chapter 3

He sat on the soft cushioned chair with Francis standing opposite him and the nurse, who constantly flash a friendly smile at the visiting personnel. It was rumored that some of the soldiers faked injuries just to see her. Most tried to court her, but all of them she turned down for some reason unknown. She treated everyone with respect and her caring voice alone was soothing to the core that every time the nurse speaks, it dulled the pain emanating from his bruised knuckle.

The room was brighter than the corridor on the way to the clinic. The scent of antiseptics was stronger here, making Lukas think that the usual smell of the base originated from areas like these. If he recalls, there were a dozen clinic bays scattered across the installation. The corner beside Francis contained a marble counter where numerous medical equipment and medicine could be found. Above were cabinets also containing the same stuff. It was also noticeably colder here, maybe because the wall-type air conditioner beside them was recently installed and its fan was directed at him.

The nurse approached with a tray of disinfectant, betadine, cotton balls and gauze tape. She sat beside Lukas before soaking a cotton ball in the scented disinfectant. The fragrance will now always remind him of her if he happened to smell it somewhere other than this place.

Francis took a pace towards the nurse and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be right back." He said before walking out. He was a few steps away from the door when the lights flickered. The soldier looked up and frowned. "Somebody's not paying bills." He finally exited.

And the two were alone.

Lukas glanced at the nametag stitched on the left breast of her uniform. The symbol of a red cross in the middle of white were imprinted on her left arm.

"So, Sala." He attempted to spark a conversation with her. This must be what Alice felt every time she tried to talk to him. He made a mental note not to be an asshole to her in the future. "How long have you been doing this?" When the cotton wad touched his bruised knuckle, he felt a sharp sting of pain. For him, it felt good than discomfort.

"I think I've been around since the formation of the Battalion." Nurse Sala replied. Lukas glanced at the cotton, now soaked in red stain. He looked away.

"So, three years?"

"Yes," she replied, applying more disinfectant to his bruises.

After coating a new cotton ball with betadine, she applied it next. Lukas couldn't think of another topic. His mind was distracted at the moment as it found itself drifting back to the conversation that he had with the cultist. What does he mean by 'opening the Veil'? What does the Moro separatist rebellion has to do with all of this? And what does he meant by 'they never have the time'? He wanted answers, and he will get it one way or another.

Nurse Sala kept the bandage around his knuckles in place with a strip of adhesive. Lukas glanced at her, who flashed him a warm smile when suddenly, the lights flickered off. It took a second for Lukas to register what just happened. The secondary emergency blast door that led out to the corridor abruptly shut close, its noise echoed throughout the room and startled him.

"What the hell was that?" Lukas inquired.

"Shit," it was the first time he heard the nurse swore. If the cuss came from a usually calm and reserved person, then it would only mean something bad. And of the two of them, she had been in the base for too long to know the meaning behind things. She definitely knew about the failsafes that the base's security systems triggered. If it never happened before, their manual handbook must have taught them that.

"Something wrong?" Lukas inquired.

"We got hostiles inside the facility." Nurse Sala's voice was surprisingly calm as she said this. Maybe because the hostiles were human enemies and that they are being dealt with it now. "Supernatural hostiles." She corrected his suspicion.

"And you're calm?!" Lukas asked as he paced towards the door. He tried to open it to know avail.

"What are you doing, Lieutenant?" She asked. "The monsters were out in the corridors as we speak!"

"How do you know, you're not even out there by the time the failsafe was triggered!"

"The Kampft Counter installed within the entrance censors must have detected high levels of paranormal energy. It is what triggered these doors in the first place." She pointed at a book on her desk nearby. "Don't believe me? Read it in the manual, page 57 paragraph e."

"I don't need to." Lukas replied. "I need to get to Francis." He cursed.

Nurse Sala's gaze fixated on him. Outside the walls, screams and blood splatter could be heard. The sound was very discouraging, but Lukas' pulse quickened at the thought of Francis or Alice being torn apart by some inhuman thing. The noise outside was joined by gunfire muffled by distance. A guttural roar was heard followed by a loud explosion.

Experience taught Lukas that the noise were nothing he had heard before.

"What kind of monster was that?" The nurse glanced at him for answers. Lukas stared at her with a blank look on his face.

