Chapter 2 — Something Alive
Victor ran.
He didn't know where he was going.
He didn't know what was behind him.
He knew only one thing.
It was getting closer.
His feet struck the ground hard enough to hurt, but he barely noticed. Ash scattered beneath his steps. Smoke burned his eyes. The darkness ahead seemed endless.
Behind him came the sound of something crashing through the grave.
A body was thrown aside.
Then another.
Then the creature roared.
Victor looked back.
A mistake.
The creature was closer.
Much closer.
It moved on all fours now.
Its hands dug into the earth with every stride, propelling its enormous body forward with terrifying speed.
Victor's stomach tightened.
It shouldn't have been able to move that fast.
He turned forward again.
His lungs burned.
His legs were beginning to shake.
Keep running.
He didn't know where the thought came from.
He followed it.
A ruined structure appeared through the smoke.
A warehouse.
Or what was left of one.
Its walls were cracked. Several sections of the roof had collapsed. A rusted metal door hung crookedly from its hinges.
Victor changed direction.
The creature roared behind him.
He pushed harder.
He reached the door.
Grabbed it.
Pulled.
It didn't move.
"Come on."
He pulled again.
Nothing.
The roar came closer.
Victor looked over his shoulder.
Twenty meters.
Fifteen.
Ten.
The creature lowered its head.
It was going to charge.
Victor threw his entire body against the door.
The rusted hinges screamed.
The door shifted.
Victor squeezed through the gap.
Something struck the metal behind him.
BOOM.
The entire door shook.
Victor stumbled forward.
The creature snarled from the other side.
He spun around.
Its fingers pushed through the gap.
Long black claws scraped against the metal.
Victor grabbed a nearby piece of broken pipe.
He didn't think.
He simply held it with both hands.
The claws withdrew.
Silence.
Victor stared at the door.
His breathing was ragged.
Nothing.
He waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Twenty.
Nothing.
Maybe it had left.
Maybe—
A claw slowly slid beneath the bottom of the door.
Victor froze.
The metal began bending upward.
His grip tightened around the pipe.
The creature was lifting the door.
Victor backed away.
The metal shrieked.
He looked around the warehouse.
Crates.
Broken machinery.
A staircase leading upward.
A second door on the opposite side.
He ran.
Behind him, the main door tore from its hinges.
Victor reached the stairs.
He climbed.
The creature entered the warehouse.
It didn't roar this time.
It simply followed.
Slowly.
Victor reached the upper level.
The floor was made of rusted metal grating.
He looked down.
The creature stood beneath him.
It raised its head.
Their eyes met.
Victor's hands tightened around the pipe.
The creature smiled.
Then it jumped.
Victor moved.
He didn't know why.
His body simply moved.
The creature's claws passed through the space where his chest had been.
Victor twisted sideways.
The creature landed on the platform.
The metal groaned beneath its weight.
Victor swung the pipe.
CRACK.
The pipe struck the side of its head.
The creature barely reacted.
It grabbed Victor by the throat.
His feet left the ground.
Pain exploded through his neck.
Victor clawed at its wrist.
The creature lifted him higher.
Its breath smelled like rotting meat.
Victor kicked.
Nothing.
His vision began to blur.
The creature opened its mouth.
Those teeth came closer.
Victor's hands desperately searched for something.
Anything.
His fingers touched metal.
A loose bolt.
Useless.
He grabbed it anyway.
The creature pulled him toward its mouth.
Victor drove the bolt into its eye.
The creature screamed.
It threw him.
Victor crashed through a railing.
For a moment there was nothing beneath him.
Then he hit the lower floor.
The impact knocked the air from his lungs.
He lay there.
Unable to breathe.
The creature screamed above him.
Victor forced himself onto his elbows.
Blood dripped from his nose.
His ribs felt broken.
The creature jumped down.
Victor rolled.
It landed where his head had been.
The floor buckled.
Victor crawled backward.
His eyes searched the room.
There.
A broken electrical panel.
A large metal tank beside it.
Water.
Maybe.
He couldn't think clearly.
