Before Lucas heard the rifle click to indicate that it was empty, he had already dropped the empty magazine on the floor and slapped in a new one. His right hand ran along the side of the weapon, chambering a new round from the magazine into place with a metallic clang. For the briefest of seconds, the room was dark and quiet, the flashlight belonging to Yuri having been switched off as he cowered in the technician’s booth, covering his ears from the onslaught.
Lucas squeezed the trigger again, though this time the results were less spectacular. Instead of impacting upon the shadow creature, the round passed through one of the rotting walls at the back of the theater, causing an explosion in the next room as it finally impacted on a solid object. Lucas pulled his finger back from firing another round, panicked as he realized that the creature had disappeared in the few seconds it took him to change magazines in his rifle.
The thermal scope to the rifle was flipped up in a flash and Lucas peered through it, twisting and turning as he scanned the room for any signs of activity. Finally his gaze rested on the tall ceiling above the seats where the shadow had stood not seconds before. A gaping hole had been torn in the ceiling and the edges were white hot on his scope, indicating that the creature had somehow managed to leap two stories into the air through the roof onto the next floor.
Lucas kept his rifle trained on the hole as he maneuvered his way to the stairs leading up to the technician’s booth in the theater. As the ringing in Lucas’s ears began to die down, silence once again reigned in the hospital. After a moment, a shuffle from behind Lucas caused him to turn around, training the rifle on the source. A teenager who looked to be no older than eighteen was standing in front of him, staring at him in amazement.
Yuri shone his light at Lucas, marveling at the sight in front of him. Dressed in all black, loaded for bear with weapons and equipment, the masked man who had just saved his life was an impressive sight to behold, even with his rifle pointed directly at Yuri’s face. Yuri quickly raised his hands, holding the flashlight in his quivering grip high above his head. He struggled to speak, begging for his life from the man who had just saved it.
“Please don’t kill me! I’m sorry we came here! Just please, don’t kill me!”
Chapter Sixteen
“Put down your light!” Lucas’s voice came through his mask as a whisper, and only after he saw Yuri’s puzzled expression did he remember that he was still transmitting through his radio. He tapped a button on his radio’s controls, activating a small exterior speaker. He repeated his command and Yuri immediately complied, lowering his flashlight to point at the ground.
“Who are you? Why are you here?” Lucas barked at Yuri again as he continued to watch the hole in the ceiling and the main doorway with his thermal scope. The boy was obviously not a threat and Lucas was unsure when the mysterious shadow would reappear.
“I’m Yuri… Yuri Volkov. We just came here to explore, I swear. We’re not thieves! Please don’t kill me.” Yuri’s face was ashen and his voice trembled. Dressed in civilian clothes with a warm coat, the boy looked like a typical student who was out for an adventure. He was covered in dirt, dust and burrs and his eyes were black and tired. His entire body spoke to his exhausted and frightened state. After eyeing the boy for a moment, Lucas began to feel a measure of pity for him.
“Who else is with you, Yuri?”
Yuri paused, his gaze shifting toward the main door to the room. “My cousin, Dimitri. We came together.”
Lucas glanced behind him at the door where Yuri was looking. “Where did he go?”
Yuri paused again and shook his head. “I… I don’t know. He went out the door to try and talk to you, then he screamed and…”
Lucas closed his eyes and swore to himself. Dammit! He held up a hand at Yuri, motioning for him to stay still. “Stay here, I’ll be back in just a minute. If you see that thing again, just yell for me.”
Lucas walked slowly back to the entrance of the surgical theater, peeking out the door to check the hallway for any signs of the shadow. To the left, where Lucas had come from, he saw nothing on his scope except for an empty hallway. As he swung his rifle to the right he flinched, nearly pulling the trigger as the thermal scope exploded in an array of orange and yellow colors. For a second he thought the thermal signature was the shadow again, but when it didn’t make any movement toward him he realized what it really was.
Coating the floor, walls and ceiling of the hallway was a thick layer of deep red blood, dripping from the ceiling tiles and pooling in small puddles on the floor. Lucas was thankful that his mask filtered out scents from the environment, though he could still imagine what the air must have smelled like. Lucas reached for his flashlight, switching it on and casting the white beam down the hall, illuminating the gory scene.
The images reminded him of Iosif’s quick demise, brought about immediately after the shadow had slaughtered Yuri’s companion. Lucas noticed something odd about the scene of carnage and stepped out into the hall with trepidation, keeping a wary eye behind and in front of him. Fat lot of good that’ll do when this thing can punch through walls and ceilings like they’re made of paper.
The grisly scene disturbed Lucas but he knelt down, shining his light over the spread of blood and gore across the hallway. He shook his head as he stood up, backing his way into the surgical room again. Where’s the body? While there was an enormous amount of blood spread across the hall, Lucas was struck by the absence of any solid remains, unlike what he had seen with Iosif. If the shadow had taken this person after Iosif, then perhaps it had carried the body off to devour it. Regardless of the reasoning behind the carnage, Lucas decided that the next best course of action would be to evacuate the civilian from the hospital as quickly as possible and then return to face the threat alone.
Without Iosif’s assistance, Lucas was certain that he would not be able to kill the shadow on his own, particularly since it seemed impervious to conventional weaponry. Nonetheless, he was dutybound to fulfill his mission, no matter the cost. Regardless of what it took, Lucas resolved that either he or the creature would be dead by morning.
“Yuri, get down here.” Lucas spoke as loudly as he dared through his mask, not wanting to attract any more attention from the shadow. Behind him, Lucas heard the sound of footsteps running quickly down the steps, and he was soon joined by the teenager who hung behind him, nervously shining his flashlight at the door.
“I’m going to get you out of here. You need to follow me up the—”
“No way in hell. I’m not leaving.”
Lucas spun, putting the tip of his SVD in Yuri’s face, mere inches from his left eye. Lucas’s breathing was calm and even through the mask’s speaker as he spoke again. “You will leave this city. I’ve already lost two people tonight and I’m not losing another.”
“Fuck you, soldier man, whatever your name is. I don’t know who you lost, but that…” Yuri sputtered to come up with the words to describe what he had seen. “That… thing killed my cousin. Kill me now and you’ll do me a favor.” Yuri pushed up against the SVD, pressing his cheek against the end of the barrel. His eyes were on fire in the reflection of his flashlight, blazing with both hatred and fear as tears streamed down his cheeks. Unprepared for such a reaction, Lucas hesitated, unsure of what to do next.