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Twilight
of the Apocalypse |
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Chapter
5: Captured |
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Free
Haven- Trimoire Island 0735 hours, 15 June 2016 |
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A horrible
scream, and the ceiling splintered. The wooden boards came crashing |
down on us.
As I wiped the dust off my visor, I spied a 'creature' in the midst of |
the rubble. |
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"What
the heck is that?" Ryan exclaimed. |
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As the
soldier stepped forward cautiously, the 'creature' rose. Bits and pieces |
of wood
fell to the floor as it shook its body slowly. |
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The
creature roared once, and its nightmarish body was revealed as red bio-lights |
on the
creature's abdomen and back lit up its fearsome form. I reeled back in |
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terror and
fear as the creature's six eyes- three on each side of its head- turned |
to look at
me. Those red, lidless eyes stared so intently at me. It then shifted |
its gaze to
the others in the room. |
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"Oh.."
Ryan gasped, his face pale and hysterical. |
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"Ryan,
fall back!" I cried. |
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The beast
was huge, at least 3 metres tall. Its back was covered with a writhing |
mass of
long tentacles, with sharp talons at the ends. Two arms dangled at its |
sides and
two strong legs supported its body. At it's rear, three monstrously |
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long tails
waved in the air. The tails looked almost metallic and were silver in |
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colour. The
rest of the creature's body was black and there appeared to be |
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an
exo-skeleton on the exterior of the creature's body, instead of skin. |
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Without
warning, one of the tentacles shot out and embedded into Ryan's |
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mid-section.
The appendage broke through his combat armour, and buried |
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itself in
his body. Another tentacle did the same, but this time, it smashed |
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into the
soldier's helmet and through his skull. |
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The man's
head exploded from the impact, and blood sprayed out of his skull |
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from where
the tentacle made a hole in his head and helmet. The creature |
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withdrew
its tentacle from the man's head, but the one in his body held him |
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in the air. |
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The dead
soldier dangled on the tentacle for a moment, then dropped to the |
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ground in a
mangled heap. The man's body was horribly mutilated. I stepped |
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forward. |
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"Open
fire!" I yelled. |
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The room
lit up as bullets left their weapons and hit the creature's tough |
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carapace.
Parts of the creature remained unharmed by the projectiles, but |
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bits of
carapace flew in all directions on many other areas under the |
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assault.
The rounds penetrated the creature's oval-shaped head and again, |
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the
creature roared. |
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I took out
a dagger from a compartment in my suit and flung it hard at the |
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beast. The
blade hit the creature's neck and severed its head from its bloody |
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torso. I
let out a whoop and ceased fire. The others stopped firing too. |
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"Come
on, let's go. This place isn't safe," I said to the survivors. |
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"You'd
better hurry. There are more of them. I've seen how people who |
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have stood
their ground and fought had died. Few have ever escaped them," |
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one of the
survivors warned. |
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Blake took
the rear and Adrian stayed with the men. I took the lead and |
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hurried the
others out of the room and down the ladder we had used before. |
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"Dark
Baron, we're out. Do you copy?" I spoke into the microphone built |
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into my
helmet. |
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"Affirmative,
I'm coming in," was the reply. |
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"Chopper's
coming. ETA three minutes. Let's get the hell outta this place |
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and report
our findings to GSN HQ. They've gotta see this mess," I said. |
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We reached
the carpark without any more frightening encounters. I looked |
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up,
expecting to see the chopper. Instead, I saw something even worse. |
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Two
massive, cigar-shaped crafts were hovering in the sky above Free Haven. |
The sides
were covered in green lights and the bottom was glowing a deep |
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red. |
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The crafts
had a powerful search-lights at the front. One of the beams fell |
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on us and
the craft glided silently through the air in our direction. I staggered |
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back. The
craft was at least a hundred metres long. The other craft moved |
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in the
opposite direction, away from us. |
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I spotted
the helicopter in the distance. As the chopper flew beneath the |
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alien'
craft, a hole opened at the bottom of the craft and an orange beam |
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of light,
so intense and brilliant, shot out. The chopper burst into flames, |
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and its
burning wreckage fell to the ground. |
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"Nooo…"
I silently cried. |
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"Watch
out!" Adrian shouted. |
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I turned
around and saw a dozen of the beasts moving at full speed |
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towards us.
We started shooting, and the survivors ran about, trying |
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in vain to
flee from the creatures. One by one, the survivors died, as claws |
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and
tentacles ripped into their bodies. |
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One by one,
my teammates fell to the ground, their corpses so bloody they |
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were almost
unrecognizable. And one after another, the creatures came |
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towards me,
their limbs stretching out, and reaching, for me… |
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