It took a moment to stare at him with dumb confusion before my brain finally kicked in, “Dominskev” I exclaimed.
Dominskev remained still, unresponsive when his name was called. Panic gripped me as I stared at his motionless form, desperately searching for any sign of life. Time seemed to slow as I stood there watching, my heart pounding harder in my chest.
My oxygen-starved brain finally comprehended that a small light had turned on in the corner of the room. The dim white light casting pale shadows across the room. I fixated upon his chest, my gaze unwavering. It felt like an eternity before I saw it - a faint, almost imperceptible rise and fall of his breathing. Relief washed over me as I noted we had all somehow escaped unscathed. I let out a shaky breath, surprising myself as I did so, not realizing I’d been holding my breath this whole time
The tension of what we had just been through began to dissipate, replaced by a renewed determination to get to the hangar bay. His shallow breaths were a bitter reminder that our situation was still a perilous one. We couldn’t afford to waste any more time. All three of us needed medical attention, but we had managed to get here, with seemingly no way out. I turned to face Rahmam. “Where exactly are we Corporal?” I enquired. He was still gathering his breath and thoughts as it took a moment for him to respond.
“Maintenance Tunnel, sir.” He managed to wheeze, before keeling back over. The strain of talking is still too much for his battered body. Somehow I already felt better, the strength returning to my arms, my head feeling less like a lump of lead on my shoulders. It suddenly dawned on me…
“Corporal, what happened to the other troopers?” I exclaimed, my voice trembling imperceptibly as I fought for control of my emotions. I suspected what happened but I didn’t want to be the one who said the words out loud.
“They didn’t make it through the door, Sir” The Corporal replied, his voice heavy with sadness and guilt. His words confirmed what I had feared, such a horrific death for anyone to go through. A sense of loss washed over me once again, I didn’t know the men who were outside the room, I didn’t even know their names. As the Corporal began to speak, his voice faltered. At first, I put it down to emotion, but then I caught sight of his widened eyes staring down the corridor behind me. A sudden eerie silence settled over the corridor as I turned myself to face down the corridor, my chest turned to ice as fear gripped me.
At the end of the narrow tunnel, a figure stood there, watching us. The figure was wearing what looked like a black robe, however, he was bathed in the dim emergency lighting, my eyes flickered to the brutal-looking weapon in its left hand. I gulped audibly, trying to force myself to say something. My heart raced in my chest, my ribcage barely holding onto it. I reached reflexively for my sidearm and realized I must have dropped my weapon belt as I piled in there.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Crap, this is just perfect” I muttered under my breath. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see if I could see it and saw it lying next to Dominskev about a meter or so away from me. The figure was shrouded in the shadows, but the weapon it held was all too clear to us - a visible and menacing sign of danger.
“Stay back” I whispered urgently to the Corporal. The previously barely audible hiss of the pipes around us created an eerie backdrop in the tense standoff. The uncertainty of the situation unnerved me, I could feel the unease of him behind me. Without warning his silhouette slightly shifted. The silence was heavy, the soft hum of the ship’s systems and the distant echo of the battle elsewhere in the ship.
I couldn’t afford to provoke the figure until we were ready, with Dominskev out cold and Rahmam froze in terror we were vulnerable. I took a deep breath as I prepared myself “Identify yourself” I bellowed, my voice cutting through all the sounds causing the Corporal to visibly wince. My eyes remained trained on the figure, ready for the first sign of hostility. The seconds ticked by and the silence hung heavy.
The tension in the tunnel reached its peak as we continued to wait for a response from the figure, distant thuds and explosions slightly rocked the ship as battles around the ship and the naval battle raged all around us. Sensing this standoff was leading nowhere I took a cautious step backwards, I needed my weapon and fast. As I retreated I kept my eyes trained on the figure, ready to leap towards my weapon belt at the first sign of movement from the figure.
As the figure took a step towards us I froze, momentarily stunned by the fact it was a creature and not just a hallucination. I was barely 4 steps away from my weapons belt. I lunged towards it, the comforting feeling of the leather belt beneath my fingers. Pulling it forward I flipped on my back trying to bring my sidearm up to aim at the figure but it was gone, I glanced towards Rahmam, his jaw was slack open staring at where the figure was.
The corridor felt like a narrow battleground, uncertainty hung in the air like a storm cloud. I pulled myself to my feet and heard Dominskev stir behind me, at least there’d be three of us against the one figure, I thought to myself bitterly. I took a step towards Rahmam and it seemed to snap him out of his reverie, blinking his eyes clear and he turned his gaze to me, eyes wide in bewilderment.
The Corporal’s voice quivered as he spoke, “What happened? I could have sworn the figure was just there, and then…” He trailed off, his voice quivering into silence, eyebrows furrowed in confusion, mirroring the bafflement that had gripped us all. The disappearance of the figure was deeply concerning, it was as if they had melted into the shadows, leaving us with more questions than there were answers.
I exchanged a glance with Rahmam, my bladder braced for any more surprises “I don’t know where he had gone, but we can’t let our guard down. Keep an eye down that corridor, and shoot anything that moved”, a nod of confirmation was my response. I understood, but someone had to get us moving.