Necropolis Read Online Free PDF Page A

her.
    The next shed held an unpleasant surprise. Greg decided maybe he should go first this time. As soon as he hit the access button, the reek of death and blood hit him. Something came stumbling toward him through flickering yellow lights. He raised his piece.
    “ Wait!”
    Greg hesitated, took a step back as the thing continued to lurch toward him, reaching blindly, fingers curling. Black blood oozed from where its jagged fingernails had cut into the palm. It let loose with a low groan.
    “What?” Greg took another step back.
    Kyra moved to the side of the door, her pistol raised, and squeezed the trigger as soon as the zombie stepped out. Obsidian blood, like oil, and brain matter came out in a thick spray.
    “We don't know what's in there and I didn't want you accidentally shooting anything important or volatile.” She kicked the body out of the way and stepped in.
    Greg considered this, then shrugged, and followed her. The interior was a disgusting, bloody mess, but didn't hold much more than more spare parts for the power plant and some for the infirmary. The final shed was that much more disappointing, a random collection of parts they couldn't just scan over. Greg and Kyra wasted fifteen minutes hunting through the crates, seeing if any one of them were for communications, and eventually came up empty.
    “Now what?” Greg asked once they were back out in the rain.
    Kyra seemed to consider the situation. She stared at the comms building, particularly the antenna on top. She started walking toward it.
    “I saw an elevator in there. Chances are it goes down as well as up. Up for the tower, down for more storage and equipment for the radio maybe.”
    They went back into the comms building and approached the elevator. Greg stared at it as he came to stand in front of it. The sliding doors were dented and bloodied. He reached out to hit the call button, but then hesitated, his finger hovering over the button.
    “What's the hold up?”
    “ I'm not sure. Just...a bad feeling, I guess.”
    Greg continued to hesitate, until Kyra sighed and stepped forward. She went to hit the button herself, but also hesitated. She glanced over, caught Greg's eyes and a shared sense of horror transmitted between them. She looked back at the elevator and muttered, “This is stupid.”
    She pushed the button. There was a soft hum. The lift was coming from above. Both raised their pistols, taking a step back. Time passed, laden with tense dread. The elevator settled into place and the doors opened.
    The interior was bloody, but empty. Greg let his breath out slowly and followed Kyra in.
    “Oh.” She studied the control panel.
    Greg began to ask what, and then saw what was troubling her. Someone had painted a skull and crossbones in blood, with an arrow pointing to the down button. Greg opened his mouth again, and closed it once more as a sound came to him.
    It was soft at first, so quiet that he wasn't sure if he had really heard it or not. After a few seconds of straining his ears against the silence, he picked it up again. It remained consistent enough that he grew more certain about its existence.
    “ Do you hear that?”
    Kyra turned to face him. “What?”
    Greg raised his hand and then continued to listen.
    After a few seconds, Kyra nodded. “What is that?”
    A soft, pounding sound carried up to them. Greg was positive that it came from below. He made the connection between the noise and the bloody skull and crossbones. Something dark unfolded in his mind.
    “ Something's down there,” he murmured. Horror chilled the blood in his veins. “Something...big.” He swallowed hard.
    They continued to listen. The heavy, plodding sound filled the dark void of silence. The lift doors began trying to close and Greg shoved his arm through them, forcing them back open. The two of them stepped back out of the elevator.
    “So...now what?” Greg finally took the breath he hadn’t realized he held.
    “ Well, the other outposts might