"What was that?" Anne muttered nervously as a shrill, raspy voice pierced the air.
"Was that an earthquake?" Marcus wondered aloud.
Suddenly, a centipede burst out of the ground. Its carapace gleamed black and red, and its hundreds of segmented legs skittered loudly in the deathly silence. It reared its antennae high, sensing its surroundings.
"Get down!" Marcus cried out.
All three hit the deck, covering their heads with their hands as the monster hissed. With a deafening clatter, its armored body slammed the asphalt where they stood.
A torrent of dark, noxious gunk shot out from its mouth, drenching a nearby garbage bin. Marcus choked on the acrid smoke, but Seren pulled him away before he got a face-full.
"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT THIS THING?! IT'S GIANT!" Anne screamed.
The trio dodged the hail of toxic bile as best they could. While Marcus and Anne stumbled away, Seren focused all his attention on the monstrosity, watching its every move, desperately seeking any weakness that might help them survive the fight.
"I'm trying to see a weakness, I can't." Seren looked back at Anne and Marcus.
A ball of toxic gunk nearly hit Marcus, knocking his pistol to the ground. It was only his reflexes that allowed him to avoid taking the full brunt of the blast.
"This thing, it doesn't even have the traits of a normal centipede; it's from a different planet or heavily mutated by SOMETHING." Seren remarked with horror in his voice.
Marcus crawled through the dirty ground, trying to dodge more of the acidic substance coming from the alien centipede's mouth. At the end of the alleyway, he finally stood up and prepared himself, placing his pistol on his leg holster while Seren and Anne ducked behind a nearby abandoned car.
"Fuck, my gun!" Marcus growled. Seren looked at Marcus' gun and then back at the monster. His face was calm yet focused. With a nod from Anne, he followed Marcus' lead, joining him near the car, carefully ducking behind it every time they heard the giant insect's tail whipping the air, anticipating an attack from the side or below.
The trio managed to survive their first attack, but now, they would have to be more clever next time. Marcus needed a plan if they were going to make it through the battle. "We need to get out of here, NOW."
With each step, they took closer toward the abandoned supermarket, the monster hissed louder. It's like the creature knew what their intentions were and that they would soon disappear. The wind blew through its antennas and eyes shimmered with an unnatural glow. Marcus glanced around desperately, searching for a weapon or tool he could use to defend himself against this ferocious predator, yet everything they touched, including the brick wall behind them, melted from the creature's acidic blasts.
The creature began advancing toward them slowly while emitting a hissing sound. Anne started shaking uncontrollably at the sight.
"What could have possibly created something so grotesque?" She questioned, not realizing that the creature's head moved closer until she heard a screeching noise, her mind jolted to reality when the creature was now only inches away. She tried to scream out but no words would come out of her mouth.
It reached forward with its long jaws, clicking as its sharp teeth opened to devour Anne's head. The creature's scent filled her nostrils, making her gag from the mixture of acidic vapors mixed with human waste. This monster could kill anyone living creature who breathed.
She squeezed her eyes tightly, awaiting her fate. As the monster began its last few steps to reach its prey, a loud ringing erupted in her ear, and the screeching became higher-pitched, but she remained motionless, expecting death. Suddenly she could open her eyes again, but something was wrong. The screeching stopped and so had the smell.
She looked at Marcus and Seren with shock. "How are we still alive?" They looked back at her, unable to form a response. They were confused themselves by their unexpected good fortune, and looked for answers in each other's eyes, before realizing, it wasn't over yet.
The beast started moving once more, rising from the ground to charge at the trio. "ABANDON THE SUPPLIES, JUST RUN!"
The three sprinted away and ran between some more debris left from a nearby collapsed building, climbing over and sliding under. Their heart rate spiked when they heard the monster begin to shriek with rage.
It hissed loudly as its tail smashed through pieces of concrete and metal while chasing its fleeing prey. One swing sent shards of metal and glass flying at the trio. A shard lodged itself into Marcus' left leg. He limped forward while clutching his wound.
"MARCUS! YOUR LEG!"
The monster launched an arc of toxic goop in Marcus' direction, narrowly missing the wounded soldier, striking the ground between them and their attacker, creating a large crater that crackled as it dissolved the pavement.
The centipede lurched forward to take a bite out of Anne's shoulder when another piercing shriek filled the air. The centipede stopped moving and collapsed to the ground.
"What the FUCK is going on!?" Seren shouted. "The hell should I know?!" Marcus yelled back.
He scanned his surroundings looking for their new enemies. There was nobody and nothing around except for a vast stretch of fields, forests, and dilapidated buildings stretching toward the horizon.
Seren's eyes widened at the realization. He rushed over to Marcus and quickly examined his injury, confirming the glass shard lodged in his leg. "I think it's safe now." Marcus grunted.
Before Marcus could respond he could see a figure in the distance... staring. The man turned and walked away.
Anne screamed "HEY WAIT! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!"
The man kept walking without looking back, disappearing around the corner. The two looked at each other and sighed, realizing there wasn't much of a choice here. They couldn't remain still, not out here. Marcus brushed some of the dirt off himself, patting it out of his coat and pants before looking back to Anne.
She rolled her eyes and nodded silently, acknowledging that they didn't have any other option. She picked up the pack and began heading in the same direction the mysterious man went. They tried to follow him but by the time they reached the corner, he disappeared. Marcus limped a little, favoring his wounded leg. They passed old train cars and freight trucks strewn across the field in disarray.
The last vehicle had a train car tipped on its side, partially buried under debris, giving them temporary shelter from the sun and winds. As the three of them entered the wreckage, they all breathed a sigh of relief.