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It was coming after him. He could hear it running through the grass. He was outside in the cold, the grass fluttering in the wind. There was a rustling, and he knew it was close. Then he heard a voice. It stopped him dead in his tracks, even with the creature rushing after him. He heard it pounce, felt its cold claws digging into his back. Then he woke up. His best friend, his only real friend left was laying in the bed across the room. He was in a cold sweat, and he squinted so he could make the room out better. He sighed, both with relief and with annoyance. This wasn’t the first dream he had had about that same situation, and he doubted it would be the last. His friend was sleeping like a baby in a crib, soft snores emanating from where he lay. Levi yawned and got up, making his way to the kitchen of the little bunker. As he moved out of the barracks one of the other survivors, Tom as he called himself, woke up. Tom was a bit older, maybe 45. He was one of the first colonists born here. He solemnly prepared himself for the day, making sure not to wake up his fellow survivors in the bunk.
They moved together through the winding shelter, and together they prepared a small breakfast for their fellow inhabitants. It consisted of powdered peanut butter and powdered milk with cut up fruit. It wasn’t the best, but they had to ration in order to survive the fall of the colony. It had been one month, just about, and everyone who wasn’t either with a big group or in a hidden underground dugout like theirs was dead. The creatures above moved all the time, but they never found out where they stayed. Silence was key. The monsters didn’t have eyes, or at least eyes anyone could see, so it was easy enough to get by as long as the guy getting by didn’t make even a scuff. Otherwise they’d rip you apart. But Levi knew this, and went about making as little noise as necessary. The rest of the barracks was waking up, and the entire shelter was buzzing with activity. Not noise, but work. Levi’s bunkmate, and friend, was working on the water piping to prevent leaks. Casandra, one of the only soldiers they had in the bunk, was checking her pulse rifle for any breaks and cleaning it of any dirt. She had been part of the garrison that was assigned with keeping this place safe. Of course, they managed outside threats. The PMCs handles inside threats. And of course, they didn’t do a very good job. Casandra had barely managed to get away from the creatures while fighting in the Nexus, and most if not all of her squad went down that day. All we knew her as was the quiet fighter who would take down any threats that wanted to do us harm. Mel was off to work on expanding the shelter, digging through the tough soil and making out new rooms. She had been a colony architect and usually had others do her dirty work, but here everyone was a laborer, even if that labor was digging or hauling. Liam got to work handling the hydroponics they had installed in the base. Liams kept to himself, preferring to speak with the plants rather than with the people. Al was hard at work building new devices and improving old ones, as scientists do, and Lee was cleaning the concrete bunker as best as he could. Everyone was silent as a church mouse of course, which made work two times harder.
Levi and Tom got to work after they finished the food, and of course they had the hardest job. They had to go outside the bunker to collect supplies such as wood and food until hydroponics was consistently producing. Levi grabbed his weapon of choice, a colonial marshals Auto-Revolver and the sawn off double barreled shotgun he found. Tom simply grabbed an axe and a silenced High Power. They went into the ‘airlock’, the room right before the exit, and waited for the doors to close and lock and open and bolt. It usually took only a few minutes but today it was extra slow. It opened, they climbed out into the world, and Levi steeled himself. They both knew this was the most dangerous job, as there had been many who had done it before them and most of them had never returned. They were at the outskirts of the colony, with the wall just in front of them. The huge concrete wall used to surround the compound was annoying, but if you knew where to look you could find a way in. They made the trek to the usual spot, a hole in the west side of the wall, and wormed their way through the small hole in what was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress. On the other side, they looked around in what used to be the pinnacle of human engineering now turned into just another wildlife preserve. There were no birds, no animals to speak of in this preserve, aside from the viscous beasts that hunted the humans to near extinction, trying their hardest to wipe them out of their planet. The only other sentient species that inhabited this planet were the invisible killers, the nightstalkers, the ones that come at night and kill your friends. Those are truly the ones he had to watch out for, for those wretched beasts knew no mercy besides the mercy that their blade carried out when removing a man from the pain of existence. Levi and Tom knew of these creatures, knew of their tools and their intelligence. They had seen them before. Tom had personally fought a nightstalker, and before it got the killing blow on him it was jumped and distracted by a xenomorph. Of course, they didn’t call them xenomorphs, they had no reason to. They just went unnamed. Everyone knew they were there, killing all that they could, gorging themselves on the blood of the innocent. Levi thought of this as they made their way to the Nexus, the area of the last resistance, the area where good and bad people had fought to keep the xenomorphs away. The place where the nightstalkers first landed and destroyed, along with the hopes of the fighters inside. They needed to go there now, not for defense or asylum, but for the supplies they needed to work out their meager existence in this hell of a planet.
