by Ben Hammott
Yelchin stared at the creature, partly in fascination, but mostly in apprehension. When its pupils grew until they filled its eyes and an intensely bright tiny orange dot glowed in their centers, he sensed something bad was about to happen and withdrew his hand. The creature's head spun around. The large mouth that filled this side of the head opened, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth. The creature darted forward. The mouth snapped shut on Yelchin's hand and drew back with two of his fingers in its mouth. Yelchin screamed as he recoiled. His foot slipped and the creature's head spun again. It looked at him curiously as he fell back, blood spraying from his wounded hand.
Vadik grabbed at Yelchin when he fell, but his grip slid from the man's jacket and they all watched Yelchin fall. His body crashed into the walls, breaking some of the growths on his way to the bottom.
The spider creature at the bottom walked over to the body when it landed, turned its head around and began ripping off chunks of flesh.
Babinski aimed his rifle at the small creature responsible for the man's death and fired. The small creature dodged the bullet and agilely leaped from rib to rib to avoid the trail of bullets that followed it.
“Hold your fire,” shouted Brusilov. “It's too fast, you'll never hit it.”
Babinski reluctantly released his finger from the trigger.
The spider creature below swallowed a piece of flesh and shrilled softly.
The clack-clacking started up again, but this time more than six bony feet were responsible. A hoard of the spider creatures emerged from the darkness at the bottom of the hole and raced up towards them.
“Move!” shouted Brusilov.
The men scrambled up the ribs.
They climbed onto the highest level and peered down at the swarm climbing ever closer. Some shrilled piercing cries, while others spun their heads and snapped their vicious jaws at the intruders.
Brusilov's gaze searched the room for an exit, but if there was one it was hidden behind the brown growths that covered the walls. He glanced down at the oncoming menace. Thirty seconds and they'd be upon them. Even fully armed they wouldn't stand a chance against so many. “Spread out and search for an exit,” he ordered. “There has to be one here somewhere.”
Aware they had precious little time, the men hurried around the edges of the room and peered behind the ribs of growth.
“Found one,” called out Sergei.
The men rushed over.
Sergei tore the growth from around the door control and pressed the button.
The door groaned and vibrated but remained closed.
Their time ran out when the creatures poured out of the hole and rushed towards them.
*****
Talbot stared at the fast approaching obstruction that would surely derail the train and kill them both and, not for the first time since setting foot aboard the treacherous alien vessel, wished he had chosen a different profession.
Richard glanced at Talbot and noticed his worried expression. “Don't despair just yet. I have an idea. Shoot out the window.” Richard stabbed the knife into the console to keep the lever in the full-speed position.
Talbot, surprised and enthused by Richard's relative calmness, raised the rifle. “Why?”
“We're climbing onto the roof, but hurry, we don't have much time.”
Though not altogether agreeable to the mad plan, with the monsters blocking their only exit, Talbot could see no other option. He shot out the window.
Glass sprayed into the cab and wind whistled around them. Richard climbed across the console and stood so the top of his body protruded through the opening. He grabbed a lip formed on the roof edge and hauled himself up.
Talbot glanced at the rapidly approaching ramp as he scrambled onto the console, made the sign of the cross on his chest and climbed onto the roof. Richard was already running along the top. He set off in pursuit. The wind pressing against their backs gave an extra boost to their leaps across the gaps between carriages.
When Richard glanced behind, he saw the train had reached the ramp. The front shot up with a loud squeal as it slid up the floor. The second carriage quickly followed, as did those in line. Richard turned away and increased his sprint for the back. They might just make it. As he neared the end of the last carriage, he saw the large group of Insectoids chasing the train. There would be no escape for them this way.
Talbot caught up to him and looked at the oncoming monsters. “Now that's a hoard.”
They turned when their carriage headed up the ramp.
The train sped up the incline so fast it shot off the top and crashed through a wall. Richard and Talbot dived to their stomachs to avoid the debris flying by above them and bouncing along the carriages. The train jerked and shuddered from side to side. Talbot gripped a ridge running the width of the roof to stop from sliding off. Richard wasn't so fortunate; he rolled onto his back and slid towards the edge. When he spied Talbot's feet waving in the air above his face, Richard grabbed his ankles and held on. The sound of metal being crushed and ripped apart was deafening. Talbot lifted his head. A large section of metal staircase headed straight for him. He ducked as it struck the roof a foot away and bounced over him. Richard watched the staircase shoot by and then glimpsed something high above―men standing and hanging on another higher section of staircase. It was the SEAL team. He recognized Colbert and couldn't resist flashing the shocked man a grin before he was carried from his sight as the carriage shot through the far wall of the stairwell.
*****
The SEALs had only descended one flight of stairs when the rumbling began and the staircase vibrated. Wondering what new life-threatening event was about to unfold, they stopped and peered down the stairwell. An almighty crash rippled up the walls. Metal screeched. The staircase shook so violently some of the men were thrown off their feet. Others tumbled down its treads when it collapsed. When Colbert and Cleveland were thrown over the side, their hands grabbed at the rail as the staircase stretched out like a coiled spring unwinding, bouncing the two men hanging on up and down when the stairs below them broke away.
