Artificial Earth

46

  Necropolis

THE SEEMINGLY ENDLESS SEA OF THE DEAD Continued it's hideous march, pushing forward through the unceasing wind and rain. They walked slowly, quietly in the dark, never stopping nor bothered by the cold. Their numbers too great to be counted, multitudes of mindless reanimated corpses, limbs hanging, eyes bulging from their sockets, their flesh torn, rotting, each figure grotesque, horrific, a scene unimaginable for it was utterly unreal.
Lieutenant Alexa Fernandez, her back against the wall, sat quietly beside Brick who was hunched near the slightly opened mausoleum door, both shivering a degree more in fear rather than cold.
Spoon who was kneeling in front of his backpack a few feet away was rummaging through it's contents, searching for something that may come in handy in their present situation. He took out a black slim rectangular plastic box, opened it and plucked four tubelike cylinders, placed them gently on the ground, zipped his bag then strapped it back behind him. Picking up the cylinders, Spoon crawled towards his companions and handed them a tube each, saving the remaining two for himself.
The tubelike cylinders were made of glass, transparent, emmiting a soft cloudy orange liquid inside and looked very fragile.
"What is this?" Alexa asked, holding the cylinder in front of her, her hands slightly shaking.
"Careful...That's a chemically induced mini firebomb." Spoon warned. "It's like a grenade but more dangerous. Once the substance comes in contact with oxygen, it explodes, creating a wall of fire hot enough to melt almost anything and burns for at least two to three minutes, even in extreme weather." he added
"Firebomb...Where did you get this?" Alexa asked.
"A friend of mine's a chemist and weapon developer at ArmsNet, thought I'd need some. These are prototypes. I was saving these bad boys for that creature down at First Lake, situation's changed." Spoon said.
"Wish I had friends like that." Brick said.
"This definitely could help. If we get out of this mess I'll personally recommend him to the Major." Alexa said, holding the tube firmly in her hand.
"So, what's the plan?" Brick asked, turning towards Alexa.
Alexa fell silent and thought for a while. They had to find the others to regroup and warn them, that is if the others haven't come in contact with those dead folks yet, but first they needed to get out undetected, and in case these things do see them and go after them, these firebombs might give them the time they need to put a good distance between them.
"Okay, I'll go first...We'll go round towards the back, if those things sees us we make a run for it, go straight, just run straight and stick together. We use these firebombs only when we need to. Got that?"
"I still can't believe we're running from dead people." Spoon said.
"I can't even understand how they're alive and walking." Brick inserted.
"I know  what you mean...we'll figure this out later.....let's do this." Alexa said, positioning herself near the slightly opened door.
Outside, the rain poured relentlessly as ever, lightning flashed constantly, illuminating the landscape for brief periods of time revealing the soaking grotesque figures in their burial clothes as they marched forward. Alexa looked on, momentarily distracted by the macabre procession, her mind trying but failing to make sense of what her eyes was seeing. A few feet away, just behind a tall Cypress tree, walking diagonally and heading in their direction was a beautiful long haired blonde corpse with a voluptuous figure wearing a white satin dress. Judging by the way the corpse looks, she must've died recently, her face was beautiful inspite of being dead and could've been no older than thirty when death took her.
"Shit." Alexa murmured, drawing back. "One of them's headed our way." she added.
"What do we do?" Spoon asked.
"We take her out...quietly." Alexa replied.
"How?" Spoon asked. "I mean...How do we kill something that's already dead?" he added.
"Good question." Alexa said.
"I have an idea...Why don't we just stay here 'till she walk past us." Brick suggested.
"No, we can't...this place will soon be swarming with those things and by then it will be impossible for escape, even with these bombs." Alexa said. "Our best chance is to move out now and not be seen."
"So how do we kill it?" Spoon asked.
"Decapitation....but it must be done quickly and quietly." Alexa replied.
"Decapi.... Don't you think that's a bit brutal?" Brick asked.
"That's the only thing I can think of,..besides, thing's already dead." Alexa replied.       
"Will it work?" Spoon asked.
"I don't know, but we have to try. Brick..." Alexa said, turning to Brick.
"Got it." Brick replied.
    Moving beside the slightly opened door and slowly opening it a bit further, Brick squeezed through then slithered quietly out into the rain.  Alexa and Spoon watched as Brick crawled his way across towards the approaching corpse.

