The top floor of the lab was cleared out. The walls were taken down, showing the cement walls behind it. The insulation was taken with the walls. The wiring was hanging about. The ceilings were taken. Any possible contact surface area, gone. The whole rooms were gutted as much as they could, creating a wide-open area more eerie than the abandoned work places.
It was time to venture to the level below. Men were stationed in the foyer as a small group was at the mouth of the stairs. It was midmorning, the earliest they could start the next part of this process. One guy pulled the pin off a canister, he chuckled at a certain point on the stairwell wall so it could bounce down the other side of the stairs.
DINK!
PLUNK! PLUNK! PLINK!
The canister hit the stairs. They waited with bated breath as they heard the metal rolling on the ground and then silence.
PSSSSSSSS!
The gas in the canister sprayed out. The cloudy substance was filling up the area. The guys backed away when they saw it from the stairs. They headed back to the safety of the foyer. All of them had gas masks on. The men were equipped with tactical gear. Some had net launchers, animal catcher poles, batons, tranquilizer guns, and so forth.
It was taking a while for the white cloud to reach where they were at. It was a nerve agent, meant to put beings' unconscious. However, this was Mixmaster, they didn't know what reaction they might get.
The anticipation was starting to make them feel fear. Doubts and seconds thoughts started to seep in. Some tried to ignore it, keeping their focus on the white cloud seeping into the room, while others breath quickened.
FLICK!
FLICK-FLICK-FLICK-FLICK!
Pointed needles came flying out of the cloud, hitting some of the men. It stung a bit but it didn't stop them. Those struck readied themselves while others took out the needles.
KRAHHAAHHH!
SNAAAARRRRRLLLLL!
GRAAAAAAUUUHH!
Primal sounds of the creatures were lurking behind the white cloud, hiding them from view. These sounds made the hair stood up and the skin prickle. Sounds of heavy jaws snapping and teeth clacking. The men with the firearms were ready to fire as they were trying to aim where they heard the sound.
They could hear the scurrying of little clawed paws scrapping against the floor. Thumps from what sounded like animal bodies hitting one another. Snapping of jaws and quick yips. These creatures must be trying to push one another out of the cloud. If they are this energetic, does this mean that the nerve agent didn't work. Maybe it needed more time to kick in. The thoughts of hoping it wouldn't be dangerous would come and go as some could see shadows in the white cloud. These weren't small creatures. The smallest was the size of a porcupine. Everything else was bigger.
They no longer needed to wait. Out of the cloud first was a creature the size of a great Dane. It tackled a man on the ground. Luckily the man braced himself with the animal catcher pole. He was now dodging the snapping jaws coming at him. His head bobbing from left to right as fast as he could.
The other men didn't help him as more creatures came barreling out, attacking them straight on. Guns were being fired. Some men were running away from creatures. Others took a stance against them, trying to capture them.
Snarls, screams, clawing, biting, and hitting filled the foyer. It took over an hour to get everything under control. Some creatures were fighting against the animal catcher poles, biting at the wire, trying to gnaw their way out. Some creatures were wounded, laying on the ground unable to move. The rest were dead. It was similar to the men. Some men were injured, holding that spot, resting on the ground. Others their bodies were strewn next to the dead creature. Those that were alive were trying to hold out for a bit longer.
There were a few at the opening, seeing what was going down there.
"That looks gnarly," one of them blurted out. "Heard lots of screaming but glad we didn't open it like he commanded." They spied one of the dead creature bodies. "What if they jumped out?"
"That's what I thought too," another agreed. "I wonder if it was those things that ate those two?"
"Maybe," the first one shrugged his shoulders. "Those bone crunches sounded similar to the same bone crunches of the other day. Well, that's the signal, lets' put those boxes down there, and get these things in the trailer."
"Good thing, we called in for backup," the second one grabbed the remote. "More than half of the first team is done for. We're going to need more men to get through everything if this is the pace."
"Yeah, and more nerve agent," the first one agreed.
The crew continued to work their way down to the second level. They didn't know that the needles from the porcupine creature gave them a fever and made them hallucinate. They had to be tied to sturdy, heavy objects as they kept trying to run away from whatever they saw.
The second round of crew was bigger and made more head way. They used several cannisters and kept on the gas masks before venturing in the clouds with net launchers. The abruptness to the change in the ecosystem rippled to the secret part of the lab.
