The woman is about to say something, but then she notices that something has changed in Ivanov's expression, and this makes her silent and keep listening.
For a few tense moments, the silence is pierced by the beating of their hearts.
«We have company», he whispers, hurrying to seal the last explosive vial.
The woman feels like a void in her chest, as if her heart had stopped beating. She holds her breath, while eavesdropping in search for the smallest clue.
Nothing...
She pops a questioning look to Ivanov, but it only lasts a moment.
She hears it.
A liquid shuffling sound...
There's something...
Dragging on the floor...
In the hallway...
The noise is clearly increasing...
It's approaching!
Algerian Desert
On the trail of the raiders
«Shit! Shit!», the only words that come out from the mouth of a shocked Will Bailey. He can see the scene from a safe distance, from the roof of the Humvee. Everything happened too fast, even just to think about doing anything. In few seconds the marine has seen the attempts of Roger Mason to retrieve someone out from the well.
Before Bailey could realize what was happening, he has seen a column of fire erupting violently from the well and has heard the explosions. In the brief moments that have followed, the entire place opened like the hell's mouth, swallowing everything that was in the ruins' area, including the other Humvee. All disappeared in a pit of flames that seem to come straight out the fiery bowels of the planet.
More explosions have further shaken the area when the fire has reached the explosives packed on the vehicle and its fuel tank. Dense black clouds have risen through the sky, intense flames swirl violently within them.
Will Bailey and Jeff Michigan, the only two survivors, have moved away at a safe distance, obeying to Seagull's orders. Later on, they have moved again, taking the Humvee on top of a high dune. Once there, they had a better view of the scene. Now they can peek inside the enormous crater that formed in the middle of the desert. Its bottom is hidden by flames and smoke. Even from a distance they can perceive the intense heat.
«My God... they are all dead...», murmurs Michigan.
After several minutes of silent dismay, Bailey shakes him to bring him back to reality. «May Lord have mercy of their souls. We must leave immediately. Did you hear me? Jeff! Let's go back to the base. Nothing and no one could have survived that hell.»
USA base CNT222
Moore and Ivanov are frozen motionless, hidden behind the flipped workbench.
How much time elapsed?
The seconds seem like hours, meanwhile the noise of something crawling in the hallway in front of the lab room reaches again their ears at random intervals, each time increasing in intensity.
Something is slowly approaching...
The pumping adrenaline in their hearts turns their chests to a cold fire. The Russian gently squeezes her arm. She startles for a moment at the touch. It's a gentle and soft gesture, and those feelings infuse her with a glimmer of comfort. Then, like a flash, the memory of the bluish wound on the man's hand flashes before her eyes and she instinctively makes a move away from him.
Moore leans slightly to the side to peek at the door to the laboratory and one of the long windows that flank the corridor running along the wall to her right. On the glass she can see the dark blood stains left by Ivanov during the former escape.
She can't see anything else, yet the creeping sound says that there is something.
Right there, behind the low wall...
The sound echoes again, this time followed by a low moan and another noise that resembles a fabric ripping apart. The woman tightens her trembling hand on one of the incendiary vials made by Ivanov.
There is a movement, barely perceptible, right at the base of the long window.
What was that?
For a few moments nothing happens, but her heart is beating like a jackrabbit in her temples.
Maybe it's just my imagination...
Then, as her breath dies in her throat, something emerges crawling slowly on the glass.
It's a sprawling form, pulsing like an earthworm, red and shiny like a tongue. It moves slowly, snaking and twisting on the smooth surface, leaving a trail of whitish slime. The obscene appendix seems to move indecisively, swaying and slowly approaching the strip of dark blood left by Ivanov. Alerted by the touch of the woman, the Russian raises his head to watch the scene. The long tongue approaches the bluish spot, touching it for a moment. Then, after a few seconds, it suddenly gets away with a hiss, as if it had just touched something burning. A slurred sound comes from behind the door of the laboratory, and it fades into a long, agonizing groan.
Something on my shoulder blade...
The startled woman turns around. Ivanov makes a gesture for her to stay silent, then he leans in to whisper in her ear.
«The creature attacked five men, plus the soldier who was with us. I don't think it had enough enzymes to overtake and digest them all. The abomination just outside that door has not yet completed the assimilation.»
She looks at him questioningly. Moore has the feeling that the thoughts in her head are engulfed with mud. Ivanov is crumpling a brown lump, the size of a fist, with the residual material used to create the triggers of his Molotov cocktails. «This isn't the same creature that caused the blackout and that scanned the base not long ago. The thing in the hallway has not a coherent physiology and is not well-formed yet. It's slow and vulnerable. It's crawling and sniffing our tracks, maybe we can trick it...»
«...before it has time to complete the replication», she concludes.
The man winks, hinting a smile, then works to fix the explosive to one of the improvised incendiary bombs, shaping it all around the stopper. The woman turns to the flipped table, rising her head just enough to peek at the door and the windows along the corridor. She can no longer see the sprawling tongue and the only trace of the presence of the creature is the mucus splash scattered on the glass.
