Fast (7 page)

            The
things
had attacked Second Unit in the eastern stairwell. In all the confusion, the creatures had gotten close while the Marines tried to identify exactly what was charging at them. They couldn’t shoot among the evacuees crowding the stairs. Half of Second Unit was dead before they escaped the stairwell.

            Only Harrison and Sullivan were still alive. Now they sprinted south along the pedestrian loop, trailing the final exodus of evacuees towards the evac tunnel.

            Harrison ran around the corner of the admin hub. Sullivan ran just steps behind him.

            ‘We made it,’ puffed Sullivan, pointing. The emergency containment door was still partially open.

            Harrison looked in the other direction, towards the planter boxes in the middle of the southern section of the loop. A group of four Marines were making a last desperate stand.

            He immediately recognized the giant figure of King. Then Forest, Marlin and Captain Coleman.

The CMAR-17 fire around Coleman made a deafening roar.

            Their safe zone shrank as the creatures surged closer and closer.

            Suddenly two more assault rifles joined the battle. Glancing east towards the evac tunnel, Coleman recognized Corporal Harrison and Private Sullivan of Second Unit. The Marines must have spotted Third Unit’s desperate situation while racing for the descending door. Weapons up and firing three-round bursts, they recklessly advanced towards Coleman’s position.

            Eight creatures turned and charged the newcomers. The two Marines just kept on coming, advancing straight into the hostiles.

            Coleman couldn’t let them throw their lives away.

            He activated his radio. ‘Second Unit – stand down your advance and escort the civilians to the Evacuation Center! I repeat – stand down your advance and protect the civilians!’

            They hesitated. Coleman knew how they felt. Marines never left their own people. Behind them, the containment door reached just five feet from sealing.

            Harrison touched his headset.

            ‘We’ll cut you a path out,’ he radioed.

            Both Coleman and Harrison knew it was impossible. The only safe place in the Complex was on the other side of that massive containment door. Third Unit couldn’t reach the descending door in time. If Harrison and Sullivan didn’t retreat, they would miss their chance too.

            The door was just four feet from sealing.

            ‘Get out of here, Harrison!’ Coleman shouted into his headset. ‘You can’t help us.’

            Still firing, Harrison and Sullivan reluctantly backed towards the descending door. They fired until the very last second, then sprinted for the disappearing gap. Together they dropped and slid under the door just moments before it sealed shut.

            Third Unit was cut off.

            Coleman made a split-second decision. He hadn’t spotted David or Vanessa in the mayhem. With the Evacuation Center sealed up, no safe refuge existed this side of the containment door. If they weren’t already behind that door, they remained in terrible danger.

            If they’re still alive. Don’t! Don’t even start thinking like that. They’re alive, and you are going to find them and get them out of this mess.

            ‘We have to keep moving!’ yelled Marlin.

            Second Unit had drawn away half the creatures. Right now, the hostiles were fewest between Third Unit and the administration hub. The corridor from which the school children had earlier emerged was marked by three shallow stairs leading back into the hub.

            Anywhere is better than here.

            ‘Clear those stairs!’ Coleman bellowed.

            As one, Third Unit focused their fire towards the stairs. Only two creatures blocked their path.

            ‘Come on! Go-go-go!’ ordered Coleman as their attack opened a path through the creatures. ‘Run, run, go you lazy sons-of-bitches!’

            They could be running straight into more trouble, but they had no choice. Staying still meant death. He’d be no good to anyone then.

            Easily the fastest sprinter, Forest barely slowed to leap the three stairs down into the wide corridor. Marlin and King followed just steps behind him.

            Coleman jumped down last.

            The corridor appeared lined with offices. It ended at a large revolving door. Coleman recognized the location from the schematic map of the Complex. The area behind the door was the very center of the habitation level. The door consisted of four large reinforced glass panels rotating around a central pole. Wheels under each panel followed grooves in the floor and kept the door spinning smoothly.

            Forest crouched in a defensive position beside the door as Marlin and King bundled through.

            ‘Don’t stop,’ Coleman yelled when he saw Forest crouching beside the door. ‘Go through!’

            Coleman ploughed through the door behind Forest. As they spilled out the other side, he stopped and turned. For a second he judged the spin of the door.

            Drawing his combat dagger, he watched the charging creatures. His legs wanted to run, and every muscle in his body agreed, but if he timed this just right….

            Now.

He thrust his combat dagger under the wheel at the exact moment the first creature
slammed
into the glass panel.

