Syberian Sunrise by S. A. Lusher Read Free Book Online

Staring within, he studied the damage.
    Luckily, power relays were things he understood. And the damage to this one was obvious: a stray gunshot had punched right into it. Enzo frowned, taking it all into account. All he had to do was reconnect some wiring, replace a few spare parts...shouldn't be too difficult to get the thing running at least up to minimum capacity. The second one was also fairly simple, he discovered upon examination. One of the large wires that actually connected it to the power equipment had been severed by what might have been a Mutant claw.
    He just needed to reconnect it.
    Enzo grinned. This part would be easy, at least. And not too stressful. Now all he had to do was find the local maintenance bay. He stepped back out into the main room, looking around. After a moment he realized that the doors were actually labeled. He began making a slow circuit of the room, checking each door. Most of them were relay centers or other miscellaneous equipment that helped run a massive generator. For a moment, he wondered about why the area was so empty. There was something almost suspicious about it.
    He nearly passed that thought out of mind, but...one of them had opened that door. How smart were these things? The ones he'd encountered on Level Nine were slow-moving stupid things, easy to kill, for the most part.
    Was he walking into some kind of trap?
    Enzo finally located the maintenance bay that would have the supplies, tools and spare parts he'd need to make the appropriate repairs. He opened the door, stepped in...and stopped. The room was a long, low rectangle, the walls adorned with shelves and crates. The first thing that his eyes fell on was a dark mass that hung from the ceiling in the far right corner of the room. He had just enough time to process how downright creepy this was when suddenly there was a blur of motion and something slammed into him.
    Grunting, he flew back out of the room into the main reactor bay, the breath knocked from his lungs. Enzo cried out as he landed on his back and slid a few feet. Dizzy and in pain, trying to get his breath back, he propped himself up on his elbows and looked at the door he'd just been thrown through. A Mutant stood in it, a big one, as its bulk filled the frame of the doorway, blocking sight of the room behind it.
    Only...no, this wasn't just a big Mutant, it was different. As he it let out a low warning growl, like a dog letting you know it was very close to biting the shit out of you, Enzo studied its features. It was large, though it arms and legs seemed to be a little on the skinny side. Its torso, however, was the opposite, bulky and powerful. Its head was a lump and there seemed to be no neck. The beast let out a deep roar and came for him.
    Enzo knew he had to act fast. His pistol, it was still in the holster. Good thing, or might have been thrown free of his grasp. He gripped it with both hands, aiming down the length of his body directly for the broad chest of the thing, and opened fire. The beast kept running for him, roaring, geysers of blood bursting from his ashen flesh. Enzo kept firing, kept squeezing the trigger over and over again until finally the thing collapsed.
    It rolled a few times, landing at his feet.
    He let out a deep breath he'd been holding and stood up. Checking the pistol, he confirmed his suspicions: he'd depleted his minimal reserve of bullets.
    Enzo kicked the body, rolling it onto its back. This thing was definitely a different breed. Something else. Something new. But what? He remembered seeing that dark mass in the room and an idea began to form. Enzo moved past the body and stepped back into the maintenance bay. Cautiously, he approached the mass. As he drew closer, the stench of the Slugs hit him and he twisted up his nose. The mass appeared to be made out of flesh and muscle and meat. A dark, twisted confusion of cartilage and skin.
    It made him sick.
    He continued staring at it in fascinated revulsion, trying to