Ground Zero: Antarctica

by CorbuloFolkvar

May 28, 2012 Antarctica. Outposts begin to disappear without cause, similiar to an event in 1982. The Joint Task Force and the US Marine Corps respond to the situation but they think its a terrorists but they are actually walking into a nightmare.

1. Chapter 2

Ground Zero: Antarctica part 2

'Trust is very crucial in survival but it's tested and how can you survive when you can't trust anyone. Who will survive this Hellish Nightmare?'

BY: Hados94

Everyone was un-edge about the testing. All but five soldiers were not tied up. They knew if they found a creature it might morph right beside them and kill them. The one with armor took his helmet off before being tied. The CiC knew who he was while the others he didn't know. "Josh… you survived….but I saw you get surrounded by those things in the hanger" said the confused CiC.

"Yea they did but I was lucky…I knew you would survive…these things aren't that badass…." He said with a grin but everyone was giving him an evil look.

"I saw them kill Phil and Gorge" he said in sadness. The CiC looked in disbelief and in sadness. Those two soldiers were some of the best in the whole JTF and they both had upcoming children. He suddenly punched the concrete wall leaving a hole deep enough that you can now put a pencil through it to the other side now with ease.

"Let's get this testing done so we can find these bastards, go home, and level the entire continuet" he said making some gasp with the statement.

"Sir…the entire continuet… there are people and important wildlife on here" said a JTF Ranger

"We have to because the rest of the world will be attacked by them if we don't do anything… I wish I could do something different but….we have to do it for Humanity and Earth". They all nodded in acceptance and the tests began. First plate was the one in armor… The plate said 1st Lt. Rio. He placed the hot copper rod in the blood and it just sizzled and nothing else. "Your clean…untie him"….

The testing continued; one by one it continued and everyone was clean by far but how long will they find who is not human in the group of 24. It was now down to 13 people left, 2 of them were JTF and the rest were Marines. The CiC stood in front of a kid…he was only 18 and this was the first time he has seen combat…his rank is Private First Class Banks USMC. He was extremely nervous and shaking like a leaf. He looked up at the CiC in complete Terror. The rod was placed on the plate of blood and it sizzled. He let out a 'Thank God' out loud which many in the room said smiling 'Amen to that'. The Rod finally had to get hot again from one of the LPDs.

"So….is this your actually your first combat situation" the CiC asked. The kid doesn't say anything. The CiC understands because this is an extreme nightmare on a large scale.

"This is a bad dream….this is a bad dream…..when I wake up I will be back on the plane heading to Afghanistan" The kid said being so hysterical. Now this kid is dangerous. He might have to be put asleep for a while because he can actually kill many on the team with that type of chatter but what do you expect… this is Hell. Before they continued the testing they heard dripping noise. Drip…drip…drip; it continued. Everyone stopped doing what they're doing. The dripping was getting faster and faster and louder too. Giggling is soon heard from one of the soldiers…a Marine. The CiC curiously walks towards him and looks down on him as he giggles. A strapped JTF Ranger and a Marine on his left and right looked at him in confusion.

"Why are you giggling soldier" said the CiC

"heheheehehehehehehehe" he continues but then looks up at the CiC "All of you are going to die…like the rest of the world…." he said. Suddenly 2 massive wing like membranes with teeth came out of his back and rapped around the Marine and JTF Ranger on both sides of him and pulled them in. They screamed but it was too late. Before anyone could react most of the remaining group of soldiers transformed into those creatures. The rope snapped and they rose to attack. The CiC was knocked off his feet and landed on all the blood samples breaking them. The rest of the uninfected group all fired their weapons including the LPDs. The CiC stood back up ready to fight. The first one was the smallest but its strength was half of his. The CiC grabbed him and threw him into a bunch of his buddies making them crash into some crates but surprisingly…they fell into another room with a smaller steel door. He suddenly got an idea.

