[El_Roy_1999]

And female bodybuilders.

Manchmal…

[El_Roy_1999]

Frying pan

Thinking quickly and surprisingly acting in unison, they ran into the darkness between the chemical tanks. Occasionally, dried-up trickles of acid substances seemed to have worn off the tanks covering, and large puddles of greyish liquid had formed. The fugitives jumped across, behind them, muffled screams approached. They cut left, right, crossed a short ramp, their assailants steps always close behind them. At last, they reached a large bulkhead. They ran under it, grabbed the gate’s handle and slammed it shut.
Outside, they heard heavy, irregular breathing, as if several foes were trying to catch their breath. After a while, a scratching sound could be heard from the other side. The pursuers apparently tried to force the door without much success. Calming down, Michelle checked the room with her flashlight. The room had been some kind of animal “storage”. It reminded her of a report on animal testing she once did. However, the cages looked rather big and spacious, even for monkeys.
Most of the cages had been opened, some of them forced, others had apparently been unlocked. Out of the few locked cages, only one contained remains of a living creature. Only the skeleton was left. It was more broken than whole. Some enormous force had been applied to it.
“What is this place?” She tried to calm down.
“Seems to be the room where they kept their test subjects.” Calvin seemed to be taken aback by the sheer awfulness of the place. Besides, the whittling sound outside started to get on their nerves. Holding up his file, he added:
“Let’s go on. The actual testing laboratories have to be somewhere around here.” He started to walk towards a large door at the far end of the room.
“Honestly now, Calvin, what are you up to? This whole situation is so fucked up that I’d really like to know what’s going on. You’ve got to admit that none of this is even remotely normal.”
He turned around, his expression calm but somehow unsettling.
“Everything is perfect, don’t you see? At last, I have found it. Every second I’m here, more proof appears. They did it! Haven’t you seen the woman? The Russians actually built the super-soldier. They created a superhero.” He mumbled something, then said: “No, no, they almost created him. What they did was to develop a method to make one. To make me into one!”
Michelle shut her eyes, put her hand on her face and sighed. There she was, stuck in the middle of nowhere, some strange, probably mutated Czernobyl-monsters behind her, her ex compensating for his poor self-respect in front of her and no way to escape. The scratching behind her had been scaring her, now it was putting her on edge. She desperately wanted to slap this idiot on the back of his head. Besides, deep down, a strange feeling of hysteria was floating up.
“Calvin, please, this is stupid. We should get out of here now. Whatever it is that you’re looking for isn’t here. The only thing that can happen is that some monstrous wild animal will try to eat us. Please, let’s just leave. This place is awful, and it scares the hell out of me. We should figure out a way to go home and just forget about this.”
Meanwhile, her partner had walked over to the other side. He opened the door, and stepped through. She followed him.
“Stop, please. This is just some horrible nightmare. I’m pretty sure this is some “Dr. Death” human experiment thing. There’ll be no results whatsoever, just some mangled corpses. We don’t even have a camera around. Please, let’s get back.”
Unwittingly, she had followed him in the next room. It turned out to be a large hall, devoid of windows. Complex apparatus had been installed, cables and pipes covered the walls, broken-down electric lamps were attached to the roof. Several large vats had been built, filtering machines and pumps were everywhere. Also, several cages and restraining devices were littered about. Calvin was ecstatic. He ran around like crazy, examining the machines before finally climbing one of the ladders on a vat. Michelle followed him, grabbed his leg and shouted:
“I have to get out of here! Come back down! Stop!” She pulled at him, he tried to maintain his grip, did so, then the ladder broke. Actually, the ladder remained attached, but the concrete wall to which it had been bolted, tore. Clearly, the concrete had turned brittle over time, and a large chunk fell out. Calvin fell down and was hit on the head by the ladder, knocking him out.
The piece of concrete missed Michelle by mere inches. Various debris landed on her leg as she fell down, pinning her to the ground.
Behind them, the door started to give way. Finally, to add insult to injury, a large blob of greyish jelly poured out of the vat and swamped her. She screamed.

