Chapter 26
The creature thrashes around in chains while the Colonel, Jace, and Travis carry its heavy body inside the Bullseye Room. Even though it’s smaller than most the others we’ve seen, it still weighs a couple hundred pounds. Which would be easy for Travis to carry, but its constant twisting and turning makes it difficult.
When we get inside the empty warehouse its piercing screams vibrate the windows, like they’re going to shatter. While they struggle to carry it, I run past them to get to the hatch door propped open. If we can get the thing lowered into the tunnel, we can take it to the Radio Room. That area will be the most discreet place available to run some tests on this mysterious beast.
Before they can reach the ladder, the alien twists so hard they lose their grip. A loud thud echoes throughout the warehouse when it crashes down onto the cement floor. In an attempt to escape, it tries standing while chained up. Before it can get away, Colonel Kirk Samuels gives it a swift kick to the head. The monstrous being plummets through the hatch door, face planting in the dark tunnel.
I hop down in fear that it will get loose in the tunnel. The chains shake as it whips around erratically. With the others begin stepping down the ladder, I strip off the camouflage coat the Colonel gave me earlier. To prevent it from being able to open its mouth, I wrap the fabric around its face, muffling its distinct scream.
When Jace shuts the hatch door above, the Grey Ones’ screams in the distance go silent. He climbs down the ladder, the last to join the group.
“What now?” He asks.
“Now we carry this thing to the Radio Room.” Colonel Kirk Samuels declares.
Suddenly, a beam of light from down the tunnel disrupts the darkness. It blinds me for a second before lowering. The light becomes shaky as it illuminates the alien’s skin.
“They did it! They actually did it!” The voice yells from behind the flashlight. “They brought back a Grey One!”
Multiple gasps surround us when others begin popping out of different rooms. Eyes glued to the monster before them, everyone whispers back and forth to one another. The Colonel makes a clearing in the tunnel and leads the way to the Radio Room, where Katie awaits. When we first arrived at the warehouse, she and Chris ran ahead to set up for the tests. They wanted to ensure that we had the room completely to ourselves.
As we push past the crowd, more curious survivors join in the tunnel to see what all the commotion is about. I follow closely behind Travis and Jace, my pistol aimed at the chained prisoner. I’m not taking any chances with these monsters.
When the Colonel reaches the hidden door, he pounds three times on the brick wall. After a few seconds, the door opens and Billy is standing in front of us. Behind him, Heather is fumbling with the ham radio at the table. When she looks up at us, she jumps to her feet and gasps.
“What is that doing in here?” She shouts angrily.
The guys ignore her and toss the creature on the table. It flails in a crazed manner, its black eyes refusing to blink. When it twists its head back, focusing on Heather, it stops moving. Heavy breaths force its chest up and down as it continues to zone in on her.
“I’m taking some samples, I told you to leave.” Katie replies.
She was so quiet I hadn’t realized she was there. I stare at her as she reaches for a white box sitting on the shelves behind the table. Beside her, Chris is grabbing a pair of latex gloves.
“You should probably go. That thing looks pretty interested in eating you alive.” I add bluntly. When I step up to the table, I realize the Grey One is still focused on her completely. “Or stay. I honestly couldn’t care less if it did.”
“What’s your problem?” Heather asks, focusing her attention on me.
“I don’t like you.” I reply bluntly.
It becomes even more apparent that I’m not the only one who doesn’t trust her when Cano towards her, baring his white sharp teeth. His body becomes tense, and a growl rises from his throat.
Heather narrows her brown eyes on me. When she opens her mouth to reply, the Colonel cuts her off. “Isabelle is right. You and Billy both need to get out of here.”
“But,” She spits out, her face flushed red.
“Out Heather.” Colonel Kirk Samuels sounds angry. Turning to Billy he adds, “You too.”
“Yes, sir.” Billy replies immediately. He snatches his ham radio from the table and stuffs it inside of his backpack sitting on the floor.
Heather glares at me when she walks past. She looks like she wants to say something else, but stops herself. Once they’re both gone, I shut the brick door. It scrapes until sealing completely. As I join everyone at the table, all four men hold down the monstrous being. Katie steps up to the table with a shot in hand. She sticks the needle in its thick neck and forces a clear liquid into its bulging vein. It only takes a couple of minutes for the alien’s tense muscular body relaxes.
It’s unconscious now.
“That’s interesting.” Katie says quietly, her fingers pressed against its protruding veins.
“What?” I reply as she touches other veins.
“I can feel the blood moving through its veins. The blood is oddly… warm.” She says, fascinated.
We all stare at her as she inspects its tough exterior. She starts at the feet, whispering to herself random notes while she works her way up. When she reaches its pointy ears, she pauses. With a puzzled expression, she leans in.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I’m not sure.” Katie mutters. She twists to the side, and digs through the white box. Returning with a pair of skinny tweezers, she carefully inserts it inside of its ear. When she pulls them back out, they’re clamped down on a short, transparent wire. Purple and white lights blink as it wiggles around like a worm trying to get back inside.
“What is that?” I mutter under my breath.
“I’m not sure. It’s definitely a wire, but I can’t tell what it does.” She replies. When she lays the wiggling object down on the table, we all stare at it. “I wonder…” She says under her breath and walks around to the other side.
With tweezers in hand, Katie leans over and pulls another transparent wire out of the other ear. The lights inside blink silver and blue. “Unbelievable.” She says under her breath.
“What?” I ask impatiently. My eyes dart to the alien’s closed eyes, ensuring it’s still asleep. Its eyelids flutter; it could wake up at any given moment and slaughter everyone in this locked room.
“I think these wires were connected to its brain.” Katie replies. As her fingertips reach down for the wire’s end, she continues, “If you look here, that’s some brain tissue.”