"I am clueless as you." He said before looking at the door. More inhuman noise and sounds of slaughter emanated from the door. It felt like forever before the cacophony quieted down, but not completely silenced. "I can't sit in here any longer." He remembered the cultist. "I'm gonna kill that fucking bastard."

"Who?"

"None," Lukas said rather loudly. "Can you override the door to open?"

"I could, but--"

"But what?"

"I don't wanna be left in here alone." She said. Lukas felt pity.

"Then grab whatever you can." He said as he glanced at his holster, only to find it missing. "Fuck, I forgot my gun in my room." It earned a glare from the nurse. "Any knife I can use?"

"You're going to fight monsters that you know nothing about, with a knife?" She asked.

"Hun, there's nothing a knife couldn't kill." Lukas replied sarcastically. "Are you going to give me a knife or not?"

She rushed towards him with a bread knife. Lukas stared at him accusingly.

"I can't let you use the scalpels around here! That's unethical!" She replied. "Besides, if you get hurt, do you want monster blood in your body?"

"Okay, this will suffice I guess." Lukas replied as the nurse began extracting her medical kit from the counter, as well as painkillers, which she placed inside a duffel bag. She approached him shortly.

"Step aside." She ordered and he complied. The nurse pried the casing beneath the knob, revealing a small keypad with numbers. She pressed her credential code and the light above the door flashed yellow before parting open with a hiss. "One step to a whole new world."

"Move behind me." Lukas instructed as they stepped out into the dark corridor beyond.

The corridor was dimly lit, but despite the scarce illumination, he could see clearly what had transpired. The white walls were splattered with red and the floors was streaked with blood as if some bastard dragged the dead across to some place unknown. Bullet holes could also be seen on the wall. Lukas walked ahead, passing by the emergency green light above. The next emergency light was deactivated in this part of the hallway probably because of defect or old age, bathing the surroundings in the dark. The next light could be seen ahead, illuminating that section in the same way as the previous one they just recently walked past.

Lukas could feel something mushy beneath his boots but he dared not to imagine what it is. The nurse behind him clutched at his arm so tighty that his recently bandaged hand began to ache.

"Nurse, cut it out." Lukas whispered loudly. Sala realized that she was grabbing onto the soldier's arm for dear life and immediately retracted, apologizing.

They continued on; a loud guttural scream echoed across the dark hallway. It sounded like an amalgamation of a suffering man and the grinding of two rusty gears. Lukas would be lying if he denied his fear. They walked across, their hearts pounded twice faster. They approached the lit section and found a body of a dead 666IB soldier. Lukas stopped and knelt. The nurse simply watched him as Lukas flipped the corpse to see if it was someone he knew.

Thankfully, it was not. He pulled the soldier's dogtag and pocketed it.

They moved on. The corridor terminated in a leftward bent. A flipped table could be seen at the end. Another roar was heard, causing the illumination above to flicker dead, bathing them in complete darkness. They continued eastwards, but Lukas heard heavy footsteps beyond. Nurse Sala carelessly walked past him, accidentally exposing herself to whatever elements around the corner.

Lukas instantly pulled her in a hug, his free hand clamping around her mouth as he pressed his back against the wall. They both crouched behind the table as the footsteps ceased. A pair of loud hoarsed voices communed with one another for a short period of time. The horrifying intonations echoed across the ruined hallway. Grotesque images formed in the corners of Lukas' mind as he tried to imagine the things that lurked just around the corner. He found himself praying mentally as they listened to the voices.

It was indiscernible, for the most part. But some words were understandable like "seek" or "kill". His thoughts were instantly derailed and his hand over Nurse Sala's mouth tightened as he heard loud footsteps approached. The nurse even shut her eyes close, hoping that they wouldn't be found.

He counted the distance. Five meters, four meters, three, two, one, one point five. It was very close. The emergency light above them flickered open momentarily before dying and Lukas suppressed himself from swearing. But the shadow casted by the light made him realize that whatever was out there was too close for comfort. The shadow possessed a pair of talons and a pair of horns. It was big, but he dared not to confirm it with a peek.

Another demonic voice was heard, presumably from its companion behind the nearby entity. Lukas listened closely as the entity responded back. He have not encountered such creatures before and by the presence alone, it reeked of pure evil.