Moore can't hear any sound, except for the rhythmic drumming of her own heart and the occasional muted sound made by Ivanov, as he sneaks up to the Bunsen burner and lights the flame by adjusting it to a minimum.
A cold shiver runs down her spine like, branching out like lightning.
May it still be there?
Focused on keeping an eye on the window made opaque by the fluids released by the creature, she expects to see it reappear at any moment. Moore doesn't see the silent form which slowly climbs a few meters to their left, beyond the portion of window that runs along the corridor beside the door through which they entered. At that point, the path is shady, since one of the fluorescent tubes has not lit up after the previous blackout.
The woman lingers for too long looking at the door, trying to make order in the whirlwind of thoughts stirring in her mind. Something between a sixth sense and a fleeting glimpse of a movement makes her turn to her left.
At first it's not clear what she is seeing. Then, with a sudden flash, something moves, sticking to the window and emerging into the light.
The hideously deformed face of Vasquez presses against the glass. The grotesque caricature stares at her with a malevolent look that seems to express a concentrate of everything that is bestial and totally foreign to the human dimension.
A prolonged growl comes out of its mouth that's absurdly wide open. Everywhere on its surface, tentacular appendages start sprouting and dart in the air like crazed snakes.
The two scientists, aware that they have been discovered, stand up and retreat slowly. Ivanov quickly sets fire to the wick of one of the bombs. In the meantime something grows out of what was formerly the mouth of Vasquez. A whitish shape, covered by a translucent membrane that surrounds it as an amniotic sac. With a ripping sound the fabric tears apart, revealing a bulbous ivory protuberance, like the head of a femur, but as big as a bas
ketball.
The monstrosity twists and then throws itself against the window. The impact is violent and produces a loud thud.
«My God!», Moore shouts as she takes a step backward. «It has generated a bone formation, to use it like a battering ram and break through the glass!»
With a feral violence, the creature impacts against the glass wall another time. The sound is incredibly strong and a fractal of cracks, reminiscent of a snow crystal, appears on the smooth surface.
«Stand back, and be ready to run!», shouts the Russian scientist.
The window gives in to the fourth hit of the creature.
Before the glass fragments touch the ground, a cacophony of sound bursts into the lab, reaching the two scientists.
A part of the huge mass of the abomination falls within the room, dragging down a large section of the window. A long cord, like a pulsing gut, connects it to the rest of the shapeless mass lying on the floor in the corridor, hidden by the low wall. The creature that has broken through the glass writhes on the ground for a few moments. It's shaken by tremors as big appendages burst out from its main trunk. They throb and swell, stretching with aberrant geometries, and then harden to shape rudimentary deformed limbs. At the same time, the pulsation in the umbilical cord that connects to the outside mass fades away and goes limp. A wound opens on its surface, such as a vertical cut that rips the creature in two distinct beings.
Now independent, the monstrosity inside the lab quickly generates new tentacles at whose ends weird shapes sprout. Some of them resemble human eyes, others are dark and multifaceted as insects' compound eyes. The sounds coming from the being in the laboratory, and those from the corridor, are terrifying. Their multiple tones shake the two scientists to the core.
Ivanov throws a bomb, but his wounded hand betrays him with a stab of pain. The vial doesn't reach the target and ends up shattering about a meter away. It explodes and generates instantly a flaming puddle.
Only part of the flammable liquid splashes hit the creature, which moves away letting out an angry roar. The fire prevention system activates almost immediately. While an alarm sounds loud in the base, sprinklers on the ceiling start to spread a drizzle that sizzles on the flaming ground, causing a vapor that floats like a low mist.
Walking quickly and awkwardly on unsteady legs, the deformed mass moves sideways, in order to get around the fire and reach the two scientists. A second bomb thrown by Moore centers it fully, going to pieces. The explosive on the cap doesn't detonate, and for a moment it seems that the raw bomb won't have any effect but, as soon as the liquid reaches the flames on the ground, a bloodcurdling scream echoes in the base. The creature gets engulfed with flames.
«Run, now!», Ivanov shouts, after another bomb feeds further the flames that devour the monster a few meters ahead of them. The man rushes to the lab door and pushes the open button on its side. While the panel slide aside, Ivanov turns to the woman, who's staying behind. He urges her to move.
«Come on!», he shouts, but an icy terror freezes him, when he notices the distraught look of the woman's face. She isn't looking at him. She stares at the giant humanoid figure which stands immediately beyond the threshold.
Before he can turn around, Ivanov feels an iron grip grabbing his throat and lifting him from the floor.
Moore screams terrified.
We are doomed...
The being steps slowly over the threshold, lit by the flames in the left section of the lab. The raging fire is devouring the other creature's body that keeps writhing. The human shape, crudely sketched, holds with one hand the body of Ivanov, who kicks and struggle to break free. The grip on his neck burns like fire, and it takes an immense effort for Ivanov to turn his head to look at the assailant. It's just the shape of its silhouette that resembles a human being. The creature has no face, no details. Under the clear and translucent skin, the scientist can see a net of capillaries coming to life, expanding rapidly as a fractal. The flat surface of the head seems to sink in some places, while other parts emerge in relief to form the outline of a face that vaguely resembles his own.
