Chapter Ten: Elevated
Click click. There was a quiet clicking sound echoing from deep within the facility.
John opened his eyes and glanced round, machine gun ready in hand. Tessa tightened
her grip on her rifle as she turned slowly, scanning through the darkness around them
both. They stopped when they had turned all the way to look at each other. No
blushing cheeks or awkward silence this time, they were all business. Click click. They
both pivoted where they stood to look in the direction of the sound. Their eyes locked
on each other again, Tessa made a hand signal for him to move forward to try and
flush whatever it was out and she'd be ready, covering his six. He nodded then locked
his eyes on the direction that he was moving in silently. Click click clickety click.
This time the clicking was closer and irritated, as if whatever was causing the sound
was annoyed with the invasion of its space. John edged forward, keeping his ears open
for that damned clicking. Click… click. The clicking grew quiet, muted as something
tried to stop making noise. John turned to the source of the last hushed clicks and
came across the beginning of a new corridor, somehow darker. Tessa kept her eyes
and rifle trained on Reaper, ready to rip a hole out of anything that tried to attack him.
CLICK CLICK! A large, muscularly mutated arm swung out and knocked John flying
back into the elevator doors. Tessa let off three short bursts from her rifle into the
corridor the arm had materialised from and then side stepped over to John and pulled
him up.
"You good to go?"
He rattled his head and got his feet under him, slightly disorientated from smacking
his head on the doors.
"Yeah, I'm good."
She looked at him fleetingly before letting go of his arm and taking hold of her rifle
properly again, watching the entrance to the corridor like a hound waiting for the
rabbit to pop its head out of its hole.
"Clearly not that good."
He looked at her, she was all chilled and trigger ready.
"Hay…"
A shadow flashed past and dipped into another, closer corridor. She tensed visibly under
her uniform. This fucker's playin' us. John looked to her. She gave yet more hand
signals for him to watch her six this time as she moved in on the target. Tessa walked
into the darkened junction of corridors ahead. She reached the new invaded corridor
and looked into the darkness spread in front of her. Click… click… click. She turned,
sweeping her rifle round to aim at the original corridor. Nothing. CLICK! Her eyes
widened as she realized she'd been tricked by an echo. Silently she tensed her legs,
bending her knees slightly, readying. She could feel its breath on her neck, heated and
moist. Tessa glanced at John just before flipping up and back, landing on the
creature's broad shoulders. She squeezed its head between her feet and thrashed
herself into a twist, breaking its neck, then landing on her feet facing it and letting off
a short rifle burst into its neck. It slopped to the floor, in a black bloody dead mess.
John raised an eyebrow at her as she looked down at the deceased monster at her feet.
"You could have just turned and shot it in the head."
She looked at him from the corner of her eye.
"And where would the fun be it in that?"
He shrugged as she walked over to him, rifle leant on her shoulder. The elevator doors
glided open as a metallic 'ding' sounded quietly from above. John turned, gun raised
ready, and looked inside the elevator. Empty. Tessa merely continued walking, straight
past him, and into the lift. He followed close behind, wanting to get as far away from the
facility and the memories it held. She looked out one last time at the hell hole that had
killed her team, or worse, changed them into something demonic, and that had changed
her, she wasn't human anymore, but superhuman. Her eyes lowered to the floor and sank
into sad regret as John pressed the 'up' button and the doors glided close. The gentle
humming of the elevator soaring up the shaft made it all seem very surreal and dreamy.
John looked at her, head still hung, eyes closed in a miserable frown. Why? Why couldn't
someone else have this shit on their shoulders? WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO PISS
YOU OFF GOD! She loosened her frown and opened her eyes when she felt a pair of
eyes on her. John smiled softly at her, feeling her thoughts. She managed a smile back,
barely. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, maybe even a few words of
comfort but was swiftly interrupted by her sharp whispers.
"Why did you come after us? You could have just left us to it. To figure it out by
ourselves."
"I knew that if I hadn't you would have died."
"But it wasn't your problem."
"It is now."
"That's because you made it yours."
"Well I care about if people die."
At that moment her eyes lay on him like a wet blanket. So much was said in that one
look, so much that wasn't said, that couldn't be said.
"You're just like other people, Tessa, so I care."
How did this guy even make it as a marine? He's too damn nice with all his caring and
shit.
"Nearly home."
Snapping out of her train of thought she looks at him then follows his eyes to see the
glass roof to the elevator, and the stars sparkling up top. She looked down at her rifle,
noting that she only had three bullets left in her final clip. John went about checking his
own guns and ammo. Throwing her rifle to the floor and pulling her shotgun free she
cocks it and looks at the doors blankly taking in a deep breath. After readying himself
with fresh clips he looks over to her. She needs a long holiday after this, somewhere
relaxing, like the Bahamas. Her eyes ached and almost seemed to creak like rusted
hinges as she blinked. She looked over at the marine next to her, dressed in civilian
clothing splattered with blood.
"You ready?"
John cocks his machine gun, loading a clean bullet into the chamber ready.
"Always."
They stared at each other for the last short moments they had left in the relative safety of
the elevator. There was a longing in both their eyes at that instant that they each saw in
the other. At that second they realised. The doors glided open followed by that same
overhead metallic 'ding'.