It turned and paced back to its original position, screamed more, and moved on. Their heavy footsteps fading from earshot. Nurse Sala unknowingly salivated, soaking Lukas' palm in saliva. She shot him an apologetic look as he released her.

Lukas wiped his hand with the sleeve of his uniform. He led the way once more.

The corridor around the corner were dark, but unlike the earlier hallways, this one was bathed in red emergency light. Lukas and Nurse Sala moved across and noticed the map attached to the right hand-side of the corridor. Lukas scanned it quickly to find where the armory was located.

It wasn't far from their current position and they would arrive there on time if they ran. Lukas banished the thought. Running would be stupid. Their footfalls will tell their attackers where they are. They moved on ahead and arrived at an intersection where Francis and the two subordinates had dragged him from the interrogation room. He just remembered the interrogation. Obviously it was out of the question. The cultist might have called more of these ugly bastards to his position. He continued with the nurse in tow.

Ahead, the red lit corridor looked like Hell. Chaos was visible despite the poor illumination. Piles of bodies were seen on the left and the door to the right was pried open. From the doorway to the opposing corridor, a streak of blood could be seen as if someone dragged a person out of it. A fully armored 666IB soldier sat on the ground with his back against the floor. His fingers visibly twitched.

"This man is still alive." Nurse Sala rushed towards him. She checked for a pulse and felt it. The nurse fumbled in her bag and retrieved an adrenaline shot.

"Wouldn't that kill him?" Lukas inquired, which was stupid because she was trained to do this and a person like him, who knew nothing about in the medical field, asked.

"He is losing blood. Are you blind?" She turned him gently. Lukas inched closer and saw a trio of deep vertical laceration in the left side of his stomach similar to when someone did a horrible apendectomy on him with a rake and realized that it was the wrong side and decided to leave him alone while bleeding to death.

Lukas knelt beside the soldier, whose arms and legs stiffened as soon as the adrenaline shot rushed through his bloodstreams. The nurse began to treat his wounds while Lukas kept his eyes peeled at anything that might be lurking around them.

"Soldier, what happened here?" Lukas inquired.

"T-they're scary." He simply said. "Their horns...the red light....oh God, Pedro's dead." Tears flowed from his eyes but the visor over his face obscured it. "How c-could we f-fight them, Lieutenant? H-how?"

"He's stabilized." Sala notified as she put his left arm above her neck and assisted him up.

"The armory was over there." Lukas pointed at the bloodied corridor. The soldier began to cry and mumbled incoherent words. "Soldier, shut up if you don't want them to hear us." He glanced at Sala. "Do you have any sedatives?"

"I think I have one." She placed him back down and retrieved a syringe and a bottle of liquid from her bag. She began extracting the fluid with the plunger. Lukas glanced at the protesting soldier, whose wail was quiet because of his lack of strength.

"P-please, t-they're there..." the trooper muttered weakly as Nurse Sala administered him with sedatives. He went weak and silent shortly after.

The nurse carried him in the same manner as before. Lukas had them walk ahead of him while he watched their backs. The ragtag group arrived in a three-way intersection that branched from left to right. The corridor was lit completely in red. Another corpse of an armored 666IB soldier laid to the side, his still-activated radio was transmitting something. The device was damaged enough that no discernible words could be heard.

"Make a turn to the left." Lukas ordered and the nurse followed. Lukas reached the end of the corridor. The armory has everything they needed, including radios. He also hoped to find his friends there.

The emergency lights suddenly went off. Lukas cursed, they are blind now. He prayed for the lights to turn back on but it did not. They continued on.

They barely made three steps forward when they heard a very loud roar from behind. It was too close to be ignored. Lukas and the nurse turned to see a pair of red glowing orbs floating in the dark. The roar emanated from its direction.

Lukas swallowed and realized what it was.

"Run, run!" He urged as they sprinted. The ground beneath them shook as the entity chased them. The hair on Lukas' neck stiffened as he felt the creature coming closer. His hyperactive imagination began to form images to create a picture of their pursuer.

Ahead, he felt bad for Nurse Sala, who wasn't trained in these kinds of situation but fear made her quick and fast and it also gave her the strength to lift the man she was carrying. The entity let out another roar, urging them to run faster. Lukas turned once more, and just in time, the emergency lights activated to reveal its form.