Colbert watched it crash against the walls as it fell and far below what seemed to be a train speed by. He stared in disbelief at the person riding on its roof. It was Richard. The damn man smiled at him before being dragged out of his sight through the wall. What was the fool playing at? I thought he wanted off this ship?
“Was that Richard?”
Colbert looked over at Cleveland hanging a little way above him. “It was. The man's a damn curse.”
When Colbert glanced below again he noticed movement. A group of strange creatures rushed over the wreckage and headed after the train. He smiled. It seemed Richard's luck had finally run out.
Lights swept over Colbert and Cleveland from above.
“Are you two okay?” called out Stedman.
“Just about,” Cleveland replied.
“We're gonna climb up,” called out Colbert, pulling himself up the rail, which swayed and bounced preciously with his movements.
When they reached the relative safety of the still intact part of the staircase where his men waited, Colbert shone his light at the exit they needed to reach two floors below. It was too far away to jump and they had no rope. They'd either have to find another way to reach the level or abandon the mission.
“We could use the lift shaft,” Sullivan suggested. “There's a maintenance ladder running down the wall.”
Colbert thought it was worth a look. “Show me.”
*****
The floor of the room the train had smashed its way into collapsed when the crumpled nose of the front carriage struck. The force of the plummeting wreckage buckled the walls when it impacted with the lower floor and punched a hole through. The following carriages twisted and crumpled with screams of protest. Some flipped over other carriages, their links snapping like twigs under the strain; others crashed into the ones in front and buckled from the force.
When the carriage Richard and Talbot
were still reluctant passengers on flew through the air towards the twisted crumpling wreckage disappearing into the lower levels, they glimpsed an approaching patch of floor that was still intact. They slid down the tipping carriage and jumped off. They hit the floor hard, rolled and crashed into the wall.
The carriage they had just disembarked from struck the damaged piece of floor they had sought refuge on and tumbled Richard and Talbot over the edge when it ripped free from its supports. They landed on the side of a lower carriage and burst through the window. The seats cushioned part of their fall and bounced them to the floor. They slid down the upended carriage towards the group of Insectoids gathered in a heap of entwined limbs at the bottom. Talbot reached out and grabbed a seat leg with one hand and Richard's flaying wrist with the other. When Richard had secured a hold on the seat leg opposite, Talbot released him.
Richard grinned at Talbot. “See, that wasn't so bad.”
Calming down from the rush of adrenaline and the hellish ride, Talbot looked at Richard. “I'm not sure if you are brave, mad, or utterly stupid. We're no better off. We are back on the train with the monsters and this time there's no door separating us.”
Richard shrugged. “I never said my plan was perfect, but we're still alive.”
Talbot glanced at the mass of wriggling nightmares below as an Insectoid untangled itself from the heap of twisted bodies and pulled its limbs free. He doubted alive would be something either of them would be for very long if they remained in the train.
The Insectoid looked up and let out a clicking call before climbing the carriage. A second Insectoid, dragging two broken limbs, emerged from the group and headed up towards them.
Using the seats to haul themselves away from the oncoming monsters, Richard and Talbot climbed. By the time they had reached the top, three more Insectoids climbed after them. The two men gazed around at the mass of twisted metal and mangled carriages that formed a mountain of sharp edges they had to climb down. Progress would be slow. Talbot aimed the rifle at the nearest Insectoid and fired. The creature tumbled down the carriage, knocking two others back to the bottom. As he shifted his aim to his next target, the train lurched, forcing him to grab hold of something to stop himself from falling into the Insectoids' twig-like clutches Metal creaked and screeched as the pile of wreckage shifted before settling to the occasional clang of something falling and the groan of the ship adjusting to the new shift in weight it was forced to support.
Richard glanced up when a series of calls revealed the Insectoids below weren't the only ones they had to worry about. A group of them stood at the edge of the hole the train had punched through the wall and stared down at them. Richard stepped off the carriage and started climbing down. Talbot shouldered the rifle and followed.
*****
Colbert examined the ladder running down the wall and then directed his flashlight down the elevator shaft at the door they needed to reach three levels below. “It seems easy enough. Climb down, force open the door, and it's a short sprint to the armory. We grab as many of the alien weapons as we can and then get the hell out of here. Mission completed.” He stepped back while some of the others had a look.
Though the men remained silent, Colbert knew by their expressions he wasn't fooling them any more than he was fooling himself. The shit was bound to hit the fan and they'd all receive a large face-full.
*****
Shots rang out, killing some of the monsters that swarmed towards the Russians, but all were aware no matter how many they killed they wouldn't survive the onslaught from so many.
A loud crash from above shook the room like thunder and halted the monsters.
The ribs of growth shook, dislodging pieces that landed on the floor and bounced down the sides of the hole. The ceiling groaned. The agitated alien arachnids jerked their heads back and forth as they screamed short shrills, as if they were communicating.
Rozovsky joined the others at sharing their gazes between the halted creatures and the ceiling. “What's happening?”