There’s a three-pronged claw at the tip. It opens and closes as it continues to reach for the hole it came out of. And it seems to be clutching onto black brain tissue. As I take a closer look it dawns on me that someone more advanced than the Grey Ones could have had to of planted these wires. But who would do that? And why?
Travis catches me off guard when he sneaks up behind me. His hand slips around my waist then spins me around.
He looks me in the eyes and grins widely, “We did it Belle.”
I force a smile, but inside I still sense something’s wrong. My fake smile doesn’t seem to be working because Travis asks, “What? What is it?”
I hesitate before whispering only loud enough for him, “Do they seem advanced enough to create something like that?”
He presses his lips together as his eyebrows knit close together. Staring at the unconscious being, replies quietly, “I hadn’t thought about that? Who could have done this to them?”
“I don’t know,” I reply as I glance over at the alien. Its unconscious, grey body lay motionless on the tabletop. I turn back to Travis and continue, “But we’re going to find out.”
Katie places one wire in a glass sample jar, the lights continue to blink. Her eyes stay focused on her new discovery as she spins around and places it on a wooden shelf. Mesmerized by th
e new discovery, she continues to stare at the jar as it sits on the shelf. As she fumbles around the shelves, I walk towards the beast. It looks leathery all over, even where the armadillo styled armored skin covers most of its oversized head. My hands graze over its claw. The nail themselves are long, and thick. Almost the width of my fingers. Its long nails remind me of the wounds on my wrists from when the other one held me down at the cabin. Anger builds up inside me when I recall that night. I will never allow us to be that vulnerable ever again.
“We need to find out what those wires are being used for.” I say loudly. The nostril slits in the center of its face open and close slightly. Its breathing sounds lightly congested, like the others.
“I agree.” Katie replies.
“How should we go about doing that, girls?” Jace questions from the end of the table.
I pick up the first wire Katie pulled out and say, “The end of this wire is still connected to its brain. We can run tests and see what it responds to.”
“That could work.” Katie says next to me, “They’re in the ears so maybe that means it has something to do with hearing.”
“Like a hearing aid for aliens? Come on girls, you gotta have something better than that.” Jace laughs to himself and sits down.
“You’re the one who said hearing aid.” Katie shoots back, obviously annoyed.
Jace doesn’t seem to catch onto her tone. If he does, he doesn’t act like it. He shifts forward, his elbows support him as they lean on the table. Both fists position under his chin as he replies, “Tell me. What do you think it is?”
“Honestly? I don’t know.” She replies while staring off at the blinking lights inside of the glass jar.
Three pounds on the trick wall cause us all to jump in surprise. Chris moves quickly as he walks over to the hidden door. Before he can open the brick door all the way Heather slips in. Her brown eyes widen while she stares at the blinking wire still sitting on the table.
“What are you doing here Heather?” Colonel Kirk Samuels asks.
She shifts her eyes to him and says quickly, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s something you need to hear.”
“What is it?”
“Billy got a hold of somebody, but they’re speaking another language. Billy said he says it could be Latin again.”
I remember the day someone was speaking Latin in the bunker at our home. Travis and I exchange surprised looks.
When he doesn’t respond Heather continues, “Colonel Kirk Samuels, you should be the one to talk to them. Something doesn’t seem right. I can feel it in my gut.”
“How am I supposed to know what they are saying? I don’t speak Latin.” The Colonel says frustrated.
“I might be able to help. I can translate for you. However much I can understand.” I step towards the Colonel and Heather. He glances over at me and rubs his greying beard.
“Fine. Let’s go. Chris and Kay you keep watch over the enemy.” He says firmly.
“Yes, sir.” They reply in unison.
We follow Heather through the crowded tunnel together. I can sense everyone’s eyes on us while they whisper amongst themselves. They’re all probably wondering what we’re doing with the Grey One.
When we get inside the Z Room there are some sleeping bags spread out around the basement floor. A few twist and turn as the people inside take their afternoon naps. They must’ve been on patrol last night. Katie had mentioned something about that when she gave us the tour.
Heather points to a shadowed corner across the room. I notice the brown backpack on the floor and Billy sitting with the radio. He’s far away from everybody else.
Careful not to step on anyone we head straight for him. As I tip toe closer, the radio static erupts from the speakers. Static, but no voices.
Billy looks up at us and says, “They were talking in Latin again. It sounded like they said Sell Way.” Billy says while looking up at us.
“Salve?” I ask.
“Yes. Salve.” He repeats after me, his accent perfect.
“Can you tell me anything else they said?” I kneel down next to him and grab the microphone sitting on top.
“No,” he replies, “They were talking too fast.”
I pull the microphone to my lips and hold down the button down, “Salve?”
Radio static emits from the speakers while we listen quietly for any voices. After a few second I pull the microphone back up to my mouth and repeat, “Salve.”
Radio static continues to be the only response we get. After a few more attempts to reach somebody I accept the fact that they’re already gone. Handing the microphone back to Billy, I stand up.
“Where are you going?” Billy asks when I turn to walk away.
Without stopping, I reply, “Back to the Grey One. We have more tests to run.”
“Wait! What if they reach out again?” He sounds worried as he talks quickly.
I come to a stop. As I turn around, I say, “If they talk again, radio me.” I pull the radio off my waistband and throw it over to him; there are more walkie-talkies in the Radio Room.
Colonel Kirk Samuels nods at Billy, “As you were.”
My body freezes in the doorway at the sound of an ear-piercing scream. I spin around and find everyone in the room is awake and raising to their feet. Travis, Jace, and the Colonel are all clutching guns in their hands. When there’s another scream I realize where it’s coming from. I yank the red handled dagger from my thigh holster and shout, “The Radio Room!”