Burned

When Kaden, a freelance journalist stumbles upon the story of a lifetime, is thrown into a nightmare, he must adapt in order to survive.

Burned

 

            It was the perfect opportunity! Better than Kaden could have ever hoped for. As he slowly crawled past the last sentry, he fantasized about the magnitude of this story. “I could sell this to the Toronto Star!” he thought gleefully. It had all started as he drove home from the grocery store around 10pm. As he cruised down the country road, he was startled to see a streak of white light rocket from the clouds and careen into the distant country-side with a low thud.

 

 

He slowed his sedan to a stop and got out to look at the strange sight. He could barely see a small fire where the object must have come to rest. He grabbed his camera out of the passenger seat and got out. Locking his car, he vaulted the railing without a second thought and began sliding down the steep embankment. Halfway down, a low fluttering noise caught his attention. He looked around to find the source of the odd noise when a helicopter with a blinding spotlight suddenly soared over the tree line in the distance towards the crash-site.

 

 

             By the time Kaden reached the bottom of the hill, the helicopter was hovering over the site and about a dozen cars and trucks emerged from the same tree line. He snuck closer in a half crouched position, pausing to begin recording with his camera. The vehicles surrounded the site in a barricade. As he got closer, he could hear the sounds of talking and saw teams of gas-mask wearing men with guns sweeping the immediate area. He listened as one of the men closest to him whispered “the CO said it wasn`t the Russians”, before the man was silenced by his partner. Kaden slipped into a prone position and kept constant track of where the sentries were around him. He began thinking about how lucky he was as the helicopter landed about 40 metres from him.

 

 

             Bright yellow hazmat suit wearing figures emerged from the Blackhawk and retrieved various pieces of equipment from the cars. He crawled behind a dirt mound and peeked over at the scene. Dozens of similarly clothed people scurried around the crater, just busy enough to leave Kaden hidden. He got behind an pitch-black SUV and noticed a gas-mask leaning on it’s tire. “I should probably put that on, since everyone else has one”, he thought snagging the straps of the mask and slipping it on. By the time he had tightened the mask, a team of the hazmat suited men had begun approaching the crater cautiously. 

 

 

            Nervously, the front figure moved past Kaden’s view into the crater. As Kaden leaned to get a better view with his camera, he was flung forward as a piercing pain emerged on the back of his skull. His eyes looked to the side to see his camera crushed under a combat boot, his hoped crushed along with it. His vision went black and he regained consciousness a short time later with a gag in his mouth and something over his head. He went to remove the object when he realized his hands were bound behind his back. He wiggled around until the sack came loose and he could see the inside of the roof of an SUV. He also noticed his gas mask broken laying near him. Straining against the hand-cuffs, Kaden rose to his knees, and shuffled towards the back windows.

 

             Peering out he saw the figures huddled around the crater and one man guarding the truck. One screamed “what the hell!”, as they hurriedly backed away from the edge. One of the hazmat suit wearing men stumbled out of the crater in a fit of coughing. He fell, then sat up and tore the hood off his suit and continued wheezing. “Oh my god”, Kaden gasped as sparks began to emerge from the coughing man’s mouth. The figures around him rushed to him but he waved them away while wisps of smoke rose from his face. The closest figure approached him and put a hand on his shoulder as the rest watched, terrified. “AAARGH!”, the man cried as his body erupted in a plume of flames, and the other figure was thrown into a nearby car. The man’s fiery frame crumpled to the ground as everyone else raised their weapons and stood horrified.

 

 

             Kaden couldn’t believe what he had just seen. He saw the man near the door grab a fire extinguisher and put out the flame. He then ran to the SUV Kaden was in and got inside. As it started and they pulled away from the crater, Kaden saw the burnt victim begin to jerkily stand up, and another blast of flames burst from the crater’s edge. The victim stumbled over to the nearest soldier, as he stood in terror, and in an instant, drove its now long fangs into the soldiers neck. Once the blast subsided, Kaden heard a screech and saw a soldier whipped 20 meters into the air over the cars into the surrounding field, bursting into flames mid-flight. He could hear gunshots ringing out, and men screaming amidst numerous other explosions. The SUV sped up and he was knocked to the floor and hit his head. He blacked out again.

 

The smell of smoke entered his nose as he stirred awake. His hands rose to his face, finding dirt and grime when he pulled them away. He opened his eyes and noticed a pair of unlocked handcuffs by his side. His eyes floated to his bruised wrists and then to the room around him. He found himself in a dark cell with sterile looking white walls and surgical instruments strewn on the floor. A trail of dark blood and what looked like crumbled charcoal led under the heavy metal door a couple meters from him. He struggled to his feet, and moved towards the door. Since there were no windows, he touched his ear to it and listened. He could hear a faint rustling, and as he began to back away, he heard something else. 

