The dark caves were like being in an uncharted labyrinth of claustrophobic tunnels with sifted dirt beneath their feet. Winding passages of varying diameter and angles occasionally opened up into larger chambers. The more pleasant moments of their recent escape from capture were when the chamber was predominately formed from natural rock recesses below the surface. Now was one of those times. Pleasant was probably an overstatement; but if they weren't lost at the same time, the mood would be joyous.
Ryan and Greg helped Stacey set up a few lights at the perimeters of the cavern to help alert them of any possible intruders. The pale green glow of the perimeter lights created an eerie effect within the cavern. Sitting down, the group tried to catch their breath.
"Should we go back?" asked Becky.
"We don't know the way," cried Alice, "and we don't have any food. What are we going to do?"
Greg rummaged in the back luggage section of the buggy. "There are a small amount of emergency rations here, but not enough to last us for long. We need to get out soon."
"Maybe they've given up on waiting for us. Maybe we should go back?" asked Ryan.
Stacey breathed in the atmosphere of what she considered to be an amazing cavern. "Fear not my newfound friends. I'm sure we can find a way. We should be heading back to Olympus Mons. Sooner or later, we are bound to come across one of the tunnels that are maintained by the government. If we can get to one of them, then we should be able to escape through the nearest vent shaft.
"What if we come across more of the beetles?" questioned Ryan.
"Shoot and run?"
"I hope it's that easy."
Immediately after Greg spoke, the whole cavern rumbled and shook, making the group stagger to their feet. They struggled to hold their balance as pieces of rock, and showers of sand fell over and around them. The perimeter lights moved too, making a disco-like scene; the disco at the belly of hell.
After a violent minute, the cavern settled again and Ryan asked if everyone was okay. After their acknowledgement, he looked around to see Stacey at the forward end of the cavern, shining her torch towards the dust and rock.
"It looks like the quake has revealed a new path."
A cloud of dust was still lingering at the rear end of the cavern too. From within the cloud, a large shiny black object came into focus. Then a voice was heard coming from the dust. "I don't suggest you run; or else!"
"Leonard?!"
The group watched as the buggy rolled into the cavern. Leonard's security guards jumped off and pointed their weapons at them.
Greg noticed that Victor was tied to the buggy. "Leonard, what on Mars are you doing? Why is Victor tied up?"
"It's simple, really. Victor did not follow the orders from Governor Tomlin. He ... thought he knew what was best."
"This is insanity, Leonard," shouted Ryan.
"Is it, Ryan? Insanity depends on your point of view. Do you think you know what is best, Ryan?" Leonard raised one eyebrow and stepped in closer to Ryan. "I know you know." Walking closer, Leonard raised his hands behind his head. "Did you actually have a plan in coming down here? Did you think you would just follow the creatures and exterminate them?" he jeered. "Victor thought of doing the same thing, and look where that got him. It's possible his team is already dead."
Victor groaned at the comment, trying to find his strength from his drug induced bound state.
"You don't know what you're doing, Leonard. There could be many more creatures out there, and with more destructive abilities than the ones we've seen."
Leonard lowered his arms, and rested one of his hands upon his hand gun. "Oh ... but I do know, Ryan. The SS knows a lot more than you think."
"The people need to know, they need to be warned. The whole planet could be in danger!"
"And that's, where we come to disagree. The people don't need to know anything. The government will assist us to capture and study these beings for the ultimate survival of the human race." Leonard looked over at Victor stirring on the buggy. "Well at least most of the government's personnel."
"We're not going to let you get away with this!" shouted Greg with bravado.
The sound of clicking weapons being readied to fire soon put them in their place. "You? I don't think you are in a position to negotiate here. In fact, we now need your assistance in finding these creatures. You will do as we say ... or else."
"Or else what?" screamed Ryan.
"Or else ..." Leonards reply was halted as an echoing sound of shuffling was heard coming from the new rift that had been created by the quake. Everyone turned towards the opening as the sound of an impending dust storm swelled with a cacophony of clicking and buzzing noises.
Dozens of beetles emerged from the rift; some with metalized colours, some with large horns and sharp curved mandibles. Others had thinner, longer bodies with black heads and bright red wings with black spots.
