“We’re not out of trouble yet—just over a minute before the bomb goes boom!” said Richard.
Colbert smiled at him. “We’ll survive, we have you, the man that should have died many times but miraculously, against all the odds, is still here.”
Richard rolled his eyes. “Yeah, a lucky charm, that’s me.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon if that’s true,” said Krisztina, looking down sadly at Boris. If the alien didn’t get him, the explosion would.
Boris’s lumbering gait sped him towards the ropes speedily rising from the ground. He glanced behind at the creature, its floundering limbs propelling it swiftly, if not majestically, forward. Turning his attention back to the flying machine that had begun to turn, Boris veered to the side. Spurting forward he jumped onto the smoldering cab of the destroyed tanker and leapt for the nearest rope. As his momentum weakened and he began to head back to the ground, his hand grasped the rope.
Hanging on the rope for a breather, Sullivan glanced down when something jerked the lifeline and saw the chimp was responsible. It seemed he also didn’t want to be left behind. His gaze flicked to the tentacled creature that seemed to roll in a mass of flailing limbs onto the burning truck. Thankful the rope was too far away for it to reach, he restarted his climb.
With one last chance to claim the human nourishment, EV1L climbed onto the wrecked shell of the vehicle, and after withdrawing some of its limbs into its mass, it shot out a single long tentacle and wrapped it around a dangling rope. Yanked from the truck, EV1L dragged along the ground until the tentacle hauled its bulk onto the rope. As soon as its main mass was within reach, its other limbs pulled it up the rope.
*****
Kelly cursed when the helicopter tilted to the side. “What the hell was that.”
Colbert peered down the ropes. “Shit! The alien’s on the rope.”
“Get rid of it or none of us will be leaving,” screamed the pilot, turning away from the perimeter fence before Sullivan crashed into it and possibly snagged the abseil ropes.
Richard reached for the coupling securing the rope to the helicopter.
Colbert grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”
“Getting rid of the monster.”
“Sullivan’s also on that rope.”
“Then tell him to get off because if I don’t cut the creature free, it will soon be in here with us. Then we all die!” Richard yanked Colbert’s grip from his arm and continued unscrewing the coupling.
Colbert snatched a headset from the roof and slipped it on. “Sullivan. Get off the rope, we’re cutting it free.”
Still climbing, Sullivan tore his eyes away from the monster below and glanced up at Colbert looking down on him. “On it.” He stretched for the nearest rope that was beyond his reach.
Colbert looked at the locking pin about to be freed from its thread. “Now, Sullivan!”
To avoid the reaching tentacles, Boris leapt for the nearby rope being whipped by the wind and the downdraft, grabbed it and climbed.
Heeding his commander’s warning, Sullivan leapt as best he could from his unstable perch that offered no leverage to push off from and fell towards the creature’s tangled limbs.
“He’s falling,” uttered Colbert.
As soon as Richard turned the screw free from its thread, the rope dropped. “Now can we get out of here?” said Richard.
Gripping the rope with three limbs, Boris grabbed at the falling human’s hand reaching for the rope beyond his grasp and snagged it with his fourth.
Sullivan gripped the rope he swung towards. When he was securely on it, he nodded his thanks to his strange savior, but Boris was already climbing. Envying the chimp’s climbing prowess, he looked down at the alien crashing to the ground. Having lost track of time, Sullivan wondered how long they had before the bomb detonated. With what little strength he had remaining, he restarted his climb.
Surprised by what he had just witnessed, Colbert informed the others. “He’s safe. The chimp caught him.”
“What about the alien?” asked Mason.
“Returned to earth,” answered Richard. “And good riddance to it. I never want to see another alien creature for as long as I live.”
“Living might not be very long,” stated Krisztina. “Fifty-six seconds to detonation.”
Colbert glanced at the back of the pilot’s head. “Punch it, Kelly!”
“I’m punching! I’m punching!”
In a last-ditch effort to stop the humans from escaping, EV1L rushed for the fence, climbed it and shot out a limb that grew to an impossible length. Just as it looked as if it would grab the rope the human hung from, it was pulled from its reach.
Richard dodged back when the chimp bounded through the door and then returned to staring back at the alien creature watching them from its perch on the security fence. He pictured film footage he had seen on TV of nuclear explosions and thought they were still awfully close to be able to survive the blast. “Can’t this thing go any faster.”
“Only if we lighten the load,” replied Kelly.
“You want me to throw him out, sir?” asked Mason, smiling at Richard.
Colbert looked at Richard. “Before this mission I wouldn’t have hesitated, but he did save our asses.” He reached for Sullivan’s hand when he was near enough, and after hauling him inside, released the remaining ropes and slid the door shut. “You took your time.”
Panting, Sullivan sat on the floor. “Sorry, sir. Paused to play with the alien wildlife.”
Richard nodded at Boris on Krisztina’s lap. “What about throwing out the chimp?”
Boris pouted at Richard.
Krisztina grabbed Boris’s hand. “No one is throwing Boris out.”
Mason glanced at the countdown on Krisztina’s watch. “Forty seconds.”
“We’re not going to make it!” informed Kelly anxiously. “Hold on, it’s about to get bumpy.”
Those who weren’t buckled in, secured their harnesses and held anything solid they could find to cling to.
Sullivan slid into the co-pilot’s seat, strapped himself in and looked at Kelly. The worry etched on the pilot’s face increased his own. “Anything I can do?”
“Pray like you’ve never prayed before.”
The group fell to silence as the seconds ticked away.
Looking at her watch, Krisztina counted down. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…”
Those with their backs to the facility growing more distant with each second turned to observe the detonation.
“…five, four, three, two, one.”
Nothing happened.
Richard sighed. “All that damn trouble for nothing.”
“Why didn’t it explode?” asked Mason.
“Russian engineering is probably to blame,” offered Sullivan.
Krisztina was about to argue the slur against her countrymen when a bright flash followed by loud boom rolled across the sky. A mile-high mushroom of smoke, flame and debris rose into the sky above the facility. The shockwave sped dust and debris towards them. Richard gripped his seat when it was almost upon them. Picked up by the wave, the helicopter surged forward, jolting its fearful passengers.
The turbine whined in protest from the spinning craft. The tail rotor vibrated so violently it struck the fuselage. Torn violently from its mooring it whizzed along the side of the fuselage with a loud clatter until it shot off ahead of the craft. Fighting the excessive pitch and yaw as the helicopter spun in the opposite direction of the rotors the lost tail rotor no longer corrected, Kelly battled the G-force thrusting against him and activated autorotation. It was a lame attempt to bring back some semblance of control to lessen the impact with the ground that was coming close fast.