 

            A rough scraping echoed through the halls outside. He leaned closer when "THUD!" something slammed against the door. Kaden scrambled back and clumsily snagged a large surgical blade from the floor. He held it up in defense, his heart beating as more thuds rung through the door. Finally, they stopped and he heard the scraping noise begin to move away followed by a guttural, scratchy screech. He stood in horror for what felt like hours until he finally lowered the knife. Kaden grasped the door`s handle and tested it. It twisted and he slowly opened it. Peeking out, he saw a nightmare coming true.

 

            Papers and notes were scattered along the long dark hallway, lined with many doors much like the one he now was opening. The blood trail led down the hall out of sight to his right. Lights flickered at random, and bloody handprints covered parts of the wall. He also noticed a set of black, burnt footprints leading to the right as well. Following his better judgment, Kaden exited the room, knife in hand and began going down the hallway to the left. Slowly moving down the hallway, he made sure to avoid stepping in the puddles of blood and ash. A couple of times, he made the mistake of letting his curiosity take over and peeked into the windows of a couple rooms past the cell block. He was rewarded by the sight of motionless bodies and ash covered floors.

 

            After some time, he came upon what looked like a security checkpoint, with metal detectors and heavy metal doors. These doors were brutally smashed off their hinges, and dotted with handprints melted into their surfaces. The smell of smoke overwhelmed Kaden as he stepped quietly through the checkpoint. He walked out into a large domed room, knife raised as lights flickered overhead. A dull orange glow and low growl from behind a bench on the other side made him jump, and he barely stopping himself from screaming. He frantically searched for a way out, and spied an open door to his right. He crouched down, and tiptoed to it.

           

            In the flickering lights of the room, he could see the pulsating outline of a figure rise from behind the bench. His instincts kicked in and in seconds he was almost at the door. An ear-piercing screech caused Kaden to glance back while in a sprint to see the creature bolting straight for him at an impossible speed. It`s torso was a pulsating glow of embers, and its eyes burned with primal fury. He slammed the door shut as the creature threw itself at it. He could hear it scratching and screaming as he bolted down another dimly lit corridor. 

After about a hundred feet, he slowed to take a breath and looked back at the door. He gasped as he realized the thing that had chased him had begun to melt through it, and drips of molten metal slid down onto the floor. He caught his breath and ran to the nearest room in the corridor. The door had a keypad beside it, but it was unlocked. Kaden pushed it open and stepped through, only to hear a crunch under his left foot. He lifted his shoe up to see a severed, and extremely burnt finger crushed in a pile of ash. He dipped into the dark room and closed it.

"What the hell is going on," he thought to himself. Normally, he would've been at his apartment asleep by now, judging by his watch which read 2:00 am. He slid into a swivel chair in front of a wall of monitors and a desk. He rested his head on the desk for a few moments. A pile of papers were beside him, so when Kaden lifted his head up he noticed them. Sifting through them in the dim light, out of curiosity, he noticed one document folder which caught his eye. It read "Project Coal" and inside he found something interesting. 

The first line read "We intercepted the object in sector 23b. Below is an image captured by the forward response team". The picture clipped to the page was of the crater. Kaden flipped to the next page which contained medical documents. The creature shown in the picture was strapped to a examination table, with scientists flanking it on all sides. The author of the page had nicknamed the subject the "Scorched One". The rest of the folder was smeared with dark ash, and was unreadable.

The "Scroched One's" guttural cry echoed down the hallway, prompting Kaden to stand up. He turned around to see a humanoid figure lurking at the back of the lab. "Oh!", he gasped as he stumbled back into a shelf. The shelf's contents spilled onto the floor with a crash, causing another scream to ripple down the corridor. Kaden looked up at what had scared him. 

Attached by numerous wires and flanked by screens was a metal suit. It stood about 2.5 meters tall, and had hydraulics running along the limbs. He approached it, realizing the back was open, allowing someone to wear it. He could hear the creature approaching, and in desperation, he slid into the suit.

 

 

 

         To be continued

 

 

Author's Note

Please leave and suggestions or critiques below so I can further advance the plot

Reviews

[Amanda]

So I definitely think this has promise; it's an intriguing story line that I would definitely be interested in learning more. My suggestion for the beginning might be to start with some action, instead of immediately falling into the description of how the world got to where it was. I find that pulling people into a story through action (a fight scene, maybe the main character is running away from something, maybe it's the scene of the meteor hitting earth itself), and then pulling in details about how the world came to be that way helps to draw the reader into the story more effectively. Just a thought if it's something you're going to continue (which I definitely think you should :) )

[History_Birdman]

Thank you very much for leaving a review. I really appreciate your advice and I assure you I'll post any and all updates I make to it on this site. Stay tuned!

[Amanda]

I'll definitely make sure to keep checking back! :)

[Bruce s]

This is amazing,i love the idea, basically im saying its awesome continue adding more to the story to make it even more better

[God of thy Internet]

ALL OUT FOR FALLOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gray Witch]

Great beginning to this story. A couple of corrections - 2nd paragraph "must have came to rest"...should be 'must have come' and last part of 2nd paragraph: "crash-sight."... 'crash site'...