They got to the back entrance. The garage door was jammed half open half shut, and they could smell the oil in the air. It reeked of grease and blood, and for any normal person it’d be almost impossible to stomach. But for Levi it was just another day in the colony. They started rummaging through the trash, looking for anything that might provide them with power or light or warmth. They eventually settled on a propane tank and an oil canister. Tom threw them both in his backpack, which was big enough to hold it but just barely. They moved silently through the building, sneaking past the bullet holes in the wall and the blood coating the floors. They knew not to go to the pool, as when the psychos had inhabited this place for a time they piled all the bodies there, as mutilated and disgusting as they were, and left them there to rot. The insane maniacs were gone now, they’d moved on to the forest. Of course, there were still a good few groups in the colony, out for blood. Levi couldn’t think of that now. He had stuff he needed to do. They got to the kitchen, and found the door busted down. Levi hoped that the old inhabitants of the has-been home of the colony hadn’t ransacked the entire place. And to his great surprise there were still cans of food in the kitchen. They didn’t look tasty, nor would they be great to eat but they’d work. He stuffed as many of the goods into his bag as he could while Tom watched the outside corridor. Then, he heard a shuffling in the vent nearby. the vents, which were about the length and height of a toddler, were able to supply both air conditioning and clean air when they were functioning. The planet’s atmosphere was almost exactly the same as Earths, just with less carbon. It was possible to subsist on it but people who were out for great lengths of time would experience a bit of weakness and lethargy. Levi’s group had already gotten used to those feelings, as the vent systems had been down for the longest time. But he was getting ahead of himself. He un-holstered his revolver and made his way to the vent, letting curiosity get the best of him. He was just about to open the vent when Tom called. Less of a call, and more of a yelp. Levi ran to assist.
Levi was back home now. Tom was gone. The stalkers had finally got their man, and Levi just stood and watched. He didn’t know why he didn’t shoot, nor why he just walked away without any of Toms gear. But he did. Now he was at the entrance of his bunker, and his senses had come back to him. Toms dead. They killed him. No, he thought. His memory came in flashes. It wasn’t a stalker. Tom was calling for Levi to check on Levi. Levi came out and a gunshot fired. No one else was around. No, that’s not what happened. Levi shook his head, sighed and climbed into the bunker. When he returned and the people inside realized Tom wasn’t following, they didn’t question it. People die all the time, it was normal. No one took a second look at the door, no one was waiting for Tom to come back. Levi went on with his day, preparing and storing supplies, helping dig out a new storage room, doing all the things he had to do. When he finished, he laid exhausted on his bed. As he drifted to sleep, he could have sworn he heard a voice call out his name.
They moved together through the winding shelter, and together they prepared a small breakfast for their fellow inhabitants. It consisted of powdered peanut butter and powdered milk with cut up fruit. It wasn’t the best, but they had to ration in order to survive the fall of the colony. It had been one month, just about, and everyone who wasn’t either with a big group or in a hidden underground dugout like theirs was dead. The creatures above moved all the time, but they never found out where they stayed. Silence was key. The monsters didn’t have eyes, or at least eyes anyone could see, so it was easy enough to get by as long as the guy getting by didn’t make even a scuff. Otherwise they’d rip you apart. But Levi knew this, and went about making as little noise as necessary. The rest of the barracks was waking up, and the entire shelter was buzzing with activity. Not noise, but work. Levi’s bunkmate, and friend, was working on the water piping to prevent leaks. Casandra, one of the only soldiers they had in the bunk, was checking her pulse rifle for any breaks and cleaning it of any dirt. She had been part of the garrison that was assigned with keeping this place safe. Of course, they managed outside threats. The PMCs handles inside threats. And of course, they didn’t do a very good job. Casandra had barely managed to get away from the creatures while fighting in the Nexus, and most if not all of her squad went down that day. All we knew her as was the quiet fighter who would take down any threats that wanted to do us harm. Mel was off to work on expanding the shelter, digging through the tough soil and making out new rooms. She had been a colony architect and usually had others do her dirty work, but here everyone was a laborer, even if that labor was digging or hauling. Liam got to work handling the hydroponics they had installed in the base. Liams kept to himself, preferring to speak with the plants rather than with the people. Al was hard at work building new devices and improving old ones, as scientists do, and Lee was cleaning the concrete bunker as best as he could. Everyone was silent as a church mouse of course, which made work two times harder.
