5.

Denis fixed his gaze on the stairs.

--Let's go, Denis, or we won't find our way out soon.

--Yes.

I went to the front and walked up the stairs. Denis kept up with me. A long time ago we heard the voice of "them" and their desperate steps with only one purpose: to find each other. Now there was only silence; if I turned to the right, only silence, and likewise to the left. My heart was beating very fast and on the way back I was shaking like crazy. If I was not mistaken, I could swear that things without eyes must have gone straight ahead, so I told Denis:

--Let's go to the left, see what's there and then go the other way.

He nodded without a problem. I gave another run-through of the corridor from end to end in case someone was approaching or if the footsteps and screams of the eyeless things appeared warning that we were close or that they had heard us.

--Come, follow me.

With swift steps as if I were a scared chicken, I ran immediately to the path on the left, but I wished at that moment I had not done so. It was a very big room, I could swear that at some point this place could have been a room of silence, where you don't talk about what happens to people when they are taken to "them". But it had no door, although something instead of it, something disgusting that once again turned my stomach and this time I could no longer contain myself. I put my hand in the mouth of my stomach and then stepped aside so that everything would come out. It was disgusting. That place was infested with hundreds of bodies wrapped in black sleeves. The smell was the worst, all that stench of hundreds of bodies piled up and the buzz of moccasins fluttering and breaking covers made me want to vomit as soon as I looked up.

--Oh, my God -said Denis-. How many people have these things killed?

I was completely horrified; that image just caused a lot of disgust and the smell already added something more to that. I put my left hand over my mouth and walked through that room where the floor was also flooded with that tar, except that it also had some big puddles of a brown liquid.

--Why are they doing this? -I asked.

--I don't know, I'm serious this time, Jason. These things are looking for bodies, whatever it takes, if they have to kill hundreds of people just so that one of them can be used as a means to move around in this place, they'll certainly do it without any reproach.

I put my hands on my head. Now I understood the nervous state in which Denis found himself, he was terrified of the truth, of knowing the case of beings who captured people and then stole their bodies for their own ends. Many of the bodies were piled up in piles at each end of that room with a very heavy atmosphere, as if to say «help the other people out there who soon will be prey to things without eyes». I stayed for a while looking at one of the walls, the only one that didn't have many bodies like the other walls and where also the wrappings of the black cases were broken and left the bodies of those inside in the process of rotting.

--What do we do now, Jason? -he said to me as I continued to look at that tiny pile of bodies rotting outdoors. Shall we go the other way?

--I don't want to imagine what will happen if we don't find a way out -I looked up at the ceiling this time because I was already dreading seeing all those bodies.

--I don't know, maybe we should hide under the bodies to hide from them -he said.

We remained completely silent as I looked in every direction to find a way out of that hell, but... my heart shook once again.

--Come this way, I hear voices -said someone not far from us.

Our eyes suddenly gave out. We just stood there and watched.

--He's coming! -said Denis.

I nodded nervously.

--Where are we going? Where are we going? -he said, his hands drenched in sweat.

I walked to one corner of the room and then went to the other corner.

--Which way? -cried another voice.

--What do we do, Jason? -Denis asked me in an alarmed tone, but I didn't have anything in mind, although I planned to tell him to go into the room with those cocoons hanging from the ceiling, but the footsteps were getting closer and closer and he was telling me that those things were already so close and if we went down to the basement we'd run into them on the way.

I didn't answer him about it, I just looked at the pile of bodies and an idea came to me.

--Come, help me -I asked in a shrill voice.

Denis put up no resistance and didn't even ask me what I was planning to do. He helped me without putting up any opposition to moving any of the bodies. Although the bodies looked light at first glance, the reality was that they were super heavy. Even the two of us together were not advancing one of the bodies perfectly. And so we were, removing a few bodies quickly from the top of the pile of bodies and a couple of them we just dragged, but one of them we couldn't get out of the way; it was buried... it was buried on the ground. There was a big pothole in that part and there was almost half of that body buried there.