The beetles spread out around Leonard's guards and Ryan and the others. For a brief moment they stopped whilst their antennae and legs still flicked and shuffled. The humans looked around, trying to assess the best course of action; eyes darting around, awaiting instructions.
One of the larger black beetles lifted its front legs and let out a piercing shriek.
"Run!" yelled Ryan as he grabbed Becky by the arm and pulled her towards the other end of the cavern. Greg, Alice and Stacey followed closely behind. The beetles moved forward.
One of the guards fired his nano electrical pulse rifle, sending a streaming volt of electricity into one of the beetles. The beetle shook and stumbled before it rolled over onto its back with its legs still vibrating.
"No!" screamed Leonard. The beetles momentarily paused again. "We need to capture them."
All the commotion had awoken Victor to his full senses as he still lay bound to the buggy. "You're insane Leonard. You've lead us all into a death trap!"
Leonard had turned to look at Victor. "But we can learn so much." Looking into Victor's eyes, he noticed a distressed look of terror. Turning back around, Leonard was confronted by a hideous beetle before him. The creature let out another shriek before twisting its head sideways and thrusting its large mandibles into the side of Leonard, sending him crashing to the rocky ground.
The beetles rushed upon the guards as they let out a simultaneous firing of their various weapons. The one that had disabled the first beetle was set upon by one of the red winged beetles. The guard fired again and hit the creature in the abdomen. It was right upon the guard when the bright yellow liquid sprayed from the abdominal wound. As the liquid fell upon the guard, it seared into his flesh causing a piercing pain. The guard yelled and spun around as he tried to wipe the burning liquid off, but there was too much of it. Spinning blindly in pain, his cries soon stopped as a large horn from another creature rammed into his stomach. Lifting its head up, the creature flicked the guard off, sending him atop Leonard's body.
Ryan glanced behind him at the terror and recognized one of the creatures to be the blister beetle. Ryan and the others had made it to the far exit of the cavern and headed into the dark maze of tunnels with a horde of angry beetles scuttling behind them, and only the lights of their headbands to show the way.
The guards continued to fire as they fought a losing battle. The guards with the ice blasters seemed to be making the most progress, but the charge time between rounds made it difficult to keep up with the constant onslaught of the relentless creatures.
Victor used all his strength to try and free himself from his bonds. His muscles strained and his veins bulged as his flexed his body; knowing all too well that if he didn't escape he would be beetle juice for sure. His eyes widened as a familiar face appeared before him with a funny looking hat. Victor sat with his mouth wide open as Carl produced a knife to sever the bonds.
"What are you doing here Carl?" Victor asked. Carl was about to reply but Victor grabbed him under the arms and flung him upwards on top of the buggy. Victor used his right foot and kicked hard into the underbelly of the yellow and green beetle that was about to attack Carl. The creature moved back a few inches after Victor's forward kick, but used its pincers to grab Victor by the boot and dragged him away from the buggy.
"Victor, hang on," yelled Carl as he pulled out his weapon. Taking aim, Carl fired into the middle of the creature's head, causing it collapse immediately. More beetles quickly scuttled around Victor. Carl threw a weapon towards Victor's hand. Jumping into the driver's seat, Carl quickly revved up the engine and threw it into reverse.
Victor managed to fire off enough rounds to keep the closest beetles from crushing or piercing him as the buggy reversed over the top of the beetle that still had Victor in the death lock of its mandible. The weight of the vehicle caused the creature to involuntarily release its grip and Victor jumped up quickly onto the buggy.
"Go, go, go!" he shouted. Carl put the buggy into forward drive and propelled past the main group of creatures that were battling with the dwindling number of guards. "Where are you going?" asked Victor.
"To save Ryan and his friends."
Victor was inclined to disagree, but found no reason to argue with the person that had just saved him from the creatures.
The flashing lights from their headbands had a disconcerting affect upon their senses as they tried to find a safe path. Running on foot was not going to be a long lasting strategy against the speed of the approaching creatures. Stacey flashed her light upon the side walls, searching for a way out. Alice was beside herself. Greg was trying to help her keep focused and keep pace.
"Wait! Up here! We need to climb," shouted Stacey.
Ryan and the others skidded to a halt while breathing heavily. "Are you sure?" asked Ryan.
"But they'll just climb up after us," argued Greg.
"Trust me. Quickly, we can't delay."
