Miroslava of the Tempest

Saturday. 18:52 hrs. My brother and I were at the school, we were helping with the, “Thousand dragons” festival, as we did every year. We were carrying boxes from the basement, pushing each other around, betting about who would drop the first box, laughing, oblivious. Suddenly, the earth trembled, the window glasses exploded all around us, the heat hit our faces so strong it sent us to the ground. When the inferno passed, I looked for my brother, our hands reaching towards the other in confusion. My head was banging and could only hear a loud ring, nothing more. We stood up as best as we were able. Nick was unharmed, he grasped my arm to help me towards the stairs. Long forgotten were our silly jokes as we reached the main doors and ran out. Everything was destroyed; houses were gone, buildings were reduced to rock and ashes… and so many dead people. The bodies were scattered all over the street. Women, children. We saw a couple of teachers, who had been helping at the gym, dragging another girl out as she cried hysterically. Nobody knew what had happened, everyone was confused. What´d just happened? Why? Was anyone left inside? a teacher told us he would go back inside, to check as soon as the emergency services arrived. Nick was so worried because dad was at work, he told me to stay there, he would go to find dad, I was afraid if I let go of his hand, I would never see him again. -I’ll go with you- I told him. The teacher instructed us to remain there until we were checked by the paramedics, but we were eager to find our father. He tried to stop us and he kept shouting at us to come back, although he knew it was futile, as my brother held my hand and we ran together to the military base. (Just something before continuing, we used to live in the town, bordered by forest. The name was Buria, and the population was mostly military personnel or their relatives). As I was saying, we ran to the base, which entrance was near to the Airfield Rd, on the other side of town. Maybe dad and the military intelligence people knew the cause of the explosion, which seemed to have reached at least 20 blocks. - Why don’t we use the cell phone to call him and know if he’s alright? - I asked my brother while I pulled out my cell phone. He agreed and instructed me to make haste. His phone was off. - Maybe he’s too busy to answer- I said. We kept running, but every street was destroyed. When we reached the base and we got in, two soldiers held us by our arms, restrained us, and took us to an office that looked more like a jail. - You’ll wait here for instructions - one of the soldiers ordered us. - We’re the general’s family- Nick said, in the steadiest voice he could summon at the moment. The other soldier was talking on the radio. The voice on the radio instructed them to take us to the bridge straight away. - Roger, base- said the soldier. - Take them to the BDR.- The other guy took us to a room that looked like a shower. - This is the Bio-Decontaminant Room- the soldier informed us- you shall now remove your clothes. He made us take a sort of shower that made the skin stingy and sensible and get dressed in a special suit, that looked a lot like medical scrubs. - You were granted clearance, you can see your father now - he said- but be careful, the electrical system is failing and it’s dangerous down there, proceed directly to the basement. - He led us through a corridor to an elevator and dialled a code on the side panel. – Don’t wander off.- We agreed and the doors closed behind us. It took 45 seconds for them to open again. It was so dark; the only light came from some red bulbs on the floor, showing the way to follow. I clung to my brother´s arm. Soon we reached a huge metal door There were no security personnel, but it had a button dimly lighted on a side panel. Nick pressed it and immediately a red glass window turned on. - Please, place yourself in front of the scanner- said a robotic voice. Nick got closer to the red window and a red laser enlightens his eyes and identified him. - Identity confirmed. Nickolas Marcus O´Donnell, son of General Richard Frankl O´Donnell. - the machine announced. Then, the machine asked me to follow the same procedure. - Carlysia Johanna O´Donnell, daughter of General Richard Frankl O´Donnell. My brother and I waited for something else to happen, and then, the machine said: - Permission Granted, have a nice day Mr and Ms O´Donnell- The door got open and we walked through it, again everything was dark beyond the doors, except for the tiny bulbs on the floor. It was enough to give me goosebumps. After what seemed like ages, we reached another door, this time it was a solid, heavy metal, two-panel gate. This time there were two windows, one red and one green on the left side of the door, then, the machine said: - Please, identify yourself- Nick got closer first, on the top of the red window appeared an inscription; “Iris scanning”, he got closer again and a laser scanned him again. Then he went to the green window; “palm print scanning”, he pressed his hand against the window glass and a green light flashed. - Thank you, Mr Nicholas Marcus O´Donnell- - IDENTIFYING DATA… INFO… son of General Richard Frankl O´Donnell and Dr. Irina Vlados. - Then I did the same and was identified as well. - Permission Granted- the machine announced and the door got open. We walked about 500 meters more and we saw another gate. - These people do take seriously the security measures, don´t they? - said Nick, laughing. We looked at the door, there were no windows, no lights, but there was a microphone. - Please, say your name for voice identification. - I said my name on the microphone and I heard a soft noise. - Voice identified. - It said. Then Igor did the same and the machine said: - Permission Granted, welcome to the Research and Development Laboratory, Mr and Ms O´Donnell.- Then the gate opened and our eyes struggled, adjusting to the lights. We walked into the laboratory where dad worked, and there was my dad. - What are you guys doing here?