The dig site had not changed much since John last walked the tunnels. At least-not at first. The hole within the wall of the filtration shed led into one of the early tunnels, leading to the pressure door of the dig. The familiar jagged shapes led through the tunnels, past where Mac's head had been severed from his body, past the burial place of his mother and father, and past the door where Clay and Thermen had been found. That was as far as the familiarity stretched. Beyond the tunnel, the air grew colder, far colder than John had expected. The air held a strange familiarity to Russia, allowing him to see his breathing if cloud form. The tunnel had nearly no light to illuminate the teams way, save for the gun lights. Small beams danced over the frosted tunnel walls as they ventured deeper into the uncharted tunnels.
Stijn and John moved step by step through the tunnel. Stijn's team followed several paces behind. Two men were left at the filtration entrance, another two by the hole, two more near the tunnel shift, and the other six followed behind them. They made next to no noise, despite the frozen earth beneath their feet. The eased their way through the tunnel section by section, moving in the familiar military formation. John gathered that Stijn had trained the men to some extent by their formation, but it was something.
Stijn glanced toward John. "How far do these tunnels go?"
John shook his head. "The one's I know of ended several turns back."
"Perfect." Stijn muttered. His light scanned over the walls, catching a glint in its action. Stijn paused and shined his light over the tunnel wall section. "What the hell?"
John glanced Stijn's way. Stijn's light came across something embedded in the wall that reflected the light. Stijn reached out toward the wall and through the section. He broke off a piece and examined it closely. Stijn passed it toward John. John took the piece into his hand. There were tiny gray crystals within the frozen cast. It was cold as ice, but it wasn't ice. Not frozen water anyways. Whatever had formed this ice, it wasn't natural. "What is this?"
"Vera mentioned finding resin in the filtration shed." Stijn said. He looked at the cast in John's hand. "Could be the same stuff but it solid form."
John tossed the resin to the ground, letting it shatter on impact. "So where did it come from?"
Stijn looked toward the tunnel ahead of them. "Something tells me we're about to find out."
They continued their cautious venture through the tunnel. The deeper the ventured, the colder the air became, the thicker the resin was, and the more cautious everyone became. Stijn and John matched each other step for step, taking no more than one step from the other as they walked through the tunnel. The tunnel curved again in front of them. Stijn and John exchanged looks. John moved against the wall and nodded to Stijn, who moved into position. He stepped around the corner, aiming his weapon. John came around beside him.
"What the hell?" Stijn asked.
They stood at the entrance to...a nest. The nest was a good fifteen feet deep, running ten wide. The walls dripped with resin, much of it was frozen to the wall, but fresh resin ran down the sides. The ground was littered with small skeletons. John recognized them from his med school years. Dog and cats, pets once upon a time. Their bones were frozen deep within the resin, crystallized in a twisted display of preservation. John let his light sweep across the room, it was then he caught sight of black boots nearly seven feet from their position.
"There." John said. He took a step toward the boots and listened.
The entire nest seemed to echo with a strange skittering noise.
John couldn't see anything nearby, despite Vera's warning, and took another step toward the man.
"Heads up!" Stijn yelled. He opened fire at the space above John's head.
Slivers of resin burst from the ceiling, raining down on John. He raised his arm, blocking most of the shards. John felt a heavy thump of something colliding with his arm, just before a painful burning sensation broke through his entire arm. John lowered his arm and watched as smoke filtered from his sleeve. Several small holes had burnt through his coat and made its way through the next two layers of clothing. John winced, but the wounds were already healing. He turned his attention to the ground, where the thing had fallen after hitting his arm.
It was lying on the ground, a pale, two and a half feet long creature that resembled a spider. Its body had been shot to pieces, severing the large tail from its body, and cutting the body in half. What surprised John more was the concentration of the creatures blood that ate away at his arm and the ground beneath it. But it also wasn't the creature that had attacked Vera.
"What is it?" Stijn asked, join John.
"Dead." John answered. he knelt beside the creature and pushed at the dead body with the barrel of his gun.
"That's not the thing that flew at Vera at the shed." Stijn stated, taking a good long look at the creature.
"No, it's not." John replied. He stood up and turned to the men. "There's one of your men."
"Wilson?" Stijn turned, following John's direction. He spotted the boots of one of his men. Slowly, Stijn moved to the man's side. His light scanned over the man's body and stopped at his face. "Oh shit."
"What?" John asked. He moved to Stijn's side as the rest of the men filed in two by two. He looked down at the man lying on the ground. Wilson was completely motionless. No injuries on his body at all, but one of the pale spider creatures had latched onto his face. The legs gad wrapped around Wilson's head, holding securely against his face. John knelt next to him and watched his chest rise. He was breathing. Actually breathing with the thing on his face, but what was even more interesting was the fact that his body had been secured to the ground by sheets of frozen resin. The man's arms were secured to the ground near his head. John inspected the resin. There wasn't a single crack within the resin to suggest that the man had tried to break free, meaning that he was either unconscious at the time, or was subdued and prevented from breaking free. "What the hell?"
Stijn knelt beside John. "What is it doing on his face?"
John shook his head. "I don't know but he's still breathing."
"Stijn!" called one of the men. "We found Foster. There's something on his face!"
John and Stijn turned. Foster was situated nearly seven feet from Wilson. John stood up and walked to Foster. He, too, was secured to the ground by frozen resin. The creature was attached to his face. The tail was wrapped around their necks, securing it around their throat, but the were both breathing. John let his eyes wander around the chamber. His light shined across the ground, stumbling upon a section of destroyed resin. John frowned and rose to his feet. He walked over toward the upturned resin and knelt beside it. It was been pushed up, from beneath. Vera.
"John?" Stijn asked.
