Chapter 27
Moving swiftly through the chaos that’s taken over the tunnel, I pull the walkie-talkie from my waistband. “Isabelle to Lilly. Do you read me?”
“I can hear you.” Lilly’s uneasy voice erupts from the speaker.
“Where’s Ty? Is he with you?”
“Yes. We are inside the Fire Room with a bunch of other people. They locked the door after the first scream.”
“Okay, stay put. I’ll radio you when we figure out what’s going on.”
“Okay.”
“And Lilly. Tell Ty that I love him.”
I turn off the walkie-talkie and continue pushing past survivors who are running in the opposite direction. People bump into me as they try to find their way through the darkness. I need light if I’m going to be able to see anything. Suddenly, I remember the small flashlight still hidden in my pocket. I slip it out and shine it on people running past me. Some of them have red liquid stained on their hands and shirts.
When I’m almost to the Radio Room I shine the beam of light around the tunnel, illuminating torn limbs lying on the floor. Blood is splattered across the floors and walls from the massacre. I’m the first one to reach the open brick door, with Travis following right behind me. Before I can walk in, he slips past me with his rifle drawn. He always has to be the first one in. Cautiously, he walks into the destroyed room and points his gun from side to side.
“Clear.” He says firmly, lowering his gun.
When I walk into the small room the first thing I notice is that the Grey One is gone. In its place is a puddle of dark red blood. Human blood.
It takes me another few seconds before I find Chris’s dead body on the floor. I cover my mouth as I avert my eyes away from his body that’s been torn in half. But there’s no way to get around seeing his blood splattered across the table, floors, and walls.
“Where’s Katie?” I ask as I search for her.
“She could’ve escaped.” Travis replies while searching the empty room. The door leading up to the business above is still sealed shut. How would she have escaped if her father couldn’t?
The Colonel darts into the room with his pistol drawn. When he notices Chris’s mutilated body behind me his weapon lowers. With an unsteady voice, he whispers, “Chris?” This is the first time I’ve seen him display any emotion, besides anger.
He brushes against me as he walks over to where his friend’s lifeless body lay on the cement floor. As he kneels down beside him, his knee becomes stained with blood. For a moment, it’s silent in the room. He sniffles and asks, “Where’s his daughter? Where’s Katie?”
“We don’t know, sir.” Travis replies.
I yank the walkie-talkie off my side and say, “Lilly, this is Isabelle. Do you copy?”
“What’s going on? Are you okay? Is Jace okay?” She replies frantically.
“I’m in the Radio Room. We’re all okay. Is Katie with you?”
“No. I haven’t seen her since before you guys left.”
I look at Travis and ask, “Where could she be?”
His lips press together in response.
“Okay. If you see her, tell her to let us know she’s safe.” I say in the walkie-talkie.
A woman’s sudden screams for help drown out the noise from up the tunnel. I clip the radio back on my pants and grasp onto the dagger tightly.
“Come on, let’s go.” I say while scurrying towards the door.
“You guys go ahead. I can’t leave him here like this.” Colonel Kirk Samuels says, crouching down next to Chris’s head. His hand extends out towards his body, but stops short. Without saying another word, he stares blankly at his fallen friend.
With my eyes locked with Travis’s, I say, “Let’s go.”
We follow the screams for help down the tunnel. Propped up against a barrel, we find where it’s coming from. A brunette woman I recognize as one of the mothers here is crying while rocking back and forth with her daughter in her arms. The young girl’s chest has been sliced open. Her shirt is drenched in blood that runs down and pools around her.
The sobbing woman looks up at me through teary blue eyes. With an unsteady voice, she says, “Please, help her. She’s only nine.”
I kneel down beside her in the pool of her daughter’s blood. The thick red liquid seeps through my pants and wets my knees. I stare at the girl’s open eyes as I reach out. With two fingers pressed against her small neck I search for her pulse.
She’s dead.
As I rise to my feet, I say, “I’m sorry.”
“No!” The mother shrieks. She clutches her daughter’s corpse and sobs.
“Where’d it go?” Travis asks. The light from his rifle lightens the dark tunnel as he scans the area.
