From hell, p.24
From Hell, page 24
part #8 of Alex Hunter Series
Matt looked down and around and saw that tendrils emerged from each of the creatures. They hung from the torsos, and snaked from the legs, worming their way across the cave floor. It seemed that the things wouldn’t get close enough to be shot, but they could certainly try and assimilate the humans from a distance.
Sam fired his shotgun into the ground, and though the explosion spread out in a white bloom, his target was close enough to have an impact. The tendrils either froze solid or were blasted away. He turned and blew apart the tendrils that were sticking to Lucas. The ends fell away to curl up like bloodworms in the noonday sun.
“Boss!” Sam yelled as more and more of the tendrils came toward them.
Alex’s head turned to the red cave mouth once more, and Matt could tell he was being torn in two – one half of him knew he needed to pull his team back, but the warrior wanted to press on, fight his way through to find his wife and son.
As one, the group fired at the tendrils, creating a veil of frozen white around them. But the severed tendrils never pulled back, instead they simply regrew their ends and continued to snake toward the group. Matt knew that their shells would be exhausted long before the creatures would.
It also showed the monstrous things exactly the extent of the HAWCs’ firepower, and they lumbered forward, a wall of writhing limbs and mucus-streaked flesh, staying just out of range.
Matt wanted to cover his ears as the mouths gibbered, but not in any words he had ever heard, or had ever been spoken on earth. The multiple hands fidgeted, and also pressed into their huge bodies, the half-faces, torsos, and eyes. It was these orbs that were the worst, as some were blank and some rolled back, but others looked to be trapped in some sort of hellish torment, as if the people they once belonged to knew exactly what had happened to them and were helpless to do anything about it.
Perhaps, thought Matt, when these damned souls were first taken, they stayed in some type of consciousness for a while before their minds as well as their flesh were absorbed. That truly would be hell.
He had his hand gun up, and fired several times, hitting the huge body standing just fifteen feet in front of him. His bullets made neat round holds in the flesh that almost immediately closed over. He might as well have been firing at a corpse for all the damage he was doing.
The creatures were now a wall around them. More every second. Time was running out.
“Alex!” Matt yelled. “Another time!”
The HAWC leader finally came to a decision. “Godammit – pull back. Let’s clear a damn path.”
They began to back out of the large cavern, firing continually at the ground and at any of the creatures that tried to come too close. Matt didn’t think for an instant their attempting to close in was an accident, more that the things were constantly testing their defenses. He knew that as soon as one was able to breach them, then the entire group would attack.
But he also had the impression that their team was being herded out. Whatever was in that glowing cave just wanted them gone.
It took them thirty minutes to backtrack to the cave opening. When they finally emerged, no one had any words. Bottom line: they had failed, again – they’d rescued no civilians, nor had they found Aimee and Joshua, but they had determined their weapons were useless inside the domain of the beasts.
“Fucking ammunition,” Casey seethed. “Coulda got us killed.”
Alex headed straight back to the vehicles. “Load up.”
They piled in, and the dog whined next to Alex, perhaps sensing the waves of frustration coming off the soldiers. Plus, Matt guessed, also realizing there was no Joshua with them.
Their radio crackled to life. “Captain Hunter, do you read?” It was Gray.
“Reading you, over.” Alex’s face was stony.
“You need to get back here, I have … a development.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “And I have one for you. Over and out.”
* * *
Alex strode into the mobile laboratory and slammed his weapon down on the table. “Useless.”
Gray remained motionless, following the big man with his eyes. He knew what an angry Arcadian was capable of. He gathered himself to his full height of five feet, six inches. “Explain?”
“Guns and shells work fine … unless you try and use them in an environment over 280 degrees. The shells were exploding in the air not ten feet from the muzzle.”
“Oh.” Gray still remained emotionless. “Of course they would.” He could have smacked his forehead at the obviousness of the result. In another moment he shrugged. “Remember when I told you the more we know, the more we can prepare for?”
