# ALIEN EXODUS: THE PORTAL WAR
## Chapter 3: The Dark Kitchen
The door opened.
Cold air rushed out of the freezer. It hit Kael's face. It smelled like old meat and ice. But underneath that, there was another smell. Burnt wire. Ozone. Blood.
Kael stepped out first. His boots touched the kitchen floor. It was sticky. He did not look down. He knew what it was. The black blood from the fight.
He held his breath. He listened. The kitchen was silent. The hum of the refrigerator was gone. The stove was cold. The lights were off. The only light came from the street outside. It shines through the window above the sink. It was dim. Orange. Like firelight.
"Come out," Kael whispered.
Mark and Tom stepped out behind him. They stayed close. Mark held the flashlight. But he did not turn it on. Kael had told him no light. Light draws attention.
They stood in the dark. They waited. Kael closed his eyes. He pushed his feeling out. He tried to sense the room. He felt the cold walls. He felt the warm bodies of Mark and Tom. But he did not feel the alien.
"It is gone," Kael said.
"For now," Mark said. His voice was low.
"Move," Kael said. "To the back door. Quietly."
They moved. They walked slowly. Kael watched every step. The floor was covered in broken plates. Glass crunched under their boots. It sounded loud in the silence. Kael winced. He stopped. He waited.
Nothing happened.
"Walk on the mats," Kael said. He pointed to the rubber mats on the floor. They were soft. They did not make noise.
They stepped onto the mats. They walked toward the back door. The door was broken. The metal was bent inward. The lock was smashed. The alien had torn it open.
Kael stopped at the door. He put his hand on the frame. The metal was cold. But it felt strange. It felt like it was vibrating. Very slightly.
"Stay back," Kael said.
He leaned out. He looked into the alley. It was dark. The shadows were long. The trash cans were knocked over. Garbage was everywhere. But he did not see the alien.
He listened. He heard the wind. He heard a distant siren. But he did not hear breathing.
"Clear," Kael said. "Let's go."
They stepped into the alley. The air was different outside. It was warmer. But it smelled worse. Smoke. Burning plastic. Something sweet like rotting fruit.
Kael looked up. The sky was not black. It was purple. A thin layer of clouds glowed with a strange light. It was the same color as the portal on the TV.
"The Gate," Tom whispered. He pointed to the sky. "It is still open."
Kael looked. High above the city, the air shimmered. It looked like heat waves on a road. But it was night. There should be no heat waves.
"It is spreading," Kael said.
"What do we do?" Mark asked. He held the flashlight tight. His knuckles were white.
"We move," Kael said. "We cannot stay here. This place is not safe."
"Where do we go?" Tom asked. "My apartment is nearby. Maybe we can go there."
"No," Kael said. "Apartments are traps. Too many doors. Too many windows. We need open space. Or a strong building."
"Like what?" Mark asked.
"Like a police station," Kael said. "Or a hospital. They have supplies. They have weapons."
"There is a clinic two blocks away," Tom said. "On 5th Street."
Kael thought about it. He sensed the city. It felt wrong. It felt like a web. There were cold spots everywhere. Presences hiding in the dark.
"Two blocks is far," Kael said.
"It is the closest," Tom said. "My brother works there. Maybe he is alive."
Kael looked at Tom. He saw the hope in his eyes. It was dangerous to hope. But hope kept people moving.
"Okay," Kael said. "We go to the clinic. But we stay low. We stay quiet. If I say stop, you freeze."
They nodded.
They walked to the end of the alley. Kael looked at the street. It was empty. Cars were stopped in the middle of the road. Some had crashed into each other. The lights were off. The engines were cold.
People were gone. Or they were hiding.
"Stay in the shadows," Kael said.
They walked along the wall of the building. They stayed out of the street. The street was open. Too open. Anyone could see them there.
Kael kept his hand on his knife. He kept his sense open. He felt the city. It was quiet. Too quiet. Usually, a city at night made noise. Cars. Music. People talking. Now there was only the wind and the sirens.
The sirens were closer now. He could hear them clearly. But they did not sound like they were helping. They sounded like they were running away.
"Kael," Mark said. He stopped. He pointed.
Down the street, something moved. It was far away. Near a parked bus. It was a shadow. It moved like the thing in the kitchen. Smooth. Sliding.
"Down," Kael whispered.
They crouched behind a large dumpster. It smelled like rotten food. Kael did not care. He watched the shadow.
The shadow stopped. It turned. It looked down the street. It did not look at them. It was looking at something else.
Another shadow appeared. Then another. They came from the side street. They met near the bus. They did not speak. They just stood there. Like they were waiting for orders.
"How many?" Tom whispered. His voice shook.
"Three," Kael said. "Maybe more."
"They are hunting," Mark said.
"Yes," Kael said. "But not us. Not yet."
"How do you know?"
"Because they are not looking here," Kael said. "They are looking at the center of the city. Where the smoke is."
Kael focused. He tried to feel what they were feeling. He closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind. It was hard. It felt like trying to hear a whisper in a storm.
