บท 8: Chapter 8
Doctor Barker arranged a series of scalpels and a surgical saw and drill on a metal tray while the nurse filled three syringes full with ketamine. The morphine they tried only made matters worse as their assistant was decapitated before he could get the needle out. "Doctor are you sure this will sedate him?" "Not at all. But we have to try. Fill two more syringes and then meet me downstairs. Doctor Barker approached the sink and washed his hands. There was a small spot of blood on his glasses and coat though he paid no mind to it and snapped on a pair of blue medical gloves before picking up the tray and making his way downstairs. Nurse Hodder opened a drawer and pulled out a case of empty tranquilizer darts and injected as much of each needle into each. She filled all eight darts and still had a full syringe left over. In the corner locked to a rack was the tranq gun. It looked like a sniper rifle though a lot smaller and lighter. Pam had always been accustomed to firearms, though this was the first time on this job she had to use one. She loaded the gun as loud howls filled the building coming from the basement. "Nurse!" The Doctor called up the stairs sounding distressed. With the needle in one hand and the gun hanging over her shoulder by a strap, Pam brushed her pitch black hair aside as she descended the stone steps one by one, passing torches along the downward winding staircase. Furious deep barks filled the cold staircase around her causing her to consider maybe this wasn't such a good job.
"Ahh, good you're here." Stone walls and a dirt floor surrounded them. Torches lined the walls symmetrically down the room. The intense howl filled the air again as the massive monstrosity that was Delton just twenty minutes ago lurched forward with its claws to try and break the doctors neck but it was no use as it was stopped by heavy chains that burnt its wrists. A clean silver chain locking each arm in place. Its bloodshot eyes darted around the room as it tried to figure a way out of its confinement. "Easy officer Delton, We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The beast locked its bloodshot yellow eyes on the doctor and tried to lunge it's head forward snapping its jaws like a heaving bear trap, just barely out of reach of the doctor had he not taken a quick step back. "Nurse." Pam nodded and raised the tranq gun firing five darts of ketamine into the creature. It reached out for the doctor with it's claws one more time before falling limp. The black and red flag of the Nocturnis Infernis hanging above him blew from the draft coming through the basement window above it.
Cole swung the door open and climbed out of the car, dropping the tech nine in the dark sludge and climbed up the ladder, nearly slipping as the horrific growl turned into a demonic cacophony of screams, growls, barks and roars. The tunnel shook again as something massive moved "Arnold Come on!" Arnold wasted no time climbing over the seats and out the passenger door. There was a massive hulking writhing shape behind the rubble where their car had practically plummeted front end first into the sewer. Cole reached out his arm and Arnold grabbed on, the unnatural sounds pursued them as they opened the metal door at the other end ran inside and slammed it, spinning the wheel lock on the other side of the door that luckily for them, was unlocked. "Run!" a long steel grated platform was laid out in front of them. Just barely above the disgusting sewage. The walls shook and the steel door pounded. Cole and Arnold made their way quickly across the grates as hanging dim bulbs hung above them. Dust and dirt filled the musty smelly tunnel. They didn't want to stop to see what it was but it sounded massive.
Another door was up ahead next to a downward runoff tunnel to their right. Arnold slammed into the door as whatever was chasing them crashed through the grates and was sloshing towards them through the thick waste letting out hungering cries. "Shit it's locked!" Arnold yelled trying to pry it open to no use. "This way!" Cole yelled hopping the railing down the shallow concrete runoff. Arnold took one look at the creature before jumping off behind his friend without hesitation. Eight yellow eyes locked on the officers as they slid and descended deeper into the bowels of Amber. The creature tried to chase but the runoff tunnel was too thin. It's body was colossal. And limbs protruded all wrong. Clawed arms and legs all bursting from a thick mass of sopping wet pitch black fur. Arnold and Cole panicked and screamed as they slid down the tunnel like a vile concrete water slide.
