A Night in the Darkness

V. Shadows and Shallows
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Chris was wondering if perhaps this tunnel wasn’t the best choice. The shaft was crude, with dirt walls shaped directly from the earth. It was dimly lit by a runner of lights fixed to the ceiling, some of them flickering, threatening to envelope him in darkness.

The papers in the office had shed an interesting light on things. Apparently, there had been some sort of viral outbreak, in a laboratory under the mansion. Chris had followed every staircase leading downwards, determined to find this lab. Instead, he was in some sort of mineshaft. It wasn’t pleasant. Besides the sound of his own footsteps, and the occasional flickering of a light overhead, there was another noise. A kind of skittering sound.

He wondered if the others were having any luck. Or if they were even alive. He hadn’t seen anyone since his run in with Jill and the Bravo chemist. He hoped to God that they were alright. He had known Jill for a long time, and would be devastated if anything happened to her.

Chris froze as a light went out above him, casting him in darkness. The noise came again, the skittering, like knives on linoleum. He aimed his gun in every direction, unsure where it was coming from exactly. The lights flickered for a moment, and Chris saw something large and black charging towards him in a revolting manner. Then the light was gone, leaving Chris in the dark with the after image of the approaching monstrosity burned into his mind.

He fired round after round, panicking in the dark. The skittering continued in between gunshots, getting alarmingly loud. Chris squeezed off another shot, and the skittering ceased.

He let out a long held breath, checking around his person for a flashlight. He found it and flicked it on, shining it upon whatever it was that he shot. He almost dropped the light when he saw it.

It was a spider. A giant, hairy spider, lying on it’s back, it’s legs curled up towards the ceiling. It was about the size of a St. Bernard dog. A clear ooze trickled from the bullet holes in the abdomen. As Chris watched, something began to crawl from one of the spider’s wounds. A small hairy leg appeared, then another, and another. It was another spider, already the size of a fist.

It forced itself out of the wound. Another followed. Then another. The skittered blindly around in the light of Chris’ flashlight. More and more revealed themselves from the dead one’s corpse. Chris backed away, jumping as he felt himself bump into something behind him.

He turned around to see a tall, muscular man. He wore what looked like a giant gas tank on his back, with a hose leading down to a fixture in his hands. A flamethrower.

“Looks like I got here right on time,” Barry said. He stepped in front of Chris, igniting the flamethrower, fanning the fire to the left and right. The smaller spiders ignited, twitching a moment longer before they assumed the same position as their mother. The flames died out, and Barry stepped over the fried monstrosities to continue down the tunnel, motioning for Chris to follow.

“Come on,” he said. “Before any more show up.”

Chris followed, deciding it was best not to ask any questions, for now.

…

The staircase led them downwards into a dark, dank tunnel. They could hear dripping water echoing throughout the passage. Jill led the way, flashlight in one hand, gun trained ahead with the other. Rebecca followed closely behind, her pistol in hand, pointed at the floor. Neither of them had said a word to each other since they had vacated the office upstairs. Awkward silence ensued.

They reached the end of the tunnel, coming into a large, large room behind a sliding metal door. It was circular, with a giant support beam in the very center. There was a metal, grated walkway against the walls, with a ladder climbing up to a raised platform on the left. It all stood just above the surface of a giant pool. Leaning against the railing of the walkway by the water’s edge, was a man, one arm clutched into himself, the other gripping the rail for support. The two women recognized him instantly.

“Enrico!” Rebecca cried, running towards her team leader. Jill followed at a walk, looking around the room. Something didn’t seem quite right. Rebecca was feet from Enrico before he noticed her coming and screamed at her.

“Get Back!” he shouted. He swung his arm out frantically, causing Rebecca to flinch a bit. Jill had her gun raised, trained on Enrico’s head. Something definitely wasn’t right. He was bleeding horribly, from the chest it looked like. And, despite his efforts to keep them away from him, he still retained his grip on the railing.

“Get out of here!” Enrico cried. “Don’t get close, it’s a trap! He’s going to kill you! He’s go-”

A shot rang out, reverberating throughout the room. Rebecca screamed as she saw a hole appear in Enrico’s forehead, his eyes rolling back as he stumbled. Jill immediately turned towards the source of the shot, the tunnel behind them. She fired, not at all sure if she hit anything. She caught a glimpse of movement, and then it was gone. Whoever, or whatever, it was, it had gotten away.

Enrico stumbled over the railing an fell into the water, immediately staining it a diluted crimson. His hand still remained clasped to the railing, and they could now see that his wrist had actually been handcuffed to it. He was bait.

Rebecca was leaned over the railing, screaming vainly at her deceased commanding officer. He didn’t respond, only continued to color the water with his blood. Jill, rushed towards Rebecca, pulling her forcefully away from the railing. If this had been a trap, then it couldn’t be a good idea to be near the body.

Sure enough, as soon as they were away from the side, they felt the walkway sway under them, as if something in the water below had pushed it. There was a sudden, giant splash before them, a spout of scarlet tinted water gouting up from the surface where Enrico’s body had just been. The splash fell, and Enrico’s arm was still hanging from the railing, dismembered and dripping.

Before the two could even react to the sight, the walkway shook again, harder this time. The two of them were knocked to their feet by the impact. Water was seeping up through the grating, whether from the walkway’s movement, or from a rising water level, Rebecca couldn’t be sure.

