Silent Gulch Chapter 8
Grif lay sprawled out on the cold tile floor of the diner. "I have to tell you Simmons; that was pretty awesome," Grif said between pants. "But you are still a kiss-ass."
"Thanks Grif, I think." Simmons replied staring at the dead bat monster. He moved back slowly toward the orange soldier. "Why are you panting? I'm the one that had to kill that thing. You didn't do anything but scream." Simmons waved the bloody kitchen knife around a bit as he spoke.
"Just help me up," Grif said, holding his hand out.
"Hell, no, get your own ass up." Simmons slapped Grif's hand away from him.
Grif was about to insult the maroon soldier when he stopped. "Hey Simmons, do you hear anything?"
"No, I don't hear anything," Simmons replied, starting to become annoyed.
"Exactly." Grif turned over and looked around. He grabbed the radio from where it lay a foot away. "This thing shut up when you killed that thing."
"Why does that matter?" Simmons asked. He was seriously thinking about just leaving the other soldier behind. Something, that he would never admit, kept him from just walking off.
"It means that that thing made all that static," Grif explained. "That means it must be an alien."
"That doesn't make any sense. Aliens don't cause static. Not to mention we've seen an alien; it didn't look anything like that thing," Simmons replied.
"There's more than one kind of alien," Grif pointed out, frowning.
"You mean this thing came from somewhere else? I never would have guessed that. Did you ever think that we are the aliens and that thing is native?" Simmons asked.
"Stop being such a nerd. I mean not all aliens look the same," Grif shot back as he stood up.
"What makes you think it's an alien?" Simmons asked. "It might be a mutant."
"Because it only had one head, not two. It can't be a mutant." Grif stared at the dead monster. "Hey, do you think it had friends?"
"I'm sure it had a great social life," Simmons replied sarcastically. "Why do you care if it had friends?"
"Because if it did they might also want to eat our brains," Grif explained, as though it were obvious.
"Zombies eat brains. Monsters eat flesh in general," Simmons corrected.
"I bet your mother is so proud of you." Grif shook his head. "I just don't think we should stay here."
"I think you might be right about that? But where are we going to go?" Simmons asked.
Grif shrugged. Simmons was about to insult him when a tornado siren started to ring though the air. The two soldiers looked around confused.
"I wonder what that means," Grif said.
~Sarge/Donut~
The two red soldiers dashed down the hallway and through a set of double doors. They turned and slammed the doors shut behind them. "Donut, find something to secure this door with," Sarge ordered.
"You got it, sir," Donut said, running off to find something. He came back a moment later. "Here you go." He held out a baton and a jump rope to Sarge.
"I should have seen that coming," Sarge muttered before taking the baton and jump rope. He stuck the baton through the handles and then tied the rope around them to secure them closed.
"Hey look, Sarge, we found the gym," Donut said looking around at the gymnasium around them.
"See, I knew where I was going," Sarge said, frowning. "I thought you said this was where people would be."
"I said they'd be here or in the theater," Donut corrected. "Though I didn't see a theater on the map."
"No theater, that's impossible. Where would they put on local performances of Spam-a-lot?" Sarge asked, horrified.
"Maybe they have a local theater, or do them outside," Donut replied.
"That's ridiculous; theater is only to be done inside," Sarge commented. "Acting can only be properly done under a roof."
"But that's the way they used to do it, before they moved them into theaters," Donut pointed out.
"Stop making things up, Donut," Sarge scolded the young private. "Everyone knows the first play was preformed inside. Now stop distracting me."
"Distract you from what?" Donut asked.
"From finding a way out of here that isn't filled with bugs," Sarge replied. The two Reds looked up as the tornado siren began to ring through the air.
"What's that?" Donut asked.