As chief desperately watched the ongoing slaughter of his troops, a technician's voice broke through the chaos, trembling with fear.
"Sir, something is happening with the creatures!"
Chief's gaze snapped to the screens. The creatures had become eerily still, their bodies vibrating in a kinetic blur, as if phasing in and out of reality.
The air around them hummed with a sinister energy.
Suddenly the base's siren blared,
"Warning! Warning‼️"
Chief shouted, "Gail, what is happening?"
Gail's voice, calm but foreboding, replied,
"There is a critical anomaly in the force field's stability"
Chief's heart raced. "what does that mean?"
Gail continued, "the mutants are somehow draining power from the force field, destabilizing it."
Chief's eyes widened in horror as the creatures' forms began to contort and grow more monstrous, their ferocity escalating. Their eyes glowed with an unholy light, and their bodies crackled with dark energy.
"Gail, what is happening to them?"
Chief demanded, barely able to contain his panic.
Gail's interface flickered ominously. "The creatures are not just destabilizing the force field; they are absorbing its energy to enhance their abilities."
The creatures began to advance towards the soldiers, their eyes glowing with a malevolent intensity.
Chief shouted through the communicator, "use the guns!"
The soldiers raised their high-frequency emitting guns, aiming at the oncoming horde. They pulled the triggers, but the creatures, now empowered by the stolen energy from the force field, deflected the attacks effortlessly.
The high-frequency waves that once crippled them now bounced off their enhanced forms.
One soldier gasped in horror as a creature coughed up a writhing, worm-like organism. The grotesque parasite launched itself at him, burrowing into his mouth.
He choked and convulsed as the worm tore through his insides, punching holes in his body from within. The screams of his comrades echoed as more of the creatures unleashed their parasitic spawn, the soldiers falling one by one in a horrific display of biological warfare.
The force field flickered and flickered, its once-steadfast glow now a chaotic dance of failing energy. Sparks flew from the control panels, and systems fizzled out, unable to maintain stability under the relentless assault.
With a thunderous roar, one of the creatures, a towering monstrosity with glowing veins of energy, unleashed a devastating blast.
The energy surge ripped through the air, a blinding arc of destruction that headed straight for the force field generators. The ground shook with the impact, and the control room's alarms blared even louder.
Chief watched in horror as the energy blast hit its mark, sending shockwaves through the entire city. The force field generators sparked violently, their circuitry frying under the immense power.
The protective dome flickered more erratically, the light dimming and sputtering.
Finally, with a heart-stopping final shudder, the force field faltered and began to dissipate. The protective barrier that once stood as the city's last line of defense crumbled away, leaving the city exposed to the advancing monstrosities.
*****
Joe just stood there, looking on as the chaos unfolded around him. His eyes were dripping with tears. With trembling hands, he took his phone and dialed.
Chief's phone rang loudly in the control room. He fumbled to find it, his heart pounding.
"Joe....joe. You need to get out of there. You need to get out of there now!"
Joe just stood there, his eyes vacant. "Why are you not running? They are going to kill you!"
Joe smiled through his tears. "How far do you think I can get away from these creatures before they kill me? I can't outrun my death, no, not this time."
Chief's eyes began to water. " no, no, you can. You can use the vehicles like before."
Joe flipped the camera to show chief how far he was from his vehicles, the creatures closing in rapidly. Chief broke down. "No, no, Joe. You can't die... not now. The girls need you, I need you. I will not know how to face the girls if you go through with it."
Joe cleaned his face, trying to steady his voice.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's gonna be okay"
Joe switched to the base's speaker system, his voice echoing through the control room.
"Doc Doc, did you do what I asked?"
Doc Doc nodded in solemnity. "Yes!"
Joe then removed a remote with a big red button on it.
Chief's voice crackled with pain and desperation.
"Joe...joe, wait! Please don't do this. If you do this, I will never forgive you!"
Joe smirked, a tear rolling down his cheek.
"I know you won't. And I wouldn't forgive me either, but this is it, chief. This is where it all ends.
These creatures have been a thorn in the flesh of humanity, and I intend to be a thorn in theirs as well."
Chief crumbled to the floor, his voice breaking.
"Don't do this....please"
Joe smiled softly. "Tell the girls I kept my end of the promise. And...Henry might be annoying but he is one cute poodle.
"Loving you chief, has been my greatest honor."
Joe then hung up, putting his phone in his pocket and taking deep breaths as he watched the creatures advance toward him and the last of his men. With a resolute look, he pressed the red button on the remote.
The frequency-emitting devices clawed their way into the ground, replacing the emitting sound surface with that of a bomb-implanted surface.
Joe took heavy breaths. "Sorry, creatures, but you picked a man who fears not the grasp of the afterlife."
And with those words, he pressed the button again.
The devices sent a blast so powerful under the surface of the earth that it caused the ground to cave in. The capital city was pulled into a massive sinkhole, dragging both the creatures and the soldiers into its depths.
Chief, tears streaming down his face, could only watch through the monitor as the city collapsed, taking Joe and the monstrous beings with it.
"Joe…."