:
|
Don't critisize yourself. Leave that to the critics. Not me! Those chapters are so cool no matter what they are about or how short they are. Nedd planning it all out is cool. I still have a little hope for Ian to be okay. I have nothing else to say.
|
YAY! I HAVE SUPPORT! =D
:
|
Another nice chapter...now I'm wondering if they'll finally accomplish something down in the basement. XD I like those Vykkers, too...Vhern's up to something. OOOOH, INTRIGUING! Looking forward to more.
|
Well here's your answer. ^^
This took a while, I know, but i'm really satisfied with how it came out. ^^ My computer has this glitch where its not letting me save anything I write, so i'll try to get that fixed. Enjoy. =D
-----
“Did you hear that?” A slig nearby commented as the door slowly opened. Dan peeked warily inside, loading his snuzi. The basement patrol was made up of six separate squads, and was absolutely huge; Dan had no idea how they planned to fit everybody inside.
“A slog, maybe?” Durc said with a shrug, shoving past. Dan rolled his eyes and stepped in to the basement, a few people shuffling cautiously behind.
Slog’s don’t scream, he muttered huskily.
Durc glared defensively. “I’ve heard of some slogs that sound like they’re screaming when they’re upset.” He retorted. Dan scoffed.
“I guess your right.” A different slig said, loading a snuzi. “Might as well get started.”
The group did their best to maneuver through the tight space, though fitting such a huge crowd through was easier said than done. Dan carelessly shoved anybody in his way aside, too angry to care about his bad manners. If they were going to send him into a deathtrap, they would have to at least let him move.
“Come on,” Durc said dully, motioning for the large group to follow. “And try to keep quiet.”
Dan nervously fingered his flashlight and kept with the crowd, staying towards the middle. He didn’t want to be on the outsides during an attack. Head Guard Durc stayed bravely in front, shoving down doors and shining his light inside to make sure they weren’t being spied on. After awhile the glow from the open basement door vanished behind them, and they were thrust into inky darkness.
Dan sniffed warily as a musty smell filled the air. It smelled like lawn fertilizer. Grumbling, he flicked on his flashlight to try and spot the source of the odor, though his search remained fruitless. A few people nearby followed his example by turning their lights on, but most of the group preferred to just watch Durc’s light.
Something scrabbled in the dark. Dan shone his flashlight around the corner of the hall, paranoid. Broken shards of glass and the wet floor glinted back at him in the light, but there were no signs of life. He sighed and hurried to catch up with the group, occasionally glancing back over his shoulder. He flinched. There it was
again! That soft, scratching noise!
Something’s following us. Dan said without hesitation. Durc stopped walking. The crowd scuffled to a hasty halt. Durc looked back and gave Dan a long, hard, humorless stare, his eyes cold. Dan could feel his forehead start to sweat.
“What
kind of sound?” Durc sighed, crossing all four of his arms.
Dan pointed back over his shoulder.
Something scratching.
Grumbling something under his breath about ‘thoughtless paranoid idiots,’ Durc shoved his way through the crowd until he was standing next to Dan. He turned on his flashlight and shone it around. Then he turned to Dan.
“Gee, wouldn’t you know it, there’s nothing there.” Durc whispered mockingly. Dan gave him a hateful look. In a louder voice Durc said to the rest of the group “Don’t worry. False alarm. Keep lively! We still have slogs to shoot!”
The group moved quickly, some snickering. Dan wilted and stared at Durc as he pushed his way back to the front. What a jerk Every time Dan had heard something, even the slightest scratch, it had turned out to be Nedd, or one of his slogs. Despite that Durc was treating him like dirt just out of spite and disregarding his hunches. Dan looked away. What would it take for Durc to be
nice to him for a change?
Red lagged behind until he was standing next to Dan. They walked for a while, stepping over broken bottles and swerving around rotting carcasses without saying a word. Finally Red said
Durc’s an asshole.
Ya think? Dan growled, feeling sweat run down his palms. He closed his hands to fists and looked back. The scratching sound had stopped, but he still had a feeling they were in danger.
Red sighed.
You’re right. He admitted sadly.
Ian would’ve been back by now. He looked on down the hall.
I’m afraid. I’m afraid he would’ve done something stupid, like jumped off the ship. I mean, we haven’t seen him in days. Where would he go? Dan tried to interrupt, but Red continued before he could get a word in.
I don’t think he would go to the basement. He’s a big softie. The basement would eat him alive.