The opening was up ahead and the two crashed into still silent water with a single bulb hanging off the roof next to another concrete landing with a rusted red ladder hanging off it. "This way, come on." Cole grunted in pain, Arnold dislocated his shoulder when he hit the bottom of the water and clutched it in pain as Cole helped him stand. "You okay?" Cole asked? "I should be asking you that." Arnold said with a chuckle as he straightened his arm and took a deep breath, before slamming it into the concrete, re-aligning with a loud crack. "What the hell is that thing?" Arnold said through gritted teeth as pain flared up his arm into the rest of his body. "I think I know." The ground, the walls and the ceiling above them all shook loudly. "Last night while I was driving the sheriff shot the hell out of four of those things, then tossed a grenade onto their carcasses before they could heal. Lotta fuckin good that did." "They survived the day?" "Arnold I know what you're getting at and no I do not want to know what that looked like an hour ago. There's enough unnatural shit going on in this town right now that it might actually drive me fucking insane to think about where those monsters came from or how they fused together after being blown to pieces. How good do you think our chances are against something, that our best bet is to blow the fuck up and run away before it gets up?" Cole felt like he was losing it, his heart raced as thoughts of what that was pushed and pushed to the front of his mind. He could visualise it too, those things blown to a pile of meat and bone trying to reform but failing from just how decimated the bodies were. So they fused and twisted and did what they could to survive. Become one. It somehow got down to the sewer and healed more, grew more. Found a more desirable form, somehow this was it. "They aren't the best chances but we gotta try, now come on. Get up this ladder." Arnold spoke as he struggled up the ladder with his arm feeling like it was on fire. Cole just stared blankly at the ladder with a horrid vision of four human people he might have known being painfully fused together and crawling down to the sewer to survive chilled his blood. "Come on Cole." "Right." He muttered, grabbing the ladder and making a pained ascent.
Meanwhile at the station, Francis Callahan and Ben Aster were in Ben's office, discussing their plan to raid the Nocturnis Infernis compound north of town. "Don't worry, they'll be back soon." Ben addressed the situation. They were waiting for Cole and Arnold. The rest of the police force has either left town or was dead. "They better, we've been waiting all day for your men to be ready Sheriff, now I'm starting to think you just don't want to come." "That isn��t it Francis and you know that. I just Don't want to lose anyone else tonight, You know as well as I do what happened last time. A couple more men could make all the difference tonight." "I still don't like this sheriff." "They're always waiting during the day, Francis. Watching for anyone that gets too close but at night they wouldn't expect us. They're off doing whatever it is they do when they aren't watching their precious walls and that's when we hit em hard and fast.
Francis had a map of the forest laid out. The compound was deep in the northeast region of the forest though not on the map. Francis circled its location. "eight o'clock Sheriff, two hours from now.. Not a moment later." "Don't worry Francis, how are your men doing?" "They're scared Ben, everyone is." Francis let out a sigh as he and Ben stood from their seats. Francis folded up the map when suddenly everything shook. "What the hell is going on?" the old man yelled backing into the corner. "I don't know, some kind of earthquake! Take cover!"
Francis took cover under the large table with the map. "Are you crazy, sheriff!? Get down!" Francis called as Ben threw open the door with struggling balance before the quake suddenly stopped. "What the fuck was that!?" one of the men from the lobby called and Ben made his way down the stairs with Francis catching up behind him. "Sheriff what was that?" What sounded at first like a loud heavy engine revving from a distance away quickly deepened and smoothed in pitch to an eerie howl. Lydia, Sarah and all of Francis Callahan's militia backed away from the windows with their guns raised. Whatever made the disturbing noise couldn't be seen. And a moment later it dulled out entirely before another small quake erupted beneath them as a symphony of monstrous howls and roars signaled the beginning of a hunt outside. Everyone remained silent with their guns ready.
