Years Without Summer

Part 2 Chapter 5: The Worm

Petras rushed down the moist corridor of the Metro, snow-melt creeping down its old walls. The man's lupine gaze scanned his surroundings as he used his memory to locate the place in which the worm was located in. The worm. The bull worm. He could hear the squeaking and scraping of the beasts that were nearby, but he didn't care, this was more important. However, his mind soon began to wander, memories flashing into and out of his head, along with one sentence: "Am I going to die?"

He was a child, this was his home. His new home. Vilnius. His long hair was strewn across his face, making him resemble more of a feral, mutant pup than a boy. "Petras!" He heard someone call his name, he grabbed his small companions, the genetically modified tardigrades he took with him.

"Yes! I'm coming!" He rushed over coughing slightly, perhaps it was the radiation. There was radiation here, less so in his hometown, the Soviet Confederation, in an attempt to protect one of their capitals, had anti-missile; most of the nuclear weapons found themselves crashing into the Baltics, then creating a horrid storm of radiation. A radiation desert persay. However some still hit the capital, rather large ones couldn't be stopped, thus damaging the city severely, but it was never as irradiated as the place he lived. Perhaps, maybe one day, he could go there! Maybe it was much better there than here!

"Ah, so you were there the whole time." Said a voice with a faint chuckle.

Petras turned around with a smile on his face. "You're back! You're back!" He yelled aloud as he rushed over to hug the man. Sadly, that moment was short-lived, as only a couple days later, this familiar man would die.

What if he were to end up like that man? Dead. Gone. Would Katya miss him? Would she even care? No...no she would, he knows she would. They're friends, good friends, and after they're done with this gig, they will be out of here. They will go to a different place entirely. Petras was happy about that.

Soon he was met with a large, metal wall or door. He could hear scratching and low grumbles that made the walls shake slightly. This was the place alright. He groped around to find the switch, two to be exact. One seemed to open a tiny hatch, one small enough for a human to be shoved into, whether it be comfortably or uncomfortably. The other one, a large lever, seemed to open the wall, the large door, thus letting the beast out. Petras rushed over to the large switch, it was rusted and rough at the touch, Petras used all his night to pull it down, and after a while, he did. The wall-door fell down, and Petras rushed to hide in one of the many holes and crevices located within the Metro. Soon a horrified screech filled his ears as he spotted a large, worm-like body rush past the hole, much like a train, if a train could eat the flesh of humans and other poor beasties caught in its midst.

Petras then let out a relieved sigh; finally the creature was gone and he was home free. He closed his eyes before hearing the sounds of footsteps near him. That was not good. He turned around, his amber eyes opened up to find stairs. This was no hole, this was an entrance and exit for the Metro. He did his best to find some place to hide, but that wasn't easy, since he was rather tall. His breathing became heavy as he spotted the owners' of the footsteps. Soldiers. Dammit!

"The worm!"

"Huh?"

"It's... it's gone!!"

"What? You can't be serious, can you?"

"I'm serious, look!"

"Oh shit... oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Who the hell was mad enough to do this?!?"

"I don't know I don't know, wait a minute.."

Petras's eyes widened he heaved even more. One of the soldiers quickly headed towards him, which had caused him to freak out and begin to run (which also had shown said soldier his location). He painted and ran as gas as he could before the other soldier caught him, grabbing him by his hair and pulling him back. "Found you." He said in a sadistic tone, Petras soon closing his eyes once more as he hoped this was all but a bad dream.

Only the sounds of screams and wails could be heard over the night, both from the attacks of the worm and from Red Square, where one slave finally met his end.