"Marine…rig that LPD to blow and throw it into that room and everyone else has closed that door and lock after…me and the Lt. will take care of these things" he said and all the soldiers said 'YES SIR'. The soldiers all dodged the creature's attacks and proceeded to the door while the Marine with one of the LPDs was rigging it to blow with a 15 second timer. Luckily for him he had protection from the creatures. The CiC and Lt. Rio were outnumbered and over powered but still fought back to back. Their military training and armor is helping them to survive. The Marine finally rigged it and threw it into the room while the soldiers waited for it and started to close it until the creatures inside the room grabbed the door and started to pull. The soldiers tried to shut it but for every second the door continued to be pulled open. They struggled to pull with all there might but could not. They all suddenly felt something pulling with them, they all looked behind them and it was Lt. Rio. With one arm he pulled the door shut and he jammed it. They heard the creatures on the other side were banging on the door until a large massive boom happened that shook the entire building. Everyone turned around to see the CiC standing there amongst the bodies looking down with sadness on his face. All the soldiers started to walk towards him with caution. They had gotten close enough to see the site. He was looking down at the 18 year old Marine dead ripped in half. He then looked up at the chairs but to his sight the 3 soldiers in the chairs are dead too, 2 Marines and 1 JTF Ranger.

"Burn the bodies and collect their dog tags and give me a map please" he said as he walked towards the wall and just stared at it. They started to burn the bodies and the room began to fill with lots of smoke which started to choke everyone so they had to hurry. "Here you go sir" said the soldier giving a map to the CiC. He spreaded the map on the wall he was just looking at. The map showed Antarctica and all the outposts and military FOBs and Bases to extinguish and quarantine the threat. He found there location, it was a very old but large base and then it showed many outposts nearby that belonged to research teams for the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. He looked more closely until he found what he was looking for. It was a structure sticking out of a mountain and it was west 28 miles away from their current location.

"Alright everyone….I have found our safe haven…it's a structure west 28 miles away…if we double time it we can make it and…..ohhhhhhhhhhh…" he said looking at his wrist panel showing a 28 minute timer counting down. He looks back at everyone and they looked back worried.

"What is it sir" LT. Rio asks?

"The 1.8 megaton nuke is counting down when it's not supposed to".

"WHAT" everyone said in the room at the same time.

"We have 28 minutes before it goes boom…..I don't believe it that I forgot about the bomb being brought here".

"Why was it brought here" asked a Marine?

"To exterminate the threat but only as a last resort but we had it off but I'm guessing someone or something turned it on and we need to find a way out here and fa…" the CiC stopped when started to hear banging on the huge Steel Door. Dents can be seen on the door from the other side and the hinges are breaking. Some of the soldiers began to try to find a way out but could not find any. LT. Rio and the CiC put on their helmets and grabbed some AKs they found and looked for an exit to but could not find any. He noticed a metal sound on the floor where he had walked. He looked down and saw a metal plate on the floor. It had a small square shape on it like a hatch. He reached down and found a pulley and raised it. The air was suddenly pulled out of the room for a couple of seconds and then it settled. Below was an icy cave with a ladder.

"I found a way out men….this tunnel….Follow me" the CiC said as all the soldiers wanted to hurry and get the hell out of there. One by one they slid down the ladder and waited for the others. The last soldier, a Marine stayed rigging some napalm canisters and lots of explosives enough to set fire to 2 city blocks. They were set to explode when the steel door was breached. Before he could jump down the ladder he felt a large sharp pain in his stomach. He looked up and saw one of those things with its arm in his stomach. It came through the hole that the CiC made when he punched it. He pulled out his knife and cut himself loose. The creature yelps in pain and backs off. He crawled to the Hatch. "Sir" he said in a weak voice with blood coming out of his mouth.

"Oh my God…..let me come up and get you" said Lt. Rio as he started to reach for the ladder.

"I'm giving you a chance to escape…..go" he said as he gave a smile. Lt. Rio continued to reach for him but he was too late. The Marine was pulled away and the hatch slammed shut. Everyone could hear the screams of their fellow soldier. Lt. Rio hopped off the ladder. He looked at everyone with such sorrow.

"We have to move….we only have 25 minutes to get out of the blast radius" said the CiC. Everyone acknowledge what he said and started to run down the tunnel deeper into the ice. Lt. Rio just stood there looking down at the ground. The CiC walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Come on man…we have to get far enough to survive the blast radius…..the blast will continue for over 20 miles and we need to get at least…well…to the structure" he said trying to snap him out of it.

"Alright…let's go" he said looking back up at the CiC. They took off after the rest of the group. They reached them real quickly.

