Five of a Kind 5/6
Another approaching rainstorm sped nightfall along, though fortunately the rain seemed to be several miles away.
Dean dropped Sam off at the main Admin building, then stayed at the car with Adam, keeping out of sight in the backseat. Sam took the stairs two at a time, and met Nichols at the front door.
“Agent Jones,” Nichols said by way of greeting, glancing down at the Impala.
Sam gestured at Dean, who was opening the trunk. “My partner’s getting some equipment. He’ll be up shortly.”
Nichols seemed to accept that, and swiped his keycard to unlock the door.
Sam followed him inside. “May I see the room where we’re interviewing?”
“Of course.” Nichols led him across the small reception area to a walled-in conference room.
Sam noted the lack of cameras.
Nichols gestured at the medium-sized wooden table. “I think this meets the requirements.”
Sam smiled behind the manager. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He stepped up silently and wrapped his right arm around Nichols’ throat, instantly locking him in a sleeper hold. Nichols frantically grabbed at Sam’s forearm, but couldn’t get leverage with Sam’s greater height. Sam spoke into his ear. “Easy. Easy. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
It was true. Nichols would wake up with little more than a few bruises and a crazy story to tell. Seconds later, Nichols stopped struggling, and then Sam was supporting the man’s entire weight. He eased the manager down to the floor.
There was a storage closet by the door. Sam dragged Nichols over, and after securing his wrists with a zip tie, snagged the security card and shut the unconscious man in the closet. He used one of the table chairs to jam the closet door shut, and shut the lights off on his way out.
It was for Nichols’ own good. Sam just hoped they could finish the hunt tonight. Otherwise, his next meeting with Nichols was going to be awkward.
<<<<<< >>>>>>
Using his cell phone camera, Dean looked over the easternmost basins, where the dark blob had been seen. A few more of the blood stains were visible along the concrete edge of the basin, but the water was clear and empty. Whatever had been on the security cameras wasn’t there now.
“That’s not good,” Dean muttered to himself, adjusting the sawed-off shotgun he had camouflaged under his left arm. He held the camera up and scanned the area around him, turning a full circle. He was alone, at least.
Dean glanced in the direction of the Admin buildings. Speaking of cameras, Sam was supposed to be back already. He jogged over the large parking area past the basins at the back of the lot, sandwiched between a couple of building-sized pumping facilities, where Adam was waiting in the driver’s seat of the Impala. After dropping Sam off and watching him go inside, Dean had moved the car to the rearmost lot, far from the main gate and closer to the area where they’d seen the creature on video. Chances were it stayed close to its nest, especially if it was injured.
“Any sign?” Adam asked, keeping watch with his elbow propped on the window ledge.
Dean shook his head. “No. We need to move fast, just in case this thing isn’t as hurt as we think. It might slip out to feed again. Any sign of Sam?”
“Not yet,” Adam replied, shifting his gaze to the south side of the complex and the office buildings. “Oh, wait….”
Sam came jogging down past the row of tall ammonia tanks, a few hundred feet from where the car sat in the empty parking lot.
“Finally,” Dean breathed, more in relief than annoyance. When Sam got close, he called out, “We set?”
Sam came to a stop near the Impala’s back door, only slightly winded. “Yeah. Cameras are off, alarms are off, phones are down.”
Dean was impressed, despite himself. He knew Sam was more than capable, but he was somewhat surprised by the mischievous glint in his little brother’s eye. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Sam had enjoyed himself, but it was a conversation to be had later. “Nichols and the guard?”
“Sleeping soundly, locked in closets,” Sam answered, definitely a hint of pride in the pronouncement.
“Not to be that guy,” Adam interrupted, climbing out of the Impala, “but whatever goes down here tonight, aren’t we already on video from this morning? They’ll put two and two together.”
“Nope, they won’t.” Sam smirked, holding up what looked like a computer harddrive in his hand, then tossing it into the backseat through the open window.
Dean grinned. No recordings, no record of their ever being there. Nice, Sammy, nice. He walked to the rear of the car and unlocked the trunk. “All right, let’s load up. I checked the water, and this thing isn’t there, but I have a feeling it won’t be hunting tonight. Not if the blood I saw is any indication.”
Sam and Adam followed him around to the trunk. Dean opened the concealed weapons compartment, and pulled out shotguns for his brothers. They weren’t sure if the creature was immune to anything, but their handguns already had various standard, iron, and consecrated rounds, and even if the shotguns didn’t kill it, their punch should knock it down.