Cole and Arnold limped along a metal grated path hanging above an unknown height and a dark chasm. "Come on, we can get into the station through a hatch in the basement." the hanging light bulbs above them shook with every monstrous step that thing made in the distance, sounding more enraged the longer it searched and pursued them. It's four heads, scanning its surroundings with a haunting persistence as the arms and legs in it's back twitched and writhed with each step. When it heard the officers voices in the distance it snarled and pushed through the deep sewage towards its prey. "It's just a little further." Cole grunted Holding himself up with the wall with each step he took. "Look." Arnold said as he caught up to Cole and pointed at a small rusted sign that read, 'Police station runoff' ignoring the deep shrieks coming from behind them. The room shook after he spoke. It found them.
Arnold turned and fired his gun several times before he and Cole made a break for the rusted ladder ahead of them. The thing hit the steel grate and the suspension broke under it's weight. Cole grabbed the ladder and made his way up slowly as the werewolf abomination pulled itself up with muscular arms and began making its way towards them walking slowly along the grate as the two officers struggled up the ladder.
Eight yellow eyes stared them down as the four snarling mouths opened and dripped bloody foam. Cole reached the top and pushed at the heavy manhole that led into the station. "Come on damn it!" Cole smashed his shoulder into the heavy iron and felt it move. "Hurry up!" Arnold called right behind him. The metal grates cracked and shook as the creature carefully moved closer along the grates that creaked beneath the abominations weight. Cole smashed into it again heaving the heavy iron screaming in agony as he heaved the rusted iron that dug into his neck and threw it to his side and pulled himself up. Cole turned and reached for Arnold. The monstrous creature was right below him Cole grabbed his arm and pulled. Arnold let out a horrified scream as he looked down and saw two of the creature's heads were tearing into his legs. "Cole help me!" Arnold cried out in pain as the third head launched forward around Arnolds torso and crunched hard causing his mouth and nose to erupt in blood. "Help m-" Arnold was cut off before he could finish the sentence as he was ripped downward and presumably devoured in the dark sewers below. his torn hand still in Cole's grip. Cole screamed, dropped the hand and rolled the cover over the hole and ran for his goddamn life through the dark concrete basement. He ran for the stairwell as the ground beneath him shook violently before ceasing for an ominously long time.
"Guns ready, boys." Francis said to his men who were watching the basement door, aiming their rifles at the wooden door for one of those things to burst through the other side, the earthquakes had gotten closer and worse before ceasing all together directly below the building. They heard heaving coming from the other side. "Get ready.��� Francis ordered. "Open the goddamn door!" Cole screamed. "Whoa guns down, Get that open now!" Francis ordered and the hunters that made up his militia obeyed. Cole fell through the door covered in blood as soon as it opened. "We need to get out of the station! It isn't safe!" He was completely frantic and looked half insane. "Cole what happened where's Arnold?" Ben asked. "That thing got him!" "One of the creatures? Gerald?" Abe asked as he pushed through the crowd. "No! It was like a bunch of them fucking melted together! The ones last night Sheriff, the ones that chased us before getting blown to bits." Cole was loud and disoriented in his explanation. "It's just as I thought, they're losing control of the curse." Abe explained as he helped Cole to his feet. "Sheriff it's time." Francis said looking over at Ben. The sheriff nodded in agreement. Cole grabbed one of six rifles laid out on a table in the lobby and grabbed it, slammed one of the magazines into the gun and cocked it as the thunderous steps below the building boomed. "Everybody move! Outside to the trucks! Stay close and keep your guard up!." Francis ordered like a military sergeant and the men and women flowed out of the door guns ready and flowed to the trucks watching all directions as distant howls filled the chilly air of the open streets. The trucks started and the townspeople flowed into the backs of the trucks with their guns shaking in cold grips. Cole Abe and Ben got in a police cruiser and followed the trucks. Cole sat in the back of the car shaking. Muttering something about Arnold and whatever it was that killed him.
