Gathering Darkness✔️

Chapter 10: Apprehension

They walked through the rain and the stark gloom of the forest.

After several minutes, Kane was convinced that they'd lost the slender asshole. At least for the time being. To be honest, he hadn't felt secure or safe since they'd settled into orbit around this awful planet. As they wound through the forest, hurrying towards the nav marker, he found his mind yet again drifting, touching on thoughts almost at random. Of course, he was thinking about Lara. Worrying about her, wondering where this whole thing was going. The sudden relationship was bringing up a lot of good, forgotten feelings.

And a lot of bad ones.

Sure, you got that bubbly, 'new relationship' bliss where you couldn't wait to see them again and couldn't get enough of them, and being with them was like being high. Well, technically, from what Kane understood about human biology, it actually was being high, biologically speaking. And that was just great, one of the best feelings in life. But that also opened you up to all the shit. The fear, the anxiety, the doubt, the worry. That hollow pain when you were away from them for too long. Kane tried to push the thoughts away.

No place for them now.

"So, are you really hooked up with Lara now?" Thompson asked suddenly.

Kane glanced over at him, then looked around. "Maybe not the best time to talk about that?"

"Yeah, sorry. I just...this is really freaking me out."

Kane sighed. "Yeah, we're hooked up. Just happened last night."

"How serious is it?"

"Pretty serious. I...we are in a relationship." He felt himself stumbling conversationally. He hated social awkwardness like this. "Um...how did you and Diaz meet?" he asked.

Thompson snorted. "We both got rotated into the squad about a year ago and I was doing my usual thing of avoiding social situations. For the most part, I prefer to be alone. But Maria just...wouldn't leave me alone. I didn't really know how to react. She was pretty open. And we just kinda hooked up. And stayed hooked up." He laughed suddenly. "I know, you're thinking that we don't belong together, right?"

"Not that, but you are pretty different."

"I know. She's pretty abrasive, and blunt, and rough, but I really like her. She's...good for me. She makes me better."

Kane smiled suddenly, in spite of himself and everything around him. "Yeah. I know what you mean. I know exactly what you mean."

Rustling off to the right ripped them out of their conversation. Kane snapped his flashlight over to the treeline, trying to see through the branches and bushes and thick foliage. They'd managed to make it about half the distance so far. But something was here now, with them. He was getting tired of these Proxies, they freaked him the hell out and it always seemed like they were always doing something new and unpredictable.

He couldn't really get a lock on them.

As if to prove this very theory, as he began slowly advancing towards the dark treeline, there was a scream from somewhere directly above him. He snapped his shotgun up and fired as he saw a dark figure coming down on him. The blast clipped it in the stomach, but that was all, and all two hundred pounds of the latest Proxy landed on him. As they immediately began struggling, Kane heard more of them, and Thompson opening fire.

He felt strong hands wrap around his throat and begin to squeeze the life from him. Reacting instinctively, he swung a fist into his assailant's skull and heard a crack. That at least seemed to daze the Proxy. With a tremendous burst of strength, Kane threw the thing off of him. Yeah, a thing, not a human. Not any longer. It helped to think about that. Maybe it was messed up, but really, it was a survival mechanism.