1 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:06,559 Speaker 1: Whoever had carved the door relished in the Anatomy of Suffering. 2 00:00:07,799 --> 00:00:10,599 It was a two story tall slab of copper set 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,480 directly next to a cavern wall. Its surface carved with 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,920 a vast and complex bas relief that worried the eye. 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,920 A cloying, confusing mix of human bodies sprawling upwards in 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,719 a mound of flesh, many glancing horrified over their shoulders 7 00:00:28,039 --> 00:00:30,920 or fleeing something out of frame and out of sight. 8 00:00:33,439 --> 00:00:37,640 Thousands of them, starved and wretched, with gaunt faces and 9 00:00:37,719 --> 00:00:45,240 sunken eyes, jutting ribs and distended bellies. There were rumors 10 00:00:45,439 --> 00:00:50,920 that they moved, but only when you weren't looking. Less 11 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,039 than a week after its discovery, they brought it down 12 00:00:54,039 --> 00:00:58,240 with explosives. We didn't really know what we'd found at 13 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,200 that point, although I'm sure a few of us, particularly 14 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:09,439 the religious, their suspicions the door was wrong, all wrong. 15 00:01:10,599 --> 00:01:14,439 It just shouldn't have been there. Natural caverns don't go 16 00:01:14,519 --> 00:01:19,239 that deep in Britain, not a thousand meters. As scientists, 17 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,959 we should have been excited, but we all agreed the 18 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,519 door was repulsive. Staring at it too long induced a 19 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:33,200 powerful urge to flee. An ancestral memory, maybe the same 20 00:01:33,239 --> 00:01:36,480 way our bodies know to avoid things that crawl and slither, 21 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:43,439 things that rot and buzz and stink of death and decay. 22 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,920 They never told us how or why they found it, 23 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,439 nor why the project was classified, only that we had 24 00:01:51,439 --> 00:01:55,599 to figure out what was on the other side. When 25 00:01:55,640 --> 00:02:00,239 the charges finally blew, they went off like giant firecrackers, 26 00:02:00,799 --> 00:02:04,560 a string of them that ran down the gateway one 27 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:10,360 by one, deafening booms that shock the entire cavern. I 28 00:02:10,439 --> 00:02:13,439 was left blinking dust out of my eyes as great 29 00:02:13,479 --> 00:02:17,159 machines lowered the door, now free of its couplings, to 30 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:23,520 the ground. Looking back, some details come easier than others. 31 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,800 The air that wafted out was hot and dry, and 32 00:02:27,879 --> 00:02:34,120 I was not surprised. That seemed intuitively correct, whether I'd 33 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,840 admitted to myself or not. The fact was, I'd been 34 00:02:37,879 --> 00:02:40,719 thinking of the door as a gateway to Hell pretty 35 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,840 much since I'd first laid eyes on it, and my 36 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:49,800 mental image of hell was oddly medieval. I expected some great, 37 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:55,039 big stones, something reminiscent of an ancient castle, rattling chains, 38 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,560 the wailing of the damned, the stench of sulfur god, 39 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:05,360 even little red devils with horns and pointy tails. But 40 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:12,719 I hadn't expected shelves and books. That was the first 41 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:17,639 real thing we saw. Shelves lining the walls that had 42 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,759 been dug directly into the same rock as the cavern, 43 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,319 Shelves that rose far above our lights, so that when 44 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,280 we looked up there was only darkness and dust, but 45 00:03:29,479 --> 00:03:32,680 no limits to the endless row and row of shelving, 46 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,879 every last inch covered in books. There were no gaps, 47 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:45,560 just dust and tattered spines of random sizes, leather fabric, paperback, 48 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,479 faded pastels, and gold leaf letters in alphabets both familiar 49 00:03:50,599 --> 00:03:56,000 and strange. And it wasn't just the walls. The floor 50 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,639 was littered with random, head high piles of books, all 51 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,960 stacked like some tired librarian had gotten fed up of 52 00:04:03,039 --> 00:04:06,639 finding room for them. They made a labyrinth of the place, 53 00:04:07,159 --> 00:04:12,000 obscuring corners and doors, and the forward team, myself included, 54 00:04:12,439 --> 00:04:17,439 progressed carefully among the stone passageway, listening and looking carefully 55 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,079 for some signs that would make sense of the place. 56 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:24,240 There must have been thousands of books, and that was 57 00:04:24,519 --> 00:04:29,079 just in the first hallway we explored. Whenever we took 58 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:33,480 one out, we found paper so thin it was nearly translucent, 59 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,759 and often inked with strange shapes and letters I couldn't 60 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:45,360 recognize otherwise it was gibberish. Not that we studied them 61 00:04:45,399 --> 00:04:49,360 too longer that first day. Whenever I took one, I 62 00:04:49,439 --> 00:04:54,199 returned it quickly, lifting them up. I always had the 63 00:04:54,319 --> 00:04:59,480 strangest sensation that I was doing something wrong, something inappropriate. 64 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,079 And I didn't like the space they left behind on 65 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:08,160 the shelves, a gap like a missing tooth, the darkness 66 00:05:08,199 --> 00:05:13,800 within swirling like deep waters. Safety in that place felt 67 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:17,040 like an illusion, and touching the books was at risk 68 00:05:17,079 --> 00:05:20,480 of shattering it. I don't know how else to put it, 69 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,360 except I didn't want to do anything that might draw 70 00:05:23,399 --> 00:05:28,399 attention to me. It was as if we were extremely conspicuous. 71 00:05:29,519 --> 00:05:33,360 There were no sounds but those we made, our own breath, 72 00:05:33,759 --> 00:05:37,959 our own footfalls, the shuffle and scuffle of out every movement. 73 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,600 We could even hear each other's heart beats, the discordant 74 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,439 but bump of several people's chests being beaten like a 75 00:05:46,439 --> 00:05:53,000 broken drum set, and every now and again a racing, 76 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,639 a steady increase in the beat's cadence as we turned 77 00:05:57,639 --> 00:06:01,040 a blind corner or lifted a book just to see 78 00:06:01,079 --> 00:06:04,639 what it contained, or looked up at the shadows above us. 79 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,360 Each of us kept having false starts, because there was 80 00:06:09,439 --> 00:06:13,040 always this expectation that you were going to see something 81 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:20,800 soon any second. Now. Squeezed between two books or dangling overhead. 82 00:06:24,079 --> 00:06:27,160 It took more than six hours before that corridor opened up, 83 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:33,279 and when it did, we were dumbfounded. We emerged into 84 00:06:33,319 --> 00:06:38,199 a vast and terrifying mezzanine made of ancient rock, overlooking 85 00:06:38,199 --> 00:06:42,680 a chasm with no visible bottom, just floor after floor 86 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:49,680 filled with shelves filled with books, millions billions, and all 87 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:54,319 along those distant walls and stories were little openings that 88 00:06:54,399 --> 00:06:57,639 led to more corridors like the one we'd just emerged from, 89 00:06:58,759 --> 00:07:01,759 so many that it was staring at a rough shod beehive. 