Part 25 (1/2)
They were already moving, out through the double doors of the restaurant and toward the main staircase. The fog had poured in through the main doors to the hotel, flowing over and around the reception desks and rolling up the staircase, creeping up the stairs, one by one.
”They're all over the place, Stony.”
”Crawford! What are all over the place?”
”The...Oh my G.o.d! Oh my G.o.d!” Crawford's voice again, desperate, despairing. The voice cut off suddenly.
”Repeat that, Crawford!”
The radio remained silent, but from outside they could still hear the sounds of firing.
”What the h.e.l.l is going on?” Crowe raced along the short pa.s.sageway to the stairs, close on the heels of Evans. Manderson and Southwell followed, and the three kids raced behind her as quickly as they could in the bulky, armored biosuits that were far too large for Rebecca and Tane and were awkward to move in.
The fog was halfway up the long curved staircase and climbing rapidly. The first yard, maybe two, was soft and transparent, but then the fog intensified into a dense cloud.
Crowe turned to face them. ”The trailers are outside the door to the left.”
Even as he said it, they heard one of the truck engines start.
Crowe continued, ”I don't know what we're heading into, but we'll try to deal with whatever it is. You kids head straight for the trailer. It's armored. Once we reach it, we'll head south, out of the fog. Are we clear?”
”Clear!” Tane and Fatboy said, but Rebecca drew in a sharp breath.
”Don't go mist,” she said with a quiver of terror in her voice. ”Don't go in the mist.”
”DNT GO MST,” Tane remembered, and realized the message had had nothing to do with Masterton at all. Don't go in the mist. Don't go in the mist.
”It's our only way out,” Crowe snapped. ”We've got to go through the mist to get to the trailers.”
”Don't go in the mist!” Rebecca screamed.
Crowe shook his head. ”Evans, you're on point. Manderson, tail-end Charlie. Get moving, now!”
Rebecca didn't move. Tane was already three or four steps down, following Southwell who was following Crowe, when he realized that she was still on the top landing. The mist swirled around him, light at first but intensifying.
Evans, a couple of steps lower, disappeared into a cloud of the dense fog ahead.
”Stay close,” Crowe ordered.
Manderson, realizing that Rebecca had not followed, retreated back up to the top landing and grabbed her by the arm. ”Get moving,” he shouted, pus.h.i.+ng her down the stairs. She tripped and fell, sliding face-forward down past Tane and Fatboy, and stopping herself a step below Crowe. Her body half disappeared into the thicker fog ahead.
There was a sudden hissing sound, and Evans's voice came back to them, not in words, but in a strange strangled gurgle. Then silence.
There was a thud, and his weapon hit the stairs, the end of it just visible and protruding out from the fog.
Rebecca screamed and scrambled backward up the stairs, pus.h.i.+ng herself up with her hands and feet.
”What is it, Rebecca?” Tane yelled. ”What happened?”
”I didn't see,” she screamed, turning and running back up the stairs. ”He just disappeared!”
Tane turned and followed her, and realized that the others were with him. All of them.
They raced back into the restaurant. Silent now. The radio, too, was silent.
Crowe and Manderson turned in unison and slammed the double doors shut. Crowe used something on his weapon to coat a dense foam around the edges of each of the doors.
”What was that?” screamed Rebecca. ”What's out there?”
”Calm down,” Crowe shouted, not too calmly himself. ”Calm down,” he repeated with a bit more control. ”Whatever it is, it can only survive in the fog. That foam will prevent the fog from getting in here.”
Tane looked at the irregular pattern of the foam. It looked like gray-colored shaving cream. Or icing on some bizarre cake.
”What happened to Evans?” Manderson asked, checking the safety on his weapon.
”Don't know,” Crowe said.
”Crowe, this is Miller,” a voice on the radio said now.
”Go ahead, Miller. What is your status?”
”I have nine men with me, no injuries. We are in trailer two, heading south, out of the fog. What is your position?”
Crowe looked at Manderson before saying, ”We are secure. We are in the forward command post. We have sealed the doors to prevent the fog from entering. We can probably hold out here for a while. What the h.e.l.l is going on out there?”
”I wish I knew.” The voice on the radio sounded frightened. ”Some kind of...creature...I...don't know. But whatever they are, they are big, and they move fast, especially where the fog is thick.”
Crowe said, ”Okay, Miller. Keep moving. Get yourself clear.”
”Roger that, Stony. We'll regroup, then come back for you.”
The radio went silent once again.
”Nine men,” Manderson drawled. ”Plus Miller. Plus two of us.”
He didn't need to say any more.
”Let's hope they made it to the other trailer,” Crowe said without conviction. ”Are there any other entrances to this room?”
”Fire escape.”
Crowe and Manderson ran to the rear of the room to seal that door. They were just returning when Tane noticed a whisper of mist trickling in through a gap in the seal on the front doors.
”Dr. Crowe,” he said urgently, pointing out the thin plume of steam.