For Your Eyes Only

We had been walking for hours when we reached a corner turning left and stretching out into the abyss. I had noticed some time ago that there were no doors on the left side of this long hallway, and the pattern continued around the bend.

“Well, looks like we’ve been walking the perimeter.” I said, still squinting down the path ahead. “Do any of you have some chalk, or anything we can use to mark the walls?” I called out to the group.

One of the scientists stepped forward, holding out a small vial of ink. “I had a spare inkpot with me. I took so many notes yesterday I ran out.” He passed the vial to me and I removed the cork stopper.

I carefully poured some of the contents onto my left hoof and replaced the stopper, then turned to face the corner. I drew a large X on the wall with the black viscous liquid. The wet mark shimmered in the flickering torchlight, growing dimmer still.

“We’ll keep following the exterior wall for now. At least this way we can tell if we’ve already been here.”

I attempted to wipe the excess ink off of my hoof, but found that it had stained into me quickly. “That torch isn’t going to last us much longer. Speedy, you had the gear bag last. What do we have for supplies still?” I called back.

Speedy dropped the bag to the floor and knelt down next to it, rummaging through the pouches. “We have one unused med kit, a couple lengths of rope, two spare leg knives, some field rations, and one folding shovel.” She said after a moment.

“No torches left?” I said, walking over to her.

“No sir. They must have gotten left at the entrance.”

“Shit…” I muttered under my breath. “Glass, Starch, can either of you use your magic to get us some light?” I called over to the waiting unicorns.

“Sure thing, sir.” Glass said, proceeding to close his eyes in concentration. A soft green glow began to emanate from his horn, and he opened his eyes. “I should be able to keep this up for a while, as long as I can keep my concentration.” He said.

“Well, Starch? Got anything to add?” I said, turning towards the Private.

He closed his eyes, straining to concentrate. A dim blue glow formed briefly before disappearing. He opened his eyes and looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry sir. I just can’t concentrate…” He said, softly.

“It’s fine. Glass will keep the lights on for now. Get yourself together soon though, he’ll need some time to rest in a while.”

Starch nodded, almost imperceptibly, and turned away. I snuffed the torch out, and when it had cooled down I placed it in the gear bag. We might need it later.

“Shores, you have the gear for now.” I said, walking back to the head of the group. “Sergeant, take the rear. Glass, you stay in the middle of the group. We’re moving out.”

We made our way down the new hallway in silence, the green glow of Glass’s horn casting strange shadows along the walls. Every few doors along the right side of the hallway lie open. Most were the same small bedrooms we had seen so many times before, but some were different. They were larger, and metal lockers covered the back walls of the rooms. Curiosity got the better of me after a while, and I walked into the room, calling “Five minutes everyone. Take a break while you can.” Shores slipped the gear bag off of his back and sat down next to Glass. Speedy and Ironside moved over to the now prone Starch, trying to calm him down.

I walked over to one of the large metal lockers and with a little effort managed to open one. Inside was what looked like a vest, far too bulky to be practical, a metal helmet painted green, and some sort of long metal tube with square metal bits sticking off of it. There was a small half-circle of metal attached to the bottom, with what looked like a lever inside of it. It reminded me of the angular device that had injured Private Twitch. I closed the locker and moved over to the desk at the center of the room.

“I thought we didn’t have time to do any research, Captain.” One of the remaining scientists called over to me.

“We’re on a break. Science away, just do it quick. We’re leaving here soon.”

I pulled open the lowest drawer and found a glass bottle full of some sort of amber liquid. Unscrewing the cap, I took a whiff and wrinkled my nose at the scent. It smelled like a mix between shoe polish and medicine. I replaced the cap and set the bottle aside. Moving faded scraps of paper out of the way, I noticed another of those odd black rectangles with the glass over them. There was something on the paper inside, but I couldn’t see quite what it was in the dim light. I carefully raised the black rectangle out of the drawer when a loud thudding startled me, causing me to drop it. The glass shattered in the drawer.

I looked up at the doorway, noticing the rest of the group had followed suit. Another thunderous bang rang out, echoing down the hallway. Starch began to whimper, still lying on the ground near the wall.

The room was silent, save for our breath and the whispered pleading of Private Starch. Ironside kicked him sharply and he fell silent. We stared at the door for what felt like an eternity. Another resounding bang rang out through the hallway.

“Can you tell what direction it’s coming from?” I whispered, looking to the Sergeant.

“It’s coming from up ahead, sir.” He quietly replied.

“Shit. Glass, drop the brightness down. No need to give ourselves away.”

He nodded, still fixated on the doorway, and the light dimmed.

“What’s the plan, sir?” The Sergeant asked, looking away from the door to me.

“We can’t stay here. We sit here much longer and whatever that is, it’s going to find us anyways.”

I stood up and walked back over to the locker, opening it as quietly as I could.

“Shore, grab some of that rope and come here.”

Shore dug in the gear bag next to him and pulled out two of the rope lengths, dragging them with him over to me. I reached into the locker and gingerly removed the long metal tube, laying it down on the floor. Speedy looked at me uncertainly.

“It looks like that thing that hurt Twitch…” She said, moving over to my side.

“That’s what I’m hoping it is.” I said quietly. “We saw what that little one did to her. I’m hoping we can use this to our advantage.”

“That seems really risky, sir.” She said, looking directly at me.

“I’ve seen what those things can do. We need anything we can use about now. There’s no point in going back the way we came from. We have to keep moving forward.”

“Yes sir.” She said, turning to look at Ironside.

“I need a volunteer.” I said, addressing the group. “This isn’t guaranteed to work, and I won’t force anyone to make this kind of a risk.”

For a moment, nobody moved. Then Ironside stood up and walked over to me.

“You sure, kid?” I asked, looking him over.

“I have to do something to keep this rank, sir.” He said, smiling nervously.

“Fair enough. Hold still.” I said, gingerly picking up the metal tube. “Speedy, Shores, I’m going to hold this thing in place, you two will tie it to Ironside. Make sure it’s on there good, we don’t want it falling off and exploding on us.”

After a few moments and one close call too many, the strange metal pipe was fastened to PFC Ironside, the open end a few inches past his face.

“What now, sir?” He asked, turning to face me and nearly hitting me with the pipe.

“We move out. You’ll be in front with me. Everyone else will keep their same positions as before. Glass has light duty, and Shores had the bag last, so Speedy will take it up for now.”

“What about Starch?” She asked, already placing the bag on her back.

I turned to look at Private Starch, still lying on the floor, staring at the wall, then looked back at Speedy.

“Point taken, sir.” She said, adjusting the bag on her back.

“Keep together. We’re moving.” I said, and walked out the door into the dark hall.