The Aurigan Republic

Chapter 6

At first, Roger wasn't certain if he was hearing it right. He had stared at the gate with his weapon trained at it for what seemed like an eternity. He had grown accustomed to the noise of the air conditioner that was running at full blast. His ears were listening for the creature's footsteps the entire time. Then, an unfamiliar sound got his attention. The sound didn't match what he expected from the creature, so his brain struggled to process it. Eventually, his brain recognized the sounds as words and began processing what was being said.

"..Can you hear us? Repeat! Can you hear us? This is backup reporting onto the scene. If there are survivors, please reply."

A smile slowly formed on Roger's face. He reached down to his radio and raised it to his face.

"This is Roger....." Roger slowly found his voice. "I'm currently in the guard room.......An unidentified creature was last seen in the facility. Please advance with caution."

After he swallowed, Roger stood up with his weapon still trained on the gate. He slowly made his way to the surveillance room where he finally broke contact with the door. He alternated between a screen and the door. He wasn't about to let his guard down when help was so near. After checking all the screens, he tilted his head slightly. He knew he only glanced at the screens, which meant that it was entirely possible for him to miss the creature. He was unsure if the absence of the creature was good or bad at the moment. He reached for his radio to relay his findings to his help.

"I do not see the unidentified creature on any of the cameras. Be cautious when entering the blind spots of the cameras."

Roger got a Wilco from the other side. He then watched as heavily armed soldiers appeared on the screen showing the front entrance. With the exception of the turret wreckage, the reception area almost appeared untouched. If anyone had come by, they probably wouldn't even be aware of what was happening. The soldiers moved as a group with their backs against one another. Roger watched as they got closer to the Guard Room. The fact that the soldiers encountered no hostiles was very reassuring. He desperately hoped the creature either lost interest in him or had to attend to other matters. Either way, he would be safe and could survive this terrible ordeal. He felt that the soldiers took their time in approaching the guard room but they eventually got there. After a quick scan of the screens, Roger opened the reinforced gate.

Just as he was about to greet his saviors, his eyes caught a shadow above them. The soldiers followed his line of sight and were greeted by a monstrosity falling towards them. There were air shafts throughout the facility that were exited through the roof. While alarms were set up at the shaft openings, there were no sensors within them. Given how tight those shafts were, the idea of the monstrosity fitting in them seemed far too impossible. Judging from the surprised faces of all those present, it was clear that none of them even thought of the shaft.

Due to their training, the soldiers raised their weapons promptly and opened fire. Unlike in the movies, none of them shouted at the creature. They were too focused on shooting the creature when their own lives were at stake. Despite being greeted by a hail of bullets from the automatic weapons, the creature reached one of the soldiers and easily ripped him apart. As the other soldiers backed up slightly while they still pumped bullets into the creature, Roger sneaked past them and ran for his life. As long as the firefight was happening, the creature would be distracted. Roger had no intention of losing his life in this place.

When he ran through the front entrance, he saw soldiers lying in large pools of blood around the vehicles. The wide-eyed expression of those soldiers chilled Roger. Their conditions matched what happened to the soldier who was ripped apart earlier. Taking no time to admire the c*****e, Roger got into the still running vehicle and drove it out of the facility parking lot. The ride started off bumpy with him driving over the many corpses but, as he got onto the main street, the drive got a lot smoother. Despite quickly widening the distance, Roger glanced at his rearview mirror from time to time. He was expecting the creature to be running after him.

The sun was only just rising, making the roads fairly empty. This allowed Roger to step on the gas as he put as much distance between himself and the creature. He didn't care if he was stopped by officers, given that any location was safer than the facility. He hoped that the soldiers could have killed the creature but he didn't want to stay around to find out. If it could have easily dispatched the soldiers waiting outside the facility, the smaller group would stand even less chance. It also boggled his mind that, despite all the bullets that were fired into it, there seemed to be nothing slowing the creature down. Roger was nearly certain that, if he stayed around, he too would join all those who perished at the hands of that monstrosity.

Ironically, he couldn't describe the creature despite the number of times he saw it. It appeared as a humanoid with thick arms and lengthy legs. The face no longer resembled one of a human being. It also greatly surpassed a human's abilities when it came to its combat prowess, which it showed during the fights Roger had the misfortune of witnessing. There were other features but Roger couldn't make himself study the creature. It was clearly something out of a nightmare but, unfortunately for him, this thing was real. Roger could only wonder how many lives were lost to this thing and whether it fed on the corpses. Loud sirens pulled Roger back to reality.

As Roger stopped the vehicle at the side of the street, he thought back about the scene outside the facility. The thought terrified him. If the creature was a stupid monster that could be outsmarted and eliminated, then it could be taken down. Yet, the creature showed a surprising amount of intelligence, which made it even more dangerous. Before he could finish the thought of what the creature could accomplish, the officer walked up to his window.

"Do you know how fast you were...?" The officer asked.

Roger was about to answer when he noted the pause.

"Is something the matter?" Roger asked the officer.

"Did you see a ghost?" was the officer's reply.

Roger tightened his first initially but he loosened when he saw the concerned look on the officer. He debated internally on how to answer the question. Despite how concerned the officer was, how would he describe what he had seen? He cared not about whether others saw him as a crazy man. However, the idea of returning to the facility to where the c*****e happened was the last thing he wanted. He barely got out alive. Returning to it would be a foolish move, especially if others didn't take him seriously enough.

As Roger was about to give an answer, a number of vehicles surrounded him and the officer. Men dressed in combat gear with the letter S painted on them surrounded the two with their weapons raised.