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Necropolis                                                                     

SHEATH PIGGY BACKED CHESTER  WHILE garret took the lead aiming his riffle in front of him as they moved slowly back towards the corridor. Reaching the end of the hallway, Garret gave a signal for Sheath to stop and sit while he crouched at the corner to have a look. The other side of the hall was dark and empty, still, Garret felt uneasy, he thought about the claw marks on Chesters body and how they found him.
"Something did that to Chester." he thought.  And whatever that "something" was, it was still out there.
Garret looked back and saw Sheath anxiously waiting and signaled him to follow. They made their way through the other side of the corridor and were now about ten feet away from where they left their bags. The temperature has dropped and the air was now nearly as cold as ice but inspite of that Garret was perspiring profusely, his heartbeat racing, his eyes straining to see through the darkness. He could see their bags illuminated by brief flashes of light just up ahead, but he was reluctant to move any further, something was just not right, he felt it but couldn't quite tell what it was.
"What is it? Why are we stopping?" Sheath asked softly.
"I'm not sure....cover me." Garret said. Sheath laid Chester down and took aim of his riffle as Garret slowly moved towards their bags ahead, aiming at nothing in particular. Garret was now kneeling with one knee right next to their bags when a dark shadow flew over him and knocked him vertically across the room, making him drop his riffle. It happened so fast Sheath wasn't able to take a shot. The shadow swept back, grabbed Garret and threw him again towards the opposite direction,  this time Sheath was able to fire two consecutive shots at nothing. Garret rolled over and tried to run towards his riffle but the shadow swept back again, knocking Garret and sending him sprawling on the floor like a piece of rag.
"It's some sort of giant bird." Sheath thought as he watched Garret struggle to get back up.
Sheath fired two more shots, trying to keep the shadow away from his comrade. The Shadow hovered slightly near the ceiling, Garret lunged forward towards his riffle but was thrown across again, hitting the wall back first.
"Garret!!!" Sheath screamed. Firing two more shots.
Garrets shirt was now torn and bloody, a card fell from his breast pocket, the shadow hovered above and was preparing to sweep back again, Garret took the card and flung it towards the darkness.
"Fuck You!!!" Garret cursed.
The card spun, bright white light exploded illuminating the room. A loud screech reverberated as the shadow flew away and disappeared. Sheath scrambled towards Garret with his riffle still drawn.
"Garret!..." Sheath started, kneeling beside his comrade.
"I'm okay....is ughh...is it gone?" Garret asked, struggling to sit straight.
"I think so....anything broken?"
"Nah...just a few scratches and bruises. Banged my head a bit though, get me one of those painkillers will 'ya, they're in my bag."
"jezuuz, thought you were a gonner man." Sheath said.
"I thought so too...hell, what was that thing?"
"Some sort of bird I think.." Sheath replied as he rummaged through Garrets bag. "Man, it was big." he added. Light was slowly dimming and the card hovering above was slowly dissolving.
"We better hurry up and get going....whatever that was, might come back."
"Think the others heard us?" Sheath asked, heading over to Garrets side with some painkillers and a mineral bottle.
"I don't think so.....They're near the entrance, rain's pouring.."
"What do we do when that....comes back? Bullets doesn't seem to have any effect on that thing."
"Flashcards!" Garret exclaimed, digging into his breast pocket. "I still have three of them!" he added. Sheath gave Garret a knowing smile.
"Bastard's afraid of the light." Sheath said.
"Get Chester...let's get back to the others."

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Authors note

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