Eri Kamei
Facility, Mining Room
October 10, 3:07 PM
The sound of the terrible, monstrous howl that had
risen up to meet Niita's got them moving, Eri pausing
just long enough to grab the Remington before
climbing after Risa to the high platform. With Risa on
empty and her own gun kicked into the pit, it was their
only weapon.
They clambered into the cab of the huge yellow machine
parked in front of the slanted, rising tunnel, Risa
taking the wheel—and again, they heard that deep, insane
scream, and it was definitely closer, the monster
prisoner loose somewhere inside.
Risa flipped a bunch of switches-reading the 'how to'
sticker posted above the controls, nodding and mumbling
to herself as she went. Eri listened as she
checked the rifle—only six rounds—gathering that the
machine's digging device, an enormous screw-looking
thing, actually heated up to melt the ice. She didn't care
what it did, as long as it got them out before the monster
came looking for them.
With the heavy machine humming to life, Risa explained
that the tunnel was probably unfinished because
the workers would have had to go slowly and without
using the heating element, to avoid flooding half the facility,
"But we don't," Risa said, grinning. "What do you say
we make a lake?"
"Go for it," Eri said, grinning back at her, wishing she
felt a little more enthusiastic. God, they were getting out,
and with Niita Tomoko finally dead, there was no one
standing in their way. So why am I so uncertain?
It's that gibberish Niita was babbling about her sister...Crazy,
yeah, but it had brought up the one question Eri still didn't
have an answer for—why had Rockfort been 'attacked'?
Risa jammed on the throttle and the machine lurched
forward. There weren't seat belts, so Eri put one
hand on the roof, the digger bouncing almost as much as
their plane had right before it crashed. Their view was
mostly blocked by the giant twisting screw-thing, but it
was obvious when they hit the end of the tunnel, bigtime.
The noise was incredible, deafening, like rocks in a
blender times a hundred. There was a burning steam
smell, and as they inched forward through total blackness,
she could hear the thaw even over the digging, as
torrents of water rushed past the cab.
The grinding, waterfall noises seemed to go on forever
as they continued to climb—and then the machine
stuttered, jerking, and the treads were straining—and
sudden light flooded into the cab, gray and shadowy and
beautiful.
The digger crawled out of its brand-new hole near a
standing tower, Eri recognizing it as a helipad even
as Risa pointed out the snow-cats parked near the base.
It was snowing, fat wet flakes spinning down from a
slate sky, the humid cold seeping into the cab before
they'd been on the surface a minute. There was a wind
blowing, the snow angled slightly—not a big wind, but
steady.
" 'Copter or 'cat?" Risa asked lightly, but Eri could
see that she was starting to shiver. So am I.
"Your call Gakksan," Eri said. A helicopter would be
faster, but staying on the ground seemed safer.
"But since when did you know how to fly?"
"Well- if anything the thing might have a radio. We should
get some reception, as long as the weather doesn't get
any worse," she said, looking
up at the tower, but she didn't seem sure. Eri was about
to recommend one of the 'cats when Risa shrugged, pushing
her door open and sliding out, calling back over her
shoulder.
"I say we hit the tower, fly girl," Risa said. "We can at
least see if there's actually a choice."
Eri got out, too, craning her neck back, but she
couldn't see the top of the tower, either. And it was cold,
frostbite cold.
"Whatever, let's just hurry," Eri said, slinging the
rifle over her shoulder.
Risa jogged for the stairs, Eri following, freezing
but exhilarated, suddenly totally high on being free to
choose, to decide what they wanted to do, how they
wanted to do it. And either way, they'd be at the Australian
station in an hour or so, wrapped in blankets and
drinking something hot and telling their story.
Well, at least the more believable parts, she thought,
climbing the recently sanded stairs after Risa.
Even the most open-minded people in the world wouldn't believe
half of what they'd been through.
Her happiness was wearing thin as they neared the
top, three stories later, her teeth chattering it away—and
when Risa turned around, frowning, Eri no longer
cared about much of anything beyond getting warm.
"There's no helicopter," Risa said, snow starting to stick
to her hair. "I guess we'll—"
She saw something behind Eri and her face suddenly
contorted with horror and surprise. She reached out to
pull Eri up but she was already moving.
"Go!" Eri said, and Risa turned and bolted up the stairs,
Eri barely a half step behind her. She didn't know
what she'd seen—
—yes you do—
—but from the look on her face, Eri knew she didn't
want it behind her.
It's the thing, the monster, it was loose and now it's
coming for you, her fear helpfully provided, and then
Risa was grabbing her arm and jerking her up the last
few steps. She stumbled onto a giant, empty, square
platform, the landing lines mostly obscured by fresh
snow, a gray haze of anomalous fog making it hard to
see clearly.
"Give me the rifle," Risa breathed, and Eri ignored
her, turned to see if it was true, if she would recognize
the awful pain of the thing that had screamed so horribly—
—and as it gained the platform, she saw that it was
true, and she recognized it with no trouble at all. She unslung
the rifle and backed away, motioning for Risa to
stay behind her.