Lucas watched the monolithic creature move as if it knew its prey had nowhere else to go. "Let's move," he said to Austin, who was scanning his surroundings. "Everyone, come here!" he ordered his men. "You know these people aren't real. We have a better chance on our own," Lucas urged, but Austin paid no heed to his words. The soldiers headed in their direction and moved together, with Austin in the lead.
They ventured deep into the forest, as far away as possible from the living terror. "We're heading to Beta Base!" Austin screamed, and all the soldiers responded. They ran for an hour through the forest, the smell of blood slowly giving way to the fresh leafy scent of a blossoming jungle.
Lucas moved closer to Austin and then asked him a question. "What if we killed ourselves? I've pondered it a few times, and there are a few possible outcomes." Austin slowed his pace, considering Lucas's words. "The first and best of our options is us escaping this hellscape. The second is the more obvious death, and the third is reboot." Austin came to a halt, the soldiers behind him following suit. "What does that mean?" he asked, finally showing concern about their escape.
"That we end up where we first started and experience everything a second time, potentially under worse conditions."
"It's too risky," Austin replied in a standoffish manner. A man's scream was heard from a great distance, tearing through the forest's air as birds flew out of the trees. "Move!" Austin screamed as all the soldiers resumed their sprint. They ran for about 30 minutes. Most of them were lightly armed, probably not having had time to load their gear under the hellish conditions they faced.
After ten minutes, the trees began to thin out. Tiny buildings dotted the nearly clear fields. They appeared to be made of concrete, and Lucas wondered whether the former base was really Beta, since it paled in comparison to the present one. A grass path lined the middle, and a small section at the back seemed like the training grounds. Lucas heard water flowing but didn't see any. He assumed a river was nearby.
Everyone moved to a garage on the far east of the base. Eleven four-seater camouflage trucks lined the large building. The soldiers entered the vehicles until five of the vehicles were occupied to capacity. They turned the keys, which were already in the vehicles when they got there. "Shit!" multiple soldiers screamed in unison. The vehicles, Ground-Creepers, as Lucas saw it written on the steering wheels, didn't even give the slightest hint of igniting.
A male soldier got out and examined the bonnet. "The batteries, they're gone," he whispered. The words hit everyone like a hammer. "Have we tried contacting main base?" Austin asked sternly. "Yes, no response. We're stranded." Everyone left the garage and moved deeper into the forest. "We leave on foot," Austin said calmly.
"Where exactly are we going?" Lucas asked, knowing this whole experience was Nyxshade's construction.
"Anywhere," Austin responded.
"And supplies?" Lucas queried. The soldiers returned and packed all the resources they could carry, loading their rucksacks to capacity and then some. They walked through the forest, heading in a direction north of their current base. As they walked, Lucas thought back to his conversation with Austin before hell broke loose.
"Did all this really happen?" Lucas asked, maintaining a steady pace with Austin, who had just increased his speed. Austin looked at him and then down to the ground. "There are some differences, but…" he paused unintentionally, letting his words linger. "It's nothing," he concluded, leaving the words hanging in the air. Lucas slowed down, not letting him keep up the pace.
As they walked, he peered at the ground, awestruck by his findings. "Stop!" he ordered. "Everyone stop!" he added, taking charge.
They all came to a halt almost immediately, Austin coming closer, more irritated than curious. Lucas squatted and rubbed the soil, urging everyone to look closer. "Footprints," Austin confirmed.
"Our footprints," Lucas added, his voice reverberating. They had walked for well over an hour, taking left turns, right turns, crossing ponds and streams, and yet they hadn't moved more than one kilometer.
"Our situation isn't trivial anymore. We need to start thinking now," Lucas said in a stern whisper as three young soldiers came closer. "Sir!" they saluted. "John, James, and Jonah, our brave triplets. Anything of importance?" he asked, appearing concerned about what they had to say, to Lucas's surprise. They were all of the same height, complexion, and build. One of them had jet black hair, while the others were blonde.
"What's happening?" one of them asked, his initial mask of confidence faltering.
"Half of us were wiped out almost immediately by some… thing, and… and…"
"We wanna know what the hell is going on!" the dark-haired one screamed, coming uncomfortably close to Austin. "Half of us died! We can't contact main base! The Creepers aren't working, and you act like this is all normal?"
The man left Austin and turned toward Lucas, his expression shifting from anger to disgust.
"You! Second lieutenant, my ass! You figure out we're moving in circles and what? Point it out? Do you even value the men who lost their lives for us to be here? Do you value ours?! You are…" his brothers cut in before he could continue. At this point, a crowd had already formed.
"We're sorry. Everyone's just at their ends right now. Things are just so…"
"He's right!" someone screamed in the crowd.
"What the hell is happening?..."
"Are we dying here?..."
"Lieutenant, answer us…"
"Do they even care?…"
The situation escalated quickly, one person's words being the catalyst for the chain reaction of chaos and confusion. Lucas knew internal conflict would occur eventually. Austin's detached mannerism was a good quality in controlled cases, but in their current situation, it was far from what they needed. They needed someone who could feel their pain, their sorrow, motivate them, show them the way forward. Austin had experienced this before and yet was at a loss for words at his soldiers' queries and questions.