“Wish we had the Colt,” Sam said, giving his weapons a last-minute inspection.
Dean couldn’t help but agree. They’d left Samuel Colt’s revolver with Bobby, so he could make some more bullets for it. At the time they hadn’t expected to need it for anything. We should know better by now.
They gathered their weapons and locked the car, then set off toward the northeastern corner of the plant. There was a large “ozonation building,” whatever that was, nestled against a fence just past the basins, and flanked by a larger parking area for trucks. Two dozen or so tractor-trailer-sized freight containers were lined up in neat rows in the lot. Nichols had pointed the building out during Dean’s impromptu tour as the location of the maintenance office.
If the creature was masquerading as a custodian, it’d probably be hanging around the maintenance area. It was a place to start anyway. They kept their shotguns handy, but as concealed as possible while approaching. It appeared that the staff was gone for the day, but they had no way of knowing if any stragglers were around.
“So, I was thinking,” Sam began quietly, his eyes scanning their surroundings, “maybe this is just one creature.”
“With five disguises?” Adam asked, bringing up the rear and making sure they weren’t being followed.
“Not necessarily. It’s a custodial crew. Nichols and the guard don’t seem to have seen just one guy walking around, and he said they all looked the same,” Sam said.
“Nichols did say quintuplets,” Dean added. “I was wondering about that, too.”
They arrived at the ozonation building, another large, white concrete structure with panoramic plate-glass windows running down the entire side facing the basins, and an artificial grove of transplanted palm trees along the west side. A wide loading dock and freight door dominated the east side. That was where Dean headed.
Reaching the doorway and stopping to the right of it, Dean looked to his siblings, who took position on the opposite side and indicated they were ready. He opened the cover of a set of green and red buttons labeled “Open,” “Close,” and “EMRG” and hit the green one. The heavy steel door groaned and started to rise, but not without an extremely loud buzzer sounding. The sounds pierced the quiet of the evening, loud enough to make all three hunters flinch. Dean cursed silently.
Adam sent him a sideways glance. “So much for the element of surprise.”
Annoyed, Dean brought up his shotgun and waved them all inside. “Spread out. Keep your eyes open.”
Inside the building was very open, with a wide loading area just beyond the door. Large floor-to-ceiling windows on the left gave a view of the basins just outside. Fifty feet in front of them, a row of thick columns separated the area from an enormous room with a higher ceiling, filled with processing tanks. Thick metal piping lined the walls to their left and in front of them-wherever there wasn’t a window-and the ceiling above. It made Dean feel like he was in a fish tank.
The floor reinforced that impression. Colorfully designed linoleum in various shades of blue mimicked the appearance of waves and water. More dark-hued blood stains marred the design, leading to the right.
The area on Dean’s right was another story. The wall there had been dug out, with a hole large enough to fit two or three Impalas. Beyond it, what looked to be an office was completely wrecked. Wood, paper, and the remains of cushion furniture was all piled, arranged and packed into the gaping space.
Dean had seen enough nests to know one when he saw it.
“People can’t see that?” Adam asked quietly.
Sam shrugged. “I guess not if it doesn’t want them to.” He raised his phone and activated the camera, using it to study the nest. “It’s empty.”
Dean motioned forward with his chin. “Spread out. Sammy go left.”
They advanced deeper into the building. Sam moved in along the windows, Adam moved carefully up the center of the floor. Dean kept to the right, skirting the entrance to the nest. Advancing slowly, he didn’t see anyone, and the only sounds were the humming and occasional sloshing coming from the giant tanks.
Coming to a stop near the row of columns, Dean signaled for Sam and Adam to wait. He didn’t want to go deeper into the building unless they had some idea what they were walking into. The web of pipes and tanks ahead would separate them.
“Maybe it’s not home…” Adam mused softly.
A thump followed by a clang echoed deeper in the building, from the direction of the tanks.
Dean grimaced and canted his head to the side. “Somebody’s home.” He turned to his siblings. “Sammy, we’ll go in. Adam, you wait here and make sure it doesn’t double back. We need to trap this thing.”
Adam nodded once and crouched with his back against one of the columns, shotgun held up defensively. Sam and Dean lifted their shotguns higher as they proceeded into the wide, open area past the columns. Sam kept to the window-wall, periodically using his phone to scan the area ahead.
Dean did the same, pulling out his phone and moving right to thread between the tanks and the inner wall.
