Go For Stories

The hooked tip of the scorpion’s sting protruded from the open wound in Bec’s chest. She coughed up a stream of blood from her mouth – open wide in surprise – as it lifted her into the air. The top of her head brushed the ceiling and the beast spun her around to face her murderer.

“NOOOOO!” Milly lifted her hands to cover her eyes as she watched her friend pulled around like a lifeless puppet.

Nigel ran towards the beast, only making it four steps before stopping. What could he possibly do for her now?

“I got you,” the beast said in guttural pleasure, before vanishing from the room.

Without the tail holding her in the air, her body fell to the floor, both knees cracking and buckling beneath her. She bucked in pain where she lay, twisted and broken, her life flowing from her in an ever-increasing puddle. Blood bubbled from her chest as her mangled heart tried to keep itself going.

Nigel covered the last few steps before falling to his knees at her side. Her head lolled in his direction and her misty eyes pleaded with him. Her lips parted, attempting to make out her final words. No sound came out. As Milly joined Nigel on the floor, Bec tried once more to speak. Through the gurgling of her blood, Nigel could read two words on her lips. Only two, but they were unmistakably understood.

My. Boy.

He held his hand to her face and nodded.

“We’ll find him. We’ll find your son.”

The corners of her lips curled up in the slightest of smiles before her head dropped to the side and the light vanished from her eyes.

Milly cried over Bec’s body. Levi stood by in silence. Nigel fumed.

This was his fault. It was him that put that monster down here. It killed Bec to get at him and it wouldn’t likely stop there. He got to his feet and roared in anger, bunching his fists and striking out at the wall. He hammered his knuckles into the plaster, shouting with each hit.

“FUCK.” Thump. “FUCK.” Thump. “FUCKING. FUCK.” Thump. Thump.

With the final blow, his fist burst through the plaster, exposing the wires running through the wall. Through his anger, he could hear Milly trying to talk through quiet sobs. He could sense Levi’s presence at her shoulders, soothing her. It didn’t matter, though. None of it mattered. He had come to realise something, perhaps something obvious, but new to him. When Bec died, she had not just given up her life. When Jacob died getting them here, he had not simply stopped breathing and gone from this world. When every single person down here were killed in various horrible ways, they had lost every moment of their futures. Every laugh, every tear, every moment of intimacy (sexual or otherwise): all gone. Along with each and every person down here, their dreams and hopes and futures were dead.

He stood with his now bleeding fist still buried in the wall and his body heaved with the effort of maintaining a semblance of control.

“How?” Milly said through her tears. “How did it get her?”

“The gap is closing,” Nigel said, quiet and directed at the wall before him.

“What?” Levi stood and crossed to him.

“The gap is closing. Between our worlds. That’s how they got Jacob. They dragged him through their world and back into ours. Now they’ve used that to get Bec.” A crunching sound was followed by a fresh rain of plaster and rubble. The scrabbling of albinoids picking through the ruined compound came through the walls. “Soon both worlds down here will merge and we will belong to them.”

“Well, we’ve got to stop it, then. Levi grabbed Nigel by the shoulders and spun him around. He held their faces an inch apart. His breath smelled stale and thick. “Why aren’t we stopping it?”

“We have stopped it.” Nigel kept his voice low and even as he met Levi’s eyes. “It won’t go any further than here. But I have to get us out before it happens. Milly?” As gentle as he could, he pushed Levi away and looked to the woman slumped over her dead friend. Milly sat up and looked to him with red-rimmed, wet eyes.

“What?”

“Milly, can you stand? Can you fight?”

“Fight? I don’t …”

“I need your help. Both of yours. I believe there is a horde of those things out there, but I need to get through if I’m going to get us out of here. I need you both to take the focus of the albinoids so I can get to the lift.”

“The lift?” Levi looked from Nigel to Milly and back again. “Everything is falling apart around us. The lift isn’t going to work.”

“I suspect it doesn’t have to. I just need to get there. Can you help me?”

