Chapter 5
It was Mitch and Elizabeth's turn for patrol duty,the
3rd time this week. Patrol duty was the worst for Mitch and
Lizzy, as they were always paired together but hated the living
hell out of each other. Lizzy thought Mitch was a total mental
case (which he was) and Mitch thought Lizzy was the most profoundly
boring person in the sector.
They had stopped in a clearing to take a rest after walking
around the jungle for three hours. Lizzy sat down on the ground and
stretched out her sore limbs. Mitch's attention was caught by a
strange little animal sitting on a branch. It had deep green skin,
with small arms and legs, a little head atop a snake-like neck, and a
rather long tail that swished about. It was eating away at a purple
fruit when Mitch had a devilish idea and his mouth grinned from ear to ear.
Raising his right arm, he aimed at the creature's tail, and
activated the flame-thrower, firing a short burst. The lower part of the
creature's tail caught of fire, and with a screech, jumped off its perch.
Still screaming, it spread its arms wide and revealed a thin layer of skin
that stretched from arm to leg. The creature's "wings" caught the wind and
the poor thing just missed hitting the ground. Riding the wind, it glided
deeper into the jungle, but not before starting a little bush on fire.
Mitch was laughing hysterically, slapping his knee and nearly choking
to death. "What the hell's the matter with you!" In a fit of rage, Lizzy
stood up and turned a still laughing Mitch around to face her. "What the fuck
is the matter to you, Mitch! That was a poor, defenseless creature you burned!"
"Well, it sure burned good!" Mitch began another series of uncontrollable
laughter, to the point that he fell on the ground, grabbing his sides because
they hurt so much from laughing. "I swear, Mitch, I'm gonna mess you up good...."
Mitch calmed down enough to realize that Lizzy had gone quiet. He looked
up at her and saw she was looking off behind him. He also saw the flicker of a
burning fire reflected in her eyes. Mitch turned to face what was once a small
fire was now on the verge of becoming a raging blaze. But that wasn't what had
grabbed their attention. The fire had illuminated a pair of two slanted, red
eyes. Soon that pair became a trio, then a dozen, then two dozen. As the eyes
came closer, the fire began illuminating fangs, claws and other nasty things
designed to draw blood. "Ah shit," was all Mitch could say.
Chapter Six
Slowly, Shawn began to wake up, and found himself in the sleeping quarters,
with the lights dim and door shut. Trying to remember what he had been doing here,
he realized his left arm was wrapped around something warm, and looked over. A
mostly nude (her lower half was covered by sheets) Maria was lying next to him in
bed, and as his vision got better, he saw his hand was cupped over her left breast.
He traced her right arm running over his stomach and downward, disappearing under
the sheets and holding onto his favorite friend. "Now I remember," he said quietly,
not to wake Maria up, but his movements stirred his companion awake. A drowsy Maria
gradually fluttered her eyes open, and turned her head to face Shawn.
"
That was pretty good, lover boy," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Only
pretty good? You mean I wasn't great? I'm heartbroken." "Think you have enough
energy to redeem yourself?" "Let's try." Maria rolled over on to Shawn and sat up,
her legs spread on either side of Shawn, revealing her beautifully rounded, yet perky
tits. They would've continued on if only the emergency lights and siren hadn't turned
on and startled them half to death. "Guess we'd better see what's going on," said
Maria, hoping off and begining picking her clothes off the ground. "Damn it," replied
Shawn, shortly joining her. "Why can't these things ever wait?"
The hastily dressed pair hurried down to the main hall to find the squad helping
a bloody Elizabeth onto the table. "Lizzy!" Maria ran to the side of her unconscious
friend, still in her combat suit, which had been recently furbished with several gashing
holes. "Let's get her out of that thing," said Mason, as most of the squad took the suit
off piece by piece. Shawn stood there, staring at the bloody Elizabeth, then looked over
to see Mitch, leaning against the wall and breathing heavy. Shawn ran to his side.
"Mitch, what the hell happened?!?" "They....they...they just kept coming! So many
....claws....they were just everywhere!" "Calm down, damn it! Tell me what happened!"
"These....things, they surrounded us. The smaller ones, some of them....jumped on
Elizabeth, started stabbing her. She shot some off, but....she fell....I got the rest.
Damn little buggers are hard....to kill. Began dragging her away, but.....the big ones.....
like snakes or something....shot these....spines at us. Burned them all good, yes, burned
....them all good. The whole jungle should.......be on fire now...."
With that, Mitch fell forward on his face, and Shawn saw several of the long,
jagged-edged spines sticking out of his left shoulder. "Lieutenant!" Mason rushed over
to Shawn's yell and saw the wounds. "Thank god they didn't hit the fuel tank," he said,
whipping sweat and blood off his face. "Help me get them out."
As Mason slowly clenched his hands around one of the spines, everyone froze as a
mammoth roar pierced the compound. It was less a roar then it was a chorus of a thousands
voices, off in the distance. The entire squad, except for Lizzy, turned their heads to
where the sound was coming from. Looking out from the still opened door, the fire outside
was casting an erie glow to add to the atmosphere. Mitch lifted his head to get a better
view outside, and went wide-eyed. "It's them! They're coming back!"
