Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The minute BANG finished setting the charges, Casey and Nick closed the doors to the gymnasium.  Though there was always the chance the creatures may be able to open the doors again, at least the squeaky hinges would alert everyone.  Nick wished he had something to block the doors with completely. Something strong enough to block the doors until they were ready to blow everything sky-high.  Nevertheless, the empty hall showed nothing of use and the two accompanying soldiers entering from the nearby hall showing him they were out of time.  The squeaky hinges just had to be enough.

Taking a step forward he strained to see who the approaching soldiers were and when he seen the sniper rifle, he knew they were SCOPE and AUTO.  Nick turned back to the others.  “MED, BANG, I want you to stay put and watch those doors in case any of those creatures emerge.”

“”Got it.”  MED said. BANG nodded his response as the two took their posts on either sides of the doors, their backs to the wall.

He glanced over to Casey.  “Let’s head back to the others.”

Casey nodded, silently following his lead.  She didn’t feel comfortable leaving their two companions behind with those embryos just waiting to hatch behind those doors.  Knowing they were still in the same area put her mind at ease a little, but there wasn’t much they could do if these things hatched all at once.  Those two would be surrounded in seconds and so would the rest of them soon after.  

She took in a deep breath as they reached SCOPE and AUTO by the entryway, hoping she wasn’t thinking too much into their situation.  The men were trained soldiers after all and made it through a whole town of these things…but something still gnawed at the back of her mind.  Something about those embryos in the gymnasium just seemed wrong.  Maybe she would ask Nick once the reports were given.  He may have noticed something too and together perhaps they could figure it out.

“What did you find?”  Nick questioned eyeing their demeanor carefully.

AUTO gave a shrug.  “Nothing in the basement.  Same locked doors, same s****y smell, and the same s****y mess.”

Casey felt a wave of relief wash over her as she looked to Nick, seeing his tense figure relax slightly.  Maybe things aren’t as bad as we thought. 

“MELEE!”  TECH’s voice sounded rather loudly through the empty halls’ of the school.  He and LINGO ran towards them, their guns held firmly to guarded positions, and Casey’s hope fled her as quickly as it had come.  “There are these strange looking things upstairs.”  He reported stopping before them, LINGO stopping at his side.

Nick swallowed down the newly formed lump in his throat before questioning him.  “What things?”  He looked between them, already knowing the answer.  “You don’t mean the creatures, do you?”

As expected LINGO shook his head.  Before he could continue, Nick raised a hand to stop his unneeded explanation.  “Where did you see them?”

“The cafeteria, the Library, and just about all the classrooms.”

Nick closed his eyes, looking off to the side. If those rooms were like the gym…  “Did any of them look broken to you in some way?”

LINGO shook his head.  “They seemed all in tack.”

Nick looked amongst everyone, knowing that AUTO and SCOPE must have had some questions of their own. His gaze fell to TECH.   “Explain to them what you found then rejoin us.”  He stated before focusing on LINGO.  “Come with me to the gym, we have to tell MED and BANG what you found.”

“Sure but why are they-” LINGO’s voice trailed off before he continued, “They’re in the gym too aren’t they?”

Nick nodded, heading off towards the gym once more, Casey not too far behind, LINGO following shortly after.  “Yeah, and BANG already set the charges.”

In reality, the gym wasn’t too far from where they were standing just then, but Casey felt as if she were hiking alongside the Great Nile.  The thought of those creatures’ embryos within the building, literally surrounding them, put her senses into overdrive once more.  Did she just see something, or was that a shadow she had seen out of the corner of her eye?  Was the steady breathing one of those things creeping up from behind her with its raspy breath on the back of her neck, or just her own breathing sounding from against the plastic of her face guard?  Was the steady thump-thump-thump she could hear the sound of one of the creatures rushing at them or the sound of her heart pulsing within her ears?  She didn’t want to over think their situation but she also didn’t want to mistake one of the creatures with her own second guesses either.  That could prove to be fatal.

