Number 965

Part 1: The Base V

"Ari." Caleb was shaking me awake "Ari wake up." The power was still out but I could hear everyone around me whispering.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We heard the Number again. Louder this time which makes sense because we are close, but still." He shifted uncomfortably, " Then you started crying out in your sleep and I had to wake you up." I moved so that I am sitting up.

"It was just a bad dream," I mumbled, my eyes started adjusting to the darkness and I could just make out the silhouettes of everybody else sitting in a tight circle. "Have we made any contact with Tim?" I asked.

"No, we can't get through. I don't know if it's because the radio isn't working or if it's because he fell asleep." Ethan sighed, but there was the faintest hint of a smile in his words.

"So we don't know how long it will be till power up?"

"No, we don't," Sam grumbled.

Great." I laid back with my head on Caleb's lap. Everyone followed my lead and either lay down or leaned against the wall but no one fell asleep; their breathing stayed tense and quick. We all had our ears peeled just in case the Number decided to be vocal again. Sadly it did several times over what felt like ages but was probably was more like an hour. Every time everyone would jump up from where they were sitting and cover their ears. As the end of that hour came to a close the lights started to warm up and very slowly gave light to the hallway and our sad little group. Ethan's eyes were bloodshot and he had dark bags under his eyes, he didn't look like he had slept a wink. Everyone else looked a bit better more worn out than sleep deprived, as a group, we had looked better; hair was out of place, teeth needed brushing, a bath would have been brilliant, and Rupert's glasses could have used a good scrub. We all adjusted ourselves accordingly. After a quick bite to eat we start walking again, down to the end of the hallway and to the stairs. The creaking grew quieter more steadily now till it had almost completely faded, as we descend the last staircase. Everyone started to get jittery and pulled their stun guns out of their packs. Ethan and Caleb both pulled out their switchblades. I was expecting that floor to be even fouler than the last one but it wasn't. It was definitely warmer but it had a strange fresh smell about it. We went along carefully counting doors, the windows were so clouded we wouldn't have been able to see much even if we wanted to.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Echo's question jolted us out of some kind of trance.

"Oh god." Caleb muttered, "I had forgotten about that."

"I haven't. " Ethan stopped to look at us "I am going to pick the lock on the door and open it, when it opens if the thing comes out then you all will shut it down so that I can have a clear shot at killing it, if it stays in then we will close it in and shot it down first, You are to stay behind me." He looks around at all of us waiting for someone to disagree. No one did. We advanced down the hallway till we reached a point where the air was at its freshest and I was almost done counting; we rounded the corner and discovered the creaking was coming from 965's room. We all stopped and listened. To me, it sounded like 965 was either dragging its nails or its teeth along the metal interior at random intervals.

"Well here goes nothing." Sam sighed lifting her weapon. We all did as she had while Ethan went over to the door. First trying the handle to see if it was locked at all, it was. So he spent several minutes fiddling with it when finally we all heard the small click of the lock. The creaking stopped. Ethan looked at us and nodded then pulled the door wide open. We all held our breath as the door creaked open. We couldn't see much of the room the dim light reflected off of the metal table and the corners were dark. No one moved our muscles were tight, fingers were close to the trigger. We stood there for a few moments, nothing happened, then a tall figure appeared at the door, tall and slim it had to duck so it didn't hit it's head on the top of the door. Nobody shot we all just stared in awe. It toddled out of the room and regarded us and our guns with confusion, I imagine it could not recall ever seeing a human; let alone being one. Nothing moved, we were barely breathing the silence was so deep it was screaming. I look at Ethan wide-eyed.

"Do it." He mouthed. The number looked so helpless it's terrifying aura was now dulled by how sad it looked and how helplessly its arms hung by its sides, just regarding us. Caleb shot at it once, the dart stuck into its shoulder it was at that moment that the number lost it's helpless look.