Chapter 4: Confrontation and consumption.
March 27h, 2016 9:43 pm
She reached over and grabbed the bottle containing the liquid which could amplify her power. Only once had she taken a sip from it, the results of that once ounce of liquid caused her power to grow to a stronger level of control. That thing just outside her door made her decide that downing the entire glass was more then necessary.
Suddenly the door to her quarters rang out as something slammed against it once, twice then a third time. There were no impact marks on her side which could mean that it was the dead bodies of the guards being thrown against her door. Her pulse sped up as panic over came her mind. Whatever it was that stood beyond her door it was strong. All she could hear now was the beating of her hearts. She thought about backing away and hiding, but then a fear greater than her own safety flooded her mind. Karen was out there, out with the others in danger of being attacked by that thing. Her eyes narrowed at the door, her anger raising her desire to kill that which threatened the one thing she loved in this isolated world. Ripping out the cork she placed the bottle’s open top to her lips and drank the liquid within.
Pain surged through her body forcing her to the ground clutching her body in agony. She cried out as her body changed in rapid succession from the pale white skin to an eerie black, which grew hard and scaled. Spikes shot out from her shoulders, spine, elbows and knees. Her long black hair once straight now curled around her head moulding itself into a helmet and hardening. When the pain finally ended Leola was able to stand and look over the changes of her body. She was shocked to see what she had become; no longer did she look human she resembled a demon from one of mankind’s religious texts. Was this the true form of her species or was this the result of combining multiple genetic tissues and fusing them with every known virus on earth that led to her birth?
Fuelled by an unknown force Leola left her room and began her hunt for the creature that was terrorizing the people of the facility. With each passing moment she felt stronger and faster, she realized that her senses seemed heightened. But there was something else new to her she felt something, it was feint, but it was there this odd feeling that guided her.
Rounding the next corner, she came face to face with a horrible scene, the corridor was bathed in blood and a dozen bodies littered the floor. Limbs were torn off; heads were crushed and some bodied were ripped to shreds. Anger rose from deep within her, already fuelling the fire which told her to kill this rogue experiment and end this slaughter.
Following the screams and the gunfire Leola found herself entering the training grounds. As she walked on to the grounds a couple frightened soldiers unloaded one full clip each at Leola. Not only did the rounds not harm her body, if it were not for the sound of the gunfire, she would have never known that she had been shot at. Turning her head slightly she saw the two young soldiers and shook her head. Moving away from the entrance she pointed to the exit and motioned with her head for them to leave. Slowly the pair stood and moved toward the entrance. Before they left one turned around and looked at her for a moment. “Leola…?”
She gave a slight nod before taking off down the path to the obstacle course. “Damn it if I don’t hurry more people will die… what else can I do with this form?!” As if in response to her question her body changed once more. Her bones, muscles and tendons shifted, making her frame smaller; more agile and lighter. Put simply her skeletal structure resembled that of a feline’s.
With this new augmented form, she ran through the compound searching for the source of the chaos. Every hall was littered with corpses, most were ripped apart, others smashed into paste. The ones she could identify were all male, which was quite odd. She had known that the facility was operated a mostly female staff. The military were the only male personal in the facility save for the few male researchers.
Along the way to the higher levels, she encountered dozens of mutated personal. Most of which were only partly mutated, but the others had morphed into strange and grotesque creatures. Out of fear that they would kill any humans that strayed into their path Leola chose to kill every single one she encountered. With each kill, her new form shot out tendril like appendages that quickly devoured the corpses. After clearing six levels and taking down a rather large and powerful mutation her body released an omni directional pulse of dark ethereal matter. Feeling suddenly drained of her strength and stamina she crawled her way to the elevator, what would have been a mere twenty steps felt like crawling across three football fields. Exhausted she barely managed to hit the button for the next floor before passing out.
Either as a defensive action or preparation for another evolution, tendrils shot out from her body and pulled her up to the ceiling. The free tendrils then began to spray a thick tar like ichor around Leola, creating a tough cocoon. Emerging from it were several large tendrils, the ends having the appearance of serpentine creatures. When the doors opened two people ran in, one a Labtech the other a soldier who was firing his weapon. The creature he was shooting managed to enter the elevator before falling to the floor. That was when the cocoon’s mouth tendrils struck. All but two lunged fort the mutant corpse. While the others devoured the creature the other two slowly snaked their way toward the two survivors.
