Symbiosis: At World's End

The Waiting Game

Sunday. A day hated by most as it signifies that the weekend is over and that your daily lives will resume. Children will be off to school, adults will be off to work, and the general labor of five sevenths of our week is spent. This doesn't apply to outside the walls of the safe haven constructed so many decades ago, but in an attempt to resume a normal life, people within keep using it.

But many are experiencing a deep fear that those days may be numbered, for just hours ago, proof arrived that there was indeed a symbiote hiding somewhere in the city, and that it was attacking the citizens. Even more than ever, people stared terrified at one another. Even at their own loved ones. They shrieked in terror if something brushed their shoulders. They carried weapons on their persons at all times.

The weapons development branch of the city's research facility was being thrown into overdrive. Everyone knew that if they could capture a live specimen, it could greatly increase the speed of their research. On the other hand, they knew that every moment the symbiote spent within the city increased the chances that it would create a hive, thus creating more symbiotes and eventually enslaving the entire city.

However, what was not known, was that there was another symbiote roaming the dark alleys. Not known that is, but to one.

Brianna had been convinced that what she had seen was just a nightmare she had when she had been sleeping, but the proof was there in black and white. She had seen it with her own eyes. But that wasn't the part that scared her. What scared her was that there was another symbiote on the loose. This one didn't seem hostile towards humans thus far, but in fact, she had seen it and that black one fighting. She had seriously considered running to the authorities and telling them that she had been present at the fight scene, but she realized something.

If she told them what she saw, it would create a massive panic and possibly have her tried for lying if people accused her of it. Another thing was that she had witnessed the whole thing, and somehow ended up at home in bed. It spooked her. If she told the authorities, they might try to kill her under the pretense that she was hosting the symbiote. She had read about what happened to people who were accused of that, yet were innocent. She didn't want that to happen to her. So, she kept her silence, hoping that they would find it before it was too late.

Instead, she devoted herself even more to her research, although she seemed to be hitting a dead end. She couldn't find anything else that she didn't already know about. It was starting to get frustrating. So, she copied all the notes she'd taken and stored them in a drawer, resolving to pick up where she left off. But for now, school was starting in ten minutes and she needed to move.

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Merrick waited patiently, hunched on top of one of the few trees that dotted the massive plains between the forests and cities. A symbiote with a bear as a host had been pursuing him for close to an hour now, and finally, he had the advantage. He didn't make a sound, not even a breath. The strange creature was passing underneath him now, growling and sniffing the air.

Merrick decided to try out a trick the symbiote had told him the previous day. He extended his hand out in front of him, and before his eyes, it morphed into a two foot long, single edged blade.

Wait for it... Wait for it... Now!

He dropped out of the tree and sank the blade into the creature's skull, killing it instantly. He flipped off it and continued his long run towards the shield. He had decided that since the symbiote had given him the power to fight back, he might want to keep an eye on the shield. Especially since the shield had dropped recently.