First Sighting
Machiko and Neera moved silently through the empty streets of Prosperity Wells, the shadows of night created by the flickering lights provided cover. It was unusual for Machiko, hiding like convicts escaping prison but it was a necessary move. Neera thought the same but was uneasy seeing the weapons the Japanese woman brought. It must be bad if the administrator is sneaking around.
"We're almost to the west side. Are you sure that the way is open?"
Neera glared, "You're questioning me now?"
Machiko didn't like the attitude, and it wasn't lost on Neera. She expected her to lash out in some small way but she turned away, checking the open street for any signs of life. It took everything in her not to spit at her for such a question, regardless of rank. You wanted my help and now this. So much for that.
They waited patiently behind a wall for a few minutes but something was off, "Machiko."
"I know," She poked her head out from the corner of the alley, "We should have seen patrols by now."
Normally, there would be rounds of guards walking the streets during curfew, not only to ensure everyone is safe but to deal with any creatures that might have the idea to wander close. Although the colony had been established for some time, they haven't even searched half the planet.
But now . . . it felt like the colony was a ghost town.
"Where are they?" Neera whispered and thought of the worst case scenario, "Do you think—"
"Don't move."
Neera and Machiko froze, the flash of a light beamed behind them and both raised their hands when they remembered their training, "Turn around. Slowly."
As commanded, they turned to face two flashlights that blinded them for a second, lowered to the ground to reveal familiar faces, "Machiko?"
"Hiroki?" The tension dispersed, confusion written on everyone's faces. Neera recognized the other man next to Hiroki, one of the head honchos from security named James. Machiko continued, "What are you doing out here?"
"I was about to ask the same thing," Hiroki tilted his head around to stare at Neera. She turned her gaze to the ground immediately. Great. I'm in trouble.
"And what is she doing here? I thought she was under house arrest."
"She's under my protection," She watched Machiko raise her chin and chest, determined, "And it's none of your business what I do with her."
In that instant, Hiroki's face suddenly morphed into a somewhat serious expression, "Where are you heading? Weren't you here to help?"
"Help what?"
Neera sensed the air thickening in confusion. She can feel something was wrong on both sides. They didn't know why Hiroki and James were out and vice versa . . . why the town appeared to be abandoned despite the lights in the buildings . . . and what reasons that brought them together. She saw both of them stare back with such shock and she knew it wasn't good.
"You didn't get the memo?" Hiroki asked, answered with a shake from Machiko, "We lost communications with Alpha and Delta teams that were scheduled for the night patrol. Things seemed fine until communications ceased suddenly. We're out here trying to find them."
What? The news caught Neera off guard. First it was the outposts and Dr. Revna . . . now we got patrols missing?
"How's that possible?" Her voice began to tremble.
"I don't know. Ackland said it wasn't a big deal but . . ." Hiroki lowered his face.
"You should know that Ackland doesn't give a shit and only gave you an excuse so you could stay out of the way. He's hiding something."
Hiroki's face shot up, "What are you planning, Machiko?"
"Finding out what he's hiding."
"Are you mad?" It sounded like he was angry but Neera could see it was more out of consternation, "Do you know what will happen if you do?"
"Of course," Machiko crossed her arms, "but I have no intention of letting him have his way and put the company at risk in the process."
Neera nodded silently. That I can agree with.
"But Machiko . . ."
"This is getting nowhere, Boss." Out of the blue, James had to butt in, annoying Neera like a fly that would go away, "We can't go against orders. What we're talking about is mutiny."
"And you think being on the other side is better?"
Neera couldn't stay silent anymore. As much as they were right in some way, she couldn't stand Ackland in more ways than one. She pushed Machiko aside and stepped in between to face James, "Many people are already dead and he's done nothing to stop it. I'm not going to stand back and watch so get out of our way or else."
"Or else what?" James growled, "You're nothing but a puny girl with no power or resources. You're worthless."
Worthless . . . That word punched her in the gut, muffled the yelling Machiko was doing so she couldn't hear one word. Her body stiffened and the memories came back once more.
Can't you do anything right!?
You were supposed to do what I asked like everyone else!
No wonder your parents abandoned you to die . . .
Neera's body turned cold and stiff. She couldn't control anything or even react for that matter, nothing more than a statue. No. Not again. Stop it . . . The world appeared to go darker, her eyesight fading. Please . . .
