“Oh my God,” Julia said, and nearly dropped the flashlight.
Its light had just illuminated the four bodies tied to the blackboard, their arms twisted up over their heads, their feet dangling just above the floor.
They were in bad shape, heavily decomposed, but not as far gone as the skeleton they’d seen by the pond. Their flesh looked dry and leathery, like the flesh of mummies.
They weren’t boys when they died. They were adults with beards on their chins and hair on their chests. If these were chimeras, they must have died recently, when they were fully grown.
The stench hit him then, and he nearly threw up. He fought to control himself. This was as bad as anything he’d seen in Afghanistan. Maybe worse.
To one side of the bodies the blackboard had been washed clean, then someone had written a final message there:
we did this
together
“What does that mean?” Chapel asked, though he knew Julia was just as in the dark as he was.
“Four bodies, partially mummified. Their throats were slit,” Julia said, and he could hear her fighting back her own urge to vomit. “That’s probably how they died. But — but there are other cuts, on their arms; those are defensive wounds; they were — they fought, hard. They were attacked with… with knives… Chapel, I can’t do this. I have to go outside.”
He started to nod, but then he heard something. A creaking sound, as if weight was being applied to floorboards, just above his head.
Julia must have heard it too. She swiveled around, pointing the flashlight like a weapon. Chapel saw there was a balcony running around the walls above them, a mezzanine looking down on the main floor of the place. Something was up there, moving fast. It was out of the light before he could get a good look, but—
“Chapel, someone’s here!” Julia gasped.
CAMP PUTNAM, NEW YORK: APRIL 14, T+46:52
Whoever it was, he moved too fast for Chapel to get a good look at him, dashing out of the light almost before Chapel had registered his presence at all. Julia tried to move the light to keep up, but Chapel heard the sound of footsteps coming down an iron stairwell in the corner of the room. He drew his sidearm and pointed it into the darkness, having no idea what was coming for him.
“Over there,” he said, pointing at a corner of the massive room. Julia swung the light around and it scattered over a pile of folding chairs, some of them twisted and bent out of shape. A bird fluttered its wings near the door, and Julia stabbed the light at it, even as the figure in the dark came running right at Chapel.
He could hear its feet pounding on the squeaking floorboards, hear it breathing heavily. He would only get one shot, once chance to—
But before he could fire his weapon, it was on him, knocking him sideways. His jaw stung and he knew he’d been hit, but everything happened so fast he barely had time to drop his pistol and put his hands out to catch himself before he hit the floor.
Chimera, he thought, which was impossible — all the chimeras had been accounted for. But the strength in that hit, the speed with which the figure moved couldn’t be denied.
He dropped to one knee, threw his artificial arm up to protect his head, knowing it was futile. He hadn’t been ready for this. He’d thought he was safe here, that the place was deserted. That lack of planning was going to get him killed. Would he end up hanging on the blackboard, his throat slit, his feet turning black with congealed blood?
He had time to shout for Julia to run. Not that it would make any difference.
In a second he would be dead, as soon as the chimera hit him again.
He braced for it.
Waited for it.
Eventually he opened his eyes.
“He ran out there,” Julia said, pointing her light at the doors of the auditorium.
Chapel squinted at the light. A starling hopped across the debris there, turning its head from side to side.
“Did you get a look at him?” Chapel asked.
“His eyes,” Julia said. “When the light hit them, they turned black. All black.”
Chapel grabbed his pistol from the floor, then rose to his feet. “Okay,” he said. “Stay behind me. Point the light where I tell you.”
She brought the light up under her chin, sending deep shadows upward from her nose, obscuring her own eyes. But he could see the terror in her face. “Chapel, maybe we should just go. Head back to the fence. This isn’t one of the chimeras you were supposed to track down, is it? Why would they come back here?”
“If there are more of them—”
She lowered the light. “I know. I just — I guess I’m just scared.”
“I am too. But we have to do this,” he told her.
He led her to the door and out onto the lawn between the buildings. The starling scampered out of their way.
Outside the starlight made everything silver and gray. A chimera could have been hiding anywhere and they wouldn’t have spotted him until they were right on top of him. Chapel forced himself to hold his pistol in a loose grip. The last thing he wanted to do was discharge it because he was so jumpy his finger slipped.
He looked forward, directly across the lawn. The little church stood there. It looked more intact than the other buildings — some of its windows hadn’t been broken, and the paint on its door hadn’t peeled or been scratched off. Of all the buildings on the lawn it looked most like a place where someone might find shelter from the elements.
He whispered when he spoke to Julia. “I want you to turn the light off. We’re going to the church. When I get to the door, we’ll stand to one side of it. I’ll cover the door with my weapon. When I say ‘freeze,’ you turn on the light and shine it inside. Okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered back.
They moved forward faster now. If Chapel was wrong about this, they might both be dead. The chimera could be lying in wait anywhere on the lawn, ready to spring up and attack them. It was the best idea he had, however.
The door of the church was raised up on a narrow porch. Two steps went up to the porch. Their feet sounded on each step, but there was nothing to be done about that. On the porch Chapel pressed his back up against the front wall of the church and Julia did the same. He checked his weapon, made sure it hadn’t been decocked when it fell from his hand. Then he nodded to Julia and swung around to point his pistol inside the church door, into the darkness inside.
“Freeze!” he shouted, though he could see nothing. Almost instantly the light burst into life behind him. Its beam speared inside the church and lit up a carved wooden crucifix on the far wall. The eyes of the figure on the cross had been blackened with a permanent marker.
At first Chapel thought he’d made a terrible mistake, that the church was empty and the chimera was probably right behind him. But then something moved among the pews inside, and he swiveled around to cover it with his weapon.
The chimera stood up very slowly, his black eyes wide in the light. He had a full, bushy beard, and his long hair was tangled up in the rags of a shirt he wore.
“Put your hands up!” Chapel demanded, expecting the chimera to jump right at him. At least this time he had a chance to shoot before he got knocked down and slaughtered.