After a few moments staring at the opening, Lucy relaxed and checked her ankle for damage. It was an angry red and throbbed painfully, but no serious damage had been inflicted. Though blood oozed from the eight small wounds on her thigh, it also wasn’t serious, unless the parasite carried smaller parasites. Lucy shivered, suppressed the thought of micro-monsters crawling through her body, and aimed the flashlight into the dark, cramped passage she had sought refuge in and started crawling.
A loud boom rang out. Metal screeched. Lucy screamed when she shot into the air and collided with the top of the vent before falling onto the buckled floor. It was evidence the vicious amphibian hadn’t given up on its chance of a meal. As Lucy slithered over the raised dented section, the floor in front buckled as another loud boom assaulted her ears. Fearful of giving away her position again, Lucy held back the surprised yelp that threatened to escape her lips and eyed the narrowed gap left by the dented floor. There was just enough clearance for her to slither over the raised section of warped metal. She crawled as quickly and silently as she could along the passage. Only when she had traveled past the walls of the aquarium room would she be safe from the monster. A third boom shot her legs into the air. This time the Leviathan continued to apply pressure, forcing it higher. The floor of the vent pressed against her legs. She pulled one leg free, but the other was trapped, metal cut into her skin when her leg was squeezed against the top of the vent. A trickle of blood oozed out and ran down the sloping floor.
In the aquarium room below, the water continued to rise and lapped at the edges of the vent opening before pouring inside. The ever-rising water level carried it over the first buckled area and flowed onward.
When the cold water tickled her toes, Lucy stopped struggling to free her leg. She peered through the gap that trapped her foot at the steadily rising water and then saw something more immediately life threatening than the possibility of drowning; six parasite creatures entered into the vent. She twisted her foot and pulled. Her ankle-bones scraped on the metal. The parasites surged towards her with chomping jaws.
The parasites hideous cream bodies and sightless heads were even more frightening in the confines of the vent. Unexpectedly, the pressure on her foot released with a squeal of metal; an indication the Leviathan had moved. Lucy pulled her foot free as one of the parasites lunged at her toes and scrambled away along the vent.
Lucy halted at an intersection and quickly considered her options; left, right or continue straight ahead. The water ebbed beneath her. The parasites wouldn’t be far behind. Confident the right-hand turning would remove her from danger the quickest, she turned right and sped along the passage. The Leviathan struck again. The boom and screech of metal drifted through the vent from behind. She had passed the edge of the room and was out of the Leviathan’s reach. That just left the parasites to deal with. She glanced back. Though the water was only a few inches deep, the parasites continued their pursuit, an indication they were just at home in or out of the water.
Thirty-feet farther, she stopped beneath a hole in the top of the vent and shone the flashlight up its length. Another side-turning about twenty feet above her might be her chance to escape the fast approaching parasites. She doubted, even with their eight clawed limbs, they would be able to climb the smooth metal sides. Lucy climbed upright, pressed her hands and feet against the vertical chute, and hoisted her body up. It was awkward with the spear in one hand and the flashlight dangling from her wrist, but she was reluctant to lose either if it was possible. She had climbed about halfway when the parasites appeared below. Their sightless, evil heads tilted up and watched her. One tried to climb the wall, but failed to get a purchase on the smooth metal. It brought Lucy a little comfort. All she had to do now was climb a few more feet without falling and she’d be safe. Well, as safe as she could be aboard the alien monster-infested vessel that constantly threw surprises at her. She didn’t think it would be long before she was fleeing from another vicious, nightmarish monstrosity keen to taste her flesh.
Lucy pulled her tired body into the horizontal vent and collapsed on the floor to catch her breath. Panting heavily, she wondered when and how this nightmare she desperately wanted to escape from would end. She aimed the flashlight along the dark vent. Whatever the outcome, it would be found in that direction. When she felt rested, she continued her journey.
CHAPTER 21
Power
THE MEN AT the rear of the fleeing group continued firing short bursts at the monsters chasing them. Brusilov glanced back at the vicious creatures that filled the width of the corridor, an avalanche of monstrosity that would soon wash over them. Their horrific screeches and howls increased the men’s already high anxiety. Even the bravest among them feared what was coming.
The men rushed around a corner to find their escape blocked. The floor of the corridor above had collapsed. Brusilov shone his flashlight at the dark void in the ceiling above the pile of twisted metal. It was large enough for the men to fit through, but too small for the monsters to follow. It was their only chance. Shots rang out behind him as the chief’s men picked off more of the monsters, but it was a battle they couldn’t win.
“Climb up through the hole,” shouted Brusilov.
The barricade shifted and groaned when they climbed the precarious pile of scrap and squeezed through the small gap. As the last man scrambled up, the barricade shifted and dropped a few feet. Babinski slipped and rolled to the floor as the monsters surged ever nearer.
“Babinski,” called out Nikolay. “Jump and I’ll grab you.”
Babinski glanced at the approaching monsters and jumped to his feet. He ran at the collapsed metal pile, leaped onto a beam amongst the wreckage and jumped for the chief’s arms stretching from the opening. They clasped each other’s wrists and helped by Obolensky, the two men pulled Babinski through the opening. The two lead monsters dived at the man’s dangling legs. Their claws grabbed air as the prey was yanked from their grasp. The barricade collapsed and tangled them amongst its twisted forms when they landed on it.
The damaged section of floor the men were on groaned and shuddered as it began to tilt. The men rushed away as it fell and gazed back when they reached solid ground. The sloping floor was an ideal ramp for the monsters below to climb. A few shots were fired in an attempt to deter them from following, but it failed and the men fled when the monsters rushed up the slope.
The chief glanced at the creaking ceiling as they rushed through the corridor and thought it could collapse at any moment. “The ship seems to be falling apart.”