If the situation turns bad you must flee the hell away from here. There's no radio signal, and we must ensure to report to Macready, am I clear?»
Jeff and Will nod, relieved for not having to get any closer to the place where the menace is hiding.
«Roger, take all the incendiary grenades that you can carry.» Seagull takes with him a number of explosives too, fixing them to his belt. Then, without saying a word, the two step out of the vehicle and approach the other team.
Four marines move into the ruins in a fan-like formation, closely followed by the second Humvee.
USA base CNT222
Emily Moore and Alexander Ivanov move crouched to escape the chaos unleashed on the other end of the corridor, in the elevator zone. It's the Russian leading the woman, orienting himself by heart in the dark, trying to remember the layout of the rooms and using his touch.
The palm of his left hand burns. While fingering the ground, during the desperate flight to escape the blasts exploded by the soldiers, his hand touched something sharp. There's no need to look to recognize the sensations caused by a stab wound. The two go on quickly, heading to the laboratory where, just a few minutes earlier, they were testing Ahmed's blood.
Cellular Activity- The Djinn Page 16