Desolation

The Storm

A:N: Sorry for the long while of inactivity, I was really busy for the past few weeks. Also, laziness didn't help me much either. I'll try to get the next part out sooner! Anyways, hope you enjoy the read.

As the large elevator left behind the dull metal tunnel of Xure's tomb ascending towards the surface, the now smaller group of four beheld the bleak scene underneath the rising glass they stood upon. Below, hundreds of distorted and misshapen faces, and bodies milled about aimlessly, forever doomed to the pit they were trapped in. While the marines were barely more than acquaintances with the blue Elite, his death brought a heavy dread that wormed its way into their collectively bittersweet thoughts. On one hand, the soldiers were relieved to have escaped alive, yet, deep down, they each recognized Xure's death as a possible grim foreshadowing of their own fates.
An awkward combination of thoughts, indeed.

The lift connected with the moonlit surface with a loud CLINK, shaking slightly before settling into the grooves of the smooth metal it came to rest on. Khazo was the first to step foot off the platform, taking in the new environment as he scanned the area around him, noting the drastically different scenery. Gone were the looming gray trees and colorless fog of the dreadful jungle, in their places were vibrant shades of brown and green from healthy evergreens that circled the oddly shaped metal structure that they had arisen from, stretching to the mountains in the distance. A sparkling river lined with sharp rocks flowed to the east of the structure, winding away from tall mountains and towards the god forsaken jungle they had escaped from, reflecting the moonlight through the spiny leaves of the evergreens like a liquid mirror.
The marines tagged along behind Khazo, falling in line as they each left the platform and walked onto the green carpet of grass on full alert as they took in the new unfamiliar sounds coming from the forest. The tense band of warriors trudged on slowly to the  rushing river, flinching at the calls of the strange animals that hissed at them from the rim of darkness.

o

Marcos clicked on his helmet's communications system once more, cursing as he was met with the static hiss of dead air in his earpiece. "We really have to find whatever's scrambling our signals." he grumbled.
"I know man, it sucks, but where would we even look for what's doing it? We just have to keep walking." replied Kuis, stopping as Marcos whirled round to face him. "The range on that thing could be huge! If we don't radio for evac, we might not live long enough to walk from this place." he said.
"Listen, for all we know it could be one of the infected in the pit we just came from somehow screwing stuff up. If it is, what're you gonna do about it? Ask them 'cut it out'? I don't think zombies with guns will respond very well to nagging." interjected Vato. "It's just a gut feeling." began Marcos. "We could be walking for days until our shit starts to work again, do you know how far we've walked already? All around that damn jungle there's no reception, and you think going deeper into this forest hoping to get a better signal is a good idea? If heatstroke or starvation doesn't kill us, maybe a mutant alien space bear'll stop on by to do the job." he mused, successfully attempting to bug the others.
"Stop being so pessimistic, think this through you moron! You're telling me you'd rather go try and find the thing messing with our comms in that jungle rather than doing a little walking? Needle in a haystack, there's just no way. I'd prefer going face to face with space bears instead of things that could turn people into zombies!" countered Kuis, already tiring of the small debate. "Matter of fact, why are we even arguing about this? Majority rules, if you don't like it, you can roll solo."
Marcos let out a long sigh, defeated. "Screw it, you win. If a space bear DOES exist, and it's within five miles of us, it would've heard you whining about wanting to go on a hike." Kuis snorted at that. "I'll make you a deal, if we're not mauled by anything in the next thirty minutes, we can play follow the leader with you tomorrow. I don't want to walk around in the dark tripping into trees." Marcos finished, brushing past Kuis's shoulder as he bent for a rock to build a fire place.
"Speaking of aliens, where's Red?" asked Vato, turning to see no sign of the Elite's shiny metal armor. Puzzled, the marines shared clueless looks between eachother as they scanned the trees, looking for a glint of moonlight on armor between the trunks. "K?" called Vato, unsheathing the knife from his thigh as he stalked towards a large splashing sound that came from the river, followed by the other marines. Huddled together tightly back to back, the three came over the small rise overlooking the river and saw Khazo staring at them from below, waist deep in the river with his gauntlet blades activated. "What are you doing?" the marine asked, his grip on the blade loosening.