90 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,439 To look up, or down or anywhere was to be 91 00:07:06,519 --> 00:07:09,560 faced with more books than anyone could read in their 92 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:15,759 entire lifetime. We took our first break on that mezzanine. 93 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,319 While radios didn't go very far in that place, we'd 94 00:07:19,319 --> 00:07:21,879 had the sense to carry enough wire to allow for 95 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,920 a hard connection, and while using that we contacted the 96 00:07:25,959 --> 00:07:30,879 main research site and updated them on the situation we 97 00:07:30,879 --> 00:07:33,959 were to keep going for another six hours and turn 98 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,720 around a day. No more was the plan. Even that 99 00:07:39,839 --> 00:07:44,079 felt like too long. I wanted to leave. I wanted 100 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,279 to confirm that somewhere was a doorway that would lead 101 00:07:47,319 --> 00:07:51,360 back to reality, because ever since I'd entered that place 102 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,519 it felt like I'd entered a nightmare, a place where 103 00:07:55,560 --> 00:08:00,240 reality was plastic. I told myself it was simply the 104 00:08:00,279 --> 00:08:05,720 scale of it, all the weirdness, But it was more 105 00:08:05,759 --> 00:08:13,439 than that. The very air down there felt thin. There 106 00:08:13,439 --> 00:08:18,399 were six of us, three scientists and three soldiers. The 107 00:08:18,439 --> 00:08:22,879 soldiers responded to the situation with silence and an alertness 108 00:08:23,079 --> 00:08:26,959 that bordered on paranoia, constantly scanning the dark with their 109 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,560 rifle mounted lights, flicking the beam from one high up 110 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:37,840 shelf to another, fidgeting, exchanging dark looks. In a way, 111 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,639 I was thankful, but it put me on edge two 112 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:44,679 and I couldn't relax at all for the first half 113 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:48,159 of our little break. I guess it was natural that 114 00:08:48,279 --> 00:08:53,159 the scientists got talking. This was partly to fill the quiet, 115 00:08:53,799 --> 00:08:57,320 but also partly to try and convince ourselves. We were 116 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,720 excited about the implications of this fine and whatever those 117 00:09:01,799 --> 00:09:08,039 may be. Rewriting history archaeology on a new level, that 118 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:12,120 kind of thing. It didn't take long before we convinced 119 00:09:12,159 --> 00:09:16,559 ourselves to take a closer look at those books. I'll 120 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,480 admit it didn't come easy, but we did a pretty 121 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,840 good job of convincing ourselves that we weren't really afraid. 122 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,600 We started slowly taking one book down, opening and then 123 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:35,799 quickly replacing it, but then with false bravery, we took 124 00:09:35,919 --> 00:09:39,200 more and more came down, until each of us were 125 00:09:39,279 --> 00:09:42,919 sat cross legged with several books stacked up on either side, 126 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:47,919 waiting to be read. I remember at some point I 127 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,799 must have grown tired and looked up from my own pile, 128 00:09:51,879 --> 00:09:56,120 because I noticed Doctor Ashley muttering quietly as she traced 129 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:01,519 some words with her fingers. What if you found it's 130 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,559 Latin alphabet, she said, first one, I actually recognized the 131 00:10:06,639 --> 00:10:13,440 letters for German. Maybe none of us were linguists, so 132 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,919 we were simply doing our best. But upon hearing Bay 133 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,799 mentioned German, one of the soldiers came over and looked 134 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:26,639 at the open page. Germanic but not German. He said, 135 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:32,159 you speak it? He nodded. My father is German, and 136 00:10:32,279 --> 00:10:35,159 I don't know what that is, but it isn't German. 137 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:40,120 Is any of it familiar, Beer asked, while handing the 138 00:10:40,159 --> 00:10:43,879 book to him. After a brief nod from his CEO, 139 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:48,399 Lieutenant Michael, he took it and began flicking through the pages. 140 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,480 I think this is the word for death, a sort 141 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:58,440 of rough misspelling. Maybe this one is. I guess it's 142 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:04,039 a bit like wanting desire. I don't know. Not all 143 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,200 the words seem like they're in the right context either. 144 00:11:07,799 --> 00:11:11,279 So there are a variety of languages in alphabets, but 145 00:11:11,759 --> 00:11:14,960 as of yet, nothing we can make sense of. What 146 00:11:15,039 --> 00:11:19,600 about you any luck? Beyer asked me, and I looked 147 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,279 down at the book currently open in my hands. Some 148 00:11:23,399 --> 00:11:28,080 kind of sybelic maybe, I shrugged. I'm no linguist. We 149 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,080 definitely need doctor Sellers on the next expedition. I'm sure 150 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:36,240 he could offers some insight. What about you, doctor Rosenstein? 151 00:11:38,279 --> 00:11:41,039 The third doctor and our group, A little bald man 152 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:47,519 had been sitting quietly the entire time we spoke. The 153 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,000 third scientist in our group, A little bald man had 154 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,120 been sitting quietly the entire time we spoke, frowning and 155 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:59,200 one of several books that lay open before him. I 156 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:04,200 assume he was just curious, like bear and I Grant, 157 00:12:04,879 --> 00:12:08,720 I said, trying to get his attention. Hey, Grant, have 158 00:12:08,799 --> 00:12:16,519 you found anything? His silence unnerved me. He wasn't just captivated. 159 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,519 Sweat was prickling his forehead, and veins bulged the longest temple. 160 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,279 He had gone pale, and his eyes were wide, and 161 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,600 his lips cracked and dry. The soldiers picking up on 162 00:12:29,639 --> 00:12:33,240 the same strange signals I had stood a little more upright, 163 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:40,759 Dr Rosenstein, one of them asked, nervously, doctor, can you 164 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:45,960 hear us? The nearest soldier reached out and placed a 165 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,120 hand on Grant's shoulder, and the little man looked up 166 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,480 at us like he hadn't even realized we existed until 167 00:12:52,519 --> 00:12:56,960 that moment. At first I thought he was relieved, the 168 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,039 way he was staring at each of us with a 169 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:03,799 dumb grin on his f but I soon realized something 170 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:08,879 wasn't quite right. Oh, he said, with an anxious laugh. 