A red carapaced monster with a pair of large horns, sharp talons for hands and hooved feet. Beneath its armor was a muscular body in brown or black. Its red eyes glowed red and its mouth possessed a quartet of sharp mandibles like that of an insect's.

It roared.

Far ahead, the door to the armory could be seen, a green light illuminated above it. The nurse deduced that the emergency door must have been engaged. To her relief, the emergency door was not activated yet.

She reached for the knob open and tossed the soldier inside. She waited for Lukas, who was still being chased by the creature. The light strip on the ceiling sparked and exploded, providing more illumination. A reversed pentagram could be seen on its forehead.

Lukas reached the armory and the nurse shut the door locked. In an instant, the emergency door slid shut when the nurse and Lukas steered clear of the doorway, sealing them in. The monster outside pounded at the door.

To call it a monster was an understatement. It was a Demon.

"What the hell are we going to do?!" Nurse Sala asked hysterically.

"I thought your butterknife would kill it." Lukas said.

"It's a bread knife, you idiot!" Her hands went to her mouth, shocked at her own words.

"Wow, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Lukas tossed the knife aside as he went to the rifle rack. Big guns, the better.

He reached for an M-60, removed it from its place and began feeding it with rounds. He remembered the Outpost Chaplain's instructions about blessing their weapons in case he wasn't around in case of an emergency. Lukas was skeptical if it would work on Demons.

It better be.

"Heavenly Father, bless us our weapon in this time of need, that our enemies would fall before us. Enemies that only you and your angels could kill." He began. "Like how you bestow upon Saint Michael his sword, may You too bestow upon us the blessing to destroy evil with this weapon. Amen."

He grabbed a belt of bullets and fed it inside the M-60. He went to the sidearms area, prayed the same blessings, and loaded the Colt .45 with a magazine. He retrieved a holster nearby and attached it to his leg.

He is ready.

Lukas approached the radios located on the right side of the room with quick strides and noticed that it was recently manipulated by someone. The receiver was transmitting a string of morse code. Lukas does not need a special tool to decipher what it meant. The tamperer, whoever they are, wanted them to go to the Chaplain's Office.

He hoped to find his friends there.

Lukas turned to Nurse Sala and the soldier, whom she propped against the wall. He thought that they would be unsafe here if he had her disengage the door and leave them there.

"Can you wake him up?" He asked.

"He's under sedation. He would be awake after three hours." The nurse replied calmly.

"Can you use a gun?"

"I guess I can only handle the small ones." She meekly said. Judging by her posture, the nurse has not carried a gun yet, let alone use one. So he approached the pistol racks and retrieved a Colt .45 within. He recited the prayer he incantated with full faith and reverence.

"This is a sidearm." He said as he approached. "In order to use it, you will need to cock the safety hammer off." He pointed at the hammer behind the barrel. "You point at your target and fire. Be aware of the recoil." He said as he handed it to her butt first. She grabbed it like a kid receiving a toy and immediately gripped it with the finger on the top of the trigger. "Watch where you point that--?! Dammit, nurse! Trigger discipline!" He yelled.

She shot him an apologetic look before putting her finger out of the trigger guard. Nurse Sala approached the injured trooper and carried him out.

"In case your patient woke up, give the gun to him. He's much more trained to use it than you." Lukas added.

"Sure," the nurse replied as she laid the man next to the door where the pounding could be heard. "Are we heading out?"

"Unfortunately." Lukas said. "And I can't leave you here to die." He aimed at the door. "But good for us, the Chaplain's Office was just around the corner."

Nurse Sala nodded.

"Override the door." Lukas ordered. "As soon as the door is free, roll away. Do you understand?"

"I'm not deaf, Lieutenant."

Lukas did not answer as she knelt by the door and began tampering with it. She input her credentials and the door slowly opened.

She dove to her right in horror as the emergency door hissed open. A roar could be heard outside and the gargantuan Demon entered with ferocity. Lukas opened fire at the Demon. The bullets slammed against its carapaced body, shredding through armor and flesh alike. Dark red blood sprayed outwards like a fountain as the Demon yelled in pain and despair to get him.

