《Mecha Dragons of Mars》Chapter 9: The Vice Villa Site
Advertisement
I can't remember whose brilliant idea it was that we all pile into Laurence's jeep but there we were, squished in as he raced it off towards the source of the blood-curling screams.
"It must be coming from the Vice Villa site," he stated, concern to his voice, "but how the hell do I get over there from this direction?"
"The GPS says to go straight," answered Detective LaLouf, staring at her phone.
"Lola, honey, I CAN'T go straight, there's a mountain literally straight ahead."
"Then go around it and then go straight, Laurence!"
"That's what I'm trying to do, don't you think?!"
"Don't snap at me!"
While the married couple argued in the front, Dr. Snively, Cleetus, and myself were seated in the back from left to right in that order. Boom-Boom, stuffed tightly at my feet, let out a few sad mews in regards to her fate, but generally stayed calm. I would've offered her my lap to ride on, but with all the equipment Laurence had brought, we had to instead pile that on top of ourselves if we wanted to make room.
"Be gentle with that device on your left knee, Cole!" commanded Dr. Snively from behind his own lap full of equipment, "I plan to use that once we find the form again!"
"Okay," I answered but truthfully couldn't see what he was talking about though the amount of crap now resting on me.
Cleetus, sandwiched between us with his own equipment pile likewise was doing little to help me focus on the external factors. Sure, he was serving as a wind break from Dr. Snively's gastro-intestinal issues, but the way he had positioned himself his head and mine were nearly touching; with the heavy equipment on top of us, neither he or I really could move, but we could certainly talk.
Advertisement
"Don't think you'll always have this safety in numbers to protect you," Cleetus whispered in my nearby ear, "the only reason I haven't told them you blew up the Earth is because I will not let the delight of sucking out your eyeballs as I bash in your nose be stolen from me by this farting lunatic. Mark my words, Cole, as soon as I can get you alone I am going to skin your ugly mug and make a new pair of combat boots out of it."
I would assume if Detective LaLouf had turned around that from her position in the vehicle it would have seemed like Cleetus was whispering sweet nothings into my ear. But this was not a tender moment: I could tell Cleetus was quite anxious to make his threats a reality.
Suddenly, the jeep slammed on its breaks. We all slammed forward as everything on top slammed back into us.
"Cole!" Snively snapped, "I said be careful with that device!"
"Meow!" called out poor Boom-Boom at my feet.
"Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Laurence, our less-than-stellar chauffer. "What the hell has happened here?!"
I quickly freed one of my hands so that I could move things off of myself to get a better look, but I could already smell it- a smokey, cooking odor in the air. I was sad to think it, but Snively's farts almost were preferable.
There was no screaming anymore but there was slight moanings around. We finally got out and could see why- if this had been the Vice Villa site, there was not much of a site left at all. Everything was coated by black ash and still quite hot; bits and pieces of building materials lay strewn about, burned or melted. A lone yellow hard hat sat on the edge of the burn site, splattered with blood.
Advertisement
And then there were people, or at least what was left of them.
As had been the case with Martha Ann and Dan's, there really was little human remains. The fire had acted quickly to destroy everything. A couple burly men, charred beyond recognition, lay at the end of a partial finished walkway- and that was it. They did not look like they had much longer to last, but they seemed to be the source of the moaning.
"Oh my God," Detective LaLouf exclaimed as she rushed over to help. I followed, more not knowing what else to do and wanting to escape Cleetus's company. But, of course, Cleetus followed me. Laurence stayed behind to retch by his jeep as Dr. Snively began pouring through the equipment in search of certain tools.
"Dr..dragon..." one of the burned men was murmuring as we approached.
"Sir, we're here to help," LaLouf did her best to be professional despite the horrific sight and smell, "what happened here?"
"Dragon..." he repeated.
"The fire..." the other surviving victim beside him uttered, "so hot..."
"How did this fire start?" LaLouf pressed. I stood watching, as, I mean, I hadn't become a firefighter overnight. Cleetus approached the first one and knelt down.
"You said 'dragon'- is that to say the fire came down from the sky like it came from a dragon?" He asked.
