4.

That image of Sam slowly dying was always kept in mind, every time I go to bed and wake up full of sweat and with my body paralyzed, there is that image as if saying: "I will follow you to the end of your life". To tell the truth, that idea is not uncertain at the end. While I was in that facility escaping for my life, that image was in my head when I closed my eyes. Denis was still speechless; he was still in a state of shock, as if he knew something bad was going to happen or it could simply be the impression he got from all those moments of terror when they were attacking me.

--When did you take my knife away from me? -Denis asked.

It took me a long time to answer what I was checking out. It was a very dark place with many corridors leading to hundreds of rooms, the air felt heavy at every moment and the smell of blood and rotten flesh was more and more easily perceived.

--You only dropped it when you were in the air duct -I lied-. Here, I'll give it back to you.

I didn't even know how it was that I never let go of the knife, the same one I stretched out to Denis.

--No, you better take it -he said, reaching out his right hand.

--Are you sure?

He nodded.

--But why didn't you tell me?

--I forgot I was carrying it. -He frowned-. Hey, in the end it was a lucky break that I had it because otherwise those things would have killed me or maybe taken me with them to who knows where they take people.

Denis shut up and nodded.

--Where do you think we should go, Denis?

He shook his head.

--I don't know. I've never been out, I wish more of those things wouldn't come.

--More of those things?

--Yeah, you think there's only two of those things in this whole facility? Maybe they're checking to see if any of the people they brought in have woken up yet.

--Denis, tell me the truth, do you know what happens to people when they are brought in?

He looked at me nervously and shook his head from left to right.

--Don't ask me that anymore, let's just find a way out. What do you say we check that door?

About three meters from us there was a door in a rotten state because of the color in which it was. I planned to keep asking Denis, but I chose to nod and we both went to that door, always being careful about what Denis had said about there being more of those things without eyes. It was closed and there was no way it was going to open. I tried to push it, but nothing worked; there must have been something behind it that was blocking it, maybe those piles of boxes, or what do I know?

--Let's find another place to get out.

Denis nodded.

We walked to the left and again there was a rotten door, however, it was open, or it was an illusion of my mind that I could see a slight glow on one side of the door.

--Come -I said.

We quickly approached the door. It was open as I thought. I motioned to Denis to be quiet and pushed the door very carefully in case there was one of those things behind the door, but luckily there was nothing, just an empty silence that scared us.

--Let's go -I said.

My heart was beating quite a few times and I was moving forward to hear the beating in my ears. A watery noise I could hear. I jumped from the impression thinking that someone was coming, although it was not so, but that on the floor there was a dark and sticky substance. I doubted that it was blood because of the color, but it seemed more like a moldy substance that was flammable because of its gasoline-like smell. It could be a type of fuel that had set up like tar or something like that.

--What is it, Jason?

I looked back.

--It's nothing -I said, shaking my head-. What do you think this thing on the floor could be?

He looked at it very carefully.

--I have no idea.

«I hope he's not keeping the answer to himself -I said.»

--Well, then let's go.

That tar-like substance was very slippery; for more than once I came close to falling off and would have done so had it not been for the fact that I had one of my hands on a wall. There was nothing afterwards, just a long corridor that I didn't know where it led to. We saw a white door very close to us.

-Look at that door, Jason.

--I'm coming.

It was open, too. I gave it a slight push to open, as a stench of rotten flesh came to our noses.

--Good Lord, what is that? -Denis said with one hand around his nose.

The question answered itself when we could distinguish a light bulb subject to a nozzle and two wires. At first I thought the bulb was out of adjustment, which it really was, and I decided to adjust the bulb in case it still worked. It did and let us see what was there: a lot of piles of bodies wrapped in dark covers, even though other bodies were also wrapped in white sheets which were no longer white but something between pink and brown.

--Jesus God! -he pronounced again in agitation.

It was awful to see that, sometimes I wanted to vomit wherever I went in order to get rid of the heaviness in my stomach from the smell and the image of that pile of dead.

--Yes, this way is section C -said someone, and it wasn't Denis.

We both looked at each other with dilated eyes. In our eyes we told ourselves that someone or something was near and doubting if it was them was not preferable. I turned my gaze around the hallway and as I did it was as if the steps of things without eyes were approaching from both ends.

--Come on in -I said to Denis.

I first entered that small room full of rotting corpses. Denis also followed my footsteps, just as I had told him from the beginning. And I turned the light off to prevent you from seeing the flash around the door from outside.