Don’t talk that way. Dan muttered, trying to reassure him while struggling to keep his nerves under control.
I was being stupid before. Ian might be okay. This ship is full of surprises. He closed his hand around his flashlight.
Just when you think you know somebody, something always proves you wrong.
A heavy, wet bark sounded from behind. Dan swung around, shining his flashlight frantically to pinpoint the slog’s location. He finally found it, barreling towards it like a tank. Slobber and foam was pouring from its jaws and its skin was covered in ugly welts from light exposure. Dan stared. It didn’t run from his flashlight; didn’t it know the light
hurt it?
A shot rang out from the front. The slog tripped and flipped over itself, stopping suddenly a few feet from the group. Durc jumped in and prodded the slog with the end of his smoking snuzi, looking exhilarated. “That was close ” he cackled. Dan watched him wide-eyed.
Dan was right! Red spat, trembling with anger. His bloodshot eyes were wide.
He knew a slog was there the whole time!
“He heard a
sound,” Durc corrected smugly, nodding. “He never mentioned a slog.”
A sudden rumble came from back down the hall. Slogs were pouring out of everywhere, making deep hacking noises in their throats. They charged forward with no heed to the shining flashlights. The crackle of gunshot echoed off the walls as a row of slogs fell under the bullets, yelping in despair.
“Fall back!” Durc ordered, taking aim and dropping a particularly large slog. Dan and Red backed up closer to the group in tight formation. They had trained hard for this situation.
It was time to rid the basement of the cylonite menace, once and for all.
Dan popped a slog in the jaw with the butt of his snuzi, knocking it out. Working quickly, he reached down and snapped its neck while cocking his weapon with his other hand, ducking to avoid any friendly fire. Red shot a slog in the leg and it tumbled, tripping a line of other slogs in the process. The stupid monsters bowled their injured comrade aside, too focused with the thought of fresh meat to have any sympathy.
The slogs, Dan noted, were fighting much differently than before. The first time they’d fought they had worked as a pack, half pinning the guards to the floor while the other half finished them off. Now was not the case. The slogs were fighting for themselves, even killing one another just to get closer to a kill. It was both their technique and the cause of their downfall.
Dan moved sleekly to the side as a slog bowled past, just to be shot in the face by a trigger-quick slig. The slog’s large numbers were starting to get the better of the well- trained guards. Interns and sligs alike fell under the onslaught, managing to kill a few of their attackers whilst in their death throes. Dan helped prop up an injured intern nearby only to discover that it was dead. Blanching, he let the body fall.
Dan! A familiar voice cried from the back of the fight. Dan flinched as a spray of blood hit him full in the face, blinding him.
Red! he shouted back, wiping the blood from his eyes in sheer terror.
Where are you?
Dan cleared the blood from his eyes just in time to see a slog ram into his stomach, mouth open. In quick self defense he grabbed the top of its mouth and slammed down on its bottom jaw with his foot, breaking its head in two. He looked up in search of the rest of the guards.
In the dark, he couldn’t see anybody.
I’m coming! he heard Red reply, a little late.
Stay where you are!
Dan shot a slog in the back with his weapon, dropping it.
I don’t have much of a choice! He hissed back as two slogs at once circled in for the kill.
Red pounded one aside and shot the other in one quick motion, blood running down his face from a deep gash in his head. One of his horns were gone completely; unlike Dan, not even a stub was left. Dan shot a slog behind him and the two jumped back to back, using each other as their only defense.
Your head! Dan grunted as he speared a slog with the snuzi’s barrel.
Red glanced at him quickly before swinging aside to hold off more of the attacking animals.
Its not as bad as it looks.
Good, Dan hissed,
cuz’ it looks really frigging bad!
Dan fired a quick row of bullets, killing three out of five of his targets. The guards were still falling back down the hall, constantly in motion to avoid being eaten. Dan and Red had been so caught up in the fight that they had failed to notice their allies abandoning them. They bolted towards the group, their only source of safety.
Something huge slammed into Dan from behind, and he only got to swing around for a second to see the huge, drooling, disease-ridden slog that had pinned him to the floor, soaking him with her saliva. Her huge nostrils flared on the end of her thick snout. Her heavy tree-trunk legs bulged with muscle against her wide barrel chest.
Lady. Dan hissed, cringing as the slog leaned in closer. She had grown to nearly two times her size, big enough to hold Dan down without him escaping. She grinned down at him jeeringly, her fist-sized teeth caked with dried grizzle. Dan stiffened. He could smell raw meat in her breath.