- he said,- Is something wrong? - Then, we told dad everything that had happened, how the streets were. - Didn´t you feel it, dad? - I asked him. He said they hadn´t felt it as the building is designed to withstand such incidents. He hadn't been notified either. They had all been in an emergency meeting that had finished just five minutes before we arrived. - Who do you think could have done it?- Nick asked - That’s what I’m going to find out.- dad said. Before we could say anything else, we heard another explosion, and the fire alarm turned on and when dad was trying to scan the building with his computer to find the fire… the lights turned off. Every single bulb and every computer turned off. - The backup generator will turn on in a minute- a man told us. But we waited for two, five, ten, fifteen minutes and nothing. With no lights, we were all on edge, at least, Nick and I were. In the darkness, we could only hear people talking. - Maybe… it was a terrorist attack…- said a woman. - Terrorist attack? - asked a man. I heard dad walking to them. - I don´t believe this could be the doing of a small group of terrorists. This was well planned, organized and swift. Efficient. - At that moment we heard a deaf rumour behind the door It was being hit with something. Stumbling in the darkness, I heard dad walking to his desk and opening a drawer, he took out and turned on a torch and pulled out a 9 mm as well. He gave the torch to me and checked the charger on his gun as he walked to the door with another three men. - Dad, what’s going on? - I whispered. - Carly, stay there with the others. Give us some light, but stay there, ok? I moved the light to them; I felt how the other people moved towards Nick and me. There were three other women and an old professor. Then we heard another sound, not from the door, but a roof bulb. It was flashing, the light was coming back. But the sound behind the door was making stronger and stronger. Lights turned on, and we heard something fall somewhere outside, however it was not the door. Then we heard steps on the outside corridor… someone had brought down the second door. My father walked to us again with the other men, he had an ashen face. He went to the computer on his desk. After it rebooted, he opened a software; it was the CCTV software. - What’s that?- I asked- What’s hitting the door? - I was scared. Nick’s hands were trembling. Dad became even paler and ran to the door, he opened a red panel on the wall and pushed a red button. A robotic voice said: - Primary Invasion protocol is now ACTIVATED-. - Invasion? -I gasped- but… what’s outside, dad? - Nick walked to the computer and looked at what the security camera was showing. He paled, held my hand, and hugged me. He was trembling. While I was hugging him, I saw the computer screen; it showed people of some sort, they had grey and dry skin and had blood in all their body and somehow their eyes looked odd. - What’s that? Are they dangerous? - - I don’t know- dad admitted - stay with your brother.- Dad walked to his desk again, opened another drawer and pulled out a communicator, some sort of earplug, with some buttons on it. He placed it in his ear. - Control base… control base, answer to me- dad demanded. Dad pushed a button in the communicator, and we heard a sound, some sort of ringing sound … outside the door. We watched the computer screen again. There… outside… there was one of the soldiers who let us into the base, he looked just like the others. - What’s going on? What are we going to do? - a woman asked with a high pitched, hysterical tone. Dad hadn´t spoken but had a severe face. Nick was trying to act bravely and I … well, I was too terrified to pretend otherwise. - Carlysia- dad said, calling me to attention- I need you and Nicholas to go to the private storage and bring some food and water. A shiver ran down my back. - Nick, over there is a back door that leads to a corridor and a staircase to the subbasement and the storage room, there’s food, water and some other stuff, there are some bags too, so you can carry the food here. Right next to the storage door there´s a first aid kit. Bring it along with you. It may come in handy.- My brother was handed the gun, and we went towards the door. - Be careful, and try to bring as much as you can.- Nick nodded and opened the door. - There is no light.- he said. Dad walked to his computer and pressed some code and the lights turned on. We went downstairs, there was the subbasement, at the end of a hall. - Ok- Nick joked- now I believe that the army has every perk in the book.- There was more than enough food or water for us to last at least six months. There were also medicines, pillows, blankets and so much more. We were carrying the things upstairs when another sound made us turn back. It was the sound of something being dragged. It was one of them, one of those odd things from outside. It was walking to us; it was getting closer and closer. It tried to clasp Nick´s hand and bite it. - Nick, be careful- I screamed- use the gun. He shot one time to its leg, but it didn’t fall to the ground. - SHOOT IT, NICK, SHOOT IT.- I screamed. Nick shot one, two, three times, but nothing happened. I took the gun from his hands, walked closer to the thing and shot it on its head. It fell on the ground and stopped moving. Dad and the others came running to see what had happened. I was so scared that I began to cry on my brother’s chest. - What happened? Who shot?- dad inquired. - Both of us, dad… - Nick replied- it was necessary-. He told dad what had happened. - No one else has clearance to be down here and there is no other access publicly known but the one you came through - an old professor reflected. One of the women walked to the thing, leaned down and examined its face – It´s Iosif Alexandrovich. The cook in charge of the staff cafeteria- she informed, surprised- How did he get in?