CHAPTER 10
Welcome to Russia
The lone passenger of the helicopter glanced through the side window at the grassy tundra that stretched out in all directions for as far as the eye could see. It did nothing to offset his beliefs that Siberia was little more than a frozen wasteland of hardship and gulags, though so far, he had glimpsed no evidence of either. In fact, he had seen very little of Russia during his long, tiring journey from England as it had been dark when he arrived at Irkutsk Airport. A long uncomfortable car ride in a vehicle lacking any decent suspension and a noisy heater that blasted out air barely warmer than the outside temperature had then brought him to a small airfield as dawn approached. After two hours wait, the helicopter pilot arrived, and they had set off for a remote area of the Siberian tundra.
The passenger turned his gaze ahead. Peering through the cockpit’s bubble, he noticed a road drawing nearer. He followed the anomaly’s straight line into the distance and glimpsed the small cluster of buildings it led to. Though their purpose seemed agricultural in nature, he couldn’t imagine what sort of farming would have been carried out in the middle of nowhere. With his interest piqued, he pulled the mic on the headset he wore nearer his mouth and pointed out the building to the pilot. “What’s that?”
The pilot briefly turned his head at the distant buildings. “If I was telling you, I would have to kill you and then myself.”
The passenger rolled his eyes. “I’m not that interested.”
The pilot laughed. “Welcome to Russia.”
“I thought the cold war had ended.”
The pilot shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps it has different name now. I warn you this. It not advisable to be asking questions about such things.” He nodded his head at the distant building. “Better you nothing see.”
As they flew over the road, the passenger noticed a small group of simple wooden buildings. Smoke curled from the chimney of one, and beneath a roof that jutted from the largest hut, he saw what seemed to be a Russian transport truck. The barrier stretched across the road leading to the mysterious building designated it as a security checkpoint. Suddenly, men slipping on coats and gripping rifles in hand rushed from the hut with the smoking chimney. A few glanced up at the helicopter as they rushed for the truck and clambered aboard. Two soldiers pulled the thick insulation blankets wrapped around the vehicle to protect the engine and the fuel tank from the cold before climbing into the cab. Thick black smoke belched out from the exhaust when the engine roared to life. The truck eased forward, turned onto the road and sped for the distant buildings.
Wondering what had happened to prompt the soldiers into action, the passenger gazed after the speeding truck.
“I remember to you, it’s better you nothing see,” warned the pilot.
Hoping the pilot’s grasp of the helicopters controls was considerably more proficient than his grasp of English, the passenger sighed and returned to staring out at the landscape that was as desolate as his life had become. Where had it all gone wrong?
CHAPTER 11
bedEV1Led
After finishing off the human, the fragment of Black that had killed Stanislav, now strengthened and larger, changed into a segmented two-meter-long centipede-like creature and scurried along the corridor after more human prey.
When it failed to find them, it returned to the bones it had found in the room of cages. Though they offered little nourishment, it was something. It was about to melt over the bones to absorb their limited sustenance when its head shifted to faint human voices drifting out of a hole in the wall. Eager to consume more human flesh, it slithered up to the air duct, crawled inside and headed for the voices.
Having failed to find the human female, EV1L returned to the Level 4 elevator. It would seek her out after it had disposed of the humans above before they called in other humans who might prove to be more of a threat. It reformed into the image of Stanislav and waited for the Black heading along the corridor to re-join it. EV1L rippled in delight as the burst of energy flowed through it. When the two had become one again, it copied what it had seen the human do earlier. It reached out a hand and pressed the call button. When the elevator arrived, it stepped in, cast a glance over the remains of the large beast it would devour later, and rode the elevator up.
Waldemar was too heavy for Pechka to lift on his own, so desperate to leave the underground complex, he revived Waldemar with an injection. When his patient had recovered from his abrupt awakening, Pechka rapidly explained a condensed version of what had happened. After what he had witnessed, Waldemar had no trouble believing the horrific events that had unfolded during his sleep.
Still a little groggy from the sedative, Waldemar let Pechka help him to his feet. After the wave of dizziness from being upright subsided, Waldemar assured his comrade he was able to move without support. Pechka anxiously poked his head out the door, and after checking the corridor was clear, he led Waldemar from the infirmary and along the corridor.
They halted on hearing a slithering around the corner ahead. Pechka placed a finger to his lips to bade Waldemar to silence and crept to the corner. Already stressed and anxious, he almost gasped in fright when he peeked around the corner. Black poured through the grill of an air vent and turned into a huge insect that seemed to have leapt from prehistoric times. It rose on its back segment of legs and turned to look down each corridor of the intersection it had arrived at. Its mouth opened and shut, emitting chattering clicks, as if testing each route. Pechka dodged back when its grotesque prehistoric head turned in his direction.
“What is it?” whispered Waldemar, uncertain he really wanted to know.
“A giant alien centipede thing,” mouthed Pechka, his voice barely a whisper.
When he turned to check if it was gone, the centipede’s terrifying head appeared around the corner level with his own. It hissed foul, corpse-tainted breath in his face. Pechka screamed and dodged back. He stumbled into Waldemar, and both tripped to the floor. The creature scurried around the corner, down the wall and split into two. The back half grew a head, and each headed for their chosen victim.
Pechka’s attacker opened its mouth to an impossible degree and dived at one of the legs the human kicked at it. To accommodate the limb, it spread its jaws wide and swallowed it up to the knee. Its body bloated like a Halloween horror balloon designed by Lovecraft before dissolving into Black glutinousness tar that oozed over his body. The evil puddle of creeping pain slowly dissolved clothing and flesh.
The centipede after Waldemar grew two long back legs that propelled it through the air. Waldemar pushed his screaming comrade off him with his good arm and crab-walked backwards, away from the approaching monstrosity launching its attack. It landed on his chest and melted. Terrified and trembling, Waldemar watched horrified as the Black he couldn’t stop flowed over him. His screams joined Pechka’s echoing though the corridors.