Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The unit came to a halt in front Agatha’s 24 hour Food-Mart, waiting for Nick’s signal to proceed inside.  Casey could feel her heart beat noisily within her chest, her fingers holding the gun’s handle firmly; her pointer finger curved over its trigger.  She had checked her gun numerous times to make certain it was loaded and that the safety was off.  In the event that they did happen to come across any of those things inside, she wanted to be prepared.

The building seemed dark on the inside but Casey figured it could be the store‘s windows making it appear that way.  The owner, Agatha, had the building installed with tinted windows for security and energy efficient reasons, or so that is what she had told everyone.  Casey had never had enough interest to see if there was any truth in the woman‘s words, but she reckoned it was too late to ask her anything now…

 On their way back into town, the others reminded Casey of how the 10s didn’t go into direct sunlight so their travels back should be relatively safe, however, when they reached the grocery store she needed to stay on guard at all cost.  Though it was true the sun’s rays kept the creatures at bay, artificial lighting was a whole other story.  

Then again, she didn’t need to be told that.  She knew that first hand from back in the hospital.  When the creature had chased her down that dimly lit hallway, coming ever so close to taking her life…

She shook her head, ridding herself of that terrifying memory plaguing her and concentrated on the task at hand. Her gaze fell over everyone else.  TECH and LINGO were standing, back-to-back, off to her left, a few steps ahead of the rest, while SCOPE and AUTO stayed back a few paces to the right, their back to one another as well.  The last four remained in the center, standing in a diamond formation, back-to-back.  Nick was in front with Casey at his back.  To her right was MED leaving BANG to her left. In this formation, all sides were secured, with not one person’s back being exposed.

Nick looked to TECH, giving the signal to proceed inside.  In turn, TECH reached over his shoulder, tapping LINGO’s left shoulder, indicating to him the signal had been given. The same signal was given to SCOPE, who had repeated the process with AUTO.  The unit began to move in a slow but fluid motion towards the entrance, the doors sliding open with a smooth electronic hum, welcoming them into a strangely luminescent storefront.

Generators?  The thought crossed her mind as she looked up to the lights before remembering how TECH rigged a power supply from the facility to the store. After entering the building, she found herself to be rather glad he had, if only for the lights before her.  At least those things will be easier to see in this light.  She moved steadily forward behind Nick, both hands set to her pistol for support as they entered the building behind TECH and LINGO.  The reassurance of the lights, though nice, did very little to calm her nerves.

The business itself was a simple grocery store, small in size, with a cash register station to the far left, the shelving behind filled with the different brands of cigarettes many of the townsfolk would buy.  There were only five aisles with shelves containing various kinds of food, drinks and miscellaneous products.  Each aisle extended to the back of the store where the frozen food items were stored.  Casey had wished she could have kept the memory of old Agatha’s food mart the way she remembered it…

The place was an absolute mess.  Shelving had been knocked down, broken jars and containers were scattered across the once immaculately white tiled floors…and something else.  Blood.  Just as in the hospital, there were streaks of dried blood seemingly everywhere.  The blood was spread across the floor, splattered along parts of the walls.  There were even traces to be seen smeared across the front of the cashier’s counter.  She couldn’t believe her eyes.  There was just so much of it…

But where are the bodies?  She couldn’t stop the thought as she stepped into the store.  It truly unnerved her that there was not a single body to be seen so far.

As soon as each group passed through the electronic doors, they fanned out to survey the area.  TECH and LINGO went towards the left, Nick and Casey down he center aisle, MED and BANG continued to their right while SCOPE and AUTO secured the exit.  Each two-person group stayed with their backs to one another, sweeping their paths with the brim of their firearms out before them.  After a few minutes of their search, Casey heard the voices of her teammates, “Clear!” as they came to the end of their search.

“Everyone meet up at the freezer.”  Nick announced soon after.

Casey smiled at the authority in his tone and wondered if he knew how he sounded when speaking to the others. 

The good feeling she felt didn’t last long when the sounds of their boots against the tiled floor of the store seemed to echo all around them in the silence.  It reminded her of the situation she found herself in now.  Everything was so quiet.  It seemed so dead…

A shiver went down her spine as a distressing thought came to mind after thinking that word.  Dead.  Everyone was probably dead in this town.  All her friends, family, and neighbors.  Even the stray cats and dogs that use to walk around the old meat market…  Everything was probably dead and there was nothing she could do about it.  

As she and Nick came to a stop before the freezer door, she lowered her head, a sudden feeling of emptiness welding up within her.  She felt utterly alone.  That feeling overwhelmed her.  It seemed a big part of her life was ripped away from her in a single night.

A pressure was placed to her shoulder causing her to raise her gaze, seeing Nick standing before her.  He said nothing, only squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, as if to tell her she was not alone in this.  Her heart skipped a beat.  That’s right.  She wasn’t alone at all.  Nicky was still here with her, every step of the way.