When the engines started it drew attention fast. Ben had given Francis and his people police radios to communicate. Ben radioed Francis at the front of the row of trucks. "Francis, it's Ben here, those things are watching. Don't stop to try and shoot any unless they try anything. They are being ordered not to kill us." "Ordered by who?" Ben looked across to Abe who wore a worried look. "Gerald. We think It's Gerald controlling them. He's gonna be out here too. He will undoubtedly attack, maybe even shoot." "We'll keep an eye out, Sheriff." Francis responded through the radio, Followed by the other two drivers responding to the warning with a simple "Roger that." They were heading east and Ben was right they were being watched. At least a dozen creatures watching from the rooftops. Their mere outline and the glint of their distant yellow eyes gave them away. The people in the trucks were terrified, staying as low as possible aiming every gun at the creatures but reminded themselves not to fire. As Francis reiterated Ben's warning to the other truck drivers and the drivers to the passengers. "What the hell is my son planning?" Abe said in a worried tone. The ground started to shake again. It was coming from far behind the car and pickup trucks and catching up slowly.
Beneath the streets a large abomination driven mad from it's reformation was listening not to the hive mind orders from the shifted one, who was ordering the survivors to be watched, while they lead the shifted, his kin to the worshippers in the woods. It listened from beneath the streets in the sopping half frozen sewage and trudged along to the sound of the distant engines. To rip and tear their vehicles to pieces, to split their bones and drink their blood. The abomination needed to feed. It was four fused into one, though the hunger of the four grew into an insatiable rage to follow and devour anything it heard, it's mind was a twisted mess four separate minds blended and molded together with no clear focus but rage and hunger. It picked up pace as it followed the sound of the trucks. It reached a dark chasm where the sewage flowed into darkness and turned back. To find a new route to pursue its prey.
The trucks came to a stop at the edge of the snowy road. Francis pulled out his map and got out of the truck. "Everybody stay close! We go in here!" The militia filed out of the trucks as Abe, Cole and Ben joined Francis at the front of the crowd. "Let's get moving." Ben said readying his gun. Cole stood behind him, shaking and darting his eyes around while clutching one of the hunting rifles close to his chest. Everyone could tell something was wrong with Cole but making him wait would be a death sentence. "Cole are you gonna be okay?" "What do you mean? I'm fine. Let's get moving before the big one finds us." "the thing that got Arnold?" "it was like a fucking nightmare. We can't stop it long enough to get away like the others, if it finds us we're as good as dead."
Cole said scratching the back of his neck as he stepped through the bushes below the treeline. "Slow down kid!" Francis called after him, turning on his flashlight and going in after him with the hunters. "Jesus, he's a wreck sheriff." Abe said shaking his head as he too stepped into the dark treeline with the sheriff who ran ahead to find Cole and Francis. Abe stayed near the rear with Lydia, Sarah and the other hunters. As they made their way through the dark snowy forest. "Cole!" Ben called catching up to Cole who looked like he was standing a hundred feet in the air the way his legs were shaking. A small quake shook the ground coming from ahead, deeper into the forest. Followed by a much larger quake and a loud metal screech put everyone on their guard. "It found us, sheriff. We gotta get out of here." "Get a hold of yourself, Officer Winters. We have a job to do." Cole straightened up and took a deep breath. Everytime he closed his eyes he could see Arnold being pulled into the jaws of that living embodiment of all that was evil. Francis and his soldiers caught up with Abe walking slowly behind. He loaded something else into his gun and snapped the chamber shut on the small thirty eight before sticking it in his deep coats pocket. He approached Ben and Cole who were also lagging behind the tight formation. "We're gonna get through this… One step at a time." he said with a nod to Cole before lighting a smoke. Ben lit one too. And walked along Abe with Cole close behind as they walked to the front of the group to find Francis. The wind howled as loud as the creatures once the moonlight could no longer penetrate the blackness of the forest that chilled them more with each step.
