Dark Blood

Chapter 10

The tunnel had spit them out into a small supply closet that was barely big enough for two people to stand next to each other. The walls were lined with shelves full of vials, cleaning chemicals, microscopes, and other sciency stuff. Directly across from them was another door that undoubtedly led into the actual facility. Stephens approached the door and beckoned for one of his guys to come forward. Kara moved out of his was as best she could, as he probably had the biggest backpack out of everyone there. Looks like he's their pack mule, she thought.

"How close is it?" Stephens asked.

The Pack Mule pulled out a bulky iPad lookin' thing and started tapping the screen, pulling up stuff that Kara couldn't quite see nor understand what little she saw. But she did see his face, lit up by the screen in front of him. He was young. Older than her, but certainly not the face of a veteran.

"Fairly close, but it's not going to be a walk in the park. The target is two floors down in one of the bigger labs, so there will be plenty of bogies on the way. The cafeteria is just down the hall to the left. If we're looking for survivors, that'd be the place to start."

Stephens nodded and turned to Kara. "OK, real quick. Very important information so listen and remember." Without waiting for her acknowledgement, he kept going.

"All the Xeno's are being told what to do by a really big fucker downstairs. After we check the cafeteria for survivors, we've gotta go down there, making as little fuss as possible, and kill it. Then, the other ones will swarm us but, since they have no orders, they'll be easier to deal with. Got it?"

Kara gave him a thumbs up, as prepared as she was ever going to get. "We've got this."

He smiled. "Keep your head on a swivel. It's go time."

The door inched open with barely a sound. The hall was void and uncomfortably untouched. The tile floor gleamed dimly under the white lights far above, marred only by a few scuff marks that could have been made by daily laboratory traffic. It smelled not of blood and death, but rather faintly of Lemon Lysol. Kara started to wonder if the aliens were able to alter reality and they were instead standing in the midst of scratched walls, flickering lights, and corpses. It was unsettling how normal it looked.

Stephens signaled with his hand and some men moved ahead of Kara and him. They crept down the hall in a rectangular sort of fashion; four men up front, then her and Stephens with the rest filling up the space behind them. The silence seemed to hold on by a string as they made their way towards the cafeteria. Kara glanced down every hallway they passed, her mind fabricating that a tall, spindly, faceless grey being was looming at the end, waiting to greet and dissect them. But each hall was empty; as clean and spotless as the one before it. Goddammit, Kara. She furrowed her brows. Don't let your fucking imagination get to you.

The door, which was two sliding panels that met in the middle, was unscathed. The group crouched low and flanked either side of the door. The men had their guns aimed and at the ready while the Pack Mule fiddled with a small screen protruding from the wall, which Kara presumed would open the door. Without even looking at them, the Pack Mule connected a few wires and gave the group a quick thumbs up before punching a few buttons, the door sliding open with a soft hisssss.... Kara swallowed hard, trying to steel herself for whatever laid beyond. Following close behind Stephens, everyone stepped into the cafeteria. Or, what was left of it.

It was carnage. Complete and utter destruction. Tables and chairs were flipped, scattered, shredded, split in half, bent at weird angles, and tossed around the room every which way. The buffet line was ripped from its foundations and was laying on its side, food smeared everywhere. Behind it, the kitchen was in similar disarray; pots and pans littered the floor and cupboards were ripped open, some of the doors completely off of their hinges. Kara shuddered. People must have been hiding in there. And there was blood. Streaks of it running across once pristine white floor, the fluorescent lights making it glow sickly. There were a few splatters here and there on both the floor and the walls, but it was in such a small amount that Kara presumed it was from people tripping and hitting their face or heads in their attempt to flee. She'd seen something similar when her brother had fallen off of his bike, splitting his chin open and shattering a few of his teeth.

Kara's eyes followed the blood trails to the opposite side of the cafeteria. Where she presumed there had once been a door was a gaping hole. The wall was peeled back and viciously scratched all to hell where something (or a lot of somethings) had forced their way through. The light from the cafeteria only faintly illuminated the rails of a stairwell leading into darkness. It looked like something out of a nightmare, and by God, Kara was terrified. She looked at the faces of the men surrounding her, hoping to find them filled with a courage and resilience she could feed off of. But their faces were still and sullen, jaws set and clenched, desperately trying to hide the fear that shown clearly in their eyes. The poor Pack Mule was white as a sheet and looked like he would crumble under the weight of his uniform alone. Shit. Seeing them just as afraid as she was made her stomach turn and her legs tremble slightly. We're so screwed, aren't we? She inhaled deeply, trying to feel some sort of calm, and felt bile rising in the back of her throat. She hadn't noticed it before, too distracted by the scenery, but the mixture of spoiled food and dried blood was absolutely putrid. Week-old road kill fermenting on a muggy day smelled better than this.

Gagging as quietly as she could, Kara turned to Stephens. He was stiff as a board, eyes clouded and staring at the hole across the room. She placed her hand on his bicep and that seemed to bring him around. His breath hitched and he swallowed, making his throat click. His eyes locked on her before darting around the room.

"...Knew it was gonna be bad... wasn't expecting – uh... I thought there would be – shit..."

Kara's grip tightened on his arm. He stopped blabbering and, seeing the strain in her features, knew that he had to get his fucking shit together. He was the leader of this team. They were counting on him to give orders and complete the mission, not freeze up like a spineless coward. Though the stupid training hadn't exactly prepared them for this (basic simulations where horse shit compared to reality), they had been trained to assess and adapt to situations. And that's exactly what they had to do now. Besides, he had made a promise.

He sighed, rolling his shoulders. "Sorry kid. I guess I got a little too hopeful." He clasped the hand that was on his arm. "The Xenos will have taken everyone down to the lower levels where they built their hive. Your family will be down there, along with any other survivors."

Kara stared back, eyes filled with reserved hope and fear as to the fate of her family. She prayed that they would make it in time. Stephens and his men were her only chance. She smiled faintly and gave his arm one more squeeze, conveying that she trusted him and that she was ready to face the demons alongside him. He nodded, letting go of her hand, leaving her with a growing sense of courage.

"Close the door," he told the Pack Mule. "We don't want anything coming in behind us."

Kara watched the door close and seal shut, stifling a whimper at what she saw. There were more scratch marks; small and shallow, surrounding the area where the two sliding panels met. Undoubtedly left by people frantically trying to pry their way to freedom before they were dragged off into the dark depths of the hive. All of her renewed bravery left her. Oh for fucks sake.