171 00:13:09,639 --> 00:13:15,279 Oh right, of course, his eyes darted between us. Of course, Sorry, 172 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:21,240 I didn't mean to alarm you, right, I said, Well, 173 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,720 we were just talking about the books Bathing's hers might 174 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,840 be in a kind of German or Germanic language. He 175 00:13:28,919 --> 00:13:33,200 nodded like this made perfect sense. Yes, you imagine, so, 176 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,320 he replied, while looking around the shelves that towered over us. 177 00:13:38,039 --> 00:13:42,679 Lots of languages, I'd say, And then, without really missing 178 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:49,879 a beat, he added, they are sins. The group fell 179 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,120 into silence as each of us tried to make sense 180 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:57,440 of what he just said. In the meantime, he stood 181 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,440 up and stretched like it was the most natural thing 182 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:04,879 in the world. What are you on about, I said, 183 00:14:05,039 --> 00:14:08,840 once it became clear he wasn't going to elaborate. It's 184 00:14:09,039 --> 00:14:13,240 fairly obvious where we are, he said, while leaning forward 185 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,360 and eyeing us darkly. And these books are a list 186 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,120 of all our sins, one for each of us. So 187 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,360 there will be books in German, both contemporary and historic German, 188 00:14:26,039 --> 00:14:29,279 like the one you found, doctor Ashling. But there will 189 00:14:29,279 --> 00:14:32,759 also be books in Russian and French, and Arabic and Chinese, 190 00:14:33,399 --> 00:14:40,559 not just contemporary tongues, either ancient Egyptian, Venician, Babylonian, Aramaic, Latin, 191 00:14:41,519 --> 00:14:45,559 and of course lost languages, ones that we never found 192 00:14:45,679 --> 00:14:50,679 but existed anyway, All of them, all the transgressions of 193 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:57,759 the world, are right here, recorded in the sinner's original tongue. 194 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,600 By now, the soldiers had stepped a little closer, and 195 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:06,080 Bierre and I were sharing deeply worried looks. Grant seemed 196 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,360 to be in the middle of breaking down, speaking frantically 197 00:15:09,519 --> 00:15:13,519 and anxiously, convinced of his own meaning. We're not really 198 00:15:13,559 --> 00:15:18,679 saying anything of sense. Grant, I think we need to 199 00:15:18,679 --> 00:15:22,200 go back. The real fun thing is that I think 200 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,440 you'll find books in languages that don't exist yet, he blurted. 201 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,399 This isn't just a record of sins in the past, 202 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,559 but all of them, every last one, even the ones 203 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,720 we haven't committed yet. Grant, I'm going to have one 204 00:15:38,759 --> 00:15:41,440 of the men go back with you. If that's okay, 205 00:15:42,399 --> 00:15:46,279 I think you might not. These are mine, he said, 206 00:15:46,519 --> 00:15:49,679 or gesturing to a book in his hand, All of them, 207 00:15:50,559 --> 00:15:54,960 he laughed. Not just the things I did petty transgressions 208 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:59,399 or recorded with names and places and even little diagrams. 209 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,559 But there are even sins I only ever thought, things 210 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:09,600 I wanted to do, and he added, while giggling hysterically, 211 00:16:10,679 --> 00:16:15,519 sins I've yet to commit. He flicked through the pages 212 00:16:15,519 --> 00:16:19,440 at random and giggled moniacally at something only he could see, 213 00:16:20,679 --> 00:16:24,120 Although there aren't many, he cackled as he turned to 214 00:16:24,159 --> 00:16:29,000 the final page, Tears welling in his eyes. Just one, actually, 215 00:16:29,759 --> 00:16:34,639 the last one, the last sin I'll ever commit, Grant, 216 00:16:35,159 --> 00:16:39,799 I said, I think you. Before any of us could react, 217 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,000 he dropped the book and took a running leap over 218 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,960 the nearest edge. This is the way we came, right, 219 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,399 Beer stood at the threshold of a corridor, a light 220 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,759 tracking wire that snaked into the darkness. That's the cable 221 00:16:56,759 --> 00:16:59,519 we carried in here with us, one of the soldiers said. 222 00:17:00,399 --> 00:17:04,599 But the young man looked over to his CEO, Lieutenant Michael, 223 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,279 who had a compass in hand and didn't look happy. 224 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,680 It's not the direction we came, the older man said. 225 00:17:13,559 --> 00:17:16,880 We came south, so we need to head north. That 226 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,039 would be this doorway. He nodded at a second corridor 227 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,599 embedded in the rock wall. This has to be the way, 228 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,720 Bier said. I trust this cable a hell of a 229 00:17:28,759 --> 00:17:31,359 lot more than I do a compass. Anything could be 230 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:35,799 interfering with that thing. Besides, we know the cable leads 231 00:17:35,839 --> 00:17:38,960 the HQ because it's working. We spoke to them only 232 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,920 a few minutes ago. By this wire, it has to 233 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,119 lead out of here, and that makes sense, I added, 234 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:48,559 But I marked the way we left with a piece 235 00:17:48,599 --> 00:17:53,920 of chalk, and that mark is over here. I pointed 236 00:17:53,960 --> 00:18:00,839 to a third doorway. Damn, Michael muttered, regardless, I vote wire, 237 00:18:01,559 --> 00:18:05,720 Bear said, I trust it the most. It's a physical connection. 238 00:18:07,079 --> 00:18:11,400 I guess I vote wire too. Mike glided me too. 239 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,279 But what do we do if we're wrong? I asked? 240 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:18,559 What does that even mean? Did something move the wire 241 00:18:18,839 --> 00:18:22,559 or the door? We all went silent for a few 242 00:18:22,559 --> 00:18:27,359 moments as we contemplated this. When nobody offered up an answer, 243 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,920 I eventually grabbed my backpack and hauled it up. I 244 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,440 guess we don't have much of a choice either way, 245 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:38,839 I said, Do you really think there's a book in 246 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,680 here for everyone? He asked, and it was the first 247 00:18:42,839 --> 00:18:46,920 any of us had spoken in a few hours. So far. 248 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,359 We had all been walking, fixated on the gloom ahead 249 00:18:50,519 --> 00:18:54,519 and behind us, watching carefully for some sign that our 250 00:18:54,519 --> 00:18:59,200 fevered imaginations were right to suspect something lurking in the dark. 251 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,839 Grant seemed to think so, I said, then, what are 252 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,720 the odds he picked out his own book? I mean, 253 00:19:08,079 --> 00:19:11,400 if he's right that there are what a hundred billion 254 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,400 bucks or so more? I replied, if he's right about 255 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:21,119 the library containing future sins as well as past pretty 256 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:26,599 slim ards. Then she added, what are you thinking if 257 00:19:26,599 --> 00:19:29,720 he did find it here? I don't think it was 258 00:19:29,759 --> 00:19:35,839 a coincidence, she said. Up ahead, one of the soldiers 259 00:19:35,839 --> 00:19:39,440 came to a sudden stop, fist raised as he muttered 260 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,680 something to the others, who knelt and lifted their rifles 261 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:48,720 aiming at the dark What is it, I asked, You 262 00:19:48,799 --> 00:19:53,519 don't hear it, Michael called back. All of us stopped 263 00:19:53,599 --> 00:19:57,640 and listened, carefully, straining to pick out some meaningful sound 264 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,759 from the white noise of blood rushing through our ears 265 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:05,920 and the thumping of our own hearts. Sure enough, it 266 00:20:06,039 --> 00:20:12,720 was there, a gentle rustling. Without speaking. All of us 267 00:20:12,799 --> 00:20:16,400 moved as quietly as we could along the corridor until 268 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:21,759 we came to the source of the strange noise. A door, 269 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,759 one that hadn't been there on our way in left 270 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:31,079 ever so slightly, ajar rifle raised, one of the soldiers 271 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,640 used the barrel to nudge it open a little further. 