Cold-Blooded

The Real Enemy

Marching along the side of the asphalt path, regiments branched off before single soldiers entered their assigned edifice. Once reaching my destination I stopped in order to brace myself for the possible horrors I may find inside. I looked from side to side checking if others had managed to find a possible entrance point. It did not appear they had. I discerned a hook projecting from a possible door and rotated it. After moving it closer to me the door opened giving me my first glimpse inside.

After stepping into the dimly lit room I discovered tables resting in abnormal positions, legs facing to the left and right, rather than firmly on the floor as I had seen before. I almost tripped on stacks of hardcovers. This room had definitely been ransacked. I stepped beside large desks and mismatched footstools attempting to explore the darkest crevice of the room. I tiptoed amongst the debris as softly as possible and still managed to trip on a large oak plank and roll past an open door, effectively sliding into the basement.

Standing straight once more I smacked my arms and legs to remove the filth from my clothes. I never ceased to be amazed at the level of dirt that resided in every residence I explored. Glancing back behind me I regarded the cement blocks momentarily and decided to explore this strange cellar I had entered. I kept searching, similarly to my pattern in the room above. Left and right I tripped over the bodies of renegades. I had reason to believe that they had been removed, nevertheless it appears they had not all been disposed. I had originally anticipated that this meeting amongst these foreign people might be easy. It had not transpired as I had originally hoped at all.

Keeping in mind I need to complete a report for my boss after the examination I removed the camera from my bag and began to take photographs of the area encircling me. I had heard of the horror, yet I did not comprehend the extremeness of the predicament prior to this very moment. As I moved haltingly amongst the bodies I began to feel remorse for these people. Had they really needed to die? Had they really done all the things the leaders had said? I finished gathering the information I needed from the basement and headed back to the main floor once again.

This time I moved amid the large oak cabinets, not really desiring to complete the task at hand, yet recognizing the negative aftermath my director is inclined to give to defiant laborers. I remembered all I had heard before this mission; the inhabitants had been destroying the planet little by little. The planet is blessed the empire of its earlier citizens have been taken care of. I have no idea if the planet may have lived longer after this point. Nevertheless did those bodies in the basement deserve their fate?

Lost in my head having many ideas mixing all over it took me a moment to notice I had managed to be staring at a piece of art that had fallen to the floor. The colors completely entranced me and I sighed, enjoying the elegance of the edges. I helplessly attempted to pinpoint the theme and after some time abandoned that hope after discovering I did not have the ability to do so. Their artistry had been invariably fascinating to me; it saddened me greatly having to identify the creators and sending them to cages, one after the other. I persevered in my hope that none of the bodies in the basement had the intelligence to create anything like the art I enjoyed before me. If they did, the great leaders had no right to end them. Those gifted by the skills for art needed to be saved and tested, not killed. I pondered my conflicting feelings as I moved along finishing all additional tasks before heading back to the main entrance. The door took me another moment as it did not open in the same manner as it had before. It did startled me as I tried stepping straight into it and it opened.

I glanced back into the main room once again, shivering at the horrid sights I had observed deep inside. I yanked the standard memo pad from my bag before straightening it on my back. As I traversed along the cement path I managed to completely engross myself in my note taking to the point I did not notice the alien leaping at me holding a bloody knife. It hissed and groaned at me in speech I did not comprehend. I resisted its violent stabbing attempts, fearing for my life. The combat lasted for several moments before I had the strength to shove it off me. I scrabbled for my standard firearm attempting to move back, and discovered to my horror the thing standing once more and charging at me. In one last attempt to save my life I yanked the phaser free and pointed in the middle of the alien's face. Incapable of removing my gaze from its bloodshot eyes I contracted my eyelids closed and pressed the trigger.

I opened my eyelids hesitantly one by one afraid of the scene before me. The monster spasmed sporadically for many seconds prior to it falling limp. I felt extremely jittery and began to tremble, falling to the cement in an attempt to calm myself. One of those things had tried to kill me. The ghastly scene that happened moments before ran circles in my head. I did not have the ability to fathom the notion that made it try to kill me. I felt driven to check the alley and discovered many more of my fallen comrades. Those things are savages. There is no reason to depravedly strive for bloodshed in that manner. These Homo sapiens did deserve to die; every single one of them. I checked to make certain that all my belongings still resided in my pack and headed back to the mothership for reassignment. I had mind to break into the testing center and slay them all myself.

Did anything surprise you? Have any unanswered questions? Constructive criticism? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!