Quiet and dark

Chapter 2: Quiet and Dark

"Murphy!" A harsh, southern accented voice pierces the serene stillness of the night.

I reach down to my transmitter as it continues to belch out my name. "Yeah, Chuck?"

"Don't 'Yeah Chuck' me!" He's angry, I must've been out for longer than I thought. "Some s**t's going down in Sector 7, I need you to go look into it."

"I... I'm on it." I return the transmitter to my waist, and trace my hand along the handle of my pistol. I let out a sigh, and head out, into the empty hallway.

No signs of life to be found. Nothing out of place; an empty hallway- quiet, dark, and lonely... I couldn't help but feel a little on-edge in a place like this. It gets me thinking too much.

I look down toward my pistol, a reminder of that day, two years ago. I swore I'd never pick up a gun for the rest of life, but a man can't live on promises. I don't really have any other skills, anyway. Marlene would understand.

"Excuses only satisfy those who make them..."

I spin around, that voice... I-It couldn't be... But it sounds just like her... Marlene.

A dim light and a hollow buzz, nothing more. It must've been my imagination. I rub my eyes, taking a reluctant step forward. "So tired..."

"You're so weak... Just like mom..."

My spine turns straight as an arrow, I spin around once more, and find... nothing. I know I heard it this time, the voice; Marlene's voice! It's more than my nerves, someone else is is here!

No... that's impossible. She can't be here, she's dead. I saw her skull splattered all over the desert. There's no way she can't-

"But what if she isn't?"

The voice was behind me again, I spun around just in time to see the lights in my security booth flicker out. 'A blackout...?'

I crouch down, slowly making my way back to the booth. I grasp the door's handle, open it, and peer inside. Quiet, dark, and lonely...

"Murphy!" That voice... no, not Marlene. This one is much more harsh than her angelic whispers. It was chuck, calling me over the two-way.

"Y-yeah chuck?" I do my best to hide my paranoia from my voice.

"The power's out."

"No s**t. Why're you telling me? Can't the boys down in maintenance take care of it?"

"Well, that's just it, they ain't respondin'."

"What?" My transmitter nearly fell from my hand. "What do you mean, 'not responding'?"

"I meant what I said: them boys down in maintenance ain't respondin'."

He sounded almost as worried as I was. Something was going down... something big. Then it hit me: "what about Sector 7?"

"I don't know..." Chuck sighed heavily. "With the power down, we have no way of knowing anything." He paused for a moment; his tone was grim, and the air grew heavy.

"So get your scrawny black a*s down to Maintenance an' give them boys a piece o' my mind!"

I forced myself to smile. I knew he was putting up a front; Chuck was just as scared as I was. He was doing it for me as much as as himself. So I decided to play along. "Yessir, Chuck. Over and out."

---

It's dark. My flashlight isn't helping very much, either. Each step makes thepath seem longer, every shadow is another threat, another enemy.

But I wouldn't daredraw my gun. Instead, my flashlight becomes my weapon. An instrument of destruction for the darkness of night. I search my left, dissipating the shadows, fining only emptiness. I check my right, nothing still. Footsteps echo behind me. I spin around, nothing there one more. Just an empty hallway and a few eerie shadows; quiet, dark, and lonely.

But this paranoid feeling wouldn't go away. I knew something was wrong. Foolishly ignoring that feeling, I found myself face-to-face with the Maintenance Room door.

A deep sigh clears past my throat. I grip my flashlight tighter, reaching out with my free hand for the doorknob. Something stops me, I know that this is a bad idea. But I cam too far to turn back now. I turn the knob. A harsh knot of fear forms in my stomach; a familiar stench overwhelms me as I pass into the darkened abyss.

It was a smell that no soldier could ever forget. The putrid stench of blood, sweat, victory, and defeat. It was still fresh, this scent, the smell of battle. I could tell, not long ago, this room was a battlefield.

I wanted to turn around. Every cell in my body was screaming for me to stop, but I adamantly refused. All the courage I held within me was poured into a single step. Just one step, and the door slammed shut behind me. One step, and I was trapped in this darkness, lost in the void.

