Lost Land
Chapter 1: Tushkano
Dushman's armored figure walked slowly down the corridor of the abandoned factory followed closely by his partner, Sol.
"Check your corners", He ordered.
"Don't worry", Sol replied, "I am".
"I'm sure you are, but you'll regret it if you don't".
The duo then peaked around the corner to find a rusty door. Dushman examined it and, attempted to open it; unfortunately for them it was locked.
"Watch my back", Dushman told Sol as he pulled out his lock picking set.
"Gotcha", Sol answered.
As Dushman continued to fiddle with the lock; Sol looked back around the corner. There appeared to be only darkness. Slowly he began to feel a slight vibration, as time passed the speed of the vibrations increased. Soon Sol began to hear squeaking.
"What the…" he started, "holy shit!"
"What?"
"Open the freaking door", he yelled, "now!"
"It's open its open, what's happening?"
They sprinted through the door and Sol slams it closed. Ravenous growls and scratches come from the other side of the door.
"What the heck happened?" Dushman asked.
"Tushkano"
"Oh... well crap".
As they looked around the room they were in the squeaking started to recede. The space was rusted and decayed like the rest of the complex. There were several filing cabinets and a desk in a corner. One wall had a large cracked plate glass window and the other had multiple paintings.
"Hey we made it," Sol cried.
Dushman climbed to his feet and walked over to the filing cabinets. Sol stood up while Dushman dug through the cabinets. He then stepped over to the window; it was raining lightly on the desolate landscape outside. The room was silent except for the sounds of rustling paper and the pattering of the rain.
"Aha, found it", Dushman laughed.
"Great, now we can get out of this dump"
The armored mercenary grabbed the documents and stuffed them in a satchel. They both sauntered over to the door and Sol opened it slowly.
"Coast is clear", he reported.
"Okay, let's move"
The duo sprinted down the hallway back to the entrance. On their way to the entrance of the ruins the squeaking returned. Sol looked behind them to see hundreds of Tushkano following them; he opened fire, with his FN-2000, while still running.
"Agh", he screeched in agony.
He looked down to see a huge bloody gash from one of the Tushkano's claws. Dushman heard his yell slowed down, seeing he was injured he picked up Sol. This was no easy task even in an exoskeleton. As they arrived at the entrance he kicked open the door and threw Sol outside, but Dushman was not so lucky himself. Before he could make it out the Tushkano were on him tearing and ripping at his armored form. His screams of terror could be heard as he was dragged back into the depths of the factory, along with whatever secrets the documents held. Sol looked at the opening in awe.
"Well shit," he muttered before falling into blood loss induced unconsciousness.