Levi and Tom got to work after they finished the food, and of course they had the hardest job. They had to go outside the bunker to collect supplies such as wood and food until hydroponics was consistently producing. Levi grabbed his weapon of choice, a colonial marshals Auto-Revolver and the sawn off double barreled shotgun he found. Tom simply grabbed an axe and a silenced High Power. They went into the ‘airlock’, the room right before the exit, and waited for the doors to close and lock and open and bolt. It usually took only a few minutes but today it was extra slow. It opened, they climbed out into the world, and Levi steeled himself. They both knew this was the most dangerous job, as there had been many who had done it before them and most of them had never returned. They were at the outskirts of the colony, with the wall just in front of them. The huge concrete wall used to surround the compound was annoying, but if you knew where to look you could find a way in. They made the trek to the usual spot, a hole in the west side of the wall, and wormed their way through the small hole in what was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress. On the other side, they looked around in what used to be the pinnacle of human engineering now turned into just another wildlife preserve. There were no birds, no animals to speak of in this preserve, aside from the viscous beasts that hunted the humans to near extinction, trying their hardest to wipe them out of their planet. The only other sentient species that inhabited this planet were the invisible killers, the nightstalkers, the ones that come at night and kill your friends. Those are truly the ones he had to watch out for, for those wretched beasts knew no mercy besides the mercy that their blade carried out when removing a man from the pain of existence. Levi and Tom knew of these creatures, knew of their tools and their intelligence. They had seen them before. Tom had personally fought a nightstalker, and before it got the killing blow on him it was jumped and distracted by a xenomorph. Of course, they didn’t call them xenomorphs, they had no reason to. They just went unnamed. Everyone knew they were there, killing all that they could, gorging themselves on the blood of the innocent. Levi thought of this as they made their way to the Nexus, the area of the last resistance, the area where good and bad people had fought to keep the xenomorphs away. The place where the nightstalkers first landed and destroyed, along with the hopes of the fighters inside. They needed to go there now, not for defense or asylum, but for the supplies they needed to work out their meager existence in this hell of a planet.
They got to the back entrance. The garage door was jammed half open half shut, and they could smell the oil in the air. It reeked of grease and blood, and for any normal person it’d be almost impossible to stomach. But for Levi it was just another day in the colony. They started rummaging through the trash, looking for anything that might provide them with power or light or warmth. They eventually settled on a propane tank and an oil canister. Tom threw them both in his backpack, which was big enough to hold it but just barely. They moved silently through the building, sneaking past the bullet holes in the wall and the blood coating the floors. They knew not to go to the pool, as when the psychos had inhabited this place for a time they piled all the bodies there, as mutilated and disgusting as they were, and left them there to rot. The insane maniacs were gone now, they’d moved on to the forest. Of course, there were still a good few groups in the colony, out for blood. Levi couldn’t think of that now. He had stuff he needed to do. They got to the kitchen, and found the door busted down. Levi hoped that the old inhabitants of the has-been home of the colony hadn’t ransacked the entire place. And to his great surprise there were still cans of food in the kitchen. They didn’t look tasty, nor would they be great to eat but they’d work. He stuffed as many of the goods into his bag as he could while Tom watched the outside corridor. Then, he heard a shuffling in the vent nearby. the vents, which were about the length and height of a toddler, were able to supply both air conditioning and clean air when they were functioning. The planet’s atmosphere was almost exactly the same as Earths, just with less carbon. It was possible to subsist on it but people who were out for great lengths of time would experience a bit of weakness and lethargy. Levi’s group had already gotten used to those feelings, as the vent systems had been down for the longest time. But he was getting ahead of himself. He un-holstered his revolver and made his way to the vent, letting curiosity get the best of him. He was just about to open the vent when Tom called. Less of a call, and more of a yelp. Levi ran to assist.
Levi was back home now. Tom was gone. The stalkers had finally got their man, and Levi just stood and watched. He didn’t know why he didn’t shoot, nor why he just walked away without any of Toms gear. But he did. Now he was at the entrance of his bunker, and his senses had come back to him. Toms dead. They killed him. No, he thought. His memory came in flashes. It wasn’t a stalker. Tom was calling for Levi to check on Levi. Levi came out and a gunshot fired. No one else was around. No, that’s not what happened. Levi shook his head, sighed and climbed into the bunker. When he returned and the people inside realized Tom wasn’t following, they didn’t question it. People die all the time, it was normal. No one took a second look at the door, no one was waiting for Tom to come back. Levi went on with his day, preparing and storing supplies, helping dig out a new storage room, doing all the things he had to do. When he finished, he laid exhausted on his bed. As he drifted to sleep, he could have sworn he heard a voice call out his name.
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Levi was awake. At least, he thought he was. Everyone was gone, the bunker was completely still. He checked every dorm room, every side closet and every large chamber, but couldn’t find anyone. Then he heard a screech, something that filled him with dread the moment it hit his ear. He knew it was somewhere inside the bunker with him, waiting for him to make a wrong move so it could kill him swiftly. He found the closet they kept their weapons in, and rummaged through the empty ammo boxes and blunt knives but found nothing he could use. He silently cursed his friends and got into a fighting stance, watching as the beast slinked out from its hiding place on the roof. He had one chance to escape, and it was guarding the door. It knew that he had one way out, and it didn’t intend to let him use it. It charged, and he dodged to the side, chopping its neck. Quickly the beast retaliated, snapping its claws out and delivering a glancing blow to his arm. He saw the door was open, and ignoring the pain he ran for it. Five more steps. Four more. Three more. Two more. One. And as he was about to step through, to escape what could have been his tomb, he was knocked down by a strike to his calf. He yelped in pain and tried to crawl, but it was already on top of him, slashing and slicing him to bits. Then he woke up.
