Superior

CHAPTER 1: The Escape

I leaped over a fallen log on the moist and soft ground.

I could hear them behind me. They were getting closer.

As I ran, I clutched the extremely light gun in my hand. It would have been normal if this gun was just a pistol but the gun I carried was an eight barrelled, 40.3697 kilogram minigun.

I sprinted for all I was worth, leaping over roots, hurdling over boulders. I was merely a blur among the trees. But this still wasn’t enough to escape the monsters that pursued me. They were too strong, too fast and too damn perfect for my liking. My feet were stained red from the tears in my flesh where rocks and other sharp objects had sliced my skin. Crimson red blood stained everywhere I stepped. Some leaves even stuck to my feet. I was mush too terrified to stop.

There aren’t many things that scare me but these…creatures would scare the stuffing out of anyone.

I leaped an impossible height right up to the leaves of the lowest trees. I covered about 50 meters with that one leap. I didn’t have time to look back. I just kept sprinting. I knew they were there. It was like a sixth sense I had developed. I also knew that if I stopped they would most certainly tear me to pieces. I couldn’t ever forget what they had done to Number 3. My mind flashed back to when the men had retrieved the body…or what had been left of it. The blood and gore had been horrific. The skin had been cut as if made of butter.

My heart was pounding with adrenalin and fear. I had escaped from that awful place and I wasn’t ever going back. My head was set in a grim determination.

Suddenly my foot caught on a root and my stomach lurched as I slammed to the ground in an awkward heap. My heart skipped a beat as something huge flew from the shadows. I thought the glint of those horrible claws in the moonlight would be the last thing I ever saw.

But the creature was hit in mid-air and thrown back into the under growth as the deafening roar of a shotgun was heard.

I looked up to see a short haired and athletic guy about my age standing over me with a hand out. He was muscled and really tall. His legs were as thick as some of the trees. With arms that looked like leather and a winning smile, I was sure he would have been a model had his life not been messed with. I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up.

“Thanks Jake,” I said quickly.

“No worries,” he said coolly as he easily sung the semi-auto, pump action 12 gauge shotgun, over his shoulder. If it hadn’t been for Jake I would have lost my will to go on ages ago. He had helped me when I was undergoing the experiments and had lifted my spirits.  I took off running again with Jake beside me all the way as a piercing howl rippled through the whole forest. It sent a chill like ice shooting down my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck stuck up like spears. My heart was kicking at my ribs trying to burst out. If we didn’t find some kind of way out of here we were dead meat.

My legs were a blur in motion, they were going so fast at that I doubt that even a speed camera could capture it in slow mow.

My chest was bear with a strap of ammo across one side of my chest and a strap of grenades on the other. The only clothing I had on was my torn and ripped camo shorts. My feet were bare. Stones groaned under my weight and roots snapped. I was only breathing hard because I was so full of fear. The “things” that were chasing me were things that Mother Nature would never even dreamed of creating. They were so horrid that even if you did manage to kill them, they would be thrown out of the depths of hell by Satan himself.

I smashed a small tree right through the middle with my entire body as there was no time to side step it. Then suddenly Jake and I stumbled awkwardly into a giant clearing. It stretched for about a kilometre in every direction and in the centre was a mass of buildings, watch towers and gun emplacements. A huge barbed wire fence ran all the way around the buildings. And by the look of the sign with a man trying to climb and bolts of lightning striking down on him, it was electric.

Electric barbed wire fences? I thought they were illegal. But I really didn’t give a crap at that moment I just leaped as high as I could. My knee grazed the top of the fence but it didn’t do any real damage. I crouch rolled onto my knee and looked back to see Jake leap in after me.

I didn’t need to look back to know that they were there. I just turned and opened fire as the creatures stopped at the clearing’s edge. The purr of the minigun in my hand almost sounded happy as the trees and bushes were ripped apart from the awesome fire. The bullets looked like yellow needles ripping through the forestry. I hit some of the creatures but even though the rounds hit them it didn’t seem to hurt them. They looked as if they would gladly come tearing through the fence to rip us apart but they retreated back into the forest. And within a second, they were gone.

My body still wouldn’t calm down even after the monsters had gone. It was still shaking from fear. I would face and army of any wild animals rather than have to face those things. My breaths were coming in ragged gasps as I tried to get the image of horror out of my head. I looked over at Jake. He was on his back panting hard as well. We had never in our lives tried to run that fast.

I walked over to him.

“Need a hand?” I asked. He grinned though his curtain of wavy blonde hair.

“Nah, I’m right with my own two. I don’t need a third.” He remarked. I groaned. Jake’s sense of humour was about as funny as a fart in an elevator.

He grabbed my hand firmly and hauled himself up. I was taken aback by his strength. We had been separated from one another for quite some time so I was always surprised at when he could do things just as easy as I could. Having people around you that were like three year olds compared with what you could do, gave me that sense.

I looked around the camp or army base whatever it was. There was no one in site which was a good sign. Even so, I still gripped the handle with white knuckles. I easily swung the deadly, 85 pound, life taking machinery around in an arc to make sure that we weren’t being watched. I almost made the signal to Jake that everything was clear but the tiniest bit of movement caught my eye. My mind went to autopilot to run away but I told myself not to. I had seen the movement over by one of the machine gun emplacements. I tried to look relaxed so as not to alert the person or thing that was hiding there. I trailed my eyes across the area with expert sneakiness.

 The camouflage was superb, my highly trained eyes even had trouble picking it up. It really didn’t help that it was pitch black either. The tarp in which the person was concealed under, was of some material that I had never seen before. It looked like it was made of a soft silk. I couldn’t even see the person concealed under it.

I turned to Jake and went in to hug him. He didn’t object. He knew that something was up even though he couldn’t see it. As I embraced him I whispered into his ear.

“Threat on the north - east side, under the machine gun emplacement.” He grinned as I went back to my normal position.

“The show must go on even when we have just evaded the deadliest creatures on earth,” he said happily. He slotted three more shotgun cartridges into the gun. I swung around, just in time to see the earth come alive with hundreds of figures.