Lucas pondered what the dark-haired triplet had said. He didn't value any of them. That was the plain truth. They were already dead, and the people before him were just creations of Nyxshade; they were never real. "But to someone, they were," the thought suddenly popped into his mind as he looked at Austin, who was surrounded by his men.
"Enough!" he ordered, and everyone had no choice but to obey. No matter the situation, a 7-foot-plus muscle man was someone to reckon with. "Can I have suggestions on the way forward?" he asked, throwing the floor open.
"We split," the dark-haired triplet shot back almost immediately.
"Resources, land area, everything is split equally," he added.
"How so?" Austin asked, his expression placid.
The triplet didn't respond. He proceeded to climb a tree's root to gain some height over the crowd, a few inches below Austin. "If you want to be led by someone who cares, someone who has an escape plan, come to me!" he said, screaming the last part.
Half of the soldiers moved behind him, and a grin appeared on his face. "You see? Most of your men don't believe in you. They don't trust you to lead them because they know…" he paused, his eyes lingering on someone standing next to Austin. "John? Jonah?" he said with a wince. His brothers stood at Austin's side, unmoving.
"We believe our lieutenant would be a better leader than our hot-headed brother," the one to Austin's left said.
"He has, and would, risk his life for this platoon…" he wiped his eyes and then continued. "You all should be ashamed. Load of fools," the other added, his Irish accent slipping in for the last sentence.
Lucas noticed Austin's indifference falter for a second while the triplet… Jonah, he settled on the name whether right or wrong, was still speaking. He wondered what relation he had to them five years ago. Jude was shocked, to say the least. His brothers hadn't come with him.
Everyone returned to camp, the tension as palpable as the air's humidity. The lodging areas were distributed evenly. The food supplies mostly leaned towards Austin's group due to the average size of the people there. After the division, the two groups came to an equal standing.
"Equal authority and influence," Jude said as he and Austin shook hands.
"Of course," Austin replied placidly. He unknowingly held Jude in a tight grip and released him after realizing. "Sorry," he uttered before retiring to his quarters.
As Lucas and Austin neared their half of the base, they found a group waiting for them.
"Why?" Jonah asked. Lucas noticed some differentiating features the triplets had. Jude: the only one with black hair. Jonah: his hair leaned towards a more golden blonde shade, he had the least athletic build, and showed high solidarity to Austin. John: the bulkiest of the three, slightly taller than Jonah but less than Jude. He also held Austin in high regard, though not as much as Jonah.
"You let them split the group," Jonah said, looking at Austin questioningly.
"You didn't even attempt to stop them," John added.
Austin looked over the crowd of men and women who had survived the onslaught. Their eyes burned with passion and determination; they were ready to follow him to hell and back. He eased his expression, the difficulty evident.
"You all followed me, even though you had every reason to do the opposite," he paused, then continued. "I had the responsibility to lead you all, and I failed. Half of our brothers and sisters lost their lives to some Leviathan. A creature who might just scrub us off for its own amusement. Its humanoid master may linger in these forests, waiting for the right time to break us completely."
Austin now looked back at the other group; they were deep in discussion.
"What we currently face is something that challenges the very nature of what we perceive as possible, and I can't promise you all that we'll make it out alive, but I can say this…" His voice wavered, and Lucas could swear the water content of his eyes increased ever so slightly. Austin looked at the crowd and steeled his face. "Even if it means my demise, I will ensure none of you regret following me!" he screamed, and all his soldiers cheered and chanted his name repeatedly.
"Let's all have a good night's sleep," he said, as everyone diffused into their respective lodges. John and Jonah looked at the other half of the base warily.
"You can go and talk to him," Lucas said, noticing their plight.
"Thank you, sir!" they said in unison before heading over to their black-haired brother.
Lucas retired to his chambers, too tired to even consider showering. "Lights out," he said to the men and women in the mixed lodge. He headed over to his room, which rocked the classic military colors of green and white. His bed occupied little space and was thick to the touch. He knew it wouldn't be comfortable due to his height and wondered how Austin was faring.
He rolled over and dosed off.
Lucas rose from his bed due to the noises he heard outside. "What are these people up to at this…" he stopped, realizing it was morning. Someone knocked on his door, and he let the person in.
"What's going on?" he asked the woman who stood before him.
"Please, we need you right now," she said, the urgency clear on her face. Before she could utter another word, he left the room, going to see what was happening personally.
Their half of the camp was empty, the only person being himself and the woman. He left his quarters and saw that everyone had moved to the other side of the camp. He went over and saw Jude in ropes, bruises covering his face.
"I swear! It wasn't me!" he said, tears lining his eyes, his voice slightly muffled due to his bruised face. "They were my brothers! Why would I…" He was cut short as Austin landed a blow square in Jude's nose.
Lucas wanted to ask a question but stopped when he noticed two green bedsheets covering something on the floor.
He inched closer to it, hoping it wasn't what he thought.
Underneath were John and Jonah, lifeless, unmoving…
They were dead.