Clicks and clacks vibrated against the cement wall in distress. El Blanco was on the other side of the valley, too far away to sense the vibration. The clicking continued until there was a response. It went on for an hour straight. Still no response. Clicking would be every half hour. No response. Every hour, the clicking happened. The same distress rhythm.
Dr. Donna Debevic sifted through paperwork putting them away in different piles to be put in folders that would be put in a file cabinet.
PING!
She kept putting papers down.
PING!
She paused before continuing her work.
PING! PING! PING! PING!
Donna straightened her back. She turned to look at her computer screen. Several updates from the equipment next to the lab. This was interesting. Occasionally, a sound clip every week would come in. She put on her headphones to listen to the clip. She had to get to the program as the alerts wouldn't go away.
Donna clicked on the first one sent. She closed her eyes to focus on listening. She kept her mind blank and her face calm. After a moment in, her eyebrows scrunched once. Then again. She tilted her head. Her eyes narrowed with her eyebrows scrunching together. Donna pressed her lips together. She didn't know that she kept making those faces until the sound recording was over. She opened her eyes to see that it was an hour long! She blinked in surprise. She had been listening to that for an hour.
It was strange. The sounds were like it was on loop. Same rhythm over and over again. She clicked on the second one. She closed her eyes and relaxed her face. Same rhythm of clicks and clacks. She opened them to click on the next clip. Same thing. She tried the next one. Same thing there too. Donna headed to the details of the clips. The first one was at noon then one thirty, two thirty, and so forth.
Donna grabbed a note pad. She jotted down some notes. Clip 1-clicks and clacks repeated several times for an hour. Clip 2- same clicks and clacks in same rhythm for Clip 1 but only for ten minutes. Clip 3- same as Clip 2. She listened to them all the way through. She wrote some more. Clip 5- no more rhythmic clicking as before. Graboid clicking. Sounds like an exchange of conversation. Only hear once of the rhythmic clicking. This lasts as long as the first sound clip.
She clicked on some other areas in the program to see the sound waves, comparing them to previous clips.
"Calling out for an hour, then in thirty-minute intervals," she muttered out loud. "El Blanco came around four thirty. Wait most of the past clips are sent at night. This thing is nocturnal why is it calling out in the day time? Where was El Blanco at during these times?" Donna checked the seismos. "Ah, El Blanco was on the other side of the valley. You kept calling for them. El Blanco has you in their routine but that routine is mostly at night." She checked over her emails. "Nothing in particular. She's usually on the case with all the updates. Hm. There are several of them so she is probably making her own conclusions as well. Let's wait for her while I continue to work on mine."
Donna kept working on hers. She listened to older clips, trying to get a feel for this new clip. She scribbled and put lines through some thoughts she had. Donna took a break from it. A clear mind would help. She didn't get back to work on it until the next day.
She scrolled through her emails. No word from Rose. Donna had been thinking about how it was the same sound repeated. Almost like the creature is in distress. This made her pause. Distress! This creature stuck in the bottom of the lab was calling out for help. Donna didn't know why it took her this long to figure out. It was in distress. Calling out for an hour. The only other creature that could respond to it was El Blanco, who was across the valley. No response so it saved its energy for thirty-minute intervals, hoping to catch El Blanco.
This was huge news! Donna grabbed her telephone. She found Rose in her phone, push call. It rang three times before going to voicemail. She left a message. Rose could be in the lab or doing something else. She gave her the benefit of the doubt again.
The next day, Donna got the same sound clips in at around the same times. This wasn't something Rose would ignore. Donna thought that maybe something was going on over there. She tried calling Rose again. This time she left a message. Donna also had Wes' phone number just in case. The same exact result for Wes. Donna didn't like how this was going. She wasn't getting a good feeling. Those two could be in some sort of trouble. She tried phoning Tyler. She got through there.
"Hello, Dr. Debevic," Tyler was happy to hear her voice.
"Hello, Tyler," Donna smiled. "I am glad I got in touch with someone of Perfection. I am having trouble getting in touch with our local Romeo and Juliet. Neither one of them are answering and the readings I am getting from the lab has me a bit concerned."
Tyler paused on the other line. "Well, hopefully its just a fluke but I am actually with Burt in Utah trying to hunt down some graboids. You caught me at a pretty good time since I don't have much cell service."
"Oh, are you not hunting them right now?" This was news to Donna.