MED and BANG moved from the doors at the sight of the trio heading towards them, stopping just a few feet ahead.  “Listen up.”  Nick ordered bringing LINGO to his side then explained the situation.  Though they wore faceguards, Casey could imagine the distress on their faces, the same she now wore.  They were in a critical situation.  No one knew when these sacs were laid or how long it would take them to hatch.  Could be days, weeks, or maybe any minute for all they knew.

Nick’s gaze fell to TECH, AUTO, and SCOPE as they rejoined the unit and nodded before addressing the group in entirety.  “The charges have already been set inside the gym but I’m starting to think BANG should set more charges throughout the building to destroy the nest completely.”  His gaze crossed over everyone as he spoke.  “We will let the sun take care of the rest…” his voice trailed as something from the back of his mind struggled to come forward.  That same uneasy feeling he had earlier once again plagued his mind.  

He gave himself a mental shake deciding that explaining the plan was more important now.  He stepped away from the group to look at them as a whole.  “I want this door guarded while BANG sets the charges.  Obviously we will be splitting up again but I don’t want two unit groups anymore so we will be splitting our forces in half.”  He tapped BANG on the shoulder, holding out his hand.  “Detonator.”  Without a word, BANG handed him the detonator.  “I’ll go with TECH, LINGO, and Casey; that’ll be our four person team. The rest stay here and safeguard our escape route.” Nick stepped towards MED, handing him the detonator.  “If things begin to get rough, I want you to run,” His gaze switched to SCOPE and AUTO.  “And blow that room to hell on your way out.  We will follow shortly after.”  His gaze fell over everyone once more.  “Everybody understand the plan?”  He waited the allotted time for their replies then nodded.  “Let’s get to it.”

Nick waited for the second group to take their places, MED to the left of the doors, LINGO to the right with SCOPE standing in the center though farther back, before turning away to finish his group’s task.

There were a few short steps taken, when another sound stopped them completely in their tracks causing everyone to look to the gymnasium doors.  The handle was rattling from the inside.

Casey swallowed hard, seeing the handle move downward on its own accord.  But she knew better.  She knew it was one of those freshly hatched creatures behind that door, trying to escape from the room.  Her breath caught in her throat when something else came to mind.  Who said it was just one?  What if when that door came open there were two or maybe even all of those creatures just waiting to escape. And then there were the ones upstairs as well.  Who’s to say they haven’t hatched?  Everybody would be swarmed instantly.  Even if they ran now, those creatures would only catch up to them in mere seconds.  It took everything in her to keep a cool head.  

“No one move.”  Nick ordered in a low tone, the sound of the left gym door slowly creaking open.  “If we wait for it to come out, and then shoot, we will be fine.”

For some reason Casey couldn’t take his words to heart.  She didn’t even notice that she had stepped closer to the door, a few paces behind LINGO, her pistol raised and aimed towards the partially open door, the lights from everyone’s flashlights illuminating the area.   The creature pushed at the door, staying mostly hidden behind its thick wooden structure, not moving an inch from behind the door’s frame.  It seemed transfixed on something, though she couldn’t think of what.  No one had made any sounds since Nick’s orders.  Had it heard him?  Was it trying to determine which direction his voice had come from before making its attack?

She pushed that thought aside as she eyed the creature within the doorway warily.  She wanted to shoot it, to kill the damn thing so they wouldn’t have to worry about it attacking, but she didn’t have a clear shot.  LINGO was partially in her line of gunshot and though she wasn’t horrible with a gun, she didn’t trust her shaky hands.  Taking a shot now would be foolish.  If she missed and hit LINGO two things would happen.  1) He could be fatally wounded and 2) the creature, or creatures, may go for an all-out attack.

Is that the reason LINGO didn’t take the shot himself?  He had the best chance, the perfect angle, yet he seemed hesitant.

“Uh, MELEE.”  He spoke his voice a little frantic. 

He spoke?  Why did he speak?  Nick’s heart pounded in fear and anger for LINGO.  “Keep quiet-” He said a little loudly hoping to keep the creature’s attention from LINGO, who seemed frozen by the sight of the creature, his senses dulled.