The creature charged.
Victor grabbed the nearest thing he could find.
A length of chain.
He swung it.
The chain wrapped around the creature's arm.
Victor pulled.
The creature didn't move.
It looked at him.
Victor suddenly understood.
He couldn't overpower it.
So he didn't.
He ran.
The creature followed.
Victor reached the electrical panel.
He grabbed the metal handle.
The panel was half-open.
Inside were exposed wires.
He looked at the chain.
Then at the creature.
Then at the wires.
His heart hammered.
The creature lunged.
Victor yanked the chain toward the electrical panel.
The metal links struck the exposed wires.
Sparks exploded.
The warehouse filled with light.
The creature screamed.
Its body convulsed.
Victor jumped backward.
The lights flickered.
Smoke rose from the creature's body.
Victor stared.
It was still standing.
Still alive.
"You're kidding."
The creature looked at him.
Its eye was bleeding.
Its skin smoked.
And somehow...
it smiled.
Victor backed away.
The creature took a step.
Then another.
Victor's heel hit something.
The tank.
He turned.
The metal tank was enormous.
Rust covered its surface.
A pressure gauge sat near the bottom.
Victor looked at the creature.
Then the tank.
Then the creature again.
"Please work."
He grabbed the valve.
Turned.
Nothing.
He turned harder.
The valve cracked.
Pressure exploded from the pipe.
The creature was hit by a torrent of water.
It staggered.
Victor pulled again.
The pipe broke.
Water blasted across the warehouse.
The creature lost its footing.
Victor saw the exposed electrical wires.
He didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the broken electrical panel and ripped it from the wall.
The wires fell into the water.
Electricity flashed.
The creature screamed.
This time, the scream became something almost human.
Victor covered his ears.
The creature collapsed.
The lights went out.
Silence returned.
Victor stood frozen.
Water dripped from the ceiling.
His chest rose and fell.
He waited.
Nothing moved.
Slowly, Victor approached.
The creature lay on its side.
Smoke rose from its body.
One of its eyes was gone.
Its fingers twitched.
Victor stopped.
He raised the pipe.
The creature's head moved.
Victor took a step backward.
Then—
it stopped.
Completely.
Victor stared at it for several seconds.
He didn't trust it.
But his body had reached its limit.
His knees buckled.
He fell against the wall.
His pipe slipped from his hand.
For a while, he simply sat there.
Breathing.
Alive.
He looked at the dead creature.
Then at his hands.
They were shaking.
He pressed them together.
"Who are you?"
The dead creature gave no answer.
Victor laughed once.
It wasn't because anything was funny.
He was terrified.
He looked around the ruined warehouse.
He needed to leave.
Now.
Before something else found him.
Victor pushed himself upright.
Pain shot through his ribs.
He winced.
He looked down at his abdomen.
The wound that had been open when he woke was smaller now.
Much smaller.
Victor frowned.
He touched it.
The skin around the wound had already begun closing.
He stared.
That wasn't normal.
He knew that.
He didn't know how he knew.
But he knew.
His fingers moved to his neck.
The creature had nearly crushed his throat.
There should have been bruising.
There was almost nothing.
Victor slowly lowered his hand.
His reflection appeared in a shattered piece of glass.
He stared at himself.
A stranger stared back.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
Blood across his face.
A cut above his eyebrow.
Eyes that looked exhausted.
He touched the reflection.
The man in the glass did the same.
"Victor."
The name came naturally.
He didn't know why.
He stepped away.
There was something inside the warehouse that he hadn't noticed before.
A desk.
Most of it had collapsed.
But something was sitting on top of it.
Victor approached cautiously.
A wallet.
Black leather.
He picked it up.
Nothing inside except a folded piece of paper.
He opened it.
Blank.
Victor turned it over.
Nothing.
He checked the wallet again.
No identification.
No money.
No photographs.
Nothing.
Except—
something had been scratched into the leather.
Three letters.
VIC
Victor stared.
His heart beat faster.
He ran his thumb across the marks.
They looked old.
Very old.
But something about them felt familiar.
