(This chapter provides a lot of insight on David Somers character, its main purpose is to give you readers a peek into Daniel's insanity, Enjoy!
PS, if this story is making you cringe, laugh or even smile, than at least I know I've done something right *wink* XD.
Still want to know why Gwenn's Grandpa is totally nuts? Then read on and find out :)
-Chapter seven: A soldiers broken past...
(Elsewhere a familiar face finds himself staring out one of the windows of the Silver-Gate memorial hospital, a soldier with a wounded past never heals the wounds of his mind...)
-Daniel's POV
He could feel it, the all too familiar and unnerving feeling deep in his bones that he could never forget. They say once you jump into a cold lake, you eventually get used to the temperature, what nobody understands is that there are some things a man can never get accustomed to.
It was like a sixth sense, he could feel their presence, the unholy creatures kept lurking in the corners of his eyes, only this time it was really happening, this time it wasn't just his old eyes deceiving him.
Daniel Somers lent against the windowsill, scratching at the irritating bandage wrapped tightly around his torso and chest, open heart surgery was no walk in the park, two days later and he was still feeling the effects of the drugs that had put him under, and then gently numbed his pain into nothingness.
For years he had evaded them, for years he'd watched soldiers die, men, brothers, sons, nephews it didn't matter, they'd always meet the same fate. Whether they were ripped apart or dragged away, he would never see them again, so many bodies, some in pieces, some not, sometimes you couldn't even recognize some individuals through all the blood, sometimes there wasn't anything left to salvage, nothing to bury.
He chuckled to himself, leaning against the window as his chest painfully heaved in and out from his own amusement, "I knew I couldn't escape them, and now they're coming..." He whispered out to the invisible creatures far off in the distance, behind him Daniel heard the groans of the young kid involved in a motorcycle accident, he'd only lost a few fingers and some skin, he should consider himself lucky.
"Ugh, could someone please shut up the old man, he's been talking to ghosts for hours!" The young man complained pulling the covers over his face, madly pressing the assistance button attached by a wire to his bed, trying frantically to call the nurse.
Daniel just shook his head, a mad smirk across his face, "The bugger, one little accident and he thinks his world's gone crashing down on him." He said this with a little more enthusiasm and amusement than Daniel had intended, pushing his arm against the windowsill and getting to his feet, he slowly made his way to the arrogant kids bedside.
He watched with pity as the tanned sandy blonde with long dreadlocks dared to peer out from under the sheets, much like a scared child, his eyes were wide with worry, before they narrowed in irritation.
"What do you want old man?" He sneered, Daniel could tell he was putting on a brave face as he settled himself into the armchair beside him, ignoring the ignorant remark Daniel decided to skip the pleasantries and get right down to business, "Whats your name...Kid?" He asked casually grasping the cigarette hanging over the side of a coffee cup on the bedside table, then twiddling it in his fingers and eying the object. "You know, there's a no smoking sign just above the door." He added wetting his finger in his mouth and putting out the last few remaining embers on the tip of the cigarette.
The younger just stared for a moment after hearing the small sizzle of the embers get put out, Daniel then discarded the cigarette in a nearby waste bin, "Seth, whats it you?!" He replied coldly, sitting up so he could shuffle his way back a little and put a little distance between himself and the older man.
Daniel just smirked again leaning closer to Seth's face, the watched the kid cringe and try to lean back but he grabbed the shirt of his collar. "Well...Seth, you wanna know how I got these scars?" He asked this in a rather cold and slow manner, he watched and tried to contain his own amusement as Seth's eyes slowly moved down from his face, down to the numerous lines, marks and scars that decorated all over his arms, he almost chuckled when the kid cringed again, the movements of his eyes were following the lines of each scar.
"Mr. Somers, I would kindly ask you to leave the poor ignorant fool alone." A gruff female voice called out from the doorway, the woman looked around fifty, overweight with graying red hair tied into a loose bun, wearing a dark red lipstick and way too much eyeliner, the RN narrowed her blue eyes at him.
