huff, huff, huff.

  Osiris's breathing fills his ear drums, drowning out the sound of his own footsteps as he runs as fast as possible up the staircase. Blood rushes down his arms from his father's wounds and flow onto the floor with each step like velvet dressing the stairs.

  SLAM!

  The door to the first floor slams wide open, several weapons whir and point at him in response but quickly lower in recognition. Without acknowledging those around him, Osiris proceeds to the command point, parting the tents entrance and carefully laying his father down on top of the holographic display table, interrupting its procedure. Muffled voices filter into his ears as he examines his father's grievous wounds. a high tone ringing replaces silence while his gaze droops towards his hands, stained red with blood and beginning to shake.

  "mmph"

  "os-mm"

  "OSmmIS"

  "OSIRIS!"

  Words finally become clear as the leader places a firm hand on Osiris's shoulder, rocking him back and forth. "What the hell happened? Osiris! Report!" His wide eyes slowly turn toward the leader to respond. "That thing, its a monster beyond our comprehension." The leaders eyebrows raise in response before narrowing and gazing downward in thought. "If you're this shaken up, no wonder Lance called it. I guess it really is hopeless. Fuck, lets get some first aid administered to Galvion, then we need to leave."

  A couple soldiers proceed into the tent, adorned with a signature medical symbol, leather bags filled with instruments in hand. They begin communicating in a low calm tone, examining the wounds and quickly treating them in response. The stillness of the air is short-lived, being replaced with shouting and the onslaught of screams mixed with energy weapon fire. Galvion's arm weakly raises toward Osiris, beckoning him to come closer.

  Osiris, noticing him out of the corner of his eye, does as asked, stepping toward him and leaning closer toward him. "Leave. Leave me behind. Don't let him escape" Galvion's eyes dart around, adrenaline pumping through him before collapsing into unconsciousness. "what? no, no we can get you out of here we just have-" A loud beeping from inside the tent emanates from the leader, as he finishes punching in numbers into a large boxed device. He then quickly stands up, placing his hands on Osiris's arms as beeping, shooting and shouting surround them. "We. Need. To go."

  Osiris shakes his head attempting to retort before the leader pulls him toward the tents entrance. "NOW!" They burst onto the scene, soldiers in small groups open fire on the experiment, currently dismembering the guards posted at the stairs doorway.

  It proceeds to glide through the air, expertly dodging the energized bullets with subtle movements as its claws tear open chests, sever limbs and silencing the shouting. Amid the chaos, the leader shoves Osiris toward the blast doors, bursting into a sprint himself. Osiris froze, his ears ringing as his eyes and thoughts drift around, unable to process what he should do next. As if time were moving in slow motion, his paw slowly ushers forward, then his other paw before moving into a stroll. Then a run. Finally into a sprint.

  Once more, his breathing deafens all other noise as the hallways appear to extend into an endless abyss. The clunking of his footsteps occupy the silence between his breaths. His arms swing rhythmically as his recollection shows him a time where his family were all together, happy and content. Tears form at the bottom of his eyes before he closes them shut for a moment, before shaking himself back to reality, narrowing his eyes in a firm determination as the cacophony of battle creeps its way back into his hearing.

  The experiment clings to the walls and roof as it dispatches the soldiers with ease, stopping for a moment at times to savor the meat in its mouth before continuing with its onslaught. "FOCUS FIRE! KEEP THIS THING OCCUPIED!"

  A soldier shouts to the other groups around him before mounting the turret at the command tent. The barrel of the gun hums loudly like a tiger growling before a tsunami of energized lasers spill out of it, tearing into the experiment occupied with the soldiers in front of it. Its flesh tears and pulls along with the lasers as its bone exposes and innards spill out once again.

  It's swishes its head toward the turret, letting out a guttural blood curdling roar before parts of its helmet splinter on contact with the lasers, ricocheting it into the roof and walls, destroying the lighting around it, sending the hallway into complete darkness.

  Within the shadows, the experiment falls to the ground with a visceral thud. The soldiers pause, the sound of their chaotic breathing marking the end of their engagement, allowing a chance for respite as the soldier on the turret quickly issues an order "Lights! get some light on it and confirm its dead! don't let your guard down!"

  The squads around him respond instantly, raising their flashlight mounted weapons toward where the experiment was. As illumination cuts through the shadows, a large pool of blood is all that is revealed. The experiments absence sends a shiver down their spine, as their hairs stand on end. "What the hell man?... There's no way it walked that off..." Several soldiers silently share his sentiment as the cautiously tread toward the blood pool, scanning the area for any signs of life.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The soldier's statures, normally reinforced with discipline begins to tremble with dread and fear. The turret soldier yells toward them once more. "Don't just stand there! find it!" A couple of the other squad members turn annoyingly toward him to respond. "Do you have any idea what this-"

  His retort is cut short as his eyes widen in disbelief and pure horror. His breathing practically stops while his arms shake involuntarily like a tree in a rapid wind.

  The other soldiers notice his reaction, before they all turn toward the soldier on the turret, then mimic him. Their mouths drop slightly as they realize the experiments deformed injured body clinging to the roof above him.