Danger . . .
Neera paused. That voice again! The anxiety that built up inside faded like a flip of a switch, the tone she heard was one of seriousness and worry. For good reasons as she soon found out.
When she did, she raised her voice, "Wait."
Everyone paused to see what had happened. James rolled his eyes, "What now? Trying to diverge from the subject since you can't take it?"
"James!" Hiroki pulled on his shoulder, mostly to keep him safe from Machiko about to give him a painful lesson.
"Not that," Neera said softly, "Listen."
For a few seconds, the air remained quiet until a faint noise could be heard. It didn't sound human, not even close when it grew in volume, it gurgled and then morphed from a growl and finally into a hiss. Neera and everyone else tensed as James loaded his rifle, pointed to where the noise apparently came from but because it was too dark, no one could tell if it was an animal or something else. Soon, it began to move, coming from the top of a building and then another, agitating James more, "What the fuck is it?"
"James," Machiko raised a hand, "Calm down."
"You fucking shut up."
"Hey . . ." Neera pointed, "What's that on you?"
She noticed something dripping on James' shoulder and pointed for him to see. He reached to touch it and then brought it back for all to see. His fingers were covered, stuck together like it was glue before it hardened. Bewildered, Neera tried to think if she'd seen it before but nothing came up.
Danger! The voice called again. What is dangerous!?
All of a sudden, the silence was shattered with a short scream from James. A mere second was all it took to realize the terror they faced.
A sharp, black spear jammed into his chest, sticking out of his chest, strong enough that pieces of his ribs protruded like thorns on a rose stem, dripping with dark liquid. Neera gasped, shielded by Hiroki and Machiko.
"James!" Hiroki screamed, answered with a death rattle before he was yanked to the sky and vanished. The sound of a faint scream was heard and then nothing but the quietness of the night.
"Get inside the building! Now!"
She nodded at Machiko's command. You don't have to tell me twice!
Neera got the fuck out of there, pushing her legs to the extreme, fueled by the others when they shoved her forward. She didn't hesitate to slam into it but when she made contact, it was hitting a rock wall. Her shoulder and side ached from the impact, "Shit! Something's blocking it!"
"Alright," Hiroki tried to speak calmly for her sake, "Help me get it open! Machiko, cover us!"
"You got it!"
As quick as she could, Neera ran to the other side and braced herself onto the door in mirror image to Hiroki, "On three together. One, two, three!"
She pushed with all her might, barely moving the door as the metal frame at the bottom scraped the ground. They tried again and again but it barely moved an inch. Whatever was blocking the door, it must have been fortified and there's only one reason it would be in the first place . . . to keep something out.
"Hiroki!" Machiko cocked her rifle, "You better pick up the pace!"
Sure enough, the hissing sound from before echoed through dead alleyways and the open air, coming closer to where they were in a mass number and in different directions from what she could tell. Neera's heart raced like an out of control train. There's more?!
"Now!"
A series of gunfire went off as Machiko shot into the darkness. Neera couldn't see what it was, too chaotic to even see with the flashes from the rifle. The panic began to set in as she shoved with all her might with Hiroki, hearing the horrible screeches when Machiko possibly got one.
Finally, the door gave in and provided a small opening to the inside, "Get in!"
Hiroki shoved Neera first, parts of her arms were sliced by a cabinet to which was the source of the blockage. She felt a brief moment of relief when she made it through but as Hiroki and Machiko got in time and shut the door behind, something hard crashed into it. Neera tumbled to the ground by the sudden barrage, shaking as she heard the hisses that heightened in a futile effort to open the door.
"Keep moving!"
Machiko pushed her forward, all three running to the exit on the other side in the hopes of escape. But like before, she rammed into it and bounced off. Oh no!
"It's locked!" Hiroki screamed when he jiggled the handle.
"Is there another way!?" Machiko screamed in frustration.
Neera froze as the bombardment from the door traveled through the walls as the creatures crawled around to find a way in. She gripped her temples, her mind filled up with so much pressure that it could explode and the argument between Machiko and Hiroki didn't help.
What do we do? What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?
She wanted to curl into a corner and wait for this nightmare to be over. This is too much. We're not going to make it.
It's over.
But then, she saw something in the corner of her eyes. Squinting her eyes, she realized it was the same shadow that led her through the labs. It had a bit of form this time, almost gigantic and humanoid, but glided like a ghost near the wall until it vanished. What?
