The Soldier's lunacy and bravado was to be expected. It wasn't that he lacked the intelligence to know when he was diving into a suicidal mission. It was more like his spine was made of industrial-strength titanium. The team needed supplies, of course. The remaining ammunition on the team wasn't enough metal to make even a dispenser, never the less a replacement relay tower for the Engineer's radios. Their barracks were crumbling around them. Hell, the Medic could probably use a second hand with keeping the team healed up. Still, for the Soldier to throw himself into what was most likely a nest of giant killer worms was a bit much, even for him.
It got worse when the Engineer agreed. "Sounds fair. I'll go with ya."
"Truckie, wait! Think about this!" The Sniper snapped on his heels, locking eyes with his shorter teammate. "There's at least one bloomin' worm workin' its way 'round here! That's not ta say about where the other three are!"
"Well, Stretch, we're runnin' outta options here." The Engineer frowned. "Unless you've got some kinda hidden stash 'a supplies 'round here, I'm gonna have ta go with the Soldier on this one. He ain't gonna know what I need, anyhow."
The Soldier interrupted their dispute. "Hey! Don't sell me short, Engie! I could figure it out." He pressed a thumb to his mouth. "Let's see…screwdrivers. Screws. Duct tape. Wires. Wrenches. Screws. A table saw. Wood. Did I say screws yet?"
The Medic rolled his eyes. Clearly, he wasn't done taking care of his patient. "Ack, perhaps I should go instead. At least I could bring back medical supplies."
"Is bad idea, Doctor. If we lose you, we lose everything!" The Heavy stepped forward, giving his massive chest two pounds with his fist. "I go instead."
That drew a derisive snort from the Spy. "Oh, please, Fatman! Did you not see how fast zose monsters go? Zey'd eat your fatty liver before you even knew it was gone!"
"We're gettin' too wrapped up in this." The Engineer shushed his team, trying to get them to calm down. "It ain't gonna be more than five minutes, tops. Now, it was the Soldier's plan, so he should say who goes where. Let's just try 'n keep cool, alright?"
The Spy clapped a hand against his head. "Merde. Leave ze planning to ze one wiz brain damage!"
Ignoring the Spy's insults, the Soldier cupped a hand around his chin. Clearly, his team needed a leader. No problem! All he had to be was the loudest one, and he had the strongest vocal chords by far. Still, it didn't hurt to think this one out. Everyone had legitimate complaints that they brought to the discussion. It was best to try and plan around their strengths and weaknesses as best as possible.
After letting the plan simmer in his head for a moment, the Soldier nodded, his helmet moving out of sync with his head. "Okay. Engie, you and I will go down to the store room. We get what we need, then we go. In the meantime, we'll have to preoccupy that bastard at the front door. Not discounting your logic, Sniper, but we can only handle the threats we know about." He paused for one moment to pound his fist against his open hand. "While the Engineer and I are downstairs, I want the rest of you to run interference! Chunky, you stay on the roof. You've got that last chain of bullets, so use them. Eagle Eye, got any more rounds?"
The Sniper nodded. "'Bout twenty. Not includin' the ones in my pocket."
"Good! Then you use every last one of them. That brings me to you two." The Soldier turned to face the Medic and the Spy. "Fritz! You get Frenchie all nice and charged up. Frenchie, you will—"
"I will not!" The Spy interrupted, knowing what horrible demand was going to come from the Soldier's mouth.
"—lure that bastard to the surface. Make sure you've got an escape route planned. That's what you French people are good at, after all. The Sniper and the Heavy should be able to kill it once you've brought it up, so that should draw some attention away from you!" The Soldier gave the Spy a reassuring pat and a ridiculous smile. "You've been looking to get out of this situation anyway, right?"
The Spy slumped, his shoulders hunched. "Oui, but zat was because I did not want to get eaten!"