"Francis I've got something over here." Called a man named Hector Ruise. "What is it?" Francis responded. Making a line right for Hector who wore a red plaid jacket. Mentally Francis felt ten years younger, He felt like he was back in the war, leading a squad. Responsible for each and every man and woman he led in and out of death's grip one time after another until he became too old according to everyone else. "Tracks Mister Callahan." "Cultists?" The mister took him back a little. "Could be, sure isn't one of those things." Hector muttered examining what looked to be a long trail of boot prints that the hunters were shining their lights on. "It looks like a trap. Everyone stay close and on your guard. From here on, turn your lights off." Francis ordered. "What? Why?" Hector questioned as Abe, Ben and the others turned off their lights. "Because if the Nocturnis Infernis see us they will shoot us dead on the spot." "But what about those things?" Francis let out a sigh and lowered his gun as he responded to Hector in a whisper. "They already see us Hector." Francis held his rifle in one hand and pointed to a tree. A shadow with beaming yellow lights staring down at them from high up disappeared before Hector could raise his gun or let out a noise. "I never look a gift horse in the mouth Hector, even if it is a damn monster." Francis said leading the way with his hunting rifle ready in both hands as they followed the tracks through the snowy darkness.
They started to descend into a dark valley after what felt like an hour. The snow and wind picked up and the hunters felt like they were descending a small mountain. With thick oak trees all around them. The descended all the way into the valley, Francis checked his compass and they were still north, the tracks were beginning to get covered but luckily there were plenty to follow. When they reached the bottom they had either reached a clearing covered in snow or a frozen lake as the prints simply vanished. The wind and snow blew too hard to see the other side but there was a faint light coming from the other side. Ben Abe and Cole all caught up to Francis before they did anything else. "It's Lake Vermin. A manmade lake the cultists hid bodies here and the mayor approved this to be where the city sewage goes." Abe said taking a puff off his cigarette. "You mean… this leads into the sewers?" Cole asked shakily before the ground shook around them like back at the police station. Something was close. "We need to run now!" Cole called as he took off to the right of the lake in a sprint. He turned and yelled before disappearing into the trees around the lake. "What the hell?" Francis said as the earth shook again. "Francis he's right lets go!" a bright yellow glow was coming off the snow. "Everyone, Francis, Ben follow Cole! Somethings coming." Abe called as he pulled out the small thirty eight revolver and held it in his hands.
"It's time to test this little theory." the old man said with a whisper. "Everybody, flank the right of the lake and find Officer Winters!" The militia and Francis took off fast. "Abe what the hell are you doing?!" "My part Mister Callahan!" Abe yelled, standing at the edge of the quaking lake that cracked and erupted with sewage as the lights grew more focused before splitting into eight. Abe opened the cylinder again and looked at the backs of the silver rounds before slamming it. "Go!" Abe called to Francis who looked like he already lost the war. "We can't leave you behind!" Francis called. "I'm an old man, I'll slow you down! If I make it, I'll find you now go!" Abe screamed with a fierce intensity as the ice cracked. Francis looked to the backs of his men and the dark outline of the sheriff and his hat before making his choice. Francis readied his gun and ran to Abe and took aim at the lake as a geiser of filthy sludge burst forth filling the air with a frozen stench of shit and mold. "Shit god fucking damn it!" Ben cursed as he raced to the front of the militia that raced around the lake as monstrous cries and unnatural screams filled the air with a flurry of gunshots that went on for what felt like forever in the distance behind them before falling silent along with whatever was coming from beneath the vile lake Vermin.
Up ahead was a massive stone wall with a padlocked door. The militia stopped outside the unlit concrete building. "Okay Everybody. Francis probably made this clear but I need to clarify, we aren't here to arrest anybody. Our town is done being a victim to their terror." The next words out of Ben's mouth shook his stone like will. He became a sheriff to protect people and make them feel safe, too many have died and he was ready and willing to add more to that just to end it. was that wrong? "Kill everyone inside." This was the one and only time this could be the right thing to do, it didn't feel wrong. Ben pulled his forty four and shot the lock off the door. Ben knew there was no other way and swallowed his feelings. More would die if they didn't make this stand here and now. All the gun mounted lights turned on and the mob flowed inside. Ben watched the shadows, two men went in first, they appeared to be waiting with their lights low to the left and right of the door. Ben rushed in behind them and felt the air whiz around him as the men were hit with a flurry of crossbow bolts. One grazed Ben's cheek cutting a scar into his dark beard.
