Created

Part 6, Chapter 28

Jason

Just outside CHESF base

15 minutes before the doors opened

Jason sat obediently on watch. It was boring work, but someone had to do it. The only thing that made it bearable was his companion Chad, who was very funny and made the hours pass by. Chad had freckles all over his face and had bright red hair that made him stand out in a crowd, as opposed to Jason's blond, close cropped hair. Chad was a lot younger than Jason. Almost ten years. But that still didn't ruin their friendship. Jason's radio crackled, slipping him out of his deep series of thoughts.

"We seem to have a proximity alert. Probably just a bird or something."

Jason grabbed his radio and held the button up to his face. "How far out?"

"About 2 miles and moving fast. Just warning you. It's probably nothing."

"Copy that. We'll warn you if there is something out there." Jason looked at Chad and looked at him inquiringly, in which he got a head nod determining that Chad knew as well. The two men both moved in a couple steps closer together, leaving about five feet in between them. They both held their guns in a relaxed ready position.

"What do you think it is?" Chad asked him.

"I don't know. I did see a deer the other day, so that might be it."

"A deer? Woah, those are rare these days."

"Well, they are just like how I like my meat. Rare." It was a bad joke but both of them laughed to fight off the chills that something was coming."

"So, what are you-" A rock was kicked and rumbled across the ground towards them. They both held up their guns, fingers on trigger, ready to shoot anything that moved. They couldn't see anything. Another rock was stumbled on and Jason shot in the direction that it came from. Something was coming.

A dark figure appeared in the distance, almost invisible against the dark horizon. It disappeared. Jason leaned in.

"Say, you did see that right."

"Mmhh." The men stood in silence. Just as quickly as it disappeared, the figure appeared right in front of Chad. They both fired their guns, but the bullets whizzed through empty air. The figure slid around Chad and jabbed him just between the shoulder blades. Chad crumpled to his knees. The figure slid around Chad and grabbed him in the throat, and held him up. Chad's eyes went wide, and then they closed.

Jason shot another volley of rounds, but then the creature flung an orb of liquid darkness at him. He dived. The creature was gone again. In pain, both physically and mentally, Jason slowly got to his feet.

"Where are you!" Jason heard gunshots from inside the base and turned to look at it, checking to see if the door was still closed. At that time, something hit him in the back of the neck. Jason went down with a thud. He was flipped over, and saw himself staring into the white eyes of a blackened skull. He felt a hand on his forehead. It seemed to be sucking the life out of him. His vision started blurring, and then he faded away permanently from consciousness.