Her gaze fell to the others that had rejoined their group, noting they had been watching her as well, and each catching her gaze as well.  Feeling a little flustered, she was rather glad she had her splashguard to cover her face.  Nevertheless, she felt a smile cross her lips all the same, knowing what their gazes had meant.  Somehow they too seemed to know her feelings as well.  Maybe it was because of Nick?  He had to go through all of this before she had.  To be away from home for so many years only to return to it like this...

Nick turned towards the freezer door and looked back to the others.  With a brief nod to the others, he pulled open the door.  A burst of chilling air rushed at them through the muggy atmosphere of the store. TECH and LINGO entered the freezer, pulling out what appeared to be folded black material from the bottom left pockets of their vests.  Casey watched as the two men took the materials they had and unfolded them, revealing two large insulated duffle bags. 

Nick watched them as they began packing the frozen foods into the bags.  “Take only what we need for 2 to 3 days tops.”  He ordered.

The two stopped packing temporarily at his words.  Though TECH continued loading his bag shortly after, LINGO spoke. “MELEE?”  was all he said but his question was apparent.  Why so little?  

“I don’t want this to take much longer than that… It has been long enough already.”  Nick stated turning from the freezer.

LINGO nodded in accordance before continuing to pack more of the food into his bag.  “Right.  Then we should grab some extra supplies for when we decide to leave this place.”

Nick nodded.  “I was already thinking that.”

“MELEE.”  Nick’s attention was taken by SCOPE’s earnest voice.  “Come here.”

Heading towards SCOPE, Nick saw that his rifle was aimed at the nearby window as he used the scope to peer across the street.  Once he reached his side, SCOPE didn’t give him a chance to speak as he pointed across the street to the following lot, lowering his rifle.   “Look.  There is something in the bushes by that school.”

Just as he spoke, something darted out from behind the bush to the side of the building.  It had moved quickly whatever it was revealing nothing but a blur to the naked eye as it dashed around the building’s corner.  

“Damn!”  SCOPE cursed frustrated looking to his rifle.  “”I should have watched a bit longer.”

MED stepped beside him have seeing the moving figure.  He looked between SCOPE and MELEE.  “Do you think it could have been a survivor?”

That got everyone’s attention. Survivors were one of the main reasons for staying in this town for so long.  

“I don’t know.”  Nick began doubtfully, “If it was a survivor, I wonder how they survived for so long especially at night?”

“They could have been traveling.”  Casey suggested walking up to them.  “That’s how I came here.”

“But this is your home town Casey.”  Nick said uncertainly.

“And?”  She questioned, tapping her gun on her thigh impatiently.  “All I’m saying is that there is always a chance that someone came across this place in their travels.”  She shifted her weight.   “Even though this town is off the main roads, someone still could have easily made a wrong turn.” 

“In any case,” Nick looked to the others, “we need to check this out.”  He turned back to LINGO and TECH.  “Set the bags inside the freezer for now. We will be back for them after we sweep the school.”

“Everyone turn on your flashlights.”

Casey looked to the pistol in her hand at Nick’s words, switching on her flashlight as they entered through the front entrance of Marksville High.  TECH had attached a customized flashlight to the brim of her gun before leaving the grocery store.  Each weapon in the unit had a flashlight attached beforehand and he had made it a point for her to have the light fastened for her.  The school would be a new scenario for her.  There was no electricity in the building whatsoever which meant there were no working lights either and even though they had previously checked the school before her arrival, there was always the chance the 10s had moved back in within that time. 

The doors to the school swung smoothly open under SCOPE and TECH’S push against the large metal handles.  The unit filed into the school, just as they had in the grocery store, for the exception of SCOPE and TECH whom held the doors open until the last man was inside before entering themselves shortly after.

 There were streaks of light shining through the windows from the outside.  Though she was glad for the sparse lighting, Casey was also glad the main lighting system was out just the same.  She didn’t want to have to see the school as she had the hospital and grocery store. This building is where she grew up into adulthood with all of her friends. She didn’t want to have to see the school’s destruction in its entirety. 

Her gaze fell to Nick fleetingly, wondering what he was thinking as she swiped her flashlight over the area ahead of her before realizing something.  Nick may not be troubled by this as she was. Before he was taken, he was still in middle school; he had never graduated into high school.  Her heart ached for him.  What could he be thinking in a situation like this?  

After giving the main hall a thorough scan, Nick turned to SCOPE and AUTO. “I want you two to check the basement,” his gaze went to TECH and LINGO, “you two check the second floor,” turning to his right he faced BANG and MED, “I want you two to stay in this area and guard our exit.”  His gaze finally fell to Casey.  “I want you to follow me and we’ll cover this floor.”  He then looked everyone over.  “We meet back here in 15.  Move out.”  

After the last words were spoken, the groups separated, each going to their own designated locations.  Nick didn’t want to admit it to any of the others, but he was relieved Casey gained their approval to join the unit.  Since he was the close quarters expert of the team, GUNNER had always given him cover on the training seminars they were administered.  

