Alex Gore - The Cube

“Lieutenant, calm down, what are you talking about? What explosives?”

“I saw them, they are an entire network, they’ve surrounded the whole Base and can explode at any moment. We have not more than twenty minutes left.”

“Who put them, Lieutenant, did the doubles do it?”

“I rather believe Ivanov started it, looks like a fine job, but then they ‘inherited’ them and put some more. The detonators were with Ivanov the first time when the female double attacked him. They have been missing since then. They can be activated any minute now, I don’t think they’ll wait for the countdown.”

“Yes, having in mind that we kicked their asses hard”, Michael smiled.

“There is one left, Alan’s double, but he’s got the carabines with no less than two hundred bullets”, Babyface said. “If he decides to attack us, we don’t have anything to act against it.”

“My God, we are doomed!” Marcela had directed her eyes at the ceiling.

“Cover the windows with something”, the Lieutenant ordered. “Hans, help me move this cupboard to the door. People, we are barricading in and waiting, Michael, our hopes are on you now, you have to fix the truck real soon.”

“Yes, Sir, I’m going right away, you can rely on me.”

“Lieutenant, give him the last bullet”, she said.

“Now, I think he has too light a finger, and we’ll quickly be left without this weapon.” Babyface’s tone was definitive. “March is there any serum left?”

“Unfortunately, I used the last extract. I need more time for the next batch…”

“How much time?” he interrupted her.

“Two hours at least.”

“That’s too much. Anyway, get on.”

Michael lifted the bag with instruments from the floor and disappeared outside through the door.

“Come on, Hans, push harder.” The Lieutenant was moving the heavy cupboard almost by himself, while the fattish Professor seemed only to be leaning on it on the other side.

The door behind the solid cupboard shook.

“Open up!”

“That’s Michael, move the cupboard”, Marcela said. The Lieutenant moved the metal box and opened the door to the young man. The three of them stared at him.

“What are you gaping at me, people, my double was the first one to be killed”, he laughed. “Your truck, ladies and gentlemen, is ready, and is at your noble disposal.”

“Oh, Mike, you are my hero!” Marcela embraced him and kissed his cheek and he stepped back a little embarrassed and red in the face.

“How could you fix it?”

“Well, the tank has two sections, un-upper one and a lower one, which is narrower. The upper one was completely destroyed by the blades, it couldn’t be sealed and would not keep any fuel. But the lower was just a little bended by one hit and was not punctured. I just moved the tube, sucking fuel to a lower level, and now we have a working Rover. True, it cannot run for more than twenty five miles here, in the desert, but if we carry petrol and fill the tank, we can safely reach Al-Farafra oasis.”

“Mike, you are a real treasure, but what can we do with Alan, we can’t leave him.”

“Me and Hans will carry him to the back seat of the truck, we’ll pile up around him blankets and pillows, so that he doesn’t move too much while we’re driving. I think it is possible…”

“I don’t know if he could survive a journey through the desert. He has lost an awful lot of blood and he really needs an operation in a hospital. Here I am helpless, I cannot do anything…”

“Marcela, bandage him the best you can and calm down. You are doing everything in your power.”

Alan seemed to turn in the bed.

“Do you think he can hear us? March, please talk quietly”, Michael whispered.

“He can’t possibly hear, he’s still under sedation. But I’ll soon have to wake him up for the journey. He would better have certain reflexes preserved with all this jostling…”

“How are you, Alan, are you very much in pain?” she asked him gently.

“Only a little”, he lied. Actually, he hurt unbearably and he was counting the seconds to the next opiate infusion.

“It will all pass, my friend”, she tried to console him in an even quieter voice. This was the first time she called him that.

Really, her voice had stronger effect on him than the drug in the IV.

Marcela was tired, exhausted with the struggle, pale with worry, devoid of sleep, disheveled and still so natural and attractive. He could look at her face forever.

“Alan, your forehead is all sweaty. Are you hot?”

“Yes, a little… I’m a bit hot.”

The Lieutenant and Hans prepared a makeshift carrier from a grid that they extracted from the floor. They put a soft blanket over it and attached some leather belts so they could carry the sounded man to the truck.

“Mike, please, bring the car as close to the door as possible”, Marcela said.

“Right. Take more blankets, it’s cold outside at night” Mike said. A blast was heard in the distance. Then another one. Nearer.

“It has begun”, the Lieutenant said. “The double is exploding the nests one after the other, in three minutes he’ll blow us in the air. We better go.”

“But we’d be an easy target there”, Hans said.

A rain of bullets clattered fiercely on the dome, some of them pierced the boards that covered the windows and ricocheted on the floor.

Another explosion.

All the time nearer!

“Hans, Marcela, lie down!” Babyface shouted and pushed Michael on the floor, covering him with his small body. At this moment from the back of the room Alan’s weak voice was heard:

“I’ll help you solve the problem, friends.”

Alan hardly spoke the words, he hurt so much, his strength had almost expired. His voice sounded strangely acquiescent, there was not a trace of the true spirit of Alan.

“We cannot possibly kill him with just one shot, except if he does not come out as an easy target. If we stay here, he’ll blow us up, if we go out, he’ll shoot us”, Hans said, who was lying on the floor.

“Do you believe he would be able to catch up with the Rover?” Michael asked.

“I don’t doubt it”, Hans replied.

“I suggest we go.” Marcela was going all numb with the thought of the creature being so near.

“Who knows if it does not prey on us even now? Don’t forget he is armed heavily enough to wipe out us all.” The Lieutenant was gazing out of the window. The Lieutenant approached the wounded man’s bed.

“Alan, what are you talking, for god’s sake? Save your strength for the journey and don’t speak.”

“We both know I’m not going to survive this journey but at least I can help you get out of here.” Alan reached for the Lieutenant’s belt and with a fast movement dragged out the pistol out of its holster.

“What are you doing, Alan, are you crazy?” the astonished soldier exclaimed.

“I’ll help you get rid of that freak and you wouldn’t have to carry me.” Alan touched the gun to his temple and shot. The bloody brain mass flew all over the place.

They stopped the engine, got out of the truck and looked at the distance behind.

Every few minutes the roaring of explosions was heard and gradually all that remained from the Base against the horizon was red glow and smoke.

It was over.

The Base, the submarine, the Cube, all had vanished forever.

“Hey, people, did you notice, the shining is gone”, Michael said.

Driving in the Rover was hard and rough, but at the same time it was advancing confidently through the sand dunes as if sailing with the wind.