He was in a cold sweat, and was shaking ever so slightly. He looked across from him, and saw his friend sleeping soundly on the other bunk. He shook his head and moved into the kitchen area, preparing the meals that he was used to. He wondered where Tom had gone. No matter, he thought as he finished breakfast. Then he realized that he was four hours early. He sighed and instead of throwing the food away he placed the food in containers so he could easily prepare it when the time came. Sleep wasn’t an option, and because of his new-found insomnia he decided to pass time exploring the nearby foliage for any shacks or bunkers that could have been abandoned. He realized it was dangerous but, at this point, didn’t really mind. He grabbed his weapons, an unused backpack, and a hunting knife and set out to explore the forest.
It was a cold dawn. The sun had barely managed to crawl over the horizon, drenching the forest in a bluish red color. Moving silently and swiftly he made his way north. He thought about what had happened the day before, with Tom. He didn’t want to believe it, but something inside him was telling him that Tom was not killed by the stalkers, but killed by a much more human entity. Brushing those feelings aside, Levi thought of his life before the outbreak. He had been a mechanic, fixing vehicle after vehicle. It was simple work, it was hard work, but it provided him with food for his family and a roof over his head. Of course, when the outbreak occurred none of his family survived. His mother was working in the water purification plant, and his father was in the hanger performing maintenance on the cargo ships. His younger brother was in their dorm as always, probably playing with action figures and enjoying being a kid. Levi was only eighteen, but everyone in the colony over sixteen had to work. He didn’t enjoy being a mechanic, as he had always dreamed of becoming a colonial marshal. But he did it all the same. When the outbreak happened, it was chaos. It had been going on in the science dome for three days but that had been closed down using blast doors, and everyone assumed it was some secret experiment. People were suspicious, so a few families moved out to the forest where they had shacks built for them to stay until they got the all clear. As for us, we stayed. Levi despised his parents for being so naïve. He knew from the start nothing good could come of the dome being closed down, and had told his parents more times than he could count that they needed to move into his friend’s family bunker, that one of their family members was a scientist and warned them of horrid things to come. But they didn’t listen. He was a child, they were the adults and they knew better. Or, they thought they did.
The day the power went off, the day the screams echoed through the halls of the buildings, the day when blood splattered down the corridor fresh as the falling snow was the day he knew they didn’t know better. Levi heard the first scream from the garage and instantly knew something bad was happening. He made his way to their room as fast as he could. By the time he got there he knew it was too late. There was blood on the door, which was bashed in. He saw through the hole that the room was filled with blood, soaking through the carpet, permeating the air. Death was the only thing he would possibly find. He couldn’t bring himself to look into the room. As he left the scene, the thought still fresh within his mind, he saw the first creature. Black as night with claws like scimitars it crouched there. He could make out the outline of a human body rocking back and forth, the face locked in an eternal scream of pain. He gaged, which caught the creature’s attention. It quickly turned and leaped, and if it hadn’t been for his reflexes he’d be dead right now. He caught it on the side of its head with his wrench. It made a crunching sound, and the creature landed on top of him. But instead of rending his flesh like it had done to countless others it remained motionless. He threw it off, but something dripped out of its head onto his jacket. It melted through the cloth like it was nothing and burned his skin. He was holding back a scream of pain, clenching his jaw and holding his stomach where the drop had landed. It didn’t do much, as it quickly stopped melting his flesh. Whatever kind of acid it was, it didn’t last long outside the creature. That’s when he decided to go to the bunker. He made his way through the dark colony, with echoes of poor souls who hadn’t been fast enough or quiet enough to make it out. He was the lucky one it seems. He made it, and found his friend already there. But his family was nowhere to be seen. It seemed like they too thought they knew better.
Levi snapped back to reality. The birds were singing, nature was alive around him. He must have been lost in thought for hours. Checking the suns position he guessed that the entire bunker was probably up, and wondering where he was. He made his way back, and when he entered he saw that they had already prepared their meals. Levi thought he saw something behind the excavation door. He chalked it off as a figment of his imagination, as it quickly darted out of his peripheral. But he marked it down in his head. He didn’t trust the excavation, it opened up all sorts of caves and compartments under the ground. Of course, all of them had been covered or filled quickly but he still thought that one day something would get in and kill the entire bunker in their sleep. Maybe that was why he was waking up so early, maybe that was why he always felt a strange presence in the bunker. Whatever it was, Levi was in no mood to think to hard about it. He got to work organizing the inventory.
