A new beginning

Daydreaming

I awoke with sweat pouring down my face, muffling my screams just before I could have the chance to wake the others up and so I promptly walked away, hand still clamped to my mouth. Once the mound of dirt was out of sight I yelled, letting out the shock that had been building inside of me. Once I lacked the breath to continue screaming, I collapsed beneath the canopy of a mysteriously normal tree. It had actual leaves and very few glowing bioluminescent lights. The four blood red moons sifted through the leaves and illuminated the foliage below. It was strangely enchanting, looking up at them. Almost like staring into the prospect of endless riches and torture. All too soon, however, I was reminded of the harsh tattoos that adorned that thing's forehead. As I sat, I almost drifted off again but stopped myself, knowing if I went back, I would somehow see him again. I wasn't sure how, but I knew I would. The cold began to surround me, however, and I huddled up, begging to stay warm. Then I slipped into unconsciousness.

I was awoken by the first rays of sunlight as they filtered through the trees. Then the gentle thud of something. Followed by another thud. They were
deep, booming, resounding. The kind that made your very bones rattle in their sockets. I looked around and saw a giant thing come crashing down on the foliage. Then another. I looked back and saw Connix and Aredo crouching behind a rock, Connix holding a blaster over her head. I looked up again. Then I looked up even further and saw the most awe-inspiring and simultaneously terrifying thing I had seen in my entire life. The thing must have been fifty feet high and completely black with dark green eyes. One of its teeth must have been at least the length of my arm and dripping with blood. It took one more step and suddenly a tremendous roaring issued from just where Connix and Aredo were. The entire mound of dirt shifted until another truly gargantuan monster perhaps even larger than the first. It was completely white, save for two tiny dull pink eyes. Three colossal claws protruded from its hands and it charged the other, showing no sign of having seen us. The black creature sidestepped and the white crashed into a tree, showering me in the dew that had been resting upon its leaves. The white roared and charged again, this time catching the black with its claws. Blood poured into its mouth and over its eyes and it wailed in pain, thrashing about and slicing some of the smaller trees in half. It then began to gouge at the soil in front of it, churning it and bellowing all the while. Whilst I had been eagerly watching the fight, I had forgotten almost everything else in my simultaneous terror and exhilaration and I jumped when a rock hit me on the arm. I looked over and saw Connix gesturing furiously at me. I ran over and she whispered into my ear, "what the fuck do you think you're doing?" I bowed my head. "Listen, do you want to yell at me or get out of here?" She frowned and stuttered for a moment but stood up, glaring at me before she took off running, Aredo and I the following suit. Thankfully, the giant things seemed to be too preoccupied in attempting to tear each other to pieces to give us a look in.

We stopped running a few minutes later, only once the shaking trees were the monsters still fought were at least a mile in the distance. Connix was collapsed against a tree and Aredo was next to her, emptying the contents of a water bottle into her mouth. Meanwhile, I was looking over the supplies we were carrying with us and wondered how Connix had managed to carry so much this far. Unfortunately, though, they were beginning to dwindle and I was growing worried we would barely have the food to survive another few days if that. I turned back and informed them of it, sliding down the tree beside them. "We might not have enough food." Connix nodded. "I carried as much as I could. I knew it would only last us a few nights." I nodded.
"Thank you for bringing it, at least." She smiled and Aredo walked off to tap a tree. "I don't blame you." She raised a quizzical eyebrow at me. "For what?" "For Rose." She sighed.
"Good. I hoped you wouldn't. I wanted to help her Finn, I did. I just didn't see an outcome where all of us survived and I made a decision with who was there. I knew I barely had enough food for us." We were interrupted by a yell from Aredo. Connix's eyes immediately went wide with fear and she rushed over with me to find Aredo at the foot of a cave mouth. I cocked my head. "What's going on?" She gasped and pointed into the empty blackness. "There's something in there. I just heard it." I strained my ear and also heard something, though admittedly it was very faint. It was the turning of machinery. I shrugged to the others and lowered myself into the cavemouth. Connix followed, then Aredo and we switched on the flashlights on our blasters. We walked into the darkness and my eyes accustomed to the low light. I squinted and saw bats hanging from the ceiling. A large scorpion crawled across a wall. A brightly coloured beetle scuttled across the floor, being chased by a snake. I looked around and saw a whole host of things moving in the tunnels. As we walked further into the cave, the sound grew louder and the temperature grew steadily hotter. I began to sweat and leaned against the wall. Nodding to the others I stood back up and continued on. I had barely been walking for a few feet when a scratching invaded the back of my head. The scratching was soon replaced by the voice of The Son and I wondered if I would see him again that night. I continued walking and the temperature grew even hotter and hotter. We were about to go back when Connix screamed and I heard rock skitter across the floor. Looking over, I saw Connix dangling off the ledge, Aredo barely holding onto her. I ran over and seized Aredo around the midriff, pulling her and Connix back safely onto the ground. "Sorry," gasped Connix, "I didn't realise it was there." I sighed and just sat there for a while. Once we had sat there for a while, I stood up and looked over the ledge from which Connix had almost just fallen. There was a huge metal wall you wouldn't have been able to see unless you were stood there and a grill was embedded in it, through which scalding hot air flowed. I, stupidly, shot at it and, worn from what I can only assume had been decades of no treatment, it fell off onto the floor. I lowered myself down, clinging to the side of the rock and prayed it wasn't that high. I let go and plummeted around ten feet, hearing a crack as I hit the ground. Hissing at the pain, I limped toward the grill and fired a few more shots into it. I wasn't sure why I was doing it, but I knew I should trust the voice in the back of my head. It was just a feeling.