--What do you want to do, Jason? -He asked the question while looking around him.

I was in the middle of the bodies that we moved.

--We'll do what you said -I said- hide under the bodies.

Denis kept his mouth shut.

--Here they are!

I looked at Denis with my eyes open as long as I could. He was shaking a lot and was very doubtful that he would react and hide as quickly as possible before "they" arrived. I took him by the right arm and made him hide in the middle of the bodies. I took one of the bodies and it fell on top of us and also another one.

--I heard them talking!

We both kept quiet as much as possible.

--You will not speak, Denis -I whispered.

We advanced to hear some steps. They entered the room, and I was very aware of that.

--I'm sure I heard some voices here -said someone.

--You heard wrong -they answered.

There was silence.

I swallowed my saliva and my heartbeat increased every second.

--Let's go, Marco -they said-; those guys must be close by if you heard them.

Silence.

A few steps; a few steps were approaching the place where we were.

«Not found», were the words I had in my mind.

--Okay.

The people who were there left within the next few moments.

The smell of rotten meat was unbearable. I thought that at any moment I could get rid of the corpses, but… what if the creatures without eyes were still there? They would notice in a second, although fortunately they were gone, and could not be heard anywhere.

--They're gone -Denis said.

--Yes, they're gone.

However, my muscles were immobile; I was still afraid that they were there waiting for us. I had the idea that when we got up, things without eyes would be at the door waiting for any movement. Luckily none of that happened, thank God. We got up at once without hesitation, but I was a little late as I watched a small flash on the floor.

--What could that be? -I said to the air.

--What?

I didn't answer the question and just held on to that little flash on the ground, about half of the body that was buried. I immediately went over to give him a definite answer to that and it was a small hole, there was a hole in the wall, as if it were a drain, and of course I understood why it was there, because there was a long path in the wall as if it were a channel that sent water to the drain, although it wasn't water that went through that place, it was blood. There were still some small pools of coagulated blood heading for the drain.

--What are you looking at, Jason?

Again, I didn't answer anything.

I looked through the tiny drain and could see a way out; at the other end, I could see a few branches and green grass.

--It's the exit! -I shouted without controlling the volume of my voice.

--What are you talking about?

I looked at it.

--This is where the blood drains out. -I pointed to the drain-. That means that behind this wall, I felt it impatiently, is the exit. This wall has to be knocked down, but how? We don't have anything... -I was silent for a moment as I thought-. It's true -I said, looking at Denis-, could it be that where those giant cocoons are, there is something to break down the wall?

--I don't know. -He shook his head-. Although they keep digging to make that place bigger so they can prepare more people for the change.

--So what are we waiting for -I said. My voice was sure to be hysterical. Let's see if there's something to break down the wall.

--Yes.

Like desperate fools we left the room and headed for the basement. There was a great horror in the skin to go back to that place that only caused disgust; but I held back too much and turned my head around to look for something in the middle of those cocoons.

--Do you see anything? -I asked Denis.

--No.

-- Damn it -I whispered.

I walked beyond, into the depths of that nauseating place. In my eyes there was only the image of those cocoons and that in some of them you could see the face of the people perfectly. I controlled myself more so as not to throw up uncontrollably. I looked down at the end of the basement at a couple of pickaxes, bars and a lot of bags full of sand, or whatever was inside. My chest jumped from the excitement. I ran out to the tools and grabbed one of the spikes. I rolled on my ankles in a hurry and then ran towards the stairs, telling Denis:

--I found a pickaxe; we're going to knock that wall down.

Denis nodded and followed in my footsteps.

Apparently I did not run but jumped quickly to reach the room full of sheathed bodies. I came face to face with the wall. I aimed at one point of it and hit the concrete with my pickaxe many times, however, the pickaxe shot out of my hands. I frowned, but again I held the handle of the pickaxe very tightly and hit the wall again. That didn't change the results, on the contrary, the pickaxe came out of my hands as if I wasn't really hitting a wall but a metal structure of the strongest possible material.