He was in a cold sweat, and was shaking ever so slightly. He looked across from him, and saw his friend sleeping soundly on the other bunk. He shook his head and moved into the kitchen area, preparing the meals that he was used to. He wondered where Tom had gone. No matter, he thought as he finished breakfast. Then he realized that he was four hours early. He sighed and instead of throwing the food away he placed the food in containers so he could easily prepare it when the time came. Sleep wasn’t an option, and because of his new-found insomnia he decided to pass time exploring the nearby foliage for any shacks or bunkers that could have been abandoned. He realized it was dangerous but, at this point, didn’t really mind. He grabbed his weapons, an unused backpack, and a hunting knife and set out to explore the forest.
It was a cold dawn. The sun had barely managed to crawl over the horizon, drenching the forest in a bluish red color. Moving silently and swiftly he made his way north. He thought about what had happened the day before, with Tom. He didn’t want to believe it, but something inside him was telling him that Tom was not killed by the stalkers, but killed by a much more human entity. Brushing those feelings aside, Levi thought of his life before the outbreak. He had been a mechanic, fixing vehicle after vehicle. It was simple work, it was hard work, but it provided him with food for his family and a roof over his head. Of course, when the outbreak occurred none of his family survived. His mother was working in the water purification plant, and his father was in the hanger performing maintenance on the cargo ships. His younger brother was in their dorm as always, probably playing with action figures and enjoying being a kid. Levi was only eighteen, but everyone in the colony over sixteen had to work. He didn’t enjoy being a mechanic, as he had always dreamed of becoming a colonial marshal. But he did it all the same. When the outbreak happened, it was chaos. It had been going on in the science dome for three days but that had been closed down using blast doors, and everyone assumed it was some secret experiment. People were suspicious, so a few families moved out to the forest where they had shacks built for them to stay until they got the all clear. As for us, we stayed. Levi despised his parents for being so naïve. He knew from the start nothing good could come of the dome being closed down, and had told his parents more times than he could count that they needed to move into his friend’s family bunker, that one of their family members was a scientist and warned them of horrid things to come. But they didn’t listen. He was a child, they were the adults and they knew better. Or, they thought they did.
The day the power went off, the day the screams echoed through the halls of the buildings, the day when blood splattered down the corridor fresh as the falling snow was the day he knew they didn’t know better. Levi heard the first scream from the garage and instantly knew something bad was happening. He made his way to their room as fast as he could. By the time he got there he knew it was too late. There was blood on the door, which was bashed in. He saw through the hole that the room was filled with blood, soaking through the carpet, permeating the air. Death was the only thing he would possibly find. He couldn’t bring himself to look into the room. As he left the scene, the thought still fresh within his mind, he saw the first creature. Black as night with claws like scimitars it crouched there. He could make out the outline of a human body rocking back and forth, the face locked in an eternal scream of pain. He gaged, which caught the creature’s attention. It quickly turned and leaped, and if it hadn’t been for his reflexes he’d be dead right now. He caught it on the side of its head with his wrench. It made a crunching sound, and the creature landed on top of him. But instead of rending his flesh like it had done to countless others it remained motionless. He threw it off, but something dripped out of its head onto his jacket. It melted through the cloth like it was nothing and burned his skin. He was holding back a scream of pain, clenching his jaw and holding his stomach where the drop had landed. It didn’t do much, as it quickly stopped melting his flesh. Whatever kind of acid it was, it didn’t last long outside the creature. That’s when he decided to go to the bunker. He made his way through the dark colony, with echoes of poor souls who hadn’t been fast enough or quiet enough to make it out. He was the lucky one it seems. He made it, and found his friend already there. But his family was nowhere to be seen. It seemed like they too thought they knew better.
Levi snapped back to reality. The birds were singing, nature was alive around him. He must have been lost in thought for hours. Checking the suns position he guessed that the entire bunker was probably up, and wondering where he was. He made his way back, and when he entered he saw that they had already prepared their meals. Levi thought he saw something behind the excavation door. He chalked it off as a figment of his imagination, as it quickly darted out of his peripheral. But he marked it down in his head. He didn’t trust the excavation, it opened up all sorts of caves and compartments under the ground. Of course, all of them had been covered or filled quickly but he still thought that one day something would get in and kill the entire bunker in their sleep. Maybe that was why he was waking up so early, maybe that was why he always felt a strange presence in the bunker. Whatever it was, Levi was in no mood to think to hard about it. He got to work organizing the inventory.
