Chapter 5
Daniel and Jordan ran silently up the street, making sure there were no humanoids or serpents around them. Jordan pulled out the few shells that he had managed to stuff into his pockets into the shotgun. They had decided to head to the sheriffs office. It had weapons and hopefully somebody had survived. The further they went, the more the bodies piled up. Now and then the sight became too much and one of the two had to vomit in the grass. This time it was Jordan. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked at Daniel.
"Well we're almost there. Just a bit more to go."
"There are so many casualties and not one body of the other two we saw." Jordan shrugged and continued forward. Daniel stood there a moment. A feeling of he was being watched crept over him. He looked around and saw no distortion or any moving shadows. He shrugged and jogged after Jordan, not wanting to be alone.
The police station stood. It was a small brick building. On the front was a large star with sheriff spelt out in gold letters. The two looked inside through the windows. They could see blood splattered on the inside along with several bodies. They silently crept in, the doors creaking as they shut.
"Hello," Daniel called out, hoping to get someone to respond. To their dismay, no one came or any calls back. Daniel looked at the bodies. Some were civilians and some were officers. His dad would've been here if he hadn't made so much noise. Daniel shook off the feeling of sorrow that was creeping up on him. He looked at one of the officers and took his belt. On it was a small revolver and several other things as well. Daniel didn't like the feel of the belt so he took the weapon and discarded the belt. Jordan swept the shotgun back and forth to survey the area.
"It seems clear enough. If anyone is still alive, they'll come back here."
"How do you know?" Daniel asked. He felt like he had missed something.
"This is the town emergency center as well. If anything happens, everyone is supposed to meet up here." Daniel remembered now. He had learned that in elementary school. Every town has and emergency center to meet up in incase of an emergency. In this case, this was one hell of an emergency. It took Daniel several minutes to find out how to open the chamber of the revolver. When he did so, he realized two bullets were inside. The officer must've got some shots off before he was killed. Daniel looked at Jordan.
"Should we look around the building incase someone didn't hear us?" Daniel asked. Jordan shrugged. They made eye contact which made them silently agree they would. The crept down the hall silently, opening every door they were able. They knocked incase if someone was inside. The rooms ended up like the hall. They were bloody and fully of corpses. One was a locker room. Several bodies lay everywhere. One stood out like a green thumb. It was one of the serpents. It had several shot wounds in its body. Just below where its blood had touched the ground was a hole. "Let's not touch it incase its last reflex hasn't happened." Jordan nodded and they continued on. They soon came to a flight of stairs. They took turns going up a few steps and covering one another. Daniel had neglected to tell Jordan he had only two bullets. He wanted to try and keep their morale up. Again they began to search rooms. It was just like downstairs. They were bloody and full of corpses. They were half way down the hall when noises came from the room they were about to open. Daniel looked at Jordan. The two made eye contact and nodded. Slowly Daniel turned the door knob. They looked at each other again.
"One...Two...Three..." They threw the door open and came face to face with a shotgun. Daniel felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the blackness of the inside of the barrel. Jordan had his shotgun pointed at the one holding the shotgun that was aimed at Daniel. To his relief, the shotgun pointed at him lowered. Daniel saw a man wearing a tan uniform. He had a brown mustache and brown eyes. He was taller than Daniel and Jordan. He looked quite strong for someone his age. A smile spread across his face.
"What are two youngsters like you two doing with dangerous things like those?" Daniel sighed. Again he was a youngster in someone else's eyes. Wasn't there a place where he could be treated like an adult? He lowered his weapon. In the room were three women. Two seemed about his age, the other wore a tan suit. Her hair was tied back and her blue eyes looked at them. She was quite weighty and hefted an assault rifle. Why did the other two look afraid? "We got another two survivors," the officer with the shotgun yelled to the other.
"What's your name?" Jordan asked. The officer laughed.
"Usually I'm the one asking the questions. Very well then. I'm Sheriff Baker. That over there is Deputy Charlotte. So are you two here to hide too?" Jordan and Daniel looked at each other. They weren't the ones to hide and wait for help. They knew they weren't gonna get help. Who would believe them.
"Actually we're here to see if there were any survivors. We're going to try and get out of this city. So are you going to come with us?" The sheriff laughed.
"Too bad for you, our law states that we must wait here for help, so you aren't going anywhere." The sheriff smiled.