“We need to go back, and we need more than useless shotguns.”
“We’ll get to that.” Gray returned Alex’s furious gaze. “Something more pressing has eventuated.”
“Go on.”
“It’s about one of my technicians, Brice, who was entangled by one of the biological threads that emanated from the body part you brought me. Seems cutting him loose and freeing him didn’t entirely free him.”
Alex’s brows snapped together. “What?”
Gray gestured for Alex to follow him, and walked into a small, sealed room. Sanjay was bent over Brice, who was now in his own isolation tank. Just across from him was the severed limb, also enclosed in a tank.
“Any change?” Gray asked.
Sanjay shook his head. “There is brainwave activity, but it’s not normal, not human normal. I can’t tell whether it’s his or something else’s signature anymore.” He stood back.
Gray walked forward with Alex at his shoulder. His afflicted technician looked unconscious, asleep, but he also looked wet, as if his bare skin was extruding some sort of greasy liquid. Long tendrils that extended toward the glass casing seemed to be growing from his exposed skin – but only on one side. The tendrils reached out and piled up at the surface, constantly tapping, sliding, and feeling along the casing, as if they were seaweeds in an underwater current.
“Look.” Gray pointed to the tank that held the massive severed limb. It also had dozens of the spaghetti-like filaments growing from its surface. They were doing the same as Brice’s in that they piled up on the side of the glass closest to him.
“We believe they’re trying to merge with each other,” Gray said softly.
“Nightmare.” Alex straightened and walked toward the tanks. He stood in front of Brice’s and held his hand up in front of a pile of tendrils, and they moved, trying to find a place around his hand.
“They can sense me. How?”
“Perhaps the warmth, movement, magnetic field, or something else entirely. That isn’t the major issue though, is it? The fact is, a tiny portion of this biological material touched Brice and entered his system. Now it’s spread throughout his body.”
“Like an infection?” Alex said, and suddenly spun to the door. “Shit.”
CHAPTER 38
“Can he be cured?”
Matt sat with Maria, who looked pale and sipped a strong coffee. He noticed she held the small cup in two hands, and they shook a little as she drank. Behind him, Sam paced, his huge frame making the floorboards squeak underneath him. It was annoying as all hell, but no one was going to tell him to stop.
Aiko seemed to have withdrawn inside herself. Maybe it was a Japanese thing, as she seemed more in a meditative trance than frozen with shock. Janus stood looking out the window onto the smoke-filled landscape, his arms folded tight across his chest.
And then there was Lucas Velez, sitting in a chair, his face waxen, perspiring heavily. Matt watched the man. Perspiring was an understatement, he thought. Matt could see that his chair was wet, and what ran from his face collected at his collar in blobs instead of running down inside his top.
Matt squinted, trying to focus – the fluid that seeped from the man was in fact thick and glutinous, less like salty water and more like jelly … and it was staining his shirt reddish-brown. He stood.
“Hey, Lucas, you okay there, buddy?”
All heads turned to the man. The only one who didn’t react to his voice was Lucas. He sat, lips moving – no, not moving, but sort of undulating. His eyes were glassy and fixed on some point across the room.
Matt came closer, Sam Reid following right behind. Matt squatted, resting his forearms on his own thighs, right in front of Lucas, and looked up into his face.
“Hey.”
Lucas didn’t budge and Matt detected an odd smell: a little like fish with maybe a hint of sulfur and methane thrown in. Matt breathed through his mouth, trying to ignore it. The guy must have a bad case of flatulence, he thought.
A shadow fell over him as Sam stood beside the chair. He had his hands on his hips and leaned forward.
“Soldier, what is your operational status?”
Lucas’ lips still trembled, but he did nothing but continue to stare straight ahead, focusing on something no one else could see.
“HAWC – Lucas Velez – on your feet,” Sam commanded, and his voice had gone up in volume.