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Tom was cold. He was hurt. He was damp. Something was wrong. He attempted to push himself off the ground, but was to weak to move. He remembered a loud bang, and collapsing. He looked around and realized he was in the Nexus kitchen. He heard a shuffling nearby. Something grabbed his legs and started pulling him. He resigned to his fate. As his unmoving body was moved away, out of a pool of some sort of dark liquid, Tom noticed something. He saw that whatever was dragging him wasn’t one of the creatures, and looked human. That was all he could gather before he drifted off into the land of unconsciousness.
Levi woke up again. This time, though, it wasn’t a nightmare. He had been having trouble sleeping. It was just getting worse, and Levi was tired, both figuratively and literally. He decided to take a walk around the bunker. The fluorescent lights were off as to conserve power, so Levi grabbed his flashlight and explored some of the unused areas. Closets, compartments, guest rooms, collapsed rooms. Most were empty, though he would find a tin can or two in some of the rooms. Then he saw the excavation room. It was behind a solid steel door. Digging had been a day and night task, with at least two people working on it at any time. They didn’t need the space, nor did they need to get anywhere. Levi guessed it was only being dug to distract from the events outside. Sometimes they’d still hear screams of panic, gunshots, and blood curdling howls outside. Levi decided to check on the digging team and to make sure everything was alright. He opened the door and stepped in.
The air smelled dusty. The floor was far from smooth, and the tunnels were never the same. But he went about, going every which way, trying to find the team. Every tunnel was a dead end, except the main one. He kept going, as the path got darker and darker. They must not have moved the spotlights down yet. He could hear whispering, and picks striking rock up ahead. The noise down here wouldn’t carry outside. He was almost there, and he thought he saw light ahead. He ran forward and proceeded to run straight into a piece of solid limestone. He looked forward again, tried to listen for any noise. Nothing was there. No one was in here with him. He shook his head, thinking that they must have gone down another tunnel. He started walking back towards the door, but lost his way. Maybe he made a wrong turn, maybe it was just bad luck. Whatever it was, Levi was not getting back any time soon. The cavern seemed to be shifting every which way. His flashlight started flickering, and he thought he could hear faint splashes behind him. It was weird, because the tunnel was completely dry. Then his flashlight turned off. He shook it, flicked it back and forth. Nothing. He was now lost in a dark room with no light. He looked around for any flash, anything at all that could lead him out. The splashing was louder. He knew it. His friends had done this on purpose. They had led him down here, made him loose his way and were now coming to kill him. Whatever the ploy, Levi wasn’t going to go down easily.
Levi reached towards his shoulder holster, and grabbed his pistol. He always had it with him, even when he slept. He turned the safety off, and looked around. He saw a faint splash of light up ahead, and moved that way. Someone was behind him, though. He wanted to shoot, but knowing them he’d just wake up the rest of the killers inside. They hated him. They wanted him to die. They blamed Toms death on him. Oh, they put on the friendly face and they gave him food and shelter. But in their twisted minds it was all just part of the game. Levi wasn’t as insane as them. He wouldn’t kill them like they planned to kill him. He was running now. The floodlight bathed him in light, and he expected to find more. But he didn’t. It was almost as if they had set this up to lure him in. It was alone, in this unknown cavern. He attempted to follow the wire but it led into a crevice too small for him to crawl through. He heard whispers in the dark. Conspirators, all of them. They knew this was where he was going, and all they needed to do was come up with how he would die. Not today, he thought. He got next to the crevice, which was in a wall mainly built of crumbly sandstone. He fired his entire clip into it. The wall almost collapsed, and he was able to shimmy through the crack and follow the wire. He followed and followed and followed until there was nowhere left to go. He was back at the door. He opened it, and left, locking the door behind him. With his killers locked in he could live in peace. He went back to his bunk room, expecting it to be empty. But his ‘friend’ was still there. Maybe they were faster, Levi couldn’t know. But if they planned to play the long game, Levi was going to be right there until the end, outsmarting and outmaneuvering his enemy. He would always be one step ahead of his fellow bunkmates. He realized at that moment that the creatures weren’t his enemy. His real enemy were the people who surrounded him. The people who wanted it all for themselves.
Levi woke up again. This time, though, it wasn’t a nightmare. He had been having trouble sleeping. It was just getting worse, and Levi was tired, both figuratively and literally. He decided to take a walk around the bunker. The fluorescent lights were off as to conserve power, so Levi grabbed his flashlight and explored some of the unused areas. Closets, compartments, guest rooms, collapsed rooms. Most were empty, though he would find a tin can or two in some of the rooms. Then he saw the excavation room. It was behind a solid steel door. Digging had been a day and night task, with at least two people working on it at any time. They didn’t need the space, nor did they need to get anywhere. Levi guessed it was only being dug to distract from the events outside. Sometimes they’d still hear screams of panic, gunshots, and blood curdling howls outside. Levi decided to check on the digging team and to make sure everything was alright. He opened the door and stepped in.
