We ran along the wall of the Caf as the Howlers pushed their way through the downed furniture. They kept getting caught in the tables and chairs, which worked in our favor. We easily made it to the archway and into the corridor beyond.
Only to have a Howler blindside me from the left.
Anna was on him in an instant, slicing him along the back. The Howler yowled and convulsed on the floor.
“Come on,” Anna said, pulling me up. “No time to finish that one off.”
I forced myself to my feet. Behind, the Behemoth charged into the Caf. We passed the medical bay. Its double doors were wide open, but I didn’t even bother to check for anything. It led nowhere where we needed to be. In the Caf, the Behemoth seemed to be fighting the Howlers by some miracle. Apparently, Radaskim xenolife fought amongst itself. Whatever the case, it was the distraction we needed. We sped down the corridor, finally reaching the corner.
We made the turn, running down the dark, empty hallway. Our boots clicked on the linoleum. The screams of the Howlers faded. It seemed as if most of them were concentrated on the Behemoth in the Caf. That didn’t mean we were out of trouble yet. On our left we passed the corridor leading to the Officers’ Wing. I didn’t bother shining my light in that direction; I knew it to be a dead end, like the medical bay. I doubted the Howlers Anna and I spotted earlier were still there.
We passed a flight of stairs leading downward. The entrance to the bigger apartments broke off from the main corridor. This, too, was a dead end, so we ignored it and ran on.
At last, we arrived inside the Rec Room — a vast space taken up by basketball courts on one side and couches and flat-screens on the other. The room was completely trashed — the screens were broken, the couches torn and flipped, and blood smeared the floor. A rotten musk hung in the air. As in every place else in the Bunker, there was an absence of bodies. I didn’t know if the Howlers had eaten them, or if these bodies had become Howlers themselves. Perhaps a mixture of both.
“Where now?” Anna asked.
“The motor pool is off that hallway,” I said, pointing to our left.
“Hopefully it’s not locked down,” Ruth said.
“There’s only one way to find out.”
We pressed ahead. Silence reigned in the dark room, our footsteps echoing off the wide walls. The corridor to the motor pool approached as the screams of the infected monsters followed from behind. They were no longer fighting amongst themselves. We couldn’t stop now.
We entered the corridor. A sign along the wall read “Motor Pool,” with an arrow pointing down the hallway.
“We made it,” I said.
We continued running along the hallway. There were no other side doors, so it was a straight shot to the final two doors, which stood at the top of a small set of steps. The doors were electronic and needed a keycard for access. My hope was that there would be no power, so that we could force the door open.
Each of the doors was closed. A keycard slot on the right was the only way to open it. A green light on the slot still shined, meaning that the doors had power. And the doors having power meant that they were still securely locked.
Dreading what I would find, I pulled on one of the doors, heaving on it with all of my strength. It was useless. These things were designed to not be pulled open. A security card was needed — or the power needed to be shut off entirely. Even then, it still might not open.
We all stood there for a moment. Behind I could hear the pursuing screams of the monsters. They would almost be to the Rec — all some four hundred former citizens of Bunker 108.
“Should we go back out?” Anna asked.
I saw no other choice. We had to get to the beginning of the corridor and reenter the Rec before the Howlers blocked us in this corridor. We had to try the front entrance again. Only I had no idea how we would get there, because it would require going back into the main corridor.
Then, I saw that we weren’t getting out of this one alive. We had to either bust down this door or fight out way through dozens upon dozens of Howlers.
From the Rec, however, we could take other paths — toward the swimming pool, the light baths, the showers, or the locker rooms — maybe from there, we could access a lower level.
It was better than dying here.
Anna and I both started running back for the Rec, but Ruth stayed behind.
“Ruth!” I yelled. “Come on.”
I turned to see her kneel down on the floor. “A keycard!”
I ran back to her, taking the card from her hand. It read “Officer Michael Sanchez.” His portrait beamed at us with a goofy smile, looking younger than he did these days. A bit of blood smudged one of the corners.
“Michael, you beautiful bastard,” I said.
He must have left his keycard behind during his escape in case someone else needed it. That move had probably saved all of our lives.
I swiped the card, and the door beeped agreeably. The doors slid apart, opening the way to the motor pool. We ran into the darkness ahead.
That was when an axe head swiped down right in front of us.
I guessed that this was where Darcy was camping out.
My flashlight illuminated Darcy’s upper body and his crazed blue eyes as he leveled yet another downward swipe with his two-handed axe. Ruth dodged this blow, and the axe head hit the cement floor, sending a cascade of sparks into the air. Within a second, Anna advanced, placing the sharp edge of her katana at the man’s throat. He paused.
“Drop the axe and on your knees,” Anna said. “And your hands above your head.”
The automatic door shut behind, cutting off the sound of Howlers now filling the Rec. The man knelt, dropping his axe to the floor with a clatter. He then slowly raised his hands to the top of his bald head, which was ringed with gray hair. I pointed both my gun and flashlight directly at the man’s face. He was short with pale, sallow skin. A thick gray beard grew halfway down his chest. He was perhaps in his early sixties.
And she was right — this was not a man who had lived in Bunker 108. At least, not a man who lived in sight. I did not recognize him at all. It was Old Darcy, alright.
Ruth walked forward, her blue eyes blazing. She studied Darcy, who had begun to shake. Several Howlers slammed into the motor pool door we had just entered, but we ignored them for now. The air stung with the smell of not just motor oil and machinery, but human excrement. Darcy had been living here.
I looked ahead — in the darkness I could barely discern the shape of a Recon. There would be a radio in there, which was how Darcy had contacted me and how he had heard my conversation with Makara earlier.
He gave a yellow smile, and a crazy light danced in his eyes. “Alexander. Welcome home. How does it feel to have been the ruin of us all?”
Anna edged the blade closer to the man’s neck. He merely snickered.
“Should I kill him?” Anna asked.
Darcy squirmed, but Anna kept the blade just at Darcy’s neck.
“Not if you want to know the way out of here, Missy.”
“If you knew the way out,” I said, “you would have used it already.”
Darcy said nothing to that. “Or maybe I just wanted the pretty girl to come out and play.”
Ruth’s eyes burned as she jabbed at Darcy’s neck with the pole, the hook of which shined with fresh, purple blood. Sweat shone on Darcy’s face in my flashlight beam. A sour smell emanated from his entire person.
“Alright,” I said. “How do we get out of here? Is it anything more complicated than opening a garage door?”