The man continued to sit, sweating that gel-like crap onto his collar. Sam reached for him just as the door burst inwards.
Alex Hunter moved faster than anyone else could react and put his shoulder into Sam, knocking the bigger man aside as if he was a child. “Stay back,” he boomed, then held his arms wide on either side of Velez.
Matt shrank back, as much in fear of Alex as of what was going on.
Gray came through the door holding a large sheet of plastic that he thrust toward Alex. “Quickly,” he said, and backed up.
Suddenly Lucas’ eyes opened wide, and then his mouth. But no words came; instead, to everyone’s horror, an explosion of thin tendrils shot at Alex. The HAWC leader held up the sheet of plastic as the tendrils slapped wetly against it.
Maria’s scream was like a siren, and even Janus started to mumble some sort of prayer in Italian. Aiko had her sword half-drawn as Alex quickly forced the thick plastic sheet forward, grabbing the man behind it, and throwing him to the floor. In a few seconds he had completely rolled Lucas up inside it.
Lucas quietened, but inside the clear plastic, his eyes followed them around the room.
“What the hell?’ Sam had backed up as well. “What the hell just happened?”
“Velez got grabbed by the tendril in the cave,” Matt said. “That’s it, isn’t it?”
Alex nodded. “Same thing happened to one of Gray’s technicians.”
“Well, that’s fucked up.” Sam paced, the floor once again squeaking beneath him. He threw his head back, raising his hands. “Shit!” He turned. “Can… he be cured?”
“That is unknown at this time.” Gray was as calm as ever. “There is a new biological element added inside him, taking him over, urging him to merge with others of his kind. Or perhaps with anything else biological.”
“Become like one of those freaks in the cave?” Sam’s face screwed up in disgust.
“I think that is the correct assumption.” Gray turned to Alex. “Take him back to the laboratory.
“Can he be cured?” Sam asked again, more forcefully.
Gray regarded the man who was easily twice as big as he was with half-lidded eyes. “If it’s possible to cure him, we will cure him,” Gray paused to watch Alex carry the soldier out through the door. “But for now, I suggest that no one allows any of these creatures to come into physical content with them. Especially not with any exposed flesh. It seems even a tiny portion of those tendrils can grow and take over the entire human physiology in a matter of minutes.”
Gray gave a small bow and then followed Alex to the laboratory.
* * *
Alex went to lower the plastic-covered Lucas Velez onto the bench top.
“Not there.” Gray pointed at a silver door, and rushed ahead to open it. “In here.”
Cold emanated from the room. “Refrigeration?”
“Yes, for now,” Gray said. “This will hopefully bring Velez’s and Brice’s metabolisms, as well as that of the tendrils, down to a point of inactivity. I don’t know how to deal with this form of contamination. All I can do is try to slow its spread enough so that if – when – we do find a solution, the condition won’t have advanced to a point of irretrievable finality.”
“Good idea.” Alex lowered Velez onto a bench and began to unroll him.
“No, no, leave him for now. I’m sure he’s comfortable enough. Besides, I don’t have any more isolation units.” Gray motioned for Alex to leave.
The HAWC leader stood looking down at his fallen man for a few more moments before grunting and walking out of the cool room and into the main lab area. Gray followed.
Sanjay looked up and nodded to the two men.
“Anything new?” Gray asked.
Sanjay shook his head. “Doesn’t like cold, but can tolerate extreme heat. Biologically it’s as we first thought: primarily archaeon class, somewhere between a bacterium and eukaryote.” He shrugged. “It’s basically a very sophisticated form of parasite. It doesn’t just invade the host, it takes them over, uses them, controls them, and then remodels them.”
“We may eventually be able to synthesize a chemical or even biological agent to slow or stop this organism from corrupting the human body. Maybe even repel it. But that won’t be today,” Gray told Alex.
“So, for now, cold it is,” Alex said. He paused. “I need to go back into the volcano, deeper, but the heat was making the cold shells useless above 250 degrees. Where I need to go it’ll be much, much hotter.”