[El_Roy_1999]

Darkness

Michelle’s eyes needed a few seconds to become accustomed to the darkness. She could make out strange shapes, probably scientific apparatus from the 60s, littered about the room. She walked around, bumping against various crates. At last, she perceived a faint glow. Approaching, she found it to be an emergency case, painted in phosphorescent paint. She opened it and found a first aid kit (which smelled awful) and an electric torch. Wondering whether it still worked, she tried to switch it on. Nothing. She checked for batteries, but found that the thing had none. Examining the handle, she found that it had a kind of pump-grip. She started pressing it repeatedly, occasionally stopping to complain about her aching fingers, then switched it on.
Yellowish electric light from ages past illuminated the devastated workshop. She looked around, thought about shouting for Calvin, but decided not to. She checked the path to the next room, Calvin’s footsteps being clearly visible on the ground, and switched the light back off. She crouched low to prevent her pursuers from detecting her and followed her friend’s trail. As soon as Michelle was inside, she closed the door behind her, turned the light back on, and was surprised.
The room was full of file cabinets. Some of them were made of wood and had collapsed long ago, others, made of steel, still stood. Several of the cabinets had been opened, files opened, than thrown on the floor. Clearly, Calvin had found what he looked for. She glanced out of the room into a dark corridor, eager to find a sign of life.
Suddenly, there was a loud howl, followed by scream. Calvin! He was in trouble! She rushed out, looking for her friend. As she entered the lab area, she heard another desperate cry for help. She was on some kind of catwalk, high above a dark hall. On the far side, she barely perceived a rusty ladder, half broken and very unstable.
“I’m coming, Calvin! Stay calm!”
“I can’t! It’s over there!” His shout was interrupted by another monstrous howl. Michelle held her flashlight over the railing, illuminating the area below. Calvin was down there, between several large green containers, probably containing remains of chemical agents. Something in the darkness was approaching, but Michelle could not make out it’s shape.
She looked around, searching for a weapon of some sort. Grabbing a small metal crate, she pulled it on the railing, aimed vaguely at her friend’s assailant, struggled to hold it, then dropped it. The box fell down, hit the strange creature on it’s shoulder. It gave off a strange, almost human scream and scuttled off into the darkness. After a few seconds, she had recovered from the strain. The projectile had dented one of the chemical containers in the process, it must have weighed eighty pounds.
Downstairs, Calvin walked to the ladder quickly. Michelle followed his example:
“Get up here, let’s leave! Ekaterina and her husband are coming, we’ve got to get away!”
“No. You must come down, I have to show you something. Besides, thanks a lot. I have no idea what this might have been, but you’ve scared it off.”
He pointed his flashlight up, he apparently had brought one in his luggage. After a few moments of hesitation, Michelle climbed down the creaking ladder. When she arrived, she instinctively hugged her partner.
“Why did you run away? It it’s so important to you, we could have sneaked away later on. We would have been together in the first place!“
“Sorry. I just wanted to get here quickly. Look at this.” He showed her some files he had taken upstairs. “This is what we came for, this is pure gold!”
She looked at the diagrams. She only had a vague grasp of biology, and was unable to make heads or tails of it. Frantically, Calvin pointed at several formulae and insisted on her looking at strange and confusing tables. He uttered endless scientific or pseudo-scientific gobbledegook. Michelle waited until he was finished. At last, he said:
“It’s the super-soldier formula. It’s here! We’ve found it!”
Just as Michelle reached the conclusion that Calvin would not want to publish it, the horrifying scream was heard again. Behind them, the rusty ladder collapsed into a heap of debris.

[El_Roy_1999]

Thank you! It's fast approaching.

Side-interest

“You are, of course, right.” The old man switched the light back on. “The powers that were worked on a super-soldier programme. It was, of course, unsuccessful. The “Bogatyr” project was an earlier attempt to engineer super-warriors for the defence of the Motherland. The “Stachanov” project was a spin-off. We were hired to turn the rather absurd findings of the first attempt into something useful. With the notable exception of Ekaterina, there were no results. You can return to sleep now.”
Calvin stood up, stepped over to the old man’s chair, and grabbed him.
“Tell me everything! Do it, or I’ll…”
Michelle tried to stop him, but Ekaterina threw her cover down, jumped out of her bed and wrestled him to the ground within seconds. The American screamed, apparently in pain. The muscular woman held him down, twisting his arm. She snarled:
“We offer our hospitality. It is good for you not to abuse it.”
“Okay, okay! I give up!” He screamed again as she twisted his arm further along. “I apologise. Stop it! Let me go!” She gave him an icy glare, loosened her grip and said very calmly:
“You can go back to sleep. Tomorrow, you will leave this area. Is this clear?”
He nodded apprehensively. Getting up, she gave him a last spiteful look, then climbed back into her bed.

Michelle was horrified. Calvin was still whimpering in the darkness, apparently his arm was bruised and hurting. She barely dared take a breath. The hulking woman soon started breathing regularly, apparently fast asleep. The sudden display of strength and brutality had astonished her. She had lost control of the whole situation and mostly wanted to be home now. Even when their convoy had been attacked by rebels during a reportage in Chad, she had barely lost her cool. This was different. The hostile environment, their broken car and the monstrous woman gave her a deep feeling of imprisonment.
After a while, she managed to calm down, deciding that she’d try to bargain with the strange couple to call for help. They had mentioned a radio station after all.

