Dark Halos

Hell on Earth

We made our way onto land, the system of the train was build for stealthy purpose such as these missions. It would take us as close as it can to ground zero, the Underground Society. There's multiple levels of the Underground Society that are similar to that of catacombs, skeletal remains of buildings and decaying bodies as food. No one's been brave enough to explore the other levels. Rumors spread that Anon Jones was going to be the first.

The creatures have powerful claws, but massive body masses that can't be supported. Their eggs luminescent until they hatched into the vile creatures know today. Someone said when the hatchlings are out, they scream. It's ear pitching that some die that way. No one really knows since there's no survivors of the first screech. That was the first level of the Underground Society, the incubation center. The Earth level was where the things would roam, looking for a fresh source of protein. Some people still live, others are taking their lives one by one. With no name it is hard to tell someone to watch out. For now, I'll just call them the Damn Hybrids. For whenever I think about them, I'm like "those Damn Hybrids."

They can camouflage with their surroundings. They can scream loud enough to cause paralysis within the sharp pain in the spinal cord. They puke up their eggs as they place it into their host. Their claws can cut a person in half. They are also very venomous if one were to touch you.

"Let's go," the leaders from each group said one by one as they left. The others were quiet, not wanting to say anything as they started to disappear one by one. "To the Underground."

My mind was racing as I didn't know that we arrived a few miles away. We stood by our assigned group leader before starting the journey. I could still feel Anon Jones staring at me as i placed the bag over my shoulder. I closed my eyes as I leaned my head against the cold window of the moving transportation before stepping out. The travel time to get to the Earth level was about two hours. It was not even the break of the sun yet for it was early. The Damn Hybrids were nocturnal creatures for that's why they went underground far enough to not be in direct sunlight. Luckily not enough to breach the society and the people within.

I had a weird memory about Branlia. She would tend to want to be by herself. For those reasons unknown, I let her be. On one of those occasions I would be in her office without her remembering. She would normally have papers scattered around the place. Cursive letters and figures of items that are scale models of I don't know what. She would get mad if nothing was her way. At one point she got so mad that I would run outside, I wasn't scared but I knew she needed space. The tracks ran within the neighborhood that she resided in. I tripped over the tracks one time as I knew the machinery was advancing rapidly. I pushed myself up from the ground and turned to be blinded by the lights. The last thing I heard was the screams from the train before I jolted awake from the memory.

"We're here."

I glanced around to see who was talking but instead looked out the window. The passing landscape of mountains had some life to it, the only thing barren was where we were currently going. The area that meets between the ground and the incline up to the plains. The houses were deteriorating due to the lack of human entity taking care of the structure itself. The leaves and grass grew at a rapid pace. There was no one to maintain order. It all looked abandoned, for it was. I was asleep, I didn't walk out of the train and I wasn't close to getting hit by one either. Anon's eyes still lingered on be but the rest was a memory.

I got up from my seat as I headed out the automatic doors with my backpack. I saw Anon trying to reach for me but Catherine stood in his way. I stopped in my tracks to look before stepping out onto the pristine tracks. The others saw what happened, not saying anything about it. With my head held high, I walked out. Not without hearing what they had to say.

"You better keep yourself in line. I don't care if you're top ranked or my blood relative."

"Just let me explain-" Anon tried to say but was cut off by his sister.

"You had a lot of time to explain yourself Jones. I don't care what you have to say now, leave her alone." She turned to walk out.

Each of the leaders were handed a map and an location input into their watches. My group doesn't have land to cover, the other groups have to go down into the caverns. My group sat down so we can all unpack our bags. Placing my watch onto silent mode, I took out my staff before placing thebqatch in my jacket pocket. Leaving my water and snacks wrapped in a jacket so it wouldn't make so much noise.

It was still dark, but light will come out soon. That's when we would make our move. The physical shape of the sun was not the same circle that we saw when we were children. It was now a large stripe in the sky. Taking resemblance to a person making a hole. It looked like one of the Damn Hybrids could of used their claws to make that one strip. The last of our light was almost forced away if we didn't manage to harvest it. It was blinding to stare at the line in the sky. But it was worth it until later, when the light would disappear once more. 

We made our ways to the metallic contractions that the Damn Hybrids developed on their own. No one knows how they can make it, but it was impenetrable. No matter how much we tried piercing, puncturing, or penetrating it. Nothing was able to make it to the other side of the material. I think it's a secretion of the venom on their skin that dries out before being peeled off by the weight, thickening into what we see now. The only thing that can be heard was the shallow breathing of those surrounding us and the footsteps into the dirt and gravel. To my knowledge, they were nocturnal creatures. With their eggs easy to spot at night, they had lack of activity in the morning. Although, with the little light giving off, it's better to remain cautious with the heavy clouds. The footsteps of the creatures was not prominent, having only an hour left until sunrise.

A shot rang through the silent, still air. Echos pulsed through the barrier as it spread. Everyone in my group quickly turned to see what made the loud sound. The sound that will eventually kill us all. I was the last to turn, my blood ran cold. It was Anon, who stood on top of one of the metal constructions. He held a pistol, which emitted smoke. His eyes were filled with betrayal and hatred as he pointed the barrel at me.