Ben dived to the ground and fired into the darkness and with each flash he saw another set of black and red robes, their abominable skull masks taking aim through heavy hunting crossbows before Ben put them on the ground one by one as the militia flowed in behind him and opened fire with semi automatic hunting rifles, the flashlights filled the blinding darkness and when they fired the thunderous gunfire must have alerted the rest of the outpost. The masked and robed figures fell to the ground in a pile of blood, flesh, cloth and weapons. Deep monstrous howls filled the air outside, the creatures, all of them. Had found what they were looking for. "Everybody inside! Move!" Ben called looking back to the doorway and saw the militia fighting something off outside. Firing ahead of them until they were all inside, Hector Ruize was dragged inside by Lydia and Sarah, one of his legs was missing. When the last man and woman were inside one of the hunters barred the door with a piece of a rifle that had somehow been cut in half in the encounter. The orchestra of howls that sung outside, were calling their master.
Ben got to his feet, There was no sign of Francis or Abe. Cole was frantically reloading his rifle while Lydia and Sarah were wrapping bandages around Hector's knee to stop the bleeding with little progress, he was losing blood fast as his conscious mind faded to a cold blackness. "Sheriff, what do you want us to do?" A hunter named Olivia covered head to toe in camouflage asked. "Spread out. Secure the building." "We're on it sheriff. Everyone pair off and split up!" "Why are all the damn lights off?" Cole asked, stepping further down the dark strange hallway with tile floor and bare concrete walls. "They were waiting for us. Those things were following us here too. This was a trap from every angle." "So now what?!" Sarah yelled, kicking one of the cultists' corpses. Her leg soaked in blood when she pulled it back.
Olivia led ten of the remaining twenty hunters up the stairs, while a hunter named Jed led the others down the stairs. "Be careful, we don't know what's in this place." Ben called after them. Jed and Olivia were both met with similar sights on the second floor as well as in the basement. The entire building was dense concrete with little lights ahead of them except for a caged red. "I don't like this Jed," said a man named Mike Daniels who was behind Jed. The basement was pitch black aside from the glow of the caged red light. A large metal door was creaked open beneath it. "Stay on your guard." Jed said, raising his Gun. He approached slowly and creaked it open with the gun, aiming his light into the room. Two large fish tanks were on either side of the square concrete room with a disgusting smelling yellow liquid permeating from the tanks. In the middle was a table with a note and candle beside it, Everyone made the mistake of following Jed inside the room. One floor above, Sarah pushed open a metal door and saw a row of video surveillance monitors. One screen showed Jed and his team while on another Olivia was creaking open a large similar door. Only instead of the strange liquid tanks there was a single podium in the middle. The walls to Olivia's left and right were lined with massive metal plates. She didn't like the look of it one bit., similarly lit with a dripping wax candle and a small piece of paper with something attached to it.
"Everyone I found something!" Sarah called as Ben, Lydia and Cole ran to the door. "What are these cameras for?" Cole pondered out loud. The two rooms with Olivia and Jed were dark but the cameras weren't positioned on any one thing in particular, hell all the other rooms weren't even lit. "Where did they all go? There's no sign of those freaks anywhere. Sheriff you don't think they bated us in here do you?" as Ben further examined the monitors one thing stuck out on each. The only things in the camera's focus were the candle and note. When Ben realized what was happening it was too late, as Jed lifted the note he felt a tug at the back. It was connected to a tripwire that broke when he picked it up. The metal door they came through slammed shut just as Ben's voice, practically screamed "Get out of th-" before being silenced by the metal door. "What the fuck is this?" one of the men said, kicking the door. Jed turned his head to the tanks and heard two plopping noises and saw glass beakers sink to the bottom as a green fluid bubbled and mixed with the bitter smelling fluid before turning into a steam that filled the air. Jed covered his mouth with his jacket as the bitter gas filled the air. Along with screams and the blurry burning sight of the other hunters coughing blood and choking, a few were banging on the door before they slumped to the ground. Jed felt his lungs burning and filling with blood. He took a single step before crashing helplessly to the ground with a hand outstretched to the door. Ben heard cries for help that turned to groans before falling silent altogether. He turned and ran, maybe there was enough time to warn Olivia and the others. He heaved catching his breath going two steps at a time as he rushed past everyone on the main floor in the camera room and went straight for the second floor staircase. He was practically breathless as he reached the top.