The next morning, Michelle got up, awaking from a strange dream. She had imagined being in a dark and rather damp corridor, strange sounds emanating from the ground below. It had been rather creepy, but not an actual nightmare. Ekaterina was busy preparing breakfast with Anatolij. When they were done, they called their guests. Michelle went over to the table and sat down. Calvin was nowhere to be seen.
“Have you seen Calvin?” She quickly scanned the room and realised that her partner’s clothes had vanished. Her hosts searched the room, noticed the missing boots and quickly got dressed to catch up with Michelle, who had already put on her winter gear and run out. The coldness outside hit her like a wall. The young woman immediately spotted the footsteps in the freshly fallen snow and followed them as fast as she could. Soon, she was running through the forest, occasionally stopping to catch her breath and shout Calvin’s name. Still, only the emptiness answered. He had apparently followed the fence for a while, then climbed over it. She did the same, dropping gently on the soft snow.
Looking around, she realised that the closer area was flat and after a couple of yards, mostly devoid of trees. She stepped out into the open, still following his track. In the chilly distance, dark shapes of concrete buildings loomed. She advanced cautiously, preparing to duck should need arise. At last, she reached the site itself. A fallen statue marked the entryway in a depressing way, the rest of the complex as desolate as it’s figurehead.
She wandered under the arches of Soviet architecture in its purest form, until she finally found a small, half-opened door. She pushed against it and disappeared into the darkness.

[El_Roy_1999]

Thanks a lot everybody.

[El_Roy_1999]

I used Photoshop and traced it by hand. The original had a rather crappy resolution, so this was the easy way out.

[El_Roy_1999]

The question could be: Can he lift her?
About the Frank Miller bit, that's the sharp contrasts, I think.
Thank you!

[El_Roy_1999]

I'm glad you like it. The Growth is approaching. IT'S COMING!

Confessions

The old man stared at him for a second, then smiled.
“Well, no. But you are well informed. What you see here is the product of the Stachanov project. You see, after the Great Patriotic War, that’s World War II for Americans, several researchers and scientists were given the order to create a kind of super-worker training programme to provide the Soviet Union with a manpower advantage. I guess the idea came from comic books, since this was what we were given as inspiration. We were even allowed to learn English to read them.” The woman snickered. “Work progressed very slowly. I was a junior researcher at the beginning and spent most of my active life around here. Anyway, for reasons best left unknown, the facility was named after Georgy Zhukov. When Brezhnev came to power, we had a bit of a struggle. One of those personal things which people from the West cannot understand. Still, we were shut down to reduce the amount of things named for Zhukov.” He coughed. “Which was tragic, since we were about to achieve success. When the area was evicted, we hadn’t managed to make any human testing. We only contributed to the “modification” of local wildlife. Hence the bear.” He took a sip from his cup. The woman continued:
“I was a lab assistant at the time, and we had plans to flee the Union together, so we wanted to take some of the research with us. Out of desperation, we finally did some human testing.” She casually flexed her arm, causing the seams of her shirt to creak. “In the end, I was way too noticeable to leave the country. We settled down around here, keeping to ourselves.”
Calvin had been listening attentively all the time. Michelle asked:
“That’s all very nice. But surely, the beasts you tested your procedure on must have died long ago. So, where did the monster-bear come from?”
“The method must have changed the recipients DNA: I mean, have you noticed how some Russian heavy athletes have, well, begun to look more human recently? You know, less hormonally imbalanced?” Michelle nodded. “I’m proud of my kids.”
Calvin looked rather distraught for a moment. After a second, he asked:
“Do you have any remaining information on the procedure? Do you remember how you did it?”
The old man laughed. He shook his head:
“I’m sorry. All this happened decades ago, and trust me, all the relevant information has disappeared years ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if some American multi-millionaire businessman bought the archives after the Fall.”
“That’s too bad.” Calvin pondered the answer. Ekaterina asked:
“What are you looking for and why are you here?”
The Asian woman explained the situation. Her massive interlocutor merely shrugged. The old man put down his cup and said:
“I am very sorry that you have travelled so far to no avail, but it is best for us to go to sleep now. It has been a rather tiresome day for all of us. If you do not mind, young man, you should sleep on the sofa, I’ll make myself comfortable on the chairs. I do not need much sleep, besides, it is only courteous to leave the bed to the women.”
Calvin looked crestfallen, but conceded. They went to bed. Michelle climbed into the bed. Moments later, the old man’s wife got in. The bed sunk in a little. At first, she wondered if she would be beaten to death if the woman were to flail her arms while sleeping. When the room was dark, she finally found the courage to ask:
“How does it feel?”
The massive woman turned over, lying on her side. Her enormous body bunched together, but still her head seemed to lie much higher than Michelle’s. Ekaterina whispered her answer:
“It feels great. At first, it was awful. No way to find any clothes at all. After a while, I got used to it. You know, this place used to be really rough on me. Most of the men around here were desperate to the point of committing a crime and I was almost raped when I came here in the 70s. After the “test”, the men’s interest declined. Which wasn’t bad.” Michelle could almost hear the woman smirk. “Let’s put it this way: I’m still the area’s arm-wrestling champion. Anyway, Anatolij likes it, and it’s fine by me…”
All of a sudden, Calvin shouted:
“You’re lying, the both of you! Zhukov was a military man. They wouldn’t name it for him if there was no military interest. Besides, I doubt there are comic books about super-workers in the US!”