The Sniper tried to defend the Spy. "Listen, Soldier. This monster's probably sensin' us by vibrations. The Spy moight be able ta go invisible, but I doubt he can hide his footsteps."
"You've got a better idea, Cupcake?" the Soldier asked.
Perhaps the Sniper did not have an idea, but the Spy did. Without as much as a beat, he snatched the helmet from the Soldier's head. The American didn't know it was missing until the Spy was half-way across the rooftop. He growled as the Spy pitched his beloved helmet off the side of the roof. On cue, orange heads popped out of the sand. They began testing the helmet's durability. One of them even managed to snap a metal chunk out of the brim before the Sniper and the Heavy got into position. That wasn't quite what the Soldier had in mind, but it was working. He could hear the monster resurfacing, watching with bemusement as the giant Russian and the lanky Australian stood together and opened fired.
The Engineer yanked on the Soldier's sleeve. "Let's go, pardner!"
Both Americans flew down the stairwell. The Engineer paused to gawk at the monstrosity just outside the window on the first floor. It wasn't any prettier than the one he'd seen blown in half. The worm was writhing in pain, skin rippling like trembling flan with every bullet. He didn't dare to stay much longer. He rushed behind the Soldier, his short legs pumping as fast as they could go. With a crack of his elbow, the Soldier slammed the door to the basement floor open. Both men ran into the store room, destroying another door in their wake.
The store room was beautiful to see as a fully decorated tree on Christmas morning. Rows upon rows of guns sat in pristine lines. Ammunition was kept together in neat piles. Glass cases were set aside for some of the more valuable weapons. Antique pistols, family heirlooms, items so unorthodox that they were explicitly forbidden by the Administrator. Both men beamed. They rushed to opposing sides of the room, scooping up what they could. The Soldier grabbed a rocket launcher and two shotguns, placing them criss-cross on his back. He threw another belt of ammunition across his chest for the fair Sasha. The Engineer was just as greedy. As soon as he'd secured a fresh tool kit and an ample supply of metal, he began raiding. Not that he needed anything in particular—worst case scenario, he could always steal a shotgun off the Soldier. He grabbed two revolvers for the Spy, placing them on his hips. He snatched up a few needle guns for the Medic, unsure of what the Doctor would have preferred. At this point, probably anything would do. With a wicked gleam in his eye, the Engineer grabbed one of the heirloom weapons. The large caliber, the sturdy support, the sheer power—this beauty had to come from Saxton's personal collection. How the Sniper came to own it, the Engineer did not know. Perhaps it was impractical for most fights, but it would work well today.
As the Engineer strapped the last weapon to his back, he yelled at the Soldier, "Ready?"
The Soldier grinned. "Oh, hell y—"
The rest of his enthusiasm was cut short by a loud burst.
Grey bricks crumbled as a sharp, black beak cut into the store room. The Soldier leapt backwards, almost tripping over his own heels as their newest enemy bashed its head into a row of guns. The Engineer's jaw dropped, an awkward gasp escaping him. It had been bad enough to have been running away from that damn monster's brother when it devoured the Scout. Hell, even watching the monstrosity at the front of the barracks was awful. Now he could stare down its throat, watch as writhing masses no bigger than cow intestines wriggle out of its throat, each one directed with its own mind. It wasn't horrid enough that this beast could swallow a man whole. It was that it had mouths within mouths, throats in throats.
The Texan growled, then grabbed the gun from his back. If that damn thing wanted a meal, it could eat lead.
There was a complimenting smile from across the room. The Soldier snatched a shotgun from his side. Both men opened fire simultaneously. The Midwesterner blasted chunks from the worm's right flank, the Texan from its front. The worm's beak was resilient to the buckshot spray, but not so much to the sheer caliber of the gun the Engineer was wielding. It cracked the upper beak in two, almost disintegrating the lower beaks all together. The heads that hadn't hid in the worm's mouth for protection were pureed. Reddish-orange blood splattered across the floor, splashing onto the enraged Americans.