The air smelled dusty. The floor was far from smooth, and the tunnels were never the same. But he went about, going every which way, trying to find the team. Every tunnel was a dead end, except the main one. He kept going, as the path got darker and darker. They must not have moved the spotlights down yet. He could hear whispering, and picks striking rock up ahead. The noise down here wouldn’t carry outside. He was almost there, and he thought he saw light ahead. He ran forward and proceeded to run straight into a piece of solid limestone. He looked forward again, tried to listen for any noise. Nothing was there. No one was in here with him. He shook his head, thinking that they must have gone down another tunnel. He started walking back towards the door, but lost his way. Maybe he made a wrong turn, maybe it was just bad luck. Whatever it was, Levi was not getting back any time soon. The cavern seemed to be shifting every which way. His flashlight started flickering, and he thought he could hear faint splashes behind him. It was weird, because the tunnel was completely dry. Then his flashlight turned off. He shook it, flicked it back and forth. Nothing. He was now lost in a dark room with no light. He looked around for any flash, anything at all that could lead him out. The splashing was louder. He knew it. His friends had done this on purpose. They had led him down here, made him loose his way and were now coming to kill him. Whatever the ploy, Levi wasn’t going to go down easily.
Levi reached towards his shoulder holster, and grabbed his pistol. He always had it with him, even when he slept. He turned the safety off, and looked around. He saw a faint splash of light up ahead, and moved that way. Someone was behind him, though. He wanted to shoot, but knowing them he’d just wake up the rest of the killers inside. They hated him. They wanted him to die. They blamed Toms death on him. Oh, they put on the friendly face and they gave him food and shelter. But in their twisted minds it was all just part of the game. Levi wasn’t as insane as them. He wouldn’t kill them like they planned to kill him. He was running now. The floodlight bathed him in light, and he expected to find more. But he didn’t. It was almost as if they had set this up to lure him in. It was alone, in this unknown cavern. He attempted to follow the wire but it led into a crevice too small for him to crawl through. He heard whispers in the dark. Conspirators, all of them. They knew this was where he was going, and all they needed to do was come up with how he would die. Not today, he thought. He got next to the crevice, which was in a wall mainly built of crumbly sandstone. He fired his entire clip into it. The wall almost collapsed, and he was able to shimmy through the crack and follow the wire. He followed and followed and followed until there was nowhere left to go. He was back at the door. He opened it, and left, locking the door behind him. With his killers locked in he could live in peace. He went back to his bunk room, expecting it to be empty. But his ‘friend’ was still there. Maybe they were faster, Levi couldn’t know. But if they planned to play the long game, Levi was going to be right there until the end, outsmarting and outmaneuvering his enemy. He would always be one step ahead of his fellow bunkmates. He realized at that moment that the creatures weren’t his enemy. His real enemy were the people who surrounded him. The people who wanted it all for themselves.
► Show Spoiler
Tom awoke. He was in a bed, somewhere. He tried to move but couldn’t muster the strength. Someone said something. He could barely make out anything, and didn’t even attempt to comprehend it. He was tired, and all he wanted right now was to sleep. Suddenly, he heard a slam. Opening his eyes, he looked around the dark room for what could have caused the noise. He saw a solid steel door in front of him. He also saw a shadow moving through the darkness. It then went right next to his bed. His head was to cloudy to recognize what this creature was. He just decided to go back to sleep.
Levi was very tired. He had stayed up all night, waiting for someone to come in and try to kill him. He didn’t know what time it was, but he finally collapsed from exhaustion. He woke up to his friend shaking him. He had slept through the entire day. Surprised that he hadn’t been murdered in the night time, Levi just assumed they wanted to play their games with him before he was finally killed. He went about doing the normal daily routine. He did what he was supposed to, did his job. But he knew in the back of his mind that they were out to get him. The group was running low on food, and what better way to solve that problem then to kill the most useless of the group. Levi pondered on that thought, but with no other alternatives he decided it would be best for him to stay with them for now. He knew about their plan anyway, so he was always a step ahead of them.
Tom was awake again. He sat up quickly, and looked around. He could see little, as there was no light to speak of in the room. He attempted to stand up, but almost fell on the ground. His abdomen hurts. He felt around the area where it hurt the most, and felt a damp bandage adorning him. He remembered what had happened almost as soon as he felt the gunshot underneath. It was sewn shut, but Tom knew what had happened. Levi had shot him. He didn’t know why, nor did he want to know why. He just knew that Levi had left him to die in that dusty, abandoned nexus. He knew Levi has always been an odd kid. He was too young to be going through this stuff alone, his brain was still developing and before he had even gone out with Levi it had become increasingly obvious that the kid wasn’t right in the head. Maybe it was because of his family, maybe it was the things he saw before he made his way to safety. Whatever the case though, Tom knew three things. One, Levi had snapped. He didn’t know when, maybe it was when he took the shot, maybe it was before that. But he wasn’t right anymore. Two, Levi was most likely going to kill the group. Tom didn’t like thinking of this, but if Levi had shot him in cold blood what’s to stop him from killing the entire group in some fit of panicked delusion. And three, Levi thought Tom was dead. Tom had the element of surprise, and therefor would always have an advantage. Tom knew that Levi wasn’t a cold-blooded killer at heart. He was a good kid. But he also knew that if it was the survival of the bunker versus the survival of Levi, he was always going to pick Levi. As he was thinking of a plan, of anything he could do to get out and warn the others so maybe they could save Levi before he was completely gone, a door at the front of his room opened, and light spilled through the doorway.
