Between the fast movement and white noise, their eyes caught it. “Wait!” Charlie shouted. “Go back, go back!”
“O my word,” Noah gasped.
“Boss...Boss...” Charlie called out and then sheer panic grabbed control of his voice. “Jason! You’ve got to see this!”
Jason Clark
“What the hell?” Charlie called out with a dry, gruff voice “There is no way? I tell you...He chowed that dude’s throat! Do you guys get it? His freaking throat!”
Santa was no longer in any mood for jokes and with sedated eyes looked up to his friend “Shut up, Charlie!” he said and huddled back with the other men, their eyes locked on the small camera screen.
“Shit! I can’t look anymore,” Charlie said and walked away from the rest. “We need to go,”
Santa had the last say, “Take a chill-pill, Charlie!”
Jason did not mind the commotion and he made no attempt to listen to the conversations. What he had witnessed, and was still witnessing, gave him chills he never felt before.
The video began where two officers left the control room, or at least so it seemed because the angle on the camera created a blind spot of a couple of feet towards the door. About two minutes later one of the officers stormed into the room. He clutched his right arm and blood seeped through his fingers. It was difficult to tell from the camera angle but although painful the wound did not seem lethal.
Without sound, the conversation was a cocktail of frenzied motions. After numerous hand signals the officer eventually convinced one keeper to rather open the armory than to attend to his wounds. This was not why Charlie got upset.
Just as the Peace Keeper, who Santa identified as Edmund, got hold of the automatic assault rifles from the armory, another person moved into picture. On first glance, he also looked wounded with torn clothes and a blood soaked body. However he stumbled in behind the officer who was unaware of the man sneaking up to him. Without warning he grabbed the officer by the neck, twisted it sideways and bit down into his throat. For a moment the keepers stood in horror; the same reaction as the witnesses in the video.
Then all hell broke loose.
It was Edmund that fired first after he tossed a weapon towards the other keeper. The intruder continued to devour the officer and ripped out his throat with ease, all while bullets penetrated his body.
“A man should go down from that,” Jason whispered and continued watching.
Slowly the relentless pressure of slug after rapid slug forced the intruder backward and into the blind spot. Edmund continued firing and Jason saw him change over to a third gun he had over his shoulder instead of reloading. Soon the blind spot swallowed Edmund out of frame.
“I can’t believe this,” Noah uttered as the second Peace Keeper rushed towards the slain officer and rolled the man over. Blood squirted from a gaping hole in the man’s throat and even on bad quality video the wound looked horrifying. Shocked—almost as if to try and erase the image from memory—the keeper turned the officer face down.
“You and me both, Bruce,” said Santa, his knuckles white from clenching the camera’s leather strap.
“Guys, I really think we should go?” Charlie urged but received no answer as everyone was still mystified by the video.
A few seconds later the keeper stood up, looked startled, and retreated. He raised his gun towards the blind spot. Five more intruders appeared and tardily moved towards him. Like a pack of wild dogs they surrounded their prey in a half-moon formation. Unrestrained, the keeper began shooting wildly from intruder to intruder. Fire spurted out of the semi-automatic and for a moment it seemed that he held them back. One of the attackers fell, and the screen was suddenly filled with static.
“No!” Santa shouted. “What the hell? Where’s the rest?”
“Its dead,” said Noah.
Santa eyes followed the speckled screen in hope that it would resurrect from the dead. “What’s dead? The freaking throat-eater things?”
“No, the screen.”
“Can you fix it, dude?”
“Nope don’t think so,” Noah said, disappointed. He tried a last fiddle. “That is it, might even be damage to the camera or signal cord, but there is nothing more.”
Santa nodded like a boxer pumping himself up before a fight, “Okay, okay, okay...I will be the first to ask the obvious...what the hell did we just witness? What the hell was that? And…and he ate that dude’s throat!”
“That’s kinda what I said,” Charlie said.
Jason’s mind raced. There were two important clues, and he knew that their next actions would have to be quick and decisive. Charlie was right; they had stayed far too long. He glanced over at the dead bodies.
Time to go, or else it could be our throats.
“The dead keeper had a gun, did anyone check outside the—” Jason asked, but he had no time to finish his question because the moment he heard the yell, like a dormant volcano activated by force, blood spurted out of Charlie’s neck.
David Taylor
The closer they got to the infirmary, the tighter the knot in David’s stomach tugged and twisted. Every step deeper into the intestines of the space station drained more and more strength from him both physically and mentally. He didn’t know what to expect and didn’t want to entertain the dark and demented thoughts that taunted his mind.
“I’m sure Beverly and Sarah would have teamed up,” Steven said. Their wives did almost everything together, so in an emergency situation, the chances of them sticking together would be a given.
David hoped that it was as simple as that and that in the chaos of it all, they didn’t get separated. He hated the idea of his wife being alone and scared and forced himself to believe the more positive outcome instead.
“Yeah,” David confirmed, no effort made to hide the doubt in his voice.
“If they did evacuate for some or other reason, I think they would have stuck together.”
“Probably, yeah…”
“Then why do I have such a bad feeling about this, Dave?”
