Antagonist: Dependent

CHAPTER 7

                                                                                     The First Kill

I was rudely woken up by the incessant clanks of boots on the escalator steps and distant radio chatter that echoed through the empty corridor.I recognized that set of noises; hazmat doods. Yes I gave them a name. I took a peek at the clock on the wall to check the time. 3.46 in the morning. That's just slightly more than half the night gone. Surprisingly, I didn't feel tired or groggy.I quickly gathered my bearings and reached for the pistol; the crowbar in the other. The sounds grew nearer as the light seemed to grow closer.

"Hey look, the door is open; even the tape too. None of our guys were here for the past week or so." A gruffy manly voice emerged from the corridor. " And the last guy that locked up this place can swear no one was here and that he taped all the doors before leaving."

" Please don't come in.. please" I wished quietly.

He was definitely with someone as I heard another monotonous voice. " You go check it out, I'll regroup with the rest and come find us when you're done." I heard footsteps receding as a man stood at the doorway and sweeped his flashlight around the place; light beams reflecting off the white walls.He advanced towards my direction as I loaded the magazine into the gun and flipped off the safety.I have never fired a gun before yet I felt somewhat confident about making that shot if need be. I could hear his breath; he would spot me anytime.

" Come out wherever you are. We are here to help you."

I was in a sitting position, leaning back slightly as I pointed the gun at the empty walkway; waiting for that fucker to pop his head out from the darkness.

" There you are.I'm going to fucking kill you and hang you like a vermin." I heard the same gruff voice as an arm sucked me into the dark void. My body jolted forward as I swung my crowbar relentlessly; hoping for it to hit that fucker in the face. The crowbar made contact with a plastic surface as I heard the sound of plastic crunching. The hand retracted back as I reached for the gun. He leaped on me and flipped me on my back,welding a pocket knife close to my throat. I saw his face through the cracked faceshield of the hazmat suit. The toothless, red eyes and bleeding gums stared right at my face. His breath was warm and reeked of rotten meat. His eyes widened in shock as he realised I had a gun with me. I grabbed hold of the gun and pointed it at his chin; squeezing on the trigger and unloading the full magazine up his chin to his brain. His grip on me weakened as blood came flowing out from his mouth, getting it all over my face. I pushed his lifeless corpse to the side as I attempted to wipe off the blood with my bare hands. Men shouted while random movement of flashlight blobs could be seen outside. I quickly got to my feet and tried not to slip on the bloody floor tiles. Grabbing my belongings and ready to run out, I loaded another magazine into the pistol to get ready for whatever's happening next.

I bolted out of the door and turned left, going back where I came from. It was darker than it was before and my flashlight seemed to be useless.There was no natural light from the outside and someone seemed to have shut the lights. The only light sources that could illuminate the darkness around me were my flashlight and the ones of my pursuers. Running through the puddles of water made everything much harder,;trying hard not to fall while maneuvering around the fallen ceiling. As soon as I got to the escalator area, I searched for something I could use to hold them back. Spotting a nearby severed live wire,I threw the open end of the wire into the water,hoping that there was some electric current I could use as a trap. I turned back to face the 8 soldiers running towards me and I watched as the first 3 men stopped dead in their tracks and fell into the water; my eyes squinting through the iron sight as I dropped two more guys down. Shots were fired at me as I began to sprint back towards the escalator. I vaulted over the dividers to the smooth surface in between the escalators and slid all the way down to the first floor.

Getting up wasn't easy, considering I still had the graze caused by the bullet.I got up and did the same thing for the other escalator to the basement level. Without thinking, I immediately ran for the underground train station entrance. There was a keypad or some kind of card reader at the side; I started to search around for the keycard, hoping that there would be someone who worked at the mall or at the train station who would have the keycard. I looted the corpse of an old man, who was wearing a transport officer's outfit;fumbling my hands through his purple pockets as I quickly searched for the keycard. I yanked out the card from it's plastic cover; swiping it against the reader.The machine produced a ding as the shutters began to lift with a loud cranking sound, attracting the hazmats to my location.Whistles blew while I crouched under the shutters and reached for the console on the other side, swiping my keycard again to close the shutters before the hazmat dudes would come through. I could hear their shouting and their oxygen tanks rattling; making out a silhouette turning the corner before the shutters came all the way down, separating me and the officers. I then shot the console to permanently sabotage the system to ensure that the officers would not be able to use their card to open it again. The whole station was of course in darkness. It was just the sounds of the incessant banging on the shutters by the hazmats and me standing alone in the darkness. The last 10 to 15 minutes was complete hell; the most amount of adrenaline I felt in a while.

After a minute or so, all the lights in the station suddenly came on. Every single light bulb; it was like the whole place suddenly came to life. The soft hums of the aircon powering up and the flickering of the led lights filled the air as I loaded the last magazine into my pistol. As far as I remember, the station never had any motion sensing lighting and even if it was so, it wouldn't be for the entire place.Electricity was sparse in times like this and it puzzles me why someone would want to use this much electricity at once. The place was clean and free from debris; no blood either.It was as if nothing happened in the first place aside from the shiny aluminium tubes that ran from a service closet and into the walls.There was also a few security cameras around the place; it had an uneasy vibe as if it was staring at me, scurnitzing every small movement I made. I dismissed it as paranoia, security cameras were made to be intimidating and make everyone feel watched. I probably didn't see the red speck of light at the corner of the camera lens; the cameras were on and someone was watching.

I was suspicious about it and I was examining every little aspect of the place. The walls were blood free, no footprints nor were there any of the usual tents or yellow tape you would see in public places. I jumped over the ticketing machines and limped towards the platform; going down the escalator cautiously, fearing that it might give way anytime. I went to check the control room and found that the light switches and everything was turned off and were offline, so was the camera systems.All I could loot was a bottle of water and the keys to the service closet at the lower platform. I stepped onto the platform and surveyed the neatness of everything in the station . There were numerous tiny balck nozzles attached to the walls and ceiling; these were definitely not here before. I walked up to one of the nozzles to inspect it when the whole station plunged into an unsettling darkness once again. The distant sound of machines "dying" could be heard, followed by footsteps. I wished I would be able to tell which direction the footsteps were coming from if not for the sound echoing and bouncing off the high walls of the empty station. I concluded that the steps were unlikely to be an animal's as it sounded too normal and you could hear the squeaks of the shoe's rubber sole compressing under that weight. But I was standing still.

" Hello? Is someone here?" I shouted into the dark void in front of me.

Of course someone else is here, why was I asking the obvious?But I couldn't do anything but flail my arms around, hoping to beat up whoever is out there conducting this sick game. I ditched my crowbar when I was escaping earlier on and I did not want to hip fire into the darkness; I had limited ammo and was down to my last magazine afterall. The footsteps stopped and everything was back to the silence I was accustomed to for the past two months. A cloth which reeked of the sweet smell of chloroform or some sort of industrial disinfectant was wrapped around my face as I felt cold arms pressing against my neck.I tried to resist as I use my arms to push the cloth away and tried to kick back to hit whoever is behind me.It was useless as I felt I was gradually becoming weaker,rapidly losing and regaining consciousness.The sudden realisation that I was being kidnapped was the last thing I remembered before my world went dark; once again.