<<<<<< >>>>>>
Sam inched his way along, about ten feet from the outside wall. He hadn’t seen anything yet, and no further sounds emanated from the tank area. Dean could be seen moving along the inside wall, behind the huge water tanks. With the humming of the machinery and humidity in that part of the building, the room reminded him of a giant laundromat.
They were only a third of the way into the facility, and Sam began to worry that the creature might slip around behind them through the maze of metal. He glanced back to make sure Adam was okay. The younger man had proved a capable hunter, but Sam still found himself worrying about him. He smiled briefly to himself. Now he knew how Dean must have felt for so many years.
There was a large rectangular machinery housing coming up in front of him. Sam crouched by the nearest end of it, and raised his camera phone to scan the area. The building widened at that point, forming an alcove on his left, about twenty feet long and similarly deep. The windows stopped at the edge, and resumed on the far side.
He was just about to rise and keep moving when a heard movement behind him, followed by a thick, gravely voice.
“Hunters. We should have known.”
The voice was followed by another, similarly gruff voice. “It was only a matter of time.”
And then a third. “We must kill them before more come.”
Sam turned, seeing five men in brownish coveralls standing only a dozen feet behind him and to his right, just beside the churning water tanks. They were looking at Adam, and didn’t seem to know Sam was there.
He swung his phone up to get a look. On the screen, there were no men, just a grayish-green wall of flesh that appeared to be the creature’s hindquarter. A leathery, alligator-like tail as thick as a tree trunk swung almost randomly from side to side. Sam was too close to look at the rest of it past its two heavy, muscular legs.
The creature was focused on Adam, who was now standing and aiming his weapon. He’d spotted it. Sam had a clear shot and took advantage. He slipped his cell into the front pocket of his jacket, hefted his own shotgun, and aimed for the huge lizard’s back.
As his finger tightened on the trigger, Dean appeared on the other side, from between the tanks, and cocked his shotgun. The sound startled the creature, which clearly hadn’t been aware of Dean’s proximity. Sam saw the five men turn as one to face his brother.
At nearly the same time, the huge tail swung around and slammed into Sam’s midsection, lifting him off his feet. It was like getting hit by a car. His shotgun discharged as he went flying backward.
“Sam!” Dean called out, his voice echoing in the large room.
Sam experienced a split-second of freefall, and he felt the gun slip from his grasp as it fired. The world was upside down. His head connected with something solid and everything went dark.
<<<<<< >>>>>>
It all happened in just a few seconds. Adam saw the five men appear from behind one of the tanks-obviously the creature, or creatures they were hunting. He could hear them talking.
Sam saw them as well, and Adam could see his brother was preparing to take a shot. Adam advanced, hoping to keep the creature’s attention forward and then maybe add his own fire to the barrage.
Then Dean appeared from behind one of the farther tanks, and all Hell broke loose. The men spun, Sam was belted aside like a dog toy, and his shotgun went off. The blast struck the mass of pipes above the five men’s heads, and water spewed forth like a geyser, dumping gallon after gallon down onto the scene.
Dean fell back, shouting Sam’s name as the pipes shattered above him, and disappearing behind the tanks. He reemerging farther to Adam’s right, along the inner wall of the cavernous room. He headed back toward Adam, also taking aim at their quarry.
Any concern Adam felt about Sam’s well-being had to take a backseat. The men’s appearance began to shift and distort, and a loud, bellowing roar erupting as they were drenched in water. Their five bodies melded into one as Adam watched, brownish jumpsuits dissolving into a rough and leathery grayish-green skinned, dragon-like body.
Two legs, clawed feet, and a long reptilian tail dominated the rear of the creature. Two short, two-fingered T-rex type arms sprouted from its scaly, armored upper body, and five long, sinewy necks unfolded, supporting five separate, horned heads each the size of a refrigerator.
Each of the heads sported two yellow, snake eyes above a pointed snout and a gaping mouth lined with six-inch teeth. Spiny horns extended back from each side of the ponderous heads, connected by fleshy stretches of skin, reminding Adam of one of the spitting dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. The creature was hideous.
“What the f-?!” Adam’s exclamation was cut off when two of the heads reared back and gave a thunderous, enraged roar. It marched forward, three of the necks extending, diving directly at Adam, while the other two curled back, those two heads snapping at each other.
