ORPHEUS - A.I.

Chapter Sixteen: Breaking Through

Anthea moved closer to Chuck and kneeled down to take a proper look. Chuck's men hid themselves under the bushes and pointed their crossbows ahead, while Megan, Hex and Andre crept behind them and watched anxiously.

"Alphas?", whispered Anthea.

"Yeah, Alphas again... we've been seeing a lot of them lately...", Chuck whispered back.

"That's not a good sign, we can't beat those things... let's turn back...", Anthea said.

"No! We're not turning back...we don't know if the opening in the wall would stay that way until tomorrow...", replied Chuck.

Hex couldn't see what was going on ahead, so he slowly moved ahead and settled down beside Chuck.

"What is it guys?", asked Hex and peeked through the thick bushes.

Hex went numb as he saw two huge wolf like animals munching on a dead carcass. Megan crawled up to Hex as well as Andre. The three of them looked at the strange looking animals - they had never seen such creatures before.

"What the hell are those ?", whispered Megan.

"Santa Maria!!", exclaimed Andre.

Hex couldn't believe his eyes. There were two wolf like creatures with bodies more than a metre long but without any tail. Their heads had barely any skin on them and they had black eyes. Their jaws had no skin covering with their sharp teeth protruding out of their mouths. They growled and munched on the carcass which looked like it had been there for more than a week. There was no way they could move ahead with those creatures on the way.

"Those are mutated wolves and judging by their sizes they are the alphas. They will hunt and eat anything, even their own kind but they rarely come out of the forest and that too during the day...", whispered Anthea as she explained to the new comers what those creatures were.

"We have to turn back Chuck... or find another way", whispered Anthea.

"The opening is just beyond those trees Anthea... we can't turn back after coming so close and you know any other way will take us days...this is the only way..", replied Chuck.

"But how do you plan on moving ahead lile this?" , asked Anthea.

"We wait and watch!", replied Chuck.

Anthea thought it better to trust Chuck. After all he knew a lot about the place and knew it better. He had been in such situations before and had fought an alpha and lived to tell the tale. His military background made him a valuable asset to the team.

Just a minute later, the creatures got distracted by something and ran off towards the east. Chuck and his team stood up and watched them disappear into the jungle.

"Let's go!!", said Chuck and everyone started to follow him towards the thick jungle ahead.

"You had wolves with you when you met us... how were they ...not like them?", asked Megan.

"Those were Cedric's pets... he used to be a vet back at the city and he found them while he came to the retreat with us...they were malnourished and Cedric fed them... they had been with him since ....", Anthea replied.

"The opening is just beyond those trees...", said Chuck pointing at the huge spruce trees ahead.

"What sort of opening are we talking about...", Megan asked.

"You guys were brought here through an opening- an entry point that connects the outside world with Purgatory ... my men have seen it...and it seemed that it had malfunctioned and it's still open...", replied Chuck looking tensed.

"C'mon guys...hurry up...those Alphas could be back any second...", he added.

Megan was so excited that they would be able to get out of this place so soon- just a few more minutes- she could see almost reach the tall trees with her hands.

The entire team crossed the treeline and in the distance, jist a few metres ahead was the so called 'opening'. Everyone looked in utter curiousity- it seemed like something supernatural - something like a portal to another dimension. There was a huge c***k between the trees - up north- almost 5 metres tall and it seemed like it was hanging in thin air- like a portal- it was uniform and almost looked like a half opened door- beyond it was a glimpse of another world- green and lushious! The air was crackling with pure electrical energy around the opening- there seemed to be no guards- just an open door inviting everyone to enter into the other side of the wall.

The newcomers were releaved and excited to leave. Chuck stared at the 'door' without saying anything- he had an eerie feeling about a door so well placed , in the middle of the forest. His men laid down their weapons and watched hopefully towards the other side of the door. It's been a while since they've seen the real world.

"This is it?", asked Hex to Anthea.