--What the hell! -I exclaimed, furious.

I looked at the place where I was hitting it with the pickaxe, but there was not the slightest scratch or blow. I looked at the pickaxe and it was a little bent, almost imperceptible, although for my eyes it was not the case.

--What the hell is that wall made of? -I said to the air and Denis answered later.

--What is it, Jason?

I looked at it again.

I kept my words inside my mouth as I licked my lips.

--There must be a way out -I went back to talking to nothing.

I held the handle of the pickaxe tighter. At first I planned to go back to the basement in case there was something there that could help us, like a giant combo. But once again I looked at the floor drain and the opening where half of that body was buried. I raised my eyebrows. My eyes dilated.

--It's true! -I exclaimed.

I put my pickaxe on the floor to wipe away the sweat from my palms. I picked it up again with all my strength. And I sent it right into the pothole in the floor. I took the pickaxe out and sent it back into the pothole. At least there was a chance to get out.

--Denis, let me know if they come.

--What are you doing?

--I'm trying to make a tunnel, you just let me know when they come so we can hide.

--Yes.

I continued with my work. I would remove some of the wet soil, pickaxe it up and send it back into the pothole and pull out soil, like an endless cycle, although, well, sometimes I would stop to remove the wet soil with my own hands in the deepest part of the tunnel I was making.

--Is there any sign of them? -I said.

Denis took a while to answer me.

--No, I can't hear them. Are you done now?

--I'm working on it.

I was lying on my knees trying to remove the wet soil that at first sight I could easily tunnel through with my hands, even though I had many doubts about that tunnel because of the appearance of the soil. I imagined that the earth would fall apart, although that was not a problem, on the contrary, the exit would come out of it, so to speak, and the only thing left was to remove the earth that had fallen apart in order to get out.

--They are coming? -I said.

--No.

I kept digging. It was strange; I had no idea what was happening to me every time I asked Denis if "they" were coming. It was as if he answered yes, that "they" were very close or that they were at the entrance and at any moment they were going to throw themselves at us, but I didn't know at what moment. I was so desperate that I used it to dig faster than the sweat soaked my face and armpits.

--Do you hear them? -I asked the question.

«Yes, Jason, those eyeless bastards are in the doorway», was what my ears wanted to hear.

Instead I listened:

--No, you just keep tunnelling and I'll let you know if they're coming or not, okay? -He paused-. Hey, don't you want me to help you?

--No -I answered inside the tunnel.

Even I was impressed with how much I dug to make that tunnel. I was already getting into my abdomen perfectly, but there was always that dead body buried in the ground, preventing me from going any further. At first that was no bother at all, however, as far as I was concerned, that thing was starting to bother me and I couldn't take it anymore. I came out of the tunnel.

--What's going on, Jason? -He looked me in the eye.

It took me a long time to answer him.

--Help me remove this body because it's not going to let us out -I said to Denis.

«That's where they came to vote on that body», that's what I was thinking at the time when Denis and I were pulling on the legs of that body to get it out, but nothing was working, just...

--We have to cut it off -said Denis-. There's no other way, Jason; give me my knife.

I felt my pockets.

--Oh no, I left it where the bodies are in that cocoon.

--Go see her before they come and discover us.

--Yeah, I'll be right there.

--Okay. -He nodded-. But go quickly, because I want to go right now.

--Yes.

I shot out into the stairwell, however...

I did not see that being come without the eyes. I was running at high speed with a shotgun held in both hands and the inevitable happened. I was also running to the same spot where I was about to arrive and we bumped into each other and fell suddenly. My blood froze at once and my heart shook in my chest. Again I was looking at the face of one of those things that swallows people's eyes, maybe for fun, who knows. The shotgun fell on his right side and of course he wanted to take it to shoot me or maybe threaten me with it, but first he started screaming:

--Hey, I found it; it's here, come quickly.