It was a question none of them could answer.
A series of deafening crashes, clangs and screeches of metal foreshadowed the collapse of the ceiling that buckled before it gave way. Something appeared and, for a brief moment, hung poised above them before it dropped.
To avoid being crushed by the falling juggernaut and its accompanying wreckage, the creatures dived back into the hole and raced down the strange rib growths.
The train nose-dived after them.
Pieces of wreckage rained down around the men who pressed themselves tighter against the walls and watched the carriage dragged behind follow the front part of the train into the hole. The next carriage clipped the edge of the floor hole and tipped to the side, coming to a rest against the edge of the gaping hole it had forced through the ceiling. After a few minutes the falling debris ended. The carriage, the floor and the ceiling groaned as all settled.
The shocked Russians looked at each other.
Vadik grinned at his comrades. “I've been surprised by many things almost impossible to believe since setting foot aboard this alien ship, but I have to say, a train coming through the ceiling to save us, fuck me, I didn't expect that.”
Momentarily forgetting the constant death and danger that stalked them, the others smiled at their good fortune.
Babinski took a step nearer the battered carriage. “I wonder where it came from.”
Vadik stuck his head through one of the broken windows and gazed up the carriage. It was bent, buckled and full of sharp edges. It would be a brutal climb, but doable. He pulled his head out. “To use an American expression, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, it saved us and has also provided us with an exit.”
“Not more climbing,” groaned Sergei.
Vadik gazed back into the carriage when something scraped the side. A head rose into view and before he could back away or defend himself, the Insectoid jumped through the window and knocked him to the ground. A blur of twisted twig-like limbs adorned with thorny tips, frantically slashed and stabbed at his body and face. Vadik's pain-wracked screams and convulsions ended when a spike entered his ear and pierced his brain.
The attack had happened so quickly, his shocked comrades barely had time to react before the monster turned on them. It leaped at Babinski. The Insectoid exploded in a spray of bullets. When it fell to the ground Rozovsky continued firing. Blood erupted from the wounds and limbs were sliced from its body. When the weapon ran out of ammo Rozovsky struck the monster repeatedly with the rifle butt, crushing its head to pulp.
Nikolay placed a hand on the man's shoulder. “That's enough Rozovsky, it's dead.”
Rozovsky removed the flashlight from the rifle and let the gore-stained weapon clatter to the floor.
With weapons raised and senses on high alert, Mikhail, Sergei and Brusilov approached the carriage and peered inside.
Mikhail climbed through a window and glanced at the tangled heap of dead Insectoids and then up the wrecked carriage. “That seems to have been the only live one.”
Brusilov glanced over at Babinski knelt besides Vadik's body. “You okay, Babinski?”
Babinski climbed to his feet. “I won't be until we leave this damned place.”
“Well, hold it together and hopefully we soon will be.” Brusilov cast a sad gaze at his dead comrade before he crossed to the train and peered inside as he worked out their next move. He glanced briefly at the dead Insectoids before gazing up the length of the carriage. At the top he spied another carriage they might be able to pass through, but beyond that wreckage blocked his sight. Another comrade dead and they were still nowhere near to finishing the mission. How many more would die before they left what was fast becoming their tomb. He briefly considered abandoning the hunt for alien weapons, but if he did, he argued, the men's deaths would have been in vain. At least if their mission was successful their lives would have had some purpose, and they still had to find a way back to the exit because they couldn't return
the way they had come.
“What do you think, Captain, do we go up?”
Brusilov glanced at Sergei. “We do. Everyone in…” An ominous rasp of metal cut short his order.
They all turned towards the sound and peered at the door that opened.
“Looks like we won't have to climb after all,” said Sergei, happily.
Nikolay and Mikhail moved to the doorway and peered through into the corridor. Though dark and unwelcoming, it was for as far as they could see, free from any blockage or monsters.
Nikolay looked back at the Captain. “It seems clear.”
“Then we'll take it.” Brusilov headed for the door and led his men along the corridor.
*****
As Richard neared the bottom of the treacherous pile of scrap, he paused on sighting an orange glow filtering into the darkness below. Though unsure of its cause, it gave him something to head for. Light was welcoming in this world of dark shadows and the monsters that dwelled among them. He shot a glance at Talbot a few feet away and then shifted his gaze to the Insectoids moving across the mishmash of jumbled metal forms as agile as any mountain goat; they would soon be upon them. When the wreckage shifted again and sent loose sections of metal and pieces of ripped off train sliding down the pile, the two men kept climbing.
A thick metal beam, previously hanging by a thread of sheared and twisted metal, fell from the upper room. It smashed into the carriage balanced precariously against the wall and sent it sliding into the hole. It crumpled loudly when it collided with the carriage lying at an angle on top of the wreckage mountain and screeched down its length before smashing into the carriage Richard and Talbot had recently vacated. It slid to the side and rolled down towards the two men. Unable to tolerate the additional strain, the floor supporting the massive weight of the train wreck and collapsed levels succumbed to the pressure and dropped away.