Kate and Ellison barely showed concern, but Dealey rose to his feet. 'Perhaps we should take a closer look,' he suggested.
They descended the short staircase into the main concourse, repulsed by the strong odours that assaulted them, and wary of what might skulk among the ruins.
'Here,' Culver pointed.
They approached with caution, for the rat looked as though it had merely fallen asleep while feeding.
Only when they drew close did they notice that its eyes were half-open and had the flat, glazed stare of the dead. Culver and Dealey leaned towards it while Fairbank kept a cautious vigilance on their surroundings.
There's dried blood around its jaws,' Culver remarked.
'It was eating flesh when it died.'
There's no marks, no injuries.' He prodded the stiff-haired carcase with the gun barrel, using considerable effort to turn the animal over onto its back. There were no hidden wounds.
'What the hell did it die of?' Culver asked, puzzled.
There's another over there,' Fairbank said.
They went to it, carefully avoiding the mouldering decay scattered across the floor. There were few insects so far below ground and that was at least something to be thankful for. Culver knelt beside the sprawled carcase and repeated the same operation. Bullet holes punctured the creature's underbelly and they realized its outer shell was a mere husk; underneath it was rotted almost completely away.
Moving on to yet another, the three men discovered this body, too, was unmarked. They averted their heads from the ripe smell.
'Could they have been poisoned?' Culver stood, his eyes ranging over other carcases. There had been more in the other sections and passageways, but the group had not stopped to inspect them closely, assuming they had been killed by the humans they were attacking; it was possible that many of these had also died from causes other than mortal wounds.
'It's possible,' said Dealey, 'but I don't see how. Why would they take bait when they had all the food they needed? It makes no sense.'
He was deep in thought for a few moments and was about to comment further when Kate called from the balcony. 'Please, let's go! It isn't safe here!' One arm was clasped around a shoulder as though she were cold; the other held the gun.
'She's right,' Culver said. 'It's not over. There's something
more in this hell-hole. I can feel it like I can feel an icy draught. The dead haven't settled.'
It was an odd thing to say, but the others sensed its meaning for they shared the same intuitive awareness. They climbed back up the steps, their pace now quickened, urgency beginning to return, renewed fear overcoming weariness. The discovery of the dead yet unmarked rats had rekindled their apprehension, its mystery instigating further, unnerving dread. The vast underground bunker had become an enigma, perhaps a deathtrap for them all. It was as if its concrete walls were closing in, the tons of earth above bearing down, pressing close, a huge oppressiveness weighing on their shoulders.
Striving to crush them into whatever lay beneath the underground citadel.
The condition of the power plant explained much to them, for it had been reduced to nothing more than a blackened shell, its complex machinery just charred, useless husks. They averted their eyes from dark mounds on the floor, shapeless forms that had once walked and talked and been like themselves.
'Now we know,' said Dealey. There was the sadness of defeat about him. They did battle with the rats here. Bullets, an explosion - a chain reaction - devastated this place. All their careful planning, all their ultimate technology, destroyed by a simple beast. They finally discovered who the real enemy is.' He leaned against a wall and for a moment they thought he would sink down. He steadied himself, but did not look at them.
Ellison was shaking his head. 'So that's why there was no communication; everything was knocked out.'
'Communications, machinery - even the doors couldn't be opened,' said Fairbank. The first one we found could be opened manually from the inside. And the second was jammed by those two trying to get out. But the others must be sealed tight. Christ, they were all trapped inside their own fortress!'
'Surely all the doors aren't electronically controlled,' said Kate.
Tm afraid they are.' Dealey still did not look up. 'Don't you see? This was a top-secret establishment, the most critically restricted place in the country; exit and entry had to be centrally controlled.'
Ellison had become even more agitated. There have to be other doors jammed open. Some of the people down here must have escaped, they couldn't all have been killed.'
'Escape into what? Into the radiation outside?'
'I still don't understand why the lighting still works,' said Kate.
'Light was the most valuable asset down here, the most protected by back-up systems. Imagine this place in total darkness.'
They tried not to.
Dealey went on. The headquarters has four generators, each of which is designed to take over should the others malfunction. If number 1 fails, 2 automatically comes into operation; if 2 then fails, 3 takes over and so on to 4. It's unlikely that all should shut down at the same time.'
Fairbank secured the axe in his belt more tightly. 'I've got no faith in "unlikely" any more. And I think we're wasting time here; let's move on and out.' He looked directly at Culver.
‘You know the place, Dealey,' the pilot said. 'Just how do we get out?'
There may be other blocked doors, as Ellison said. If not, we'll have to go back the way we came.'
Kate shrivelled inwardly at the idea, for she had no wish to retread those same abhorrent corridors.
'Let's start looking, then,' said Fairbank. This place is troubling my disposition.'
They passed on and suddenly the foul melange of smells became almost overpowering. Kate actually staggered at the
noxious fumes and Culver had to reach out and steady her as he fought down his own nausea. It was Fairbank, grubby handkerchief held to his nose and mouth, who called them forward. He was peering into a wide opening from which came the now-familiar thrumming noise.
Take a look at this!' he shouted, and there was both fear and excitement in his voice. 'It's bloody-well unbelievable.'
They approached, Culver taking the unwilling girl with him. He covered his face with a hand, nearly gagging when he drew close to the opening; the others were undergoing the same discomfort. He looked inside with considerable consternation, he, too, reluctant to witness more horror, and his eyes widened, his mouth dropped. His spine went rigid.
The ceiling of the generator room was high, accommodating the four huge machines and the largest diesel oil tank Culver had ever seen, its top disappearing into the roof itself. Overhead was a network of pipes, wiring and catwalks. The walls were uncovered brickwork with only piping and mounted instrument-gauges to break up the monotonous pattern. The lighting here was dim; several areas had their own individual sources of light, most of which were switched off. It was uncomfortably warm inside there, a factor that added to the putridness of the atmosphere.
The spacious floor area was an ocean of stiffened, black fur.
Kate reeled away, falling, but instantly scrambling to her feet, ready to run.
They're dead!' Culver shouted and she stopped. Still afraid, she went back to the four men.
It was an eerie and ugly sight. And, even though the piled bodies were those of a mortal enemy, a strangely pitiful one. The rats lay sprawled against and over each other, hundreds upon hundreds, many with jaws open, bared yellow incisors
glinting dully, others with half-open eyes glaring wickedly, although glazedly, at the human intruders.