"No...it was a literal fucking dragon..." the man was in pain but very clear as he spoke.
"A dragon?" LaLouf cocked her head.
"The fire...so hot..." the other man repeated.
"I'm...telling you...with my dying breath," the first man started to shake, "It was...totally...a giant, fire-breathing dragon...that did this..." with that he collapsed.
"The fire...so hot..." his companion said again before collapsing himself.
LaLouf was back on her phone. "I need a medical and fire team here STAT!" she yelled into her phone, "at the Vice Villa site! Yes, right now!"
I looked about but all I could see was charred remains and carnage. Then, from behind me, I heard Boom-Boom's mew.
The cat had run over to a non-burned area close to the site and was jumping in and out of an odd hole. I hadn't noticed it when we first pulled up on account of so much more to see but in light of the recent events I froze.
"Hey, Cleetus," I said, speaking to him as if it were old times, "take a look at that."
"What?" He didn't seem happy to talk to me but looked anyway. He too froze. "Say, isn't that hole Boom-Boom's in shaped remarkable like a footprint? Maybe from a dinosaur?"
"Or a dragon," I remarked.
Advertisement
- In Serial26 Chapters
A dungeon core story: Magic with a hint of Science
Sometimes, you only feel alive after you have died and got granted a second chance.After a gamer and aspiring chemist dies and is granted a second chance in the form of a dungeon core, he decides to make the most out of it.Along with a knack for gaming and creatively using 'game mechanics', he also brings forth the power of chemistry, biology and physics to a medieval-like world where magic is real and where people level up to get stronger. This fiction has LitRPG elements and will contain stat based fantasy, some gore, some humour and most importantly of all, an MC who likes to unleash his inner mad scientist. Special thanks to Kaiverta for making my cover and on such a short notice; It looks amazing
8 237 - In Serial26 Chapters
A Different Kind of Hero (-)
Have you ever been abandoned? Forsaken by the people you saw every day? Lucas was an average boy, if you were to even call him that. He was weaker than most, and he didn't have the best grades either. His family was not wealthy, and it didn't help that his classmates picked on him every day. There was always a set of boys that hurt him, but everyone was a part of it. The girls in the back, the teachers, the ones actually hurting him. Nobody helped him. Then one day, as class started, his whole class was teleported to another world. He finally thought that his time for redemption has come but to his disbelief he was the only one out of all the students to not get any sort of buff. He was still the weakest, and upon being abandoned by his classmates and thrown to his death, he chose to forsake his humanity and set his destiny in motion. With a 'little' help from a god, how will this new way of 'living' befit him? Inspired by: 'The Epic Tale of the Forsaken Hero' and 'Arifureta', but by no means is a Fan Fic. It'll start out very similar, but will change drastically.
8 145 - In Serial8 Chapters
Astelta
I'm fully aware of who I am.. aware-that I am the person who I thought I was. Being in a place- I know nothing at all. There were a lot of things I wasn't able to understand from here, but despite all of that- everything seemed natural and strangely familiar to me. As if someone inside influencing me...but who is he?
8 142 - In Serial41 Chapters
We dream of Worlds
In the cold silence between the stars, millions of passengers aboard the Long Shot reside in stasis. While their bodies are protected from the ravages of time, their minds are far more fragile. To protect their sanity, they are connected to the ships network. Full depth Virtual Reality. But to ward of boredom we do what humans do best. We seek out entertainment, we fight, and we explore. In short, we game.But for Darin who just came off a maintenance shift, its a different story. In the Net time passes much more swiftly, so now he's late to the game, behind the curve, and nearly friendless. Upon joining the MMO """"Dreams of a Forgotten World"""" Darin finds that his problems have only just begun. But on the bright side, at least you can always respawn...
8 94 - In Serial28 Chapters
The Mandalorian x Reader
Mando x Female Reader :)Based off the Disney+ series
8 85 - In Serial34 Chapters
Let's fall in love (Story By PINKI)
Never in a million years would I have thought that that would be our last conversation before my perfectly planned life would fall apart...Let me know what you guys think! SmilePinki
8 166

