The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell (93 page)

  “Play with that.” McIntyre said after he stood up.

  McIntyre threw both the chair and the metal plank across the hallway and then went to the stairwell that the Demon X came out of. He did not go down the stairwell because he knew that they will come up it eventually. He also knew that there was another stairwell on the far side of the floor. McIntyre also knew that the Demon Xs most likely would not come up that stairwell. He stood there listening for any Demon Xs that may be coming up. McIntyre rolled up his left arm sleeve and then took his knife (he heard them coming at that point), cut his arm, and let the blood drop on the floor. He then quickly ran across the floor and smeared his blood on each door to a large room. (With one of the rooms, he ripped off his left arm sleeve, smeared it with blood, and threw it into the room.) When McIntyre got to the far side of the floor he opened the door to the stairwell and listen for any Demon Xs. He then went down the stairwell when he heard none coming up.

  Any time that McIntyre wanted to open a door he used his left hand since it had no blood on it. As he went down the stairwell McIntyre would open a door to a floor to listen for any Demon Xs that may or may not be near. When McIntyre went two flights down he went inside the door and quickly ran to the other side of the floor. When he was roughly halfway there he heard an explosion from above. He stop hearing them roaring after that since they roar each time they smelled his blood. When McIntyre got to the stairwell on the other side of the floor he stood in the doorway listening for them. He then made his left arm bleed in a effort to create a small pool of blood on the floor inside the stairwell. He then tore off a piece of his uniform, wipe off some of the blood from his arm, and threw the rag up a flight of stairs. McIntyre then fired several shots into the stairwell, turn around, and ran like hell to the other side of the floor. He then enter the stairwell with his gun drawn. When he heard nothing he proceeded down the stairwell.

  McIntyre went down one floor and went inside. He quickly and quietly went to each large room and smeared his blood on a door to a large room. Like before, he threw a bloody rag in one of them. Off-and-on he would stop and listen to what the Demon Xs was doing since they where one floor above. When he got to the stairwell he opened it and fired several shots. He then turn and quickly ran to the stairwell that he uses to go down.

  “That’s right. Where am I? You guys are smart. You’ll figure it out.” McIntyre said under his breath as he heard the Demon Xs made a distinctive roar. He said it when he was in the stairwell.

  When McIntyre went down three more flights of stairs he heard a Demon X coming up. He holster his weapon and cup his hands around his mouth and made a grunt/growl. The Demon X made a ‘huh?’ sound when it heard him. McIntyre pulled out his gun and pointed it downward through the handrail and waited for the Demon X. The Demon X kept on making a soft yelping noise as it was coming up. When both of them saw each other, McIntyre shot it in the throat before it could do anything. He then went down to where it was and passed it without problems.

  “Here, smell this.” McIntyre said as he rub his right hand that had blood on it, on the Demon X nose. He then laughed when it struggled to get him.

  As McIntyre was heading down another flight of stairs, he heard more Demon Xs coming up. He then turned around and headed back up at the same time he holster his weapon, cut his left arm, rub his right palm in the blood, and smeared the blood on the handrail. As he passed the Demon X that he just shot he noticed that it was dead. He then went into the next door and ran very quickly to the next stairwell. He didn’t hear any Demon Xs in the stairwell, so he went down the stairwell as fast as he could paying attention to any sounds of any Demon Xs that may or may not be there. As he was running down the stairs he was smearing his blood on the handrails. Once the blood on his right palm was dried he wiped off more blood from his left arm and repeated smearing blood on the handrails.

  When McIntyre went down two flights of stairs he heard more Demon Xs coming up. He then tore off a piece of his uniform, wiped off more blood from his arm and threw the rag up several steps. He then went in the door and stood on the other side of it. McIntyre holster his weapon, placed his right hand under his left armpit, and pressed his left arm into his torso. As the Demon Xs got to where he was they let out an eerie howl/growl that was so loud McIntyre struggled not to put his hands over his ears. After he heard them go up the stairs in the stairwell, he very carefully opened the door and listen for any Demon Xs that may be coming. He then entered the stairwell and very quickly went down the four remaining flight of stairs.

