Simon Clark - Humpty's bones

‘Pitt?’ I blinked. ‘Is that you?’

‘Who do you think? Frankenstein?’

Jenny shook her head. ‘The phrase, Pitt, is “seen a ghost” not “stood on one.” ‘

‘Whatever.’

Adam swayed. ‘I was so scared I thought I’d puke… think I still am.’

The weird ghostly effect was caused by a blue light shining onto Pitt from the room that led off this corridor. Of course, the ‘something wrong with his mouth’ comment by Adam referred to the scabby cut on his lip.

‘Aw, come on, people.’ Then this from Pitt gave me chills: ‘When you see what I’ve found you’re not going to believe your eyes.’

Adam lagged back in that corridor of chains. ‘I’m not going. There’s something bad about this place. Can’t you feel it?’

‘Trust me,’ Pitt called as he clattered down a staircase. ‘You’ll remember this until the day you die!’

Jenny went through the door. I followed. Blue lamps lit the stairs making our skin glow strangely.

‘Daylight bulbs,’ Jenny explained. ‘They’re used in places where people stay indoors for months at a time.’

We ran down the steps after Pitt. Even so, I felt cold. As if instinct warned me danger lay ahead.

‘Don’t leave me alone!’ Adam shouted. He realised that once the door swung shut he’d be alone in that dark corridor with its hooky chains.

A second later we pushed through big double doors into… well… I couldn’t believe my eyes. I just stared.

Pitt whistled. ‘Look at this. It’s all twenty feet underground. And it doesn’t smell like poop. There’s air-conditioning.’

I struggled to take it all in. ‘There’s a kitchen. A lounge. Sofas. And is that a TV?’

‘The screen’s six feet wide,’ breathed Jenny in awe. ‘Look at all those DVDs.’

Adam walked in, gob-smacked. ‘A house underground? How weird is this?’

Jenny said, ‘Last year we went on a school trip to an old military bunker. It had stuff like this. Bedrooms, kitchens, offices. If there’s a nuclear attack that’s where all the generals would stay so they could run things. This one must be kept unmanned until there’s an emergency.’

I checked out the DVDs. A lot were new movies. ‘Maybe the government will stay down here if there’s a war. When they aren’t working they’d come here to relax.’

‘We shouldn’t be in here,’ Adam said. ‘We’re trespassing.’

I shrugged, ‘The door’s open.’

‘We could get into trouble.’

‘Scared?’ Pitt grinned. ‘Let me take your mind off going to jail. Da-dah!’ He swung open a fridge door. Packed with chocolate! Every shelf had neat stacks of chocolate in bright blue wrappers. Right at the front of the confectionary was a single bottle of tomato ketchup, with a dried dribble of sauce stuck to the label. He opened another door to reveal frozen chickens. ‘People could live for months down here.’

Adam followed us in a daze. ‘But that door upstairs? Something clawed at it. Then bust it open. What happens if it comes back?’

Only we were too excited exploring to listen to his warning. But we should have done. We really should. Because what happened next was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced.

We’d discovered that the big TV had a games feature. Jenny and Pitt were figuring out how to get the two silver androids onscreen to shoot down the helicopter gunship when…

‘Hey guys.’ Adam’s eyes bulged in fear. ‘Did anyone hear that?’

Pitt studied the onscreen Game Help. ‘Hear what?’

‘Bad news, guys. Someone’s coming down the stairs!’

This time we froze.

‘What if we’re caught down here?’ I whispered. ‘It might be the police.’

‘Or soldiers?’

Adam shuddered. ‘Or the thing that smashed open the door.’

That complex of subterranean rooms had been brightly lit. But somehow the light seemed to fade. The bright greens and oranges of the furniture became dull. That big glassy TV screen seemed to resemble a huge alien eye. One that stared with hatred. Or so it seemed to me. A cold, cold sensation crept through my veins. For some reason a pain flared above my right eye. It must be THAT SOUND. I’d heard nothing like it before. Something was coming down the stairs we’d used just ten minutes ago.

Jenny whispered, ‘It doesn’t sound like ordinary footsteps.’

A soft clump, clump. Shivers ran along my arms.

Pitt turned to face the stairway door. It was closed. Even so, he heard all too clearly. ‘A voice… but can anyone hear what it’s saying?’

‘That’s no human voice.’ I heard a low snarling. Also, I made out words but not in a language I understood. ‘Neefer-ratt-saaar.’

‘It’s getting closer.’

The door began to creak open. ‘Neefer-ratt-saaar.’

‘Run!’

‘But where,’ cried Adam. ‘That’s the only way out!’

Panic! We searched for somewhere to hide. Jenny pointed to another door. ‘Through there!’

A sign on it read DANGER. NO ENTRY . But this was no time to pause. Behind us the stairway door creaked. That strange, menacing voice grew louder: ‘Neefer-ratt-saaar.’ After that, an excited snorting as if a hungry beast had smelt food. Beyond the door Jenny had pointed out were more steps — only these went down, deep underground. The stairwell was a gloomy pit, descending into a forbidden, dangerous place. Here were yet more signs. CAUTION. NO ENTRY. DANGER OF DEATH!

The four of us dashed downstairs. Upstairs, whatever had entered the bunker must be in the lounge. Does it know we’re here? Will it follow?

‘Sheesh,’ Pitt gasped. ‘What is this place?’

Jenny raced into a maze of tunnels. ‘Keep moving. We don’t know if that thing’s going to come after us.’

‘What we gotta do,’ panted Adam, ‘is find a way out. Fast!’

These tunnels were gloomy places. Shadows lurked at every corner. I guessed the tunnels were broad enough to accommodate three buses side-by-side, they were certainly high enough, too, but the length? They stretched faraway into the distance. And did I mention the cold? Breath misted out all white. In the tunnels were huge, hulking forms covered with plastic sheets. Adam was so frightened he hurried forward without pausing to look. Pitt hauled up the sheets.

‘Hey, a Jeep. And check this out… wow! A tank. Look at the size of that gun.’

Jenny whistled. ‘This is where the army must keep spare equipment, just in case the other stuff gets wiped out in an attack.’

Pitt’s eyes shone. ‘I wonder if there are any rockets.’

Jenny started to say, ‘You can forget taking — ’

BANG!

Adam shouted, ‘That’s the door to the stairs — something just bashed it open.’

By now the entrance we’d come through was way off in the distance. Just a speck. But we could make out another speck. This one moved.

Fast!

‘It’s found us!’

We ran like crazy. By tanks, vans, troop carriers, all covered with sheets of plastic. They formed sinister mounds. They hinted at deathly things.

In the gloom, the confusion, the speed at which everything happened, it was inevitable. I turned off into another tunnel. A minute later I stopped to get my breath back. Then I saw the others weren’t with me.

‘Pitt, Jenny, Adam. Where are you?’There was no reply. A deadly silence filled the tunnel. My friends? No sign. Only the unnerving shapes of vehicles under grey shrouds. At any second that demon-thing might prowl round the corner. Here I was, alone.