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.
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