  McIntyre was so relieved when he got down to the last floor. It was the one with the cargo bay and the Environmental Control Systems in it. Although he wasn’t expecting any Demon Xs to be down there, he cautiously and very quickly went to the Environmental Control Systems. Once there, he put on a spacesuit, minus the helmet, and went to the main computers. McIntyre then shut off all the heat within the lab complex. He then open up all the shutters throughout the lab complex. (The shutters are design to vent poisonous or toxic fumes out of the lab complex.) By opening all of the shutters all of the oxygen within the lab complex would eventually escape into outer space. (That is not consider a problem because of the oxygen generators.) McIntyre then destroyed the computers in order to prevent them from closing the shutters once all the oxygen have been depleted. Once all the oxygen was gone McIntyre went over to the oxygen generators and destroyed them. With that, all the alarms went off in the building.

  “You know, that’s goin’ to drive them crazy with that hearing of theirs.” McIntyre said as he put on his helmet.

  Since there are no ships in the cargo bay McIntyre had to return back to his shuttle. He walked calmly back knowing that the Demon Xs no longer pose a threat. Off-and-on he would come across a Demon X, but it did nothing when it saw him. It was too cold (50 below and dropping), very little air, and the alarms were going off, for them to be much of a threat. When he came to the door to where his shuttle is docked, a alpha male whose body was made very weak by the cold and the lack of oxygen, came through the door, almost knocking McIntyre over. It then ran into the room yelling, trying to put it’s hands over it’s ears while running at the same time. Twelve feet before he reached his shuttle, all the alarms stop going off. McIntyre boarded his shuttle and returned back to The Hammer of Doom.

(3)

  Fifteen minutes and forty-five seconds after McIntyre left with the red positronic brain and headed back to The Hammer of Doom, Captain Dawson finally made it to the surface. What took him so long to reach the surface is the fact that the elevator did not take the direct route.

  “It’s time to dethrone you little Caesar, and that dirty Jap bitch of yours.” Captain Dawson said out of pure hate and spite.

  Little Caesar is what anybody who disrespect Lenkov calls him because of his height. By Japanese standards both Lenkov and Omori are tall. By American standards both of them are short. Although the LMPG is now deactivated, Captain Dawson still has an ace up his sleeve. There is still one more thing he can use it for - to dethrone little Caesar.

(4)

  1
st
Lieutenant Illes, one of Captain Dawson’s personnel, is the only survivor left in what once was the cloning facility in the core tunnel. He was seriously thinking about switching sides before he was order down there and now, after he figures out a way to get out, he will switch sides. No more following a mad man who will inadvertently get everyone killed.

  Dawson order all of his personnel down in the cloning facility in order to control the Demon Xs through that of creating several alpha males. Illes thought that it was fruitless and pointless to do that since the only way to create a alpha male is to let the males fight over a alpha female, or to pick one and put cybernetic implants in him. Pick the wrong male and it could get all the Demon Xs in that clan killed. Let the males pick and it would become near impossible to give that male cybernetic implants since the clan would protect him. Just how does Dawson propose to do either when they’re stuck down there? A Demon X cloning facility is design to test the males in order to narrow down who may be the best male to select. What Dawson is proposing is shear madness. They don’t have the time.

  When Dawson let all the Demon Xs out, and everybody was in the fight for their lives, an explosion went off somewhere near Illes and it threw him hard against one of the cloning vats. Illes broke his left wrist, arm and right ankle when he hit it. He also got a large bruise over his right knee. He can’t tell if he cracked his kneecap, or if he just bruised it. But man, does it hurt. After he fell, he knew that there was a safe place for him to hide – under one of the cloning vats. He knew that if he could make it then the Demon Xs would not be able to get to him. When Illes got under the cloning vat he rolled over on his back and passed out from the pain.

