Chromium

Chapter 19.4

First draft

As they ventured further inside, the base started changing. It looked more and more like an underground cave. Omen and Dia walked silently, a palpable tension running between them. Although deep down she knew that leaving the mercs behind had been the right choice, she couldn't accept it, not after what happened with Jenkins.

Dia was trying to keep all interaction to a minimum, but when the hallway forked ahead of them, she couldn't help but ask, "Which way?"

Omen shook his head. "Don't matter, either one."

"Guys..." Rodriguez' voice came over the comms. Her breath was labored, abnormal. "I hate to rush you but we're in a bit of pickle here."

Omen and Dia traded a look.

"What is your current situation?" Omen asked.

"We retreated to the elevator's room. The place is secure...for now, but I don't know how much longer we can hold them back. Whatever you have to..." The sound of automatic weapons fired cut her off momentarily. "...quickly."

"Copy that, Rodriguez." Omen replied, then he took a deep breath, glancing at Dia. "It's better if we split up."

Dia hesitated, but only for a second. The mercs and Sarah were waiting for them. "Alright."

"Dia," He shot her a glance filled with worry. "be careful."

Her expression softened. "You too."

Dia followed the hallway until it jogged left and then ended in a staircase leading to the lower floor. As she approached the stairs, Dia heard something. A mechanical noise. It was coming at regular intervals. She proceeded down the stairs with caution, the noise getting louder and louder. 

But when she reached out to open the door, a sudden weakness in her limbs made her stagger backward. Warning bells went on in her head, an irrational fear taking hold of her. There was something wrong with that room. She could feel it. Dia made a visible effort to gather herself together. Then she glanced at HUD, searching for possible hostiles, but all seemed clear. Yet she was still restless. There was something that had set off a vague sense of danger that nagged at the back of her head like a fly buzzing behind her ear.  

She ignored it, and checked the rifle's electronic display, making sure it was fully loaded, and pushed the door open. She took a couple of steps across the room, then stopped short, her jaws hanging open. Industrial liquid filling and capping machines were working at full capacity, while conveyor belts zigzagged across the room ferrying the filled vials to the automatic packing station.

An assembly line? Here?

It was surprising, but then her gaze fell on the "ice sculpture" on the far side of the room, and her surprise turned into shock. It was a very big lizard, similar to a dinosaur. Bearing a large bone frill and five horns on the skull, it looked a lot like a triceratops. But there was an important difference: its jaw and skull were massive. More importantly, it was equipped with a long head of serrated, bone-crunching teeth. The creature before her was no herbivore. 

It looked frozen, its huge body covered in a thick layer of ice. Useless to say, it wasn't a natural phenomenon. Two nozzles were spraying the creature with some kind of cryogenic liquid at regular intervals. Other than that, a dozen of tubes were deeply embedded in its midsection, though considering their function, they looked more like big pumps. They were sucking its blood before storing it into three huge glass tanks.

As she watched the scene with her mouth wide open, Dia experienced a strong feeling of deja vu. Although her memory was hazy, as if covered by a layer of fog, she was sure she had seen something like this before. In her dreams.