Ravagers… That’s what they were called. And now they had invaded the city. Kuritopia? It could hardly be called a Utopia anymore. Death littered the streets in the form of those black skinned demons. Some of them were reported to be building a nest, right in the heart of the city. That’s where they were thickest. Thousands of them, all waiting for the right chance to leap out and kill what was left of us. To survive, we would have to leave via the escape shuttles. Several of the safe zones had been overrun. So going to one of them is out of the question. The other escape shuttles have all left. The EESC army is still rounding up the survivors and herding them to the bridge. If we can get out of the city, we may just have a shot at getting out of the range of the nuke. But to do that, we have to find the army first. Or, what’s left of it.
CHAPTER ONE
Surviving Hell
The news was on in the house; the sound of the reporter droned on and filled the eerily quiet building. Scattered belongings littered the floor, and stains covered the walls. “And we expect the armed forces to be able to hold the safe zones for a while, at least until the populace can get to safety. Armoured vehicles and elite forces airdropped into the centre of the city and tried to crush the nest, contact was lost shortly after. The three infected ships still hang over the city, with no signs of them leaving. There is nothing to come and move them, so for now, it looks as though they’re staying. A large conflict between EESC forces and-“Suddenly, a splintering crash broke the silence of the house. A soldier ran inside, he was panting, turning on his heel, he dropped on one knee and shot out through the door he had just smashed open. Screeches and roars of pain filled his ears to a point of bursting. He threw a grenade and turned to sprint into the kitchen. He suddenly felt something wrap around his leg. Falling to the ground, he turned and stared right into the face of one of the demons.
It screeched in triumph as its long, scaly hand dug into his leg, he drew in a sharp breath as its nails punctured his ballistic armour. It was bleeding heavily and its leg seemed to be deflated from loss of blood, and yet it seemed very strong. The soldier fired his gun and roared in defiance at the monster. Bullets punched holes into its face and it moaned in pain. One last shot from the powerful rifle, and the monsters head blew in half. The grip on his leg relaxed and he lay back and took heavy breaths. Being that close to death had taken the fight out of him. He reloaded his weapon and stood. A slight ache plagued his leg as he made his way to bar the kitchen door. He sat at the wooden table and covered his face with his hands. Sighing, he wiped the sweat from his face and stood at the kitchen window. Looking out into the backyard of the house, he could see the sun high in the clouds. Opening the door, the crackle of gunfire became audible, stepping out into the hot sun made him yearn for better days. A call came in on his radio. “Moving to Foxtrot position, demons are carrying away bodies on the left side of the road.” An answering call came back from a voice the soldier recognised as that of the Commander. “Roger that Sniper team, I want the rest of the column to move through the alleyways and clear the passageways between the points. We need to set up a barrier here, men! MOVE OUT!”
The soldier vaulted a fence and found himself in a tight street of garden fences. Shrubs lined the passageway. Holding his rifle ahead of him at the intersection, he moved cautiously ahead. He had a bad feeling about this area. A small noise made him turn around quickly. He kept his sights behind him for a good two minutes before he turned back towards the intersection. An alien face greeted him.
He yelled in fear and surprise. The demon roared a fearsome roar and grabbed hold of the barrel of the rifle. The soldier squeezed the trigger, but the demon twisted the gun around its body, and bullets slammed into the walls and the fences. It then kicked out at the soldier and sent him to the ground, he coughed up a little blood, and such was the force of the kick. The demon threw the gun away and leapt lightly on top of him. For such a strong creature, it was surprisingly light-weight. Its tail swung up over its head, and the sharp blade-like claw glinted in the afternoon sun. The soldier reacted quickly. The tail began to fall, slowly it seemed. The soldier lifted his palm to intercept the claw. Pain filled his world as the blade wrenched itself into his hand. He screamed as the monster swung its tail from side to side to try and cut the tail out of the skin. The soldier lifted his free hand into its dome shaped skull. It squealed in alarm and fell backwards. The claw lifted out of the soldiers hand with a wet, grinding noise.
The Ravager made a growling sound and rolled onto its back. The soldier reached down and withdrew a combat knife. The demon eyed the knife and backed away from the soldier. In such a narrow space, it would be a hard fight. The demon leapt onto a fence, and with amazing balance sprinted over to the soldier. He barely had time to lift his knife, before grabbed hold of his face. He slashed with the knife at its wrists, but it didn’t relent, keeping its rock-solid grip on his face, it planted both feet on the soldier’s shoulders. Its tail swiftly came around and slashed across his throat. His eyes bulged and the creature gave off a sort of laugh. It let go of him as he fell to the ground. The demon roared in triumph and began lapping up the blood.
Chapter Two
Cleaning The Mean Streets
The Sniper team had gotten into position on the roof of a house. There were two snipers and two spotters. One of the spotters pointed out the area where the infantry would be moving up, and the other spotter was pointing out where the vehicles were going. The ultimate aim of this attack was to clear the area for a safe passage up to the bridge with a few hundred civilians. “Targets spotted near the cars. Engage and we’ll keep the big ones off your back, move into position when you’re ready.” The spotter clicked off the radio and pointed at the group of Ravagers poking around inside a broken down car. The spotter laughed as a grenade blew away two of them, the others squawked alarmingly and sprinted away from the car as more grenades detonated around it. A squad of men ran around a corner and fired at the three Ravagers. They fell in a splatter of green blood and dismembered limbs.
