Deus Ex Machina

Chapter Three

Boots clanged against the hard metal as the two brothers ran back the way they had come. The tundra driller was steal roaring back in the control room as it tried to free itself from its predicament. Underfoot Abel could feel the ground rumble as more worms were reacting to the cries of the trapped one, rushing towards their new found prey. They had to get out to open ground where the two brothers stood a much better chance against the vicious creatures.

As Cain still ran awkwardly with his twisted ankle, he sneaked a peak behind him, only to see the passageway they had just run through crumble as a mass of six to seven worms burst through the walls chasing after them, tearing apart the structure as they went. Fear pushing away his pain, he maintained his pace despite the intense pain shooting up his ankle. Ahead of him, Abel had pushed open the opening to the stairwell and waited with bated breath for Cain to follow him through. His eyes widened as he caught sight of what was coming behind Cain, but his mind still functioned, fumbling with his rifle, he aimed at the mass of tumbling bodies and fired off a salvo of plasma shots as Cain shot past him into the stairwell.

Without taking a second look on whether the shots even had any effect on the worms, Abel followed Cain's lead and started down the stairs. They had four stories to climb down and the worms could cut them off with much ease if they wanted to. Thankfully though, the worms functioned more on instinct than brains so it was safe to assume that they wouldn't fall down and wait for them at the bottom.

As the staircase started trembling, it didn't take long for Cain to realize that the worms had started chewing up the stairs behind them.

"Come on last floor and we're out of here" Abel shouted ahead as he leaped clear of the staircase landing and started down the next flight.

With escape almost in sight, Cain gave it his all, pushing with reserves he never knew existed. As the brothers finally made it to the last floor, they rushed for the hole in the wall, Cain jumping through as Abel covered him with his rifle.

"Move come on," Cain shouted from the other side as Abel jumped through the hole, scraping his arms against the rough sides in the process. As he landed in a heap on the cold hard ground, the sudden silence of the tundra was all that he could hear. The blizzard had subsided in the half hour or so they had been inside and now silence reigned supreme in the vast icy land.

The eerie silence was further punctuated by the fact the worms had stopped chasing them. That could only mean one of two things, that either that they had lost interest or that didn't want to leave the fort.

As Cain walked over to Abel and helped him up, the brothers stated around the white landscape, trying to find their bearing. None of the landmarks seemed familiar as they looked around, the blizzard had broken up any recognizable formations.

As Abel checked his compass and nav-tool, he tried to walk off the pain in his legs from the rough landing. Cain meanwhile was resting on all fours in the hard ground, clutching his twisted ankle in pain.

"How's your ankle? Think you can make it out of here?" Abel asked as he finally figured which direction they had to travel in.

"Yeah, not like we have a choice do we?" Cain replied slightly irritated, pushing himself off the ground and walking with a slight limp.

Shrugging, Abel just pointed in the general direction in which they had to travel and started to walking slowly, allowing Cain to keep up with him.

"I wonder what kept the worms out," Abel asked as he treated carefully on the hard ground which offered little purchase to his snow boots.

"I don't know Abel, I'm just glad that they didn't follow us out, and you should be too. Besides, they probably have a nest in there or something that's why they attacked us," Cain replied, his voice straining with apparent pain as he hobbled after Abel.