Her cheeks are soaked in tears when she looks back up at us. As she chokes back her cries, she points a finger down the dark tunnel, towards the dead end. The woman opens her mouth to speak but stops when she begins to sob again. Tears slide down her cheeks and land on her dead child. I want to comfort her, but I know there is nothing I can say. But there is something I can do.
Cano leads us down the tunnel until we reach the dead end. “What now?” Travis asks, shining the light over the brick wall before us.
The Grey One has to be around here somewhere. As I creep towards the closest basement, I say, “Search the basements, maybe we passed it.”
While Travis and Cano push on a hidden door opposite of me, I search for a way inside a separate room. A window sized opening is the only way in and out of the small basement. With outstretched arms I grab onto the hole and climb through the window quietly. If the alien is hiding in here, I don’t want it to hear me. In order to catch this monster, I’m going to need a surprise attack.
When I slip through the hole, my body drops onto the old basement floor. Crouched down, I listen for any sign of the creature. As I stand back up, I pull the loaded pistol from my waistband. With the gun clutched on my side I move through the darkness carefully. I don’t want to bring any attention to myself. When my eyes begin to adjust to the darkness I can see that like the others, this basement has been sealed off from the building. But by the empty shelving and floors, I figure the Guerrillas must not have found this room useful.
My hands skim over the broken shelves, stirring up dust. I can’t find anywhere for the creature to hide in here. I turn to leave, but stop at the sound of breathing. I pull the small flashlight from my pocket with one hand; while aiming my handgun in the other. I push the power button in and shine the beam of light towards the sound.
The light illuminates a figure crouched down behind shelves. With my pistol aimed at it, I walk slowly towards the corner and say, “Who is that?”
“Heather. Don’t shoot.” She yells with an unsteady voice. Her body jumps up, landing on her feet. With her hands above her head, she stays frozen in place.
Her dark red hair brightens when the light shines over her head. She steps around the broken shelves and locks her brown eyes with mine. Her cheeks flush red as she clenches her jaw tightly. She looks angry with me.
“What’re you doing in here?” I ask shining the light around the dark room. Besides us, the room is empty.
Heather steps towards me and replies, “Hiding. What are you doing in here?”
“I’m looking for the Grey One. Have you seen it?”
“Of course I have. Why do you think I’m hiding?”
“Where?”
“Where what?”
“Where did you see it?”
“Um, outside of this room. That’s why I hid in here. I didn’t think the alien would fit through the opening.” Heather replies quickly.
“Come on, let’s go.” I say stepping towards the small window.
“I’m not going back out there until that thing is gone.”
A high-pitched scream echoes throughout the tunnel, even louder than the ones before. I cover my ears as the sound gets closer and closer. When the noise reaches the other side of the wall, th
e screaming stops abruptly. My eyes shift to Heather, who is staring out the window behind me. When she looks back at me I press my finger to my lips and say, “Shhh”.
While she hides behind the broken shelves again, I grab a small crate. After flipping it over, I step up and peek through the window. The monster is sniffing the dead end’s brick wall. Its nostrils sound congested with each deep breath.
“Wait here.” I whisper quietly.
She mutters behind me, “Like I want to go outside?”
Climbing through the window, I’m careful not to make a sound. The Grey One is preoccupied with sniffing around, it doesn’t notice me lowering myself quietly. A short few yards away from me, the creature stands on its hind legs. The massive muscles flex on its back from pushing against the brick wall. With my gun aimed at the back of its oversized head I tiptoe closer. The bullet won’t kill the alien, but maybe I can stun it.
Right when I’m about to pull the trigger a voice yells from behind me, “There it is!”
The alien spins around, coming face to face with me. Only inches from my face, the black eyes stare at me. I aim my gun at the back of its throat, but before I can pull the trigger a claw smacks the gun from my hand. The pistol flies through the air, spinning until it slams into a brick wall.
I block my ribs with both arms as the other claws swipes at my side. The long nails cut deep into my forearm. I wince in pain, but continue to fight off the vicious being.
It throws its heavy body into me. Tackling me to the ground, my head to bounce off the cement. The world becomes fuzzy as my head becomes achy. Above me, its mouth opens wide, spilling thick drool on my lips. The spit drips into my mouth forcing me to taste the iron in its saliva.