“It’s looking at me.”

Casey felt a twinge of frustration towards LINGO at that moment.  Looking at him?  How could it be looking at him?  It had no damn eyes!

Then her flashlight caught two yellowish shines on the creature’s head.  On the creature’s face…right where the eyes should be…where the eyes now were.

Casey felt her heart beat quicken, her anger towards LINGO turning to an almost panicked fear.  She was still a good distance from him and that thought came to her as she saw the creature lurch back.  Raising her pistol, she stepped forward.  “LINGO shoot!  Shoot it!”

LINGO had already raised his rifle, shooting towards the creature, or where the creature once stood.  By the time he had taken his shot the 10 lunged forward bringing back its left appendage with its gruesomely, razor-sharp talons, before making direct contact with LINGO’S face guard with a sickening crack.

The two bodies fell effortlessly to the floor. LINGO’S body twitched uncontrollably as the creature ripped its talons from his face, pulling the severely cracked face guard with it, flinging his blood across the floor.  The jerking came to a stop shortly after, a pool of blood forming around his still body. The creature shrieked again, the rest unforgotten as it turned its sights to its next target and- 

BAM!

Blood and bits of brain matter flew from the creature’s skull as it fell over sideways from LINGO’S still form.  Casey let out a long breath.  She hadn’t even felt herself pull the trigger.

For what seemed like an eternity, no one moved. No more creatures came from the gym doors, yet still no one moved.  The sight of another one of their comrades dying before them replayed continuously in their mind’s eye.

Nick cleared his throat and by the crack in his voice, Casey believed he was trying hard not to cry for his fallen comrade.  “MED.  Shut the door.”

Without a word MED did as he was told, his gaze falling to LINGO briefly before he looked away, the sight of his friend’s mutilated face too much to bear.  He didn’t need to examine his body.  There was no doubt he had died the moment those talons had pierced his skull.

“The plan still stands,” Nick’s voice cut through his comrades’ grief.  “But I’ll stay here with MED.”  He looked to SCOPE.  “I want you to join the others.  Your long range shot will come in hand now that we know what we are dealing with.”  After a moment of no one moving, Nick grit his teeth together.  “What are you waiting for?  Get moving!”

As he watched the others leave to carry out their duties, he heard Casey at his side.  “Nick-”

“We should have been more careful.”  He said cynically, more to himself for not noticing the creature’s change sooner.

“No Nick, you couldn’t have known, none of us could.”  She said gently, placing her free hand to his arm.

“We should have checked the creatures in those sacs more carefully.”

“But we couldn’t.”  Casey soothed.  “The sacs were too clouded to see anything.”

“Then I should have cut one open.”  He said with more resolve.

“And what if the creature would have been alive then?”

“At least it would have been me.”

Casey gripped the fabric of his uniform hard enough for him to face her.  “Don’t you dare say such a thing.  You are not allowed to leave me again.”  

Nick felt regret at the sound of her voice.  He could hear the saddened despair in her tone.  “Sorry Casey.”

Casey dropped her hand to her side, embarrassed by her selfish words, yet happy she was able to say it. She needed him to know just how much his death would affect her.  Her gaze fell to LINGO.   And if he were to die like that… she shuddered at the thought.  She didn’t want to see anyone die in such a way again.  Not even her worst enemy.

Her gaze fell to Nick again before giving him a slight nudge.  “Let’s take our post. We can talk more about this later.”

“Right.”  Nick said with a sigh, feeling as though she had taken charge rather easily and then smiled in spite of himself, not minding if she took charge for the moment.  He was definitely not in the state of mind to be taking charge of anything.  His gaze fell to LINGO and his smile faded.  He wished he would have listened to him sooner.  They wouldn’t have stuck with the plan to stay still; to wait for their chance to attack.  They wouldn’t have given it the chance to take LINGO’s life.

He wasn’t going let the rest of those things hatch either.  Once the charges were set they were high-tailing it out of there so those things could burn in hell where they belong.