"I have the location marked on my HUD and we have a long way to go and short time so…DOUBLE TIME IT" he said and giving a Bark at the soldiers to move faster. They ran and ran for a long time. The cave continued to go deeper and deeper and darker and darker to the point where no one could see a single thing. They all activated their flash lights on their weapons while Lt. Rio and the CiC had lights on their helmets and shoulders. They continued until they heard a large boom that echoed throughout the tunnel. It was the device that the Marine had set up. They all knew now that they had to keep going because those things will be coming for them and quick. They now took off like a Bat out of hell. The timer ticked warning them they have 13 minutes but they are only half way there. They soon enter a large opening that was illuminated somehow. They saw some metal walls and purple crystals growing on them. That what was illuminating the room. "WOW" said one of the Marines not knowing there real purpose for them. They ran through the large room until they saw something that caught their eyes. They all stopped looked and they all were shocked on what it was. A Flag but no ordinary flag it was the Nazi Flag from WW2. It somehow ended up down here. "What the hell is that thing doing down here" said a Marine.

"I don't know how but I think that explains the base we were just at" said a JTF Ranger.

"Enough chit-chat we only have…oh shit we only have 8 minutes left we have to move NOW" the CiC said and they all took off again. They knew they could not waste no more time because if they don't get out of blasting range the explosion will kill them or if not the earthquake that it will be produced from the detonation. They ran through the opening on the other side of the room. They went deeper and deeper to wherever they were going. The cave began to lite up again but not with crystals but with Ice. It was a bluish green color like the Northern Lights. They also saw what looked like structures in the ice but it could be anything. They ran and ran. They thought they were almost out until they turned around a corridor of the cave into a dead end. "DAMMIT" said a JTF Ranger.

"Where are we going to go now" said a Marine.

"We are not even far enough from the blast range…..the earthquake will be equivalent to an 8.0 earthquake" said the CiC as he looked around for just one exit. Everyone is panicking or just getting pissed or arguing.

"I think we took a wrong turn….im going to back track" said a JTF Ranger. He turned around and ran back to find an exit. 10 seconds after he ran back out of sight his footsteps went silent. Everyone heard it and they all shut their mouths and slowly turned behind themselves. They all just stood there silent hoping he just fell or found something until they see him come around a corner. They all sighed in relief. "Hey guys I think I found something but I need to talk to the Turley in private please" he said acting weird. Everyone knew something was up because only the CiC's friends called him that. "Stay on alert but try to find a way out" he said before going around a corner with the Ranger.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about" the CiC said.

"Look…Behind YOU" he said pointing behind the CiC to make him turn around and all he saw was the Ice wall with the beautiful colors. He started to think this was something else more going on. His instincts told him to turn around. About half way from turning he gets put on his ass. He is pinned by 2 other creatures but the soldier he was just talking had a claw shaped arm. As the 2 others held them down it bent down towards him with a smile. "You humans are stupid and weak…..soon we will have this world to ourselves…" it said with a grin.

"Why" the CiC said trying to get it to talk longer as he was reaching for a HE Grenade.

"To survive but it's a benefit for your world".

"How is it"?

"Imagine no war or pollution and animals dying out and with your technology we can go to other places and do the same here" it smiled but the smile went all the way to his ears. He continued to reach for the grenades. He nearly had a hold of one until his arm was caught by a tentacle. "No..….we don't want anybody hurt now do we" It said as it took away his grenades and his weapons including his knife.