A screech came from behind the sniper team. Before any of them could even turn, a scream came out from one of the Spotters. He was suddenly dragged off the roof, a large streak of blood showing his passage. The others tried to stand, but another man was dragged off the roof, a Sniper this time. The remaining Spotter and Sniper, Huri and Yasagato. Huri pulled out a rifle and aimed at the edge of the roof. A single claw dug into the shingles. And a large, muscular body leapt up. Yasagato felt around for his sidearm, he dropped it off the roof in panic. Huri fired three bursts from his rifle; the first burst caught the demon in the shoulder. The second missed and the third managed to make a mess of the creature’s stomach. Guts tumbled onto the roof and the demon fell off with a wet thud. Huri lowered the weapon and ran to the edge of the roof; he looked down and could see a horde of the demons feeding on the two bodies of the sniper team. Huri fired down at them, killing three and making the others pounce up at his position, jaws snapping and spraying foamy spit at him. Huri fell back in fright and crawled up to Yasagato. The radio crackled next to them. “We need Sniper support, what the hell are you doing?! We’re taking losses!” Huri chanced a look down onto the street. The soldiers were being torn to pieces as they tried to get to cover. A soldier was dragged behind a partially broken wall as he held his intestines and screamed for his mother. The scene was like one from Hell...
A bang came from behind Huri. He turned and saw a demon hauling itself onto the roof; it gave an almost human groan and then stood before them. It raised its claws in an unmistakable posture of attack. It screeched and charged Huri and Yasagato. Huri raised the rifle, but not before he was knocked to the ground, the demon about to bite down on his Jugular. A loud bang came from the right, and the demons head exploded in a shower of gore. Huri was stunned. “Come on you idiot!” A hand raised him up from the roof. Yasagato sat and shook his head. “All we have are the sniper rifles, how are we supposed to fight them off with them?!” Huri looked around for his rifle. “It’s no use Huri... It got knocked off the roof.” Huri grabbed hold of the radio, as the snarls of the demons continued below them.
“Goddamn it! What do I have to do to kill these assholes!?” Corporal Himachi fired his rifle and killed a confused demon. A squad to his left was swarmed in a tangle of black bodies. Himachi fired at them, but they didn’t seem to be affected by the bullets as their tails swung around hungrily. Raw chunks of meat and ragged cloth flew into the air as the demons ate. “S*it!” Himachi turned and ran back to an armoured transport. It fired its heavy machine guns at the masses of demons as they charged down the street. A Sergeant waved Himachi over.
“Corporal! I’m raising men to go and rescue our sniper team. The transmission was garbled but we managed to figure out they have men down and they’re trapped. Report to the Colonel over there, he’ll sort you out.” The Sergeant turned and ran over to a squad who were shouting into a radio. Himachi ran over to a team of six men and the Colonel. “Okay, this is all we have to send. Corporal, get in with the group, you’re going now. The Snipers are trapped on a building a mile down the street. They need your help. Relieve them and bring them back here. As soon as possible, we don’t know how long we can hold this position for, so be quick about it. SOLDIERS! MOVE!” Himachi and the others sprinted down a side street, in single file.
Huri tried to climb down into the window. He almost lost his footing, until he was grabbed and dragged into the window. Yasagato clapped him on the back “You can screw yourself if you think I’m taking them on alone.” Huri just smiled and looked around. The room used to belong to a child. Toys littered the floor and the bed looked as though it had been run through with a chainsaw. Huri turned away from the sight on the wall. A miniature handprint, like that belonging to a child, was imprinted on the wall in blood. Huri opened the door and walked down the stairs, with Yasagato close behind. There were human bodies, tore apart on the floor. Huri gagged and held his hand over his mouth “Oh s*it! That f*cking stinks!” Yasagato cursed silently as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Then, a crash came from the kitchen, followed by the screeches of the damned, and their shadows as they played across the wall.
Chapter Three
The Reporter
The Reporter sprinted for his life. His cameraman and a fellow associate were running with him. Just seconds after reaching a military roadblock, it was savagely attacked. Soldiers were ripped to shreds in front of them and they were spattered with blood. They had just stared, shocked until the demons noticed them. “Faster! We’re almost out of here!” The cameraman, named Xao pointed to an alleyway too small for the demons to cross. He dropped the camera and picked up a little speed. The Reporter looked back and saw several of the creatures grouped around the camera, a few of them sniffed it, until a smarter one savagely kicked it and roared at the ones around the camera. Several of them gave a frightened moan and ran after the humans. And now he knew they could communicate, which was a very frightening prospect.
Xao was panting like a wild thing. Every step was a burning ache in his legs. He suddenly realised he couldn’t make it. He looked back and saw the things gaining on him. They looked to have twisted, demonic smiles. He shook his head to clear sweat out of his eyes, and tried to pump his burning limbs faster. However, a weight was on his back suddenly, and he knew his time was up. He almost didn’t mind the sharp pain a the back of his neck which meant his death.
The Reporter reached the inside of the alley. So did his friend. They looked back to see Xao struggling feebly against a demon tearing strips of skin off his neck with a powerful jaw. Suddenly, his friend screamed and ran at them. His nametag, reading “Hello, my name is Nakeda”. Nakeda tackled a demon to the ground. The shock of the attack meant the demon took some time getting up. Nakeda punched another, before a demon came behind him and raked massive claws down his back. He cried out and fell to his knees.
The Reporter noticed a gun on the floor, with a severed hand still attached to it. The Reporter scooped it up clumsily and aimed it at the monster, just as it reared up over Nakeda. Nakeda stared it in the eyes, hatred, and fear and regret shining in his eyes, before the demon clamped its jaws around Nakeda’s head and jerked it to the right, followed by a brittle snap. The Reporter was shocked. He could have fired the weapon and killed them, but he hadn’t. Why not? He fell to the floor and crawled backwards into the alley as a large demon had tried to grab him. Its bulk was no use for it as the narrow passage blocked its entry. It stuck an arm through and roared at him. He dropped the gun and ran. He just ran.
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Run for your life if you wanna get out alive. Or is it the other way around?