Too terrified to scream the Labtech dropped to the floor, his eyes focused solely on the strange thing drawing ever closer. The soldier on the other hand was a bit more composed, his weaponed aimed at the tendril approaching him. Once close enough he pulled the trigger, only to hear the click indicating that the weapon was empty. With that he dropped his rifle and fell to the floor pleading for his life.
Once the corpse had been completely devoured the other tendrils turned their focus to the two men. Some wrapped around them and pulled them up to stand against the back wall; while the rest began to cover the men’s torsos with the thick ichor, anchoring them to the wall. With that done the tendrils retreated to the cocoon to wait for their next target to arrive. Minutes passed before the sounds of another mutation drew the tendril’s attention. Upon seeing the ugly mass stumbling down the hall, the Labtech cried out as he realised what had been done to him and his companion. His cries only caused the mutation to focus on them, its hulking form then began to rush toward the two humans. The moment it entered the elevator the tendrils struck, coiling around the large mass of flesh, preventing it from reaching its prey. The mouths opened and tore flesh from bone rapidly devouring the living creature like a school of starved piranha.
This cycle repeated several times before another survivor rushed in and slammed on the door controls. She had not noticed the two men pinned to the wall since she had just rounded the corner to enter. As the doors closed, she slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. With her hands covering her face she did not see the tendrils hovering in front of her. She didn’t notice anything until the soldier cleared his throat and called to her. “Jessica, don’t scream, and don’t move.”
Startled her head shot toward the voice, she was about to move and speak but the soldier cut her off first. “Don’t! Stay there and keep still. We don’t know if they will attack if you move. Don’t scream and stay as calm as you can.” He gave a nod toward the tendrils’ position. Her head turned so slow it took nearly a full minute before her eyes widened at the sight before her. The tendrils were inches away, four of them swaying in the air as if they were trying to figure out what she was. For a long moment the tendrils simply observed her.
Fear paralysed the woman; she had seen the raw power tentacle limbs had and it was something that haunted her sleep. Humans were like paper to them, easily torn to shreds. Tears formed and began to run down her cheeks. She didn’t want to die like this, not at the mercy of a monster. A loud bell rang out alerting the occupants that they had reached the next floor. As the doors started to open four of the tendrils quickly wrapped around the woman and pulled her up to the ceiling keeping her out of sight. The remaining ten launched out of the elevator and began to devour anything within their path. Unable to see what was going on the three humans could only listen to the sounds of flesh and bone being devoured along with the sounds of pained yelps and groans.
Once the feeding was complete the appendages returned to the elevator and set the woman down as the doors closed. One gently nudged her toward the floor buttons to get her to press them. When she didn’t move it took hold of her sleeve and brought her hand to the buttons and the hand scanner, that had slid out from the panel. Jessica gave a short nod and swept her hand over the buttons on the higher floors and pressed her hand to the scanner. Once done she turned to the men stuck to the wall and reached toward the soldier. Before she could the substance pinning him to the wall she was yanked up to the ceiling and held there.
As the Elevator ascended floor by floor the tendrils would shoot out to attack or scan the area for threats. Having to endure this process for the entirety of the sublevel floors was having a negative affect on the three humans, fear and relief alternated constantly. By the time they reached sublevel thirty they were so mentally drained that they didn’t even notice when the doors would open. They also grew to hate the fact that this facility had one hundred and fifty subfloors. The only thing that was keeping their sanity intact was the thought that they would be able to reach the surface and leave this doomed facility.
At subfloor five the tendrils set Jessica down and one by one they begin to wither and fall to the floor; on impact they turn into ash, this continues until only four remain. The substance keeping the men pinned to the wall also withers and turns to ashes. Once free the soldier moves in front of Jessica to protect her. The serpentine tendrils ignore the pair but turn to the scientist. They sway slowly hypnotically as they look over him, taking in his features and inspecting his ID which hangs from his neck.
Sweat beads on his brow as he stays perfectly still not sure about what this creature intends for him. His pulse quickens with each second that passes. Slowly they extend toward him, coil around his body making sure he can’t move away. One of the heads comes to rest beside his ear, he can hear its subtle hissing and breathing. Then the whispers begin, strange incoherent sounds of multiple voices speaking at once. A chill runs down his spine and his face pales as he recognizes one of them. A voice he heard only a week ago. He strains his hearing trying to focus on only that one voice.