  It's entrails slung haphazardly from the openings in its abdomen and its neck has extended unnaturally toward the soldier, its jaws open almost into a flat line, hovering slightly above his head. a trail of blood drips onto the barrel of the turret.

  The operators brow narrows, before slowly gazing upward at the creature on the roof. His mouth opens agape, but no sounds follow. Before a thought can even form-

  SNAP, CRACK

  The jaws of the experiment extend harshly toward him before closing around his head in a swift motion. Blood sprays across the walls as the dismembered corpse falls limply to the ground. The remaining soldiers begin to take a shivering aim with their weapons raised and begin firing once more.

  Osiris's boots squelch along the metallic floor, his paw print being left behind dipped with blood from various sources. Slightly ahead of him, the crunching and clanking of gears cause the ground to shake slightly in motion as the blast doors crack open once more, air escaping from the gap as it breathes itself open. Slightly behind him, the sound of soldiers yelling is being drowned out by the intermittent firing of weapons, but silence quickly consumes all sounds from that direction.

  clink, clink cliNK CLINK CLINK

  As Osiris approaches the blast doors, the sound of a metallic sprint rapidly approaches him. He quickly looks over his shoulder to investigate, only to see the experiment on all four of its limbs clinging and pouncing off the flooring, its metal claws gouging the metal sheets with each step as it glides through the air with lethal efficiency.

  It effortlessly catches up to Osiris, and with one final effort, launches itself toward him with its arm cocked back and claws spread wide. As it closes the distance to end his life, the eyes on the mask glitch and change from its normal red beady pits into normal thin slivers of LED's, twisted into a look of horror and regret.

  The motion follows through, but with a pulled back force. It's arm slices across Osiris's face, gouging out a small bit of flesh from his cheek up slightly through his eye, and toward his forehead. Both the experiment and Osiris tumble to the floor, but Osiris rolls through the blast doors while the creature slams against the wall, leaving a large dent into its surface.

  Osiris clutches his eye as blood seeps through the gaps of his fingers like sand. "AHHHHHHH" His agonizing scream of pain spill out into the night sky as he is helped to his feet by the leader of the soldiers. They both look toward the creature as it turns and rolls against the floor in pain, but with no injuries to show for it. its garbled scream accompanies its contorted spasming on the ground before it finds its stance on all fours once more.

  The mask glitches and shakes as the the red slits become consumed and replaced with the dark red pits. Slowly it rises to its feet standing upright as it meanders toward the open blast doors. The leader takes a step toward the doors controls but a deafening low growl from the experiment freezes him in place. "ah, ah, ahhhhh" the creature wags its finger toward him in a demeaning way as it continues to saunter toward him. Both the leader and Osiris star toward him as a sense of helplessness washes over them both.

  "Hay! asshole!"

  Osiris's ears perk up at the familiar voice hiding behind the creatures frame. The experiment's head twists over its shoulder to see a hunched over Galvion, bleeding onto the floor but still standing upright, almost heroically.

  "Some hunter you are, I'm still here! Didn't you say i was your favorite prey? and yet I'm still standing!" It doesn't respond initially, it just stares at Galvion's condition in response to his bravado. "So how about we finish this?" Galvion's brow narrows after his words leave his mouth as he stance lowers and his hands raise with his fists clenched tight up to his face.

  The experiment finally responds by turning around toward him as his mouth drips with a mix of saliva and blood. "A prey after my own hunger!" it starts moving toward him with its claws opened wide, dripping with gore from its previous encounters. "I respect your fervor, so i will grant you your dying hunt!"

  Galvion's gaze drifts over the creatures shoulder at Osiris, still laying on the ground staring back. He then shifts toward the leader as he meekly utters his next words.

  "close it..."

  The leader doesn't hesitate, punching in a confirmation onto the door controls, which it responds to instantly, shifting its weight to shut itself tight. Through the closing gap, the leader nods toward him out of respect before the door hisses shut, cranking and whirring as it seals them both on the other side. The leader quickly attends to Osiris, noticing the tears in his eyes rolling down his cheek as he clambers to the blast door. His helpless moans turn into a cry as he attempts to claw at the blast doors.

  The metal of his gloves scrape against the steel of the door, causing an ear piercing screech. The leader quickly grasps his arms, slinging him over his shoulder securely before jogging toward the gunships. "We need to get behind something before that-"

  KA-BOOM

  A shockwave sends them both tumbling toward the gunships as they both roll across the grass involuntarily. Pieces of the heavy blast door are thrusted into the gunships as flames erupt from the facility in a raging inferno, causing the whole backyard to become illuminated. Osiris slowly drifts into unconsciousness as the heat from the flames caresses him like a blanket in the night, while he finally succumbs to the fatigue he'd been accumulating through the night.

  If you have the time, please leave a comment telling me if you like the way it is, or if you prefer it shorter/longer! id love to try and accommodate to as many readers as i can! And leave your thoughts as well as to the story or my writing in general! I'd love to hear your opinions! It will all help me not only to grow but more importantly to engage with my readers!!! :D

  (\ >w< /)