He took his shotgun. I noticed that too and tried with all my strength to take it away from him, but what kind of non-human strength that being had. He pulled the shotgun out of me and then closed his left hand to give me a blow on the nose that sent me directly to the left, somewhat away from him.

--Hey, can you hear me? I've found it -he continued shouting.

I put my hands on my nose and then checked them. I had a lot of blood, although I don't know for sure if that blood was from my nose or from my cut hand. Then I stood up as fast as I could to jump up to that eyeless being.

--Hey, I… -He went ahead and pronounced before I approached him, and with the same shotgun that he had in his hands I squeezed his neck to suffocate him, so he could die like a human-. Let go of me -he said as I suffocated him.

--Denis! -I shouted to the four winds-. Denis, come quickly!

So he did, as quickly as I shouted, he came close with his nerves.

--Look for it, look for the knife, move, I can't hold it long, he's already called the others to come.

--Yes -he said.

And he ran immediately to the road with the stairs leading down to the basement.

--Le go of mee, huuman -he said, shaking his head in case he could get out of it.

--Shut up, you beast of the devil. We know what you are doing.

I could hear footsteps, but they were not footsteps to the end, they were just the beating of my altered heart.

--Denis, hurry up; I can't take it anymore.

He was shaking from side to side and at other times he was looking for my face with his right hand. I had the idea of giving him the reason to let go and then use the same shotgun to kill him once and for all, but I didn't want to risk too much that "they" would find us because of the loud noise.

--Mann, let m goo; you don't know wha you're getting into -he said.

Denis came into view with the knife and ran immediately into the room.

--Lt go f me -he said, and each time his struggles diminished in the same way as the movements of his hands. I think he was running out of breath and was going to die sooner or later, he thought.

--Hey, Jason, come help me -Denis asked.

The being was no longer moving at all. I believed the idea that he had died or something and I left him. I allowed the being to collapse and held the shotgun very tightly in case I needed anything else later (and that meant those moments of distress). I jumped into the room where Denis was cutting up the body with great difficulty.

--I heard Josh here -they said.

--What's going on, Denis? -my voice was shaking.

--Pull it out to see if this thing breaks in two because it's hard to cut.

--Yeah.

I did what Denis asked. I grabbed the body by the legs and pulled it with all my strength until I couldn't.

--This way, the screams were coming.

The body was very close to splitting in two, but we pushed it aside so that it would give way, which, by the way, thanks to that body, the road was now full of thick blood.

--Come on, Jason -he told me as soon as he could see the tunnel, that it was still missing the exit.

--You go in first and dig your way out; it won't be long now.

--What are you going to do, Jason?

--I told you, I'm going to rid this world of these things.

I felt my pockets with my trembling hands, holding the shotgun under my left armpit. I took out the matchbook and turned around and felt my pockets.

--What are you looking for, Jason? -he asked.

--I had a cigarette in my pockets, but I don't know where I put it.

--Maybe this is it. -He checked his left pants pocket and pulled it out, holding the cigarette in his hands.

--How do you have it?

I went over and took it to the cigarette.

--Hey, like everyone else I thought you were already dead and I just checked your pockets to see if you had anything useful -he confessed.

I drew a smile from ear to ear.

--And it didn't occur to you to look for the matches to light it.

--Hey, I couldn't be digging through your pockets in plain sight…

--Hey -a deep voice interrupted him. I went back to look. It was one of those things without eyes-. Come on, here they are, I've got them cornered.

I didn't think twice about it. I held the shotgun with both of my trembling hands and pointed it at that being's chest and pulled the trigger while I closed my eyes as well, I didn't want to see a human with a gun at all. I did it, I wounded it, well I was not about to miss; I had shot it in its right arm, and not in its chest where I had initially aimed.

--Wow! Well -I could tell.

I looked back at Denis.

--What are you waiting for? Come out quickly!

