Thunderbirds Are Go

The Halloween Collection (2017 edition)

by Lee Homer

Disclaimer: All rights reserved. May contain dark situations so this will be rated, T

The Creature In The Mine

Told by Virgil Tracy

I can remember a time that Scott and I can hardly forget. It was a bizarre and yet terrifying encounter we had ever faced... unless you count Scott's encounter with the Goatman. It started off as a standard rescue operation. John and picked up a series of frantic distress calls which worried him. They had been coming from an old gold mine that was situated in the heart of rural Texas. Scott and myself, didn't seem to be alarmed at the time and that was because we had dealt with scrambled distress calls many times before. After assembling the equipment that we needed, we took off in our Thunderbirds and headed for the scene.

When we touched down, I was quick to notice just at how desolate the area really was. There was no sign of anyone around the mine entrance, only what appeared to be the remains of an all-terrain vehicle. It had been seriously damaged with its engine spitting out smoke. Scott set his Thunderbird down and decided to check it out. I landed behind him and left my craft to investigate. As I approached the vehicle, Scott threw a look at me of confusion.

"Virgil, take a look at this." he said as he beckoned me over to the passenger 's side.

I could see why he was confused. The Door had three giant claw marks down its side. Seriously, they were huge. There was no way that any person could create them. If it were an animal, it would have had to have been bigger than a bear. Scott tried to debunk them, but I knew that there was no animal in the area that could do this.

"Scott, We could be dealing with something that's beyond our control. I suggest we report this to the GDF."

"What would we tell them?" He countered. "That an unusually large bear has attacked a car and chase a group of people into the mine?"

"It's not a bear. It's something more than that." I replied. I was trying hard not to get annoyed with my brother.

As I tried to reason with him, then the sound of multiple cries caught our attention. They echoed from within the mine. Focusing my instincts on the rescue, I raced back to deploy our Pod launcher. However, Scott dampened my hopes of finding them swiftly.

"Scott, to Virgil. We have a situation. Brains has just informed me that the structure of the Mine is unstable. We can't risk using the pod explorer."

"Then what else are we supposed to do?" I replied, predicting what he was going to suggest. "You don't suggest that we go in on foot, do you?"

"Well..." he said with a false sense of enthusiasm. "We might have to."

A short while later, we entered the mine, fully equipped with industrial torches and cutting equipment. The darkness was so thick that you could cut through it with a buzz saw. Water dripped from the roof, rats crawled along the muddy floor. It was disgusting. Even with our headgear on, you could smell the foul odors. It was if something had been rotting down here for years. As we made our way towards the first compartment, Scott decided to call out into the darkness. His voice reverberated off the walls. I shone my flashlight about and spotted three separate tunnels that joint to this major compartment which we were standing in. As expected with an old mine, the walkways have been left to rot with old broken mining equipment strewn about the place. The screams came again only this time they were louder than before. Scott quickly picked up on the direction and instant led the way.

"They're this way." He said as he called out to them. "Hold tight. We're from International Rescue. Keep calling out and we'll find you!"

The screams continued. As they grew louder, we grew closer. However, something didn't feel right and I mean it didn't feel right at all. My stomach started to feel queasy and the hairs began to stand up on the back of my head. I suddenly became aware of the fact that we were being watched. Scott stopped in his tracks. Something caught his attention, only I couldn't see or hear anything. He looked at me and noted my uneasy expression.

"I feel the same way too." He said as he opened his comms device. "The screams have stopped. They could be anywhere and we wouldn't know without getting lost ourselves. Maybe we could get some help above. John, are you there? John, come in. Come in Thunderbird Five!?"

Unfortunately, we only received distorted static. We were on our own down here.

"We must be far too far down for the others to register us," I said. "That's just what we want."

"We'll just have to press on," Scott replied, defiantly. "If there are people trapped down here, we're sure to find them eventually."

Oh was he wrong. As we continued, we could both feel a faint buzzing sensation that traveled across the walls. It grew stronger within each passing second. I couldn't speak for my brother, but my instincts were telling to run at this point. I'm not one to be afraid of the unknown, but after our encounter with the Goatman last year, my mind has seriously opened up to these things. I was now more susceptible to fear than ever before. That's when we heard a growl. A deep, thundering, skin piercing growl. Something was down here with us and it was pissed. A figure then lunged out at us from the shadows, forcing us to jump. It was a young woman. She was terrified, streaked with blood, dirt, and tears. Her uniform had suffered some damage. She must have been about my age. She clung onto my arm as she tried to explain what had happened to her.

"Please! You... you've got to get me out of here before... before it knows where I am!" She cried.

I tried to make sense of her distressed state. "Take it easy, Ma'am. You're alright. We're from International Rescue. Can you tell us your name?"

"Davison... Professor Davison." She spluttered. "Look there's no time. Please, we've got to... get out of here."

Suddenly, we heard the deep demonic growl again. As the three of us turned to leave, Two bright red balls of light lit up the shaft behind us. They hovered there accompanied by the sound of snarling. I couldn't mistake those red balls of light for eyes. Whatever this thing was, it had found us.

