John O'Brien - Takedown

“We need a map of the area. I’d like to check out the hotel, police station, and any hospital that might be in the area. Those are places people would most likely hole up,” Krandle answers.

“You know, chief, hotels normally have maps of the area in those little wire racks. You know, the ones that hold those tourist brochures and stuff,” Blanchard states.

“Good idea. Okay, the first stop is the hotel to see if we can find a map. Watch your corners and windows. Speer, lead us out.”

“I thought we weren’t going into buildings,” Speer says, rising.

“The racks are usually just inside the lobby,” Blanchard says.

“They better be, answer-man,” Speer replies, walking slowly along the wall toward the steps.

“Relax, Speer, we won’t be going inside that far,” Krandle says.

“That’s comforting.”

Hugging the wall while climbing up the stairs, they reach the top. A paved promenade extends along the beachfront. A wide road adjacent to the hotel leads from the walkway into the town. Speer takes a quick look and darts across to the corner of the hotel. With a thumbs-up from Speer, the rest of the team follows. Spaced apart, they then start up a sidewalk with weapons aimed outward at the neighboring buildings and up covering the windows of the hotel above; each covering an assigned sector based on their position in the line.

Approaching the front of the large hotel, Speer turns. “Do you smell that?”

Krandle noticed it as the offshore breeze swept down the street. He’s smelled it a few times in the past and it never boded well. It was the stink of death. The moisture of this coastal area would have made for a prolonged decaying process. If he understood the timeline Captain Walker described, any who died here would have died months ago.

If it’s like this now, I can’t imagine what it would have smelled like before , he thinks as they round the hotel to the front.

“Keep moving,” he says.

They come to an alleyway-like passage between the resort and a multi-story parking structure. The temperature drops as they enter into shadows cast by the garage. All is quiet in the confined space except for their footfalls echoing faintly off the concrete walls to both sides. It’s eerie walking through the shaded avenue of a seemingly abandoned town. Krandle can almost hear the sounds of what it should have been like — the hum of people talking as they strolled down the sunlit sidewalks to the beach with souvenir bags swinging at their sides, the sound of cars passing on cross streets, the high-pitched laughter of kids rising momentarily, a dog barking on the beach as it waited with tail-wagging enthusiasm for a Frisbee to be thrown. The contrast between what it should have been like and what it is now gives the place a more eerie presence.

Stacking next to the entrance, they notice that a large pane of one of the entrance doors is broken, contrasting sharply with the other grime-covered glass doors. Very few of the glass shards are outside with most extending into the dim interior. The overhang above the entrance and the adjacent garage prevents much reflected light from entering inside. Residual light extends only a few feet in before it fading quickly into an inky darkness.

Krandle peeks inside and spots a wooden rack next to the reception desk. Light colored brochures sit upright in their slots, barely visible in the gloom.

“Speer, you and I are going in. The rest set up a perimeter around the door,” Krandle says.

Speer nods as the others face outward, quietly setting up in a semi-circle around the entrance. Krandle nods and Speer darts inside going immediately to the left. Krandle follows on his heels going right, feeling the increased chill as he flows into the dim interior. They move along the walls sweeping the area with the barrels of their M-4s. Speer whispers ‘clear’ before penetrating too far and being swallowed up by the darkness. Krandle ensures his area is clear and joins with Speer.

“I don’t mind telling you, this place creeps me out,” Speer whispers.

“For once I’m with you.”

The interior has the kind of stillness you seldom encounter. It’s like being inside of a vacuum — all sounds removed. No, not the clean your floors kind of vacuum…but the deep space kind. The darkness feels like it has substance. Their whispers seem to travel only inches before meeting resistance and dying away. Krandle has the feeling that if he started walking into the utter blackness beyond, he would find it increasingly difficult to move until the gloom became unyielding and he couldn’t take another step forward. The darkness would completely envelop him.

Afraid to utter a single sound, Krandle puts his fingers to his lips and points to the stand a few feet away at the edge of the shadows. Speer nods and slowly edges that way, checking his foot placement before taking the next. Krandle feels his heart racing as they inch across the linoleum, each step taking them deeper into the interior. Keeping his barrel aimed at the impenetrable shadows, he creeps alongside Speer, expecting something to suddenly emerge from the ink as if the darkness released its hold. That’s just the feel the place has. He’s been in hundreds of abandoned buildings before and he’s never encountered something that’s even come close to this feeling. Of course, humanity hadn’t died off and been replaced by cannibalistic creatures either.

Time seems stretched — the seconds becoming minutes and the minutes, hours. They’ve only been inside for a couple of minutes but he feels like hours have passed. Each step should be bringing them closer to the stand hosting the local attraction brochures but it still seems the same distance away.

Get a hold of yourself, Vance , he thinks with a small shake of his head. You’re letting your imagination run away. This is just an unlit building .

A faint, slithering sound comes from the murk ahead; so faint it is barely audible and so quick that Krandle isn’t sure he even heard it. However, he’s been in enough situations to know that ‘ something’ makes all sounds and to never discount one just because it stops. Something made this one and therefore something is here.

“What the fuck was that?” Speer whispers, being just as quiet as the sound. Krandle shakes his head slightly and points once again to the stand.

“I’m telling you, man, something is in here with us. I can feel it,” Speer breathes, taking another step.

The tension matches the thickness of the darkness as they sidle up to the rack. Krandle understands the warning the captain gave them about going into buildings. The sound of bare feet slapping on the linoleum from within the gloom is sudden, startling both him and Speer. Krandle tracks the sound heading quickly from left to right. A loud, high-pitched shriek erupts, breaking the stillness and filling the interior with its intensity. More shrill screams join in from other parts of the hotel but, as yet, nothing has become visible.

“That sounds exactly like those motherfuckers in the Philippines,” Speer says.

“They are. Grab as many as you can and let’s get the fuck out of here,” Krandle shouts, hearing more footfalls heading their way. His barrel waves in the air toward sounds that are still swallowed up in shadows.

That will change very soon , he thinks, listening to the sounds drawing quickly closer.

His finger is on the trigger waiting for something to appear. The steps are becoming increasingly louder and coming from all parts of the interior. Shrieks continue to beat against his ears, seeming to shake the very walls.

Krandle’s radio crackles. “Are you guys okay?” Franklin asks.

“We’re coming out on the run,” he replies.