Slaughterhouse
The first thing that hit her after she passed out was the throbbing pain in her head. Shit . . . What happened? It seemed like forever before she could move her fingers to reach behind, feeling a strange, warm fluid through the strands of hair. When she looked and her vision slowly blurred back, her chest tightened at what she saw. Blood . . . My blood . . .
The screams, shouts, gunfire, and inhuman roars came flooding into her ears, shocking her enough to wobble to her feet. It wasn't long before she realized she was standing in the middle of a battlefield, soldiers and anyone else who was armed grabbed guns and fired wildly into the open air. Where's the enemy? She couldn't see anything, no one was on the other side of the blown-up doors but everyone was still shooting. What's with them!?
"Neera!" She heard Machiko calling, "Get out of there!"
She scrambled to look around and then saw Dr. Revna was still unconscious next to her. She kneeled, shaking the doctor awake, "Neera . . ?"
"Get up! We need to go!"
"What . . ?" She shook her head, "What are you—"
"There's no time!"
With all her might, she got Dr. Revna on her feet and pulled her towards the makeshift barrier of tables and cabinets where Machiko and everyone was. Somehow, the blue blasts that kept coming didn't hit them but one got close enough that the skin on her arm began to burn. Plasma rifles!? A small pinch of relief came as soon as they dived behind the barrier.
"Are you two alright!?" Machiko shouted, still firing at whatever.
"I'm fine," Neera said.
"What about Miriam?"
"I'm good too, Machiko," Dr. Revna groaned, pressing a hand on her forehead, "What's going on though?"
"I don't know but stay down! !" Machiko kept screaming over the blasts and sounds of bullets from her rifle, "Get the sick and injured out of here!"
The battle kept going on, shouts and cries of agony were heard afterward. Neera curled into a tight ball, clamping her ears to dull the noise but the blood-curdling shrieks came banging within her skull, each time sending her heart racing to the point of bursting open.
This isn't happening! It's all a nightmare, Neera! Just a nightmare! You'll wake up and be fine . . . Everything will be fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine.
Suddenly, she heard a roar like no other very close by, and in a weird sense, it calmed her inside, almost scaring her until the voice emerged, pure hatred in its tone. Bad Blood!
Without thinking, Neera peeked her head over the barricade and witnessed a killing in the process. A soldier was hovering above the ground by a good few feet, something ripping through his stomach and tearing out his spine that made her gut twist to the point of tearing apart. That is until a sliver of a shape caught her eyes, only lasting a second but she could have sworn she saw sparks flickering, hiding a massive silhouette that no one noticed.
Neera scrambled to find anything, her fingers touching the pistol that she'd forgotten was still on her. I can use that! She snatched the pistol and pressed her elbows above the barricade for support since her hands were shaking. The figure moved with such speed and strength, massacring any person that got in its path that it was almost impossible until her moment finally came.
There! She pulled the trigger and a single bullet zipped through the space and hit its target.
The figure hissed and small sparks popped and zapped in the air, slowly revealing a humanoid creature, seven feet tall, muddy green and brown scaly skin over a very built body and dressed in armor and fishnets as it belonged to a tribe. Its face was hidden behind a cold mask but she felt the hatred as it directed its sights on her, holding to its shoulder where the bullet ripped through, trying to stop its strangely green blood from oozing.
"Oh shit!"
It came with a fire of fury, leaping through the line of defense like nothing, everyone scattered to avoid it. Neera squeaked, barely missed being crushed by its feet, and now stuck between its legs. Driven by fear, she fired again but it grabbed the barrel despite having a hole through its palm and threw it away. Her heart pounded in a mad frenzy, her body frozen and eyes widened as the being raised its arm and two serrated blades protruded from some arm brace. It's gonna kill me!
As fast as it happened, the being jerked back as if shoved away. Neera only had to look lower to realize it was shot in the chest and then some more fired. She wrapped her arms as the bullets flew over until they ceased. After a quivering moment, she saw the thing lying on the floor in its own, greenish blood, contemplating just what was in front of her.
Bad Blood . . .
"Neera! Come on!"
Machiko shook her out of her trance, yanking her to the point that she felt like her arm was going to pop out of its socket, "Fall back!"
Everyone turned to run, many falling to the unknown force that stalked them or being accidentally shot by their own. Neera could only follow with Machiko dragging her, watching the horror of seeing more of the same creature materializing, roaring for their fallen comrade that sounded like a command to take revenge.
"They killed Da'lk!" One of his followers cried out, "Tichinde!"
"Shut up!"
