Dark Blood

Chapter 11

Around the splintered tables and over the mangled chairs, ten Colonial Marines and one ordinary adolescent did their best not to slip on rotting food as they neared the gaping entryway. Stephens took the lead, followed by Kara, the Pack Mule, and the rest of the men. Their shoulder lights had kicked back on, dimly piercing the darkness and illuminating the metal flights as they spiraled downwards. Kara took notice of how the walls began to change. The smooth metal panels were now covered with lumps of a shiny grey substance. There were some parts where the lumps looked like ribbed tubes, appearing from the walls and then then dissolving back into them. The walls also seemed to be closing in on them as they descended, the grey stuff now reaching from the walls and clinging to the railing. Besides the hushed breathing of the Marines and the thumping of her own heart in her ears, Kara could hear a wet crackling, popping sound. She stifled a disgusted "ugh" when she saw that it was the walls, floor, and ceiling, all overtaken with the grey mass, that was making that sound. It was oozing and dripping a gross clear slime that reminded her of ungodly thick saliva. It felt like the staircase would never end and they would be tortured by the sound of the slimy walls for all eternity, but they eventually came to a small grated platform (also coated in slime).

More stairs descended to their right. To their left, the platform led into a large open room with more branching hallways. It was impossible to distinguish what the room once was, as it was completely overtaken with the grey mass. In some parts, it reached down from the ceiling and created a lumpy pillar. And the sound, that wet popping sound, only intensified and it made Kara's skin crawl.

Stephens quietly addressed the Pack Mule and his iPad. They both made a few hand gestures, exchanged head nods, and then Stephens beckoned for everyone to gather around him.

"We're on the upper level of the hive. The target is two floors below us."

He spared a quick glance at Kara. "We're going to check each level for survivors on our way- better to do it now before shit hits the fan," he directed it towards a few men who shifted uneasily. "We do it thoroughly but as quickly as possible."

"And if we find any?" Kara asked hesitantly.

"We'll send you and two others back to the surface with them," he said. "Get them to safety and stay there."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. He searched her eyes, hoping to find that spark he had seen back at the hotel. That fierce, albeit slightly irrational, courage and unyielding devotion. He hoped that what they had already seen and the idea of what lay ahead hadn't extinguished it. But when he looked, he saw it. Though fear had eaten some of it away, it was there, still burning in those green irises. And that gave him hope; hope that they would find her family, that they would be able to complete their mission, and that she would make it out of this alive.

"That's your duty, soldier. Get survivors to safety."

Kara straightened, jaw set and eyes sharpened, though still tainted with uncertainty. My duty.

Stephens nodded, as if hearing her thoughts. This is it, kid. I believe in you. I know you're willing to go in there and kick ass until you drop, but PLEASE don't do anything stupid. This is a make or break situation. You better not break us, or so help me god, I'll find you in the fucking afterlife and wring your neck.

Everyone turned towards the large room and its slimy corridors. Their steps squished unsettlingly as they started to cross the wet, uneven floor. Ahead of them were four separate hallways leading into darkness, still and silent save for fain drips of slime. A quick scan from another piece of the Pack Mule's equipment show that the four halls eventually met up and led to another staircase. Stephens split the group up into three groups of three and one group of two... himself and Kara. Even though he felt that she would be fine with any of his men, he wanted to keep tabs on her. He supposed that he felt responsible for protecting her.