But he caught something. A signal. A pull. They were being called. Something was calling them to the center.
"They are gathering," Kael said. "Something is happening downtown."
"The Gate," Tom said. "It must be there."
"Maybe," Kael said. "But we do go there. We go to the clinic. We go the other way."
They waited. The shadows moved away. They slid down the street. They disappeared into the dark.
"Go," Kael said.
They stood up. They moved faster now. They crossed the street. They stayed low. They reached the other side. They walked past a store. The window was broken. Clothes were on the ground. Someone had looted it. Or someone had run out in a hurry.
Kael saw a shoe on the ground. It was small. A child's shoe. He did not look at it. He kept walking. If he looked, he might stop. And if he stopped, he might think. And if he thought, he might feel fear. He could not feel fear. Not yet.
They turned the corner. 5th Street was darker than the main road. The buildings were taller. They blocked the light from the sky.
"Here," Tom said. He pointed to a building. It was brick. There was a sign above the door. It said "City Clinic." The lights were off. But there was a light inside. On the second floor.
"Someone is there," Mark said.
"Maybe," Kael said. "Or maybe it is a trap."
"My brother is there," Tom said. He started to walk toward the door.
"Wait," Kael said. He grabbed Tom's arm.
"What?"
"Let me check," Kael said.
He walked to the door. He did not touch it. He stood back. He closed his eyes. He felt the building. It was warm. There were people inside. He felt heartbeats. Fast. Scared.
But he felt something else. A cold spot. Inside the building. Near the entrance.
"Someone is behind the door," Kael said.
"Is it them?" Mark asked.
"I do not know," Kael said. "It is not human. The feeling is too cold."
"What do we do?" Tom asked. He looked at the light on the second floor. "My brother is up there."
"If we knock, the thing at the door will hear," Kael said. "We need to get in without opening the front door."
"There is a fire escape," Mark said. He pointed to the side of the building. A metal ladder hung down. It was low. They could reach it.
"Good," Kael said. "We climb."
They went to the side of the building. The alley here was narrow. The ladder was rusted. But it looked strong.
"You go first," Kael said to Tom. "You know the building."
Tom nodded. He jumped. He grabbed the bottom rung. He pulled himself up. He climbed fast. Mark went next. He was slower. He was heavier. He breathed hard.
Kael went last. He climbed quietly. He watched the street below. He watched the shadows. He did not feel anything coming. Yet.
They reached the second floor. There was a window. It was open. Tom climbed through. Mark followed. Kael went last.
They stood inside. It was a hallway. It was dark. But there was light coming from a room at the end.
"Hello?" Tom called out. He whispered.
"Quiet," Kael said.
He walked down the hall. He kept his knife ready. He felt the cold spot again. It was closer now. It was in the room with the light.
They reached the door. It was open a crack. Kael pushed it open.
Inside, there were people. Three of them. They sat on beds. They were hurt. One had a bandage on his leg. One held his arm. They looked at Kael. They were scared.
"Who are you?" one of them asked. He was a man. He wore a doctor's coat.
"We are from the restaurant," Tom said. "Down the street. Is my brother here? David?"
The doctor looked at Tom. He did not speak. He looked down.
"Where is he?" Tom asked. His voice was loud.
"Sit down," the doctor said. "Please."
"Where is he?" Tom stepped forward.
Kael put his hand on Tom's shoulder. "Wait."
Kael looked at the doctor. He felt the room. He felt the sick people. They were warm. They were human. But he felt something else. Under the floor.
"There is something down there," Kael said.
The doctor looked at Kael. His eyes were wide. "You feel it too?"
"Yes," Kael said. "What is it?"
"We do not know," the doctor said. "It came an hour ago. Through the basement. It took David. It took the nurse."
Tom fell to his knees. "No."
Kael looked at the floor. The cold feeling was strong. It was pulsing. Like a heartbeat. But it was not a human heartbeat. It was slow. Heavy.
"It is still there," Kael said.
"Yes," the doctor said. "We locked the door. But it is scratching. It wants to come out."
Kael walked to the corner of the room. There was a door. It was made of heavy wood. It was locked. But the wood was scratched. Deep marks. Black fluid was on the handle.
Kael touched the handle. It was cold. He pulled his hand back.
"We cannot stay here," Kael said.
"We have nowhere to go," the doctor said. "The streets are dead. The phones do not work. We are trapped."
Kael looked at the people. They were hurt. They could not run. They could not fight.
"We need to move," Kael said. "Before it breaks out."
"It will break out soon," the doctor said. "The wood is weak."
Kael looked around the room. There were windows. They looked out over the street. There was a fire escape outside.
"We can go up," Kael said. "To the roof."
"The roof?" Mark asked. "Why?"
"Because it is open," Kael said. "We can see everything. And if it comes, we can fight. Or we can jump to the next building."
"It is high," the doctor said. "Some of us cannot climb."
"We will help them," Kael said. "We do not stay here."
He looked at the door. The scratching stopped. For a second. Then it started again. Harder. The wood cracked.
"It is coming," Kael said. "Now."