"So it seems...there seems to be no danger...go on and tell the world about this place...go now!", said Anthea with hope in her eyes.

"Wait! But what about Timothy?", asked Andre.

"We will take care of him until you return..", replied Anthea.

"Why don't you come with us?", asked Megan.

"No! there's no time for that...go now!", said Anthea almost pushing them towards the door.

The three of them stumbled their way towards the door while Chuck, Anthea and the rest watched on with hope.

"Stop!!", yelled Chuck.

Everyone was shocked.

"What? What is it Chuck?", asked Anthea.

"There's something wrong here... don't move" , Chuck shouted as he walked towards the three of them.

"What now man? We're almost there?", said Hex.

" This doesn't looks right... come back!", replied Chuck.

"What's wrong with you? First you bring us here and now you don't let us leave?", said Andre quiet annoyed at this behaviour.

"I said turn back... it's a trap!!", yelled Chuck and hrabbed Andre's arm.

"Let go man!!", replied Andre and jerked off his arm.

Suddenly there was a terrible scream. Everyone turned around and saw an Alpha grabbing one of Chuck's men by its mouth and dragging him away.

"Cleo!! Noooo....", yelled Anthea and took out her machete.

"Fire!!", yelled Chuck and all of his men began to shoot arrows at the monster wolf.

But it was too late. The creature already dragged Cleo away into the jungle. Everyone watche with horror- there's nothing they could do to help.

Just at that moment another alpha came out of the bushes slowly growling at the frightened men. Chuck and his men poured volleys of arrows at the monster but they hardly scratched it's thick skin. It kept walking towards the group , grinding its rotten teeth and growling and stood between them and the door.

Everyone froze and kept looking in horror at the monster.

"Take these three and run Anthea...we will take care of this thing...", yelled Chuck and took out his machete.

"Move ...you people ..", yelled Chuck.

Anthea quickly grabbed Megan's hand and asked Hex and Andre to follow her. She knew there was no timw to waste. Hex and Andre followed Anthea as she held tightly and almost dragged Megan away from the place and ran in the opposite direction.

The monster began to round up the remaining men and was ready to pounce at them any moment. Chuck stood fearless waving his machete and so did his other men.

Anthea was running blindly towards the opposite direction. All she cared was the safety of the three newcomers. They ran more almost a minute and suddenly they heard loud growls of the monster and screams of the men. It continued for almost another minute or two but Anthea and the three of them kept running until they were out of their breaths. Suddenly the noise stopped.

Anthea stopped running and let go off Megan's hand. She looked towards the tall trees with fear. Megan, Hex and Andre stopped too and took a moment to catch their breaths.

"Keep moving... c'mon!!", yelled Anthea and ran.

Deep in her heart she knew that she had lost his most trusted men but now was not the time to grieve. And so she kept running guiding the three newcomers to safety. And so they kept running, struggling through the thick grasslands.

Megan almost cried. Her heart was broken - their hope of escaping was lost and she couldn't forget the sight of the men being slaughtered so mercilessly. She could still hear their screams. The sight of blood almost made her throw up.

"Stop...stop...please..", said Megan, " I can't run anymore...stop..."

Anthea, Hex and Andre stopped and turned around towards Megan who was kneeling down panting hard. Anthea walked up to her.

"We need to keep moving honey..." , said she.

"But...they...those men...are getting slaughtered...those beasts...", said Megan half crying.

Anthea grabbed her arms and helped her stand up.

"C'mon...walk with me ...we are almost at the bunker...", replied Anthea.

Hex was at loss of words unable to process what had just happened. While Andre kept walking without saying anything. The three of them felt as if all hope of leaving Purgatory was over.

Up ahead in the distance they could see Nina and the girls coming out of hiding from the bushes. They were surprised to see Anthea return with the newcomers. Nina's heart broke when she couldn't see Chuck or his men with them. The sun was beginning to hide between the clouds. It looked like it was going to rain heavily.