Adam stopped staring and lifted his shotgun, firing as the heads rushed toward him. The blast caught two of them almost point blank. The creature reared back, skidding on the wet floor, the heads rising and pulling away from the weapon, though it didn’t look injured by the blast, just disoriented. Another blast came from the side, where Dean was coming in fast on his own attack. The beast was further stunned.
He wasted no time himself reversing, running backward toward the cover of the columns and cocking his shotgun for another attack. The creature’s disorientation didn’t last more than a few seconds, and it thundered forward again. The four flanking heads lashed out to either side, apparently looking for a clean path of attack.
The head in the middle rose higher, to what seemed to be the extent of its length, and a puff of thick smoke erupted from its mouth like a cough. Adam raised his gun.
Then the world went sideways.
<<<<<< >>>>>>
Dean came out from around the rows of tanks and dashed into the open area leading back to the loading dock. He wanted to double back and check on Sam, but the creature was obviously pissed, and that had to take priority, or none of them were going to be okay.
From his vantage point on the thing’s flank, he could see the whole body. From heads to tail, it was the length of a garbage truck. Most of the bulk was concentrated in its body and necks, with the tail making up almost half its overall length.
Dean angled toward Adam and the cover of the columns, flanking the oncoming animal and-he hoped-getting into position to catch it in a crossfire. As the various heads lashed out in his direction, Adam countered with a blast from his shotgun. Good boy! Dean raised his own weapon and fired as well.
The blasts staggered the creature, but didn’t appear to do much damage. Four of the beast’s heads flared out, each apparently angling for its own attack, while the fifth reared back and opened its gaping, fang-lined mouth. A puff of oily black smoke belched out.
Dean’s brain connected the dots before he even realized what was happening. Acting on instinct alone, he discarded his shotgun and bolted ahead in a straight line, pushing his legs as fast as they would move.
Adam was cocking his shotgun for another attack. He had just raised it when Dean reached him and launched himself. He caught Adam in a flying tackle that propelled both of them back between two of the columns. Even as they connected with the hard floor, he rolled, pulling Adam against the column and dropping his body over his brother’s as a wave of heat rushed past them, breaking against another column, so close Dean swore his sunburn flared up beneath his shirts.
The belch of flame was over almost as soon as it started, but Dean didn’t feel any better. He felt a biting heat in his lower right shin. Looking down, he saw that the hem of his jeans had caught fire. Dean patted it out quickly.
Adam seemed not too much worse for wear underneath him, but Dean’s shotgun lay about fifteen feet in the wrong direction. He pushed himself up and dragged Adam onto his feet with him. Adam had thankfully managed to hold onto his weapon.
Before they could regroup, one of the snake-like heads nosed around the column from Dean’s left. Adam reacted first, flipping his shotgun around and driving the butt of the handle into the creature’s snout. It growled and snapped, but pulled back out of sight.
Another head came around from the other side, on Dean’s right. With no weapon of his own to use, he improvised, bringing his fist arcing in a fierce uppercut. The impact with the thick, coarse skin along the creature’s jaw almost broke Dean’s hand, but it did snap the mouth shut. The second head pulled back as well.
“Stay!” Dean ordered Adam, pulling back and drawing his pearl-handled 9mm from his waistband. He shuffled sideways, firing wildly between the columns at the creature. It seemed to be considering the best way to get at them, but fortunately the heads didn’t appear to be all that coordinated.
Dean took cover behind another column, a few feet down from where Adam stood. His brother jabbed at another head that came snooping around the column on his right, then swiveled and fired point blank over his left shoulder, sending buckshot at the center head, the one that belched fire. That shot drew blood. Two of the long, razor sharp teeth were knocked out of that head. It reared back and let out a roar of pain and rage. The other four joined in.
Five heads, all feel the same pain, but each can attack on its own? What the hell is this thing? There was no time to contemplate the answer. Dean’s eyes traveled up, and he got an idea. He turned to Adam. “Switch!”
He tossed his handgun to his youngest brother at the same time Adam tossed the shotgun to him, no questions asked. “Keep it busy!”
Adam wasted no time. He spun and opened fire, aiming not up, but down. He pelted the beast’s feet with bullets. The thick skin wasn’t easy to penetrate, but the tactic worked. The creature howled and took two steps back, looking down at its feet to find the source of the aggravation.
Dean used the momentary distraction to aim the shotgun up. He fired four times at the mass of water pipes that extended across the ceiling and between the columns, breaching the metal tubing in several places. High-pressure water cascaded down from the ceiling, creating a veritable waterfall between the columns-and between the creature and them.