[El_Roy_1999]

Enjoy…

There stood a cabin of earth and wood…

After a few minutes of sprinting, Michelle being half dragged, half carried, they arrived at a small cabin. They had followed the fence for several minutes, but had then turned back into the forest. The building appeared to be half sunken, only it’s roof was visible above the snow. Their leader opened a small door at the structure’s front and ushered them in. As they climbed in, a muffled roar could be heard from the deeper woods.
Climbing down a short ladder, the pair found themselves to be in a single roomed house. It’s centre was dominated by a large stove, several comfortable chairs and a very large bed. The structure’s base seemed to be made of dry earth, the walls were made of concrete, but decorated with wall-carpets.
They waited, catching their breath. Suddenly, the hunch lifted itself and revealed a very short man. He must have been some five feet tall. He climbed down, saying a few short words to his carrier. Meanwhile, the woman removed her heavy fur coat and stretched. Underneath, she wore military fatigues and a simple t-shirt. As she stretched, large muscles erupted under her skin. At first, she had appeared overweight, but now, her massive frame was revealed. She had enormously broad shoulders, easily a yard across and a strong neck, framed by bulging trapezii. Her arms hung lazily from her side after she finished stretching. Her massive biceps and triceps gave her an appearance similar to that of a football line player. The picture, however, was spoiled by the fact that she also had large, round but slightly sagging breasts.
After a few seconds, Michelle looked at the woman’s face. It had taken some time to get past the tremendous bulk her host was exhibiting. Even her legs were ridiculously large, her calves easily visible from the front, stretching the fabric of her trousers. The woman was rather nice to look at, her short blonde hair framing her heart-shaped face nicely. Her soft brown eyes had visible crow’s feet but shone brightly and youthfully. All in all, she seemed to have reached the age of gorgeousness and had chosen to remain there.
The man, on the other hand, was rather frail, grey-haired and quite simply, old. He ushered his guests to take off their jackets and boots and to make themselves comfortable. In perfect English, he asked them:
“Would you like some tea to warm you?” Calvin and Michelle nodded eagerly. Meanwhile, the large woman had busied herself with the stove, had added a few pieces of wood and bade them to sit down.
“Do take a seat. Whatever drove you to go out in this weather?” Her voice, carrying the merest hint of an accent, was rather deep and sultry. Scrambling on the sofa-like seat, which seemed to be home-made, the pair slowly overcame their surprise. At last, Michelle answered:
“We were looking for the ruins of a military facility in this area. We thought it would be alright, the guy whom we rented our car from even encouraged us to visit the area. He never told us anything about this storm, and he should know…” After a short pause, she added: “Thank you for the rescue. I have never seen a beast like that one. What happened?”
The old man returned with a steaming tea kettle. He prepared the tea quickly, then replied:
“Ah yes, this is the local idea of a joke. You see, we do not get many tourists around here, so there’s no need to be courteous. Or civil for that matter.” He turned to the woman, who had sat down meanwhile: “Some tea for you, Ekaterina?” She nodded. He finished serving drinks, then added with the faintest of smiles: “Indeed, the local wildlife has much improved over the years. You are welcome to stay here for tonight. Tomorrow, when the storm has settled, we will fix the radio antenna and call for help. I’m quite sure that people in town will be worried about your disappearance. Make yourself comfortable.”
Calvin had remained calm during the conversation. He had looked at Ekaterina, fascinated by the woman’s sheer massiveness. Michelle could barely help staring, but he seemed to be completely mesmerised. At last, he asked:
“How did you become so, uh, large? Is this the super-soldier formula?”

[El_Roy_1999]

Excellent! Do continue, please!

[Author]

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