He always felt more comfortable knowing he had his back, and after his death, Nick felt anxious.  It wasn’t that he doubted his own abilities, well not entirely, but he learned over time that anything had the possibility of going awry.  And the fact that guns weren’t quite his forte’ didn’t benefit his situation.  He was an expert with hand-to-hand and using any weapon with short-range attacks, but hand him a gun and he would undoubtedly miss his target approximately 85% of the time.  The remaining 15% were only possible due to close range targets.

It was the fact of his skills with close combat, his high physical abilities and stamina, and being able to maintain a clear head in times of need that had saved him.  All of those traits outweighed your clumsiness with a gun, the scientist had said being sure to remind him after every session, proceeding to say any decline would have him booted from the project.  He was never told what would happen next, only assumed he would disappear like the other failures of project 9.

When everyone separated, he looked back to Casey, nodding to her as they began to move on with their search.

Casey took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before following Nick’s cool form.  Normally she would feel more relaxed on a scouting mission.  The probability of someone jumping out and ambushing her team was always likely, however they were always human attackers.  Not these reddened monstrosities with sightless faces and massive claws capable enough to rip someone’s flesh and bones with ease.  Her hands tensed around the gun’s handle she had to her left hip, the nozzle pointed downward. Looking to her left and right she strained to hear any sounds over their footsteps echoing through the eerily quiet lobby.

Their first destination was the main office roughly 10 paces from the entrance doors.  Nick glanced back to her, giving a nod before placing his hand to the knob, his knife held out next to the other with the blade turned down, it’s serrated edges pointed out.  The handle rattled under his turning hand, yet didn’t open.

Nick turned towards her.  “It’s still locked from our first check.”  His gaze fell to the hall to his right then to his left.  “Any suggestions on where to head next?”  

Casey turned more to her left, pointing her gun to the two large opened doors further in the back across the main hall.  “Shouldn’t we check the gym first?”

Nick followed her gaze, puzzled.  After their last check throughout the building, they had closed and locked every door, just as they had with the main office.  Just as they had with every building they surveyed. 

“Damn…” he said lowly, as he moved ahead of Casey, the two of them edging closer to the two large doors.  The sunlight streamed through the opened doors, flooding the hall in visible light.  

Nick silently cursed himself for overlooking the light in this darkness.  He remembered what he and the others had learned from back at the hospital.  One of those creatures had broken a doorknob to a room they had previously locked.  Without a doubt, the 10s were doing the same thing here. 

Once close enough, they hastened their strides to the doorway, Casey going to the left hand side of the doorway while Nick went to the right.  The two flattened their backs up against the wall, checking the surrounding hall carefully to ensure it was still empty.  So far, nothing came lurking around any corners, no gunshots could be heard from either of the two teams.  Everything was quiet. 

So what was it that they had seen outside?  Surely with the amount of time spent inside this building, one of the teams would have found a trace of that mysterious figure that had been seen sneaking around outside.

Unless, it is in the gym.  Nick thought to himself dully before giving the signal for them to enter. 

He entered first, Casey following shortly after at his heels.  They only took a few short steps inside the large room when awe stricken terror hit them.  

The room was filled with reddened embryos that dripped dark-colored mucus to the wooden floor, emanating a nauseating sporadic drip throughout the room.  The sacs lined the walls towards the back of the room where the embryos had been layered on one another as they stretched up towards the ceiling, engulfing the wall behind with the oozing red, glistening coating that secured the embryos in place.

“Damn.”  Nick said lowly stepping forward, taking in the scene with shock.  “I can’t believe this was made in just a few days.”

Casey turned towards the doors to check their backs, her breath catching in her throat at what she saw.  Swallowing down the lump of air in her throat, she took a step back towards Nick, tapping his shoulder her gaze still set before her.  “Look.”

Turning he followed her gaze, overcome by what he saw.  On either sides of the large double doors were more of the sacs.  However, these were empty, void of the reddened color, the mucus long since dried, leaving a crusted off-white tint over the sacs and floor beneath.

Nick looked to her before glancing over the room entirely. Though the sacs moved in slight pulsing motion, nothing else seemed to move.  If this was the nest, wouldn’t the adults want to protect it?  

“Casey, follow me.”  He ordered.

Casey followed him out of the room and into the hall where they immediately rejoined MED and BANG at the front doors.  Nick explained the situation at once.

MED and BANG met gazes for a moment before BANG spoke.  “Would you like for me to start setting the charges MELEE?”  He questioned stepping forward.  “I can have these things flying in a matter of seconds.”

“Yes,” Nick began looking to him, “You do that but do it through a detonator and not a timer.  We still aren’t sure what the others found.”  He watched as Bang gave a silent nod before heading off to start his work.  His gaze fell to MED and Casey once more.  “MED you follow him.  Once he’s finished, we will regroup.  Our 15 minutes is about up.”

Though they spoke their agreements, Nick barely heard them.  Something was bothering him about their current situation that he just couldn’t put his finger on.  In any case, whatever it was would become clear eventually.  He only hoped it wasn’t anything that he would come to regret.