Tichinde observed the corpse of his second, displeased and angry that someone like him, who fought hard and brave throughout the seasons, succumbed to the wrath of puny oomans and now his corpse was left here like scrapped meat, stupid as his actions were. He should have expected such vulgar behavior from the oomans, they were hulij-bpe, to begin with, running away like vermin, "Those filth . . ."
"We should go after them! Hunt them down! Revenge for Da'lk!" The others burst in roars, raising their dtai'thas in a death chant to kill the oomans. The eagerness inside him wanted to do the same but not when there's a horde of idiotic warriors with him, they needed to stay on point.
"Enough!" Tichinde screamed and they all quieted down, even heard through the chaos of others still chasing their prey and slaughtering all in their path. He waited for a few seconds for his heart and body to calm down slightly.
"We will get the oomans," His biomask scanned and alerted that the remaining ooman survivors had locked themselves in another room at the back, locked by doors far less penetrable than the ones before, "But let's come up with a plan to drive their little nest out. And then we will have our victory!"
Tichinde and everyone else howled in nan-de than gaun, the rest followed as they listened to the chant. The fight wasn't over yet and he had a new unfinished business to take care of. He unsheathed his blades and growled, remembering the small brown-haired ooman that had shot at Da'lk.
"But remember . . . That ooman is mine."
Neera barely made it out with Machiko and Dr. Revna, the doors closing to protect the sick, young, and injured inside a small room, which cramped quickly in the rush of panic and fear.
"This is madness . . ."
"First the black monsters . . . and now these things are hunting us."
"We're going to die!"
Neera tried to shut it out but it was like standing in front of a foghorn and keeping the ears shut, too much to ignore with all the emotions swirling that all it would take for chaos to erupt is a match, just a single one and it wouldn't be long before she knew where it would come from.
"You coward!" Machiko stormed over to where Ackland was, staring at the humanoid creature that was still strapped to the table with Hiroki somehow sitting on a box, barely keeping himself up. Right as he turned around, Machiko threw a fist at the underside of his jaw, stumbling to the ground yelling at the pain that followed, "This is all your fault!"
"My fault!?" Ackland struggled to get back up, fueled by anger, "You think I planned all of this?! I didn't think that two extraterrestrials would convene here to kill us! I did what I could to save our people!"
"I see! So hiding in this room instead of fighting us protects them as you so claimed! I should have expected someone to throw away their honor if it meant saving oneself!"
"Why you!"
Their faces came dangerously close as they began to shove at each other. It was a bad image to show in front of a group of scared people, two superiors butting heads in the middle of this chaos, "Both of you! Stop it!"
Hiroki yelled but it was Dr. Revna who intervened the best she could but when it was clear that putting herself between the two only made things worse, Neera came to help. Ackland was about to throw a punch just as she grabbed his arm and tugged him away. She struggled when he attempted to shove her away, "Stop it!"
The fighting stopped immediately as they heard Hiroki, all moving away as he trembled to get up and Dr. Revna ran to hold him, "This had gone far enough," He hissed in pain, "Ackland."
"She started it," He pointed at Machiko, both exchanging death glares.
"Doesn't matter," Hiroki spoke calmly, "Both of you are responsible and things will get ugly if we don't come together with a plan to survive."
Despite not being the administrator anymore, he was still powerful, the way he spoke and the demeanor of calmness and yet assertiveness gave everyone else a sense not to mess with him, even Ackland in a sense. After a minute passed, all of them appeared to settle and Hiroki nodded, "Thank you."
Dr. Revna escorted him back to sit, "So what's the situation?"
Machiko sighed, "I . . . don't know. We thought it was the black bugs that were attacking. Instead, there were these humanoid aliens that came out of nowhere, using technology more advanced than anything I've ever seen. By the time we could counter, many of my men died."
"You mean like him?" Where that question came from, Neera didn't know but she pointed to the being on the table, eyes closed in peace.
"Yeah," Machiko stared, "Like him."
"What if they are coming for him?" Dr. Revna asked quietly as to not draw attention, "To break him out?"
"What do you suggest?" Ackland questioned with a tone of annoyance and somewhat uneasiness, "To set him free?"
"We don't know but if it is, then we might be spared," Machiko stores toward the alien, "then we should try," Her hand reached out to one of the straps.
"No!" Ackland smacked her away, blocking her path, "We can't."
"Why not?" She growled.
At first, Ackland seemed hesitant, almost expecting another punch or something but he spoke, "It's orders from the company."
Neera pulled her head back. Orders from Chigusa? I never heard of it. Judging by the surprised looks on Dr. Revna and Machiko, neither of them had any clue of this whatsoever, and that enraged her inside. True to form, Ackland. What a snake.
"When . . ." Machiko stomped her foot, "was this order given? And why haven't we heard a mention of it?"