I didn't know what to expect. Someone was definintley here, and I don't know the layout of this room, either. It wasn't my sector, and I couldn't see a thing. Not even the light I held so dearly could offer salvation from the fear that overwhelmed me.

Each step becomes more difficult than the last. The smell of death hangs heavy in the air, but I know I'm not alone. I can hear him breathing, low and heavy. I slow down, listening more carefully. The sound grows nearer, then stops. 'He knows I'm here.' I shudder at the thought before moving onward.

Another step forward, more cautious than before. I feel his breath at the back of my neck. I panic; my movements become automatic. One, two, three steps, but the third doesn't touch the floor. It's not solid at all.

Squishy, slippery, a hand firmly grasps my ankle. I try to shake it off, but trip over it, falling to the floor. Harsh impact loosens my grip on my flashlight, rendered a dim flicker, shutting out as it slides across the floor. His breathing is louder now, this b*****d's toying with me, I know it.

Stale, yellow breath stained my nostrils, panting in rhythm with his breathing. I couldn't tell if my eyes were open, but I hoped they weren't. I knew death was coming, I just didn't want to see it.

Despite my protests, my eyes opened themselves to face my reaper. A grim face, dimly illuminated from below, mere inches from my own.

"Boo." The lips mouthed a single syllable beneath a thick, silvery overgrowth. A single, blue-grey eye seemed to pierce into my soul, mocking my unadulterated horror. His brow wrinkled slightly, but then the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

I wanted to scream, punch him, and run, but I didn't have the luxury. Something about him caught my attention. I was mesmerized by his presence, and couldn't do a thing about it. The face, as pale as the full moon, with it's single, all-knowing eye, rose, slowly, as the sun on a moonless dawn. The lips drooped, forming a grimace, but the man started laughing, regardless.

"Figures, I'd meet one of your kind down here," His voice was smooth, like southern velvet. "F*****g n****r..." A superior overtone dominated his voice as he muttered under his breath. "You think you're better than me? With your natural athleticism, and your 'clickity-clack language? Well, I've got news for you, boy..."

The face disappeared behind a veil of darkness. His voice then re-appeared, practically inside my ear, dancing just above a whisper.

"I'm the best" I turned to face him, but could tell he'd already gone. "Your skin may help you blend-in, but mine feels everything. This eye sees everything. These lips taste everything. I'm better than you in every single way, boy... You are in the presence of absolute perfection!" He paused to catch his breath, re-gaining his aristocratic tone in the process.

"Whenever I'm around, you can't help but feel The Pride..."

Everything returned to the eerie silence from before. Only this time, I knew it was different. I knew I wasn't alone, and that my death from 'the Pride' was mere moments away.

I leap to my feet, searching frantically through the darkness. A faint shuffle here, the clap of a footstep there, this man seemed to be everywhere all at once. He swooped in from my left, I swung my fist.

"Too slow, darky..."

Several nimble, spider-like fingers delicately wrap around my wrist. A large, blunt force slams into my chest, knocking me off-balance, and a leg-sweep finally lands me flat on my back. On the ground, another swift blow misses my face by the smallest of margins. I catch his arm, and receive another blow to my temple.

"Not bad, for one of your kind..." He whispers into my ear, placing a cylindrical object in my palm. "Consider this a gift..." His voice was fading, not because I was losing consciousness, but because he was moving away. "You've got the advantage now, tar-baby... but you still don't stand a chance."

I check the object in my hand. 'A flashlight?' I flip it on, using the narrow beam to search my surroundings. A feint blur of motion crosses the light's path. I try to follow it, but only get lost in the process.

"Over here..." He's behind me, but how? I turn around- he's gone, laughing at me, seemingly from all directions at once. It's not possible. I search all around me, more frantically than ever before, catching a brief glimpse of motion at best.

A strange, mechanical clicking comes from my left. Like the turning of a crank. I shift around, just in time to see him stow whatever the object was behind his back. he jukes left, I follow him with my beacon. He shifts to his right, I can barely keep up. Left once more, then he disappears.

I shut my light out, taking three large steps backward. I couldn't help but smirk at the guard I've set-up. But he doesn't take the bait. I flick my light back on, trying to find the old man. He's nowhere to be found.

