Once bitten, Die twice

Once bitten, Die twice #8

Cautiously he called out into the threatening blackness. "Sinna? Rohith?"

Nothing.

They proceeded down a second aisle. It was when they got to the third that they encountered something strange. The produce displays had been absolutely decimated. The shelves had been toppled and packets and cans strewn all around. Something serious had happened here. This was not the action of marauding animals. The shelf units were substantial. To knock one over would have required considerable force, to break one even more so.

Lewis looked back to ensure the others were aware of the potential significance. Still there was no sign of either missing soldier as they stood amidst the mess. He scanned around but it was Straddling who noticed it and gave a hiss.

"What is it?" Lewis asked.

Straddling just pointed. Down - at their feet.

Blood!

They were standing in a pool of it; lots of it. It must have stretched for several metres, along the floor and was splattered on the shelving.

"Bloody hell fire!" Bannister exclaimed with a low whistle.

Frantically now they widened their search but there was no sign of the soldiers anywhere, just the ominous streak of blood that looked like something or somebody had been dragged through it, smearing a gory trail along the aisle until it suddenly stopped. There were no bodies or indications as to the source of it. As they stood bewildered back at the scene of so much carnage Lewis was no closer to an explanation. He could not determine from where the blood had come or why the smudged trail ended so abruptly.

"What the hell happened?" Lewis asked. "If they've been killed where are the bodies? And if they haven't been killed, then where are they?"

It was all too surreal, too inexplicable. He could not shake the feeling that at any moment they would be attacked themselves. His torch picked up something reflective in the dark and he stooped to pick it up - dog tags. They were printed with the name 'Sinna' and his staff number.

"Oh god no," he mumbled as his last hope disappeared. Then he shouted - an unnatural sound in the silence. "Sinna? Rohith?" No one answered. His voice died in the darkness.

There was a trace of blood on the dog tags and the chain had been severed. There was nothing else. No other sign that either soldier had ever been there, no weapons, no bodies, nothing.

They checked outside and all around the store but there was still no indication as to their whereabouts. The corpses appeared to have vanished, spirited away for some dark purpose. Finally Lewis turned to his men with a baffled look and repeated his question.

"What on earth happened?" but there were no answers. They bunched closely and looked about them, feeling ever more vulnerable.

"Boss, they're not here," Straddling murmured, not sounding his usual confident self. "We would've found them, we've searched everywhere. They wouldn't have abandoned the Land Rover of their own volition. Whatever has occurred, they're long gone."

"They're dead!" was all Bannister could manage as he peered into the darkness, voicing what they all believed. Millington just stood impassively as always, watching and waiting.

"I don't know what's happened but we can do nothing for them," Lewis said, speaking quickly and quietly. "I hate to go without finding any answers but I think you're right. They're dead and I suggest we get out of here fast before the same thing happens to us."

Bannister nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Abso-bloody-lutely."

Swiftly they maneuvered their tight huddle, rifles swinging wildly at every noise as they scurried back to the vehicles. The keys were still in the ignition of the other Land Rover so Bannister and Millington took it. With a remorseful glance towards the supermarket Lewis got in as Straddling started the engine and floored the accelerator, whisking them back to the protection of the base.

Safe.

For the time being at least.

- THE END -
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