body. It turned over slowly in the water.
After a moment’s grim reflection, he fashioned a theory. Without rising from the poolside, Coleman said, ‘First Unit retreated back to the waiting helicopter. Somehow the hostiles got on board at the same time. The Marines couldn’t fire for fear of hitting each other. Everybody was trapped inside and getting torn apart. It looks like the pilot tried to take off.’
Coleman’s imagination painted a far more graphic version. Even a single creature surging into the helicopter’s confined interior would have been like detonating a shrapnel grenade in a shoebox. He imagined the pilot looking over his shoulder and seeing the creatures tearing apart the passengers, the screaming inspectors, the madness inside the helicopter as someone started firing. Bullets hitting the creatures and maybe each other, perhaps hitting the pilot. The helicopter turning sharply, then tipping…the ground racing up….
‘Fifth Unit should have arrived by now,’ Coleman said, shaking the ghastly scene from his mind.
Forest moved his flashlight beam across the wall further down the room, then suddenly backtracked the light. ‘Captain.’
Coleman looked up and saw the intercom Forest had spotted about twenty feet away. He could finally call the evac center for David and Vanessa! Nervous hope drew him two steps towards the intercom.
He only got two steps before it all happened.
The automatic glass doors at the end of the pool room slid open. Then they slid shut again.
Third Unit spun towards the doors, and then froze warily. The intercom was between Coleman and the doors.
Coleman’s mind whirled into action.
The pool room had a simple design. Lockers down one side, and a single archway leading into a row of dead-end changing rooms on the other. The archway was up the Marines’ end of the pool room. The automatic doors down the far end of the pool room offered the only conventional exit. They resembled the doors of an air-conditioned shopping center with a motion sensor at the top. Something or someone had tripped the sensor, but they hadn’t come through the doors.
Like someone stealthily approaching the pool just triggered the doors by accident.
Coleman remembered Fifth Unit’s last radio message had contained the sound of foreign gunfire.
Coleman glanced at the intercom and swore. It was so close.
‘Back, back,’ he hissed. ‘Take cover.’
The glass doors exploded.
Whoever occupied the corridor realized their mistake and tried to cut their losses by catching Coleman’s team in the open.
Third Unit scattered for any scrap of cover.
Coleman dove towards the bay of free-standing lockers. Across the pool, Marlin and Forest returned fire and dashed for the changing rooms’ archway. The gunfire caught King right out in the middle. Dropping to his belly, he scrambled behind a low steel hump at the end of the pool. King’s cover was the lid of the machine that rolled up the pool cover. The steel lid measured hardly larger than King himself.
Coleman scrambled to his feet, keeping his back pressed to the tiled wall. The locker at his left shoulder provided slim cover from the glass doors.
‘Anyone hit?’ he called out.
‘Intact,’ radioed Forest. The same response quickly echoed from Marlin and King.
‘Who the hell are they?’ called Forest.
‘Good question,’ Coleman answered. ‘Marlin – escape route, pronto.’
‘On
After a moment’s grim reflection, he fashioned a theory. Without rising from the poolside, Coleman said, ‘First Unit retreated back to the waiting helicopter. Somehow the hostiles got on board at the same time. The Marines couldn’t fire for fear of hitting each other. Everybody was trapped inside and getting torn apart. It looks like the pilot tried to take off.’
Coleman’s imagination painted a far more graphic version. Even a single creature surging into the helicopter’s confined interior would have been like detonating a shrapnel grenade in a shoebox. He imagined the pilot looking over his shoulder and seeing the creatures tearing apart the passengers, the screaming inspectors, the madness inside the helicopter as someone started firing. Bullets hitting the creatures and maybe each other, perhaps hitting the pilot. The helicopter turning sharply, then tipping…the ground racing up….
‘Fifth Unit should have arrived by now,’ Coleman said, shaking the ghastly scene from his mind.
Forest moved his flashlight beam across the wall further down the room, then suddenly backtracked the light. ‘Captain.’
Coleman looked up and saw the intercom Forest had spotted about twenty feet away. He could finally call the evac center for David and Vanessa! Nervous hope drew him two steps towards the intercom.
He only got two steps before it all happened.
The automatic glass doors at the end of the pool room slid open. Then they slid shut again.
Third Unit spun towards the doors, and then froze warily. The intercom was between Coleman and the doors.
Coleman’s mind whirled into action.
The pool room had a simple design. Lockers down one side, and a single archway leading into a row of dead-end changing rooms on the other. The archway was up the Marines’ end of the pool room. The automatic doors down the far end of the pool room offered the only conventional exit. They resembled the doors of an air-conditioned shopping center with a motion sensor at the top. Something or someone had tripped the sensor, but they hadn’t come through the doors.
Like someone stealthily approaching the pool just triggered the doors by accident.
Coleman remembered Fifth Unit’s last radio message had contained the sound of foreign gunfire.
Coleman glanced at the intercom and swore. It was so close.
‘Back, back,’ he hissed. ‘Take cover.’
The glass doors exploded.
Whoever occupied the corridor realized their mistake and tried to cut their losses by catching Coleman’s team in the open.
Third Unit scattered for any scrap of cover.
Coleman dove towards the bay of free-standing lockers. Across the pool, Marlin and Forest returned fire and dashed for the changing rooms’ archway. The gunfire caught King right out in the middle. Dropping to his belly, he scrambled behind a low steel hump at the end of the pool. King’s cover was the lid of the machine that rolled up the pool cover. The steel lid measured hardly larger than King himself.
Coleman scrambled to his feet, keeping his back pressed to the tiled wall. The locker at his left shoulder provided slim cover from the glass doors.
‘Anyone hit?’ he called out.
‘Intact,’ radioed Forest. The same response quickly echoed from Marlin and King.
‘Who the hell are they?’ called Forest.
‘Good question,’ Coleman answered. ‘Marlin – escape route, pronto.’
‘On
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