The Past - Levi's Perspective

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"Alpha 2, this is Helo-1 inbound on drop point. Are we clear for drop?"

Kzztch "Helo-1! Landing zone-kzzzt-need assistance."

The helicopter shakes and rattles, tossing me and the other soldiers around the cabin.

The co-pilot turns to face us, his face covered by a darkly tinted pilots helmet.

"Landing area hasn't been confirmed clear, standby," he says into his headset, his voice projected into each of our earpieces.

"What the-...INCOMING!" The other pilot screams.

He grabs the control stick and slams it to the side, sending the helicopter into a sharp left bank. In the back we're all throw to the right side, a few of the guys end up on top of each other. One slams into the door and falls to the floor with a thud, he doesn't get up.

All at once an ear bursting explosion and a flash of orange light appear, shaking the helicopter violently. I'm thrown across the aircraft, slamming into the back corner. Pain bursts through my body.

Chaos erupts around me, soldiers rush to secure their equipment and the pilots try to regain control of the aircraft. It's useless though, we continue to spin at a left angle. A trajectory that will eventually lead to a crash.

I push myself off the floor, grunting when I feel pain radiating from my mid section. A soldier beside me grabs my hand and pulls me up into a seat. I buckle myself in, trying to ignore the pain that radiates through me like a fire.

Seconds later the co-pilot looks back again, his helmet shield is removed now, allowing a full view of his face. It doesn't inspire confidence.

"Brace for impact!"

I glance out the window just in time to see a lot of land a lot closer than I'd like to.

The helicopter slams into the ground with a violent thrash, sending all of us bashing into our seats. Loud metal on metal screeching fills the enclosed cabin and torments my ears, I cover them, but the terrible sound bleeds right through.

We continue to bounce around the cabin as the helicopter rolls down a steep hill. Finally, we slam into something hard and come to an abrupt stop. The co-pilot smashes through the front glass, disappearing into the darkness with a scream. I feel my head hit something hard, then my vision dims.

I wake to the sound of screaming and gunfire. Beside me on the ground is a soldier lying motionless, but she isn't dead. Her breathing is erratic, she's terrified, of what?

Behind me I hear a noise I've only heard a handful of times.

A Nightmare.

A bio-engineered war-fighting creature designed to use human terror in its advantage. The sound I hear doesn't actually belong to the creature at all.

No, I hear the terrified screams of soldiers, screams that are only produced by people pushed to the edge of sanity.

And we're next.

The woman holds a finger over her lips, her eyes locked onto mine. I notice tears rolling down her eyes and splashing onto the now warm helicopter flooring.

Behind me only one or two soldiers remain living, but they haven't given up. They spray the creature with dozens of bullets desperately trying to put it down. The only response they receive is a snarl and a swipe of its curved dagger length claws.

I hear a wet slice that can only be the sound of its claws tearing into human flesh. The horrific sound is followed closely by a scream of agony. One more slice makes the screaming end with a moment of gurgling.

The woman ahead of me holds in a scream, holding her hand over her mouth tightly. Her bright green eyes stare into mine with an intensity that makes me understand everything she's seeing.

Behind me, the creature sniffs the air. I hear it clicking, a form of echolocation. Not good.

It emits a high pitched growl that rolls through multiple pitches, then takes a step closer to us. Again it snarls, then clicks a second time. I see the reflection of the Nightmare in the eyes of the woman.

The creature leans down so its humanoid head is hovering above mine by mere inches. Its eyes, four of them with diagonal slits, blink and move back and forth scanning over my motionless body.

I see panic growing in the woman, the skin around her eyes tightening and twisting.

If I move the creature will strike. Their is nothing I can do to calm her.

The creature sniffs me, the woman flinches.

In an instant the creature is on top of her, ripping at her armor with its claws. It screams and snarls, opening its mouth to its limit, which is far further than that of a human. One of its claws catches a piece of her stomach not covered by armor, she screams in pain as a small burst of blood comes from her wound.

I jump to my feet and grab a rifle from one of the dead soldiers bodies, sparing no time before opening fire. The bullets hit their target, but do no damage.

The creature stops attacking her and looks over at me. A deep growl begins to rumble in its throat.

"Shi-"

It jumps on me, slamming me into the dirt and knocking the air out of my lungs. I cough and gasp for air as it begins tearing into me like it did the woman. The woman. I look over to where she lies, ignoring the creature howling above me. She sits there motionless, but I see her face contorting in pain. She's alive.

Somehow, even while being potentially mauled to death, I'm able to find peace. A sigh of relief escapes my mouth.

Suddenly with a bang that renders my ears useless, the creature is thrown off of me, exploding into a cloud of blood. What's left of its body slams into the helicopters wreckage and slides to the ground. Leaving a blood stain behind.

Soldiers appear from every direction, pouring into the clearing that had been made during the helicopter crash. They spread out and search the area, calling out 'Clear!' when they find nothing hostile.

A man steps into view above me, a smoking rocket launcher in his hands. He sets it down and holds out a hand to help me up.

I take it, and grunt as he lifts me off the ground.

"Thanks," I say.

"No worries," The man says. He retrieves his rocket launcher, then walks off to join the other soldiers.

"We need a medic over here!"

I look over to see a soldier leaning over the woman, holding down on the wound she'd sustained from the Nightmare.

A soldier with a medical patch on their tactical vest jogs over, a small bag in his right hand. He kneels and begins checking out the wound.

"How is she?" I ask.

"It's deep, and she's lost a lot of blood.....but, it looks like nothing vital was damaged. If we can get this bleeding to stop, I think she'll make it."

"Thank you."