272 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,759 Oh damn, he said, his voice loud enough to send 273 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:42,559 echoes down the hall. The sound came as a shock, 274 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,759 and Michael pulled him back, ready to admonish. When we 275 00:20:46,799 --> 00:20:51,480 all saw what had been waiting on the other side 276 00:20:51,799 --> 00:20:58,400 another corridor, only this one had shelves lined not with bugs, 277 00:20:59,079 --> 00:21:06,000 but severed heads, desiccated, pale and gaunt, row after row, 278 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:11,680 all sitting neatly next to one another, evenly spaced, their 279 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,640 skin paper white in the harsh glare of our lights, 280 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:22,440 and all of them with cloudy eyes. And they were 281 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:29,960 speaking soto voce, little whispers. They muttered in a discord 282 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:34,559 of wet lips, no breath, no lungs, only the action 283 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,519 of robbery jaws to sound out syllables and consonance. They 284 00:21:38,559 --> 00:21:43,160 were lost in the rustling cacophony. The sound was horrific, 285 00:21:44,079 --> 00:21:48,200 wet and dry and deeply unsettling as it worked its 286 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,200 way under my skin until I felt the strangest urge 287 00:21:52,279 --> 00:21:57,200 to lash out at the heads. But curiosity overroded disgust, 288 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,400 and I approached one, wincing briefly when it fixed me 289 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:07,599 with its cloudy eyes, but I didn't stop. I got 290 00:22:07,599 --> 00:22:11,119 close enough to see every detail of its flaking skin, 291 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,519 its roomy eyes, glaring at me with such strange emotion 292 00:22:17,039 --> 00:22:21,000 from my own sanity, I reached out and picked it up, 293 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,880 noting with disgust how the stump of his neck left 294 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,000 mottle brow fluid on the shelf behind. I guess I 295 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,319 just wanted to know if it was fake. But its 296 00:22:32,319 --> 00:22:35,920 skin was cold and its brow furrowed with anger at 297 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,920 my touch, And as soon as it was in the air, 298 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,480 every other head stopped their muttering and fixed me with 299 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,240 such foul expressions. I quickly put it back down again, 300 00:22:48,039 --> 00:22:55,200 relieved when the murmuring resumed. Still, its eyes did not 301 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:01,440 leave me. What the hell? Bee whispered, What is this? 302 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,599 Michael asked, as he scanned the upper shelves with his 303 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:09,240 torch on and on they went as far as we 304 00:23:09,279 --> 00:23:17,000 could see. What the actual hell is this? Slowly, a 305 00:23:17,079 --> 00:23:21,680 strange thought began to form in my head. Blink if 306 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:25,400 you can understand me, I said, were kneeling down to 307 00:23:25,519 --> 00:23:29,119 look at the head I'd picked up. Everyone else in 308 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,839 the group suddenly stopped what they were doing and turned 309 00:23:31,839 --> 00:23:40,240 to see the result of my little experiment. Blink Okay, okay, okay, 310 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,039 I repeated, while trying to calm myself down. Right once 311 00:23:45,079 --> 00:23:51,640 for no, twice for yes, do you understand? Blink? Blink 312 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:58,599 right okay ah. I looked to the others for suggestions. 313 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,119 When Bee piped up in Stea said are these books 314 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:08,599 a list of all our sins? Blink blink, one book 315 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:17,640 for one person? Blink blink. So what are you? She asked, 316 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,119 and this elicited a scathing look from the severed head. 317 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,400 He as or no questions, I told her. One of 318 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,799 the soldiers, the youngest one, the one who helped translate 319 00:24:29,839 --> 00:24:35,200 the German, stepped up and spoke, Is this hell? He asked? 320 00:24:36,559 --> 00:24:45,680 Blink blink? Is this your punishment? He added, blink. If 321 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:52,440 this isn't the punishment, he said, what is? All their 322 00:24:52,519 --> 00:24:56,279 heads stopped them muttering and began to emit the strangest noise, 323 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:01,240 their faces twisting upwards and warping in and grotesque parodies 324 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,319 of joy, while their mouths moved up and down in 325 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,839 a particular sort of rhythm. When I realized what they 326 00:25:07,839 --> 00:25:11,480 were doing, I felt a terrible sensation of cold dread 327 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:17,559 creeping down my entire body. They were laughing at us. 328 00:25:18,279 --> 00:25:21,359 There was no door. The wire slipped through a tiny 329 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,960 hole at the base of a wall that blocked off 330 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,480 the corridor. All of us were stunned into silence for minutes, 331 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,240 until at last Lieutenant Michael shoot himself free from the 332 00:25:33,319 --> 00:25:38,440 shock and issued an order. Davis get HQ on the line. 333 00:25:39,799 --> 00:25:42,480 One of the soldiers knelt down and began to remove 334 00:25:42,519 --> 00:25:46,960 the communication set from his backpack. Within a few seconds, 335 00:25:47,039 --> 00:25:51,640 it was set up and he was speaking into the headset. HQ. 336 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:57,279 Can you read me over? Ah? I can read you well. 337 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:01,039 I guess the wire still leads to HQ, I said. 338 00:26:01,759 --> 00:26:05,160 Try checking the wall for seams. Michael told me see 339 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:10,359 if it moves, hidden hinges us something I don't know. Then, 340 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,519 turning back to the soldier with a headset, tell them 341 00:26:13,559 --> 00:26:16,319 we've encountered an obstacle and we want them to send 342 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,599 another team in to get us. Oh, and tell them 343 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:25,240 to bring explosives if this thing opens, I said, while 344 00:26:25,319 --> 00:26:28,599 running my hand along the edges, I can't see how. 345 00:26:29,279 --> 00:26:34,119 It's pretty solid. Unlike every other wall we'd seen so far, 346 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,599 this one was made of red bricks. But that didn't 347 00:26:38,599 --> 00:26:42,720 mean it was somehow mobile either. It seemed as sturdy 348 00:26:42,799 --> 00:26:46,880 as any brick wall i'd come across. Well, it came 349 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:50,160 from somewhere, B cried, while trying to peer through the 350 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,200 hole the wire disappeared through. Damn it, I can't see 351 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:59,279 anything HQ. The soldier said, we're going to need some assistance. 