David bit his lip. He wanted to believe that his wife and daughter were safe and secure somewhere either on board the Orion, or safely on their way back to Earth. Still, something in the pit of his stomach kept chiseling away bits and pieces of what little hope he had left.
“I also have a bad feeling about this, David,” Jim said from behind.
David stopped and addressed his five companions. “Well, then that makes six of us,” he said. “Look, we all have family and loved ones we’re secretly hoping are fine, and none of us really know what the hell is going on, but let’s try to keep it together, guys. For all we know, everyone’s huddled safely together on the Rec Deck or something.”
“Yeah, maybe David’s right. Perhaps they’re all watching a movie or something,” Duanne took a shot at softening their fears.
“So for now, let’s stick to the plan,” David said. “We check out the Infirmary, and then we’ll head over to the Rec Deck, okay?”
Everyone agreed.
It took them another ten minutes to snake their way to the infirmary through the dark passages of the Orion Space Station, each step closer intensifying the fear of what they might find when they got there.
David wondered what would put him more at ease, to find that all escape pods were missing, or that they were all still there? Although the Rec Deck’s Auditorium alone was large enough to host everyone on board—and had done so on a few occasions during movie nights—he knew deep down that Captain Hendricks would never shut down all lights or abandon the docking bay, especially if they were aware of a scheduled dock.
Jim was the first to react when they reached the infirmary. “Oh Lord,” he gasped and then retched forward as the gag-reflex kicked in.
David stopped dead in his tracks and held his fist in the air, but it was too late. The others had seen it too and their reactions were all of shock and horror.
“What the hell happened here?” Luke finally
asked in his deep voice. The fear in the huge man’s voice was not lost on David.
“I…I’m not sure,” David said as he slowly neared the glass window that looked into the infirmary. Blood was smeared everywhere, across the walls, the window, and the door. Equally as disturbing and gut-wrenching as the blood was the rancid smell. It reeked of decay and overpowered Jim, who threw up while trying to hold himself stable against the wall.
“You okay?” Duanne asked and almost lost it himself.
Jim didn’t answer. He just kept his eyes clutched tight while he tried to control his breathing through his mouth.
David pressed a button and the doors to the infirmary slid open to the sides. “Be on your guard, men,” he whispered, “whatever caused this might still be in here.” They side stepped body parts and intestines as they slowly entered the infirmary. Something ripped people to shreds in here. It was almost as if those in the infirmary just exploded on the spot. David closed his eyes for a second and imagined the cries and screams of those trapped inside when whatever went down. He imagined Beverly and Amy, in there, being torn to shreds and immediately rebuked the idea.
“How…How many people are we looking at here?” Duanne asked.
David shook his head. “Twenty…thirty or so,” he said.
“This ain’t right,” Luke said, his dark skin now a pale shade of nausea and fear. “What could possibly have done this?”
“I don’t know,” David said and knelt down beside someone’s severed head. The face was mangled beyond recognition, and it looked like someone tried to make a Mr. Potato Head toy by sticking teeth and strands of hair randomly into a chunk of ground beef. “What I do know,” he said as he scanned his eyes across the escape pods, “is that no one left the Orion. All the pods are still here.”
“So where are the rest?” Steven asked.
“Not sure,” David said. “Rec Deck, perhaps. I think we need to check Captain Hendricks’s room first though. If anyone would know what happened here, it would be him.”
“Do you honestly think that he’ll still be in his room after all this?” Steven asked.
“Frankly, I don’t know what to think anymore,” David said. “But at this point in time, I’d rather go check it out than be sorry later. Besides, it’s on our way to the Rec Deck.”
They agreed and the six of them made their way from the infirmary, careful not to slip on the blood, and sealed the doors shut behind them.
“It’s possible,” Steven said, trying to rationalize the situation and calm his screaming mind, “that something went wrong in there, and that Captain Hendricks called everyone to the Rec Deck in order to contain whatever happened on this level.”
David nodded. “I hope you’re right,” he said and motioned for the rest to follow him down the corridor. He couldn’t stop thinking about Beverly and Amy and now wished that all the escape pods had indeed rather been gone instead. He hated the idea of them still being on board the Orion, and hated the thought of them being trapped somewhere, quarantined and afraid.
They would go to the Captain’s room because it was just down the hall from where they were now. From there they would head out to the Rec Deck to join the others.
Yes, David thought. This was an isolated incident and everyone is still alive and well. He had to cling to what little hope he had left. The six of them would soon be reunited with their loved ones, and after the cleaning crew sorted out the infirmary, he would send his wife and daughter back to Earth.
Jason Clark
Everyone watched in horror as Charlie Lecky’s face drained from color. His body dangled like a marionette between life and death. No one immediately registered what was happening. It happened so incredibly fast.
Though for the men witnessing the unexplainable, it felt like the scene unfolded itself off in slow motion. With a crescendo of shouts the resurrected Peace Keeper hunched down and ripped another mouthful of Charlie’s flesh.
Pieces of skin and blood peeled out of the side of his mouth as bones cracked. The bite tore an artery and moments later, blood squirted out like an open shaken soda can.
Charlie screamed his last breath.
