128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Ten: The Contagion | Part 1

"But... why don't we try getting Palmer out from the other end of the tunnel?" Emma suggested something that, for some reason, no one had thought about earlier.

"Hmm... that's a good idea too. My only worry is that the door or gate outside can't be unlocked because of the way it's locked. After all, he couldn't even get himself out from that side," Matthew hesitated.

"After we get Jane some treatment, we should check it out," Emma said as they approached the main entrance.

Looking at the entrance, they noticed that glass shards were spread all over the floor. The entrance's glass doors were completely gone now, and the metal frames that held them in place were bent and broken as well. Furthermore, the light rods on the ceiling near the entrance were shattered, causing darkness to flood the lobby.

"What happened here?" Emma flinched, looking at what a mess the floor was now.

"Only a creature could cause such destruction," Matthew theorised, noticing how badly everything in the lobby was damaged.

"Let's just get to the car quickly," Emma said, stepping over the big chunks of glass and concrete. "We should also check on Norman and make sure that he's—," she added before pausing.

Emma let go of her gun, which fell to the floor loudly. She stared at the car, and her jaw dropped. Her teeth chattered nervously, and she found it hard to say anything at all. The trepidation building up within her had completely paralysed her, and she thought that her knees were going to give way at any moment.

"E-Emma? W-what's wrong—," Matthew asked before he stepped forward and saw what she was seeing. He stopped, too, before dashing towards the car. Emma followed behind hastily, desperate to determine whether Norman was all right.

The two officers stared into the car. The windows of almost every door were shattered, and the entire rear left door was pulled off, revealing very clearly whatever was inside.

"N-Norman!" Emma screamed, panicking as she hurried into the car to examine the injured boy.

"How is he?" Matthew questioned.

Emma touched his wound before looking at her hand. "T-there's a lot of blood! It's all over the carpet, and it's drying already..." she trailed off, hinting that whatever had happened wasn't recent.

Matthew got a closer look at Norman. His entire body was turned upside down, and there were four massive wounds that punctured his back. It was very obvious to Matthew what had harmed the boy.

Emma brought him out of the car and turned him over so his head faced upwards. She placed a finger below his nose before she started to squeak in terror. "H-he's not breathing!" she shrieked before trying to revive him desperately.

"Emma," Matthew called.

She didn't respond. She was determined to save Norman, who, to Matthew, had no hope already.

"Emma!" Matthew called again. "He's... he's dead."

She still refused to say anything. She kept trying and trying, pressing on his chest with much force.

"Emma! He's dead! He's not breathing, he doesn't have a pulse, and the blood stains on the carpets are dried! He's gone already..." Matthew trailed off.

Only then did she come to her senses and stop trying. Instead, she began crying before looking away from the boy.

"When I shot that creature in the hallway dead just now, I noticed it had glass shards stuck onto its body. And now I understand," Matthew said. "That was the very same creature that killed the poor boy."