Rust and Salt

Rain battered the steel grated floor. Elias gripped the heavy wrench. The rusted bolts on the primary pressure valve refused to budge even a fraction of an inch. He wiped a mixture of sweat and grease from his forehead using the back of his sodden glove. The storm had intensified over the past hour. Swells slammed into the concrete pillars of the rig with enough force to vibrate up through the deck into the soles of his boots. He threw his entire body weight against the wrench. The bolt finally gave way with a loud metallic screech.

Miller yelled over the roaring wind. She was pointing toward the eastern platform edge.

The emergency evacuation pod bay.

Elias let go of the wrench and jogged over the slippery grating. He did not need to ask what was wrong. The winch cable lay spooled out on the deck in a chaotic tangle of thick wire. The primary locking mechanism had been bashed into jagged fragments. A heavy steel pipe lay abandoned next to the shattered control panel. Someone had intentionally crushed the release pins. The pod was permanently fused to its dock.

"Where is Cole?" Elias shouted.

Miller looked around the empty upper deck. The yellow floodlights flickered wildly in the gale. Then the perimeter lights on the lower deck simply shut off. An entire section of the rig plunged into total darkness.

It was not a power surge. The backup generators should have kicked in instantly to replace the primary feed. Someone was manipulating the grid.

"He went down to the engine room twenty minutes ago," Miller said. Her voice trembled.

Elias grabbed a heavy heavy flashlight from the emergency locker mounted on the wall. They descended the grated spiral stairs. The wind howled through the exposed iron struts. It masked their footsteps completely. As they reached the lower level the smell of salt and rain vanished. It was replaced by the suffocating stench of crude oil and copper.

Elias aimed his beam down the narrow maintenance corridor.

The metal walls were slick with condensation and grime. At the far end near the main engine room doorway the light caught a dark puddle reflecting the beam. It was thick and viscous. Elias stepped closer. He knelt on the grated floor and angled the light downward.

The black oil was swirled with bright crimson.

Fresh blood.

Miller put a hand over her mouth. She backed away toward the stairs.

A harsh screeching sound echoed from the bowels of the engine room. It was the sound of heavy iron dragging across solid steel plates.

Elias stood up. He pointed the light into the open doorway. The beam pierced the gloom of the massive industrial chamber. It illuminated a maze of thick pipes and towering pressure tanks.

The screeching stopped.

"Cole?" Elias called out. His voice barely carried over the ambient hum of the remaining machinery.

Something shifted behind the main turbine.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. It was massive. The man wore a heavy welder mask coated in black grime. His thick clothing was stained dark with oil. In his right hand he dragged a weapon fashioned from a thick drive shaft. Jagged shards of diamond plating had been crudely welded to the heavy end to form a brutal club.

The stowaway did not speak. He just stared at them through the dark narrow slit of the mask.

Elias shoved Miller toward the stairs.

The man lunged.

He swung the massive club. It smashed into a pressure valve near Elias. A geyser of scalding steam erupted into the corridor. Elias threw himself backward. The steam filled the narrow hallway instantly. It blinded them. Elias scrambled to his feet and ran. The heavy footsteps of the killer echoed right behind him. The boots hit the steel grates with slow deliberate purpose.

Miller was already halfway up the stairs. Elias followed her. He slipped on a patch of oil. His knee slammed into the jagged metal edge of a step. Pain flared up his leg but he forced himself to keep moving. He pulled himself up by the railing.

They burst onto the main deck. The storm was raging harder now. Rain whipped across their faces in violent sheets.

"The radio room," Miller screamed over the wind.

They ran toward the central command module. The steel door was incredibly heavy but Elias managed to yank it open. They piled inside and slammed it shut. He threw the deadbolt. The room was dark. The power had been cut here too. Miller grabbed the emergency radio handset from the console.

Dead air.

The communication lines had been physically severed from the outside.

A heavy thud shook the steel door.

They froze.

Another thud. The metal bowed slightly inward under the immense force of the blow.

Elias looked around the cramped room. There was no other exit. The windows were thick reinforced glass. He picked up a heavy fire extinguisher from the wall bracket. He gripped the metal cylinder tightly.

The pounding on the door stopped.

Silence stretched on. Only the muffled sound of the storm outside could be heard through the thick walls.

Then a loud shattering crash came from the ceiling.

The skylight caved in. Shards of thick glass rained down onto the central console. The heavy iron club swung down through the opening. It smashed the radio equipment into sparks and twisted plastic. The killer dropped heavily into the room.

Elias swung the fire extinguisher. He aimed for the head. The man raised his thick arm. The extinguisher deflected off his insulated jacket. The killer grabbed the red cylinder. He ripped it from Elias and tossed it aside like it weighed nothing.

Miller screamed and threw a chair. The killer swatted it away with the shaft of his weapon. He stepped toward her.

Elias tackled the man around the waist.

They crashed into the control panels. The sheer weight of the attacker crushed Elias against the steel edge of a desk. Breath left his lungs in a violent rush. The killer grabbed Elias by the throat and lifted him off the floor. The grip was like an industrial vice. Elias kicked wildly. His boots found no purchase on the slick floor. His vision began to narrow.

Miller frantically searched the emergency drawer. Her fingers closed around a plastic flare gun. She aimed it directly at the killer.

She pulled the trigger.

The bright red flare shot across the small room. It struck the killer square in the chest. The intense heat immediately ignited the thick oil soaked into his jacket. Flames engulfed his torso in a fraction of a second. The man dropped Elias. He thrashed blindly. The fire illuminated the small room in violent shifting shadows. The killer swung his weapon wildly in the confined space. The club smashed against the walls and shattered the remaining glass panels.