"Why don't you kill me now and get it over with cause we are all going to die if we don't get out of here because of the Nuke" the CiC said. Many ideas were coming to his head to escape. The 2 big creatures on top of him were nearly stronger than him each but not as smart. He decided to wait for the right moment to do what was needed. The information hit it like a man kissing a Train. "NUKE…..WHERE IS IT" it said almost yelling. This was part of the plan…make it angry so that everyone else can hear it. "It's up my ass and I think it's going to blow with….pee-u you fucking bitches" the CiC said laughing. This angered it and it grabbed him by the throat and lifted up a little bit with one arm. It was so angered it raised its voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "You fucking cattle…tell me where it is or I swear I will personally rip your guts out" it said with tentacles and membranes coming out its body surrounding the CiC. It grabs his helmet and actually finds the lock presses and takes his helmet off revealing his face. The CiC looked at it with a funny smirk. He knew he could get infected but he didn't care at the moment. "We are going to keep you alive for the time being so you can see us at work" it said smiling. Suddenly the temperature rises and a red glare appears on the CiC's back. The 2 creatures scream in pain. This is the moment, he jumps up knocking the 2 creatures off his back and grabs the thing that was holding him by the throat and throws it down the corridor. The CiC grabs his helmet and puts it back on and stands. He quickly grabs the AK. All of the soldiers are now behind him. Shooting their weapons and LPDs. The 2 creatures try to break for it but fall down the corridor dead but the flames illuminate more of the corridor showing many of them creatures. Hordes of them. They charge at all the soldiers were at so they all fire their weapons. The LPDs lite up the entire corridor but they still came. One of the Marines falls threw the floor and we all think we are on top of a crevice of some kind. We continue to shoot thinking he is dead. "Grenades" Lt. Rio yells and everyone throws Frags, HEs, and Incendiary grenades into the large group. Seconds later they all explode with great effectiveness but the horde kept coming. 'This was it everyone thought' but the ground suddenly caved in and they all fell at least 15ft till they hit a slide which travelled a long time going into different directions. The timer said 3 minutes left. When they hit the bottom of the slide they meet 80 other military dressed soldiers waiting. The CiC and the rest of soldiers that came down aimed weapons at the group and so did the group of 80. "Sir…they are not infected….we need to get out of here" said the soldier that feel through first earlier. The CiC didn't want to believe it but they had to get out of there before the nuke goes off.

"Alright let's all go….there is a structure not that far from here that we can hide in" the CiC said.

"Roger that but we will keep a close eye on you and your guys…..there is an exit 300 meters ahead of us….if it wasn't for your guy here we would have not knowed you was coming." said one that looked like he was in charge. The CiC looked at the group and saw most of the soldiers were Marines and some JTF but at least 8 in the same armor as he was. They all nodded towards each other and made way for the exit. They ran through to find themselves in a blizzard. Above them was a large cliff. The timer continued to count down from 30 seconds and down.

"Let's stay here because the blast won't kill us and the earthquake will not harm us unless we are not against the Ice wall" said a Marine.

"He is right… we need to get against this wall NOW" the CiC said. All the Marines and JTF move against the Ice Wall. They waited for the sun. "Hey Turley" said Lt. Rio.

"Yeah….What is it" the CiC said?

"This brings back memories of the battle at Dukaklor".

"Yeah it actually does but one problem….they had arrows, swords, shields and major badass soldiers coming at us that time but here…we are being attacked by fucking monsters…" he said laughing while all the other soldiers did not know what they was talking about.

"Those were good times" said Lt. Rio.

"With good men and women" said the CiC

"With good fire friends…you know what I mean" said Lt. Rio

"Oh…I remember some of them adventures with them…it was fun" he said laughing more. The timer hit 5…. 4…. 3…. "Hold on" 2… 1… 0….. Nothing happened. They waited for almost 10 minutes but still nothing. "What the hell….why didn't it blow" said a Marine.

"Dammit…..I'm guessing from the recent battle it may have damaged the weapon even if the countdown was going down" said a JTF Ranger.

"I guess so….let's get to the structure so we can get out of here" said the CiC looking at all the others. They all started to walk towards the structure. The blizzard was still going but not that strong like before. They all loved this peace and quiet even with the storm roaring. This rest from the fighting was relieving, no sight of any monsters or anything else. After an hour and 48 minutes of just walking they reached the structure. It was at least 5 stories tall and 50ft wide, a door in front with a panel on it, but the most surprising feature was the 6 Gatling guns, 4 Flame throwers, 2 anti-tank guns and 1 anti-aircraft gun on it. This was a fortress but why was it armed like this. The CiC went to the door and wiped all the snow and ice off the panel. It had number and word keys on it. It looked like an extremely old keyboard but it was made of a rubber that prevented ice from freezing it. In curiosity he touched a key and it came to life. A male robotic voice that sounds similar said "Please enter access code to enter". The CiC pressed some buttons randomly to see what happens. "Error…try again…two chances left." This struck the CiC in the thinking what would happen if he had got it wrong again so he thought for a couple of seconds and pressed in the date of the first station was founded on Antarctica. He was wrong again but this time it was serious, "ERROR….one last chance but hopefully you get it right but if you don't…you won't be leaving" the voice said that caught everyone's attention but something scary happened. All the guns came alive aiming at the group and they raised theirs in return but they all knew they would all be killed. The CiC was so nervous he was pouring of sweet in his armor. He tried to remember if there was anything that could help, if he was wrong they are dead but if not they have safe haven so he thought and thought. The Blizzard started to pick up. Some of the soldiers went completely silent, every time that has happened something bad came out of it and it did. Suddenly one of the soldiers fell to the ground. After that they heard a loud bang after words like a gunshot. He was shot but that wasn't the end of it. Tracers off of weapons flying at everyone. They were being fired opon by someone. The soldiers began to fire back but they could not see where it was coming from because of the blizzard was too thick. Some didn't have any problem because they had Flir or Night-Vision. The idea of new survivors was short lived after some soldiers were dragged away with great speed. The CiC kept on the panel to figure out the code so they can get out of this firefight. The creatures jumped out of the snow in front and the middle of their group and started to attack in close range. They were wielding firearms in their hand or it was part of their body. This was getting out of hand. Everybody was getting shot to death or being ripped to shreds by these things, 18 already dead and half of the rest are injured. The CiC was suddenly hit in the back of his helmet which made him black out but it appears a flashback.