"Reloadin'!" The Engineer yelled to the Soldier. That was the bad thing about this particular gun. Two shots, and it was empty. It was powerful as all get-out, but it was clumsy to wield and had a poor range. Perhaps that was why the Sniper didn't use this weapon in combat. He relied on a faster bolt-action, a longer traveling course. He doubted the man used this gun for hunting elephants. Why else he'd have it, the Texan did not know.
The Soldier couldn't hear the Engineer over the sheer cacophony of the room. He didn't bother reloading his weapons. As soon as one shotgun was empty, he tossed the weapon aside and pulled another from the wall. His lips were curled in a sadistic smile as he pressed closer to the beast. The lashing from the worm's mouth did little to intimidate him. He went through a shotgun, a Reserve Shooter, a Force 'A Nature, a Family Business, a Frontier Justice. Every gun in his hand, every shot from his fingertips—something about the ringing in his head and the explosions at his fingertips made him feel invincible.
As the bloated, buckshot-filled worm pulled from the hole in the wall, the Soldier gave a deafening, victorious whoop. That bastard was on the run! He rushed towards the hole, hoping to pepper a few rounds into the coward's behind. It was not a second later that he realized he'd miscalculated the worm's tactic. The creature crashed a new hole through the wall, its head smashing the Soldier into a row of guns. He and the entire display were sent sprawling across the floor with the tremendous blow. He had barely enough sense in his head to recognize the foreign sensation of something rubbery and thick wind around his ankle and yank him forward.
The Engineer yelped as the Soldier was dragged towards the worm's maw. Damn man didn't have a lick of sense in his head! He reached for the Soldier's dropped shotgun, quickly wheeling the weapon onto his supporting hand. He made three quick pumps, placing the muzzle of the shotgun point-blank on the offending tendril. Blood splashed into his face as the tentacle was severed in a crude, messy line. The Soldier fell back, but wasn't down for long. He scrambled for another weapon, then aimed square for the center of the worm's mouth.
The worm shuddered as the Soldier opened fire. Every round burst in its mouth, striking the soft flesh around the wide hole in its throat. The Engineer backed him up, finally destroying the top beak in an explosion of black bone. It made an unearthly scream, the sound sending both men's eardrums into vibrating fits. Lashing out, amputated stumps tried dragging its prey into its wounded, toothless beak. Its tugs were weak, no stronger than a slight, sudden yank. With one last cry, it spat gore across the room, coating the Americans with the last of its strength. It raised its head one last time, then slammed into the floor with a sickening crunch. Blood gushed out of it, draining onto the ground like a fat, unstopped hose.
It took the two men a few seconds before they realized what they had done. Both men cheered, although neither could hear the other over the ringing in their ears. The Soldier raised his hand, and the Engineer reciprocated an action. If anything deserved a high five, it was that.
"We've gotta go check on the others!" the Engineer yelled.
The Soldier hollered back, "What?"
Shaking his head, the Engineer pointed upstairs. The Soldier nodded, this time agreeing "Oh! Ten four!" Both men grabbed the last of their things, charging up the stairwell. Just because they'd been fortunate didn't mean another worm couldn't come along and wipe them out. They were practically deaf as it was.
As both men raced up the stairwell, they glanced out the empty window frames. They were horrified to find a rapidly deteriorating situation happening outside. The worm had fully emerged from the ground, reared up as high as it could reach. Both the Soldier and the Engineer gawked at the creature. Its flesh was rough, uneven and spotted with random warm colors. It was easily as big around as the Medic's Kombi, large enough to easily slide someone as big as the Heavy down its gullet. Its tissue was rolled into the first floor, using the entire building as a support as it reached upwards. A wave of horror shot through the Engineer's nerves. It was climbing up to get his teammates.
