CHAPTER 2 The Darkness
Chris' vision slowly blurred back into reality. He managed to get up, but he was still dazed from the electric shock. As he came to, he noticed that his quarters were virtually burned out. Scorch marks were all over the place, where the hot, deadly fingers of the electricity had struck. That wave would killed anyone in close proximity to it, but Chris was luckily enough to be far from the main surge of electricity, and was only stunned.
As he slowly took stock of what had happened, two words came to his head.
"Power surge"
Obviously, something had gone wrong with one or more of the main power generators in the hub. However, whether it was station-wide or just the Physics section, Chris didn't know. He also had no way of finding out, as his computer had ben frazzled. All power would be out to the section as well.
Chris noticed the the door to his quarters was half destroyed. The surge must have blown it off somehow. Chris made to leave, but then had a thought. What if this was foul play? What is someone had sabotaged the generators? He could end up encountering someone hostile.
He went to his now scorched desk, and pulled open the drawer. Somehow, the Desert Eagle that Mac had given him was still in one piece. There were also two clips of bullets inside the drawer. Chris took the gun and bullets. He never thought he'd needed them, but now it looked like he might. He put the clips in his jeans pocket, and kept the gun in his right hand, and slowly made his way out of the quarters.
His first job was to get to the central hub. Emergency procedure dictated that in the event of one, all personnel should get to the hub. The lifts had their own insulated power supply in case of an event like this, so getting there would be no problem.
Chris cautiously made his way through the quarters to the lift. He saw into some of the rooms....and pretty much everyone was dead, killed by the surge of electricity cooking them to a crisp. He felt pretty nauseous at the sight...he'd know some of these people.
A terrifying though registered in his head. Was Michelle OK? What if her section was hit too? What if she'd been frazzled?
"No! I can't think like that!" he growled to himself. He tried to think positive. "She'll be OK.....she's not stupid"
He reached the lift to the labs, and took it up. The power was still on in the lift, as he'd quite rightly guessed. All he had to do now was reach the connecting life to the hub, which was located in the labs.
He couldn't stop worrying about Michelle, and he felt bad for the people who were dead. Somebody's head was going to hang for this, he had no doubt of that.
The lift opened on the labs floor, and Chris stepped off it. The labs were in the same condition as the quarters. The lights were off, too. Chris couldn't see too good, but the white walls helped somewhat.
More bodies were on the floor, also frazzled by the surge. However, Chris noticed something strange. There were fewer bodies than there should have been. Many more people than this worked in the labs, so why were there fewer bodies?
He kept moving, keeping his gun pointing in a ready stance.
"I have a bad feeling about this......"
He was in the last area before the lift, where the security detail worked. It was way too quiet....he couldn't hear anything at all. He'd found a communicator on a dead guard, but it wasn't functioning. The whole section was completely dead.
He came up on a turning. The lights were flickering, barely on. It looked like there was still a little power in this area. However, Chris saw something else. An arm of a dead person was sticking out from behind a box. Chris looked behind the door, and instantly was almost physically sick.
"Oh...gross........what the hell did this"
The dead security guard behind the box had been ripped in half. His legs were slightly further down, a trail of blood showing that they'd been dragged. The look on the dead guard's face was one of utter terror. His gun, a Pulse Rifle, had been broken in two and was laying by his torso.
Something was very wrong.....there was no way electricity could do that to a person. In fact, this guard hadn't even been touched by any. Something else had killed this guard.
Chris had no idea what had done this, but he dreaded to think of what might have.
All of a sudden, Chris heard something. It sounded like something hissing. He'd never heard it before in his life, but the sound sent a chill up his spine. Whatever it was, it was just around the corner. Chris moved to the opposite wall, and spied a second trail of blood leading around the corner. He then heard a munching sound, like somebody was eating something. Though he was filled with fear, Chris cautiously walked around the corner.