“Thank… you… Doctor… for looking… after us… all this time… we will protect… those who were…. Kind to us…” the whispers stop after that the tendrils release him and recede into the cocoon.
The Elevator doors opened to the main lobby, the three quickly rushed out and made their way to the exit. As they flung open the doors they were met with spotlights and a full platoon of soldiers and armored vehicles. They all raised their hands and froze in place. “we’re not infected! We are human and the sole survivors from Sublevel one twenty-nine!” the soldier called out, hoping that would be enough to keep them from being fired upon.
“Hold your fire! Retrieve those survivors and take them to the quarantine zone!” a rough older voice calls out from somewhere beyond the spotlights. Four armed military personnel quickly escort the three away from the building and take them away in a jeep to another location. They are brought to a makeshift quarantine camp and escorted to the disinfection tent and left in the care of the hazmat crew.
Chapter 5: Something old, something buried. Something new?
May 10th, 2024, 00:00 am
Soft rock echoes out from the speakers of the hummer, five soldiers sit with weapons in hand as they take their turn for guard duty. For the last eight years a joint taskforce of NATO’s best soldiers has been tasked with the sole purpose of guarding this abandoned research facility. Ever since a viral outbreak that killed most of the staff this location has been closely monitored and quarantined to ensure the safety of world. Fear of terrorist cells and warlords from war-torn countries getting their hands on a sample of the virus is what keeps this operation running. Armed with the best tech, weapons and armor that the allied nations can buy make this island the most secure and well protected place on the planet. To ensure its near impossible to enter or leave the facility has been sealed off by a steel and concrete dome that rivals Singapore National Stadium in size. It has only one entrance, a blast door that makes the saferoom at the Whitehouse look like a makeshift gate. Made from the hardest metals on earth and layered to be six feet thick. Only registered personnel with the highest clearance can open the door. It requires an up-to-date ID card, palm print, retinal scan, vocal verification and a randomly generated passcode to unlock. To further ease the paranoia of the world leaders, giant walls were erected, from at satellite view they form three rings around the dome. Each ring is spaced ten kilometers apart and filled with landmines. Razor wire, motion sensors, and thermal cameras adorn the top of the four-story high walls. Each has only one gate, guarded by twenty soldiers at any given time. It is very hard to obtain clearance to the site let alone get passed the first wall.
The five soldiers in the hummer are located at the inner gate, they swap stories about their hometowns, families and events to keep themselves entertained while on duty. This squad has been stationed here for the last two years and in that time the most exciting thing they saw was a bird fly down and snatch away a MRE that was left out on the hood of the vehicle.
“Gate one patrol to gate three, Zero dark thirty check in. All clear, nothing to report over.” One says into the radio.
“Gate three confirms all clear, next report scheduled at zero three hundred hours, over.”
“Copy that Gate three, over.”
“Well boys, looks like another silent night to be had. Get some shut eye, I’ll take a walk and wake the next one of you for watch.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Yes, captain.”
“Already dozing off sir.”
“Looks like Allen passed out an hour ago.”
Getting out of the vehicle Captain Varrick, wandered up and down the small stretch of road his squad was designated to patrol. He used his flashlight to check the minefield. He stopped suddenly when she saw a large patch of baren ground. Changing channels on his radio he quickly clicked the speaker on. “Patrol one to tower, found disturbed ground in the minefield. Over”
“Tower to patrol, copy that. Which sector is the location in? over.”
“Sector one-four-one, roughly five yards out from the road. Over”
“Copy patrol, nothing to warry about, disturbance was from a bird pecking at the ground and triggering the mine. Carry on. Over.”
“Copy that tower, over” Shaking his head captain Varrick continued his patrol of the sector.
As he was making his way back to the hummer, he heard a strange rumbling noise from behind. As it grew louder and louder, he turned around and to his surprise saw flashes of light coming from behind the wall. The rumbling continued to grow louder until he could recognize it as the sound of explosions. The minefield had been triggered and like a domino effect the next set of mines exploded in quick succession. Like a tidal wave it raced toward the gate. He called it in, as he felt the shockwaves from the explosions draw ever closer. The ground beneath his feet shook violently to point of knocking him over. Voices over the radio called out but all he could hear was the consecutive bangs from the mines. It was pure chaos all he could see was flashes of light, dirt and smoke rising and soon the mines surrounding his sector exploded as well.