Goooooooood slog, Dan whispered, slowly raising his snuzi. Lady opened her mouth, letting her thick tongue flop out. Dan winced.
Just hold still...
DAN! Red cried, alarmed. He looked up from the slog he was killing and stared at Lady in awe. Lady’s head snapped around and let out a feral bark, charging at him like a juggernaut.
Without hesitation Dan raised his snuzi, aimed, and shot Lady through the back of the head. She collapsed with a faint
thump.
And then there was silence. Dan got up slowly, looking around in a daze. There were no slogs barking. No shots being fired. No screaming.
“Did we do it?” Somebody asked. Dan looked around quickly. A few guards peeked out from behind crates and nearby rooms, their armor splattered with blood. After a short while more guards appeared from all around; in the chaos of the fight, they’d all been scattered. Dan sighed.
They had won.
“WE DID IT!” Durc cheered, picking himself off the ground. Soon more guards joined in, laughing in relief.
“
WE SHOWED ‘EM!”
“
THEY’LL THINK TWICE BEFORE MESSING WITH US AGAIN!”
Dan looked around. Dead slog bodies were littered everywhere, casting gruesome shadows
across the floor. As happy as he was to have killed all the slogs, there was something that still troubled him.
“Well,” Durc said, face slightly flushed. The cheering died off. “It looks like we’ve eliminated the slog problem, once and for all.”
What about Nedd? Dan cut in, arms crossed. A few worried murmurs rang out from the crowd. Where
was Nedd?
Durc’s claws rubbed together worriedly. “Nedd. Right. Completely forgot.” Dan heard a couple of sligs nearby grumble at that remark. “Well, obviously he must be somewhere nearby. According to my watch, the lights would have gone off a few minutes ago- I doubt that would’ve given him enough time to escape.” Durc paced. “So the question is, where is he now, and where is he going? We’ve killed all of his slogs. Without them he’s vulnerable. He must have something planned for this situation.”
‘Great,’ Dan groaned inwardly.
Suddenly something struck him. He remembered the second attack on the basement, when he and Nedd had been fighting alone...
‘
“You’re even more pathetic than I remembered.” Nedd eyed him unfavorably. Dan managed to choke,
You’re the last person who should be saying that.
Nedd chuckled quietly; is voice was deep and unamused. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill everybody on this ship. Then I’m going to crash it into the ground....”’
Dan went rigid.
The Generator. he hissed urgently.
He’s going to destroy the Generator!
<~{.epidemic.}~>
Everything was quiet in the Vykker Suites. The lights had gone off just minutes before, and everybody was fast asleep.
Something moved under the red velvet carpet. There was a faint groaning sound, like metal being scraped against metal, followed by a quick scuffle. A razor-sharp claw poked through the carpet and moved quickly across, creating a long incision. After a pause, the carpet shook, and Ian was thrown forcefully out of the hole, shrieking in terror. Nedd erupted from the opening and slapped his hand over Ian’s mouth. He looked quickly over his shoulder. Nobody responded to the cry. Growling, Nedd bopped Ian roughly on the head and climbed out of the vent, his bloodshot eye scanning the hallway.
“Keep quiet,” he hissed, grabbing Ian’s head and forcing him to meet his eyes. Ian clamped his eyes shut in terror. With ghostly silence, Nedd let him go, then turned and crept down the hallway. Ian got up shakily and followed close behind, whimpering.
The velvet carpeting made a zipper noise while they walked; Nedd made sure not to drag his feet, to keep as quiet as possible. Ian, on the other hand, was just following in submission, not bothering to try and be stealthy. Nedd would’ve scolded him if they hadn’t been trying to keep silent.
Nedd frowned as he looked around the corner, making sure they weren’t watched. He wished he’d brought the ship’s map with him. He had a pretty good memory -he’d memorized the route he was going to take to the generator room- but he still wished he had his plans with him, just for reassurance. Nedd was only going to get one shot at destroying the generator. He had to make sure he got everything right.
Silently, Nedd sprang up a flight of stairs, landing nimbly on his feet. He looked back at Ian. Ian stumbled over the stairs, startled. Seeing as he had a practically animalistic brain, Ian didn’t understand how to walk up the steps; he had to practically crawl to the top just to keep from losing balance. Nedd chuckled quietly under his breath. Ian provided a sort of comic relief.