The walkway stilled for a moment, and the two of them stood up. Another splash came, and the predator revealed itself. A giant monster leapt from the water and threw itself halfway onto the walkway, smashing the railing beneath it. It was a giant shark. It’s huge mouth opened and closed furiously as it tried to grab a hold of the two women. It was absolutely enormous, so big that it was almost on enough to reach them. The screaming women had to pull their feet away, so that they weren’t caught in the shark’s teeth.

Jill, still screaming at the top of her lungs, fired her pistol into the shark’s face, hitting it in the mouth repeatedly. One shot even found the writhing shark’s eye. It shook about even more furiously, squirming forward inch by inch. There was no question anymore that the water level was indeed rising, giving the shark a better range of movement.

Jill and Rebecca stood up, there back’s now against the sliding door they had come in through. It wouldn’t open. The shark continued to wriggle towards them, and the water level continued to rise. They were now ankle deep.

“This way,” Jill cried, shuffling to her left against the wall. Giving the shark enough berth, they reached the ladder that led up to the raised part of the walkway. They climbed the ladder, the shark tossing itself in their direction as they ascended. The whole top of the platform was covered in some strange rubbery material. Against the railing was a control panel of some sort, and another ladder, this one leading downwards into some sort of shaft under the water. It wasn’t flooded yet, but the water level was still rising.

Rebecca was already checking the control panel. There were strict instructions not to get it wet, printed all along the machine in the warning colors black and yellow. That explained the rubber flooring. The panel controlled the door lock, she deduced. She unlocked it, hearing an airlock type sound as she did so. But they couldn’t reach the door. The platform below was already submerged, and the shark lay upon it, waiting for them. She needed to think. There was always a way out.

Her eyes traveled to the ladder, the one leading downwards into the metallic shaft. She grabbed Jill’s hand.

“Come on,” she said. “I have an idea.” The two of them descended the ladder. It was extremely long, traveling deep under the water. They reached the bottom and observed their new surroundings. It was a submarine control room. There were a number of control panels along the walls, and to their immediate right was a large glass window spanning the entire wall, showing them the inside of the water tank. They could see the shark through the glass, having dived to follow them to this level.

Rebecca checked the control panels, Jill mimicking her. “Look for the water level,” Rebecca said. “There has to be a way to lower it.” As soon as she said this, she heard a sickening crack. The shark was throwing itself against the glass. She could see a faint spider web fracture in the window, growing steadily. The shark retreated, only to come speeding back and throw itself against the glass again.

“Hurry!” Rebecca screamed.

“Got it!” Jill replied almost immediately after. Thank God. There was a clanking sound, and a repeated ringing sound like a fire alarm. The water level was going down. The shark, seeming to realize this, threw itself against the glass again, intensifying the cracks in the glass. Rebecca thought she could see the glass buckle.

“Come on!” It was Jill, already on the ladder and climbing up. Rebecca made to join her, when something caught her eye. Something on the wall. She studied it carefully, knowing it was crucial.

“REBECCA! Come On!” Rebecca snapped out of it and joined Jill on the ladder. The glass was in bad shape, sprays of water shooting from between the cracks. As she climbed, she heard a deafening wrenching sound as the window gave. She climbed faster, sensing the shark just below her.

They reached the top and pulled themselves up onto the grated walkway. Rebecca looked down the shaft. Sure enough, the shark was at the foot of the ladder, the water level rising as the water flooded the control room. That was good, though. The shark couldn’t squeeze up the shaft after them, and the water level of the main pool was going down.

The level, however, was moving very slowly. Even with the control room flooded, the water seemed to hardly move at all. It was like watching a clock, waiting for an hour to pass. The door back into the tunnel they had arrived in was still halfway submerged. How long would it take to go down?

As Rebecca thought all of this, she heard Jill’s voice again.

“Watch out!”

Rebecca turned to see the shark jump out of the water, thrashing in mid air. Rebecca fell backwards onto her rump as the shark tried to steer itself midair, determined to land on their platform. It fell back into the water, only to jump from surface again, getting closer this time. The shark landed on the railing of the walkway and crushed it off, taking it into the water below. It could now easily land on the platform.

Jill stood at the control panel. If they didn’t do something, that shark was going to get up here. She looked around frantically, her eyes catching the control panel. There were warning signs all over it, warning not to get it wet. There were even little pictures, portraying a stick figure getting electrocuted.

Without thinking any further, Jill lifted her foot and kicked the control panel. It swayed a bit. It wasn’t nailed down very well. She kicked it again, feeling it coming looser. The shark jumped up again. It landed on the platform for a moment, making her heart stop. Then it slid off, not enough weight in it’s favor.

Jill gave a final, giant kick that hurt her leg, and the control panel tumbled into the water below. It made a giant splash, followed by a blinding display of sparks, forcing her to look away.

The sparks died down, and Jill lowered her hand from her eyes. The shark was floating in the water, completely motionless. She squeezed off a shot, testing it. The bullet pierced it’s head. There was absolutely no movement. The shark appeared to be dead.

Jill collapsed, sitting down on the rubber mat. She turned to Rebecca, who was also sitting, breathing heavily. The young girl smiled at her weakly as their eyes met.

“Good thinking,” she said, still shaking from adrenaline. Jill nodded and let out a long sigh.

“Yeah,” she said. “You, too.”

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