Another belch of flame erupted from the central head, but the torrent of water helped. Steam erupted, blasting out in a cloud between Dean’s and Adam’s hiding places, but the flames that got through were considerably less intense than before. The makeshift shield wouldn’t last long, though.
One of the heads broke through the liquid wall on the Adam’s other side. He turned the handgun on it and put three rounds into its neck. The creature yelped and the head retreated. Another head-Dean wasn’t sure which one-penetrated the waterfall next to Dean. He unsheathed the demon-killing knife from his belt and stabbed. The knife drove into its snakelike eye. All five heads screeched in agony, and the head withdrew again, blood gushing from the wound.
They had to move. Dean knew the water wouldn’t distract the monster forever, and he didn’t know if the water pipes had an automatic shutoff for emergencies. In either case, the thing was pissed and would be coming for their hides, sooner rather than later. He pushed off the column and moved out into the open freight area. Adam followed.
“We’ve got to kill this thing. The guns aren’t doing enough damage,” Dean said, trading weapons with Adam and getting his handgun back.
They both reloaded while they had the chance.
“What about Sam?” Adam asked, looking past the deluge to where their brother had gone down.
Dean heard the concern in his younger sibling’s voice, and shared it. He wanted nothing more than to run back and find Sam, but there were five reasons keeping him from doing so. “I know, but we have to deal with fire-breath, first.”
“Any ideas?” Adam shot back, checking to make sure the beast was still holding back. He could see it through the rushing wall of water, poking and shuffling, probably trying to angle through together. “It’s kinda clumsy. I think the heads all…I dunno, think for themselves,” Adam commented. “Looks like the only thing they agree on is coming after us.”
Dean bit his lip, shifting his gaze around the room. There had to be something they could use. Something that would cause serious damage. He looked behind them at the open freight dock, and cocked his head. The steel door was still open. The heavy, steel security door Nichols had mentioned.
With a glance back at the stymied creature, Dean formed an idea. He faced Adam again. “Was it my imagination, or was that thing talking before? In English.”
Adam blinked. “Yeah, sounded like it. Don’t ask me where it learned.”
“That might work for us,” Dean said, pointing at the door. “Here, stand here with me.”
A buzzer sounded overhead. Lights on boxes near the junction of several water pipes started blinking and flashing. As Dean feared, the valves probably sensed the pressure loss when the pipes were blasted. Well, it was good timing, despite being bad luck.
The water flow slowed, and the creature started probing through the columns again, now that it could see where it was going.
Dean started waving his arms, moving back toward the open door. Adam followed, clearly waiting to see what Dean was up to.
“Hey! Ugly! Over here!” Dean yelled.
Adam looked at him like he was crazy, but didn’t object. He followed Dean with his shotgun ready, both moving back slowly. The creature zeroed in on them, ignoring the slowing but still gushing water. Two of the heads let loose threatening bellows.
“Yeah, you heard me!” Dean shouted, firing off three rounds. Only one hit the undulating necks of the creature, but it was enough to get it moving. It advanced again, edging sideways through the narrow space between two columns. “Yeah, you baklava gobbling assholes! Come get us!”
Dean couldn’t be sure they fully understood what he was saying, but they understood enough. As one, they reared up tall and roared, loud enough to vibrate the linoleum flooring. Smoke belched from the center head as the creature lowered itself in preparation to pounce, but it didn’t throw fire. It probably wanted to get closer. Dean wasn’t going to give it the chance. He looked at Adam, grabbing the blond’s shoulder and shoving him.
“Run!”
The creature launched its heavy body at them, charging forward like an angry bull on both its legs and short arms. The five separate heads finally got their act together, and all snapped forward on their muscular necks, extending its reach by some dozen or more feet.
Dean and Adam dashed out through the doorway side by side. Adam kept going forward into the parking lot beyond, vaulting over the edge of the loading dock without slowing. Dean grabbed the doorframe and swiveled to his left, diving out of the beast’s line of sight and slamming himself flat against the concrete outside wall of the building.
The creature, blinded by fury, kept coming. Once out in the open lot, Adam spun around, brandishing his own handgun and firing at the onrushing beast. At that range, the bullets were about as good as taunts.
As the first few inches of snout came into Dean’s view from the side, he drove his closed fist into the red emergency button.
The three-inch thick steel door dropped like a stone.
TBC