Less than twenty feet ahead of him Olivia reached for the note. "Get out of there! Hurry!" Ben cried out feet from the door. He grabbed the metal to pull it open, to see Olivia Reaching for the note as a small mechanical noise rung. Unlike Jed she read the note which triggered a similar mechanism. It said in scrawled messy letters just like the one Jed dropped when the chaos started, "Woe to the Vanquished" A tripwire cut from the back of parchment as it lifted and the door was ripped out of Ben's grasp as it shut and locked. "No!" Ben screamed as he slammed the door. "Sheriff what's happening?" "I Don't know some kind of trap! Stay calm, I'll get you out of there!" Ben pulled his gun and looked at the door, there was no lock to shoot, every piece of the door looked like solid iron. Inside the room, the large metal plates began to slowly close in on the room. The hunters all screamed not knowing what to do. "I'll find a way to release the door! Stay calm!" Ben turned and ran back for the staircase. Descending the stairs as quickly as he could. 'Maybe the security room has a release. I've gotta find a way to get them out!' Ben told himself as he rushed back to the security room. "Everyone look for a release switch! A button or something to open this!"
Ben gave the order but there was little they could do. The security monitors didn't even have keyboards. They were just set up to watch. There was nothing they could do and there were no more grenades to even blow the door off its hinges. Ben frantically checked rooms with his gun ready for anything, the rumbling of the closing metal walls shook the compound, Which was all but completely empty. Each door he opened was a bare concrete floor. The cultists were clearly ready to turn their home into a giant deathtrap. And cleaned out any evidence before so, further drilling in to Ben that this was a trap from the start. There weren't even any more cultists then the ones they killed to get inside. They were bait. Five doors Ben kicked in before he heard a gunshot, one of the hunters shot himself with his rifle as the walls closed in on him. Olivia closed her eyes with tears as she thought of her missing husband and son she intended to find here, the screams around her intensified in horror and agony. She kept her eyes closed and clutched the cross around her neck as she felt the metal touching both of her shoulders and tightening. The blissful memories filled her mind as she let out a tear, stuck her gun into her mouth and fired.
The compound shook hard as the walls pressed together hard crushing everything in the room. It was a hopeless slaughter just like last time. Ben walked back to the security room. His hands shaking in anger, there was nothing they could do but try to escape with their lives. "Come on we need to find another way out. They followed the maze like compound. It appeared the upper and lower floors only had the trapped rooms. Everything else was just a trick to make the building look bigger. The first floor was where all the rooms were. Ben looked around, he couldn't believe everyone was dead, it happened so fast, if he was a little more apprehensive and less cautious he and everyone with him would probably be dead on the ground in one of those trap rooms. "What's that?" Cole called out making the others jump from the dead silence being broken. He pointed a shaky finger at a caged green light hanging over another door at the end of the hall. "It has to be another trap." Ben muttered to Cole. "Stay behind me. I'll check." Ben said not wanting to send anyone else to their deaths.
