Inside My Head (Silent Moment Series: Book 6)

Chapter 4

 Echo, her eyes scanning the darkening sky, stated the grim truth. "It's coming from the direction of the ship. We'll never make it back."

Bellamy took charge, his voice firm despite the rising panic. "Everyone, cover up. We're heading to the beacon now."

Emori's shout was laced with fear. "What if there's nothing there?"

Murphy, in his typical fashion, cracked a dark joke. "Then we're bug food."

Bellamy's command was urgent. "All right. Everyone, move! Move now!"

The swarm descended like a living nightmare. We covered our faces and ran into the woods, the sound of a million wings filling the air, an unrelenting cacophony. The bugs were relentless, snapping at any exposed skin with a ferocity that was terrifying. Amidst the chaos, Emori's voice rang out, frantic and scared. "John! John! John, where are you?" We could hear her cries, but she was lost in the swarm, invisible in the cloud of insects.

Shaw, his voice cutting through the panic, yelled, "The flares! Get the flares out of my bag!"

In the midst of the chaos, we scrambled to follow his instructions, desperate for any solution that might offer us a chance of escape from the relentless onslaught of the swarm. Murphy, reacting with swift decisiveness, tore open Shaw's bag and grabbed a flare. With a quick strike, he ignited it, the bright, fiery glow instantly cutting through the darkness. Like a miracle, the bugs recoiled from the intense light, providing us a momentary respite from their relentless attack.

Shaw's voice, urgent and commanding, cut through the chaos. "Everyone, pull out your flares!" he yelled.

We scrambled to comply, each of us igniting our own flares. The combined brightness formed a protective circle around us, a makeshift barrier against the swarming insects. The effect was immediate and startling. It was as if we had created an impromptu forcefield, the bugs swirling angrily just beyond the reach of the light. With this newfound protection, we quickly regrouped and began searching for Emori. Her cries had been lost in the cacophony of the swarm, but now, with a path cleared by the flares, we found her huddled on the ground, shaken but unharmed.

"Emori!" Murphy called out, relief evident in his voice as he rushed to her side.

With Emori safe within our circle of light, we hurriedly continued our trek through the woods, the eerie hum of the swarm still audible around us. The flare's glow cast long, dancing shadows among the trees, creating a surreal and slightly ominous backdrop to our escape. Then, just as suddenly as the chaos had erupted, Shaw's voice announced our arrival at our destination. "We're here!" he shouted, his tone a mix of relief and excitement.

We emerged from the tree line to see a series of towers looming ahead, their silhouettes stark against the night sky. The structures were alien yet strangely familiar, a reminder of the civilization that had once reached this distant world. The sight of the towers was a beacon of hope, a signal that we might have found what we were looking for. Despite the night's harrowing events, there was a sense of accomplishment among us, a feeling that we had overcome yet another challenge in this unknown and wild world. As we approached the towers, the sense of urgency subsided, replaced by a cautious optimism. We had survived the swarm, found the beacon, and now stood on the threshold of new discoveries and possibilities.

Shaw, driven by a sense of urgency, didn't slow his pace even as we approached the boundary of the towers. Without hesitation, he crossed the threshold, but his forward momentum came to an abrupt halt. In a shocking twist, he collapsed to his knees, his body convulsing as if seized by an invisible force. It took a moment for us to realize what was happening. Shaw was thrashing violently on the ground, his body contorted in agony. The air crackled with electricity, and it became horrifyingly clear that he had stumbled into an electrified barrier, the current coursing through him mercilessly. Reacting instinctively, I skidded to a stop, my heart pounding in my chest. The suddenness of my halt caused a chain reaction. The person directly behind me, unable to stop in time, collided into my back, sending us both tumbling to the ground. They landed with a thud, knocked flat on their back, the impact echoing in the tense silence that followed. Panic surged through the group as we scrambled to understand what had just transpired. The realization that we had unknowingly walked into a trap, or at the very least, a heavily guarded area, settled in with a cold dread.