Thunderbirds Are Go!
The Halloween Collection (2018 Edition)
By Lee Homer
Disclaimer: All rights reserved. The Tracy family return for the third installment of Halloween tales that have rocked International Rescue.
#1 My Uncle's Handy-Work
Told by Kayo Kyrano
My Uncle is a vile man. I'm sick of the fact that I'm related to him. That man maybe public enemy number one to both the GDF and International Rescue, but he has carried out acts far more horrendous that we couldn't announce them to the public. I don't even know why I'm sharing this. I just feel that it has to be told. I witnessed something that I'd never forget. Something that my Uncle had done to a poor human being. I've only shared this story with Virgil.
We were sent to investigate a mysterious distress call which had been picked up by John. Virgil and I were the only ones on call that night despite the fact that we were already exhausted from the number of calls we had received during the day. We set off in Thunderbird Two and made our way towards the area in question. The signal had been transmitting from within an area of the Mojave Desert. The baron wasteland sat under a blanket of twinkling stars. We flew in closer so Virgil could scout around for a landing site. That's when we saw the bunker. It was no more than a small structure which stuck out of the desert canyon like a sore thumb. Its foundations had taken a beating from the elements. We didn't know of any facilities in this area of the world which only added to the mystery, but we didn't think too much about it.
Thunderbird Two touched down gently between the encompassing ridges. There was a real sense of isolation here. We disembarked the craft, adjusting our bodies to the cooler temperature. Virgil walked on ahead, using his flashlight to scan the area around the bunker. He looked at me with confusion as if something was amiss. I didn't blame him. Something was well and truly off about that bunker.
"I don't get it. There's nobody around. What gives?" He grunted as he rubbed his eyes. "I bet this was another crank call."
"Virgil, I don't think this was a crank call at all," I replied. "It's got to be coming from that bunker over there. Someone must have gone in and couldn't get out again."
Virgil rolled his eyes."Yeah, like anyone would be stupid enough to venture into an old derelict building."
I ignored my brother's moaning and ran through a list of possible explanations. "Ever heard of Urban Explorers? They thrive on investigating these places."
"Yeah, I suppose so. I'll go get my gear and a medical kit. Hopefully, we shouldn't have to be out here for long."
Virgil went back inside to grab the rescue equipment, while I remained outside. My ears picked up on a strange sound coming from the bunker. I could hear a thumping sound as if someone were trying to bring down the door. I slowly walked towards it with the belief that this was just some urban explorer trying to get out. I approached the door with my guard down. It had been locked from the outside with two still girders along with what appeared to be a locking mechanism. A small keypad flashed a red light next to it which read "Safe Guarding activated." I thought to myself that it was possible that anyone could have entered the facility with knowledge of the passkey. Hell, I would have thought up any explanation at the point just to keep my mind focus on the job.
The pounding continued on the door. I had to do something. I had to let whoever it was known that we were here to help them.
I put my hand on the door and began to speak into it. "This is International Rescue. If you can hear me, just hold tight. We'll have you out in a moment."
The pounding stopped. I figured that whoever was inside had stopped to listen to me. However, it had become quiet. Too quiet. I knew that there was clearly someone in there, yet I could not hear them... or so I thought. I could hear a faint voice echo from behind the door. I couldn't make out what it was saying despite the fact that it clearly sounded in distress. Knowing that Virgil was only seconds away, I called out to the person once again.
"Hang tight, it'll be okay. We'll soon have you out of there."
That was when the voice took on a different personality. One that sounded darker and sinister in nature. I couldn't be sure, but it sounded like it was chanting. Perhaps the person inside was a cultist and that we had merely stumbled across one of their rituals. Religious cults still exist in our day and age so it was another plausible explanation. The rhythmic chanting had enveloped me to the point that I was startled by Virgil's appearance with the rescue equipment. He had suited himself up in his mechanical arms, a valuable piece of machinery that he had grown to rely upon.
"Right, stand back. We'll have these doors off in no time." He said as he locked his mechanical arms on the steel girders that locked it in place.
It took him a couple of attempts to prise the open but they eventually came free. The doors swung open, revealing a dark and dusty interior. Dust poured out of there which smelt of rusted metal. It was so dark in there that not even Virgil's industrial flashlight could fully illuminate it. Visibility was poor. All we could make out were what appeared to be computer panels of some kind. We looked at each other in puzzlement before calling out.