At first he was frozen by horror, but seeing his friend eaten alive fueled Santa with bravery and rage he never knew he possessed. “No!” he screamed and stormed the Peace Keeper, but his advance came to an abrupt halt and shock spread over Santa’s face just before his pear-shaped body flew through the air.
The impact of the keeper’s arm on Santa’s chest was like a truck slamming into a wall. Santa crashed hard against the armory door with a sickening crunch.
Weakened and wracked with pain, he pushed himself up and instinctively clutched his head. Blood oozed from a wound on his forehead, just below his hairline. The keeper’s nostrils flared up, and like a shark, he hunted towards the scent of fresh blood.
The first thing Jason could grab was one of the stun guns. He aimed, pulled the trigger and followed the flight of the two charges until it fixed into the right shoulder blade of the keeper. Seven thousand volts streamed through the lines, designed to do one thing: bring down even the strongest of men.
Yet, it had no effect on the keeper.
The beast swung round, grabbed the lines and pulled. Jason did not let go of the stun gun quickly enough. He flew effortlessly through the air and collided with Santa. For a moment the world turned black, only to reappear in kaleidoscopic fragments, each one focused on the advancement of a man-turned-monster. The distance between them quickly disappeared with every terror-filled heartbeat. Sweat mingled with blood on his forehead.
“Coward!” Santa shouted, but his anger was not directed at the attacker. Noah said nothing when he disappeared out through the door.
Jason couldn’t blame the man. The dash did—however—distract the monstrous Peace Keeper long enough for Jason to unclip his ankle holster. He pulled out his six-shooter and greeted an old familiar friend.
“You have a gun?” Santa asked, but Jason ignored him, his full attention focused on the target. The keeper grunted and advanced at an alarming rate. Jason took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.
BLAM!
The slug ripped into the keeper’s chest and solid spurts of red exploded into the air like a brittle rock thrown against concrete. The target did not even stagger.
Horrified, the men looked at one another.
“Shoot damn it! Shoot, shoot, shoot!” Santa screamed as a second, third and fourth shot echoed hard inside the control room. By the time Jason fired off the fifth round, there was a continually sharp ringing in his ears, but a burst eardrum was the least of his concerns. The bullets did nothing more than what a swarm of flies would do when colliding with a vehicle.
The keeper-turned-monster was upon them, smelling the-all-he-can eat buffet of fresh meat with every step. His breath reeked of decay, a nauseating stench that escaped from black stained teeth. Add to the smell the sound of anguished grunts and growls, and you were faced with the worst type of nightmare a man could imagine.
For the first time in his life, Jason considered using the last bullet on himself. He closed his eyes, but no life flashed and no light appeared at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Instead, his mind recalled the last scene of the video, how the man fell.
Jason opened his eyes, mumbled a curse, aimed high, and felt the gun recoil in his hand as the last bullet sliced through the air, followed by a haze of smoke.
Billy Kramer
When Billy arrived where he thought he had initially heard the sound, he found that there was no one there. He wasn’t sure whether the sound was made by someone or merely the huge space station starting to wake from its deep slumber.
For a moment his thoughts shifted to Amy, his still unofficial girlfriend, and he wondered where she was at that very moment. Was she okay? He hated himself for not asking her out yet and figured that if they got through whatever this was, he would grow a spine and ask her out on a date. Heck, he would even hold her hand.
<
br /> Yes, he thought. After I find mom and dad, I’m going to rescue Amy.
A sound made him stop dead in his tracks. A few feet in front of him, the hallway made a sharp turn to the left. Anything could be around the corner, waiting to jump him as it had jumped Edmund.
“Hello?” he asked as he neared the corner.
No answer.
He swung the gun around the corner and almost fired off a round at his own shadow that slid along the wall in concert with the emergency light. It took him a minute to figure out where he was. Between the chaos, confusion and darkness, he didn’t keep track of all the twists and turns they took before Edmund shoved him into the closet. Now he was at an intersection and if memory served him, going straight would eventually lead him to the Food Court area. To his left a corridor stretched into darkness and would end up at a T-junction. Billy followed the passage to the right. It led to the living quarters, but not before passing the games arcade. He and his parents had an arrangement that if anything ever happened and they were separated, that Billy should head to the arcade and wait for them there. They figured that he would be able to entertain himself long enough without getting bored until they were able to meet up with him. So that’s where he would go.
Somewhere up ahead someone screamed.
Billy’s blood iced and his heart bounced wildly in his chest. Did he hear right? He strained his ears and tried to calm his erratic breathing, each breath exploding loudly in his own ears.
Again there was no sound other than total silence.
“Hello…?” Billy asked with a coarse croak in his voice. Why am I scared? he wondered. I have a gun, for goodness sake! It’s me that they should be afraid of!
With renewed determination, Billy straightened himself up and—gun scope raised to eye level—continued towards the arcade.
Instead of flashing lights, the overwhelming sound of ringing bells, arcade game music and pool balls smacking into each other, Billy only found darkness and silence. His safe haven had turned into a gaping mouth that waited to swallow him whole.
A soft grunt sound came from within the darkness of the arcade.