District 71: Battle Earth

Chapter 10 - Shoot For Your Life

Author's Comment: I apologize if there are wrong grammars. I don't have volunteer editors so I may not be aware of my mistakes. You may correct me anytime using the comment below. ^_^

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DISTRICT 71

BATTLE EARTH

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Chapter 10: Shoot For Your Life

The military tank of Simon’s team was turned upside down by an unknown force. Simon was almost knocked unconsciously. They were fortunate enough that their vehicle has an escape hatch at the bottom and Perez tried to open it when Simon stopped him.

“Don’t. Let’s wait.”

Simon said with a low voice. He got blood on his forehead. He saw his other two platoon members lying atop of each other. They were both unconscious but they still have pulse when Simon checked them.

“Perez, are you okay?”

Simon asked his fighting buddy.

“Yes, but I think I broke a rib or two.”

Simon reached the radio and tried to communicate with Ana’s team. There was no reply, only an interfering noise.

“Our signal’s jammed.”

They can still hear shots coming from the outside. A few minutes later they decided to open the escape hatch as their current position was slowly killing them. Perez slowly looked outside for the current situation. When he believed that they were safe, he slowly pushed himself outside the tank.

With a rifle in his hand, Perez studied his surroundings. He can see no tanks anywhere. They were in a middle of trees and their tank was turned upside down. He was wondering what happened.

“Perez, what is happening!? Where are the others?”

“I don’t know, Lieutenant.”

Simon was still inside the tank and tried to stand up to check what was happening outside. He had a broken ankle. A few seconds later, they heard another round of shots not far away.

“Just stay inside Lieutenant. I’ll go over there. That’s maybe our back-up.”

“Perez. Stop. We’ll stay here and wait. I think we are safer here.”

Simon said to his partner.

“Lieutenant, we cannot wait here. We need back-up moreover, we need help.”

Perez run through the trees and Simon was left helpless. He heard shots coming from where Perez disappeared.

“Shit!”

He pushed himself out of the tank and slide himself down at the ground. He heard growls coming.

“Perez!”

He aimed his gun towards the location where he heard the growls. He slowly stood up and tried hard to walk. He closed the escape hatch of the tank and followed Perez through the trees. He saw a tank and walked towards it. There were bodies lying close to it. They were covered in blood and were ripped by claws. Not one of them was Perez. The tank hatch opened and another military called him.

“Lieutenant, what are you doing out there!?”

The man called to him.

“Where you able to see any back-up?”

Simon asked the man.

“No Sir, but we can hear closer shots now. What happened to your tank?”

“We were thrown somewhere out there. By the way, did you see Perez?”

“No Sir.”

Suddenly he heard a loud explosion similar to a grenade 15 meters away from his location.

“You should see Captain Torres by now. I have to find Perez.”

Simon said to the man in the tank and headed towards the explosion. When he arrived at the area of the explosion, he saw blood everywhere. There was a body of a creature. It was not the same wolf-like monsters they were fighting these previous years. It was bigger. Its arms were long with big hands and long and very sharp nails. Its head seemed like exploded from the grenade. He saw another creature that was lying next to it. He knew that it was still alive because it was still growling but its stomach was burst open. He aimed his gun towards the creature while trying to look for a sign of human life. When the creature moved, he did not have a second thought to shoot it at its head. He cannot risk being merciful at the moment. He was in danger.

“Perez!”

He called out.

He heard hustle movements above the trees. He cannot see them. He can only rely on his senses this time. In a flash, a monster stood in front of him. He shot two bullets but the monster disappeared again. He was unsure if he had hit it or missed it. He moved behind the tree and waited for the creature to show up. When he heard movements just above him, he shot two bullets. He heard a growl and another monster showed up 6 meters away from him. He shot it but it seemed that the monster was invulnerable. He aimed at its head but another one showed up in front of him and knocked him sideways. His gun was thrown the opposite way. He immediately grab his other gun pocket to reach for his spare gun but was surprised to find that there was nothing.

I’m damned...

He might have lost it inside the tank when they knocked over. He then remembered the gun Ana placed in his back pocket. It was there.

My savior...

As soon as the monster lurched forward, he was able to shoot it at its head but it was still able to grab his arm and bit his shoulder. He screamed from pain. He felt that his whole arm was going to be ripped apart. He pointed the gun at the head of the monster and continuously shoot it until it fell in front of him. It was still moving. He slowly moved back. He has cuts in his right arm and shoulder. He shot it two more times. The monster that appeared six meters away disappeared again. When there was silence, he called again for his partner.

“Perez! Where are you!?”

He lost him –his fighting partner. He was leaning beside a tree. He was bleeding and hardly able to walk. He was one hundred thirty-five meters away west of the district and there was blood everywhere.

Above him, another angry monster is ready to tear him apart.