352 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:07,839 There's an obstacle over, Roger that what's the obstacle? A wall? 353 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,359 He replied, Tell the next team to bring explosives over 354 00:27:13,759 --> 00:27:19,079 a wall. Just send the team asap. The soldier cried, 355 00:27:19,599 --> 00:27:23,559 our way out is blocked over. Well, I can confirm 356 00:27:23,599 --> 00:27:28,440 we are unroute to your position. Just one question, HG replied, 357 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,799 what's that over? The young man replied, why do you 358 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:39,720 keep saying over? Suddenly the voice changed and began to 359 00:27:39,799 --> 00:27:45,160 titter and giggle, at first quietly, then louder and louder, 360 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:49,079 like a mean kid laughing at a prank. The cruelty 361 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,480 and his high pitched voice made my skin crawl, and 362 00:27:52,559 --> 00:27:55,160 I was about to snatch the handset myself and begin 363 00:27:55,240 --> 00:28:01,160 demanding answers when there was a stranger sound, heavy grinding, 364 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,920 like stone turning against stone. Before I could even ask 365 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,319 what it was, Bee fell backwards from where she crouched 366 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,759 and quickly leaped up into a standing position and ran 367 00:28:13,839 --> 00:28:17,839 off into the dark like a maniac. The effect on 368 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,759 the group was chilling, and I stared back at the wall, 369 00:28:22,279 --> 00:28:27,880 desperately trying to understand what I'd seen. Williams go get her, 370 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:30,880 he barked at one of the soldiers before turning at 371 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:35,119 me and crying, what the hell is her problem? I A, 372 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:41,680 I don't know, I stammered. Christ Michael hissed, before snatching 373 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:46,480 the handset of the confused young soldier. Listen, he crowled 374 00:28:46,519 --> 00:28:49,319 into it. I don't know who you really are, but 375 00:28:49,359 --> 00:28:53,400 you need to get someone in charge. Right and sound again, 376 00:28:54,359 --> 00:28:58,839 loud and heavy, the grinding of heavy rocks being moved, 377 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,480 and tiny stones came raining down in a cloud of dust. 378 00:29:04,039 --> 00:29:08,880 Something up there had disturbed them, and we all stood 379 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:13,640 in silence as they plinked off our helmets. Is it 380 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:18,839 just me, Michael said, while looking towards the wall, or 381 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:26,079 is it somehow closer? Hard to say, I replied, I don't. 382 00:29:26,119 --> 00:29:31,240 The wall moved a sudden and terrifying lurch forwards, one 383 00:29:31,279 --> 00:29:33,880 that startled us all and made me trip over my 384 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:38,720 own feet. Terrified, I scrambled backwards from it as fast 385 00:29:38,799 --> 00:29:41,799 as I could, while the handset continued to radiate that 386 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:46,559 malicious laughter. I think we need to go, I said, 387 00:29:46,799 --> 00:29:51,359 in as calm a voice as I could manage. The 388 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:57,359 wall moved again, and this time it did not stop. 389 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,160 The young soldier with a hand set did not react 390 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:05,240 fast enough. It came forward so quickly that it had 391 00:30:05,319 --> 00:30:07,720 him within seconds and knocked him to the floor with 392 00:30:07,759 --> 00:30:11,240 a heavy thumb, and then it rolled over him as 393 00:30:11,279 --> 00:30:15,759 it was Well, if you're anything like me as a child, 394 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,440 you might have wondered what happened to someone who got 395 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:23,039 caught in an escalator at the very top. I'm sure 396 00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:27,119 you know what I mean. Light was so poor, so 397 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,279 I still don't really understand what happened, only that there 398 00:30:31,359 --> 00:30:34,920 was a lot of blood, and while it was quick, 399 00:30:35,759 --> 00:30:38,920 it was not quick enough, because when the wall was 400 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,279 about half way up his spine, I could still see 401 00:30:42,279 --> 00:30:46,240 the pain registering in his eyes. And that was the 402 00:30:46,319 --> 00:30:49,279 last impression I had before Michael grabbed me by the 403 00:30:49,359 --> 00:30:52,279 collar and practically threw me back the way we came, 404 00:30:54,400 --> 00:31:09,640 and we ran running, plodding, one foot after another. I 405 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,200 don't know how long it went on for, but it 406 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:14,640 was as if time seemed to stretch on in the 407 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:19,160 way that only pain and tedium could induce. There were 408 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,440 moments where as I struggled to force one foot in 409 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,559 front of the other, I wondered if I'd actually been 410 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,559 running for days, not hours. There was no real way 411 00:31:29,599 --> 00:31:34,599 to mark the passage of time. Only monotony. Books went 412 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,359 by in a blur. The floor was featureless stone, The 413 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,440 rhythmic sound of my feet lost all meaning, and behind 414 00:31:42,519 --> 00:31:47,519 me the wall ever advancing with a horrible sound of 415 00:31:47,559 --> 00:31:53,319 grinding rocks, promising pain and nothing else. The only thing 416 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,160 I could actually focus on was the exhaustion, and that 417 00:31:57,319 --> 00:32:01,640 was self defeating. More than a few times I wondered 418 00:32:01,799 --> 00:32:05,000 if I should just give up, and to this day 419 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,160 I still have nightmares where I am being chased down 420 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:12,599 that corridor. It wasn't a quick pace, but he was 421 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,920 quick enough, and there were no other roots except forward, 422 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,480 and therein lay the torture of it. Behind me was 423 00:32:20,599 --> 00:32:25,000 death moving at a brisk job, and ahead of me 424 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,960 was nothing, just darkness broken by erratic motion of a torch. 425 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,480 And the entire time, which I would later realize was 426 00:32:35,519 --> 00:32:38,480 a good two hours, the only thing I could think 427 00:32:39,079 --> 00:32:41,680 was when am I going to lose this fight? When 428 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:47,519 am I going to collapse or give up? Imagine my 429 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:52,440 relief when up ahead I heard a familiar voice cry out, 430 00:32:53,519 --> 00:32:57,039 what is your problem? Lady? And when I saw them, 431 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,319 the young man held Bee by a shoulders while she 432 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,599 tried to drag him through an open door. That was 433 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,559 when I remembered the little corridor with the severed heads. 434 00:33:07,559 --> 00:33:10,119 Not exactly the kind of salvation I was hoping for, 435 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:15,319 but it'd have to do together. Michael and I grabbed 436 00:33:15,319 --> 00:33:17,720 both of them and threw us all through the opening. 437 00:33:19,319 --> 00:33:23,599 Seconds later, far too close for comfort, the entire corridor 438 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:27,759 we'd been running through went pitch black. The wall overtook 439 00:33:27,759 --> 00:33:31,440 our positions, and we were left panting and exhausted on 440 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,799 the floor, where thousands of severed heads looked at us 441 00:33:34,839 --> 00:33:39,200 in annoyance. When we looked back the way we came, 442 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:45,079 we saw that nothing but pulsating flesh, a wall of it, 443 00:33:45,359 --> 00:33:51,200 hot and sticky and threaded with sickly blue veins. I 444 00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:54,400 don't know what the wall was, but something about the 445 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:58,039 meat behind the stone made me think of hungry coral. 