SWNOVELS Chapter The tide rises
“When the cat’s away the rats will play.”
– Spanish proverb
20:00, Lab 0
Juliet and April were heading back along the linking corridor from the lab to the ARC entrance when the large pressure doors ahead slam shut, sealing them off. Juliet slowed the electric cart, and the two of them exchanged a concerned look before Juliet hopped off and walked towards the doors.
“You think it’s another power cut Julies?” April said nervously, already sick of the constant brownouts the ARC control had implemented.
“I don’t think so!“ Juliet replied, eying the power indicators on the blast door’s control pad, ”This looks deliberate. We’d better head back to the lab and tell Professor Malcolm.” Juliet jumped back onto the cart and turned it around to begin the drive back to the lab. They’d reached about halfway along the corridor when the lights above flickered out and a series of ominous thunks ran along the corridor, starting behind them to race ahead. She triggered the little buggy’s headlights just in time to see doors that ran along the corridors sides slowly opened.
April leaned closer to her, something about the doors making her wary.
“Hey, I thought those things were meant to stay shut?”
Juliet nodded and increased the speed of the little buggy, its electric whine filling the corridor.” They should be” she said, trying to hide her concern” we better hurry”
Aprils eyes opened in alarm ” Oh shit, the air will start to leak out. Hurry Jewels!”
Ahead of them they could just make out a small square of light coming from the lab entrance, but everything not illuminated by the buggy’s little lights was pitch black.
“Hey,“ April said suddenly, “Can you hear something?”
Juliet cocked her head but at first the noise of the cart was all she could hear.
“What do you mean?”
“I swear I can hear..chitterling behind us,” April replied her voice slightly alarmed as she peered into the darkness behind them. ”Hold on I think there’s a torch or something in the emergency supply box.”
“Don’t worry about it, April, we’re almost there!” Juliet said, trying to keep her voice calm. She still couldn’t hear anything, but something was making her skin crawl.
April routed around in the supply box behind her before exclaiming as she found the torch, triggering it to pear backwards down the tunnel. Almost immediately she let out a piecing scream.
“JULIET DRIVE , DRIVE , Drive , Drive!”
“WHAT?” she shouted back in panic, trying to look around whilst keeping the cart steady, “WHAT IS IT?”
“Just drive!“ April shrieked, looking back in horror at a rolling tide of black scaled creatures swarming along the tunnel in pursuit.”Faster!Faster!Faster!”
They barrelled along towards the door, the sound of skittering claws on rock and concrete starting to overwhelm the whine of the engine. They finally reaching the doorway, and before Juliet could even slow April leapt of and slammed her hand against the ‘open’ button, hopping from foot to foot as the heavy airlock slowly opened. “Come on, come on come on” she shouted, ”faster you feking shit!”
Juliet leapt off the stationary buggy and joined her, grabbing the lamp from her friend to peer backwards into the darkness. A sea of reflective eyes peered back at her, their owners rapidly appearing as they charged towards the two girls. There was a groan of metal behind them but Juliet kept her eyes locked on the rapidly nearing tide as April cursed behind her.
Suddenly she was pulled backwards as April dragged her inside, triggering the door to shut immediately. The door began to slowly swing shut, but the oncoming mass of things was bearing down on them. Both girls tried to push it closed faster but the heavy portal resisted their strength.
“PLEASE CLOSE!” April wept as it moved, finally shutting with a dull thump just before the first of the creatures reached them. One of the scuttling horrors managed to squeeze its upper body through the gap, but squealed in pain as it was crushed in half by the door finally closing.
There were a series of muffled impacts as the animals hurled themselves against the thick metal and for a moment Juliet stared at it in shock, before April pulled her friend through the far door and into the lab, slapping her hand on a fire alarm to draw attention, before she slowly sank to the floor, panting in exertion and shock.
Juliet sat heavily beside her as people started running from the nearby labs in confusion and looked at her friend.
“What the hell were they, April?” she asked weakly, panting from shock and exertion.
“I don’t know Jules,” April said faintly, staring at the bifurcated creature lying in the airlock “ but I think they’ve trapped us here”