For a short time, all he could see was white, and a high-pitched ringing in his ears. He felt someone grab him and drag him away. Once his vision cleared and his hearing returned, he found his squad kneeling around him, checking him for injuries and calling out to him. “I’m… I’m alright… what the hell happened?” he asked as his men helped him get to his feet.
“Sir… the dome and the first wall are gone… we called it in and were told to wait here in case anyone from the other squads survived.”
“Right… and that we will. Command will send a rescue team and reinforcements to deal with the aftermath of this event. We just hold the line until then.” Thus, they waited, their eyes focused on the ruined road that led to the first wall.
May 10th, 2024, 06:30 am.
Over the course of the last four hours several soldiers had made their way to Captain Varrick’s squad. Luckily each one only had minor injuries. However, it was obvious that most of the gate guards had been killed by either the exploding mines or from the wall collapsing. As of that moment thirteen soldiers were presumed K.I.A. Relief teams arrived in the following hour, medics, hazmat and reinforcements turned the sector into a F.O.B. No longer needing to worry about the minefield tents were set up turn that part of ruined land into a semi decent encampment.
May 11th, 2024, 15:25 pm (3:25pm)
Once the chaos of the previous day had died down a recon squad was sent in to survey the damage of the first wall and inspect the ruined dome. As one could surmise the scene was complete destruction. What was once an impressive feat of engineering and construction was now a massive pile of rubble. It looked at if the area had been bombarded by hundreds of missiles. Hours passed by while the squad searched and documented the area, everything seemed to be as one would expect after a series of explosions and destruction. That is until they came upon the body of a woman with dark hair, fair skin and dressed as a lab researcher. She was alive but unconscious. Several injures were noted, lacerations on her arms, legs and back. She was rushed back to the medical tent at the F.O.B.
May 23rd, 2024, 11:15 am
Twelve days later. A woman finds herself in waking up an unfamiliar place. Looking up at a strange ceiling and mild discomfort coming from her arms. She looks around and groans as she tries to sit up. “Hello? Anyone there?”
Her call is greeted by several hurried footsteps and soon she is greeted by a doctor, two nurses and six armed guards. “Morning miss, I’m sure you are very confused about where you are and what’s going on. But before we get to any of that I need you to tell me your name and the last thing you remember. Can you do that for me?” the doctor says as he checks her pupil responses and writes on a clipboard.
“Um… I remember… running… an explosion and then nothing… My name is…” her brow furrows as she looks down toward the foot of the bed. “I… can’t remember my name…” her eyes widen as she quickly looks back at the doctor. “Why can’t I remember my name?!”
“Easy now, this is to be expected. You took quite the hit to your head. You’ve been in a coma for twelve days. Memory loss from head trauma was expected, after all a building did fall on top of you.” He states softly. “When you were brought in both your legs were broken, you had the deep cuts on your arms legs and back, along with a dislocated shoulder. Plus, the blunt force trauma to your head. However, you are healing up nicely. I’d give your legs three more months before you can walk again, but your arms should be fine in another two weeks. As for the memory loss. Well, everyone is different, but I am hopeful you will make a full recovery in all regards.” He checks the monitor to record her vitals once more before giving her a smile. “And lest I forget, the name we have recorded from your ID card, well what is left of it. Dr. Sarah Clarke, that’s who you are. I’ll come check on you later, for now if you need anything press the button here and a nurse will come to you.” With that he gives a nod and takes his leave.
For the next several hours Sarah, drifts in and out of consciousness. Her memory comes in shattered flashes as she sleeps and her body aches from the injuries she’s suffered. She recalls herself running, someone yelling her name, a strange figure chasing her. Hallways covered in blood, screams of agony and fear. Someone protecting her and then a sharp pain in her chest. She wakes in a cold sweat, her heart racing from the panic. She looks around to find herself in the hospital room once more. The sight acting as her only comfort. She tries to slow her heartbeat, breathing deep and slow. “What the fuck happened to me? What was I doing before this?”
We… we were fighting… running… surviving… we shall survive…. Together… a hushed whisper calls from and unknown location, but it sounds close. We… will protect… our friends… we protect you… we protect Sarah… Forever…
The End?