Calmly letting the shirt go, Seth fell back into his bed, Daniel hadn't even realized he had been holding him up off the bed slightly. Daniel mock saluted her, "Anything you say, ma'am." He mused getting up, her eyes followed him as he went to sit on his own bed, in the meantime Seth had gotten up and moved to hide behind the huge woman as she strode over to his bedside, grabbing the clipboard at the front of the bed and checking something off with a red marker.
"Not that I'll be sad to see you go..." She started but narrowed her eyes again as Daniel gave her an eye roll and then a mischievous smirk, scoffing and looking at the clipboard again, "Your doctors decided to let you back to your family, you've recovered well and we're starting to run out of room." She didn't look at him as she spoke, "When can I leave then?" Daniel asked simply, she looked up at him with a raised brow, "Immediately, your granddaughters at the front desk, signing your paperwork..." And with that she left, leaving him to gather his things, not that he'll be sad to leave this place...
(Elsewhere, in the waiting room...)
-Gwenn's POV
"...And he's also been charged with three accounts of assault." Gwenn tapped her foot impatiently against the tiled floor as the receptionist recited what all of her grandfather had managed to do in the last seventy two hours during his stay at the hospital recovery ward.
"Yeah, yeah put it on my tab. Anything else?" Gwenn remarked annoyed, she had her mind on other things, like how her grandfather was going to react when he met the giant alien who had practically saved his life nearly three days ago.
She had instructed Bakuub to meet them at the rangers station, all she had needed to do was point him in the right direction before he had cloaked himself and disappeared out of nowhere, impressive, she was thankful he was on their side, she had a few nightmares over the past few days, all ending with Gwenn at the sharp end of his spear tip.
While in all honestly she was being paranoid, if Bakuub had wanted to kill her he would've done so almost a week ago on his ship, "What had made him stop, why didn't he kill me when he had the chance?" She wondered to herself, it was a question she'd asked herself many times over the last few days.
She was shaken from those thoughts when the receptionist cleared his throat and leaned forward over the front desk, adjusting the large round glasses that kept falling off the end of his nose. He looked more like a librarian than a nurse, a woolen vest, red bow-tie and long sleeve shirt looked like something of a stereotypical nineties children's cartoon, where the evil librarian wouldn't let an eight year old borrow some old books.
"No that will be all...Miss Somers." He responded in a rather cold tone, narrowing his eyes. Gwenn didn't dare look behind her, she could feel the stares, even in a bigger city many knew that with her family name, came bad luck for many that followed.
She kept her head down as she turned around, and took a seat in the corner of the room, hoping to hide most of her form behind the rather large house plant in the corner, an older mousy looking woman moved another seat away as Gwenn reluctantly sat next to her, she shrugged it off, she was used to it, how she would've loved to disappear into the crowd and become just another face, but alas fate is not kind to all, a large portion of the people who lived on this side of the city generally disliked and avoided her family altogether.
The waiting was the hardest part, a few minutes could feel like an eternity when in bad company, Gwenn only occasionally looked up from the floor, an older man sitting across from her would sometimes look up from his newspaper to glare in her direction before quickly covering his face with it when she would look up.
She sighed, with all the technological advances humanity had made in the last century, man had still had yet to learn to accept one another, that some individuals were entitled to make a few mistakes in their lifetime.
Perhaps it would never end, perhaps humanity would simply find something else to blame their problems on when things went wrong, why were people always looking for more excuses to hate one another?
She couldn't hide her smirk as she watched her grandfather be escorted down the hallway and stop at the receptionists desk, older woman with graying red hair stood behind him with her arms crossed, "I see he's been making friends..." She chuckled to herself quietly, she smiled as he approached, not limping but clutching his chest, as he almost fell into her arms and gave his granddaughter a hug.
"Took you long enough kid, the people here are nuts." He harshly whispered into her ear before righting himself and trying to stand up straight, she put her arms out slightly in case he fell forwards, he raised his hands, "I'm okay...Just finding my footing that's all." He mumbled trying to smile at her, "Can't say I missed you...Old man." She joked smirking and picking up his army green duffel bag, he smiled to himself as he followed her to the door, "Feelings mutual kid." He mused as they approached the van parked opposite the road.