"Like hell we are. There isn't any help coming and you know i-." Before Jordan could complete the sentence, the sheriff had rammed the barrel of the shotgun into Jordan's stomach, winding him. The sheriff then kicked Jordan to the ground and pointed the shotgun at him. Daniel raised the revolver to shoot the sheriff when a shot rang out before he had even put pressure on the trigger. A bullet shot through Daniel's hand and into the metal butt of the revolver where it came to a rest. Daniel dropped the gun and cried out in anguish, holding his hand again. Then he felt it. The sense that he was being watched.
"Good work deputy, now put these two in the room with the other law breakers," Daniel heard Sheriff Baker tell the deputy. Deputy Charlotte nodded and headed towards Daniel. It was at that moment a hole appeared in her and she cried out in pain. Energy shimmered across the spear as its cloaking failed. Blood dripped from her mouth and horror spread across the sheriff's face as the humanoid uncloaked as well. Daniel looked behind him and saw it standing there. It looked at Daniel and then to the sheriff. It curled its fist and the familiar blades deployed. The sheriff barely had time to raise his shotgun before the humanoid had stuck its blades into the sheriff. Daniel had a feeling this was the same one that had showed them the reflexes of the serpent when it died. It removed the sheriff from its blades and yanked the spear from the deputy's body. The spear retracted into a cylinder. It looked in the room and proceeded in. Forgetting his pain momentarily he got up and ran after it. As he thought, it was heading for the two girls. Jordan got up and worked his way to the door. He was still winded.
Daniel placed himself in front of the humanoid and stretched his arms out to stop it from proceeding past him. His left hand burned furiously from where the bullet had penetrated. Blood began to drip off his palm.
"Don't hurt them. They are unarmed." The predator looked at Daniel and then to the girls. He pushed passed Daniel and looked at the one on the right. He wasn't looking at her face, yet her stomach area. From his leg he drew a knife that looked likely to kill anything with one swift swipe. It stood there looking at the stomach area.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked. It wasn't long before Daniel heard a cracking sound and the girl yelled in pain. Daniel knew what was happening. How were the serpents putting their children in them? Daniel had only seen the serpents kill and tear them apart, or was there another kind? He didn't want to think about it. There was another cracking sound. The other girl began to back away from her friend. Her face contorted in horror. It wasn't long before the familiar creature bounded out of its prison. The humanoid swung and missed. It landed on the ground and scurried across the ground swiftly. It came towards Daniel. Daniel tried to stomp on it but missed. Jordan snapped up the sheriff's shotgun and let off a shot. The creature exploded in a mess of green blood and tiny organs. Daniel panted.
"Where are these things coming from?" As if the question had been directed to the humanoid it opened the gauntlet on its right wrist. It pushed a button and a red laser shot up and floated into the air. It then began to lengthen and bend into a large building. It took a split second for Daniel and Jordan to recognize the school. Even the girl seemed to recognize it. It was there school. Yet it showed a tunnel under it with a large room. The humanoid pointed to the chamber. Then they all turned their heads as the roar of another humanoid exploded down the halls of the sheriff's building.
The predator had been here to back up its comrade from any aliens that might have happened to hang around. It had reached the end of the hall when an alien lunged at it. Even though the predator had been cloaked, it knew exactly where it was. The predator roared in pain as the aliens second jaw shot out and punctured the predator's armor and chest. The predator made a clicking noise and drew the same knife they had all been armed with. It struck the neck of the alien in the neck. It hissed. Its green blood splattered its chest armor. The predator threw the alien off and stood up. It quickly removed it chest armor and starred at the alien. He watched it regain its footing and stand. Its tail swayed from side to side ready to strike. Then its tail lunged out. The predator had barely managed to duck it. He swung the knife and cut off the blades to the tail. The alien shrieked in pain. The predator lunged back as acid blood sprayed where he had stood moments before. He looked at the blade to his knife. It bubbled and hissed. It was useless now. The predator dropped it and looked up. The alien was gone. The predator took out a cylinder and pushed a rune on it. The cylinder extended and became pointed at both ends. It cycled through its visions to see if the creature was hidden somewhere. Nothing came up.
A drop landed on his shoulder pad and began to eat away at it. The predator tore it off quickly, but not quick enough. The alien lunged on the predator, its second jaw shot out and struck it several times in the shoulder. The predator erupted a roar of pain. Its wrist blades deployed, but it was useless to fight. The alien had won, but it wasn't going to die without putting up a fight. It wasn't long before the second jaw pierced the neck several times, causing the predator to bleed to death. The alien tore its claws into its enemy's skin and ripped it open. What a meal it would make.
Daniel looked at the predator and together they ran to see what was happening, Jordan and the girl behind them.