Title For Fan Fiction

Subject: Tremors

Timeline: After events of Tremors 5

Chapter 1

It was right when he saw that beast, this aberration, with its flared spines, and membraned wings, and a triple-set of very sharp teeth surrounding a funnel-like carnivorous mouth, that he knew two things… One…. He had been lied to…. Two…. Today was going to be a very long day.

3 Hours earlier…

…. Matthiass was sent an encrypted file via his usual dummy server. He retrieved the message with a few short strokes, setting up the decryption, and accessing what the sender wanted to say in under thirty seconds.

"Assignment-pre-Cambrian mammalian termination"

"Meet at #$^%#% at 3:37PM, sharp. If you fail, you will not receive the assignment."

"Tch. Amateurs." He said, decrypting the last line through a second filter. It was then that he understood why they, he was assuming they, had classified his hunt so scientifically. It wasn't some lion, revenge on a neighbour's pet, or even a Big-game rhino. No, this was much worse.

He packed his bag, and immediately left seconds after replying with a simple "Understood."

1 Hour later….

Matthiass walked into the modern, minimalistic waiting room, and immediately strode over to the receptionist. He placed his card, with a Kanji for Courage as the simple adornment in gold-leaf of his greeting card in front of her, as she looked up. "I'm to be expected for a meeting." She took the card, and quickly typed his name into the computer. Matthiass Z. Jotsuda. It was a strange name, even stranger still that his last was not in Kanji.

She pointed to a door, across the waiting room. "You'll head in that door, follow the hall, and turn left, and into the room at the end, on your right. The meeting has already begun, you may want to hurry." She didn't say any extra 'have a nice day.' Or 'thank you for visiting the West American Wild-life Foundation.' No. She had her place, her duty… this was just a job.

He double-checked the files he had a program run to his burner phone, while he drove here. It contained file work on Burt Gummer, known associates, and his incursions with the Pre-Cambrian life-form known as graboids, shriekers, assblasters, and dossiers on each individual. He perused the files, barely taking note of the dimly lit hallway and making his left, also barely acknowledging the guard open a door, as he proceeded to walk to his seat, to the right of a bald gentleman, looking not unlike the teacher figure from Ender's Game. He perused the file, glancing up at the screen controlled by a Barbie-like office worker, as she prattled on about the location.

He took a few last cursory glances at the files, before closing out the documents.

"… and as you can see from the thermal resolution imagery, there were two confirmed creatures chasing the vehicle out of town, shortly before they lost attention to them, but not before someone was pulled from the passenger side wrangler, and subsequently devoured."

"Now, approximately 32 minutes later, at 4:21 PM, we confirmed the body to be that of a government official by the name of W.D. Twitchell. Also, the Wrangler appears to have stopped outside the border of Perfection Valley at a farm a quarter mile from the off-ramp from the passage over into the valley, which was developed over the last year."

"There are several buildings, displayed here."

An image showing a couple silos, a barn, a house, and two work-sheds big enough to house a farmer's dream tools. The thermal imaging showed red circles over two creatures, now a different shape, and several other things, one a torn vehicle. Probably the first meal of the creatures. There was also what appeared to be a strange static over one section, perhaps a faulty lens.

"I appears the Sterngoods moved from the valley, selling the property top the farmers, and Plugg gave up his business to an entrepreneur. Miss Chang still retains the town store, and the few other residents remain the same, though Earl, did move back to his previous residence, after an incident at his last place of work, and Valentine has not."

After she clicked the next slide over, Matthiass interrupted, standing up. "Yeah, yeah, not anything new. If these things are as dangerous as you, ahem, forget to mention, then when would I be leaving, and declaring my service fee, etc. after all, we really should get the ball rolling and make sure this is… ", He snapped his fingers at the word he grasped finally. "…contained. Really… nothing new."

He tossed her his burner phone, letting her grasp the full meaning of how much research he had done. She narrowed her eyes at him, immediately typing into the computer. She sighed. "I'm glad you kept your nose clean of any…" she gave him a hard look. "…sensitive files."

Before she could say another word. "Five million dollars." Without thinking, she typed into the computer, getting a ping in response. "Approved." She said.

Right then, is when I Red-headed young man burst into the room, slightly panting. "Three point seven million dollars, and I'll hunt whatever you please." He said, still slightly out of breath. Again, a ping, and "Approved." From the Barbie doll.

They were then ushered by the guardsmen, silent in the corners, to the elevator at the side of the room.

He never knew what price the tattooed man asked.

1 hour later, 6:03 PM. Daylight…..

They were dropped by a squat, armed helicopter, quickly efficiently, and left to deal with the threat on their own. Matthiass noted tracks about the grounds circling the front yard, one going around the house, and one apparently that had wrought the hinges off the door, like a poorly constructed candy-wrapper. He took a glance at the fiery red-headed kid. A Grin and a .45 handgun and he was circling the house. A look at the tattooed man went the other way. Not a glance, not a word, he simply floated away, light on his feet.

Matthiass drew his 9mm handgun and a tactical knife from his thin bulletproof vest. He stepped out of the swirling, fertile dust of a farm into the abode. A smear of blood was the new paint décor for the living room on his right. He saw the tattooed man glide quietly, almost incorporeally along the house. He went into the dining room on the left noting a window to the front, and a doorway to the kitchen. He stepped through, scanning the room with the nose of his gun first. The back door was ajar, but not askew like the other.

He glanced out the window, seeing the red-headed kid pointing that .45 about like a friggin' water pistol. He might have to help this guy.

All of a sudden there was a blur of dust, a knife, some blood, and the kid was out of window's view. He took one step toward the window, intending on pointing at a creature attacking, and shooting it down.

Right then, a wheezy sound reverberated from over by the back door that he noted was ajar earlier. It was a snort, a terribly bass sound coming from a large mammal.

It was right when he saw that beast, this aberration, with its flared spines, and membraned wings, and a triple-set of very sharp teeth surrounding a funnel-like carnivorous mouth, that he knew two things… One…. He had been lied to…. Two…. Today was going to be a very long day.