Suddenly, the silence was pierced by an agonized scream, torn from the captain as if physically pulled from his throat by a ghostly hand.
“Wait!” Captain Carter exclaimed suddenly, lifting a hand toward the creature, which was slowly slipping backward, away from the scene at the center of the cave. “Wait, please!”
Lamont’s gaze followed the captain as he moved from Rosemary’s side to place a hand on the still chest of Rex, the slain pilot. “Francis!” The newspaperman whispered intently, “No!”
The captain ignored him. “He’s here because of me,” He explained to the unreadable complexity of the alien creature. “This is my fault. Can it be corrected?”
The creature stopped, its long, articulated limbs quivering. There was no way to determine the meaning of its—her—silence.
“Please,” Carter whispered, his eyes glittering. “Do this, and we’ll go. We’ll never come back here.”
“A-A-LL GO-O-O” Repeated the creature tonelessly.
“Yes, yes,” The captain nodded.
Lamont felt something akin to shame. He wanted desperately to think that the same power that resurrected the native could reverse the untimely death of the young, bright-eyed pilot. And yet to see the reserved dignity of Francis Carter lowered this way felt embarrassing to him. He wanted to hide, to get away, but he was riveted by the drama of the scene.
Rosemary, meanwhile, was lifting herself unsteadily to her feet, her hand reaching for the arm that had moments ago been supporting her. “Sir, you don’t know what you’re saying. We can’t—”
“That’s enough, Miss Wells,” Francis said thinly.
Rosemary shrunk back as if stung by a physical blow.
The captain’s eyes flickered downward, followed by those of Lamont and Rosemary. The pale tendrils had once again emerged from the body of the alien creature, and were snaking around Carter’s long right leg. Their counterparts were slowly making their way across Rex’s body, over the tear in his shirt that exposed the ugly purple wound in his chest.
This time, there was no chanting from the natives. With wide eyes, they receded as a group, deeper into the shadows at the edges of the cavern, until Lamont could no longer be certain whether they were in the cave at all. A heavy silence fell over them as the tendrils that joined Francis, Rex and the creature began to glow pink, and then a deep and sullen red. And then, suddenly, the silence was pierced by an agonized scream, torn from the captain as if physically pulled from his throat by a ghostly hand. It was joined by the panicked cry of Rosemary, who rushed to Carter’s side as the captain fell to his knees.
Next: The Horror From Outside
Ooooh. So we're still going to finish with Captain Carter having a damaged leg, eh? But under VERY different circumstances. Wild!