Stacey began effectively scaling the large side wall as the others followed. Above, they could see the small ledge which was protruding from the side. The rocks had dust all over them, making it difficult to hold on. Fortunately there were enough hand hold forms to grab onto; well suited for humn hands, but not so for beetle legs. As they all scaled the wall, the beetles assembled below them and began following their path. As the beetles attempted the first rock boulders, they found it very difficult to climb the face with the dusted surface. Without the ability to wedge their legs into the same grip holds, they toppled backwards and landed on the other beetles. This caused no little stir amongst the creatures as they took offence at the impact of one beetle against another. While a large amount of hissing and shrieking sounded below, Stacey continued to lead the way with the others making good vertical space.
Before long they had made it to the protruding ledge which was only a short distance from the top of the tunnel. They were barely able to fit on it as they all huddled closely together, trying to catch their breath and assess their new predicament.
Looking below, they viewed the mass of legs, antennae, unique shaped and colourful abdomens and decorated wings. It was a sea of grotesque insanity.
"Now what?" asked Ryan.
Stacey shrugged her shoulders, "We wait until they go I suppose."
"Wait? What if they decide not to go? We only have limited fire power, and I don't think that Leonard and his cronies will be coming to rescue us. We have to figure something out."
Without warning, a large winged black beetle buzzed upwards to their level and squealed loudly.
"Is that what they use those for?" asked Stacey in a self quizzing manner.
Alice screamed as the beetle buzzed closer and thrust its curved horn towards her. Greg took out his blaster and fired into its underbelly. With another shriek, the creature dropped suddenly on top of the others. Another round of hissing ensued as some of the beetles began devouring the inner contents of the fallen.
It was a quick relief for Ryan and the others, but many more of the creatures below had wings. A spooky silence fell below as the beetles began using their antennae's to communicate, touching those around it.
"What are they doing?" asked Becky.
"It ... looks like they are communicating," replied Ryan.
"They can't be," stated Stacey in surprise. "They're just mindless creatures, surely?"
In unison, the beetles began climbing on top of one another, forming a pyramid shape against the wall. Despite some niggling complaints, they remained unified; with purpose.
"I can't believe it! They're actually working together." Spoke Greg.
"They would have been unified at the crop field too," said Ryan.
"Yeah, except now we look like becoming the food."
Greg pointed his blaster at the rising team of creatures and fired multiple shots into them. The injured fell back to the ground amidst some intensified hissing and squealing, but they quickly regained to their purpose and began gaining closer to the humans.
Stacey looked around, desperately trying to find another way out. Ryan looked to her for an answer, but all she could do was shake her head in dismay.
"They're coming," screamed Alice.
At the same time she screamed, a buggy came at full speed into the tunnel section and rammed forcefully into the pyramid of pests. Victor worked hard to fire as many blasts into the beetles as they lost their unified bearings momentarily.
"C'mon" Carl shouted, "Get into the buggy."
The group began sliding quickly down the face of the wall while Greg fired some extra blasts from above to clear a path to the buggy. The carnage of noise and flying beetle parts flew around them as they pressed their way through.
Stacey, Alice and Becky scrambled to the inner part of the buggy. Victor continued to keep them at bay while Greg and Ryan jumped onto the rear tray.
"You're the last person I expected to see, Carl."
"Don't underestimate me, Ryan."
"Hit it, Carl, get us out of here!"
Carl managed a quick salute to Victor as he flicked the buggy into a tailspin, sending any bugs that happened to be left close to the vehicle into the walls. The buggy bucked and jolted as it ran over the multiple bodies of defeated beetles along the way. Passing back into the main cavern, they noticed several of the creatures devouring what was left of Leonard's guards.
Exiting the cavern, they started through the maze towards the last stretch before getting back to what was left of the crop field. Passing several side tunnels they almost breathed a sigh of relief. Behind them a new shadow of scurrying evil was forming.
"Get us out of here, Caaaarllll!"
"Ryan!" shouted Becky as she glimpsed a long, large, heinous shadow of yellow pull Ryan off into the darkness. "Stop!" she screamed repeatedly.
"We can't," lamented Victor. "They're right upon us. If we don't make it to the surface, they'll kill us all. I'm sorry, Becky."
Greg held Becky back from jumping off the buggy as they headed upwards.