Before the creature can tear me apart, a dark shadow leaps over my head. The beast flies back, releasing my torso from its crushing weight. When I stare down at my feet, I find Cano attacking the beastly creature. His sharp teeth chomp down on its opened cheek. He rips it back with him, yanking the lethal being off my legs.
I pull myself up to my feet, the world still spinning. Watching the courageous dog defend us, I pull two daggers from my thigh holster. With both claws, it throws Cano aside. His loud yelp rings in my ears.
Gripping both daggers, I run at the Grey One. Bullets zoom past me, towards the monster. The brick wall begins to break apart from bullets missing their target. I dive at a patch of unarmored skin. The alien narrowly escapes the blades, like a football player dodging a hit. While I try to get my momentum back, it throws its grey body into the wall, knocking a few bricks loose. Its heavy body slams into the same spot, breaking down the hidden door.
Sunlight shines down on the creature’s skin. Without hesitating, it sprints towards the river a few yards away. Travis helps me to my feet while others run past us shooting their guns at the escaped prisoner. We all watch in disbelief when it dives into the river, disappearing beneath the dark water. I wait anxiously to see if it’ll appear again. Or, if water could be a weakness. After a few minutes, its large head come up on the other side of the narrow river.
When the loud bangs erupt from guns, I scream, “Don’t waste the bullets!”
The shooting continues as the thing trudges out of the water. “Stop! The bullets won’t do anything!” I shout loudly.
When it’s obvious that nobody is going to listen to me, Travis yells, “Stop wasting the god damn bullets!”
Everyone stops shooting and watches the dripping wet monster disappear between buildings. They linger for a moment, grasping their guns. The group only begin to head back once they’re satisfied that it’s definitely gone.
Travis looks me in the eyes and says sharply, “We need to move. This location has been compromised.”
He’s right. The Grey One could come back with more tonight. We’ll need to find new shelter before it gets dark. As I glance around at the survivors, who are now crowding the end of the tunnel, I wonder how many will leave.
The distinct sound of painful screams emerges from inside. I push through the cluster of people, passing survivors until I reach an opening in the crowd. When I look down at the ground I’m surprised by what I discover.
In the center, Katie is pressing a gun at the back of Heather’s head. My gun. She must have found it after the Grey One hit it from my hands.
Heather screams, “Get off of me!”
“Yeah, you wish.” Katie replies through gritted teeth. With her free hand, she pushes Heather’s face even harder into the ground.
“Katie,” I say nervously, “What are you doing?”
“She’s crazy!” Heather screams out. “Help me!”
“Shut up!” Katie screams in her ear while she yanks Heather’s red hair. With a handful of hair, she slams her head into the ground twice before I can pull her off of the beaten girl.
She continues to punch and kick while I pull her away into the crowd. When I do let her go, she turns around and cries, “She killed my dad! She’s the one who let the Grey One out!”
“What?” I ask confused.
I twist back and stare over at Heather, who is being comforted by Travis. With an extended arm, he helps her to her feet. He can’t hear Katie’s cries over the chattering in the tunnel.
“When I went to leave the Radio Room she was waiting in the tunnel. I watched her walk in right before the Grey One escape. Before it killed my dad.”
“That doesn’t mean that she did anything wrong.”
“I know she did it!” She screams before lunging past me. I grab her from behind and hold her back to prevent her from attacking Heather again.
My hands spin her around. Her puffy eyes have tears slipping out the corners. In a calm tone, I whisper, “Relax Katie. I’ll take care of this.”
She nods back at me and blinks away the tears. I don’t know if she’s right, but I know she believes she is. And right now, that’s good enough for me.
Katie follows behind slowly while I walk towards Heather. I step in front of her and examine her body for bumps and scrapes on her skin. Surprisingly, there’s no blood at all. She looks like she didn’t just get into a fight. She smiles at Travis before turning to glare at me and Katie. Her lips form a smirk as she raises an eyebrow at Katie; like she won.
I squeeze the handle of my lucky dagger and say, “Heather you need to come with us. We have some things we need to discuss.”