            The creature’s momentum jammed his dagger firmly under the wheel. The door juddered to a stop with half the creature stuck between the wall and the spinning door. Its body prevented the door from turning backwards, and Coleman’s wedged dagger stopped the door from letting the creature pass through.

            Three more creatures crashed into the door. The entire unit shuddered in its wall foundations.

            Coleman backed up a few steps, staring at the thrashing mess of tentacles sliding everywhere over the glass. It looked like a hundred octopus crammed in a fish tank.

            ‘Jesus Christ,’ he whispered. The entire corridor behind the door filled with creatures.

            The trapped creature wrapped two limbs around the central pole. Firmly braced, it began wrenching its body through the gap. The reinforced glass panel bent outwards – cracks zigzagged all over its surface.

            ‘Marlin,’ Coleman ordered as he retreated to Third Unit. ‘Find us a way out
now
!’

            Marlin tugged down the velcro flap on his body armor to expose his maps.

            ‘Hurry…’ urged King, watching the creatures demolish the door.

            ‘Coming-coming-coming,’ repeated Marlin like a mantra, his eyes flicking over the lines and notes to find them an escape route.

            Coleman heard a clear radio signal.

            He recognized Corporal Erin Stevens’ almost frantic voice.

            ‘I repeat - this is Fifth Unit. We have sustained heavy casualties and are withdrawing west through the habitation level dormitories. If anyone’s out there we need your - ’

They were on the same level.  Several sustained bursts of assault rifle fire interrupted Stevens’ message. Fifth Unit were staging a defensive withdrawal west.

            Coleman knew they had to consolidate their forces immediately. Yanking down the flap on his body armor revealed his skirmish maps. Immediately between the two forces sat the pool room, an obvious point on the map that both units could find. It seemed the logical rendezvous point.

            ‘Marlin, can we reach the pool room from here?’

            Marlin’s face snapped up. ‘It works on my map, but we’ll have to make some shortcuts.’

            When Marlin said
shortcuts
he meant they would have to use explosive cutting charge. Coleman keyed his headset. ‘Fifth Unit, this is Captain Coleman. Head for the pool room, Stevens. We are en route to rendezvous with you there.’

            ‘Okay. Habitation level pool room,’ came the reply. ‘En route, Third Unit. Glad you’re still alive, Captain.’

            ‘Captain.’ Forest jerked his head towards the revolving door.

            Coleman spun around, ready to fire, but the door and the corridor beyond were completely empty. All the creatures had disappeared. One second they were there, cramming together, trying to smash through the door, and the next moment they were gone.

            Their sudden disappearance dumbfounded Coleman. He stared towards the nearly demolished door. His emotional roller coaster of adrenalin and fear hadn’t been ready for this.

            ‘Where did they all go?’ asked Marlin.

            ‘Who cares?’ King said. ‘They gave up. That’s good enough for me.’

            Coleman doubted it. The entire door looked almost torn from the wall.

            Wait, the door’s not empty. What’s that movement?

            He cautiously approached the creaking wreckage. At least a dozen brown butterflies fluttered inside the revolving door. Monarch butterflies. He recognized their wing patterns.

            ‘They were almost through,’ he said, thinking about the creatures as he watched the butterflies. ‘Why would they just stop?’

#

Three hundred meters away, Fifth Unit sprinted back through the dormitory corridors.

            Erin Stevens ran point. Behind Stevens came Goldsmith and Cheng.

            Only three of them escaped the north stairwell. Only their training kept them alive.

            Stevens tried not to think about the stairwell’s confined space. The last three minutes were almost indescribable. If he thought about it, he might vomit. He had to keep a clear head and stay focused on their one important task. After the confusion of the northern stairwell, focusing his mind on achieving one single task was a relief.

            They just had to reach the pool room.

            He knew their chances of survival greatly improved if they joined up with Third Unit. If he could be fighting beside any single person in the United States Armed Forces, it would be Captain Alex Coleman.

            Fifth Unit ran wildly, their boots pounding the floor.

            Stevens glanced over his shoulder. His heartbeat thumped in his ears. He tried to look everywhere at once. Goldsmith and Cheng were still behind him.

            He caught a warning look from Cheng. Cheng lifted his weapon.

            Stevens snapped his head around and saw six gunmen blocking the passageway.

            The gunmen were dressed in grey fatigues. Every inch of their clothing and equipment matched the walls. The only part not concealed was their eyes.

            Stevens read their intention in those eyes.