--The door; close the door, Denis -I ordered in a trembling voice.

He did it that way, he closed the door as fast as he could before the voices came back at a great volume.

--How many are ready for installation? -said someone.

--About eight are ready.

They passed in front of the door.

--Well, let's see how the ones in section C are doing and then let's go to the ones in section D to see...

--There's no one there anymore -he was interrupted.

--What?

--There is no one on the premises anymore, only those in Section C remain.

They've gone far enough away that we can't hear them anymore.

--They're gone? -I said, and my first intention was to open the door and shoot out of that stinking room, but Denis cut me off.

--No, Jason. They talked about section C, the room of silence where we were, it's just a matter of time before they get to the room and see their bodies.

I agreed with him, although at first he chose to insist, totally, he did have the knife and if one of those things without eyes dares to approach us, they will surely have the same ending as Sam and his partner Kevin. The stench made me want to vomit a lot. Besides, the buzzing of the flies around the bodies at every moment shook me and at any moment, if I didn't have enough control, I would be out of that stinking place.

--Here they come -said Denis.

He was quite right; one could hear some accelerated steps as if someone was running and in fact that was what was happening: the creatures without eyes that went to the room of silence, or section C, were coming back with their agitated breath at the same time that one of them was shouting to the four winds:

--Tell the others to come and check the installation, they must not be too far away, I'll be checking the corridors and if I find them, I'll inform them immediately to come and help me -the voice went away a lot- because they must be armed to have... -the voice could no longer be heard.

We kept absolutely quiet, going back to those moments of terror when "they" went to the room of silence to see how we were. Once again the beating of my heart was being heard very clearly in my ears as well as the buzzing of the flies that at every moment approached us as if we had already died, perhaps because of the smell of the sweat that was bathing us from head to toe.

--We have to go -I said to Denis.

He didn't put up any opposition, on the contrary, I suppose Denis had that in mind too. He had looked around the doorframe earlier in the day for flashes that opened the door at a slow pace and then slammed it shut when I suggested he get out of that filthy place. I swallowed a lot of saliva while also licking the sweat that accumulated around my lips. I took a deep breath and then exhaled calmly before putting my hand on the door and pushing it open just enough to get out. And so I did, except that to get out of doubt I turned my head from side to side in case there was someone walking down the tar-filled hallway.

--What is it, Jason? -he asked after a moment when I was standing in the doorway looking from left to right.

--I don't think anyone's there -I said-. Come on.

Denis nodded.

I had the idea to continue down the same corridor where I suppose "they" left, who knows, and we found a way out, so that I could think of those moments when my chest was jumping out of my nervousness. I was constantly returning to see Denis, he by his side was taking a look at the walls where the blood marks were appearing next to pieces of shattered concrete and resting on the floor. I have no idea how those things without eyes advanced to run freely along that road full of that sticky tar without slipping as I did with every step I took; well it could be that those things were wearing shoes suitable for that road, but that was the least of it. We didn't hear the slightest noise back then. Everything was quiet and we were very worried. There were many windows in the walls, some of them like the one in the room of silence, it was quite high from the floor and no matter how hard we tried we could not reach them, let alone get out through those narrow window spaces. Once again I went back to see Denis. Now he was calm, not like before when it seemed that he was going to faint from the shock. I looked ahead. I turned right where there was a lake corridor filled, of course, with that slimy tar.

--Come on, this must be where they went.

--This looks like a complete maze -he said.

--If we find the way out...

--Before they find us -he interrupted.

--Of course.

I stared at the pile of doors in that hallway. I quickly approached one of them to push it in, but nothing worked; some were locked from the inside or maybe there was something behind them that was blocking it; plus there were some doors with a giant lock on them that were in a state of rust.

--What do you think is behind them? -I asked Denis.

--I don't want to imagine, but it's for sure that there are no people, remember, one of the others said something about us being the only ones in this installation, that's why they look for us everywhere, not because...

He fell silent before he finished speaking.

--Why, Denis?

His eyes were dilated again and he was paralyzed in a state of shock.

--Don't-don't-don't listen to me, Jason; it's all just stuff that comes out of my mouth.

I frowned and struggled again with those doors closed until I reached the end of the corridor where I had to turn left and this time there was nothing left but a short, pestilential corridor. We walked down that hallway without any problem, of course we always turned around senselessly to check that no one was behind us, maybe Sam coming back from the dead with his hands covering the cut I made in his neck. In front of us there were two paths, one that went in a straight line and another that was to our right.