Milly ran the back of her hand over her eyes, dragging the tears across her face. She sniffed and nodded.

“If it helps.”

Nigel went to her, took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. He fought to keep the fear out of his voice and the shake out of his hands. He had to appear stronger than he felt.

“I know everything sucks. I’m sorry about Reynolds, I really am. We never really got along down here – hated each other, in fact –but after all this started she … she was important and special and I will miss her. But right now, we need to get out. We can mourn her, and everyone else, after. If you and Levi can get me to the lift, I’ll find us a way out. You have to trust me. It’s worth the fight if we can just get to the surface and find Bec’s son. We can tell him how brave she was and how she helped us to survive.” A sudden explosion from deep in the compound rocked the room around them. The light from the reactor grew and shuddered. “But we are running out of time. Do you agree? Can you help?”

She nodded, slightly at first and then with much more fervor.

“Good,” he said. “That’s good. Levi?”

“Yeah?”

“You good to get out of here?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. I need you both to go into my,” he wrinkled his brow, “your office. Take tasers. Open the door enough to get the attention of the albinoids, the white things, and shoot them all. Get me enough time to get to the lift and I can find us a way out.”

“Okay, but-”

“Trust me, Levi. It’ll work for me. Now go.”

Levi nodded, then  moved away. He caught Milly’s eyes as he turned. She nodded her assent before he crossed to a cabinet in the back corner of the room. The lock was already busted and, as he opened the doors, it revealed row after row of tasers; all charged and ready to go. Levi grabbed a couple and handed them to Milly. She took them both, tucked them into her pants and held her hands out for another. Levi laughed and gave her two more.

“I can see why he likes you so much.”

“He what?”

“There’s no time for that.” Nigel caught the taser that Levi threw his way and held it before him, turning it in his hand. “Just be safe and keep out of reach of those claws.”

“We will,” she said. She gave him a warm smile and turned away. Along with Levi, she entered the door to the office at the end of the room and closed it behind them.

Nigel stood in the middle of the room feeling more lonely than ever before.

“Good luck,” he said to the empty room.

Moments later, he heard a shrill scream – part fear, part fight – from his office. It was followed almost immediately by dozens of those soul-haunting screams. Nigel nodded to himself. It was time.

He opened the door a crack and held his breath. There were more albinoids crammed in here than he expected. They teemed over each other, screaming and tearing for the opportunity to feast. He could feel an odd heat coming from their excited bodies. With a quick glance, he saw flashes of lights from the tasers, but had no time to enjoy what he hoped were dying hell-beasts. Milly and Levi were doing their job and the albinoids hadn’t spotted him, so he squeezed through the gap in the door and made his way down the hall. Keeping his footfalls light, he crept towards the lift at the end of the hall.

Just this once, fortune smiled on him and he made it without incident. The albinoids kept their focus on his friends and he hit the down button. It lit up with a small, almost imperceptible beep.

While the beep was not loud enough to catch the attention of the creatures, one at the back turned his way, through some supernatural force or sheer bad luck on Nigel’s part. It screamed upon seeing him and took a step forward. Then it paused and looked back over its shoulder. Which feast would it enjoy more?

In its moment of indecision, Nigel considered using the taser in his hand, but decided he may need every charge for where he was headed. The albinoid looked back his way and, having made its decision, ran towards him. Nigel cursed the slow lift as he noted the size of the albinoid. It was much larger than any of the others he had seen so far. Nigel pressed himself against the doors and fired the taser. His shaking hands sent the probe sailing over the albinoid’s head.

“Shit.” The lift dinged and the doors opened behind him. He practically fell backwards between the doors and slammed his fist on the button panel. The floor didn’t matter. He pressed himself back against the wall and fired again. The albinoid batted the projectile aside with an imagined look of disdain and leapt towards the closing doors. It squeezed through the narrowing gap and reached all four arms at Nigel’s chest and face.

The doors closed, Nigel fired and everything went dark.