446 00:33:59,519 --> 00:34:03,480 It was, Michael hissed as he inspected the horrible mass. 447 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,240 I don't know how, but we were led down the 448 00:34:06,279 --> 00:34:10,679 wrong path. It's what the cables or something, I don't know, 449 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:15,360 but we were lowered down there like rats. Where's Davis, 450 00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:24,360 the other soldier asked, he's gone? Michael said what. The 451 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:26,960 older man gestured to the wall of meat behind us. 452 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:31,480 Whatever the hell that thing is it got him. It 453 00:34:31,599 --> 00:34:34,800 looked like a wall, but it could move, and it 454 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:37,800 just steamrolled him. Thanks for the warning, by the way. 455 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:41,400 He growled at Bee, but she showed no sign of 456 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:46,519 understanding him. Instead, she was sat on the floor and shaking, 457 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:51,920 clearly in a state of shock. Where now, sir, The 458 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:56,760 remaining soldier asked, and Michael grimaced. Where do you think 459 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,000 he spat? Before gesturing at the root Forward, the only 460 00:35:01,039 --> 00:35:07,000 direction that's available. The heads made for strange companions. They 461 00:35:07,119 --> 00:35:10,400 followed us with their eyes but did not stop them muttering. 462 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,840 It was grating to say the least, a noise you 463 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:18,320 could ignore for maybe an hour or so. Were pretty 464 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,719 soon the papery rustle of their ancient lips was the 465 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,559 only thing you could focus on, no matter how hard 466 00:35:24,559 --> 00:35:28,079 you tried to push it out of your head. At least, 467 00:35:28,159 --> 00:35:34,880 navigation was simple. Forward, the only way to go. We 468 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,960 walked for about six hours before we took our first break. 469 00:35:39,039 --> 00:35:41,800 The corridor was wide, but we stayed away from their 470 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:45,199 heads and slept in a row head to feet While 471 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:50,480 two of us stayed on watch six hours each. I 472 00:35:50,559 --> 00:35:53,599 decided to stay up along with Michael and B and 473 00:35:53,679 --> 00:35:57,719 the other soldier tried to rest. B had barely come 474 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:01,280 out of shock during the journey. Speaking a little towards 475 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:05,079 the very end, she told us in a broken way 476 00:36:05,599 --> 00:36:11,280 what she'd seen while kneeling by the wall. Teeth she said, 477 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:18,599 and a face. Although she wouldn't or couldn't elaborate on 478 00:36:18,639 --> 00:36:22,960 those two statements, I was left with the sense that 479 00:36:23,039 --> 00:36:25,559 she had seen something that had come down close to 480 00:36:25,679 --> 00:36:30,880 leaving her completely insane. Even as it was, I doubted 481 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,159 she had a full recovery in her. She almost looked 482 00:36:34,159 --> 00:36:39,320 like a different woman, baggy eyed, thinning hair. Or maybe 483 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:43,199 he was just the conditions down here. Michael didn't look 484 00:36:43,199 --> 00:36:47,280 too great either. I had to assume I looked pretty 485 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:54,320 rough too, especially after that run. It had exhausted me, 486 00:36:55,159 --> 00:36:59,639 broken me, not just the physical exertion, but the nightmare 487 00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:03,039 of it. The reason I'd elected to stay and watch 488 00:37:03,079 --> 00:37:07,079 first was because I didn't want to sleep. A part 489 00:37:07,079 --> 00:37:09,519 of me was worried. I just dream about being back 490 00:37:09,519 --> 00:37:13,440 in that hallway, running from the moving wall, and I 491 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:17,639 didn't want to revisit that place ever again, not even 492 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:21,800 as a dream. There were moments where I came so 493 00:37:22,039 --> 00:37:25,960 close to just giving up. I don't think i'd ever 494 00:37:26,039 --> 00:37:29,960 really experienced despair like that before, not the kind where 495 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,719 you feel your knees buckling and your neck turned a 496 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,760 rubber as your head bows. It must be what people 497 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:39,880 stranded at Seafiel when they lose their strength to keep 498 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:45,039 treading water. So instead I stayed up and tried to 499 00:37:45,079 --> 00:37:49,159 ignore the muttering of their heads, even tried talking to Michael, 500 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,280 but he didn't have much to say. I could tell 501 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:57,079 losing Davis back in the corridor had bothered him. Hell, 502 00:37:57,400 --> 00:37:59,960 it bothered me, and I hadn't even known the guy. 503 00:38:01,159 --> 00:38:04,599 But I swear to this day I can still see 504 00:38:04,599 --> 00:38:07,840 the look on his face as rock met flesh and 505 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:15,320 his legs and hips just disappeared. In the end, I 506 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:20,360 had only these kinds of thoughts for company, and lots 507 00:38:21,079 --> 00:38:26,639 and lots of time, so it probably shouldn't come as 508 00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:30,119 too much of a surprise that I eventually fell asleep. 509 00:38:31,679 --> 00:38:35,599 It wasn't for long, ten minutes at most, but it 510 00:38:35,639 --> 00:38:38,679 was enough time for me to wake up and see 511 00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:42,280 something dragged the sleeping soldier's body into the darkness of 512 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:46,719 the nearby shelf, his head lolling unnaturally to one side. 513 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:54,639 The movement was gentle, quiet, but clumsy too, like a 514 00:38:54,719 --> 00:38:57,760 child pulling a rag doll stealthily out of a box. 515 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,400 I looked over to Michael and saw he'd fallen asleep 516 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,599 as well, so I nudged him with my foot and 517 00:39:05,639 --> 00:39:09,480 he woke up with a sort of lazy start. Only 518 00:39:09,519 --> 00:39:12,079 when he looked at me, confused for a few short 519 00:39:12,119 --> 00:39:15,880 seconds before slowly registering the look of terror on my face, 520 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:20,280 that he seemed to realize what was happening. I'm not 521 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:23,239 sure what I expected him to do, really, but he 522 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,800 was the leader and well armed, and I didn't want 523 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:28,679 to be the one who had to figure out what 524 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,280 to do next, possibly because there was a part of 525 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:36,360 me tempted to just sneak off, to leave the young 526 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:40,320 man to his fate, maybe even be if it just 527 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:46,159 meant I could survive a little bit longer. In truth, 528 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:50,719 I was relieved when Michael leaped into action immediately. I 529 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,519 didn't want to be a coward. He jumped up and 530 00:39:53,559 --> 00:39:55,920 grabbed the young man's foot, and I ran over and 531 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:58,639 grabbed the other leg, and together we tried to pull 532 00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:03,559 him back. I didn't mention it to Michael, but the 533 00:40:03,599 --> 00:40:06,800 way the soldier's body felt when I grabbed it, the 534 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:13,280 muscles were too relaxed, too heavy. I don't know how 535 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,239 to explain it, but if he ever end up in 536 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:20,360 the unfortunate situation of moving a corpse, you might know 537 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:25,840 what I mean. A living body supports itself a dead one. 538 00:40:27,119 --> 00:40:30,679 It's just meat and water, and somehow feels so much 539 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:37,519 heavier for it. He was dead, still we fought on. 540 00:40:39,119 --> 00:40:42,039 At some point Bee must have woken up, realizing what 541 00:40:42,159 --> 00:40:46,199 was happening, and