--Which way now? -I said to nothing.

I looked between the road ahead and the one on our right without knowing in the least which one to take.

--Jason -spoke Denis- this is like the path of the ducts, we must go through each one to see where the exit is.

I looked back at him with a scowl and then nodded.

--Then by which way do you think you should...?

--I heard voices here -I was interrupted by an unknown person.

Accelerated steps were heard. Our eyes were dilated as much as they could while we did not look at each other without knowing what to do.

--Let's go this way! -I shouted to Denis, even though I don't know what I was thinking about to start shouting.

I pointed to the path on the right where we also had to turn right in order to reach a corridor a few meters away. We shot out as the footsteps approached the corridor with a commanding voice saying

--It's this way, this way I heard them.

We turned right, where the path stopped at a door closed with a large lock. And we approached the wall with our hearts leaping on our chests. I put my right index finger in my mouth as I whispered to him:

--Shhh...

My hands were shaking a lot. Denis was breathing heavily and again his skin was pale, but this time more than usual.

--They must not be far away, look for them -said someone crossing the hall in a straight line.

--What do we do now? -said Denis.

--I don't know. But where did those things come from? There was nothing in the corridors, only locked doors, and if they had been in there they would have come out immediately.

The footsteps stopped being heard. There was silence.

--We have to get out of this place, right now -I added.

--Yes -he replied.

Just as in the hallway of the pile of doors, I approached the door with the big lock, although that was only a waste of time, and then I walked to Denis.

--Are they gone? -I said as the silence came back around us.

--Yes.

--Well, what are we waiting for; let's go, Denis.

My heartbeat was already returning to its normal rhythm, I don't know if Denis was there too, but his eyes full of nervousness were not yet coming out of his face. Empty, I could only hear silence. I approached a corner and checked the area from left to right in case someone came along watching his steps, although that was not the case, there was only emptiness in the middle of the corridors.

--All right, come on -I said.

Little by little I went down the path in a straight line in which there were also two paths, this time a path to the left and, of course, one in a straight line; but there was also a path to the right, very close to us and in this case it was a path with some stairs leading to a very dark place.

--What is that, Denis? -I said. I have no idea why I would do that, but the question came out of my mouth as if something inside me was telling me that Denis knew perfectly what that mysterious place was.

--I don't know -he said, even though I knew he wasn't serious.

--Let's check it out -I continued.

--What? And if it's a dead end, Jason, we'd better go the other ways to see if there's a way out.

I frowned.

-But what if the exit is down there.

Denis tried to say something, but the words stayed in his mouth.

--What was that? -someone said. Hey, over here I heard you; come here.

--Damn it! -I said. Come, Denis, let's hide here.

--No! Let's follow the road and see where we hide.

--What?

I frowned.

--They are here! -someone shouted.

--Move!

I went to the front. I went into that dark place that was apparently not so dark inside, because as long as one more was in that place, it was as if it lit up by itself right there. After a few seconds, Denis also entered, after getting tired of shaking his head from side to side as if he didn't know perfectly where those screams were coming from, and he jumped up and down the steps two at a time. And he rested his back, just like me, on the wall of that basement, that's what I would call it. We saw the shadow of three men quickly crossing over the flash of light on the floor. The last one was also approached by another of the men who stopped for a second, in those moments I had the idea that he was going to discover us; but nothing happened; the man continued his way.

--That was close -said Denis.

Once more I frowned as if I did not understand what he meant and in a few seconds I planned to ask him what was wrong or why he did not want to know anything about that cellar. No doubt that question answered itself as my attention was drawn to those things hanging from the basement ceiling. At first they only made an impression on me, but as the place lit up out of nowhere, my eyes filled with horror. I would be lying if I said that those things hanging from the ceiling were bats, well, maybe something like that, only that those things were very giant, like the size of a person, and they were actually cocoons, well, they looked like or could be that wrapping that spiders make when they hunt a fly or an insect, that cocoon of a web which gave a clear view of the extremities of the thing that was inside.

--What is that? -I repeated the question, and I think that when I asked it, I went ahead and asked it, that's why Denis didn't know how to answer it. Or so I thought.

--What is it? -Denis told me.

I pointed to the things hanging from the ceiling.

I looked at Denis, he knew it, he was sure of it; in his eyes that was demonstrated.

--Eee...