He looked between me and that man without eyes who was dying on the floor.

--Okay.

I looked back in front of me.

The footsteps came closer and so did the screams of "them.

I looked very carefully at the cigarette. The front was light brown and not white as it once was; the same thing happened to the bottom, it was a different color. And then an idea popped into my head, as if everything was meant to be. It occurred to me to grease the cigarette with the tar on the floor so that it would light more easily. So I did, as I listened to the pounding of my heart and the footsteps of things without eyes, I knelt down to bury the cigarette in the tar and as quickly as I could I got to my feet. Then I pulled out one by one of the cigarettes that dissolved as soon as I rubbed them on a thin side of the box, only destroying the heads of the matches. I exchanged eyes between the entrance to the room and the dissolving matches.

--He's hurt! -someone shouted, perhaps they had already reached the body of the first thing without eyes, the one I had smothered, from which I took the shotgun.

--There's another wounded man here -said another voice.

I tried another match, however, it was the same case, it dissolved.

--Here it is.

I got up to look and there he was. It was a big pile of those eyeless things that were surrounding the entrance. I took out another match; I rubbed it on the thin face and the same old remedy: it dissolved.

--Catch him! -shouted one of them.

I took out another match and put it in my mouth. Now I held the shotgun in both hands and fired without even giving me the time to aim because these things were coming at great speed. One of them was shot directly into the stomach where the dark blue blood was flowing. He knelt down with both hands on his stomach.

There was silence for a few seconds.

--What are you waiting for, catch him? -They gave the order.

Things raised their shotguns and pointed them straight at me. I left the shotgun on the ground. I grabbed the match in my mouth and rubbed it on the thin side of the box. My hands were shaking so badly that I even acted clumsily when I tried to light the match.

--Don't kill him, we need him alive for the change -said the same voice of all those orders.

I scraped the head of the match on the thin side of the box and a flash accompanied by short smoke lit up my face. "They" began to step back to what they saw as the tiny flame consumed the match.

--Boy -said one of the eyeless things near me- be careful what you do; you can cause a big fire.

As little as possible I listened to him. I let them see the cigarette in my other hand.

--Boy, be careful -someone spoke as he dragged the lit match toward the tar-filled cigarette.

As soon as the little flame reached the part of the tar-filled cigarette, the match burned the index finger and thumb that held it. I flinched that match and it fell on the tar, but just like my previous attempts in that basement full of those cocoons, the match went out. But the cigarette was still lit and sooner or later it was going to burn the fingers of my hand that was holding it.

--Wait, boy -pleaded one of the crowd.

--I hope they get the hell out of here- I said in an angry tone.

I turned my eyes to the pile of bodies wrapped in the dark covers and the large quantities of tar. I made up my mind and threw the cigarette filled with a gigantic flame at the bodies.

--No!

--Put it out!

The flames immediately took hold of the bodies with the tar and were wrapping the other bodies in fire while some of "them" were coming to put out the fire before it reached the floor and was like a chain of dominoes: let it go around the whole floor of that room with fire and then go to the next rooms and all the ones with that tar on the floor.

--Get him! -shouted one of the men pointing at me.

I did not hesitate more than once and went straight into that narrow tunnel to get in as quickly as possible, but gradually it grew in size just as it did into one of the paths of that air shaft. Sometimes I would look back and see some of those things following me: crawling around as if they had something inside that was rushing them at every moment. I would see the light a few meters away, as well as Denis' legs coming out. I sped up as much as I could, breathing like a madman in a way that I was suffering from a claustrophobic attack. One of them stopped me. He held my right leg.

--Come here, boy -he said-. No one escapes from the facility.

I kicked him with the same foot directly into that hideous, eyeless face. I kicked him again and kept on kicking so that he would let go of me, even though I had already broken his nose several moments earlier and he was struggling not to let go despite that.

I ordered him to let me go.