“Come on,” Nedd whispered angrily, pulling him up the final steps. Ian crouched at the top, horns twitching with satisfaction. He had conquered the stairs! “I said, come on!” Nedd hissed louder. Ian scuffled over obediently.
Nedd took off quickly down another hallway, shady and discrete. Ian followed closely. They passed rows and rows of doors, tall and arched.. Luckily, they saw nobody else; Nedd guessed that everybody had chosen to stay in their rooms with the doors locket at night, paranoid over a possible attack. It was satisfying to know that the entire ship feared him.
Nedd stopped suddenly. Startled, Ian dug his hands and feet into the ground at the last second, but still succeeded in plowing Nedd to the floor. Nedd snarled like an angry scrab and kicked out with his legs, leaving Ian sprawled on the floor.
“Watch yourself,” Nedd growled aggressively, looming over him. Ian curled up, trembling. Without saying what he was doing Nedd stood to his full height, as still as a statue, horns flicking left and right as he carefully listened.
His horns stopped moving.
Nedd looked slowly down the hall, eye half closed and bored looking as his pupil started to grow. Ian, sensing something was wrong, rose slowly. His pupils shot out at all angles, suddenly enveloping his eyes. He whined and blinked several times. Having your pupils grow from the size of a pinprick to the size of a golf ball in less than a second
hurt.
“Get down!” Nedd hissed, his eye solid black. He forced Ian to the floor and knelt down, eye still locked on the end of the hall. He could hear them coming. Guards. Lots of them. Nedd looked down at Ian slyly. Ian looked back up at him in confusion.
Nedd was smiling.
<~{.epidemic.}~>
“Why didn’t you TELL ME Nedd was going to try to DESTROY THE SHIP?!”
Durc practically exploded after Dan had explained what Nedd had told him. The rest of the guards watched on banefully. Dan flinched.
You wouldn’t believe me.
“But still!” Durc hissed shrilly. “You don’t just hide these things from people! Do you have any idea how much
trouble we’re in if it turns out he
is gonna destroy the Generator?”
Of course I do, I’m not an idiot like you! Dan replied, sizing him up. The two looked like they were ready to throw some punches. Red grabbed Dan’s arm, Odd forbid he attacked or something.
Look, Red said quickly, stepping between the two. Both of their faces were red.
Yes, this is a big deal, and yes, Durc’s being an idiot... Durc’s claws closed into lethal fists.
but right now we have a bigger problem to worry about. Nedd’s not around. He could be anywhere by now. What we have to do is find him before he can get any farther away.
“My point exactly.” Durc said, calmly adjusting his armor’s goggles. Dan shot him a look that would melt plastic. “We need to set aside our differences and deal with this in a civilized manner.”
Fine. Dan growled, reaching instinctively for his snuzi. Red elbowed him in the ribs before he could even lay hands on his weapon.
We’ll look for Nedd.
Durc clapped his claws together in satisfaction. “Good.” he said cheerfully through his teeth. His eyes were still bloodshot. He turned to the crowd and spoke loudly so everybody could hear. “Now lets split up. Squads one and two will stay in the basement to make sure all the slogs are dead, and to make sure Nedd’s not hiding in here somewhere. Squads three and four, patrol the first floor, and squads five and six, come with me.”
Durc left quickly. The pair of squads he’d chosen to come with him followed hastily behind, hands on their snuzi’s. Dan pushed through the crowd and caught up with Durc, eyes dark.
“Its your fault we’re in this situation, you know.” Durc nagged. Dan glared at him. It seemed that he just wasn’t going to let it go.
How is it my fault? he hissed.
You never believe a word I say, even though everything I’ve told you so far has been right!
“
So far,” Durc parroted. “You can’t always expect everything you say to be right. Just because you have a hunch doesn’t mean you’re correct.”
Obviously you’re lying to yourself. Dan said, shrugging.
If you didn’t believe me you wouldn’t be sending us out to the generator room to search for Nedd.
Durc had no reply to this.
When they left the basement, the lights were off. Everybody flicked on their flashlights, jumping with every shadow they saw that resembled an intern. Durc whipped out his snuzi. “Fire at will.” was all he said. The group moved onwards, looking determined. They weren’t about to let a psychopathic intern get the better of them. Not again.
Can't wait...heehee, Durc's a moron. It's amusing.
It's one of those stories that makes your eyes burn cuz you can't stop reading it xD 