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Present Day - Levi's Perspective

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"Levi! Hey Levi! Wake up!"

My head is killing me. Ugh, that dream again. Why won't it stop.

"I'm up, I'm up. What's happening?"

Flynn is worried, his face dotted with sweat. "What direction is the city in?"

I climb off the ground, wiping the sleep from my eyes. Then I get my bearings.

"It's over the-"

Smoke billows into the sky. Tainting the beautiful blue sky with a dreary black overcast. The smoke comes from where Gate City sits.

"No....no, no," I mutter under my breath. "Flynn, get your stuff, we need to move, now."

"That's Gate City, isn't it?"

"Flynn! Get your stuff, please!"

Flynn nods and runs off, gathering his things from around the camp.

I'm coming Em, please be safe. Please.

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Three Hours Later

We walk quickly down a road filled with abandoned cars and trucks, snaking between them with speed.

"Levi, should we be going this fast? What if something hears us?"

He's right, but I can't stop...not now.

"If you want to go slower, do it. I'm going towards the smoke, find me there if you fall behind," I say calmly, even though my heart is racing.

Flynn doesn't reply.

We continue down the road for some time. Flynn apparently decides to accompany me, judging by the sound of him breathing heavily a few feet behind me.

"Is-is it getting harder to see or is that just me?" Flynn asks.

A clicking appears, starting slow but speeding up with haste. I look around, but then realize what the noise is.

I fall to the ground, quickly removing my backpack and unzipping it.

"What's wrong?" Flynn asks from behind me.

"We're in a radiation zone!" I yell, rummaging through my bag for a gas mask.

Finally I find one and throw it to Flynn. He puts it on while I take a spare mask and slip it over my head.

While we were distracted a thick fog formed, creating a green tint that hangs over everything in sight. This also helps me figure out how much trouble we've gotten ourselves caught up in.

It's a lot.

I already feel nauseous, the most common symptom of radiation sickness, not good.

A breeze moves in, sending leaves and littered trash flowing into the air. The green fog lights up and the sky explodes with thunder. Great, another problem.

"Flynn!" I yell over the violent wind.

"Yeah?!"

"How're you feeling!"

"Like I'm gonna be sick!"

And It's worse.

"We need to get out of here, quick!"

"Should we head back!?"

"No! We don't know how long we've been in the zone! It might be quicker to keep going!"

"Alright, lets do it!" Flynn yells.

"Follow me!" I say while throwing my arm forward.

I wait for him to catch up before I begin walking. Then, together, we trudge off into the fog.

"Flynn! Let me know if you see anything strange ok? Weird things happen in places like this."

No response.

"Flynn?"

I spin in circles, looking for any sign of him, I see nothing.

"Flynn!"

"Levi!"

A voice calls from beyond the fog.

"Help! Levi!"

"E-Em?"

"Levi! Please!"

"Em! Where are you!"

I sprint towards the direction the voice came from, hopping a wooden fence and almost slamming into a telephone pole that appeared from the fog like a truck on a highway.

A wooden cabin sits ahead of me, the front door wide open.

"Levi!"

The voice comes from inside. I have no doubts about that now. Without a second thought I rush up the stairs and through the doorway. Em is the only thing that matters, I have to save her.

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In the Fog - Flynn's Perspective

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"Levi! Where'd you go!?"

Every direction is more fog, I feel trapped even with the freedom to go in any direction, and the nausea gets worse by the second.

"Levi!"

I step forward slowly, pushing my way through the fog carefully.

"Em!"

"Levi?"

I turn towards where I think his voice came from and walk towards it, eventually I reach a fence and hop it. On the other side are a set of deep footprints. Levi's. I follow them, passing a pole where they curve slightly to the left then continue onward.

"Flynn!" A voice calls.

What the?

"Flynn!" It says again.

"Dad?" I ask quietly.

"Flynn! Help!"

No, my Dads dead. How.. No. It's a trick.

I jog forward, following the tracks again. Eventually they lead to a dilapidated shed, its roof collapsed, allowing rain to pour in.

A red glow comes from inside the shed, pouring out the doorway and window, bathing the ground in a bright red light.

I hear a voice inside the shed, Levi's.

As I approach the voice grows louder.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

I step through the doorway to see Levi standing at the center of the room, his arm stretched out to touch a massive red mass of glowing, fluctuating energy.

"Levi! stop!"

He freezes, his hand trembling.

"Levi?"

He shakes his head, blinking a few times, then he moves his hand to rub his temple.

"What, where-where am I?"

The mass of energy begins pulsating quickly, glowing even brighter than before. It's surface bubbling and stretching.

Outside the shed I hear howling from all around us.

Levi's eyes widen, apparently he knows what the howling's coming from.

"Flynn," he says quietly. "Run. Now."

"Which way?" I reply quickly.

"Any way! Just Go!!"

We explode out of the shed running as fast as we can manage. Hopping the fence and continuing onwards without slowing down. Behind us the sound of wood cracking and splitting can be heard.

I don't risk looking back.

"Keep going Flynn!" Levi yells. "I can see sunlight!"

Multiple sets of footsteps trample the ground behind us. Accompanied by snarling, growling, and roaring.

It grows closer, and closer. We're running out of time.

"Allllmost there!," Levi yells.

We jump through the last of the fog, emerging into sunlight with only a second to spare. The creatures stop at the edge of the fog. As if they're being held in by it.

They snarl and chomp their teeth while they watch us. Pacing back and forth in the fog.

One of them looks at me for a while, its eyes locked on mine. Then it backs slowly into the fog, not breaking eye contact until the moment it disappears.

Levi appears next to me.

"Lets get moving, we're almost there."

-End of Chapter II-