The Earthworm's Hole

What Lurks Beneath

The Sun was starting to set. Nick saw a strange storm forming up on the horizon. As the clouds moved in faster than anything he ever saw, their electronic equipment got fried. Neither their radio or night vision goggles worked. The winded started picking up. It reached unimaginable speed, as it made the verbal communication between the two impossible. They had to rely on the sign language taught in the colony. It's purpose was to stealthily evade the underground beings, which roamed the abandoned mining shafts and metro lines.

Greg pointed at the forest nearby. Nick followed. They managed to escape the rapid winds. Finally they could talk.

- Jesus man, did you see the storm closing in? - said Nick.

- Yeah, we better find some cover. We don't know what type of storms trash the surface.

Both of them headed inwards to the heart of the forest. Greg was trying to fix his radio, but it only produced static sounds. Nick, in the meantime, saw a opening between the trees and showed it to his friend. They went to check it. As they approached the eerie place, they heard crunching behind them. Greg turned to find a humanoid figure standing behind him. It had it's intestines coming out of it's abdominal region. It's limbs were elongated and thin, finishing with five sharp claws. It's face was unrecognisable, but it bared similarities with their lost friend's face. The only difference was, that it's jaw was hanging to the side and it had both its eye pockets gaping, empty of their content. It made a bone-chilling sound, resembling an elk's scream. The moment the screeching stopped, it lunged at the scared humans. Greg didn't hesitated for a second and blew it's head off with the hunting rifle. The creature fell to the ground, shaking and twisting, as it let out a terrifying last scream of pain. Greg shot it once again, to make sure it's dead. They went near it. Nick grabbed a stick and turned the thing around, so it lays on it's back. It was disgusting. The stench of rotting meat was unbearable. Greg saw something familiar. The thing had the same tattoo on its shoulder, as Mr. Laurenson.

He stood up and looked around. Whatever did this to him was definitely close by. Nick gazed at his friend nervously, like he knew what was going on in his head. A loud thunder send them both in panic mode. Nick was holding the stick, that he used to turn the creature aroun, as a defensive object. Greg was aiming down the sights, looking at every direction. Soon another thunder struck nearby. A bright lightning hit the ground 500m away from them. Another one hit, this time 300m away. Greg saw something during the flash of the lightning. Nick was laying low in the tall grass.

- Get down! - he yelled at his friend.

- I see something.

- What?

- I said, I see some... - his speech was rudely interrupted by the spine-chilling roars and screams around them.

Greg grabbed Nick by his hoodie and dragged him in the opening of the forest. He stood up and ran after his buddy. He didn't want to turn around. The heavy, loud breathing and the sounds of a lot of footprints behind him made his heart pump blood like crazy.

At the center of the perfectly circular opening was standing a weird, burned tree. It smelled oddly like cinnamon. They decided to make their last stand near the tree. At least they had a larger point of view. Greg started blasting the hellish spawns one by one, but after he took around twenty, his ammunition depleted. Nick made a last effort to connect to their underground hive.

- Is there anyone listening? Me and Greg are in big trouble, we need back up. I repeat, me and greg... - he stopped, the transmission was heard.

- This is Phoenix to Oscar Foxtrot, we hear you loud and clear. We're under attack too, but we can manage. I'll send you two Boars, they'll be near your last known location. I re...at, I'll...end...oar...loca...tio... .- said the female voice, but the connection broke up. Suddenly, the mass of deformed beings stopped their offensive towards the defenseless bunch. Greg sat down and started crying. Nick put his arm on his soldier, trying to comfort his friend. Soon enough, The Tracker stood up and they both advanced forward. They could see a singular Boar waiting. From the tank came out four "Fangs". The Fangs were gene-engineered super soldiers, made to fight the horrors of the deep caves. They stood almost three meters tall, decked in armour from the toes to the teeth. It was sturdy enough to withstand a AT round fired at it from 700m. One of them was a woman. They were the most dangerous in terms of speed, endurance and ingenuity. They lacked the physical strength of their brothers, but what they lacked in strength, they greatly made up in tactical genius. The three massive colossi were named Rico, Pablo and Scar. Rico was a demolition expert. He knew his way around explosives. Pablo was the long-range support. He and his trusty sniper riffle were a force to be reckon with. Scar was the close-range melee master. He was a fan in getting in close and personal. His nickname comes from the massive scar on his face after a fight with Muta-Rat Hive. He lost his brothers, but managed to destroy the Hive singlehandedly. The sss was the nickname of Francesca, the leader of the Fang team Oscar Three.

- Any idea what those things are? - said Rico in his deep, rumbling voice.

- Infected. Or, turned. We encountered a whole army of them, but they retreated. One of them was the zoologist of the group. - answered Nick.

- Did you happen to see a bunch of zombie-like people passing by? - said nervously in a joking manner Greg.

- No, but there are a shitload of unspecified creatures storming the God Gates as we speak. - said Scar.

- Where is the second superheavy tank/personel transporter? - asked Nick.

- They got called back. The fight is quite furious. They came from nowhere. - answered Rico.

- Okay boys, stop with the chit-chatting. Let's go kill some junkies. - said Francesca and went into the Boar.

- Is she always like that? - asked Nick.

Nobody answered him. He looked at Pablo, as he didn't said a word from the beginning. He just shrugged his massive pauldrons and followed his team. Nick looked at Greg, who seemed extremely anxious and nervous. Greg looked back at him, didn't say anything and followed the giants.

It started raining.