The Tucker Phenomenon

by Raven On The Writing Desk

Chimeras have always been a problem, but not always as much to the general public. However, at the abandoned Tucker home, recent sightings by passersby have been reported of seeing strange, sometimes grotesque amalgamations, all gathering around the home. The Amestrian military can't afford to have a public panic, so something must be done to find why they are gathering there.

2. Down In A Hole

While it was against their better judgement, the two crept towards the edge of the circular pit, more shuffling as opposed to walking as to avoid stepping into a nest or something else that may anger the hidden chimeras. Coming to the edge, Roy stuck his arm out to stop Riza from walking closer when some dirt from the edges of the pit gave away, and clattered down into the pit without making a sound like it had hit the bottom. The two peered in, and it was black as pitch down below, like gazing into the yawning maw of some giant creature. Not taking his eyes off the pit, he crouched down and scooped up a large rock. He tossed it into the pit, and both inclined their ears, straining to hear the rock hitting the bottom. It felt like hours but was really only a few minutes, before they heard something like shattering glass. Shattering glass? Maybe the house could have been swallowed by the pit, but the pit was so unnaturally and perfectly round, surely it wasn't naturally occurring?

They were startled out of their questioning when a sound came from the bottom of the pit, something inhuman giving a scream sounding like something between a parrot and a dinosaur. Both looked at each other in surprise. The home was gone, and it sounded like down in that hole was where the chimeras seemed to have moved. Even if it wasn't their mission, there was certainly no way chimeras could have made this hole.

Together they returned to their car and drove back to a payphone in the city. With a short phone call Major Armstrong and Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc were on their way with supplies for their superiors. It took about thirty minutes for them to arrive, and another five to ten minutes for the band to return to the pit. Roy and Riza each tied a two hundred foot length of rope around their waists and each had a pack containing an extra gun, ammo, a knife, a handheld flashlight with extra batteries, basic medical supplies, food, and water suitable for three or so days. They both had a headlamp to peel away the darkness of the pit. Major Armstrong and Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc acted as their anchors to slowly lower the other two down the pit, and the two on ropes scrabbled for handholds of roots and rocks and whatever else they could to ease their descent.

The going was slow and the farther down they got the colder and more moist the air around them got. It was only twenty or so feet before neither could see the hand in front of their faces, and flicked on their headlamps. Even then the darkness seemed to thick that the headlamps couldn't banish it. Neither could see the far side of the pit, nor the bottom. It wasn't until they got one hundred feet down or so that they could hear claws scrabbling and glass breaking and rocks being knocked around. Now and again that horrible scream like that of a parrot and a dinosaur came floating up to them. At about one hundred and seventy-nine feet down the pit they could see the creature making the sound; the creature stood on two legs and was about the size of a golden retriever. It was covered in feathers of blue and gold and red and green, and lifted huge pterodactyl-like wings. There were four thick, yellow claws on each hand, and five on its feet. It had a large, curved beak, which it opened and screamed at them, raising its tail feathers around it like a peacock. The creature's mouth was full of sharp teeth, and Riza shot the threatening creature immediately. It leapt into flight desperately, bleeding from its chest, hit the wall of the pit, and fell down to the pit floor; dead. There was a tunnel leading off to the right, and screams similar to the one of the dead creature floated to them. They braced themselves for the swarm, but it never came, and once again the pit was as silent as the grave.

At the end of their ropes they were still a few feet off the ground, but it wasn't that far of a drop. They untied themselves and dropped down, glass crunching beneath their boots. Both inclined their ears for more sound, but there were none. Riza took point, the moist air in the pit making it difficult for the Colonel to get a spark going at a moment's notice. They walked down the branching path at the right for what felt like another eternity, but they came to a cavern, and their jaws dropped.

The Tucker home was here, but it looked like it had been taken apart and reassembled with stones and dirt and sticks into a Taj Mahal-style home. There were a dozen or more nests like what a bald eagle would build, and each nest had three or four more of the creatures like the one Riza had shot. Flocks of six flew in and out of large holes in the walls and the roof, some screamed now and again but none came towards them nor seemed to notice their presence. Here and there were creatures that looked like lions with the wings of a goose, though in a lion's proportion. They prowled in packs or chased herds of deer-turkeys; creatures the size of deer with antlers, feathers, clawed hooves, and beaks. All the sudden from over their head there was a rush of wind and in swooped vulture-wolves. They flew in a pack, huge black wings flapping now and again, ears pressed back against the wind. They had legs like a vulture and thick beaks and huge tail feathers. They swooped in through some of the larger holes, and when they did every chimera looked to the home and started walking towards the broken steps leading to the front door. That's when a sudden blood-chilling thought entered both their brains; this was no migration point. Something in the house was amassing an army.