“You’re seriously going to try and drive this thing?”
Richard nodded. “We can’t outrun them, so unless you have a better plan?”
Talbot didn’t. “Will it work with the derailed carriage attached to the back?”
“Let’s find out, shall we?”
Richard pushed the lever forward. The humming increased, but the train didn’t budge. He pushed it farther and stared at the approaching creatures, now only thirty feet away. The train began to vibrate. The humming grew in intensity. The Insectoids grew nearer. The train jerked forwards an inch.
The derailed carriage trembled and jerked slightly with a protesting groan of tortured metal and slowly screeched along the track.
“It’s working!” stated Talbot, surprised the train was moving, albeit at a snail’s pace.
Richard pushed the lever to its limit. The high pitch of the humming engine was an indication of the strain it was under from dragging the dead weight of the damaged carriage.
When the Insectoids reached the train, some leaped onto the front while the remainder flowed down either side of the track before jumping onto the train. All searched for a way inside.
Richard recoiled slightly when three Insectoids landed on the windscreen. Two scrambled onto the roof while one remained and stared at him. It bared its small teeth into a snarl before disappearing onto the roof. The click-clack of their feet on top of the train was unnerving.
“We’re up shit creek, aren’t we?”
Richard glanced at Talbot, who had his weapon aimed back along the carriage. “You might think so, but a few minutes ago we both faced something far worse and survived, so don’t give up just yet.”
Talbot shot a disbelieving glance at Richard. Even though they had both survived their encounter with the alien maggot monster, he found it hard to imagine a similar outcome would present itself in this death-imminent predicament with the odds so stacked against them. “I admire your optimism, Richard, but if it comes to it, I’ll put a bullet in your brain to save you from the pain.”
“Not if I stab you in the eye first you won’t.”
The two men grinned at each other.
“At first I took you for a cowardly, self-serving, conniving, sneaky bastard and a stab you in the back kinda guy, but actually, Richard, you’re not such a bad sort after all.”
“Thanks, I think,” said Richard, “but I’m certain you’ll change your mind when you get to know me better.”
“Here they come.” Talbot fired off two shots, killing one of the Insectoids that had found a way inside the train.
Richard glanced past Talbot at the creatures swarming through the carriages. They moved along the floor, the seats, the walls and ceiling to form a tunnel of teeth and death. They didn’t have long now. He had to think of something.
Metal screeched against metal when the dragged carriage skimmed along the wall. The rear end struck a support pillar, careened across to the other side and slammed against the platform edge with enough force to crumple the side. Windows shattered, sending glass tinkling across the platform and spraying the seats long absent any waiting passengers. The carriage tipped slightly before it rolled back and bounced at an angle across the single track. The movement tore the back of the carriage it was tethered to away with a loud screech of tearing metal and slid a few feet before coming to a halt.
Richard was thrown back into his seat when the train lurched forward like a greyhound out of the stall on seeing the mechanical rabbit race by. Talbot tumbled forward, smashing his head against the wall before spilling through the doorway.
Richard leaned forward to accelerate the train that had slowed after his hand had been snatched from the lever.
As the train speeded up again, Talbot jumped to his feet and fired off a couple of shots. Both were on target, taking out two more Insectoids. He fired off another two shots while he backed into the driver’s cab. A wounded Insectoid crashed into another and they tumbled in a tangle of limbs. Bones cracked in the scuffle.
Talbot grabbed the doors and tried pulling them closed, but he couldn’t do it alone. “Quick, Richard, give me a hand.”
Richard glanced behind. “We have power now, just press the damn button.”
Talbot punched the button and the door closed.
A few moments later the creatures scratched at the door.
“That should hold them,” said Talbot confidently.
“I wouldn’t relax just yet. We have another problem.”
Talbot turned and peered through the windscreen. About one hundred meters away a large section of collapsed ceiling rested on the rail and formed a ramp that sloped to a higher level.
The SEALs arrived at a circular room that seemed to be the main hub of the intersecting corridors that led off in all directions from around its circumference. Elevators, positioned on one wall, allowed quick access to the upper and lower levels. A spiral staircase set in the room’s center provided a slower way to get there.
Light beams roamed the room as the men crossed to the center.
Stedman aimed his light over the rail and peered down the spiral staircase that twisted to the lower levels. It seemed to go on forever.
Cleveland joined him and let out a whistle. “Damn, that’s a long way down.”
“Stairway to Hell,” said Stedman, ominously.
Sullivan crossed to the elevators and forced one set of doors apart. The light he shone into the deep shaft failed to reach the bottom. He directed the flashlight overhead and picked out the bottom of the elevator two floors above. Curious to discover how deep it was, he fished a flare from a pocket, struck it and dropped it into the shaft. It was a long time before it stopped falling. He went to move away when a faint clicking drifted up the shaft and halted him. He cocked an ear. He wasn’t fooled by the silence. Though he thought it might have been the ship groaning, he suspected something else was responsible. Something was alive down there. Luckily it was so far below it shouldn’t cause them a problem.
Colbert gazed around the space he had first glimpsed on the 3D map. It was proof they were heading in the right direction. The next step was to go down a few levels. He crossed to the top of the staircase and gazed down at the thousands of treads spiraling into the dark bowels of the ship.
“If I remember correctly, we go down three levels,” said Crowe, joining Colbert at the top of the stairs.
Colbert nodded; his thoughts preoccupied with what horrors lay below waiting to surprise them. Though they were running low on ammo, it wasn’t yet at a critical level. But they hadn’t reached their goal yet, and they still had to make the return journey. Their chances of success were growing slimmer the farther they distanced themselves from the exit.
“You okay, Captain?” asked Cleveland, quietly.
Colbert turned to the man, smiled weakly and nodded. It was time to move. “We’re going down.”
When the men were ready, Colbert started down the staircase.
Brusilov took the lead and led the men along the corridor that ran straight for about five hundred feet before opening onto another metal walkway that stretched along each end and one edge of the long room they had entered. Their lights roamed the room and revealed part of the walkway had collapsed, preventing them from reaching the staircase at the far end that led down to an exit. The walkway groaned and shifted slightly when they walked to the rail and peered at the pieces of strange machinery in the lower level. Some blinked small red, green and yellow lights and some hummed softly.
Flashlights searched the gloom below, but there were so many places of concealment it was impossible to tell if any horrors waited in the dark for them. Nikolay leaned over the edge far enough for him to see under the walkway. He had hoped to find metal supports they could climb down, but the path was supported by brackets of metal angled towards the wall.