The inner ears at the sides of its misshapen skull picked up the yelling and screams down the corridor. It moved forward and bellowed in dismay when it saw the doorway up ahead being closed and barricaded from the other side.
When it got in front of the now sealed door it used its claws to try and smash its way in, but the grinding metal held, preventing it from going any further. Bellowing in rage it pounded the obstacle for what seemed a long while before finally giving up and wandering off. There was another way to get in, and it would show no mercy to these intruders.
50
NICK DIRKSE SLUMPED backwards along the sides of the now barricaded door and tried to catch his breath. His heart was still pumping wildly, and he could feel each thump in his sweat-drenched chest. Turning his head sideways, he pressed one hand against the pile of chairs, tables, and cabinets they had hurriedly placed in front of the door, testing it for stability. So far the makeshift fortification had held.
Quentin Everett instinctively clutched at his ribs while standing near the other side of the barricade. Both men had done a lot of heavy lifting in a span of less than a minute, and it felt like the stitches in his ribs had been reopened. Shining the flashlight down towards his shirt, he saw that the bandage over his wound retained its white color. He too took a deep breath in relief and ran his fingers along the gun still tucked in his waistband.
Scott remained standing on the dry platform beside his mother, and he continued to shakily shine the flashlight at the barricade between the two men. He kept blinking his eyes, for he hardly believed what he had just seen. “What… what was that thing?”
Cathy didn’t say anything as she too had had her flashlight trained on the door while the two men put up the blockade. Her mental faculties were in tatters, and she could only imagine what that creature had done to her daughter.
Quentin shook his head slowly. They had taken too long to explore the once hidden lab, and now it looked like they were trapped. “I guess that had to have been Lady Frankenstein’s newest chimera.”
Nick could see his wife was on the verge of a nervous breakdown as the beam of light in his direction kept bobbing up and down. He made his way back onto the dry platform and hugged her. “It’s going to be okay, Cat.”
Cathy buried her face in his shoulder and began sobbing. “Oh God. That… thing’s got Kimberly!”
Nick could see his own son’s crestfallen face, while he remained stoic. “Don’t think like that, Cat.” He pointed towards the other corridor. “Kim’s on the other side of this place. I’m sure she’s alright. We just need to get to her.”
Scott ran up to his parents and hugged them as well. He was scared, but for some reason no tears came down his cheeks. It was as if his courage was telling him to be like the two men, and treat it all as a trial by fire. “It’s okay, Mom,” he said softly. “We’ll rescue Kim and kill that monster out there.”
Nick took a step back, allowing Cathy to keep hugging her son by herself. The adrenaline surge in his body had subsided, and he felt like just sitting down and closing his eyes, even though he knew he couldn’t do it.
After making sure the barricade was secure, Quentin made his way back onto the platform once more. Activating his searchlight, he shined the halogen beam over towards the flooded corridor. “Let’s see if we can try and get to the other side of that area.”
Nick clenched his jaw while looking at his wife and son. “Me and Quentin will try to get through. You both just have to stay here for now.”
Cathy looked up at him while wiping her tears away with the damp sleeve of her shirt. “What if that thing tries to come back while you two are down there?”
Quentin shook his head. “It failed to get through the barricade, so it’s clear it must have moved back up into the house. I think you’re both safe here for now. Also—” He pulled the gun from his waistband and placed it on the counter beside them. “I’ll leave this here and you can use it—just in case.”
Cathy stared meekly at the Glock pistol. “I-I’ve never used one of those things before.”
“It’s easy,” Quentin said. “Just grip it with both hands and aim down the sights. Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire.”
Scott wanted to tell them he could use the gun since he’d seen all those action movies, but he decided to keep quiet instead, mentally promising himself that if the monster got through the barricade and his mom couldn’t pull the trigger, then he would.
After kissing both his wife and son, Nick waded back into the water and shone his light onto its opaque surface. He turned to look at Quentin, who now stood right beside him in the waist-deep muck. “Can barely see a thing. Are you sure there’s a way in there?”
Quentin pointed with his own flashlight at a faint reddish glow emanating from the brackish liquid. “There’s lights down there, so there must be power. The map indicates the habitat section is on a lower level, and there will be air pockets. We’ll just have to hold our breath until we get to where the hydraulic pumps are.”
Nick kept silent. He knew how to swim, but the thought of going underwater with only a faint light to guide him hatched an inner fear that began to burn a hole in his stomach. The feeling made him queasy, and he would have thrown up if it weren’t for his stomach already being empty.
“Good luck,” Cathy said softly. “Please come back for us.”
Her words gave him courage. With the flashlight taped around his wrist, there was nothing else to do but go on. Nick gave his wife and son the thumbs up sign before breathing in deeply as he stood near the edge of the flooded corridor.
Quentin had managed to find some plastic in one of the desk drawers, and he had wrapped it around the smartphone with some scotch tape. He had also taken out the unit’s SIM card and sealed it separately, just in case. With one hand holding the large flashlight, he tapped Nick on the shoulder. “I’ll go in first, just follow me.”
Nick nodded. His throat was constricted and he could no longer talk.
Both men gave the boy and the woman the thumbs up signal a second time and then inhaled as much of the rancid air as they could before dunking their heads down into the water and disappearing into the clouded muck.
“Please come back, Nick,” Cathy repeated, her voice nearly a whisper.
51
THE DENSE, THICK LIQUID was all around him, and Nick Dirkse’s eyes had begun to sting. He could barely see a few inches ahead of his face, even with the flashlight dangling on his wrist, its faint radiance shifting along like a fading star whenever he needed to use his arms to push an unknown obstacle aside.
Quentin Everett moved just ahead of him, and all Nick could see was the faint outline of his back. Nick’s lungs had begun to get painful, yet he continued to trust in the other man’s lead, fully expecting Quentin to turn around so they could head back while they still had some oxygen left in their lungs.
The objects crowding the water-filled corridor seemed to have been furniture and containers of some kind. Nick’s hands and feet would sometimes brush up against what he felt were the edges of desks and chairs, the sides of his body occasional bumping into something thick and hard. Other times his outstretched, probing fingers would feel something soft and fleshy, and he didn’t dare think about what it could be. He kept his focus on Quentin’s back and continued forward.
Each second felt like an eternity, and the pain in his lungs steadily increased. It was like a piercing hunger, but for fresh air instead of food, and it gnawed deeper in his brain. The instinct was to open his mouth and nostrils and breath it all in, but his mind knew it would be a fatal action, and so resisted the urge as long as it could.