joined in. I remember her trying to 542 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,519 reach into the shelf to grab hold of the dead 543 00:40:48,519 --> 00:40:52,199 man's arm, when she suddenly flew backwards, landing with a 544 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:55,559 hefty thud against the shelf behind her and knocking a 545 00:40:55,599 --> 00:41:00,760 few of the severed heads on their little stumps. Whatever 546 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:05,639 was in the dark was clearly frustrated. It wanted its 547 00:41:05,679 --> 00:41:10,440 next meal, and it wasn't going to let us stop it. Slowly, 548 00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:14,760 a long inhuman arm reached out and took a hold 549 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:18,559 of the body's groin. Its strange hand had fingers that 550 00:41:18,679 --> 00:41:24,840 split at the knuckle, one, two, three times, a terrifying effect, 551 00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:28,239 especially given how much each one moved on its own. 552 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:31,960 A dinner, plaint monster of a hand attached to a 553 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:36,760 lithe and muscular forearm, devoid of hair. The second I 554 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:39,519 saw it, reach out in my general direction. I let 555 00:41:39,599 --> 00:41:43,760 go of the leg and fell backwards. Michael continued struggling 556 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,880 for a while, even taking out his pistol and firing 557 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,000 a few shots into the dark, but in doing so 558 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,000 he left only a hand to cling onto his comrade's 559 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:57,840 corpse and lost his grip with almost no effort. The 560 00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:02,519 body disappeared into the shadow, and we were suddenly down 561 00:42:02,559 --> 00:42:06,679 to three. What the hell, What the hell? What the hell? 562 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:12,239 He screamed. I wanted to say something, maybe even something 563 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:15,519 to comfort him, or maybe an apology for falling asleep, 564 00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:20,360 but then again, he'd fallen asleep too. I didn't know 565 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:23,119 what I was meant to do. I was in shock, 566 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:27,360 and it was settling deep into me when p said 567 00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:30,840 something from where she remained on the floor, her voice 568 00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:40,360 quiet but oddly insistent. It isn't over. That hand re 569 00:42:40,480 --> 00:42:47,719 emerged carefully, deliberately. It placed itself on the floor, revealing 570 00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:50,800 more of the pale flesh that powered it. And then 571 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:57,000 came another, and another, and then its head emerged slowly 572 00:42:57,039 --> 00:43:01,400 from the dark and fixed me with eyes both black, bulbous, 573 00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:04,840 and far too numerous for anything that can be called human, 574 00:43:06,199 --> 00:43:10,679 and its mouth a beard made of dirty fingers, gray 575 00:43:10,679 --> 00:43:15,360 and bluish, long, rantid nails, hundreds of them, squirming like 576 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:21,159 mandibles of a hungry spider. Michael open fire, but he 577 00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:23,239 might as well have been shooting hay for all the 578 00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:26,440 effect it had. The bullet struck of a wet wap, 579 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:31,320 but no actual damage. The creature knocked him aside with 580 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,599 pure contempt and pulled the rest of itself out into 581 00:43:34,599 --> 00:43:37,840 the corridor, where he saw it had no legs, but 582 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,880 instead relied on several long arms that suspend itself between 583 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:44,679 the walls of the corridor, like a kind of spider. 584 00:43:46,159 --> 00:43:48,360 One of these arms reached out and grabbed a bee, 585 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,239 and by the time she started screaming, it was already 586 00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:56,679 too late. Blood trickled from her ears, and there was 587 00:43:56,719 --> 00:44:00,480 a sound like a branch snapping her entire. Her body 588 00:44:00,519 --> 00:44:03,400 went limp, and the monster dropped her where she fell 589 00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:08,320 to the ground, her grotesque, misshapen face glaring at me 590 00:44:08,519 --> 00:44:13,960 with accusatory eyes. The lieutenant screamed as he fired yet again, 591 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,280 but then that thing seized him like it was nothing 592 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:20,800 but a doll and lifted him, squeezing so tightly he 593 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,719 dropped everything he held, his gun and torch, hitting the 594 00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:29,559 ground with a loud rattle. Help me, he screamed, while 595 00:44:29,599 --> 00:44:33,119 reaching out for me to grab him. Jeez, shoot the thing. 596 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:38,079 I ran forward, crouching down in the hope of avoiding 597 00:44:38,079 --> 00:44:42,599 its many arms. Already Michael was being squeezed so tight 598 00:44:42,599 --> 00:44:45,760 that blood splurted from his mouth, and I could tell 599 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:49,679 that the monster was having fun reveling in his torment. 600 00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:53,119 I reached out and picked the gun up from the 601 00:44:53,199 --> 00:44:56,639 floor as Michael let her another desperate, wet cry for help, 602 00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:04,159 but for some reason, my hand stopped mere inches away. 603 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:10,280 I hesitated. Michael's blood was dripping down I could hear 604 00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:14,599 the crunching of his ribs. In my most shameful moment, 605 00:45:15,239 --> 00:45:25,079 I grabbed the torch and ran, and Michael's cries followed me, screaming, screeching, whimpering, 606 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:30,239 sounds of breaking bones and tearing paper, sounds of torture 607 00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:36,920 and torment that somehow seemed to last forever. I emerged 608 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:42,679 from the corridor alone. It took me a few seconds 609 00:45:42,719 --> 00:45:45,679 of stumbling and my failing legs to realize that the 610 00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:49,519 monster had given up in the pursuit, and then a 611 00:45:49,559 --> 00:45:52,920 few seconds more for me to recognize I was back 612 00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:58,920 on the mezzanine, terrified and exhausted and contemplating if it 613 00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,480 was worth trying to esc if he meant having to 614 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:04,960 spend another second alive in that place. I fell to 615 00:46:05,039 --> 00:46:11,559 the floor and began to sob. Maybe I thought it 616 00:46:11,679 --> 00:46:14,159 was time to take a dive off that ledge, just 617 00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:20,920 like Grantad. What on earth are you doing here? I 618 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:23,719 whipped around to see an old man in robes staring 619 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:29,639 at me like an impolite intruder. Without meaning to, I 620 00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:35,239 began to laugh. My sanity, it was fair to say, 621 00:46:35,599 --> 00:46:40,519 was on its final legs. Hmm, he said, while leaning 622 00:46:40,559 --> 00:46:45,000 aside to get a look down the long corridor behind. Now, 623 00:46:45,199 --> 00:46:50,400 why did you go down there? I wanted to answer, 624 00:46:51,119 --> 00:46:54,400 but couldn't quite bring myself to do anything except a 625 00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:58,719 laugh and gasp for air. I think you really ought 626 00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:02,800 to go home, he said, like a teacher admonishing a child. 