Once a God drowned here

Part 8

Drifting into a dream-like state I stare into the clouds above the town loosing myself in yet another vision, just like as when I looked the first fishman right in his eyes. The vision unfolds into a large tsunami that floods the lands. Houses, trees and mountains get swept away. From the dark depths a red cloud arises tinting the water for it to turn as red as the morning sun.

From the sewers water spills onto the streets. I would have guessed that rain would grant the fish people a not insignificant benefit. But in this case we are truly fucked. Could the whole situation become any worse by now? Our only advantage while lays in fighting not in the water but on the land is stripped from us by the second. By now the streets are only a little bit wet but not for long. We need to move now! Leave the building and get somewhere high. I raise my voice.

"Everyone we need to move. Water is rising in the street. If we don't move now we will be torn apart or drowned." With much effort and visible pain on the faces of the soldiers we gather everything we can get a hold of and move down the stairs onto the street. Some men need to be supported while walking. Makeshift crutches and heavy bandages prevent sudden and complex movements. Even the way down the stairs unveils to be a matter of ten minutes.

"Peter, where can we go from here?"

"Honestly, I don't know. The way out the town will be guarded and everything inside the town will be submerged."

The town is totally fucked but we can not leave ether. The highest point of rescue the town has to offer is the lighthouse atop the steep cliff towards the ocean.

"What about the lighthouse? It is far enough outside town and we can only be attacked by one side."

"But the one side will also be the one we have to advance in order to get into safety."

"We will get out of the town and survive. And if we are not supposed to we will make it!" The men around me share my view. All of us picked up this profession knowing we could give our life for it and if it is that precise thing we will be more than happy to give it. The water on the streets has already risen up to the ankles. In a few minutes it will already rise to the knees. By then everyone who is even slightly hindered from walking normally will be easy pray for the hungry fish. We need to leave the town's street as quickly as possible. No fish has detected us yet. But this will not stay like this much longer.

A figure is walking around the corner of the building to our left. A man with a starfish on his face. It covers his eyes, nose and mouth. The man is walking in a calm rhythmic motion as he turn right at us. Why is there a starfish on the face of this man? Was he attacked by the fish people and survived somehow and is now shell shocked stumbling through the streets? But that does not explain the starfish. The man comes to a close just a few feet before us. For a small time window we just stand there. The man looks left and right from one soldier so another. The starfish man raises his arms and walks towards one of the soldiers grabbing onto his shoulders. From the centre of the starfishes body protrudes a sharp needle. The point of the needle is pushed at the soldier in a headbutt motion. The soldiers dodges the attack by simply pushing away the man. First I was not expecting an attack from the lone man. But because of the sudden increase in numbers I am certain that these starfish people are some kind of turned puppets controlled by the starfishes on their faces. From our glances crossing the soldiers and I seem to share the assessment of the situation. We prepare our melee weapons to take out the advancing foes. What really is strange about the starfish people is that they all move in synchronicity. Same pattern of swaying from left to right. Same timing of the coordination between the left and right leg. They also focus the same point: The soldier who stabbed the first starfish. The first starfish man is taken out by a clean knife stab to the face. Right through the starfish into the humans brain. As soon as the starfish crumbles in pain it falls of the man's face revealing what the parasite has left behind. The man's face is eroded with just a bloody mess resembling what has been a human face before. No nose, no eyes left. Only a single open hole that must have been the mouth. Lifeless the man's body drops into the water drifting away. Not only does the now dead starfish roll its extremities inwards but also do the other starfish display a shaking motion across their surfaces in what must by a reaction of displeasure from one of them dying. A hand to hand battle unfolds. The starfish activate their needles and we draw our blades. The starfish are slow and only focus on one target at the time. To say they pose to threat would be a lie but it is a well welcomed change from the hordes of fish people. As soon as all the starfish bodies are dropped I begin to think about what these starfish are. They turn humans against humans. We have come here to protect humans from monsters. Now we have to kill humans that are used to protect the fish from us. The innocent people are controlled as canon fodder. In the haste of the battle I did not recognize what the people we fought are wearing. A couple of the people we were forced to kill are dressed in the attire of our very company. We had to kill our own brothers in arms.