:FLASBACK:

A large hallway covered with bodies, blood, and shell casings. A huge screen on the wall with someone staring at it, it was the CiC

"Remember this code it may save you…..

94/-1545=045.1947.178148hnh8g68.1982.f13g87/+.181d.01d41993hr45f.h3lp.457/4fg4r8645f48" a robotic voice said.

:FLASHBACK END:

"Yes now I remember" the CiC said joyfully as bullets hit his armor but bounced off or absorbed. He put in the code and waited for a response. "Welcome to Research Facility Site Omega" the voice said as the door cracked open to let them in. All he could think in his mind was 'finally we can get away'. He felt something hit his side that knocked the wind out of him and he crashes back first on the ground. He looks up to see his attacker and it's a new form of these things. It has multiple human and dog heads on it screaming at him, 4 arms built to do nothing but slaughter, it had 5 legs and its back had an extended human body dragging it on the ground. It looked worse than the others. It was already on top of the CiC bringing down its arm to kill the CiC. Before it came 12 inches from the CiC's throat was it was engulfed by flames that were hotter than the LPDs by 5 times. It screamed for a few seconds but was turned to ash on how hot it was. He looked over at the chaos. Many soldiers were either dead from gunshots, torn to pieces, or they turned into them or on the verge. The mysterious flames came from the sky, not from any of the nearby soldiers. The creatures ran in retreat firing their weapons at something in the sky but missing. The CiC stood up and watched them burn. All the soldiers started to cheer and attack while they did it. The CiC now activates his night vision but it's twitchy probably from the blow he just had gotten. When it became clear he saw at least over a hundred of them things out there. He grabbed the AK and aimed it at the large group. All the soldiers finally saw this and formed a straight line aiming their M4s, M-16s, LPDs, AA-12s, M242 Saws, MP5s, and side arms at their foes in front of them. They started their charge but the blizzard covered their true numbers. It looked like hundreds coming towards them in a blind fury. The building came alive behind them again shooting its weapons killing the entire first wave but more was behind them. They finally reached 50 meters from all the soldiers ready to kill. Suddenly a dark object came down right in front of them, the same that was burning the creatures before. It caused a shockwave that caused all those things to fly back at least 60 meters. Suddenly its body began to show red orange lights like markings or a language writing on its body, stood on its hind legs, reared its head back and nothing but smoke came from its mouth and suddenly a huge massive flame came out that covered the entire horde and burned them to ash in seconds. Everyone's mouths dropped except for the CiC and Lt. Rio because they knew. It turned its head towards the CiC and bowed its head and the CiC did in return. It eyes were a reddish black with a flame resemblance in its eye coloration and shape and its pupils were like a snake but they had some line extensions. It looked like it came from Hell itself by the looks of its body; only 3 words described what it resembled, 'DEMONIC WINGED LIZARD'.

"HELP HAS NOW ARRIVED AND THEY HAVE FOUND THEIR SAFE HAVEN BUT HOW LONG WILL THIS HAVEN BE A HAVEN, WILL THERE HELP BE KILLED SOONER OR LATER, WILL THEY FINALLY BE ABLE TO GET OFF THIS ROCK OR STAY AND DIE, FORGOTTEN FOREVER"