Chapter 40: Heart of Darkness

"I don't like waiting here like this," Rainbow Dash growled, swiveling the APC's gun turret to pick off another creature trying to sneak out of the jungle and into the parked convoy. Bits of flesh and blood splattered against leaves, and the creature, whatever it had been, fall back in a tangle of tentacles and soggy flesh. "I want to go help Chris and the others."

Twilight glanced up at the towering Overwatch tank, knowing that inside one of the big rocket tubes on top, the modified nuclear missile lay, waiting patiently for an opportunity she prayed would never come.

I know exactly why Jeff is keeping as many of us here as he can. We have to protect that payload at all costs.

She smiled at Rainbow Dash. "They'll be fine. I'm absolutely sure there's no danger that far away," she lied. "Just watch, the barrier will drop in no time."

Rainbow Dash grunted and fired again, the APC rocking on it's suspension as the massive turret on top snarled. "Well, it seems that we're getting more activity here by the minute. I think there's groups of them headed here from wherever else they were scattered to. Let's hope they finish before we get overrun or something."

"I'm sure it won't be long now, Dashie." Twilight leaned her head back and closed her eyes, focusing on the defense field, feeling for any incoming threats.

***

Miles away and deep underground, Chris and his team pushed forward into the bowels of the power plant, nearing the control center that would allow them to cut power to the rest of the island facilities, dealing with the occasional groups of parazombies that roamed in the darkness.

"It's just up there," Sanchez finally said. "We made it!"

The door hung open, the holographic lock system flickering an ERROR message. Chris pulled it wider, and they entered the large room beyond. When they swung their lights around, Emmy squealed in terror at what lay within.

Chris gasped. "Oh fuck me."

Hamilton gagged.

"So that's where all their heads went," Sanchez said disgustedly.

In front of them were the severed heads of at least fifty humans, suspended randomly from the ceiling by pink ropes of a slimy flesh-like substance. Exposed, pulsing arteries ran along the tissue, carrying blood to each head like some kind of horrible hanging garden.

In the middle of the room a great mass of flesh pulsed and breathed through flapping orifices, pumping oxygenated blood through the entire network. The sound was like a great pile of sleeping tigers with pneumonia, squirting and bubbling with every breath. Phlegm and green mucus juiced out and created a puddle on the floor. Bundles of nerves like a boneless spine ran out of each head and into sacks of pulsating flesh that hung from the ceiling as well. Various tendrils and cables from the control console were connected to the fleshy mess.

"It must be using human brains as a computer to run the control systems," McAllister said shakily.

"The eyes, oh Chris, the eyes!" Emmy's voice was on the edge of hysteria as she pressed her shaking body against him. She had never sounded so frightened in all the time Chris had known her.

Every head was looking at them, staring at them, eyes aware and intelligent. Mouths worked here and there, soundlessly, frantically, the dripping stubs of vertebrae and spinal tissue trembling slightly beneath.

No vocal cords to scream with.

Chris felt a deep horror in his own stomach. He wanted to scream, to vomit, to grab Emmy and run away back out of this hell into the sun and keep running until he collapsed. Anywhere but here. But he had a job to do, and friends to protect. He fought to keep his voice steady. He wanted to hold Emmy and comfort her, but he had to be ready to fight.

"Emmy. Stop looking at it. Look at me. It's going to be okay."

Not for these people though. Too late for them. I can only bring them a merciful death.

Emmy locked her eyes on his, desperate, needing him.

Lie to me. Tell me it's going to be okay, she silently begged him.

"You're a strong girl, Emmy, and we need you. Just keep an eye on the door, okay? Make sure nothing comes through it. We will take care of this."

Emmy nodded and turned her back reluctantly on the nightmarish sight.

"Marky. Do you have incendiaries?"

"Yeah. Burn this mess up?"

"You got it. I'm staying here. I'm not leaving Emmy alone."

"Good. And..." Marky leaned in and whispered to him. "If something goes wrong, you grab her and run and get the hell out of here, you understand?" Marky turned away before Chris could reply. Two grenades floated out of his pouches.

"I'm placing napalm grenades on a timer. Don't wanna be in here when these things blow."

Sanchez, Marky, Hamilton, and McAllister began carefully moving towards the thing in the center of the room. Chris watched, standing beside Emmy.

The eyes. What is it with the eyes? They're glowing!

"You have proceeded far enough, now." The voice was neither male nor female, but both, the combined voice of every head hanging in the room. Their mouths moved in unison, but no sound came out. The words were spoken directly into his mind. "Freeze."

Chris found he couldn't move, couldn't look away from the mesmerizing eyes of the disembodied head staring at him, gripping his thoughts.

"What the hell? I can't move!" Marky said. "Chris! Get out of here!"

"I can't move either, Marky." Through his peripheral vision, he could see McAllister, Hamilton, and Sanchez were frozen as well.

"Chris? What's happening?"

"Emmy! Can you move? Don't turn around!"

"I can move fine. What's going on?"

"Emmy. Don't turn around! Don't look behind you! Run, Emmy. Leave us! Don't look at the heads, they-" Suddenly he couldn't speak, his mouth and vocal cords ignoring his desires.

"Chris, Chris, I give you an inch, and you take a mile. Speaking privileges are revoked. For all of you." The voice in his head chuckled evilly. "Since Emmy isn't looking and can't hear us, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I have a surprise for her. My zombies are coming, Chris. They'll make her turn around. They'll make her mine. I won't be gentle to her, Chris. I'll make you watch as I take her head, as I devour her body. I'm going to be very, very inefficient. I'll make you watch as I take her soul, slowly and ineptly. I was in a hurry before, with these others, but I will take my time with Emmy, I will give you a good show."