It was Mitch and Elizabeth's turn for patrol duty,the
3rd time this week. Patrol duty was the worst for Mitch and
Lizzy, as they were always paired together but hated the living
hell out of each other. Lizzy thought Mitch was a total mental
case (which he was) and Mitch thought Lizzy was the most profoundly
boring person in the sector.
They had stopped in a clearing to take a rest after walking
around the jungle for three hours. Lizzy sat down on the ground and
stretched out her sore limbs. Mitch's attention was caught by a
strange little animal sitting on a branch. It had deep green skin,
with small arms and legs, a little head atop a snake-like neck, and a
rather long tail that swished about. It was eating away at a purple
fruit when Mitch had a devilish idea and his mouth grinned from ear to ear.
Raising his right arm, he aimed at the creature's tail, and
activated the flame-thrower, firing a short burst. The lower part of the
creature's tail caught of fire, and with a screech, jumped off its perch.
Still screaming, it spread its arms wide and revealed a thin layer of skin
that stretched from arm to leg. The creature's "wings" caught the wind and
the poor thing just missed hitting the ground. Riding the wind, it glided
deeper into the jungle, but not before starting a little bush on fire.
Mitch was laughing hysterically, slapping his knee and nearly choking
to death. "What the hell's the matter with you!" In a fit of rage, Lizzy
stood up and turned a still laughing Mitch around to face her. "What the fuck
is the matter to you, Mitch! That was a poor, defenseless creature you burned!"
"Well, it sure burned good!" Mitch began another series of uncontrollable
laughter, to the point that he fell on the ground, grabbing his sides because
they hurt so much from laughing. "I swear, Mitch, I'm gonna mess you up good...."
Mitch calmed down enough to realize that Lizzy had gone quiet. He looked
up at her and saw she was looking off behind him. He also saw the flicker of a
burning fire reflected in her eyes. Mitch turned to face what was once a small
fire was now on the verge of becoming a raging blaze. But that wasn't what had
grabbed their attention. The fire had illuminated a pair of two slanted, red
eyes. Soon that pair became a trio, then a dozen, then two dozen. As the eyes
came closer, the fire began illuminating fangs, claws and other nasty things
designed to draw blood. "Ah shit," was all Mitch could say.
Chapter Six
Slowly, Shawn began to wake up, and found himself in the sleeping quarters,
with the lights dim and door shut. Trying to remember what he had been doing here,
he realized his left arm was wrapped around something warm, and looked over. A
mostly nude (her lower half was covered by sheets) Maria was lying next to him in
bed, and as his vision got better, he saw his hand was cupped over her left breast.
He traced her right arm running over his stomach and downward, disappearing under
the sheets and holding onto his favorite friend. "Now I remember," he said quietly,
not to wake Maria up, but his movements stirred his companion awake. A drowsy Maria
gradually fluttered her eyes open, and turned her head to face Shawn.
"
That was pretty good, lover boy," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Only
pretty good? You mean I wasn't great? I'm heartbroken." "Think you have enough
energy to redeem yourself?" "Let's try." Maria rolled over on to Shawn and sat up,
her legs spread on either side of Shawn, revealing her beautifully rounded, yet perky
tits. They would've continued on if only the emergency lights and siren hadn't turned
on and startled them half to death. "Guess we'd better see what's going on," said
Maria, hoping off and begining picking her clothes off the ground. "Damn it," replied
Shawn, shortly joining her. "Why can't these things ever wait?"
The hastily dressed pair hurried down to the main hall to find the squad helping
a bloody Elizabeth onto the table. "Lizzy!" Maria ran to the side of her unconscious
friend, still in her combat suit, which had been recently furbished with several gashing
holes. "Let's get her out of that thing," said Mason, as most of the squad took the suit
off piece by piece. Shawn stood there, staring at the bloody Elizabeth, then looked over
to see Mitch, leaning against the wall and breathing heavy. Shawn ran to his side.
"Mitch, what the hell happened?!?" "They....they...they just kept coming! So many
....claws....they were just everywhere!" "Calm down, damn it! Tell me what happened!"
"These....things, they surrounded us. The smaller ones, some of them....jumped on
Elizabeth, started stabbing her. She shot some off, but....she fell....I got the rest.
Damn little buggers are hard....to kill. Began dragging her away, but.....the big ones.....
like snakes or something....shot these....spines at us. Burned them all good, yes, burned
....them all good. The whole jungle should.......be on fire now...."
With that, Mitch fell forward on his face, and Shawn saw several of the long,
jagged-edged spines sticking out of his left shoulder. "Lieutenant!" Mason rushed over
to Shawn's yell and saw the wounds. "Thank god they didn't hit the fuel tank," he said,
whipping sweat and blood off his face. "Help me get them out."
As Mason slowly clenched his hands around one of the spines, everyone froze as a
mammoth roar pierced the compound. It was less a roar then it was a chorus of a thousands
voices, off in the distance. The entire squad, except for Lizzy, turned their heads to
where the sound was coming from. Looking out from the still opened door, the fire outside
was casting an erie glow to add to the atmosphere. Mitch lifted his head to get a better
view outside, and went wide-eyed. "It's them! They're coming back!"
