This is just an intermediate chapter, sorry that it's length is so short. The next one will be full length. Thanks for reading!
05
Oh shit, oh shit, what the fuck was that? It was big. Real big. Scary big. Tear your fuckin' limbs off big. My heart was pumping, no, throbbing. The adrenaline of fear advanced throughout my body, sabotaging my perception of the reality in front of me. The hallway I had walked across in no less than five minutes now seemed like it was going on forever, with no end. The lack of light made this place seem like the pits of Tartarus itself. Every step was heavy, like the weight of my entire body and more was forced into each one. My knees felt like they were going to buckle, snap even. Every muscle went into panic mode, but rather than feel the rush to force myself forward, I felt light instead. My entire body felt like a contradiction, but was panged backed into a fully functional machine of pure cowardice, constructed by the howling horror behind me.
"Grrraagh! Wrof skwee krushex!" Although it was darker in the hallway, the transparent shimmering mass was barely noticeable as it burst out the doorway. It slammed into the metal wall opposite of the door, leaving a massive and ever so visible dent. It growled and snarled loudly, huffing puffs of white, hot air out of what was probably the mouth.
~KSSHHH~ The blades formed out of thin air once again.
Terrified by the sight behind me, I raise my rifle in its direction and start blasting rounds down range, hitting the walls, floor and ceiling around it, but failing to hit the target itself. The blade crept towards my position at a slow but alarming rate. Shuffling backwards, I lose track of where I walk, hitting the railing behind me and fall down onto the floor below. A huge thud knocks all the wind out of my lungs and destroys another two ribs, this I was sure of. I was barely able to lift my chest off the floor, allowing myself to look at Victor. He was fiddling with the door again, desperately trying to open it. Annoyed, he finally blasts the red button with his assault rifle, miraculously forcing the doors open. He looks in my direction and shouts something to himself and runs to me. Shouldering his rifle, he clamps on to my chest plate straps and starts dragging me towards the door, the price of this pathetic escape being more and more pain in my chest.
"Get the fuck up puto! That… that THING is gonna kill us!" He screamed, his voice a mixture of both horror and anger. It even cracked a little. I would've laughed had it not been for my broken ribs and the freakish fucking monstrosity chasing us. Using the exit's doorway, I lift myself off the floor and look up at the railing where I fell.
~CLANG~
A huge bend in the middle of the railing announced itself, accompanied by the floating blade that we have been so terrified of. The massive creature then revealed itself, deactivating whatever device allowed it to maintain its invisibility. Like water rolling off a rock, the shimmer slowly dissipated revealing a grey hulking mass clad in silver armor. Its feet clung to the railing, as well as one of its monstrous hands, while the other held the blades. The armor it wore was uniquely crafted, curved and shiny, complementing the contours of the creature's body.
As for its anatomy, it was strange in and of itself. Its legs were horse like, having three joints of movement rather than two, with hoof like feet, also armor plated. Its hands had four long fingers with small claws at the tip of each end. But most horrific of it all was the head, a mildly elongated appendage that had four mandibles each housing a number of many sharp teeth. The only saving grace was the sleek helmet plating and mandible armoring that guarded the terror that was its cranium. And its eyes, its dark menacing eyes. Just as I was about to stumble out, I locked eyes with the demon, its own malicious intent being conveyed to me through perception alone. Its mandibles spread out as it roared at us in anger. We started sprinting down the path that we came from toward the center of the base.
Off in the distance we could hear the sound of distant gun fire in the direction of the gates, a sound that was both pleasing and disheartening to my ears. If they were shooting at what we think they're shooting at, then they likely await the same fate Hitch did.
More bodies. More blood. More death. Just like Hitch.
By the time we reached the courtyard I was being fully supported by Victor. I could feel my ribs shuffling in my chest, offering no leeway for relief. The state I was in was undeniably bad, if not grotesque, but I had to keep moving otherwise I was dead. With what little adrenaline I had left, I ignored the pain that shot into my chest with every step. Every breath I took was pitiful, shaky and stirred up. I could taste blood in my mouth and feel my legs starting to buckle. I raised my free hand that was cupping my chest in front of my face to allow myself to get a good look at the warmth I was feeling. As expected, there was blood. Quite a bit of it too. Enough to explain why I felt like dropping onto the floor and falling asleep. It was easier than running. Victor could feel my weight shifting downwards as we moved.
"No, no, not here man. You aren't goin' down yet. We've got a ways to go puto." He readjusted me over his shoulder, also taking the opportunity to look back. "Where'd that bastard go?" I was becoming dead weight for him, and we both knew it. I knew it. I felt my legs begin to falter under my weight as I lose my strength. It was like fighting an uphill battle, with weights tied to my legs.
"Vic, drop me. I'm useless right now, you need to get out of here." I coughed up some blood. I may sound noble right now, but I honestly wanted to rely on him a bit longer.
"Shut your damn mouth and keep moving, damn it. Don't talk, save your energy for something important. Like running." It got to a point where he started dragging me on his shoulder. I was barely taking steps, but before we knew it we managed to get to the gates. The gunfire was much louder now. Victor slammed on the gates.