Even greater fear washed over Chris.

Emmy run please run no don't what are you doing stop!

Emmy was backing up in front of him, her eyes locked on his. She couldn't see the shearing claws on the tentacles gradually extending from the pile of flesh behind, slowly creeping towards her. She didn't look left or right or behind, only at him. The evil claws slid closer, only a slight grating on the hard floor broadcasting their approach.

Those are the same kind of claws that killed Jeff's friend. Oh Emmy. How come you don't hear them coming? Please run. I can't see this.

Tears leaked out of his eyes at the thought of what was about to happen to her, as the image of those hideous claws slicing her delicate throat tortured his mind.

Softly she reared up in front of him, like she had so many times before, putting her forehooves gently on his chest. "Don't worry, I'm here." She leaned in and kissed him gently. As she did so, her mane and face blocked Chris's view of the severed head in front of him, and the paralysis spell was broken.

He grabbed her in his arms and threw himself backwards into the air, the claws snapping shut inches behind her neck with a sound like a giant pair of scissors. They landed bone-jarringly on the concrete, his exo suit taking up most of the impact, protecting his spine as he scraped to a halt on the concrete.

Before he stopped sliding, he grabbed a flash bang from his belt and flung it hard towards the far side of the room. It exploded with a blinding white light and powerful concussion. The ARHUDs on Marky, Sanchez, Hamilton, and McAllister reacted instantly to the intense light, polarizing completely to protect their eyesight, breaking their view of the severed heads that held them enthralled. Their audio headsets protected them from the majority of the stun blast as well.

They spun and ran immediately, charging towards Chris and Emmy and the door.

"Gogogogo!"

They grabbed Emmy and Chris in passing, and together they charged towards the exit. Sure enough, several parazombies were shambling towards the door, but the stampeding group of friends knocked them down like bowling pins and then dodged to the side down the hallway.

"Wait! Wait wait!" Marky rushed back to the doorway and tossed the two grenades as far as he could into opening without looking. He pulled pins and flung several other grenades for good measure.

There was a hissing, gargling, incoherent scream of sudden fear from the room as they backed away down the hallway.

"Yeah! Choke on that you piece of shit!" Marky bellowed as he galloped back to the group, enraged and violently delighted in equal measure. "That's what you get! Fuck you!'

There was an immense explosion. Liquid flame, white fireworks, and burning debris came blasting out, igniting the confused parazombies rolling about on the floor.

"Jeez Marky, what did you throw in there?" McAllister asked, gaping at the small slice of molten destruction the hallway portrayed.

Marky looked down at his pockets. "Uh, the two napalm, a frag, a thermite, and some Willy Pete, I think."

They looked at the parazombies. The fireworks had left splotches of searing white on the floors and wall radiating from the door. The zombies were covered in it, and it seemed as if they were melting. Smoke billowed up from the foul mess.

"The white phosphorous is some nasty stuff. Don't step on any of it," Marky said.

Hamilton waved his gun around, scanning the corridor. "Guys? Look. Our lights are working again. Looks like that monster in there was the source of that weird darkness."

"Listen!" Sanchez exclaimed. "The generator hum is gone. I think blowing the control room up entirely may have done the trick."

Emergency lighting activated in the hallway moments later.

Sanchez looked at the dimly flickering fixtures. "Looks like backup systems are coming online after we put that thing out of commission."

"Not much, but it beats blundering around in the dark," Marky added. "Come to think of it, didn't Dr. Hardy say something about needing power to shut the gate down?"

Sanchez shrugged. "Well, they ain't shutting anything down if they can't get to the gate. I guess they'll have to figure that out once we get there."

Hamilton tapped his headset. "Comm relays are still down. We won't get a signal till we return to the surface."

"By the way," McAllister asked, "How did you get free in there, Chris?"

Chris was sitting close to Emmy. "Actually, you have her to thank for that. If she hadn't broken the thrall, we'd probably all be... well, not in good shape."

"Thanks, Emmy. I mean it," McAllister said earnestly. "But, how did you do it?"

Emmy blushed and mumbled, averting her eyes. "I, uh... got between Chris and... The monster."

"When she blocked my view, it broke the trance," Chris added.

McAllister blinked. "How did you know to do that?"

Emmy's voice got smaller. "I... I didn't."

"Huh?"

She looked at Chris and spoke in such a low tone it was almost a whisper. "I... I thought you were going to die horribly." Her voice shook. "I heard that... that awful thing, scratching on the floor. I just wanted it to... to take us together."

Chris put his arms around her and pulled her close as her voice broke. "Oh, Emmy."

She was crying then, tears washing away the dust on her face in streams, her muzzle burrowing into his shoulder. "I was so afraid to lose you!" she sobbed.

He held her in his arms and kissed her neck. "It's okay baby, I'm right here. It's okay."

McAllister's mouth hung open like a castle drawbridge, his eyes the size of dinner plates. He unbreathingly looked at Hamilton, who was equally shocked. Sanchez, for his part, had a knowing half smile on his face, like something he'd known all along had just been confirmed.

"Uh, guys?" Marky spoke softly and gestured to them. "It's still not safe here. Help me keep an eye out. I think they need a moment to, ah, recover. A little privacy maybe?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," McAllister agreed, finding his voice with difficulty. He turned his back and kept watch on the hallway with the others. "That just... I, uh, I didn't really see that coming... Oh man."

Sanchez took the moment to check the schematic. "Guys? I see a trunk line running through an access tunnel all the way to Gate Two valley. I think we can join up with the attack force there, if we get moving. The entrance to the tunnel is not far from here."

Emmy nudged Chris. "I'm okay. Let's get out of here."

Together they stood, and jogged down the hallway, moving faster now that they could see.