Another kick. I didn't want to let go. I gave him another kick on his nose, which was destroyed in several places and full of dirt and small stones. Another kick; this was the right one. He let go of me for a few seconds, but it was enough to go on.

--Human, come here.

One could see the exit. I looked back. The thing without eyes, now soaked in blood around its face, looked like a rabid dog chasing me.

--Human, you will not escape.

I put my hands on the edge of the exit and pulled myself from the edges until it came out.

Denis was a few meters from the exit, watching me come out, and he ran to help me.

--Hurry -he said.

--Run, I'll catch up.

I pulled one leg out and then it was my other leg.

--Move! -he insisted.

He took my right arm and helped me up. I was dragging myself to keep up with him.

--Humans! -they shouted.

--Are they following you? -he asked in a muffled voice.

--Just run and don't stop -I said.

That was more my curiosity and I looked back. The thing with the blood-soaked face came out first, then it was another one of those things and a couple more, but the last one came out with big flames surrounding its body. It smelled like rotting flesh burning.

--Catch them, if possible shoot them, but in the legs or arms -said the eyeless thing at the front.

A clatter was heard, and immediately the bullet cracked very close to us; it had exploded in the growing vegetation on that road and caused a few stones to jump into the air.

--Shoot them!

They fired another shot, one was very close to me, again it exploded in the vegetation and made a few stones jump up in the air.

--Don't stop! -I shouted in Denis' ear.

A bullet went off near Denis' head, he took his hands to his head.

--These things are crazy! -I shouted at the top of my lungs.

We crossed a couple of trees and they too were blown up by the bullets from the shotguns. I also put my hands on my head as we ran through what I could have sworn was a trail or a path into a vast forest. I looked back out of sheer curiosity and as another aid from the dead people in the facility, things without eyes stopped several meters behind us, staring up at the sky, as if looking up at the treetops or perhaps at something else, full of fear.

--What's wrong with them? -I said as I stopped my steps.

Denis also stopped.

--Are they looking at the sky? -said Denis. That's what was happening.

A cold breeze came up in our direction and the branches of the trees swayed back and forth in a whirlwind of great proportions, but we only felt a slight cold breeze.

--What are they looking at? -I asked the question.

My legs were shaking with fear. Part of me was informing myself that something bad was about to happen, but I didn't know what it was.

--You'll see, humans; I wish you luck.

I had said one of "them" and they all turned on their own heels and ran out of control to get away from where we were. At that time they were heading for the facility, a place that on the outside looked like a giant prison that was slowly being consumed by fire and screaming.

--What's wrong with them? -I repeated the question.

--They were staring at something -answered Denis-. Do you have any idea what it could be that would make them feel intimidated?

I shook my head in horror.

--I hope it's nothing bad -I said, as I turned my head to all possible places and only saw more trees, some with a yellow paint mark, and many dry leaves lying on the wet ground-. Come on, Denis, let's get out of this place before they come back and catch us.

Denis nodded after a few seconds with some hesitation inside.

I took the lead by checking out the mysterious place which never ceased to emit that slight cold breeze that intimidated us at every moment.

«Good heavens, what will those things be afraid of?», I had that in my mind when the breeze started to increase and it seemed like it was talking to me or trying to say something.

--Denis, what about you…?

I turned to see him, but he was no longer on my back. As simple as it seems, Denis had disappeared. He was gone; he had vanished. I was alone in the middle of that lonely place filled with a breeze that seemed to speak. On the ground, where I think it was for Denis, there were some very strange marks, as if Denis had been dragged somewhere else without him making the slightest sound.

--Denis! -I shouted to the four winds, but nobody answered me.

--Run away -someone whispered in my ear.

--Who said that? -I spoke as I turned in all directions to see who was talking to me-. Who's there?

They didn't answer me right away, but after a few seconds while I was giving him a tour of that mysterious place, that whisper came back.

--Run away while you can -was a hoarse voice.

A shudder ran through my whole body as I shook with terror.