PROJECT: WONDERLAND

70. DRAXOR

The squad finally enters the sloping cave.

Tension rises as eerie sounds echo through the dark cavern, causing some of the soldiers to become uneasy but remain on high alert.

As they venture deeper into the cave's darkness, their flashlights and night-vision goggles reveal nothing—until...

Val notices something flicker across her goggles' vision.

Val: "Movement above us! Stay sharp! Damn it, this frequency!"

She immediately pulls off her goggles, and the others follow suit, switching to flashlights to illuminate their surroundings.

Private First Class Allison Reynolds speaks up: "This interference feels like a low-frequency sound from an animal. Usually, disturbances like this come from ultrasonic waves."

Roland, shining his flashlight upward, lowers his voice: "Keep your voices down!"

As the team advances, scanning the ceiling of the cave, they begin to hear a soft, ominous growling.

M3, quietly to his team: "Get ready. This is a literal nightmare."

Everyone's eyes shift upward, and suddenly, two red lights begin to blink in the shadows—revealing themselves to be the eyes of...

Draxor—an unholy hybrid of a that looks like Death Angel (A Quiet Place), a pterosaur, and a vampire bat—hanging upside down from the cave ceiling. These creatures, with bat-like dark skin, lie dormant before their nocturnal hunt.

Sensitive to both sound and light, one of them stirs as the flashlights graze its body. It lets out an ear-piercing shriek that reverberates through the cavern. The Draxor is capable of emitting both low- and high-frequency sounds.

The soldiers open fire.

It isn't just one, though. A swarm of Draxors, disturbed by the noise, takes flight—some attacking, others scattering to exit the cave.

M3 shouts: "Hit and run, people!"

Chaos ensues. The squad fights for survival, with some soldiers managing to kill a few of the creatures, while others fall prey or attempt to flee.

Jessica calls out to Samantha, who has panicked and run back toward the entrance of the cave.

Jessica: "No, wait!"

But Samantha sprints toward the exit, pursued by one of the Draxors—a brown one, its wingspan vast as it swoops down toward her.

Samantha lets out a scream of terror as the Draxor catches her with its massive talons.

Jessica: "Samantha!"

But before Jessica can act, one of her teammates pulls her back, urging her to follow the others.

Meanwhile, Samantha's fate is sealed. The Draxor tears her head from her body with its pterosaur-like beak, then lifts her lifeless form with both claws, drinking greedily from her severed neck like a grotesque chalice. Its bat-like face, with glowing red eyes, reflects pure satisfaction as it feeds, its large, sensitive ears twitching to the sounds of the chaotic battle.

Back inside the cave, the fight rages on. Roland spots a small, human-sized tunnel illuminated by a faint blue-purple light, offering a way out.

Roland, running and firing at the creatures, shouts: "There's the exit! Let's move!"

He stations himself at the entrance of the tunnel, providing cover fire as the rest of the squad begins to slide through, descending into the tunnel's slope.

Val, standing next to Roland, urges the group onward: "Come on! Everyone, move, move!"

M3, close behind, adds: "Hurry up, people!"

One by one, the surviving soldiers make it through the tunnel and begin sliding down the slope, emerging on the other side of the cave.

Now, only Roland, Val, and M3 remain.

Roland yells: "Now! On me!"

He dives through the tunnel first, followed by M3, and then Val.

As they slide down, a large, white-gray Draxor writhes, trying to squeeze its massive body through the tunnel after them.

Val, sliding on her back, steadies her grenade launcher and fires directly at the creature.

The explosion rocks the cave. The Draxor is blown backward, and the resulting collapse of rocks seals the tunnel shut.

They continue sliding until they tumble out of the tunnel, landing in a clearing covered with fallen leaves.

Roland stands up, breathing heavily, and checks his squad.

Roland: "Everyone alright?"

All of the surviving soldiers are there, but Jessica weeps over the loss of Samantha.

Roland, somber but focused: "Okay. RIP to all the fallen. We'll mourn them later. Right now, we move."

He consults his map: "We're still on track, not far off the main path. Let's go!"

The group regathers and presses forward, their surroundings now an eerie forest filled with dead trees and giant ant nests dotting the landscape.

To be continued...