“I can cool the barrels of your guns, but it’ll still mean that your range will be severely limited,” Gray said.
“Means we’ll need to be close. And that means close enough to get those tendrils on us.” He sighed. “What else you got?”
“Standard rounds will also be affected by significant heat. Eventually gunpowder will self-detonate, but at least it will hold up for longer than the liquid nitrogen shells.” He shrugged. “The creatures seem to be impacted by normal shotgun shells. Maybe if we up the explosive content and blow them apart. They’ll regenerate, but it’ll give you time to get past them.”
“Hmm, explosives and caves aren’t a good mix. And blowing off a few limbs won’t slow them down for long.”
“Then blow off more than a few limbs,” Gray responded smoothly. “I can create an insulated explosive round that gives you significant impact detonation force – enough to totally disassemble these creatures, but not enough to cause any reverberation damage to the cave … hopefully.”
Alex half-smiled. “Hopefully.” Then he nodded. “Okay, do it.”
“Fine, it’ll take me an hour to get enough rounds together for your team.”
“Velez was wearing the armored suit, but this thing breached it. Can you improve the suit’s integrity?”
Gray drew in a deep breath. “Given enough time, sure. But it didn’t actually rupture or permeate the armor plates. It dissolved its way between the joins. Digested its way, if you will. The tendrils start out as thin as a hair, and once they gain purchase, they only need to find or create the smallest of holes to enter the suit and find the flesh within.”
“So, no, then,” Alex said dismally.
“It probably takes the tendrils a few seconds. You have that long to remove them. You give me more time, I can do more. But you won’t give me that.” Gray tilted his head. “Sorry.”
“There is no more time.” Alex went to turn away then paused. “One more thing. The personal force field you gave me will allow me to go deeper and withstand extreme heat. But when I find Aimee, Joshua, and the civilians, how do I get them out?”
“How are they being kept alive now?” Gray asked. “However they were taken in there, and kept alive in there, then that must be the way you bring them back out.” He shook his head slowly. “Bottom line, our cells start to die around 120 degrees, and start to physically burn at 150. Other than you, no human is going to be able to tolerate anything above that for even a few seconds.”
“Forget the armor, what about simple heat-resistant suits?” Alex asked.
“We have several. But how many civilians were taken? Hundreds, thousands?” Gray sighed. “And the suits will not protect an average person from that sort of heat for more than 30 seconds. And how will you get them into the suits?”
Alex shook his head. “I just need more time. I need to get in deep. And I need help.”
“I can get you and a team in, or at least in deeper. The new armored vehicle will be here within the hour. It can transport your team, will have significant firepower, and is heat shielded, insulated, and airtight. Nothing can get in, and its protective cover is based on the same force shield technology as your suit.”
“How deep?” Alex asked.
“Tested to 1200 degrees.”
“Very good.”
“But bear in mind that most magma is over 2000 degrees, at least the silicate lava mixtures. You get too close to that, and something is going to give. And it isn’t going to be the magma.”
Alex nodded. “Yeah, I know. But every inch and every degree of heat we keep out is going to help.” He looked back to the cool room. “Good luck with Brice and Velez. I hope you can come up with some sort of cure or defense, as I have a feeling things will get worse before they get better.”
“One more thing.” Gray pointed to a carryall bag near the door. “For your dog. I remodeled a spare armored suit – it’s not all-over armoring, but it’ll give it a little more protection.”
Alex half-smiled. “Thank you.”
Something pinged on a console and Gray walked over and read a message tracking across a small screen.
“Jack Hammerson is as good as his word – seems your chariot is already here. It’s being dropped in the street outside.” The scientist quickly read the specification manifest. “Very nice. Let’s go and take a look.”
* * *
Alex and his team of HAWCs stood in the street, watching the huge machine be lowered by a several helicopters – any conversation was blown away by the ferocious downdraft.