The Soldier swatted him towards the stairs. "Get up there! I've got this!" Even if he couldn't hear him so well, he knew what the Soldier was getting at. As he dashed up to find what had befallen his teammates, the Soldier rushed towards the worm, rocket launcher already drawn. Shudders shook the building as the Engineer hoofed it. Either the Soldier's rockets were extremely powerful, or—
The Engineer yelled as he ascended to the second floor. The hallway was filled with the writhing mass of that monstrosity. Good Lord, it was much larger than the other two he'd seen before. He could feel the support beneath him straining to hold the monster's weight. It didn't help that the creature was thrashing violently, cutting itself and destroying tiles as it wrestled with whatever was going on upstairs. There was no time to waste. The Engineer made the last bound up the stairs, holding his ground as the front of the building trembled.
It was all too clear that the instigation team had the worse monster to deal with. Not only was it smarter than the creature in the store room and the beast that had eaten the Scout, but it had a hell of a lot of strength on it. The head of the beast was tattered, thick flesh hanging in ribbons around its face. Tendrils from its mouth had rooted itself into the ceiling and around the torso of the Medic. The Sniper was dangling from the roof, holding onto the Medic with all his strength while trying to slash the tendrils loose at the same time. The Spy had him grabbed by the waist, and the Heavy had the Frenchmen by his shoulders. The whole group was going to be pulled over the edge at any second.
The Engineer tossed his toolbox aside, reaching for the elephant gun on his back once more. He raced to the Heavy's side, almost throwing himself off the edge as he took aim at the monster. Several tendrils snapped under the gunfire, recoiling in shock and terror. The loss of their pull sent a shudder through the chain holding onto the Medic, almost as if they were going to fall over on habit. A growl escaped the Sniper, his teeth gritted together. The Medic gave a few sharp kicks to the monsters still biting into his heels. His boots sailed away, but the bindings around his waist were determined to keep the German captive no matter what.
Being out of the chain, the Engineer had enough time to realize that the entire mass of writhing tendrils was stuck around the Medic's belt. He hollered at the Sniper, "Mundy! His belt!"
The shout put enough sense into the Sniper's upside-down brain to get him moving. He secured his left arm around the Medic's chest, then aimed for the German's suspenders. With two gentle cuts, he snapped them free. He buried his face into the crook of the Medic's neck, trying to keep a hold on the Doc and maintain the blood flow in his head. He maneuvered his knife next to the Medic's belt, cutting the leather with a delicate sawing motion. Just as he snapped through the last of the German's belt, everything fell back. The chain of men hit the side of the building, stomachs slapped against its hard surface. It was only through the sheer strength of the Heavy's arms that they all made it back onto the rooftop.
All four men gulped for air. Oddly enough, the Medic was the first to snap back to attention. Perhaps his anger had something to do with it. "Ack! Mein trousers!"
"Yer welcome!" The Sniper laid on his back, his face bright red. He rolled his head to the side, asking the Engineer, "Where's the rocket hopper?"
Even if the Engineer could hear and understand what the Sniper was asking, he didn't get an opportunity to answer it. As soon as he opened his mouth, a blood-curdling rock shook the barracks. It was as if a giant ogre had taken a cudgel and slammed the barracks with the thickest part of its club. There was an awful crunch as supports in the first floor collapsed, torn apart by a strong torso ripping one out at a time. The space beneath the Spy and the Heavy fell as the second floor crumpled into the first. The Medic didn't make it far, the support slipping beneath him just as he got to his feet. Not even a final burst of energy could spare the Sniper or the Engineer from the failing structure.
Bodies disappeared beneath the rubble as everything folded into itself.
/***/
Author's Note
I think I covered pretty much every major stereotype from Tremors in one chapter. So…woo hoo?
I really wanted to say that the elephant gun was a .585 Gehringer, as it is an elephant gun developed by an Australian. However, I think the gun was built in the mid-eighties to early nineties, so that would clearly be a case of a time paradox.
I feel as though I half-assed this part. Let me make it up to you very soon…
Dialogue? What's that?