What he saw next horrified him. the trail of blood led up the end of the corridor, where there was a dead body....and some kind of creature crouched over it.
Chris shuddered. It looked like something out of a nightmare. This...thing...was jet black all over, and looked humanoid in appearance, apart from its head, which was shaped like a banana. It also sported claws on its hands, and a long spiked tail. It was snacking on the dead body, and its attention was completely focused on its meal.
"What....what the fuck...IS that....?" Chris was absolutely shaking with fear. Whatever it was, it had to have been what had killed these two people. The lack of bodies must have been because it had ate them.
All of a sudden, the creature perked up, like it had seen something. "Shit......." Chris cursed. It must have seen or heard, or even smelt him.
Casually and slowly, as if to affirm his fears, the creature turned to face Chris. Staring at him were no eyes, just a set of horrible, curved teeth, dripping with saliva and blood. Chris grimaced at the sight. It really was something out of a nightmare....but this thing was real.
The creature suddenly made for him. With lightning fast speed, it dashed down the long corridor towards Chris. Chris didn't have to guess twice that he was next on the menu!
His heart beat sped up to great speed, and he brought up his Desert Eagle. His finger felt the trigger, and he aimed dead on at the abomination speeding down towards him. This time, it wasn't a target practice. If he missed, he was dead. Could he even kill this thing?
The creature roared as it closed in on him, and all of a sudden launched itself into the air, attempting to pounce on him.
Chris didn't let it get that far. He fired three shots into the thing's head, as it jumped. The roar of the three blasts echoed through the corridors.
The creature dropped to the floor mid-flight as the three bullets tore into its head. It gave a last, sickening scream, and then it was silent. Its blood was sprayed everywhere.
Chris collapsed backwards, paralyzed by fear. His heart was like a drum in his head, beating fast and loud. Mac's words echoed in his head...."It might save your life one day!" The gun training had done just that. If he hadn't taken the training, he would now be lunch meat.
Then he noticed something strange. Sizzling came from the metal walls where the blood had sprayed. The blood was eating through the wall! Whatever that thing was, it had had acid for blood! If Chris had been close to it when he'd killed it, the blood would have sprayed on him......his stomach churned at the thought.
He took a moment to regain his composure, and pressed on. He saw the body the creature had been chewing on, and nearly threw up again.
It was Morrissey......his friend and mentor had been slaughtered by that thing.
"That one was for you, sir......" said Chris, taking a moment to remember his friend. He then moved onwards.
Chris got to the last area before the lift. The air smelled of death, and he'd found more bloody corpses, most of them ripped apart. However, some were laying there, and it looked like something had burst out of their chests.
Chris had a sudden deja vu moment. He felt like he'd seen this before. Something about chests being burst open......he'd read it somewhere, but he couldn't remember.
Chris headed toward the security room for the labs. He was hoping he could get some kind of commincation off from there. The door of the room looked secure, nothing had broken in. Somebody could be alive in there.
Chris opened the door, to be greeted by the click of a gun.
"Don't shoot!!!!" he yelled. A torch was flashed in his face.
"Chris???" It was Mac! "Bloody hell, you're alive!!!!" Mac hugged his friend.
"Mac.....what the hell is going on here???" Chris quizzed. He doubted Mac knew anything, though.
"It all went to hell!" Mac sat down on one of the nearby seats. "First that bloody power surge hit, and killed just about everyone in the labs, as well as anything electrical! Then....those things......" Mac was a tough guy, but even he was visibly shaken by the creatures.
"Things? there's more than one?!" Chris exclaimed. "Yeah, a whole bunch of them! They shot up at everyones faces, and latched onto them...then they did something to them"
"What are you talking about, Mac?" Chris said, completely puzzled. Little creatures that jumped onto people's faces? Was Mac just scared out of his wits?