  Now, as he slowly regains consciousness, he finds himself awakening to a horrific nightmare. The smell… Oh god, the smell of all of that blood and burning flesh… was nauseating. And then there is that... sound. The sound of those… things, eating people. People that he knew. He could hear the sound of bones crunching. Illes had to stop himself from gagging. He was too afraid to make any sounds. Not even the sound of him gagging. He knows how good their sense of hearing and… smell is. As he laid there listening to them eat his friends all he could do was to cry. He had to figure out a way to escape. And then it hit him. He knows the way. A way that he can get to the surface, of all places!

  Underneath the cloning vats is a drainage pipe that is just large enough for him to fit through, but is too small for the Demon Xs. The bio-liquid (milk is a form of a bio-liquid Illes reminded himself) is not harmful to humans. It drains to a holding container before being processed. Into what, Illes had no idea. The holding container has an access door for maintenance personnel. This very deep underground maintenance facility leads to a medical storage area and… FOOD! Yes! It leads to a storage area with six-to-eight weeks worth of food. Just enough time for him to recover from his wounds. It also leads to a elevator that leads to the surface. What’s more, for security reasons, the Demon X cloning facility is not connected to the maintenance area. There’s no way for those damn things to get there! Now he just needs to get that pipe off without those damn things hearing him.

  Illes turned and looked to his left and saw with astonishment that the pipe was dislodged. He can get in and get away from them without them hearing him! Hallelujah, praise the lord! God almighty in the highest! He can get away! He can make it! He can survive! Illes couldn’t believe his good fortune. He could only smile at it.

  Illes then heard one of them nearby. He looked to his right and saw that it was eating someone’s right arm. A light was swinging back and forth and Illes could almost make out who it belong to. And then he saw something. It was something that made him wanted to look harder. And then he realized that it was a tattoo. But who was it? Who did it belong to? It was too dark for him to make out the tattoo. He only had the light to go by and it was swinging back and forth. He then had the sinking feeling that he may know who it belongs to. And then he saw it clear as a bell. It was his! He then looked at his arm and saw that it was gone. And then he looked down at his body and noticed that they have been eating him alive. Illes could only scream until he could scream no more.

(5)

  McIntyre’s shuttle finally landed in one the cargo bay on The Hammer of Doom. Both Lenkov and Omori was waiting for him. When McIntyre left the shuttle he handed Omori the red positronic brain. He was both glad to be back and that he went on that mission. He was glad that he went on that mission because of who and what the Flip Jumpers are.

  “Arigatou.” Omori said with a smile after McIntyre handed her the red positronic brain.

  “Doitashimashite.” McIntyre responded which sparked Omori’s curiosity.

  “Nihongo o hanasemasu ka?” Omori asked.

  “Watashi wa Nihongo ga sukoshi shika hanasemasen.” McIntyre responded.

  “Oh. Well in that case I’ll speak to you in English then.” Omori said.

  “If you keep it short and simple, you can debrief us on your mission right now.” Lenkov said after McIntyre didn’t respond to Omori.

  “Eight scientists who are no more. They knew nothing about that brain. There were Demon Xs there, but not any more. If you send anybody there, make certain that they wear a spacesuit.” McIntyre said.

  “Noted. You’re dismissed.” Lenkov said. When McIntyre was several feet away Lenkov added, “Hey colonel, you might want to go see Mad Dawg. He’s in sickbay. It can’t wait.”

  It was something that nobody wants to hear about a friend. Although he’s glad that his friend is still alive, he is deeply concerned in what condition his friend may be in. McIntyre’s tough macho exterior  was struggling with his heart. He was deeply relieved when he saw Mad Dawg.

  “What happened to you?” Mad Dawg asked when McIntyre came into the room. Mad Dawg noticed the bandages on McIntyre’s arm.

  “Never mind about that. Do you feel up to the challenge of telling me what happen to you?” McIntyre asked Mad Dawg not knowing if he felt like it.