Emergence: Chapter 36

The military base had somehow survived the quake, and Admiral Fairns had taken control of the recovery mission, from what Trexor had heard. Whether it was true or not, he had no idea; facts and rumours are distorted all the time. Which is why he had told no-one about the creatures in the chasm yet; he and Trem held a silent agreement on that fact.

They had been walking around for hours, and digging for about half as long. No more survivors, only hundreds of corpses. Strangely, Trexor found that it didn't bother him as much now; he must have became accustomed with the broken bodies. It was only the smaller, younger corpses which touched his heart. However, he was content in the fact that he hadn't seen another one of the silver creatures. While they didn't attack him, he couldn't be certain that they weren't aggressive. The optimist inside him told him that they weren't dangerous. But the general inside him told him to be cautious and, in these times, the general had to be prevalent.

“Where are we?” Trem asked, evidently not recognising the landscape.

Trexor didn't recognise it either; the destruction was too much. “I...I don't know.”

A brick tumbled from the remains of a building. Caught off guard by the sound, Trexor's hand found itself on his gun before he knew it. Noting that there was nothing but gravity at work, he relaxed, slowly and cautiously moving his hand away from his gun.

Trem sighed deeply. “We're all a bit paranoid today, it's fine.”

“It's not fine.” Trexor spat. “I'm meant to be a damned General, not an amateur troop with anxiety issues.”

Trem considered this briefly, before staying silent.

Together, they walked over to where the brick fell; they knew that the silver creatures probably weren't there, but there could be someone buried in the rubble. Trexor began to shift the rubble, the newly-formed blisters on his fingers burning as he did so. Trem joined in, never ceasing; his gloves helped protect his hands. Personally, Trexor tried to keep his expression blank, but he could see the strained features on Trem's face as he hoped for a sign of life.

The recoil.

Pale skin.

Twisted body.

Dead eyes.

Trexor buried the corpse over again, putting a hand on Trem's shoulder, and led him away from the rubble; they had genuinely thought that someone was alive. They walked slowly away, still in silence. Trem sniffed, and Trexor realised that he was quietly crying. He wiped his eyes and sniffed again, before stopping. Trexor tried to look away, realising that Trem would probably appreciate his privacy.

Trexor looked around, and a shiver went down his spine.

Molten silver shifted around a brown, stony body as one of the creatures, larger than before, prowled around the wreckage. Trem put an arm out, stopping Trexor from going any further.

“Let's go.” Trem whispered. “No need to go any further, we can't fight them.”

“I need to see what it is.” Trexor sighed. “As my duty as a general, I need to find out.”

He walked carefully over, tiptoeing around the wreckage to make no noise. Crouching down, he moved slowly forward, Trem following much more gracefully behind. The creature hadn't seemed to notice, and was still looking away. Continuing on his path, Trexor's heartbeat sped up as he got closer.

He stubbed his toe on a brick. It rolled down, clinking as it did so. Trexor swore under his breath as the creature looked around. Trem dragged Trexor to the floor. “Down.” He hissed.

The creature's gaze rested on them, and it slowly crept over. Trexor noted its own cautiousness, which seemed to match his own. Its head split open and a scraping shriek escaped from its throat. Trexor flinched back, noticing that Trem did the same.

“It sounds angry.” Trexor backed away along the floor.

“Well, we disturbed it, what did you expect?” Trem followed the backing away, shifting back on his elbows.

“I don't know, don't know what the thing is.”

Suddenly, the creature was looming over them. Trexor panicked, struggling to get to his feet and falling again. Trem got up quickly, pushing himself up off the ground and drawing a knife, holding it out in front of him, presenting it to the creature as a threat. “Stay back!” Trem crept backwards, offering a hand to Trexor, who took it and pulled himself up. Trexor put a hand on his gun, ready to draw and shoot if the creature took another step towards them.

The creature crouched down, before pouncing. Trem moved out of the way in time, but Trexor was pinned down by the creature. Trexor drew his gun and fired, but the creature absorbed it into itself. Trem stabbed his knife into the creature. It ignored it, batting Trem away with seemingly no effort. Trexor moved his head just in time to avoid a claw to the face. The creature roared in his face, before fleeing.

Trexor and Trem picked themselves up and brushed themselves off, watching the silver creature disappear into the distance.

“Where's it going?” Trem asked.

“No idea.” Trexor replied.

They stood on the spot, reflecting on what just happened.