"Something that... eats them?" Bossie instinctively looked up at the shadows cast by the tangled network of pipes overhead.
The terrifying Black Fire mutants they had fought earlier were nothing more than food in this place.
So what kind of creature preyed on them?
And Leah's team had walked straight into the heart of the predator's lair.
"Secure Anderson's body and mark the location." Calista forced down every unnecessary emotion. "We don't have time to grieve. Wilson may still be alive, and Leah's team needs support."
Her gaze swept across her teammates' pale faces.
"Everyone, check your ammunition and ready your close-quarters weapons.
"Once we're inside, maintain absolute silence unless we make contact.
"We find Leah and the others, determine the situation, and then we get out of here alive, no matter what it takes."
The team silently placed Anderson's body securely in the corner and marked the location clearly with fluorescent paint.
They fitted their rifles with bayonets or breaching hammer attachments.
Calista took one last look toward the place where Anderson rested. Then she drew a deep breath, placed both hands against the damaged blast door leading into the central control room, and pushed it open.
"Prepare to enter."
The door wheel turned slowly with a heavy creak that echoed through the silence.
As the gap widened, a powerful, raw biological stench poured out.
Nothing unusual was moving inside the central control room. Crystalline growths surrounded the various instruments, and Leah's team had installed a timed detonator for the chemical neutralizer. Most of the preset time had already elapsed, but the device appeared to have failed to trigger.
Bossie inspected it and found the detonator undamaged. He reset the timer, and the group continued toward the reactor workshop.
Ahead lay an immense vertical labyrinth of steel and concrete, the multilevel reactor workshop.
Several tiers of rusted steel walkways and platforms stretched through the darkness, circling massive reactor vessels that stood silently in the center like giant egg sacs.
Thick pipes connected them to one another. Their flashlight beams seemed pitifully weak in the enormous space, illuminating only small patches directly ahead.
Calista signaled for the team to ascend by the outermost staircase. Leah's team would most likely have sought the high ground.
Fresh traces appeared on the stairs and walkways.
Clear combat boot prints followed a steady stride and a definite direction, marking the path Leah's team had taken during their cautious advance.
Almost overlapping them, however, was another set of tracks.
Wide, deep drag marks. More than one.
They had carved roughly through the dust, leaving trails of crystallized slime mixed with black residue. They also led upward.
"At least three Black Fire mutant corpses were dragged this way," Bossie whispered. "There's more human blood too. It's fresh."
He paused.
"The trail from Frank's body is among them. It ran alongside the other drag marks for a while, then separated."
Separated?
Calista's heart tightened.
That meant a group of predators was moving through the facility while carrying its prey.
Their route ran remarkably close to the one taken by Leah's team, yet there were no signs of a battle between them.
Had Leah simply been incredibly lucky?
Or had the predators been too focused on transporting their food to pay attention to anything else?
Perhaps they had a more specific objective.
A sense of dread closed around everyone's throat.
The rescue team followed both sets of tracks upward. The air grew increasingly foul and murky, while the bloody stench became stronger.
At a relatively open corner on the third-level platform, Maya, who was leading the way, suddenly raised a clenched fist and signaled for everyone to stop.
Without speaking, she pointed beneath the platform toward a recessed area hidden in the shadow of an enormous pipe.
Something was chewing down there.
Wet, sticky sounds drifted up from below, accompanied by the faint crunch of small bones being crushed.
A deep, contented rumble came from somewhere within a creature's chest.
Calista signaled for the team to spread out and take advantageous firing positions. She, Jenson, and Bossie then cautiously peered over the edge.
Their flashlight beams slowly revealed a corner of hell.
A monster crouched below.
Like the Black Fire mutants, it had an enormous fleshy growth resembling an exposed brain. It moved on all fours, but its proportions were even more elongated and grotesque.
Its forelimbs ended not in hands, but in sharp bone blades covered in thick crystalline growths. Its powerful hind legs bent beneath it, ending in grasping feet with reversed joints and pointed claws.
Almost its entire body was encased in smooth crystal. The growths had fused into a seamless natural exoskeleton, leaving only narrow seams of dark soft tissue exposed around the joints.
It had no distinct head.
Instead, an enormous spindle-shaped purplish-black tumor rose from its shoulders and neck.
Its surface was no longer covered in honeycomb-like holes. Instead, it was lined with grooves and fissures that continuously opened and closed by tiny degrees.
The creature moved silently across the pipes. Its claws made only faint tapping sounds against the metal. Despite its size, it was astonishingly fast and unnaturally light on its feet.
Every so often, it stopped chewing and turned the spindle-shaped tumor slightly toward a new direction.
The prey it was feeding on was Frank Wilson.
Or rather, what remained of him.
The corporal's body had been torn apart at the waist. His lower half was nowhere to be seen.
His remaining upper body rested against the base of a pipe. His tactical vest and protective suit had been ripped apart by brute force. His chest and abdomen had been torn completely open, and nearly all his internal organs were gone.
The monster used a long, barbed tongue to lick scraps of flesh and marrow from between his ribs. Dark red fragments still clung to the edges of its enormous mouth.
Frank's pale face was twisted in terror, his eyes still wide open from his final moments.
He had been dead for some time.
This was clearly one of the predators Anderson had described.
The walkers and humans affected by the original leak had likely undergone two different mutations. One group had become Black Fire mutants. The other had transformed into these quadrupedal creatures that stood even higher on the food chain.
Judging by its circumstances, this one had failed to claim the larger, more energy-rich Black Fire mutant corpses. It had been left with the less nutritious human remains discarded by its companions.
It was probably one of the lowest-ranking members of the pack.
Even so, it was still enjoying its spoils.
Frank, the corporal who had pushed Anderson aside and tried to fight back, had become the creature's meal.
Anger, revulsion, and fear seized everyone who witnessed the scene.
Bossie's breathing grew heavier, and his finger tightened around the trigger.
"Hold steady!" Calista's voice came through their headsets, suppressing the urge to open fire. "There's only one. It's feeding, so its guard may be down. Jenson, can you eliminate it silently?"
Jenson narrowed his eyes, then slowly shook his head.
"The angle is bad. A pipe is blocking the shot.
"Even if its crystalline armor is thin, I can't guarantee that one shot will penetrate a vital area and kill it instantly.
"If we alert it, it may call the others or smash through the railing and escape into the maze below."
The creature's rumbling stopped.
Its enormous tumor turned slightly, and the grooves across its surface shifted toward their position.