«Run!», cries Ivanov. His hoarse voice sounds more like a snarl due to the pressure exerted by the monster. The Russian scientist raises his arm. In his hand he is holding the bomb on which he stuck the biggest lump of explosive. In a desperate gesture he throws the vial to the window at the right of the door. The explosion is deafening and the window crumbles throwing glass shrapnel into the corridor. The shock wave devastates the rest of the lab, prompting Moore to the ground, along with the creature and Ivanov.
«Get away!», the Russian yells. He kicks himself free of the grip on his neck. The being imitating a human body begins to get convulsed, a sign that the creature has lost control of the transformation process and is about to become an abomination out of control.
Moore doesn't need to be repeated a third time. With her strength tripled by terror and despair, she rushes towards the just smashed window. She runs to the side that has not yet been reached by the flames, and she pushes one of the workbenches toward the wall. With a quick flick she grabs the backpack in which the Russian has stored the polystyrene container with some of the bombs. After having taken one, she throws the bag to the man, who stays beyond the mutating creature. Dreadful sounds come to life in the mass of translucent flesh, while the woman climbs awkwardly over the workbench and jumps over the opening, landing in the corridor.
A long trail of blood and gelatinous fluid runs on the floor. Moore has only a glimpse of something on her left, near the point where the creature broke the observation window. An amorphous mass of protoplasm lies in the corridor. Human limbs pop out, still wearing part of their protective suit. One leg is still shaken by rhythmic spasms. Moore leaves that nightmare behind and runs desperately back on the path previously taken.
Her only hope is the elevator.
Behind her, another explosion echoes loudly, followed by bestial screams that have nothing human.
The woman sprints in the hallway, silently praying that the way is clear.
Scattered on ground are the weapons left by the men attacked just a few minutes earlier, along with shreds of bio-hazard suits, dirty with blood and protoplasmic slime. The lift is just a few meters in front of her and fortunately it's still open.
The woman runs towards the only possible escape way, and she is about halfway through when the doors begin to slide.
No, please, no!
Howls and terrifying sounds, like smashed walls, come from the lab that she has left behind. With a desperate leap she plunges into the cabin, just before the doors close. Her perception is somehow altered and, as she falls badly inside, she has the feeling that everything takes place too slowly.
Impact...
The feeling of the rough and hard floor, scratching her face...
Bones breaking...
Moore tries to get up again, grateful to heaven that the bomb that she's holding with her right hand has not touched the floor, breaking on impact. She tries to ignore the pain sensations.
Where are the control buttons?
She sees them, and anguish come back to grab her.
The device is damaged and sunken into the wall. The button to reach the surface has been torn away, leaving a recess in its place, partially covered with bloody mucus. Someone or something has blocked the only exit to the outside.
A searing pain in her left hand, crushed under the chest...
The elevator is moving, and a terrible feeling sizes her when she looks up to the display at the top.
Fear...
Cold...
Pain...
The elevator has just started its descent towards the lower floors of the base.
Then everything becomes dark.
Boeing crash site
«... The remains were relatively few, considering the large number of passengers. Most of the bodies have been incinerated by the explosion when the plane crashed. We have loaded a portion onto the helicopter. For the r
est we followed your orders: men have dug deep pits in which we have put the pieces, and what we found of their luggage. We burned everything to ashes, even if it was not too much. When the job was done, we covered the pit and leveled everything.»
Philip Redmond appears tired and somewhat far, while updating Ironside.
More than understandable...
Managing a situation like this in no time, working hard under the sun, in the Sahara Desert, would make anyone a rag...
«Good job, lieutenant. What about the remains of the airplane?»
«The same as above, we buried the smaller fragments, although... Excuse me, sir, but here the sand is like the sea water, the dunes are constantly moving. We can't rule out that in the future they may come back to the surface. We removed and burned markings, but consider that it's the job of a single day, and done quickly. I hope you understands if...»
Ironside nods, placing a hand on the shoulder of the young lieutenant. «Let's hope that this won't happen any time soon. It's okay, for now. This is only a temporary measure. We will figure out how to manage the situation better when the waters have calmed down and when we receive the right support.»
The two men are close to one of three military trucks. A trio of soldiers are setting two ramps on the back, moving a small excavator on the truck's bed.
Ironside looks at the scene, then turns back to lieutenant Redmond. «Did you notice anything strange in the men, lieutenant? Someone who looks... different? Or behaving in an unusual way?»
The other seems to think it over for a while, looking at Ironside quizzically. «No, I don't think, sir. The day was not one of our best. I mean for all of us, of course. I wouldn't wonder if someone feels nervous after he has shoveled sand and collected pieces of corpses all day long.»
Cellular Activity- The Djinn Page 19