He walked ahead of them and when he reached the creaked open metal door he felt a breeze from the other side. The massive iron door had similar locks to the others. Ben readied his gun and looked back at the others for a moment to collect his thoughts before pulling the door open. There was a bare clearing as snow fell from the sky, several tire tracks skittered off in different directions. They set the traps and left. Above he spotted the poorly hidden spies. One of the dark monstrous creatures sat high in a tree, it's yellow eyes locked on him the second he opened the door, But still for some reason it made no attempt to attack him, its yellow eyes watched his every step but still nothing. Ben knew what was going on now. The Nocturnis Infernis didn't set the traps for the hunters, but these monsters. And they watched as they set off every trap and found nothing. "You happy you god forsaken sonofabitch?!" Ben yelled, pulling his gun and aiming it at the dark watcher. It didn't move, it only bared its teeth and leaned forward as if to grin and mock him. Ben fired puncturing its dark fur before leaping off into the darkness making a noise much like a hyenas laugh. They were enjoying this. The others rushed outside at the sound and once they were all standing in the cold snow, the light above the door turned red and it slammed shut behind them. "What was all this sheriff?" Cole asked as Ben stared off into the distant northern woods.a plume of grey smoke was coming from further ahead. "Exactly what it looked like. A death trap." "I guarantee that smoke over there is the real deal. We thought this place was the real compound because they were always out here, people saw them come and go here. Not over there." Ben deduced as he pointed to the far trail of smoke.
They made their way further north as the wind and snow blew harder and faster. They couldn't even hear anything besides the wind as the now small group trudged through snow staying along the treeline to avoid being spotted, not that it mattered. Ben and Cole felt like this was just a sick game to both the monsters and the cultists. They felt like helpless pawns with nowhere to go but forward. Sarah and Lydia were terrified and on edge but both keeping their composure as they quickly reached the same conclusion as Cole and the Sheriff that this was all just a game to the powers that be. The tire tracks were buried from the snow. Ben was fairly certain where the smoke was coming from. A coal mine that had been closed down from multiple cave ins was roughly the same direction. He could hardly believe that the entire building they thought was the real compound was just a sham to lure god only knows how many people to their doom.
"Sheriff get down!" Cole raised a shaky hand and put it on the sheriffs shoulder, stopping him. "There, in the tree. Another trap. Above were several branches sharpened like curved bent stakes held in place leading down from it was a wire hidden in the snow. Ben's boot was just touching the wire when Cole noticed. "They could have the whole forest around that place rigged with traps." Cole chattered and shook as he spoke "Shit." Ben whispered as he let out a breath slowly backing up. He looked around and above for more traps. They continued around the trap and continued to make their way to the smoke, they would likely freeze to death if they tried to turn back for the trucks. There was no going back. As the shaft came into view deep in the trees. A trail of light drawn across the tracks from presumably an oil lantern. A horrified cry filled the air around them as they closed in on the side of the small mountain the mineshaft led into. Ben, Cole, Sarah and Lydia all had their guns ready as they wasted no time escaping the frozen forest for the well lit tunnel, still being mindful of tripwires or snares that could be waiting to trigger some horrible device.
In the distance, the group was being watched not by the monsters but by another of Gerald Wilhems agents. Gerald gave him orders, follow the militia to the outpost, Benny caught and disposed of two of the cultists snooping around the cabin using what Gerald showed him. The first he killed with a machete. As he was about to decapitate the other he felt a telepathic message from Gerald. "Use it." his deep voice rang in Benny's mind. He knocked the second cultist to the ground and felt his arm combust in a horrific pain before wrapping a leathery tendril around the last cultists throat bringing her to her feet as Benny's mouth dislocated and crunched in a moment of pain. His jaw became like a snake, his teeth like a bear and as the cultist screamed in terror he chewed threw her neck becoming drenched in the warm blood. It was like blood had a completely different texture, feel and taste. After searching their bodies he found the plan on them. He couldn't believe their compound was just a giant lure like that of an angler fish. The real one hidden, he would have to follow the militia, make sure some of them even survive to lure them to the real hideaway and destroy it so they may not come for Geralds secrets again. Benny held a bloody machete that he pulled from the lost cultists' abominable looking skull mask with a splash of blood before continuing behind the survivors staying deep out of sight as they approached the real hideaway. A mineshaft. "I've got you bastards now." Benny muttered through the bandages that covered his mouth as well as the rest of his body which had been badly burned after the police truck he chased them with caught fire. "And now that I know where you are," Benny raised his hand. "I don't need anyone alive." He snapped his fingers with a chuckle. The creatures responded to the snap with a flurry of howls. The hunt had only just begun.
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