"Same state." John answered. "Things latched around Wilson's head. I found where Vera was pinned too. Looks like she managed to break free before whatever shit went down here happened." he switched channels. "Sam, you copy?"
"I'm here."
"Get Merik to the infirmary, we found Foster and Wilson." John explained. He paused a moment. "They've...they have some kind of creature...parasite attached to them."
"Are they alive?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, they are." John answered. "See if you and Merik can remove them. Stijn and I are going to finish our sweep. We'll head over once we're finished."
"Got it." Sam said.
John paused a moment. There was a nagging feeling creeping through him. Vera had been inside the chamber, with these men. Had she been another victim of whatever was going on and didn't know? "How's Vera holding up?"
"She's good. She's sleeping off the morphine." Sam answered.
John nodded to himself, feeling the relief ease through him. "Copy. See you soon."
"Copy." Sam said.
John switched his channel back and turned to Stijn. "Let's get them to the infirmary."
Stijn nodded. he lifted his gun and slammed it into the resin. The frozen resin shattered from the impact, echoing through the entire chamber. Not two seconds after the echo ceased, something sounded from all sounds. It was a strange combination of a skittering feet across the ground and a slithering sound. Everyone's attention shifted. Each weapon was raised in a split second, taking up a defensive position.
"What the hell was that?" someone asked.
The sounds grew louder, growing nearer to them, surrounding them from all sides. There was no single point of origin. It came at them from every angle, even above. Stijn knelt on the ground, watching the area in front of him. His light scanned over the glistening resin, but nothing crossed its path. John lifted his gun, watching the ceiling. His light scanned over the glistening resin, watching for any signs of movement.
"Contact!" someone yelled, firing at the wall.
All hell broke loose from then on. They came from every angle, out of sight and in plain view. They hurled themselves through the air, launching themselves at the team. Gunfire erupted from all sides. All around the creatures were destroyed in a blaze of gunfire, sending waves of acid coursing through the tunnel. Frozen resin melted under the concentrated acid spilling over it, filling the air with thick clouds of smoke, making the situation even more hazardous. Above, their heads, john watched as several more creatures, serpent and spied alike, hurled themselves at them. He opened fire, tearing through the creatures, sending a rain of acid down upon them. A serpent suddenly caught holding of John's arm by its tail, latching onto him. Spikes suddenly shot through his arm, securing the serpent to his skin. John winced, feeling the blood flow from his arm. He grabbed the serpents tail and tried to pull it form his arm, but the spikes were embedded deep into his arm. The serpents head crawled up John's arm, nearly a foot from his face. John watched as its body extended out like a cobra. Its massive jaws opened wide, revealing its dozens of needle like teeth, just seconds before a spray of acid shot from its mouth. Move moved quickly, angling the serpent higher, shooting the acid over his shoulder. He took holding of the serpent with his free hand and snapped its neck. the serpent went limp in his hand and John peeled it from his arm. He felt the wounds close immediately and dropped the serpent to the ground.
Around him, the gunfire had died down to nearly nothing. Several shots rang out, before the chamber was silent again. The air was filled with thick acid smoke, clouding their sights.
"Grimm!" Stijn called.
"Here!" John called. "Cleared?"
"Clear." Stijn answered. He moved to John's side. "I think we should pull back and blow this hole before we're swarmed again."
John nodded. "Agreed."
"Colton, Galvin, get Foster and Wilson to the infirmary." Stijn ordered. "I want every grenade from every soldier secured to the wall and timers set now!"
Colton and Galvin shouldered their weapons and turned to Wilson and Foster. Both men gathered their fallen soldier's and retreated back through the tunnel. Every remaining soldier removed their grenades and secured them to the walls. The grenade were smaller than their hands, the same timed detonators John remembered using during his first firefight back on Earth. Stijn tossed John several detonators and secured his own. John moved throughout the chamber, lining his detonators on the walls.
"Secured!"
"Everyone all back into the tunnels!" Stijn ordered.
One by one, the men filed back down the tunnels, the sound of the detonators pressing their steps. John and Stijn moved to the nearest corner and leaned against the wall. With the final detonator alarm, each one exploded throughout the chamber. The entire tunnel system shook from the force of the explosion. Dust surged back through the tunnels, clouding their vision. Stijn waved his hand through the air, trying to wave the dust from his face. John shook his head, sending tiny chunks of rock from his hair. Both men pushed off the wall and reentered the chamber. The frozen resin, the bodies, and, skeletons had been destroyed in the blast. The dust slowly began to settle, clearing the chamber.
Stijn stepped toward the center of the chamber. "Clear. Looks like whatever was in here, we got them all with the grenades."
John nodded, stepping deeper into the chamber. His eyes scanned the walls, watching for something to leap at him, but nothing came. They had cleared the tunnel, but had they done so in time? Wilson and Foster wee out of commission for some time, and there was no telling what would happen to them once the creatures came off their faces. "Do you remember what Vera said about the tunnels?"
Stijn frowned and thought back. "She said there was something in the tunnels."
"Something more in there." John stated. He looked around the chamber again, hoping he was wrong.
"You don't think she was talking about this, do you?" Stijn asked.
John shook his head. "No, it's too easy. There was something else in here. Before we got here."
"If there was something here, we would've found it in the tunnels, John." Stijn replied. "We swept through those tunnels and we found nothing."
John turned to Stijn. "Then tell me something, do you think this site is cleared?"
Stijn stared at John long and hard. "No, but we can't fight what we can't see."
"What we can't see is what worries me." John replied.
oh my gosh I'm sorry that took forever to post. but I finally have a spellcheck program now for my writing. It feels good to be able to check spelling again!
so, any theories yet? cause the next chapter is BRUTAL!