[W-7.11, campsite....]
Deep breathing can be heard around the campsite, along with the sound of wood burning.
|haa...haa...|
Luna and Horvath sit around the bonfire. Nexus is sleeping on the grass, releasing green energy from his body.
His body is making sounds and shifting in unexpected ways.
Evolving in ways that are unknown.
When Luna suddenly starts speaking to Horvath, worried...
Luna: Do you fear something will happen to him?
Horvath examines Nexus, who is still in a coma.
Horvath: He is a beast. Nothing will happen to him. He will survive.
Luna: Mmm...
Luna's eyes swept the damaged landscape, her hands stiffening as she recalled the battle with Ophis.
How its biology appears to go against nature.
She glances at Nexus and the power escaping from him. and starts talking to Horvath.
Luna: We walked for days and saw no life. Just those things.
Horvath's gaze rests on the trees and the shattered city, deep in concentration.
Luna: This is absolutely not radiation.
Horvath's eyes shift for a second. Full of fright, fear, and surprise. Then he speaks abruptly and shakily.
Horvath: What—why are you thinking like that?
Luna: Think Horvath. Think. If it is merely radiation, we will be left with mindless monsters or benign mutations. However, we have animals that are evolving. A person sleeping with gas swirling about them. Don't you believe it contradicts common sense?
Horvath eagerly watches Luna talk. His eyes were full of surprise and secret sadness.
Horvath: So what do you think? Isn't radiation doing everything?
Luna: No, the symptoms do not add up. It's as if something is changing them. Their bodies are changing on their own. Making them compatible with something. It affects everything about us. our bodies, minds, and maybe even our souls.
Horvath: Now you're being metaphysical.
Luna: I hope so; otherwise, we will encounter more than monsters and mutates once we leave the city. Perhaps there is something more... frightening.
Horvath continues to observe the city in front, his gaze fixed on the far sky. wandering.
Horvath: Perhaps...
Luna: We must be prepared for anything, not only searching for supplies. Anything that could be useful on the outside. We must look for it. We can't take chances anymore.
Horvath's eyes harden as he sees Luna's unwavering determination. Perhaps he is inspired by Luna or simply wants to go insane one more time. He is getting ready for everything.
[Next day, military center, conference room.]
In a room full of military people, an unfriendly mood begins to emerge. Jenkins, however, breaks the silence by pushing open the room's door, entering, grabbing a seat, and beginning to speak.
Jenkins: Gentlemen, we've got an unidentified creature in Sector 7.
Advisor Lee, another individual sitting in the room, speaks up.
Lee: Simply destroy it, Colonel Jenkins. We have more than just a meeting for an unidentified object.
Jenkins: We believe it may be related to the prior war weapon. Those madmen created that monster.
Colonel Jenkins' words landed like a thunderbolt, silencing the audience.
The room burst in turmoil.
Advisor Lee's face became pale.
Fear crept upon everyone's faces.
Their faces betraying the anxiety and terror they felt inside.
Jenkins has broken the silence, and the atmosphere has changed to one of fear and peril.
Suffocating the other personnel and the guards protecting the chamber from outside, making it difficult to breathe.
Suddenly, questions, disputes, and disagreements begin to fly everywhere.
Making the situation chaotic.
Major Ross hurriedly stands up.
He starts asking questioning Jenkins, capturing everyone's attention.
Ross: Do you know what you're saying, Jenkins? You're suggesting that the product of a destroyed nation is still alive and has grown stronger, possibly evolving. Is that right?
Jenkins: And it crushed a battalion I sent. It also appears to have grown in numbers.
The conference room is now in total chaos.
Person(A): Even after death, those madmen refuse to let go.
Person (D): It is over. It's over.
Ross: This is complete nonsense!
Jenkins's voice suddenly stuck above the surrounding noise. making the surroundings stagnate.
Jenkins: We have reasons to believe that the project's makers may have succeeded in creating a biological weapon. A living, uncontrollable! weapon!
The room fell silent, as if the air had been sucked out. Colonel Pierce, a veteran with a red face due to high blood pressure, asks Jenkins.
Pierce: You're telling us that monster is still out there?
Jenkins (nodding): We've detected anomalous energy signatures in sector 7. It's unlike anything we've seen. Anything that is even remotely similar are the readings collected during the previous war.
Advisor Lee, with a pale face, suddenly slammed his fist on the table, shouting.
Advisor Lee: Find and destroy it, Jenkins. Now.
As the argument escalated, Jenkins's phone buzzed. He hesitated, then answered.
Jenkins: Colonel Jenkins here.
Phone: Jenkins, this is General Harrington. What's the situation?
Jenkins's tone shifted to formal. His voice was respectful and to the point.
Jenkins: Sir, we have an unidentified entity in sector-7, potentially linked to the Erebus Project.
Harrington's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.
Harrington: I'm aware. Contain it, Jenkins. At all costs.
Jenkins's eyes locked onto the others, his expression grim.
Jenkins: Yes, sir!
Jenkins's gaze swept the room, his mind racing.
Jenkins voice resounded throughout the room, cold and heavy.
Jenkins: Gentlemen, we have our orders.
The room emptied, officers scattering to their assigned tasks.
Jenkins remained seated, his eyes fixed on the blank screen.
Harrington's words echoed in his mind: "Eliminate it before it's too late."
Suddenly, Jenkins memories went back to the desert sands of Azalia. A forest country with a civil war going on. when he was just a young lieutenant.
[Azalia Forest, 2053]
Jenkins, then a young lieutenant, crouched beside his squad. when a voice spoke from the comms, appearing anxious and waiting for orders.
Comms: Activity detected ahead. Checking the perimeter.
when suddenly a mysterious fog spread in the battle field, with shadows mixed in them.
when suddenly men screaming, bodies contorting.
Jenkins's squadmate, Private First Class Rodriguez, stumbled across the battle field. His clothes mixed with blood, and something wet stuck to them. When he suddenly shouts...
Jenkins: Tony! no
Rodriguez's eyes bulged, skin melting like wax.
The fog spread, unchecked. Cities destroyed. The civil war spread to the entire continent. Engulfing countries. The fog remains a mystery. Not a single body was found except Jenkins. Unconscious.
Jenkins's memories blurred, chaos and horror merging.
He recalled the eerie silence, the stench of death.
The war had left its mark on him.
[present day.]
Jenkins's phone buzzed again. when he hears a voice from it.
Voice: I am General Harrington's assistant; the general wants you in his office. Now!
Jenkins's gut twisted.
He knew what was coming.
Jenkins arrived at Harrington's office, his mind reeling.
Upon entering the general's office, he hears him speak. In a cold tone.
General: Jenkins, we've received new intel. A body in the rescue team has started to mutate. Watch for yourself.
A holographic display flickered to life.
The entity's image made Jenkins's blood run cold.
A twisted mass of flesh and scales. Eyes glowing with an otherworldly energy.
watching this monster, Jenkins says absent-mindedly
Jenkins: Abomination!!
Watching the hologram, he hears the general speak.
General: We need to stop this from spreading and causing damage. We need a solution, Jenkins.
Jenkins continues to stare at the hologram, his mind running.
To be Continued!!!