Alex Gore - The Cube

“Bless him for killing me” Marcela said. She shivered at the very thought of those creatures.

“He lost a lot of blood but is stable at the moment and can even walk. And since I have no men to spare for his guarding, I locked him with handcuffs to the bed, so that he would not escape.”

“But, Major, this is not humane” Marcela protested. “He is my patient and as such he is innocent till proven otherwise. Let your tribunals and judges put him on trial later, but while he is under my observation, I insist for him to be free.”

“Impossible!” the Major replied firmly.

“Can I make a suggestion, Sir”, the Lieutenant interjected surprisingly. “Maybe the lady is right… to a certain extent. The physical power and the tactic skills of the Colonel might be useful in this critical moment, Sir.”

“He is right, of course. Ivanov is a formidable force” Michael said.

“Please, Major”, Marcela said, employing the gentlest note in her voice. “Let me go and unlock him. The man suffers, he has lost at least two liters of blood and would hardly be able to hurt someone in near future.”

“Okay, but he stays under the direct observation of the Lieutenant”, Norman agreed.

“And how is the situation with communications, Major?” Michael asked.

“As a consequence of the attack we’ve lost all connection with the rest of the world. We have power for ten hours more and no food, except for a few packs of crackers. Water is altogether thirteen liters.”

Marcela looked through the small round window. Dawn was coming outside and the smoldering remains of the Base could be seen. The smoke mingled with sand and the storm was carrying it away in the sky.

“The dormitories are completely destroyed, as is the munition warehouse. We have no weapons with the exception of my pistol and two automatic M4, for which we have almost no bullets.”

“What about the SUVs?” Hans asked.

The latest events had marked his face as well. He looked exhausted, pale, dirty and a little thinner – all features that were unusual for him. The feverish worry in his eyes made his round face look somehow younger. His shirt was cramped and was a pitiful reminder of his perfect attire from a couple of days ago. The jacket was missing and the white handkerchief, with which he constantly wiped his sweaty forehead, now looked like a dirty rag.

“One is completely destroyed, the fire has left only its metal carcass, the other one is with cut tires and cannot be ignited. I have to check it and see what I can do with it”, Norman said.

“I can help you, Major, I know a bit about trucks”, Michael proposed.

“How many of these suckers are left? As far as we know, they were exactly as many as us, right?” Marcela asked and looked at the others.

“Yes, correct”, Hans replied. “Our total number in the Base was fifteen, wasn’t it, Major?”

“That’s right, six soldiers, the Sergeant, the Lieutenant, myself and you, the scientists. Plus, of course the two Russians. Fifteen altogether.”

“Okay, we found Greg dead, and two more had disappeared without a trace? What were their names?”

“John and Taylor, yes. We declared them missing, but they were probably killed with Greg. They were both patrolling around the Base. Two of the soldiers died in the first explosion and the other two – in the attack through the roof. We found the Sergeant’s body by the watchtower and Sergey was shot by Mikey’s double.”

“Fuck, that’s totally crazy” Michael said in a sad voice, imagining a creature, that looked like him, doing something so awful.

“So… We killed two of them in the roof attack, two more escaped… right?” Hans was counting in his head. “March’s double was eliminated by Ivanov and those of the dead soldiers should have already disintegrated according to my computation.”

“You mean they do not exist anymore? They are dead, aren’t they?” Marcela needed to be sure that they are now free of those particular monsters.

“Yes, you’ll never see them again.”

“Thank God” she said, making a cross in the Orthodox manner, finishing with her right hand over her heart.

“So, we are five, not counting the two wounded men in the infirmary. The doubles are also five: mine, Alan’s, Ivanov’s, Norman’s and the Lieutenant’s. That’s it, we have five vermin creatures to kill.”

“If we are focused and keep together, we might be able to finish them”, the Major said.

“May I make a suggestion, Sir”, Babyface surprisingly spoke again. He did not seem anymore so much the pedantic military person. “Let’s group in two teams in view of safety. Me and you will be responsible for each of the teams, Sir.”

“Actually, this is a brilliant idea, Lieutenant.”

The rest exchanged glances in wonder of the creativity, demonstrated by the young man with the gentle face.

“Myself, Hans and Michael will take on the technical maintenance of the SUVs”, the Major said, “and will try to restore communications. Your task, Lieutenant, is to guard Marcela, who will be taking care of both patients. And try to find a way in which we can exterminate the abominable creatures.”

“Understood, Sir!” Babyface saluted, stamping his feet, his body as straight as a string.

Alan lifted himself a bit and rested on his elbow in the bed. The action of the anaesthetics was now diminished, his mind got clearer, but at the same time he started feeling an awful pain in his left leg. He looked down at himself and saw that the whole bed was red in color, the white synthetic sheet was soaked with his blood and the stench was terrible. He looked at his right leg, which was smeared and his once white sock had an indefinite color of dirt. It hurt just a little bit, obviously from the bruises, while he was spinning along the floor of the room.

He shifted his eyes to the left and… saw nothing. Just a huge spot of blood on the sheet. His leg was not in its place! His leg was cut!

At this moment Marcela and Hans entered the room. They were followed by the Lieutenant, who took a chair from the corner and set it across the patient’s bed.

“What happened? Please, you’ve got to tell me!” Alan cried at them.

“Alan, calm down, you had an accident, lie down and try to compose yourself, you’ll be okay.” Marcela ran to him and started to switch on faster the opiate in his intravenous catheter.

Alan stopped her with a weak gesture and fell back on the bed. He had no strength left for any other movement.

“Please, March, don’t drug me, I prefer to be in pain, but to be aware of what’s going on.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

“We were attacked, I kicked one of them in the ass, somebody was shooting, that I remember, but all the rest is like in a fog.”

“Alan, you saved me.” Marcela addressed him with a gentle profound glance. “If not for you, I’d be dead now.”

Alan lifted the corners of his mouth in an almost imperceptible smile.

“You covered her to protect her”, the Lieutenant said. “But one of the creatures literally tore your leg. I’m really sorry, Alan.”

“Did you kill it?”

“Norman shot it in the head. I eliminated the other one.” The Lieutenant modestly lowered his head and went to the bed of the other patient.

“Why is it here?” Alan was watching the Cube with suspicion. “We decided it is safer to keep it here.”

“Safer?! Tell it to my leg, goddamn it! This thing kills us! It is a

work of the devil and must burn in hell! We have to take it out of here and destroy it! Once and forever!” Alan started to get out of bed. He was like a madman, insanity filled his eyes, he was shouting hoarsely and his cries made Marcela’s heart sink. She pressed the button and the liquid in the UV started flowing down the tube. Alan fell asleep instantly.