-Nobodies POV
Daniel eyed the trailer attached to the back of the van as they approached, "I'd be a fool if I thought you were taking me home." He mused patting the top of her head, Gwenn frowned and gently slapped his hand away, "There was some weird activity at the rangers station, I thought we'd head there first." She started opening the door to passengers seat for him, "I guess all the drills I did with you as a kid, finally paid off." Her grandfather smirked as he eased his way into the big vehicle, she merely rolled her eyes as she went around the front of the van and got into the drivers seat.
Gwenn rolled her eyes as she settled herself into the seat, trying to get more comfortable and adjusting the mirrors, "You used to wake me up with a foghorn in the middle of the night and tell me that aliens were in the attic...Funny when your five and you believe we actually had an attic, which we don't!" She mumbled out still rolling her eyes as her grandfather snickered under his breath, "Still, you learnt something didn't you?" He cussed nudging her side with his elbow playfully, Gwenn only allowed a small smile to form at the corner of her mouth, making him sit back with amused satisfaction.
"I guess so.." She quietly mused, starting the engine, she momentarily paused to look at the papers she'd snatched from a local news-stand, "Have you read the paper yet? The front page is particularly interesting..." Gwenn chose her words carefully, she didn't want her grandfather to have a freak out session in the confinement of this vehicle, which was too small to contain such a sanity as her grandfathers.
His tired eyes only looked down at the newspaper for a moment in acknowledgment before shaking his head and looking out the window, "I have...Interesting how those bison were attacked, holes ripped in their abdomens..." His tone was almost to calm for her liking, too casual.
She turned to look at him for a split second, brow furrowed. "You and I both know it only takes hours for them to emerge from their hosts...If I remember your teachings correctly." Gwenn kept a casual tone as well, trying to calm her ever so growing nerve, keeping her eyes on the road as they made their way through the confinements of the city.
Daniel chuckled turning to look at Gwenn as she focused on driving, "You always were too smart for your own good...I wish your father had also inherited my smarts like you had." He mused still chuckling, Gwenn raised a brow, "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult." She muttered as she approached the exit towards the edge of the city, pulling out into the all too familiar dirt road, no sign of wildlife anywhere.
"So its already started then..." Daniel continued lowering his head and rubbing his temples in thought, "No doubt they'll head to the center of the city...Where there will be plenty of hosts..." He added before she cut him off, "...Where they'll hide and kill, until there's enough of them to take on an army, I know, I know..." Gwenn muttered as she kept scanning the trees, bushes and clearing for any signs of life, none whatsoever.
Daniel almost blinked in surprise, his granddaughter was smart, she could already use what little knowledge he had given her about xeno's to even predict their general behavior, she would definitely survive this invasion, that much was obvious, but at what cost?
Their questionable thoughts and opinions on the subject at hand was subsided when they approached the broken down rangers station, windows were broken, blood spattered all over the front door, the bodies of men and women in black suits lay scattered around a tall muscular figure.
"Oh, shit..." Gwenn muttered face-palming, that's exactly what the alien needed, to attract unnecessary attention from the authorities, whats worse, his belt was decorated with skulls hanging from their spinal cords attached to his belt, still dripping with blood.
She stepped out of the van, her grandfather still in shock tried to grab her hand to stop her as she stepped outside, "Kid come back..." He hissed under his breath, too shocked to move he watched in horror as his granddaughter approached the horrible, tall scaled man...Creature, thing.
Daniel finally built up the nerve to step out the vehicle himself, mouth hanging open like a fish as Gwenn and the creature conversed in front of the van, quite casually as a matter of fact. They ceased their quiet and inaudible conversation to him as Daniel approached, the creature even bowed slightly as he stepped forward.
"Gwenn...Who in the mother of hell is that?...What the fuck is that thing?!" He shouted out angrily, he felt like his family had betrayed the human race, simply by talking to this strange creature.
Gwenn visibly sighed slumping her shoulders forward in nervousness, "Grandpa...Meet humanities only hope, this is Bakuub..."
Cliffhanger!...I know I promised xeno killing and there will be, in the next chapter! Bye bye for now :)