"They...they died after they latched onto someone..." Mac was shaking..he'd obviously been horrified by the entire ordeal. "Then....these...things....burst out of them! Everyone's dead, Chris! I thought you were too"
"That explains the corpses outside.....but it's not just little ones, Mac." Chris said, gravely. "I fought a big one just back there...it killed a few people in the labs...tore them apart. Including Morrissey"
"Sweet Jesus!!!" gasped Mac. "BIG ones??? That must've been what I heard hanging around afterwards....I was scared out of my wits, I didn't dare look...." He then looked at Chris with some admiration. "How the hell did you get here in one piece"
Chris sat down next to his friend."Looks like that gun training came in handy after all....." He grinned a little. "I found a communicator, but I can't get it to work. We have to get out of here"
Mac perked up. "Well, I found a battery for one of those things, but I lost mine. Quick, put it in!" Chris did as he was requested, and the communicator flared into life.
"This is Private MacGuire to any units. Please respond!" Mac sent the message immediately. "God, how do we know there's even anyone else left alive"
Chris didn't answer. He didn't want to think of Michelle being torn apart by one of those things.
"Private, this is Commander Charles Schwartz. What is your present location"
Finally, hope! They weren't the only ones alive! "The security office, in the Physics R&D section. I have a survivor, Chris Appleyard, a junior scientist with me"
The two listened carefully to the commander. "It's a relief you're both safe. We're in the main lobby of the hub, and we've initiated a lockdown. We'll open the door as soon as you get here"
"Copy that, sir. We'll get moving right away." Mac said. Finally, safety.
"Shit!" The commander's voice suddenly yelled.
"What's going on?" Chris spoke into the communicator.
"We're picking up multiple signals approaching your position!!! They're too fast to be human! Get out of there now!!!!" The communicator went silent, and suddenly there was fear in the air.
Mac yelled. "Shit! Let's move, Chris!" He dashed to the door, and Chris followed suit. Chris readied his Eagle again, while Mac raised his weapon, a standard issue Pulse Rifle. They dashed towards the lift, which was just down the corridor from the office. Mac's red untidy hair was tossed about like sand in a sieve as they ran.
they barely got a few metres when we heard a multitude of hissing sounds. They'd smelt their prey.
At least three of them came charging up the corridor, out of the darkness. Their teeth were flashing and their claws were shining.
"Holy shit!!!!!" shouted Mac. They kept running, but they were closing fast. Chris knew that they couldn't outrun them, but they didn't stop running. The two dahsed into the lift room and Chris quickly pressed the call button. 2 seconds later the creatures turned the corner, roaring.
"Fucking things....eat this!!!!!!!" shouted Mac. He'd already aimed his rifle at the corridor exit. He let off several bursts, but wasn't hitting their heads.
"Aim for their heads!!!!" yelled Chris, letting off shots with his gun. "And watch out, they've got acid blood"
"What the hell?????" Mac shouted back. He aimed for the creatures' heads, and they began to die rapidly. Fortunately they were too far away for the blood to hit the two humans. However, they kept coming...at least a hundred must have been chasing them. The lift was taking too long to come down!
"Damn it, they just keep coming!!!" yelled Mac. He quickly reloaded his rifle, while Chris kept shooting. "Where's the bloody lift"
Chris just gritted his teeth and fired into the horde. This is it......we're gonna be lunch for these things.
The chime came, and the doors opened! "Now!!!!!!" yelled Chris. The two dashed inside, still firing their guns at the mob of bloodthirsty things.
The doors closed, but of of the creatures managed to get its head through. It hissed at them, its cruel teeth trying to snap at them. Chris blasted it through the mouth, causing it to roar and forcing it back from the doors. The doors finally closed, and the lift started moving.
Mac and Chris collapsed against the back of the grey coloured lift, breathing heavily.
"Is it just me, or have we just been to Hell and back?" breathed Mac.
"It sure feels like it......" replied Chris, gasping for breath.
That's a wrap for that one. Maybe it was a little cliched.......oh well, Chapter 3 will be here soon :)
Chris the Phoenix Knight