Levi had gone another sleepless night. It was weighing on his mind, the thought that the group wanted him dead. Levi had always thought of these people as his friends, his sort of second family. He realized now that they cared nothing for him, but he didn’t want to believe that. He didn’t want to believe that they didn’t care about his survival. He was drifting off into sleep when he heard something. A sort of shuffling coming from across the hallway. He pulled out his knife, the knife his father had given him when he turned 16. It was an ornate knife, a dagger of sorts. It was mainly steel and iron, with an odd leather hilt and the gold inscribed words “For my son, Levi” on it. He listened as it came closer to his door, and when it was at the door of the dorm room he was ready to strike. But it didn’t open. Whatever was outside just walked away, back to where it had originated from. Levi realized he had been holding his breath, and sighed in relief. He suspected it was one of the inhabitants. Maybe they heard him move, or heard him breath in before he hear it. Whatever it was, it was impossible to tell at this moment in time.
Levi was very tired. He had stayed up all night, waiting for someone to come in and try to kill him. He didn’t know what time it was, but he finally collapsed from exhaustion. He woke up to his friend shaking him. He had slept through the entire day. Surprised that he hadn’t been murdered in the night time, Levi just assumed they wanted to play their games with him before he was finally killed. He went about doing the normal daily routine. He did what he was supposed to, did his job. But he knew in the back of his mind that they were out to get him. The group was running low on food, and what better way to solve that problem then to kill the most useless of the group. Levi pondered on that thought, but with no other alternatives he decided it would be best for him to stay with them for now. He knew about their plan anyway, so he was always a step ahead of them.
Tom was awake again. He sat up quickly, and looked around. He could see little, as there was no light to speak of in the room. He attempted to stand up, but almost fell on the ground. His abdomen hurts. He felt around the area where it hurt the most, and felt a damp bandage adorning him. He remembered what had happened almost as soon as he felt the gunshot underneath. It was sewn shut, but Tom knew what had happened. Levi had shot him. He didn’t know why, nor did he want to know why. He just knew that Levi had left him to die in that dusty, abandoned nexus. He knew Levi has always been an odd kid. He was too young to be going through this stuff alone, his brain was still developing and before he had even gone out with Levi it had become increasingly obvious that the kid wasn’t right in the head. Maybe it was because of his family, maybe it was the things he saw before he made his way to safety. Whatever the case though, Tom knew three things. One, Levi had snapped. He didn’t know when, maybe it was when he took the shot, maybe it was before that. But he wasn’t right anymore. Two, Levi was most likely going to kill the group. Tom didn’t like thinking of this, but if Levi had shot him in cold blood what’s to stop him from killing the entire group in some fit of panicked delusion. And three, Levi thought Tom was dead. Tom had the element of surprise, and therefor would always have an advantage. Tom knew that Levi wasn’t a cold-blooded killer at heart. He was a good kid. But he also knew that if it was the survival of the bunker versus the survival of Levi, he was always going to pick Levi. As he was thinking of a plan, of anything he could do to get out and warn the others so maybe they could save Levi before he was completely gone, a door at the front of his room opened, and light spilled through the doorway.
Levi had gone another sleepless night. It was weighing on his mind, the thought that the group wanted him dead. Levi had always thought of these people as his friends, his sort of second family. He realized now that they cared nothing for him, but he didn’t want to believe that. He didn’t want to believe that they didn’t care about his survival. He was drifting off into sleep when he heard something. A sort of shuffling coming from across the hallway. He pulled out his knife, the knife his father had given him when he turned 16. It was an ornate knife, a dagger of sorts. It was mainly steel and iron, with an odd leather hilt and the gold inscribed words “For my son, Levi” on it. He listened as it came closer to his door, and when it was at the door of the dorm room he was ready to strike. But it didn’t open. Whatever was outside just walked away, back to where it had originated from. Levi realized he had been holding his breath, and sighed in relief. He suspected it was one of the inhabitants. Maybe they heard him move, or heard him breath in before he hear it. Whatever it was, it was impossible to tell at this moment in time.