- - There must be a breach somewhere- said another woman as she was covering the body with her lab coat. We went back to the subbasement; we began to look for a hole or an entrance. Soon someone said: - Hey! Here’s the hole- - It could not have been made by the explosion- a man said. - Let’s block it! - dad said as he looked for something to block it. - We could use that cupboard-Nick suggested. Dad and the other men moved the cupboard. - Now, let’s take these things back-. We went back upstairs. Dad walked back to the computer, people outside were calming down, it looked like they were turned towards something, something beyond our sight. Dad focused especially on one person, everyone was surrounding him, he had a gun, he looked scared… he was alive. Dad pressed the communicator on his ear again. - Hey!, answer, we are trapped inside- The outside guy was looking for the place where the voice came from, after a few moments he found a radio. He ran back to find some safe place to hide and talk, it seemed like the grey people were trying to follow him, but they were rather slow. After what seemed like an eternity dad heard a voice and pressed some button to allow us to hear. - Hello?-a male voice finally said- Is anyone there? Can anybody help me?- - Hey! Where are you? - dad asked. - It’s a pretty small room- Dad was looking for a place that could be small going up the corridor with the CCTV software. - Ok, what’s around you?- - Well, it´s too dark, and it's full of dust, but there’s a computer on a desk, and there’s a picture of two kids, and there are some degrees on the walls… they belong to… Indina Vlados… or something like that- - Irina, that’s my wife’s office- dad whispered. Nick and I gaped at each other. Mom had worked with my father, and we didn’t know it. Dad looked at us and spoke on the communicator again. - Listen, there’s a little backdoor on the corner, can you see it?- - Yes, yes, I see it, now what?- - Get into it, it’s a little tunnel that takes to an underground elevator. Use it, it will bring you here- dad commanded. - Okay- he replied and we waited until he spoke again- I’m in it, but how does this thing turn on?- - There’s a small black panel on the side. It has three buttons, push the green one- We heard a noise and soon we heard something on the left wall of the room. Dad went there and opened the wall. When the man went out we gave him food and water. - Do you have a first aid kit?- he asked- I was bitten by one of those “things” about thirty minutes ago at the supermarket -. he showed us an indistinct wound on his arm. We looked at each other, we all fell silent. - Are you sure it bit you? – my brother asked. - Yes, really sure, I was trying to take it of a woman- - What’s your name by the way?-I asked. He told us that his name was Frodirick Pliskin. It sounded like the name of a serial murderer. - Do you think it could be contagious? - I overheard Nick asking dad on the side. I helped the guy to cure his wound. - Were you shopping at the supermarket? - I asked. - No, girl, I wasn’t shopping, I was trying to help the others-. - The others?- I replied- are there other survivors, or you mean the “others”, the grey ones?-. - The others, alive- he said. He was a new deputy who had been assigned to the local police about a week ago. I recalled having seen him around town on my way home after classes. He found a few people that survived, he hid with them at the mall. They had agreed someone needed to get help from the base as they didn't get any reply on the emergency numbers and no other emergency service was dispatched on his request, he told to the alive people that he and the other two men would go to find some help. - I believe those things can smell you- he told me. - What do you mean by “smell you”?- I asked. - Your running blood, that’s how they find you- he sound kind of insane. Maybe he hit his head somewhere. He told me that he saw when they were getting into the base. The explosion we heard, was caused by the soldiers at the main gate, they used explosives to stop them… but they failed and blew up the 1st door. - How did they go through the second door, I ignore it, but thanks to them, I found you, guys- he said. - But how could they smell us if we are here, inside, behind three heavy metal doors- a woman asked. But before Frodirick could answer, we heard a voice on the communicator. - Can anyone hear me?- It was a boy who was talking. We heard gunshots, one, two, three, ten, fifteen, seventeen gunshots in total. I walked to the computer again, so I could see him, he was like 18 or 19 years old, he was with a girl, a 5-year-old girl, he had shot all those “things”, he killed them all. - Let us in, please- the boy requested,- my sister is really scared, please, let us in. Dad pushed the button on the wall again. - Primary Invasion protocol is now DEACTIVATED. – the machine announced. Dad opened the gate and the guy and his sister got in and the gate was closed again. The guy looked pale and the girl seemed scared and nervous. We were all out of words. They looked so tired, and I was under the impression I knew them. - Is Maddie ok?- dad asked as if he knew them. - I think she’s alright- said the guy- just a little bit scared.- - Maddie, Robert, are you alright?- asked a woman- where were you?- - Sorry mom, we tried to evade those things outside, but they were everywhere- said the boy. Dad told us Madeline and Robert were Dr Morozov´s family. A tall, dark-haired woman who had covered the body in the basement with her lab coat. - Mom, could you give us some intel? –Robert inquired- why did you tell us to bring all your guns? And, what are those things outside? Why did they try to bite us?- Before we could say anything, we heard someone running in the corridor, we thought it was someone alive, so dad opened the door, at the same time as a big grey man jumped at him, dad fought to throw the thing away for him, but it bit him. We heard and saw more of those things walking by the corridor. - Close the door- dad said as he threw away the thing. Nick ran to the door and closed it, he pushed the security system button. We could only feel half safe. - Where is the thing?- Dr Morozov asked.