--Tell me, Denis! -I shouted as I held him by the shoulders and my voice sounded intimidated, of course.

He looked to the right with horror, the same horror I was experiencing, which is why I was crying with fear. I stopped holding his arms. My hands were shaking a lot, I could see them, I could see both hands shaking from a terror that was going to start seconds later. I remembered Denis' knife. I remembered putting it away and was ready to know what was inside those cocoons or whatever they were. I took it out of the knife and pressed the switch so that the blade would come out of the handle. I paid close attention to Denis' eyes, they were full of horror, and he was also shaking his head to tell me not to do anything crazy. Crazy or not, I walked to one of the cocoons closest to me. Holy cow, that thing was even more horrible up close; it looked like a huge white mucus, a giant booger like people get when they bathe. My desire to vomit again took hold of my stomach and more than once I was about to bathe that mucus with my vomit. I brought the tip of the knife blade to one end of that mucus and stabbed the thing inside of it. Almost immediately, the knife blade began to soak in a purple to brown substance, almost the same substance that sprouted in the form of blood on "them", along with a yellowish rubbery mass.

--Oh God! -I was horrified by this substance that reached my wrist at every moment and constantly dripped on the floor.

I took a deep breath to fill myself with courage to keep making a hole in that mucus. And I did it in truth, I dragged the knife with all my strength in a horizontal cut from which more of that same substance appeared like rubber, only it could have been black and also a phosphorescent green color.

-Saint God- -I exclaimed as those substances soaked my forearm.

Suddenly, what was inside stopped being subject to perfection and fell down, well, only a few centimeters, enough to let me see perfectly what was the thing kept inside that mucus. It was a human head, it was a human, a person, a very pale one to whom I had made a slanting cut, even though I made a horizontal cut, which came from under his lower lip and went through his lips and a large part of his nose from which came those substances like rubber of very disgusting colors. Also, they had no eyes, they had no eyes! There were only a couple of empty sockets and a lot of clotted blood where their eyeballs should be. I couldn't even scream from the shock after I recognized that thing. Maybe a whimper came out of my mouth, just that; and I took an awful leap backwards as I lost my balance and fell to that floor which was also infested with those substances like rubber and tar.

--Jesus God! -was what came out of my mouth-. What is that?

There was an itch in my right hand. It was like a sting and it burned a lot. I checked my hand right away and saw that I had been cut by the blade of the knife. Even from the fright, I didn't stop holding the knife. I had a large part of my palm cut along with these substances as a drop. I immediately put the knife aside and rubbed the palm of my hand over my shirt to get rid of those disgusting things.

--What is that? What is that? -I said without any control-. What is that?

I got up suddenly.

--They need a body too -said Denis.

I went back to see him. He was crying. His eyes were red to the point of terror.

--Who? -I wailed.

--They. They too need a body to live. I was brought to this place a few weeks ago to witness them bring people in and wrap them in those things there. Even though this place was smaller last time, I think they dug more to make this place bigger.

--For what? -I said in terror.

He looked into my eyes.

--What do you think, Jason, I hate that night coming because when I close my eyes I see them bringing people to this place. I see clearly how they torment them to the point of emptying them and then depositing beings inside them... -He paused for breath-. Those things are demons; they have found a way to tear out the soul of people and all that they are, and then they enter the bodies and are in those cocoons until their bodies adapt to the change.

--To change! -I looked back at the person who had come out of the mucus-. Why doesn't that guy have eyes? -I wanted to know very impatiently.

--I don't know, I just know that these demons look for people and then bring them here to be vitiated and you know what for, so that another one of these demons can enter this new body. I would like to forget everything, I would like to be able to get out of my mind how all those people screamed when they were swallowing their eyes; what do I know why they do it, maybe they like the feeling of that gelatinous mass on their tongue, I am not them, I am not human anymore after being emptied.

A few tears of horror came out of my eyes.

--Why didn't you tell me this happened to people coming out of the room of silence?

He put his hands to his head when he also cried uncontrollably.

--Do you know why it is called the Room of Silence? Because nobody would like to know that if one of them comes to the door and takes you away, it is to suck out your eyes and enjoy yourself while they chew them up and take your soul out of your body. -He took his hands off his head-. We all keep silent with the newcomers; that was always our rule until one by one they left.

I stopped looking at him and put my attention on the head of the man that was sticking out of the cocoon, but this time it was not only his face, which was vomiting at every moment those substances like rubber because of the cut I made, but also his shoulders and little by little the body was slipping out of the cocoon.

