as Lucius awoke that next morning he saw the old man huddled in his blankets near him trying to retain as much heat as he could. as he saw Lucius sitting up , the old man glanced over and spoke in a breathy wisp of a voice" well good morning son how'd ya sleep? Lucius still groggy from waking up answered with a simple good and sat there staring into the encampment, seeing the other refugees still tossing and turning in their sleep he said in a quiet voice , thank you for checking on me last night.' the old man smiled , the wrinkles around his eyes creasing even more his already weathered face. " not a problem lad i saw the look you had on your face , i figured you had seen some things yesterday that a youngun shouldn't have to see. after saying this he looked into Lucius's eyes and saw that he looked indeed rather distant still. the old man sighed and introduced himself saying , by the way son the names Fabian i used to be a soldier back in the day, back before all of the policies that forbid service of the elderly, so i've seen men with that same look in their eyes if you need anything let me know. with that he gave the boy some space and stood stretching with his hands behind his back.
" i'm going to go see if i can find the men in charge and see if i can find some more grub ,ill be right back. and with that he turned and meandered off towards the front of the encampment leaving Lucius alone to think. after Fabian had left Lucius found himself with nothing to keep himself preoccupied he found himself facing the deep anger that had been bubbling up in his gut. he found himself feeling a twisting in his gut tearing at him , clawing up his throat and trying to find its way into his mind. as the twisting gnawing feeling wormed its way into his head he buried his head under the blankets as if trying to hide from the pain that he felt. he felt sick he felt like he had to puke , he wanted his mom and every time he closed his eyes he kept seeing the scene of the beast tearing into her and hearing her screams and sobs, her calling out to him and the heavy thuds of the pipe against the skin of the monster as he tried to no avail to try and free her from its iron grip. the sickening crunch of her skull splitting he felt warmth at the back of his throat, he really was gonna puke ! he sat up and ran to the trash cans at the end of the row of bunks and emptied his guts into the can. when he could heave no more he slumped to the floor. he sat there for a long time just taking deep breaths and trying to clear his mind.aft some time Fabian came back and saw him and helped him back to his bunk. they sat for some time in silence only interrupted by the passing through of the nurses and medics coming to check on them. the sound of gun fire was a constant in the following hours as the army struggled against the constant onslaught of beasts trying to make their way into the camp. the refugees found themselves huddled in groups discussing where they thought that the beasts had came from. one man , a middle age man with a greying mustache was speaking in a harsh whisper, i bet they are demons! another lady this one a brunette was loudly proclaiming, they must be a government experiment! , and they are using us as the test subjects! the group seemed to be growing more and more feral as time went on and soon a few soldiers were sent to break it up in an effort to restore the peace. as the people were starting to separate one of the men gabbed Lucius by the arm and tried to persuade him to acknowledge their claims, when he pulled on his wrist he happened to catch a glimpse of the scales on his arm and despite Lucius protest of get your hands off of me! tore at his shirt sleeve exposing the rough black patches of scales for all to see. the man then loudly proclaimed to the room , see? they are even experimenting on kids! and thrust Lucius up by his arm for the refugees to see. there were many gasps of surprise and loud screams of fear as the people saw the rough patches. the man tore at more of his shirt all while Lucius started pounding his fist against the mans side in an attempt to break free. Fabian seeing this rushed to the mans side and tried to pry his grip from the boys arm to no avail as the man took his free hand and smashed his elbow into the elderly mans face breaking his nose and causing dark blood to run down his creased face. this caused the crowd to go berserk and the soldiers to have to step in and stop multiple fights. one set of men in rough looking army fatigues took a step towards the man and took Lucius by the sides and pulled him from the man and escorted him to the rear of the encampment while a third scooped up Fabian and hauled him after the men. just as the men reached the upper deck overlooking the encampment Lucius dropped to the ground trying to free himself from the two men supporting him. " feisty little demon aint' he? spoke the taller of the three men. he had a rough patch of tawny stubble and multiple scars across the bridge of his nose, fighting scars as if he were the type to start or cause trouble and enjoyed it. the man dropped Lucius and pulled his arm back and then socked Lucius in the jaw sending his world spinning. this shocked Fabian who upon seeing this tried to struggle free from the third man only to be kneed in the stomach causing him to double over and vomit. Lucius saw this as he regained his senses and with a spark of fury rising in his eyes and a barbaric shout he punched the tall scruffy man in the face and tore himself free from the large man that had been holding him back and rushed over to Fabian. " you little shit! growled the tawny as he dashed over to grab Lucius by his hair. just then a loud shout of "stand down!" echoed out from the door a few meters away. standing in the frame of the door stood a sharp eyed blonde woman wearing a lieutenants suit with many medals splayed across the chest pocket. " at attention soldier! she barked and the scruffy tawny snapped to with a grim look in his eyes. " what the hell do you think you are doing you three? what just because its the end of the world you get to be some kind of school house ruffians? " there was a almost crazed look in her eyes as she berated the men. {she got so creative that it would be best not to repeat what she said.} through all of this Lucius continued to hold onto Fabian and try to help him set up. after she was red in the face from screaming insults at the three men she ordered them to leave and head to the front lines, much to the dismay of the men. after they left she walked over to fabian and helped him to his feet taking his hand and apologizing for the disrespectful and horrendous behavior that her solders had displayed. "Fabian voiced with a stuffy chuckle that even back in his army days that he hadn't heard such an impressive ass chewing. the blonde flushed with embarrassment and once more apologized. then she turned to Lucius and examined his arm pausing for a moment when she saw the scales and then asking them to follow her. Lucius and Fabian turned and gave each other a look then a slight nod and turned to follow. she lead them further into the encampment than they had been before past multiple crews of men running ammo to the front line and medics rushing the injured to and fro. finally they arrived at a lavish looking tent that seemed to serve as a forward command. the luetinent ushered them inside and closed the flap behind her. she then turned to the pair and spoke in a low voice , i would ask you to explain but i feel as if you have as much information as i do. so let us share it openly. she turned to Lucius specifically and then said something that sent shivers down his spine. you have seen the other world haven't you?
Lucius was taken aback not fully understanding how that she would have known. then he thought back to how she had paused when she saw the scaled skin on his arm. " yes he replied in a slow voice, i saw it once in a dream right before all of this happened. hmm, she replied in a tone like that of one in deep thought. and she started rolling up her sleeve. Lucius eyes shook, there where smooth skin should instead was rough white scales that had bony protrusions along the joints. i've seen it too. she replied while rolling her sleeve back down. and i think that the world we saw is where these beasts come from. Fabian who had not spoke for the entire time suddenly coughed and asked, "is old commander Higgins still in charge? " this prompted the blonde to look at him confused " Higgins? she replied he hasn't held a position in the army in four years. grim faced Fabian said in a low voice," i know of the world you saw , you need to contact Higgins if you want a full explanation and hope that that bastard hasn't been eaten by those things yet.