Inside her body, a force drew her to find out. Neera headed to where the shadow was. She searched around until noticing a small latch on the wall, having the words 'For Emergencies Only' written under the bar, leading to a steel ladder that went underground.
Her eyes lit up. The service tunnels!
"Machiko! Hiroki! I found a way out!" She had opened the latch by the time the both of them got to where she was. She sensed the creature knew their attempt at escape, the bolts of the door popped and the hinges snapped from the edges as the door groaned.
Neera went down first, quickening her pace with Machiko close behind. Just as Hiroki barely sealed the latch shut, a loud crash was heard and the next thing she knew, the latch suddenly split partially in the middle. Neera's heart trembled in absolute terror as she got a glimpse of a skeletal black hand almost latching on Hiroki's face with its dagger-like claws.
"Shit!"
The next thing Neera knew, her head took the brute force of two fallen bodies and then herself, all under the mercy of gravity as they plunged through the darkness. The unbearable pain enhanced when she crashed on whatever met her at the bottom, almost like hard concrete. Her back radiated with sore pain, bones cracking each time she attempted a deep breath. Although it wasn't a deep drop, she didn't come out unscathed.
A whimper escaped her lips. Fucking Hell . . .
She heard mixed groans from the other side of the abyss. Machiko . . . Hiroki . . . Neera forced her body to lie on her stomach, ignoring the inner screams as she got to her stumbling feet, "Guys?"
"Neera?" She saw the two walking to her, Hiroki was the first to greet her, "Are you alright?"
"Bruised but I'll live," She groaned, holding her back, "Machiko?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me," She spoke with distaste. Neera rolled her eyes, not in the mood for a fight. Her body did enough to discourage her when a jolt ran down a leg.
"Where are we?" Machiko asked.
"These are the service tunnels. They travel throughout Prosperity Wells in case of emergency evacuations."
"Luckily we found one in the nick of time . . . before that creature could have its way with us," Hiroki dusted off his shirt, "Now what? Do these tunnels lead to the labs?"
"Yeah," Neera spoke with a painful sigh, "We use these sometimes for faster transportation of materials . . . or to hide things. They're connected in some buildings."
She thought about the way Ackland came without little warning, bringing the survivors and the alien warrior. Must have used these too.
"We need to keep moving. That thing might still be following."
"You don't have to say it twice, Hiroki."
With flashlights on, Neera followed behind as they went into the tunnels, a tight fit and too dark to see a few feet ahead even with the intense beams of light, a heavy sense inside her chest that it wasn't the end of it. The voice and shadow appeared again in such a short time and despite the sense that it was giving warnings and leads to her, it made her skin crawl. Not a guardian angel that's for sure. But . . . She held her shoulders, holding them still when they started to shiver, a sense of dread flowed through for a moment.
Maybe it's something else . . . But why now?
Suddenly, she had to stop when an overwhelming sensation ran through her nose. It was nasty, almost putrid that almost made her stomach turn. Urg!
"Guys. Do you smell that?"
Hiroki and Machiko stopped, "What sm—"
Their faces contorted into one of illness. Hiroki looked as if he was about to puke his guts while Machiko did her best to cover her nose and mouth, the smell hitting them like a ton of rocks.
Machiko swallowed, "Smells like . . . rotten meat."
The smell intensified as they walked forward, it wasn't long until they moved the flashlights toward the walls that they caught a glimpse of what was to come. Splatters of blood decorated everywhere, the ceiling and all, nothing was untouched. That dreadful feeling in Neera worsened but from another source. There were traces of clear liquid that appeared similar to what dripped on James. Is the creature here? A tight ball stuck in her throat. Oh no.
"Stay close," Machiko raised an arm, cocking her gun, "I see something ahead."
Neera shakily followed, the tension was high as they cautiously followed the trail of crimson. It didn't help when the pipes that ran down here either trembled or dripped water, making them jump at the slightest sound. Soon as their lights flashed ahead to a junction that connected a series of tunnels, all of them gasped in shock. The blood and gore they found was like they stepped into a horror scene set.
Only much worse . . . and very real.
Hi everyone!
Finally got another chapter for this one, very surprising with starting a new job but I hope you like this one as we got our first appearance of a dear dark skinned friend. You'll know what I mean lol.
Enjoy and more will come! :)