"Hello?"
Curiously, Virgil took a step inside the bunker. He didn't get very far. Before I could follow on behind him, Virgil hurtled towards the ground. Something had picked him up and thrown him. As bent down to help him, I got a look at what it was that had thrown him. A humanoid figured lingered in the doorway. It had hunched itself up against the frame as if it had lost its sense of balance. I helped Virgil up to his feet just as this figure began to drag itself towards us. It slowly revealed itself through the doorway as it stepped out of the shadows. It was a human male. The Naked and looked malnourished yet, his body sported an array of sores and oddly shaped veins. He looked as if he had been the subject of experimentation. His face was all deformed and contorted. His eyes were red and swollen. His fingers and toes bared the resemblance of claws and talons. The thing I could think of was somehow trying to help him.
This man looked me up and down before pointing at me. Virgil didn't know what to make of him.
"What do you think we should do?" He whispered. "He clearly needs medical attention."
"I'll stay with him," I replied. "Go and call the GDF and fetch me some clothes. We must help him."
The man seemed to understand what we were saying. I felt relieved at the fact that his intentions were benign. As long as I kept a calm composure, then I knew that we could get this man to safety. I extended my arm out to him, hoping that he would grab it gently and see that we were there for him. Reluctantly, he reached out and grabbed it, his claw-like fingers dug into my arm.
"You're safe now," I said calmly as the man's misshapen face began to change expression. "Can you speak? Who did this to you?"
The Man pointed towards the entrance with a grunt. He wanted to show me something inside the bunker, only I was hesitant to go with him.
"Wait one second," I said. "My friend will return any minute now. He'll make you comfortable."
But the man relented. He continued to grunt at me until I agreed to go with him. It looked as if I didn't really have a choice in the matter. My gut told me that this man was going to show me something that could shed light as to what happened to him. He wasn't going to harm me. If he was, he would have done it by now. I let him guide me inside the bunker just as Virgil caught up to me.
"Hey! Wait up! What are you doing!?" He yelled, fearing for my safety.
"We've got to find out what happened to him, Virgil," I explained. "He's trying to show us something."
Once inside, I found myself in a very oppressive environment. We struggled to adjust our eyes to the dark, but the man was clearly used to it. Virgil shone his flashlight on a series of storage tanks. All of them were filled to the top with liquid and in them were the most horrific creatures that I had ever seen. I'm talking picked humans with various physical mutations. It was enough to make me vomit out of sight. They were test subjects of some kind and this man was the lucky one who managed to escape. Each tube had a designated code number on each tube. Looking at them, I just got the distinct impression that these weren't kidnaped victims of any kind, but were genetically created. As Virgil bravely inspected the contents of one of the tubes, a faint flashing light caught his attention.
"Kayo, there's a computer back here." He said. "It should shed light as to what is going on here."
"I think I already know," I muttered as I kept my eye on the man. "This is a genetics lab. Strictly black budget. It isn't supposed to exist. Someone had outside knowledge of this facility.."
Virgil looked at me with a disturbed expression. "You're not going to like this. Look who was spotted on the bunker's surveillance cameras?"
My heart sank at the images that flashed before me. It was my Uncle. It was The Hood. How he knew about this place was one thing, but it was his intentions that made my stomach clench. He was creating these people with chemicals and DNA strands which he has acquired from unknown sources. We watched a horrific even unfold where one of the tubes exploded. The Hood realized that his experiment had failed so he decided to flee the chaos. However, the person inside the tube had survived the explosion, triggered the alarm and waited for our arrival. Virgil switched off the computer screen.
"Okay, first things first, we get this guy to the hospital." He said. "The GDF have to know about this so they can shut it down."
"Agreed. I'll get onto them at once." I replied. I knew that Virgil was trying to shield me from this, but I already knew that my Uncle was a monster.
We waited there with the rescued man until a GDF transporter arrived. We left them to secure the facility while we took the man a top-secret hospital. I hoped that the doctors there could treat him for his mutations and eventually help him fit into society. As for The Hood, I'll forever see to it that his work is shut down and destroyed for good. I don't know what his plans were with those test subjects and I don't want to know.