A shadow flies past my light. He finally makes his move. I try to follow it, but get lost in the abyss. He grabs my arm, twisting it behind me until I drop my flashlight. I drive a kick backwards, into his shin, he lets me go. I spin around, swinging a fist at his jaw, surprised when I actually made contact. He bareley even flinched. In retaliation, he catches my leg, driving a palm into my chest, and impaling me to the ground.

"Not bad, milk-dud..." I could feel his warm, wet breath tickling the inside of my ear. "Tell you what, I'll make you a deal: If you can get the power back on before I kill you, I'll let you go..."

My fingers lunged for where his face just was, but contacted nothing. Before I knew what happened, it felt like my arm was about to snap.

"You've got some spunk there, s**t-stain..." I felt him let go, but his presence remained on top of me. More mechanical clicking, I scanned upwards, and saw his crossbow release. A harsh whistle cut through the darkness, lodging its way into my shoulder. "The next shot's gonna be fatal."

I lunged my torso forward, almost colliding my forehead with his unmentionables. I leap to my feet, desperately clutching onto my flashlight. Throwing caution to the wind, I begin to rush toward the nearest wall, trying to gain my bearings. Corpses litter the ground, and I nearly trip several times, but I press on. Loud whistling shots tear through the serene darkness, but I continue, undaunted, at full speed. A shot lodges in my right thigh, I ignore the pain, lunging for the wall, planting a single hand on it with a hollow thud.

'No way... I couldn't be this lucky...' I bring the flashlight up to illuminate the wall. It's my lucky day after all. The fuse-box, right there, in my face. My salvation.

I flung the door open, seeing a menagerie of wires and fuses. Victory's in my grasp, In all of thirty seonds, I'd have the power back up.

I could hear him reloading as I continued to hot-wire the power back up. A single shot was fired, and the room became flooded with a hollow, fluorescent buzz, and a pure, white illumination. Exhausted beyond belief, I collapsed, right before the arrow would've run through my skull.

"Y... you know what this means..." I shot a harsh gaze in his direction, half-sitting, propped up against the wall.

"Y- but..." He looked like he was ready to explode. "How did you? No! I can't be beaten! Not by the likes of half-apes! Someone genetically inferior!!" He looked back at me, rage overflowing from his single, grey-blue eye. "This isn't possible! I... AM... PERFECTION!!"

He charges at me, like a cornered animal. I try my hardest, but I'm too tired to move. I lunge out of his way, but he doesn't change trajectory. Instead, The Pride collided face-first with the now closed fuse-box. I could practically feel his frustration as he passed by me, screeching. He calmly re-gained composure, and turned toward me, but his stare went right past me. He lunged for a stray electrical wire, grabbing hold with both hands. He opened his mouth, and looking me right in the eyes, clamped his teeth around the wire.

I didn't know how to respond. The room fell dark again, and then silent for a while.

"MURPHY!"

I grabbed hold of the two-way from my waist. "Chuck?"

"Wh-what do you think you're doing!?"

"Chuck? I'm sorry, I had the pow-"

"P-put the gun down!"

"What's going on?"

"God d****t, Murphy! Put the gun down!" He was shouting, but it didn't sound like he was using the transmitter. "I'm your commanding officer, and this is an order. Now put the gun-" I heard a gunshot on the other end, then everything went silent. Something was seriously wrong.

Author's Note

So as you wish. The more depth, the better.

Reviews

[Paige Sperry]

Alright... that was a very interesting ending. Are there going to be a lot of fight scenes in this story? You are very good at writing them that it for sure I'm just wondering if there are going to be too many or if its just strong in the beginning?

I noticed some errors that could be fixed (missing spaces, letters, or cammas) and that the formating isn't done so that paragraphs are easily recognizable which makes it a pain if you lose your spot while reading and it also makes the story seem far longer than it in fact is (looks like one giant paragraph). Otherwise I thought it was very well writen.

I'm cerious as to who this new character is, the very rasist, egotistical, psychopath. He seems to have a lot of hu... issues?

I shall read more later, I really want to know what's going to happen next.