"Well…" Tyler drifted off. His voice got lower. "These graboids are really smart to the one I hunted with Burt in New Mexico. We barely got the second one killed but before that it grabbed Burt by the leg, started dragging him off the rock. He managed to escape, however," his voice seemed more hushed. "We're at the doctors. His…the bom- well, the explosion from his tools made him hit the rocks pretty hard. He had all the signs of a concussion." Tyler was back at a normal speaking tone. "He didn't want to go and I nearly had to drag him in. Thank goodness he was too light headed to fight me on it. Yet, we still have one more graboid to go. They're giving him a quick physical while I am waiting. I'm pretty sure he's gonna over exert himself making it a bit worse. Anyways, if you can't get a hold of them, I would check on them instead. I also haven't checked in with the rest of the town about Burt's condition so let me be the one to break the news after I get to know what is all going on."
"That sounds extreme," Donna was concerned. "Let me know how it goes. I will start to head that way."
The two chatted for a bit more before ending the call. Donna used her computer to check on the situation in Utah. That was interesting. The articles including graboids opening vehicle doors and using their tentacles to almost pound on doors. If the doorbell was low enough, the tentacles would even hit it. Interesting but creepy. She exited the webpage. She needed to remember what she was doing. Donna shut her computer off so she could put in her bag.
Donna packed up her gear, grabbed a bag that was ready for a few nights on the road, and headed out.
The town of Perfection had only a day's rest after the cactus incident. Larry kept track of the times the semi came through. He was getting tired enough that he had to drink an energy drink to get through the day.
After the day's rest, Perfection saw weird looking trail of a pattern through the sand. The group took photos, followed the trail but most went to dead ends. Some went to bushes, under vehicles, and around homes. The group agreed it was another creature. They informed Casey and Roger. Those two were still working on the cactus sample collection.
None of them heard from Wes or Rose. Casey looked through her computer saying that those two were still trekking back and forth to the lab area. Something must be up then.
One night, Larry woke up to a sound of an animal screaming. It sounded like a rabbit. The scream died off. He thought that was weird. He felt bad for the little thing but he had to remember that is how life works. He still wished for peace for that little furry creature.
That morning, he got out of his trailer to see tufts of hair all scattered about. This was odd. He looked around to see any paw print tracks or snake tracks. None of those, except for those weird tracks he found earlier. He headed to the Market to see if anybody had similar experiences last night.
He greeted Jodi who had a cup of coffee waiting for him. He took a sip before spewing it everywhere. Jodi blinked at him with shock. He set the cup down gently.
"The Hell is that?!" He backed up. Larry didn't want to point at it. He was afraid it would come after him. Jodi looked where he was looking. She did the same thing. She put down her mug, backing away from that area as well.
"That's an Amblypygia," a familiar voice called out.
"Ah!" The two flinched as the voice called out. They looked over to see who it was.
"Also known as the tailless whip scorpion," another voice trailed in.
"Morning, Dr. Poffenberger and Dr. Debevic," Larry glanced between the two of them and the scary scorpion thing in the corner of the dining area. "This isn't Mixmaster?"
"Oh no, it is," Cletus kept staring at it. "They don't get that big. Charon grayi, giant whip spider, front legs can get up to 27 inches long, three times the length of its body but nothing to size of this thing. This is solid black, so its Phrynus marginemaculatus."
Donna was also examining it with him. "Nocturnal creatures. I am guessing very recent by the sounds of your screams. Any other creatures that you have encountered with?"
"Cactus that moved on its own," Jodi turned away from that thing. "This is the second thing now. Did Rose get a hold of you?" Cletus and Donna shook their heads.
"Actually, I came because I couldn't get a hold of either one," Donna explained. "I am getting readings from the equipment her and I setup at the start of her stay. First time I am having radio silence from her."
"I just had a feeling that I needed to go back to Perfection," Cletus added. "Glad I did. I heard Burt and Tyler are out hunting graboids in Utah. They probably don't know that Perfection is active without them?" Larry and Jodi shook their heads. "I see."
"We told Twitchell," Jodi mentioned. "He should be coming soon." She glanced at the tailless whip scorpion with shiny black eyes. "Wait, one of you said scorpion, the others said spider, which is it?"
"Neither," the two doctors smiled. "They're athropods." The two chuckled for being in sync with one another.
"They're not harmful, are they?" Larry remembered the sound of the rabbit last night.
"Not to humans, but can eat vertebrates, people have them as pets," Cletus informed. "This one, we could probably put a collar and leash on it."
"Oh, yay," Jodi did not like the sound of that.