Day 37 - This Might Be The End
Feb. 6th, 2009 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfsbrideContinues this post, this post and this post
He landed heavily, too battered to force his body into a position that would soften the impact. The shock forced the air from his lungs, and he lay gasping, fighting against the darkness that was encroaching. He lost the battle, slipping into unconsciousness from the blow to his head.
When he came to, he was surrounded by several soldiers, faces familiar to him even though he didn’t know the names. One offered a hand and BD grasped it, depending on the other man’s strength to get himself upright. Reflexively, he checked his watch, gratified to see that he’d only been out of commission a few minutes. His head hurt like hell and his shoulder and knee were complaining bitterly but at least he was still alive. He felt a pang as his mind touched on the bodies entombed beneath the remnants of the collapsed tunnel.
Steadying himself, BD turned slowly, being careful of his knee. Looking back toward the mountain, he saw that the tunnel entrance was just a mass of broken boulders. Then something occurred to him and he kicked himself for not thinking of it before. His hand went automatically to his headset only to find that he must have lost it in his flight from the tunnel. Grabbing the soldier that had helped him up, he yanked his walkie talkie out of his shirt pocket and thumbed the button. “We need to blow the emergency exits! We can’t let those things get out.”
BD watched as the pilots acknowledged his order. They banked and came around for another fly by, breaking formation to cover the two exits. Missiles were launched with the same result as before, tons of rock sliding down to seal off the openings. Breathing a sigh, BD was about to go see if he could get some answers about what the hell had gone wrong, when a shout pulled his attention back to the matter at hand.
A dark mass was slowly seeping up from the broken stones covering the entrance way. It looked like oil, oozing forth as it was. More and more came up as though the mountain was vomiting something distasteful. Blinking, BD made the connection and groaned. “Oh come on! Give me a fucking break.”
Lifting the walkie talkie, BD snapped. “Ground troops stand ready!”
The dark mass was still seeping through the cracks and crevices of the rubble but it was beginning to separate into distinct puddles of goo. The individual puddles began to coalesce and swell and BD cursed inwardly. It seemed his guess was right. There was no longer the option of holding fire. Whatever the result would be from a frontal assault, it had to be better than leaving these creatures free to roam. They hadn’t looked particularly friendly chasing him down the tunnel and he didn’t suppose their demeanour would have improved any having being buried alive. As he watched, the globs of goo slowly took the shape of the catlike creatures he had seen in the tunnel. “Fire!”
The air was filled with the sound of shells being fired as the tanks that had been holding steady started their attack. Above them, the planes added their fire power to the fray. Smoke, dust and dirt billowed up as the targets were battered. After several minutes the firing halted and everyone waited for the dust to settle, waited to see the what the outcome would be.
When visibility was restored, BD pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why did I join the army?” He asked no one in particular. “My parents wanted me to be a doctor. But no, I had to join the army.”
While he’d been muttering to himself, another round of attacks exploded filling the air once more. Snapping out of his introspection, BD watched. He didn’t have any hope that this assault would be any more successful than the first. For the first time he was sorry to see that he’d been right.
The creatures were solid once more, apparently unharmed by the barrage of fire power. There was no more goo rising from the ground, so if there was one good thing about the whole mess it was that there was a finite number to deal with. BD counted about fifty and from what he could see they were displaying some sort of pack behaviour. Whether this would make them easier or more difficult to handle, he did not know.
BD is not having a good day :D
He landed heavily, too battered to force his body into a position that would soften the impact. The shock forced the air from his lungs, and he lay gasping, fighting against the darkness that was encroaching. He lost the battle, slipping into unconsciousness from the blow to his head.
When he came to, he was surrounded by several soldiers, faces familiar to him even though he didn’t know the names. One offered a hand and BD grasped it, depending on the other man’s strength to get himself upright. Reflexively, he checked his watch, gratified to see that he’d only been out of commission a few minutes. His head hurt like hell and his shoulder and knee were complaining bitterly but at least he was still alive. He felt a pang as his mind touched on the bodies entombed beneath the remnants of the collapsed tunnel.
Steadying himself, BD turned slowly, being careful of his knee. Looking back toward the mountain, he saw that the tunnel entrance was just a mass of broken boulders. Then something occurred to him and he kicked himself for not thinking of it before. His hand went automatically to his headset only to find that he must have lost it in his flight from the tunnel. Grabbing the soldier that had helped him up, he yanked his walkie talkie out of his shirt pocket and thumbed the button. “We need to blow the emergency exits! We can’t let those things get out.”
BD watched as the pilots acknowledged his order. They banked and came around for another fly by, breaking formation to cover the two exits. Missiles were launched with the same result as before, tons of rock sliding down to seal off the openings. Breathing a sigh, BD was about to go see if he could get some answers about what the hell had gone wrong, when a shout pulled his attention back to the matter at hand.
A dark mass was slowly seeping up from the broken stones covering the entrance way. It looked like oil, oozing forth as it was. More and more came up as though the mountain was vomiting something distasteful. Blinking, BD made the connection and groaned. “Oh come on! Give me a fucking break.”
Lifting the walkie talkie, BD snapped. “Ground troops stand ready!”
The dark mass was still seeping through the cracks and crevices of the rubble but it was beginning to separate into distinct puddles of goo. The individual puddles began to coalesce and swell and BD cursed inwardly. It seemed his guess was right. There was no longer the option of holding fire. Whatever the result would be from a frontal assault, it had to be better than leaving these creatures free to roam. They hadn’t looked particularly friendly chasing him down the tunnel and he didn’t suppose their demeanour would have improved any having being buried alive. As he watched, the globs of goo slowly took the shape of the catlike creatures he had seen in the tunnel. “Fire!”
The air was filled with the sound of shells being fired as the tanks that had been holding steady started their attack. Above them, the planes added their fire power to the fray. Smoke, dust and dirt billowed up as the targets were battered. After several minutes the firing halted and everyone waited for the dust to settle, waited to see the what the outcome would be.
When visibility was restored, BD pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why did I join the army?” He asked no one in particular. “My parents wanted me to be a doctor. But no, I had to join the army.”
While he’d been muttering to himself, another round of attacks exploded filling the air once more. Snapping out of his introspection, BD watched. He didn’t have any hope that this assault would be any more successful than the first. For the first time he was sorry to see that he’d been right.
The creatures were solid once more, apparently unharmed by the barrage of fire power. There was no more goo rising from the ground, so if there was one good thing about the whole mess it was that there was a finite number to deal with. BD counted about fifty and from what he could see they were displaying some sort of pack behaviour. Whether this would make them easier or more difficult to handle, he did not know.
BD is not having a good day :D