"Hey, who's still out there!?" Victor shouted. Gun fire was the only reply we got. Victor cursed to himself then placed me down against the gate in a sit down position. He slapped me hard, waking me up, and said:
"Listen, I'm goin' up this catwalk. I swear to shit if you're dead when I come back I'll kill you." I smiled and laughed at his stupid statement. I'd be sure to take his word for it, if the time came. He ran away in a direction I couldn't recognize anymore. Things started to fade in and out.
My sight goes black. I can hear the gun fire, but also a new sound. What sounds like gun fire, but energy based. Like a laser but not, it's hard to describe. It sounded… bright.
My vision returns. Raising my head I can see that the gates have been opened somehow, I don't get it. If I recall, we need power in order to get that giant thing running. Looking to my right I saw that two marines were positioned behind some sand bags, shooting something. Everything was blurry, I couldn't make anything out but the flash of their rifles.
Things go black again. A voice. Not familiar, but human. It's saying something to me. Hey, hey, speak to me. How can I? I'm too tired to talk. Just let me sleep. He's deep in, we gotta get some adrenaline into him at least, and get more blood flowing. More blood? From where? I lost a lot of it. Check my kit, there's some Medigel in there. Medigel? What? No, don't waste it on me.
I regain consciousness. My eyes open and I see our field medic with a knife to my chest, creating a quick incision into my chest cavity. Soon after, he inserts the nozzle of the Medigel can into the wound, filling it with a cold and fresh foam. He looks at me, smiles and says something that I didn't hear. I looked passed him and saw… more of those demonic creatures from earlier. More of them? Oh hell, that's not good. They had different color armor too. But rather than those… swords, they were armed with some type of automatic hand pistol. It shot bright blue bolts. A volley landed on one of the marines taking cover at the sandbags. He flew backwards, flailing his arms sporadically, throwing his rifle to the side. After hitting the ground, he lay on the floor motionless, and with a blank face. His chest sizzled with smoke rising off of it.
After I shake my head, I re-assess the situation, I realizing just how dire things had become. From what I could tell, we have lost four men already, Hitch not included. The monsters we were fighting were being held back at best, but they still made their advance. We couldn't do anything about their shields, only annoy them. I counted five, maybe six of the beasts. They moved too quickly for me too track though. Fortunately they were a considerable distance away from us. But that wouldn't keep us safe for long. Not that we were safe at all to begin with.
Victor was on the other end of the gates… commanding everyone? That wasn't right. I scanned the area and finally saw another body to add to our casualties; it was Sarge. He lay sprawled out in the middle of the gates main pathway, one arm missing. How it happened, I do not know. But it was both grotesque and demoralizing. Finally Victor noticed I was conscious. I also regained my hearing.
"Alright, let's pack it up marines! Myra, Zet, keep firing on those split-lips! Vince, how's Corporal?" Victor was shouting over the loud gunfire that Myra and Zet were ordered to lay down.
"He's stabilized, but in no condition to fight, let alone move, sir." He spoke as quickly as he packed up his med kit.
"Regardless, we all need to get a move on. These rifles aren't doing shit to those things. With their speed, it's difficult enough to even land a shot." He began lifting me up again, putting my arm around his shoulder, right arm brandishing his assault rifle. "Marines, let's move out!" Everyone replied with an 'ooh-rah'. It felt nice to hear.
We all started sprinting for forest, a place we believed was our best hope for survival. In the entire squad, six of us were left. Victor and I took center piece in our retreating formation, Zet and Myra took either side. Vince and one other marine did the same. We sprinted as if our lives depended on it, and shit, they damn very well did. But frankly this was not enough. Our so-called escape was only a walk along the slaughtering grounds. The first to go down was Zet.
As we were all sprinting, one of the brutish monsters with lightning speed managed to catch up to us. It tackled Zet into a rolling motion then threw him forward, several feet ahead of us. Somehow Zet was able to recover and start shooting the monster but this was only false hope. It made a single bound in his direction, summoning his blade and then planting it straight into Zet's chest. The demon first dragged the limp body downward then into the air like a scooping motion, raising Zet into the air like a trophy. It was horrific. All I could do was run harder.
The second to go down was the Vince whom was running next to Myra. Nothing spectacular, he literally went limp and fell to the ground. As bolts of blue energy flew over our heads, a purple beam of energy lazed right through his head and into the ground in front of him. Like a brick, he dropped with a rolling thud. An inglorious death, undeserving for someone who basically saved my life. But I had no time to mourn, I only continued to move.
The third of all of us was the marine left of Zet. As if trying to gain some glory, she shouted to us: Just keep running, I'll slow them down! As much as I wanted to commend her, it was stupid and futile. Literally seconds after stopping, turning around and firing her weapon at the enemy's direction, one of the monsters on her right flank leapt up from the brush and grabbed her head mid-flight, tossing her into the air. Even though her neck was probably already broken from the sudden jerk, the creature started pelting the body in the air like it was target practice. As the body hit the floor, you could hear the crack of more bones. I wanted to scream, vent out my fears and angers, but my lungs wouldn't let me.
By the time the third one fell, we were just entering the forest's tree line. The shadows laid out by the trees crept over us, making things darker and darker as we sprinted deeper into the abyss. The sight of blood is what I wished for, the massacre of my squad was what I got. God is a demented fellow. And these monsters delivered his message clearly.