Ackland grumbled, "It's classified."
Machiko grabbed his collar and forced him on a nearby wall, "To Hell, it's classified! You better tell us right now or this time I'll punch out your teeth!"
"Alright! Alright! Alright!" He pushed her away, trying to get back his composure by straightening his hat, "We were ordered to preserve the species of all extraterrestrials, including the humanoid and the black bug no matter the costs."
Something clicked in Neera's mind like all of the puzzle pieces were falling into place. So he didn't alert Prosperity Wells . . . kept his coworkers in the dark . . . let everyone die horribly like animals to the slaughter . . . because the company decided the aliens are with more than their lives!? The shock of the revelations froze her body and emptied her mind except for the images of the dead bodies in the tunnels. Ted . . .
Dr. Revna was shocked, Hiroki unable to open his mouth but it was Machiko who voiced out what they all wanted to say, "Are you serious!?"
Ackland puffed, "What do you want me to say? That this is all a joke? A nightmare that all of us will wake up from? Sorry but this is reality and I'm just following orders."
"You're the devil's advocate," Machiko tightened her fists, "When this is all over, I'll see to it that you pay for all of this."
Neera lowered her head. If we make it out of here first.
"Help! I need help!"
Everyone raised their heads and ran to where the noise was coming from. Neera could see a man holding a patient down on the table who was thrashing back and forth like a wild beast, clawing at his chest. Revna hurried to one side, "What's happened?"
"I don't know!" The man sweated profusely, fear written in his eyes, "He was fine a minute ago and now he's screaming, complaining about chest pain!"
"Any fever?"
"No! I . . . I don't . . . I don't know!"
"Neera! Come help me!"
She came to the doctor's side right away, "Check his pulse."
She nodded and pressed two fingers on the junction of his neck but then, the man seized and then started to spat blood, clawing at her face, forcing Neera to pull back. Her eyes caught his chest bulging as if something was trying to come out, "Miriam!"
The man's chest burst wide open, tissue and red liquid splattered like a bomb went off. Everyone backed off, only able to watch as a wiggling, wet thing emerged like a worm, pale but similar in structure to the black monsters. Why? It hissed and snapped its jaws, everyone stepping back in horror at it. There was no doubt the man was dead, his limp body slacked over the table, hanging on by his torso. Oh my god . . .
"What is that thing!?" Ackland yelled.
The small creature suddenly jumped and crashed into the man next to Dr. Revna, biting into his face with no hesitation. The man screamed to get it off and Machiko pulled out her pistol, a surprise shot that killed the thing. It dropped to the ground, contorting until it died but Neera was shocked as itsblood burned through the floor . . . too familiar. Shit.
"What the fuck was that?!" Ackland yelled but no one could answer.
And then, like a domino effect, more patients began to scream, thrash and claw like the first one. Neera turned left and right as many were dying all of a sudden, the same creatures bursting from their chest and attacking anyone near them. Most went into a panic and started shooting wildly, not even caring that they fired at innocents and children trying to seek protection. In a second, the room that was supposed to be a means of salvation became a butcher house for the slaughter.
"This is madness!" Machiko had led them behind a desk, having to drag shocked Dr. Revna with them, "What now!?"
Everyone didn't speak, there weren't any solutions they could think of to get out. The madness turned everyone on each other. I have to do something. Neera scrambled in her mind for some plan, any on the spot whatever if it was bad or good.
Then it hit her. Set him free.
Acting on instinct, Neera took off and ran to the being on the table, working on the buckles that kept them together. She was halfway in getting her one freed when she was grabbed from behind, glancing back to notice it was Ackland, "Let me go!"
"Are you crazy!? I won't let you release it!"
"You're the one who's crazy!" Neera bit into his hand as soon as it got close enough. He shrieked, releasing his grip just enough for her to escape and see Machiko running to them. She couldn't wait for her and with some tug, the strap was gone.
But when she thought it would solve everything, she was completely wrong. Right then, the humanoid grabbed her throat and squeezed. Neera choked and gagged as it pulled her off the ground effortlessly.
"Neera!"
She barely heard the voice behind, all senses dulled except for the angry, golden eyes staring within inches from her face.
Hi everyone!
My apologies for the delay of this chapter so to make up, it will be a little longer than the others but more than exciting when you read this! Lots of blood and gore and then ending will make you wonder :)
Hope you like it and more chapters to come!
Good Hunting! :)))))
Normal = Human speaking human language
Bold and Italics = Yautja speaking Yautja language
Dtai'thas = Weapons
Hulij-bpe = Crazy
Nan-de than gaun = Kiss of Midnight (No mercy)