“These are just lies! Don’t let your guard down!”, the other Ivanov interrupts him. “It’s clear that he and the woman are acting together to fool you. If you kill me, there will be one fewer human, and you’ll only be three against two of those things. Burn them now that you have a chance.”
The soldiers don’t seem to believe any of their versions. Their guns aim with uncertainty to both versions of Ivanov.
“I can prove my humanity”. The words of the second Ivanov break the long lasting tense moments.
The looks are for him.
“I told you how the creature isn’t able to replicate parts that don’t belong to the body, such as dentures or missing limbs…”
The scientist that came from Redmond’s room fixes his gaze on that of his clone, watching it impassively. “In 1991 I lost half a leg, due to the explosion of a pressurized gas container… That’s why I have a bio-mechanical implant.”
That said, Ivanov makes as to crouch, squatting on the ground to lift slowly the fabric of his pants.
Right at that moment, a muffled sound, followed by a low hissing, resonates in the room. Macready turns towards the source of the noise, pointing the rifle.
The body of the first Ivanov is shaken by an unnatural tremor, and one of his arms is stretched out sideways. Where his left hand should be, a long reddish tentacle sprouts out and pierces Leoni just at the base of his throat. The marine struggles for breath, his fingers sink into the mutating meat that begins to wind on his neck, merging with it like molten wax. Macready and Howe raise their weapons at the creature, but this, with a sudden gesture of its sprawling arm, throws the body of the pierced soldier in their direction, centering Howe, who is knocked to the floor.
Macready manages to step aside, then he opens fire with short bursts addressed to the creature, whose head elongates, stretching in a second tentacle swirling with violence and raising chaos in the room.
Terrifying sounds come from the monstrosity, not attributable to anything known. The bullets don’t seem to have any effect other than to shake the body of the monster, opening wounds from where new tentacles sprout out. Its clothes are torn off under the push of the internal pressure, while the legs split longitudinally, turning into a multitude of appendices that crawl quickly on the ground.
“Come with me! Quick!”
Alexander Ivanov, the one who emerged from the breach in the wall just in time to save the life of Moore, approaches the woman, holding out his hand to pull her to him and making her raise from her squatting position. Then he heads toward the opening in the wall.
Macready lingers, continuing to empty another magazine on the creature, in a futile attempt to save the life of Howe. The soldier is on the ground, one of his legs is clearly broken at the knee. The marine shouts desperately, as he tries to ignore the pain and reach his gun, fallen slightly over. The body of Leoni, whose skull has disappeared into the mass of reddish tentacles attached to the creature, is shaken, while his limbs stretch and bend like being broken, shaping in no time in the appearance of monstrous paws. The being that until recently looked like Alexander Ivanov moves like a hideous octopus, crawling on the floor and ignoring the blows of Macready’s rifle who dig deep wounds in its body. The beast moves to the soldier lying on the ground. Howe manages to reach the gun, finally getting hold of it, and then he turns around, but the creature is now too close. The last thing he can see is a mass of red tentacles that literally submerge him. Then the excruciating burning, as he perceives the feeling of a myriad of hot needles that burrow into his flesh.
“Come on, there’s nothing you can do to help him!”
Only then, when the woman’s voice reaches him, Macready realizes that someone is tugging him from behind, pulling him towards the opening of the wall.
Following Moore, the Major crouches to cross the breach, just in time to avoid a whitish mucus splash spit by the monster.
Ivanov, Moore and Macready come out of Redmond’s room, rushing to the gate. Something violently impacts on the door of Macready’s room, when they step by, the door seems to bend, deformed by internal pressure.
Quickly the three reach the safety gate. Here Macready breaks the retinal scanner too, then he rushes outside to push the button for the emergency closure.
The Major checks the timer on his watch: 10 minutes.
ALGERIAN DESERT
The two military trucks still proceed side by side in their mad rush among the sand dunes. A soldier, in the truck formerly driven by McKinnock, tries to climb over the tailgate to jump out of the vehicle. The man stands for a few seconds astride on the gate, turning several times to look behind him, to the inside of the truck. When he seems to make his decision he jumps out of the vehicle but, before he touches the ground, several tentacles sprawl lightning fast in the air, bolting around his neck and one arm. The soldier remains intertwined in a death grip and is dragged on the ground. The man kicks and squirms. He struggles desperately to save his life against the fleshy mass that is choking him. Soon also his free hand is enveloped by the creature. The truck keeps running on and the man is dragged on the ground, which quickly deprives him of the protection afforded by the suit and the boots. In a short time the work of the creature and the friction on the ground starts to wreak havoc to his body, spreading a red trail that winds like a snake in the desert dust.
On board of the helicopter it’s unleashed chaos. Ironside tries everything possible to regain control of the aircraft. He is a former soldier who knows how to pilot that model but it’s been a long time since his last ride. In addition, the lifeless body of Redmond blocks the cloche. The intercom spreads the terrifying sounds coming from the driver of the only truck still running, mixed with the desperate shouts of the soldiers trapped inside.
McKinnock’s truck, now at the mercy of the creature, steers right, ramming the other vehicle. Pushed away by the hit, another burst exploded by Brody misses the helicopter by a whisker.
The two vehicles run side by side for a few dozen meters when they impact violently against a squat dune. The vehicles shoot up into the sky for a few moments, then they ruin precipitously on the other side.
The clash is tremendous, and they overturn several times.
Meanwhile, the helicopter is spinning on itself and in the cabin the alarm signal resonates accompanied by the light flashes of a red emergency lamp.
“We’re going down!”, yells Matt Serum from one of the benches in the belly of the aircraft.
One of the marines comes forward unsteadily, he open his arms to steady himself on the bulkheads.
Giving proof of determination, poise and uncommon strength, he manages to stay up and at the same time he releases the body of Redmond from the safety straps. He lifts the corpse and moves it on the floor behind him. He nimbly climbs over the pilot’s seat and takes his place, holding the cloche and quickly changing some switches.
The helicopter stabilizes quickly; the man seems to know what he does. Ironside gives him a look of understanding and gratitude.
He is the man who was watching him earlier.
USA BASE CNT222
Macready, Moore and Ivanov rush quickly through the last flight of stairs to get to the gate marked with number 3. The sequence of gestures to open the passage repeats, while the two scientists stay a few meters back. Moore is holding the explosive vial in her right hand, ready to throw it.