He searched the warehouse.
Behind the desk was a torn jacket.
He picked it up.
The pockets were empty.
He found a pair of boots.
Too large.
He put them on anyway.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A trail.
Blood.
Not his.
The blood led toward the far end of the warehouse.
Victor followed it.
He shouldn't have.
Every instinct told him to leave.
But the question was stronger.
What was that thing?
The trail ended beside a metal door.
Victor opened it.
Beyond was a narrow corridor.
At the end of the corridor, another door stood slightly open.
Light spilled through the gap.
Real light.
White.
Electric.
Victor approached.
He pushed the door open.
He stopped.
A road stretched beyond the building.
Streetlights illuminated the asphalt.
Cars passed in the distance.
Victor stared.
Civilization.
He almost laughed.
After the grave.
After the creature.
After everything...
there were still people living normally.
He stepped outside.
Cold air touched his face.
A car passed.
Then another.
Victor watched the headlights disappear into the darkness.
He walked toward the road.
After several minutes, he found a small gas station.
The fluorescent sign buzzed overhead.
A convenience store sat beneath it.
The sight of food almost made him dizzy.
Victor approached the entrance.
The automatic doors opened.
Warm air touched his face.
A woman behind the counter looked up.
She was probably in her fifties.
She glanced at Victor.
Her expression changed.
She saw the blood.
The torn clothes.
His bare hands.
She reached for the phone beneath the counter.
Victor stopped.
"Please."
The woman hesitated.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
She looked at him.
Then at the blood.
"Are you injured?"
Victor looked down.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"I don't remember."
The woman stared.
Victor swallowed.
"I don't remember anything."
Something in his voice changed her expression.
The woman slowly lowered her hand.
"Sit."
Victor didn't move.
"Please," she said.
Her voice was gentler now.
"You're going to collapse."
Victor looked at the empty store.
Then at her.
He walked to a chair near the counter.
He sat.
The woman brought him a bottle of water.
Victor grabbed it with both hands.
He drank almost the entire bottle in one breath.
She watched him.
"When was the last time you ate?"
Victor lowered the bottle.
"I don't know."
She frowned.
"Do you know what day it is?"
"No."
"What year?"
Victor opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
The woman stared at him.
"You really don't remember?"
Victor shook his head.
She looked uncomfortable.
Then she asked the question that had been haunting him since he opened his eyes.
"What's your name?"
Victor looked at the bottle in his hands.
He thought about the letters scratched into the wallet.
He thought about the strange certainty that appeared whenever he heard the name.
"Victor."
The woman nodded slowly.
"Victor what?"
He looked at her.
"I don't know."
Outside, somewhere in the distance, a siren began to wail.
The woman glanced toward the windows.
Her expression changed.
Victor noticed.
"You know something."
She didn't answer.
The siren grew louder.
Then stopped.
The gas station lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The woman stood.
She locked the front door.
Victor watched her.
"What are you doing?"
She didn't answer.
She walked toward the windows and pulled the blinds shut.
Then she turned off the lights.
The store fell into darkness.
Victor's voice dropped.
"What is happening?"
The woman put one finger against her lips.
"Don't speak."
Victor stared at her.
A sound came from outside.
Slow footsteps.
Crunching gravel.
The woman moved behind the counter.
Victor remained seated.
The footsteps stopped.
Right outside the door.
Victor held his breath.
A shadow appeared behind the blinds.
Tall.
Thin.
Wrong.
The woman looked at Victor.
Her eyes were filled with fear.
Then something scratched slowly down the glass.
Scrrrrrape.
Victor's hand closed around the edge of the chair.
The woman whispered:
"Whatever you hear..."
Her voice trembled.
"...don't let it know you're alive."
Victor stared at the shadow.
Something breathed outside.
Deeply.
Hungrily.
Then a voice came through the glass.
A human voice.
Soft.
Almost gentle.
"Victor?"
Victor's blood turned cold.
The woman looked at him.
The shadow outside smiled.
And Victor realized something terrifying.
Whatever was standing outside...
already knew his name.