"It's found me!" the Professor screamed. "We've got to go!"

Things began to get even crazier when a giant claw appeared from the dark and made a swipe at Scott. Those giant claws barely missed him.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" He yelled. "Quickly! This way!"

We headed back for the entrance as fast as we could. The sound of footsteps thundered behind us. The growling shortly followed. This thing was chasing us. As we made it back to the main crossway, I took the chance of looking back down the tunnel. My thoughts were soon confirmed. This thing definitely was chasing us and it was out for blood. As it slowly crept into the beam of my flashlight, it revealed itself to me. It stood on hind legs which had claws on each of its fingers and toes. Its entire body was covered in black matted fur. It didn't have a nose, but it did have two air intake holes that acted like one and they stirred the dust when it snarled. Its mouth opened, presenting an armada of razor-sharp teeth. It's inferno red eyes locked in with mine as if it was studying me. I had never seen anything like this before. In a frantic state, Scott tried to retrace our steps.

"Quickly, this way!" He shouted. "We've got to get to the surface!"

Eventually, we spotted a small beam of light which had lit up the path ahead and I was confident that it was the moonlight. I was even feeling sure that we could outrun this thing as we had put a significant amount of distance between us and it. However suddenly, the walls began to shake violently.

"Rockfall! Watch out!"

We all dived to the ground as the ceiling caved in, blocking our only exit. We were all alright, but I couldn't get over how our luck would change like that. The Professor began to panic even more.

"That's it. We'll never get out now!"

"Don't be so sure, Professor," Scott replied. "We don't give up easily."

A small ray of light appeared from above us. We couldn't believe it. The rockfall had given us another escape route. Scott aimed his grappling gun and fired a line. He wrapped the professor behind him.

"Once we get to the surface, I'll throw the harness down to you. We'll be as quick as we can."

"FAB," I replied calmly. "Just hurry alright?"

"Keep calm, bro. Everything will be alright."

Everything will be alright he said. I had a hard time believing that. I watched closely as Scott and the Professor made it to the surface when I felt that static sensation again. I looked over and there it was. Those pulsating red eyes had locked onto me again. Time began to slow down. Scott had thrown his grapple gun down to me and it was a moment too soon. The creature looked as if it was about to charge at me. I quickly fired a cable and began to scale the rocks towards the surface. I made it part way up when I heard the sound of crunching coming from below. I looked down to see this thing on all fours, climbing after me. Scott called down motivating me to hurry.

"Come on, Virgil! Hurry the up!"

I slowly gained my momentum when I climbed. I was determined to get away from this thing, even if it did rip one of my limbs off. It continued to growl and hiss as if my speed was pissing it off. When I pulled myself up to the surface, I threw Scott my grappling gun and ran over to him. I scooped up the professor in my arms with little thought. That's when I noticed the severity of her wounds. She had been bleeding extensively from her right shoulder and the reason for this was enough to even make the strong-stomached person, heave. This thing had taken a bite out of her shoulder. It could have been trying to eat her!

Suddenly, the creature emerged from the ground. It's silhouette basked in the moonlight. Those red eyes remained on me. I quickly put it all together. It was the professor that it was after. It tasted her blood and now it wanted the rest of her.

"Go, Scott! I'll take the Professor to Thunderbird Two!" I shouted. "It won't get to her once we're inside!"

"Bro are you crazy! You'll never make it!" Scott replied in a state of panic.

"We'll make it. Thunderbird Two is just around the corner. We've just got to make it."

Feeling determined as if there was nothing left to lose, I bolted for my Thunderbird. Logically, I must have run out of energy from that climbing, but the adrenaline had set and was doing most of the work. With Thunderbird Two now within my sights, the Professor began to sob in my arms.

"It's...behind us." She whispered.

I looked back. It was on all fours and sprinting after me. I had to pick up the speed if we were going to make it alive. I couldn't let this woman die. I couldn't let myself die. How good would that have looked on Scott's conscience? My heart felt like it was about to burst. I had pushed everything to the limit at that point. We eventually made, diving straight into the pod. Quickly setting her down, I raised the pod flaps just seconds before the creature could make another swipe at us. I threw myself back and sat there, catching my breath. It was outside the pod, trying to claw its way inside. It's menacing growl tried to intimidate us. I could have sat there forever trying to regain my strength, but my conscience was telling me to get the hell out of there.

After safely securing the Professor in the emergency winch, I sat behind the controls and blasted the hell out of there. I can't even remember if I even secured the pod probably, I was distraught and exhausted by what transpired down there. As soon as we were airborne, Scott would radio in one last time. Looking at his holo image, I could see that he had been seriously affected by all this as well. What was that thing? Where did it come from? And why was it luring inside that old Mine?

I can safely say that we've never had to return to that Mine since. Scott did file a report with the GDF but as far as we know, nothing had turned up in their investigation. The Professor went on to make a full recovery, but when I went to visit her in hospital, the doctor told me that she was going to need intensive therapy sessions. I should have gotten those too, but life in International Rescue means that I've always got to be on alert. As for that evil monster out there. I will always remember those red eyes and I hope that I will never see it again.