Unexpected surprises
Connor accepted the torch Captain Becker passed to him and Nick while Abby and Danny loaded a dart into their tranquilizer guns. He didn't protest, recalling the incident in the mall when he accidentally shot Abby with a tranquilizer. Outside, Johnson shifted nervously as Lester approached with a scowl.
"How long does it take to get ready?" Lester asked impatiently, barging into the room.
"We're going now," Nick replied, pushing past the man.
Danny and the others followed Nick out into the hall before the separated into their respective groups. Nick picked up a handheld detector and checked the anomaly's signal. He led his team down the hall and stopped before a door leading into the basement. He looked at Abby first before turning to Becker stating, "We'll start down here. There seems to be a signal coming from down there."
"Damp and dark, just the way I like it," Becker quipped sarcastically. "I wonder what would come through if the anomaly is down there."
"If it is down there, we best be on our guard," Cutter added. "After you, Captain."
Becker led the way with his men, followed closely by Nick and Abby as they descended into the damp, poorly lit basement. Nick flipped on his torch, casting a narrow beam of light down into the darkness. At the bottom, Nick searched for a light switch, but found none.
"Where are the lights?" he inquired.
"No switches down here, it's controlled by motion sensors and a manual override that the maintenance teams have access to," Becker explained.
"Isn't that just great," Cutter stated.
The team moved cautiously through the low light, alert to anything that would appear out of the ordinary. They followed the signal, through the corridor checking any possible locations the anomaly might be, to no avail. When they reached another door Nick and Abby stopped, looking to each other before pulling it open. On the other side was just another set of stairs.
"Where do these stairs go?" Abby inquired.
"There is a sub-basement, nothing really down there except back-up generators and things like that," Becker replied. He looked from Nick to Abby then asked, "We searching down there too?"
Cutter looked over at the young man, "We can't be too careful, which means we're going down."
Becker sighed softly and started down the staircase into the darkness. At the bottom they fanned out into the darkness. "Before you even ask, no lights, its all automated down here," Becker announced. "What little light there is, that's all there is."
"Wonderful," Nick muttered.
The team proceeded with their search, Nick leading the way. Abby slipped to the rear, watching behind them to make sure nothing caught them by surprise. As the team moved forward, she paused momentarily thinking she heard something in the shadows. She stopped and listened, alert for any sounds that would be out of the ordinary.
Ahead of her the team moved forward, Abby fell behind. Again she heard the soft slurp of something, and spun in the direction of the sound. As she did so a large shadow swept out in front of her, catching her on the face and knocking her back. She cried out as she hit he ground, a soft thud echoing as her head hit he concrete floor.
Abby opened her eyes, and saw the soft lights above her in triplicate. Her head throbbed and any attempts to move her head resulted in an explosion of agony with blackness creeping in on her vision.
"Abby?" Cutter called out, "Where are you?"
She tried to answer but all that came out was a groan. In the distance she could hear footsteps coming closer, but the object that caught her attention was a lot closer and uglier. It moved away out of her field of vision before coming back at her, a gaping maw leading the way.
Abby screamed, her hands coming up defensively, but with her vision blurred her efforts were ineffective as the maw clamped down on her arm, hundreds of tiny teeth sinking into her arm. Fiery agony erupted along her arm, and her cries of pain were renewed.
Moments later gunshots rang out, and the creature let go of Abby's arm.
"Abby," Cutter cried, "hang in there Abby." He reached down to check for a pulse and noted the dark stain on her platinum blonde hair. "Becker, get her out of here," he commanded.
"The anomaly?" she muttered softly.
"We found it," Nick replied. "It's under control, that's all you need to know."
He reached out, trying to comfort her as best as he could while Becker instructed his men on what to do to keep the area secure. Nick kept a close on Abby, trying to keep her awake, but after a few minutes she passed out. With a gentle hand on his shoulder, Nick stood up and moved out of the way as Becker reached out, gently taking Abby in his arms and carried her out.
As Becker came up with Abby in his arms, Lester looked over at him scowling, "What happened to her?"
"A worm got her," Becker replied sharply. "We found the anomaly though and it is contained," he added. "What about Danny and the others?"
"Don't ask," Lester snapped, walking off.