Elias gasped for air on the floor. He grabbed Miller by the arm. They crawled toward the door while the killer burned. Elias reached up and unlocked the deadbolt. They tumbled out into the raging storm.

The cold rain washed over them. They did not stop running until they reached the far edge of the platform. They huddled behind a massive crane housing. The wind howled around them.

They looked back toward the command module. Thick black smoke poured from the shattered windows. The flames danced wildly in the darkness illuminating the rain.

They waited.

The rig groaned under the relentless assault of the ocean swells. No other sound came from the command module. The fire seemed to consume everything inside. The stench of burning flesh mixed with the salty air.

Miller slumped against the cold steel of the crane base. She was shivering uncontrollably.

Elias kept his eyes fixed on the burning room. He knew the structural integrity of the rig was failing. The sabotaged evacuation pod meant they were completely trapped. Rescue was days away and they had no way to call for help.

Then the lower deck lights flickered back on.

Elias frowned. The power had been cut at the main breaker. Someone had to manually throw the heavy physical switch to restore it.

A silhouette moved across the lower catwalk.

It was not the man they had set on fire. This figure was much smaller and thinner but carried a long hooked pole used for retrieving heavy drill pipes. The person dragged the sharp steel hook along the metal railing. It created a rhythmic scraping noise that echoed up through the hollow platform.

The realization hit Elias with cold absolute certainty.

There was more than one stowaway.

The scraping sound grew louder. It was moving toward the main stairwell. The hunt had not ended. It had just begun again.

Elias looked at Miller. He grabbed a heavy wrench discarded near the crane base. There was nowhere left to run. The ocean churned violently below them waiting to swallow them whole. The rig was a maze of rust and shadows. They would have to fight for every single inch of steel.

The scraping stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Heavy boots began to climb.

Elias tightened his grip on the wrench. He stepped out from the cover of the crane. The rain stung his eyes. He waited at the top of the stairwell.

A head crowned the top step.

Elias swung the wrench with all his remaining strength.

The impact reverberated painfully up his arm.

The figure tumbled backward down the metal stairs and crashed into the darkness below. Elias stood over the edge. He breathed heavily. He could not see the bottom landing through the dense rain and deep shadows.

A low chuckle echoed from the dark.

Another scraping sound started on a different catwalk.

Then another on the far side of the deck.

They were completely surrounded.

Elias backed away from the stairwell. His lungs burned with every heavy breath. Three distinct scraping sounds echoed over the howling wind. They were coming from the east and the west walkways. The stowaways were coordinating their movements to trap them near the crane housing.

Miller tugged his wet sleeve. She pointed up toward the drilling derrick.

The massive steel tower loomed above them into the black sky. A narrow maintenance ladder led up to the top rig floor. It was a dead end but it offered a narrow chokepoint.

They sprinted across the slippery metal grating.

A figure emerged from behind the mud pump generators. This one was entirely bald. His face was covered in crude grease paint. He swung a heavy length of rusted chain. The metal links whipped through the rain and struck Miller in the shoulder. She screamed and stumbled forward into a deep puddle of oil.

Elias did not stop to think. He threw the heavy wrench directly at the bald man.

The heavy iron tool slammed into the attacker right below the jaw. The man collapsed instantly against the metal guardrail. His body went completely limp. The violent storm pushed his unconscious form over the edge. He vanished into the dark churning ocean below.

Elias grabbed Miller by her good arm and hauled her up the metal ladder.

The climb was excruciating. The wind tried to peel them off the wet iron rungs. Miller cried out with every upward pull. Her shoulder was visibly swelling. Elias climbed right beneath her to catch her if she slipped. He looked down and saw two dark figures gathered at the base of the derrick. They were beginning to climb.

They reached the top platform. It was a tiny square space holding the main rotary table.

There was nowhere else to climb. The storm battered them mercilessly. Elias looked around the cramped platform for anything they could use. The primary drill brake lever sat nearby. It controlled the massive iron block suspended directly over the ladder opening.

The first attacker reached the top rungs. The sharp steel hook reached up and slammed onto the platform edge. A face smeared with soot and fresh blood pulled itself into the dim light.

Elias kicked the metal hook away.

The attacker grabbed his boot. Thick fingers dug into his ankle. Elias lost his balance and fell hard onto his back. The man pulled himself up completely. He raised a jagged steel pipe over his head.

Miller threw her entire weight against the heavy drill brake lever.

The mechanical lock disengaged with a deafening crack.

Thousands of pounds of cast iron plummeted from the top of the derrick. The massive block smashed down directly onto the attacker. The entire tower shook violently from the extreme impact. The man was crushed instantly into the metal floor.

The cable snapped from the sudden release of tension. The heavy block crashed through the grated floor and fell down the center of the derrick taking a large section of the ladder with it.

A horrible scream echoed from below as the falling debris struck the second climber. Then there was only the sound of the raging storm.

Elias lay on his back in the freezing rain. Miller sat slumped against the rotary table clutching her bruised shoulder.

They looked over the broken edge. The ladder was completely gone. The main deck below was engulfed in wild flames from the command module fire. The structural steel supports were groaning under the immense heat and the pounding ocean swells.

They had killed the hunters.

Now they were trapped at the highest point of a burning oil rig with no communication and a storm tearing the world apart. Elias closed his eyes and listened to the metal screech as the platform slowly began to tilt toward the black water.