--Denis, you are a wretch; why did you hide these things from me? -I saw he-. We-we have to get out of this place right now.

--Maybe only you should get out.

--What?

--It's true, Jason, they've stopped being interested in me for several months now, and they're showing me the kind of inhumane things they do in this place. So it doesn't matter if they find me, but not you, Jason. They'll catch you as soon as they see you, they'll know that the dose for you didn't kill you and that's what they're looking for, that's why they always wait for people to open their eyes, to verify that the dose didn't kill them, and they don't serve dead people, only living people. That's why there were so many bodies in that room and there are many in other parts. All of them are of the people who died from the dose. What do you think if you look for a way out and escape while I stop them?

--What? Denis, we're both going to get out of this hellhole or die trying.

In his eyes you could already see that he was calmer.

--But, is there a way out of here?

--We'll do our best, Denis, we'll do our best... -I looked at the ground-. Hey, will this thing on the ground be flammable?

--What do you mean? -He frowned.

I knelt down to touch the tar that was next to those substances like rubber.

--Is it some kind of fuel?

--I don't understand you, Jason.

-- You'll see… -I looked at the tar dripping from my fingers-. You'll see.

I remembered, just like a flash of lightning hitting my head, the matchbox that I didn't find that time when "they" captured me. They were still wet like the first time I saw them, but one or two of them must have been dry, I was thinking very optimistically. I took out one of the matches and rubbed it on one of the thin sides of the box, but it wouldn't light, instead it would slowly fall apart. I tried another one and it was the same case: they were fragmenting every second. I did that with about five more matches until one of them successfully lit. I drew a long smile on my face.

--I thought they would never light up -I said.

And I let the lit match fall to the tar on the floor. It dipped into it and a trickle of smoke came out almost immediately.

--Damn it -I said.

I tried another pair of matches, none of which were lit except for the third one. Again I let the match fall on the tar and once again the match dipped into the tar and went out again.

--Blast!

I pulled out another match with my trembling fingers and it lit up. I did the same thing as the previous times, I let the match with the weak flame fall on the tar and this time there was success, the flame did not go out as soon as it reached the ground, on the contrary, the match remained suspended for a few moments until it sank, but it was suspended long enough for the flame to spread on the tar and make it wrap itself in flames a few centimeters from which it increased as the seconds went by.

--What did you do, Jason? -said Denis in a very altered voice as he watched the flames grow into giants and approach our feet-. Put it out!

--Yes -I said in the same way as Denis, he was upset.

Many times I raised my feet and placed them on the flame that became more and more giant every moment.

--Put it out! -he insisted again.

He was in the same way as me: he raised his feet and stepped on the flames to extinguish them, but the latter only increased their proportions. I kept trying, however, the flames refused to die and suddenly, without waiting for him, the flames also enveloped the sole of my shoe and little by little the flames also began to take over the bottom of my pants. I saw the rubber-like substances very close to my feet and the flames. I had no other choice. As quickly as possible, I moved my feet closer to these substances to see if I could put out the flames with them, and in fact, it was the best decision I ever made. The flames were quickly extinguished by emitting a hollow sound like that of a frying pan with boiling oil and someone dares to pour water on it, that same sound appeared as some flames wrapped around the bottom of my pants. Without thinking twice, I slapped the fire several times to put it out as soon as possible before it engulfed me and I never had a way out of it. My right hand burned as soon as I hit the fire. I looked at myself, there was the cut that I made with the knife, it was bleeding a lot and I just gave it a lot of importance. Denis, on the other hand, was still trying to put out the flames with the soles of his shoes that were not yet filled with fire and he was sitting with one foot on a small flame to drown it and then he continued with another. I approached the rest of the flames by surrounding my right hand with my left hand so that it would stop bleeding. Again those sounds of boiling oil next to water; I had kicked those flames a few times (yes I did) and they ended up dying.

--Wow, I almost burned my feet -I said between jokes.

I smiled.

--You almost burned your feet! Jason, you almost burned us alive.

I wiped the smile off my face.

--Hey, that thing was flammable. Denis, I have an idea, but matches can go out very quickly. -I felt my shirt pocket, my pants pocket to find the cigarette I didn't light in that gasoline can-. I need to burn something so that the fire doesn't go out.

--What do you mean? -He frowned.

I put the matchbook in my right pants pocket.

--You will see, Denis, if we find a way out of this place, I will rid the world of these things from the devil.