Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Lightning illuminated the night sky above the dilapidated swamp village. Soldiers, their uniforms wet and their boots covered in mud, sat huddled in the village's huts.
Boom!
As the rain fell, Leonid sat in a hut with a few other soldiers. The mangrove walls were soaked, and the reed roof was leaking.
The clouds and rain covered the moon, leaving a single dimming gas lantern as the hut's source of light.
Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat! Pat!
As the sound of rain echoed, the soldiers tried their best to stay warm and dry.
Leonid felt his stomach rumble in agony.
The company had been informed that this was a friendly village. As a result, they had been expecting food and shelter for the night once they had arrived.
However, the inhabitants of the locality seemed to have vanished. There were no signs of people, animals, even the dwellings within were devoid of any furniture or ornaments.
Then the rain came, ruining supplies, lowering the already low visibility, and making the ground muddy and unnavigable, forcing the company and its soldiers to seek shelter in the abandoned huts deprived of food and warmth.
A new leak opened on the roof of the hut, allowing the seven soldiers crammed inside to reassure themselves that fresh water was in excellent supply.
The group conversed to pass the time. They were all wearing the same uniform, a dark green jacket with a brown shirt underneath, green trousers and brown leather boots. This particular group was mostly Gullahan and spoke in the Geechee tongue.
Leonid, a 29-year-old Yankee, with shortcut blond hair, blue eyes, and a chiseled face, sat unperturbed and silent. He didn't understand a word of the conversation.
As the night dragged on, the discussion intensified, distracting the group from their hunger until a loud knock on the hut's door startled them into silence.
A voice outside speaking Yankish with a Gothamite accent said, "Hello! Leonid you there? Open up!"
Leonid recognized the voice.
He quickly opened the door, revealing a beautiful woman with chestnut hair. Along with the military uniform everyone else was wearing, she also donned a light green raincoat and grey leather gloves. Her green-eyed face was pale and her cheeks rosy, a sign of cold or the wind.
This was Amelia, a fellow CIA agent and one of Leonid's partners in the company.
Amelia stepped inside, her coat dripping onto the floor. She said "I need you to come to my hut."
A few of the soldiers snickered, interpreting the question as a proposition.
Leonid, ignoring them, asked, "Why? What's going on?"
"Our portable lamp died and our matches aren't working, so we're just sitting in the dark. Can you give us your lantern?"
Hearing this, the other soldiers angrily muttered amongst each other. One said "Then we'll be in the dark b****"
Another added "Go find your own!"
Leonid turned to them. "We're not savages. We can share the lantern."
"No, we can't-"
Amelia interrupted, "Listen, we're all hungry and tired. There's no need to be petty. To make it fair, we can take turns with it."
An interloper spat, "We don't need your pity. Go f**k yourself!"
Amelia stared back at the soldier with an intense gaze, "Do you know who I am, you rat? You'll be digging your grave before the night is over if you don't beg for forgiveness donkey."
He sneered "Try it."
Leonid sighed in disappointment, "Please, this isn't the time."
Amelia ignored him and continued her tirade. "I have enough bullets for all of you. The government won't bat an eye if a few Gullahan soldiers die in the swamps. Your choice."
The soldier mumbled in Geechee and backed down.
Leonid punched Amelia in the shoulder. "Stop trying to fight. They have a valid point. This lamp's almost dead anyway."
Amelia chuckled, "Sorry, sorry, I can't help myself. It's what I'm good at."
The soldier who'd spoken up previously said, "We're not afraid of you, woman!"
Leonid, staring daggers into the man's soul, said, "Salifu..... give me your matches now."
Salifu nodded and quickly gave Leonid a box of matches, who pocketed them. Leonid then opened the door and followed Amelia into the rainy darkness, leaving the hut and the men huddled inside behind.
It was difficult for Leonid to see in the blinding rain. He was thankful that the village was built in a section of the Florida swamps where the grounds weren't flooded, otherwise he possibly would've had to start swimming.
The two walked until they found Amelia's hut, which was like the one they'd just been in, except it was larger and dry.
Leonid and Amelia walked in, drenched.
Inside the hut was a group of around 20 soldiers, most of whom were sitting on the floor, chatting in the darkness.
Leonid took a few seconds to dry off before taking out the box of matches he stuffed into his pockets.
"S***"
The box was wet as along with the matches inside.
Leonid exhaled in frustration as he pulled out the matches and tried in vain to dry them on his shirt.
The men inside the hut laughed.
"I guess we're all in the dark."
How do you see me?
"Shut up."
Another soldier said in a Gullahan accent, "So how's Yankee gonna fix everything now, ehh?"
Leonid contemplated for a few seconds before placing his pointer finger and thumb on the bottom of a match. His heart pounded rapidly as he focused his full attention on it. After a few short seconds, an electric spark was produced, lighting the match.
The soldiers let out a cheer as the match's dim glow abruptly illuminated the hut. There was a mix of surprise and admiration on their faces as they looked at Leonid in awe.
Leonid handed the lit and unlit matches to Amelia
"Use this to light other matches."
Amelia nodded and did as instructed, taking the lit match and beginning to light others.
One soldier asked, "How'd you do that?"
Leonid smirked. "I'm a judge."
The soldier's eyes widened in shock.
One man sitting in a corner asked awkwardly, "Aren't we supposed to kill judges?"
Another added, "Yeah, we should gut you!"
Someone next to him shouted, "He's with the CIA idiot. They're on our side"
"Oh yeah"
"There's 3 CIA agents in the company. Are you imbeciles?"
This remark triggered an argument amongst the involved parties and dragged in others who had before been watching in silence.
Amelia sighed, "Can't we have one night without bickering? Quiet! All of you!"
Everyone ignored her.
She looked at Leonid with a frustrated face. "Can't you give them a light show if only to shut them up?"
Leonid shook his head. "I'm not a circus act."
He then turned and left the hut and was once again ambushed by the torrential downpour.
After getting lost for five minutes, he made it back to the hut he originally shacked up in and pounded on the door.
No response.
He knocked again.
"Balah! Hurry up and open the door. It's horrible out here!"
He waited for a few seconds, but pressed by the intensifying rain, Leonid pushed the door open, finding it unusually easy.
It's not properly shut
Knocking in this situation was only supposed to be a formality to make sure idiots who just barged in wouldn't get shot. Leonid walked inside and felt a chill run down his spine.
The floor was covered in fresh blood, and the smell of copper permeated the air.
The soldiers, which had been cramped in the hut with him earlier, were scattered about. Their bodies lay limp and lifeless on the floor. Their dark green uniforms were torn up and soaked with bright red blood. Each of them had limbs detached and ripped away from their bodies. Salifu, the soldier who had given Leonid the matches, was lying face down, his back ripped open. His spine and ribs were visible.
Balah, who had been sitting next to Leonid, was slumped over, his neck ripped open, and his intestines spilled out to the side.
Leonid took in the horror. It was as if a devil himself had come and gone.
I was out for a few minutes. What could have possibly happened?
Leonid began to run out when he heard footsteps ..... monstrous footsteps outside the hut.
His heartbeat accelerated.