But alas, its body could only take much. It hit the ground in an instant, body twitching in defiance of the Grim Reaper's touch, but all lives, be it organic or demonic, were all subjected to the laws of life and death.

Lukas approached the corpse of the Demon and fired at the pentagram located on its forehead, splitting it open and revealing a still-throbbing grey matter inside. The brain possessed a blackish coloration, which he also blew up with a single round.

He walked around the corpse of the Demon. It looked big because of its armor and muscles but he realized that it was just slightly taller than an average man.

Darkness stretched across. The corridor traumatized him and funnily enough, he remembered the corridor back in the clinic which felt like ages ago. He peeked out and secured the area with a sweep of his rifle's muzzle. The coast is clear, fortunately.

He nodded at Nurse Sala, who carried the man with her arm around his waist, while her other hand grasped the pistol tight with the man's left arm over her neck. Lukas realized that it might be a mistake to have her hold a gun as it would just impede her capabilities as a medic.

Lukas turned to the right and continued. Ahead, a section of the corridor was lit in green. Lukas was curious what time it was. He let out an exhausted sigh. It felt like forever. They moved and reached the eastward bent that terminated the hallway. Lukas cautiously peeked around to see a pair of Demons heading down their direction.

They are screwed. He glanced behind and thought about moving back but he caught sight of a child's silhouette standing amidst the bloodied and ruined corridor bathed in red emergency light that flashed on and off in a strobe. He shook his head; the child was nowhere to be found. He thought maybe he was going crazy, but he does not wanted to take chances either. The kid could be a real entity, pretending to be a figment of his imagination.

He doesn't know what to trust anymore and the thought of the cultist might have vexed him to make him delusional crossed his mind and that he could probably be taking the nurse hostage instead. He clasped his ears with both of his hands. The nurse slapped his arm to focus him.

The incoming footsteps urged him into action. There was no way that all of these are imaginations. He gripped his weapon tight and rounded the corridor. He aimed his weapon and fired. The corridor was showered with bullets that slowed the Demons in their approach. Apparently, none of them expected the soldier ahead. The first one was hit in its mandibles and hit the ground backwards. The other tried to charge ahead but a stray round hit its forehead in addition to the rounds it was receiving to the chest and groin area. It fell like the first.

"Come on, let's move." He ordered as they quietly walked along the length of the corridor.

They stopped as they noticed that a hallway branched to the left. Lukas moved around and aimed, only find a series of fire extinguishers instead, attached to the wall.

"Hide over there." Lukas pointed at the nurse as he turned around. He froze when light behind them began to flash on and off in a strobe in the same manner as the other emergency light earlier.

And below the light was the silhouette of the child.

"That fucking asshole." Lukas whispered as he took aim at the corridor and opened fire. The wall behind the spectre instantly crumbled under heavy fire. The figure disappeared, but the other Demons from the direction they are heading were alerted.

They simultaneously cried screams before charging. Lukas turned and fired at a trio of charging Demons. The muzzle flash illuminated the dimly lit dark corridor, revealing blood, flipped tables and mutilated corpses. The nurse's eyes widened at all of these. Lukas swallowed in fear as he felt his M-60 becoming lighter and lighter every second and the nearest Demon isn't dead yet.

He frantically lifted the top covering of the feeder and attached the end of the ammo belt, that he wore over his chest, and slammed the covering back shut. By the time he was finished with the action, the Demon was so close to him that he jumped back in fear, his butt hitting the bloodied floor in the process.

Nurse Sala squealed and aimed her gun with the safety on. She tried to pull the trigger to no avail.

"You gave me a jammed gun!" She yelled but Lukas did not paid her any heed.

The Demon fell to the side, replaced by the another one behind it. It received a significant amount of damage from his earlier attack when they were still far. He directed his aim at its face and obliterated it completely.

The last one was faster than the rest and moved with an enhanced speed. Lukas yelled, unaware of his own voice screaming as the head of the satanic creature burst apart with a geyser of smoke rising from its wound. It fell forward, shaking the ground beneath.

Ahead was 1st Lieutenant Francis Borja with a smoking shotgun, beside was Sergeant Alice Abantay and three other 666IB soldiers. He recognized PFC Nagar among the mix.