627 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:07,039 This place is Hell, I cried more, rocking back and 628 00:47:07,119 --> 00:47:12,320 forth my knees. Yes, he nodded, yes, good for you. 629 00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:15,840 This is a small part to Hell, one that has 630 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:19,199 a slight overlap with Earth. If I remember, I'm assuming 631 00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:23,679 that's how you got down here the door. What happens 632 00:47:23,679 --> 00:47:28,360 to your friends? Anyway, he added, I looked back the 633 00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:33,719 way I came and pointed. Oh, he sighed. You know 634 00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:37,000 I left your books out specifically so you'd find them 635 00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:39,880 and figure it out. And I know that bold fellow 636 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:42,960 worked it out. So once you knew this place was hell, 637 00:47:43,559 --> 00:47:49,199 why did you waste another second sticking around? I shrugged. 638 00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:51,719 I'm not quite sure what I was meant to say 639 00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:55,960 to that kind of thing. We got waylaid, I gasped. 640 00:47:56,199 --> 00:48:02,079 Misled fair enough, he replied, probably should have done more 641 00:48:02,119 --> 00:48:05,920 to make sure you got home safely. That's partly my fault, 642 00:48:06,559 --> 00:48:11,320 although I won't apologize. You went to this place, didn't 643 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:14,559 you see the door? What part of that was inviting? 644 00:48:15,079 --> 00:48:19,719 You have to take some of the blame. I wanted 645 00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:23,719 to mount a defense, but I didn't really have one 646 00:48:25,039 --> 00:48:27,119 when it became clear, the only thing I could do 647 00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:30,960 was sob and mutter. The old man's body language softened 648 00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:35,599 and he reached the hand out. Come on, I'll take 649 00:48:35,639 --> 00:48:41,280 you back. What about the demons, I asked. The old 650 00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:47,440 man frowned. Those weren't demons, he snapped. This place is defunct. 651 00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:51,159 Mortal souls are meant to demonstrate repentance by wondering the 652 00:48:51,199 --> 00:48:54,280 near eternal halls in search of their book. Only when 653 00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:55,880 they found it were they were allowed to move on. 654 00:48:56,840 --> 00:49:00,679 The whole thing didn't quite work out. Eighty six squadrillion 655 00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:04,119 books takes a tad too long for the average person 656 00:49:04,159 --> 00:49:08,400 to find theirs. So this entire wing was abandoned, and 657 00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:12,960 now there are only sinners left behind. That thing was 658 00:49:13,039 --> 00:49:16,280 never human, I cried, while pointing at the corridor I'd 659 00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:21,320 emerged from. Nobody's soul looks human, he said, like it 660 00:49:21,360 --> 00:49:24,480 was the most obvious thing in the world, least of 661 00:49:24,519 --> 00:49:26,639 all the sort of person who gets sent to hell. 662 00:49:27,559 --> 00:49:29,519 This isn't the place for people who eat meat on 663 00:49:29,599 --> 00:49:33,360 Friday or cover their neighbour's ox. It's for the cruel 664 00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:37,639 and the malicious, cowards and opportunists. A lot of people 665 00:49:37,639 --> 00:49:39,760 in this place have souls that have more in common 666 00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:43,320 with anglerfish and tracked door spiders than their fellow men. 667 00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:46,880 And it's not a condition that gets better after several 668 00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:53,719 thousand years either. The soul changes twists, and so do 669 00:49:53,800 --> 00:50:00,320 their physical forms. And what about you, I said, as 670 00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:03,079 I reached up and took his hand. Why do you 671 00:50:03,159 --> 00:50:08,000 look so normal? Oh, he said, as he helped me up. 672 00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:14,239 That's because I built this place. And the last thing 673 00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:17,000 I can remember as he gripped me by the shoulder 674 00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:24,599 was the sudden and painful sensation of heat. We woke 675 00:50:24,719 --> 00:50:31,320 up in our respective quarters, we all six of us. 676 00:50:34,639 --> 00:50:38,679 I still don't fully understand the mechanics. I tried asking 677 00:50:38,719 --> 00:50:41,519 the others how they made it back, but they weren't 678 00:50:41,559 --> 00:50:46,880 in a state to answer questions. B was catatonic, screaming 679 00:50:47,039 --> 00:50:50,079 and clutching her head in the hospital like she still 680 00:50:50,119 --> 00:50:53,199 remembered the way that thing crushed a skull like a grapefruit. 681 00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:57,679 The soldier who fell to the wall was left paraplegic, 682 00:50:58,199 --> 00:51:04,039 even though medical tests couldn't identify a single reason why. Psychological, 683 00:51:04,199 --> 00:51:07,719 I said. The other soldier, the one who had been 684 00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:12,159 dragged into the shelves, was comatose. I don't know if 685 00:51:12,159 --> 00:51:16,880 he recovered, but he was alive. And Grant was left 686 00:51:16,880 --> 00:51:20,440 in a permanent psychotic state, compelled to write on any 687 00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:25,840 surface he could, over and over again, sin after sin, 688 00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:30,159 desperately trying to rewrite the very book that had driven 689 00:51:30,239 --> 00:51:35,920 him to madness in the first place. Michael tried very 690 00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:41,559 hard to kill me. He had clear memories of being 691 00:51:41,639 --> 00:51:44,719 left to die in the dark, I'm glad they caught 692 00:51:44,760 --> 00:51:46,519 him before he managed to wring the life out of 693 00:51:46,559 --> 00:51:49,800 me with his bare hands. I never found out what 694 00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:52,320 happened to him after several men managed to pry his 695 00:51:52,320 --> 00:51:57,679 hands from around my throat. Despite everything, I hope he 696 00:51:57,719 --> 00:52:05,880 managed some kind of recovery. The door disappeared, thankfully, with 697 00:52:06,079 --> 00:52:09,480 no one on the other side. I know they were 698 00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:14,079 planning future expeditions. It is for the best that kind 699 00:52:14,119 --> 00:52:18,840 of thing can't happen again. They've no idea what's waiting 700 00:52:18,880 --> 00:52:25,480 for them. In a way I probably could have convinced 701 00:52:25,519 --> 00:52:31,760 myself the expedition never happened. Some days even now, that's 702 00:52:31,800 --> 00:52:36,280 what I sincerely hope can happen. There was no physical 703 00:52:36,280 --> 00:52:42,199 evidence nothing. We appeared in our beds, completely nude, save 704 00:52:42,239 --> 00:52:45,800 for a note stuck to my chest. And it is 705 00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:48,800 this final little touch that stood out to me a 706 00:52:48,920 --> 00:52:57,519 stern confirmation of everything I'd experienced. Returned to Sender six mortals. 707 00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:01,199 Five were damaged in transit. Bodies were repaired to the 708 00:53:01,239 --> 00:53:04,159 best of my ability, but I was never good at 709 00:53:04,159 --> 00:53:09,400 that kind of thing. Minds are another matter. Entirely could 710 00:53:09,480 --> 00:53:12,679 not help myself in one case, left fellow mortal to 711 00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:17,000 die in the dark, didn't seem very sporting. Don't let 712 00:53:17,039 --> 00:53:21,360 anyone say I lack a sense of humor. Otherwise, no harm, 713 00:53:21,559 --> 00:53:30,239 no foul, best wishes me. My heart sank when I 714 00:53:30,280 --> 00:53:34,519 heard them read it to me. It confirmed my deepest worries. 715 00:53:35,719 --> 00:53:38,440 No one had been very honest with me since I'd 716 00:53:38,519 --> 00:53:42,960 arrived at the hospital. They'd kept me bandaged up, so 717 00:53:43,320 --> 00:53:47,920 it wasn't easy to tell. But after I heard that note, 718 00:53:48,079 --> 00:53:51,400 I finally found the courage to reach up and remove 719 00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:58,199 the thick wads of fabric. Then, with shaking fingers, I 720 00:53:58,320 --> 00:54:06,199 finally touched my eyes, or rather the empty sockets where 721 00:54:06,199 --> 00:54:06,880 they used to be.