"Just in time," Lukas said thankfully. "Just in fucking time."

"Get up, buddy." He offered him a hand, which he took and stood on his feet. Nurse Sala handed him her pistol and carried the man beside her. "You gave the nurse a gun? She can't even hurt a fly."

"Let's talk about it later." Lukas said. "Where's the Chaplain?"

"Follow me."

They travelled across the corridor and stopped before a wooden door. The crucifix attached in the middle was reversed but the Saint Benedict's medal pinned below it was untouched. Francis knocked at the priest's door. "Father, it's me. Open up."

The priest did what he was told. Lukas was surprised of what he saw. He wore the same armor and gear of a 666IB soldier, but his left shoulder displayed the patch of his holy Office. He was armed with an M-16.

"Come in, come in." He said, waving them inside the room.

They entered. The office of the Chaplain looked like a warzone, with the table flipped and numerous holy symbols drawn on the surface of the desk. Salt could be seen around him, as well vials of oils and holy water.

"Salt?" Lukas asked.

"Exorcised salt." The priest replied. "Salt repels evil spirits due to its...anyway you wouldn't understand." The Chaplain paced towards his desk and righted it. "Seems like someone inside this base had summoned these things. There was no way that the monsters or whatever entity there are would be able to locate this outpost."

"It must be the cultist that we dragged in here." Lukas said. "That fucking bastard will pay for what he did."

"Watch the language child." The priest pointed at the huge wooden crucifix on the wall. "You are inside the Chaplain's office." He sat on his chair and faced them. "I am glad that you came here, Lieutenant. Your friends refused to move without knowing about your well being."

"Oh no, that's not true, Father Mike." Francis' cheeks reddened. He glanced at Lukas. "Our good Chaplain was just joking around. It was actually Alice who insisted." The Sergeant blushed even harder.

"What, no!"

"But what happened here?" Lukas ignored their jests. "Looks like a warzone."

"We found him besieged after we scrambled to the armory before the failsafes are triggered." Francis interjected. "I know something was up when the alarms were triggered."

"How come we failed to hear it?"

"The building is aging, Lieutenant." Alice replied. "But I'm glad that you're safe."

"I need you and your friends to gather a few materials for me in the kitchen since I've ran out of salt and oil to be used for exorcism." The priest said. "I used them all up while defending myself from these accursed things."

"Where are you going to perform the exorcism after we gather the stuff that you need?" Lukas asked.

"The Roman Ritual of Exorcism dictated that I do it in the centermost point of a structure so you will accompany and defend me in the main hall. For sure, the Demons would not like it when we work for their banishment."

"Does it kill them?" Nurse Sala inquired all of a sudden. All eyes turned to her, then to the priest, visibly curious about the answer to the same question.

"To be honest, I do not know." The priest replied. "But we will not see them again...at least for a long time."

"That's assuring." Lukas said as he faced the nurse. "Stay here, nurse." He then faced Francis and Alice. "Let's complete his grocery list."

"I call the shots here, buddy." Francis reminded him. "Remember your rank."

Lukas glared at him as the superior officer turned to the three subordinates. "Keep them safe."

"Yes, sir!" They replied in unison as he, Lukas and Alice walked out.

As soon as the door behind them closed, Lukas slapped the back of Francis' head.

"What was that for?!" Francis screamed.

"You really have to say that in front of others?"

"Yeah, it's hilarious!" Francis replied.

Lukas simply shook his head.

They trekked their way back to the armory. Lukas couldn't help but to imagine the child he encountered earlier. The emergency light above does not flicker, but the ruined wall remained. Indeed, the entity was real but the fact that it affected his psyche does not make him feel good at all. If it was capable of altering his perception, the apparition could easily trick him on killing someone friendly. It seemed to him that these entities are becoming stronger and stronger every day.

They walked past the opened armory. Lukas glanced at the corpse of the Demon still slumped on the ground, face-first. They continued few paces further before they arrived at the three-way intersection. They made a turn to the right and advanced.

Beyond, a loud roar could be heard. The trio froze on spot as the footsteps that literally shook the ground beneath intensified. They waited, weapon pointed ahead. It became closer and closer, but the Demon was nowhere to be found.

Lukas felt something staring behind. He turned around to see a pair of red glowing eyes staring at