Irene's scream and the harsh static of a broken comm stabbed through my ears like an ice pick.Trap!Their true target had been the town from the start!
"Fall back! Return to town!" I growled into my helmet mic and spun around instantly.
From the dead silence of the mine, a voice floated out—unnervingly clear, cutting through the helmet's insulation."Thomas… darling… I'm so cold…"
It was Martha's voice. Thomas's wife.I saw him freeze, shoulders tense, instinctively starting to turn toward the mine.
"That's not real! Thomas!"I grabbed his tactical vest hard enough to strain the fasteners."Stay focused! Irene and Zach need us!"
The confusion and pain in his eyes lasted only a second. Then it was gone, replaced by iron discipline.He shook his head violently and tightened his grip on his weapon.We bolted as one, sprinting toward the chaos of Pinewood.
The edge of town was worse than expected.The once-deserted streets were in shambles. Doors smashed open, terrified residents fleeing in panic, faces twisted in primal fear.On my portable terminal, Zach's signal flickered erratically. Red heat signatures popped up, then vanished amid brutal interference.
"…system failing… too much interference… at least three… no, four targets… scattered throughout town…"Zach's distorted voice came through with gasps and static.
Irene's tracker showed her inside the town pharmacy. Her vitals were high but stable.
"Irene, report!"
"…I'm inside… back door sealed… something's outside… big… circling…"Her voice was low but shaken."David… the eye patterns on its back… there are more than in the file. They're… they're moving… scanning."
Mutation. Multiple entities. The mine had been a decoy.
"Thomas! Support Irene! I'll find Zach! Stay on comms!"
"Copy!"Thomas pivoted like a charging tank toward the pharmacy.
I raced toward the elementary school where Zach had last transmitted.Even as I ran, I forced myself to think: these SCP-939s weren't acting randomly. They were herding, separating civilians, creating chaos to stall us.Not just hunting. Coordinated tactics.
"Contact with Irene. Safe," Thomas soon reported."But another one is here! Smaller, faster! Transferring to town hall—there are civilians inside!"
Irene chimed in breathlessly:"This smaller one's too quick! Tranquilizers barely work!"
I burst into the chemical lab at the school.The place reeked of chemicals. Zach was there, frantically mixing liquids in a beaker, spent fire extinguishers littering the floor.
"Zach!"
"Captain!"He looked up, sweat and grime streaking his face.He held up the beaker like a holy grail."I'm making an emergency interference agent!It should temporarily block their sense of smell and heat tracking.But… Captain… they're communicating! I captured high-frequency signals. Not mimicry—their own language. Complex.And the big one… it's directing the others!"
Directing?A Keter-class anomaly evolving command behavior?Unthinkable.
"Will it work?" I pointed at the beaker.
"Should create a high-density chemical fog!"
Suddenly, a shattering crash echoed from town hall.Thomas's gunfire roared.
"Status, Thomas!"
"One got in! Tranquilizers failing! Irene!"
"I'm trying this!"A violent hiss followed as Irene unleashed high-pressure water.A shrill, metallic screech erupted.
"Water… high-pressure spray disrupts their heat tracking! It's retreating!"
Good."Zach, move! We're regrouping at town hall!"I dragged him out the door.
We barely got fifty meters before a massive shadow lunged at us, carrying a stench of blood and rot.The largest SCP-939.Far larger than any photo.Veins bulged under translucent crimson skin. The eyespots on its back flickered ominously.
It paused, tilting its eyeless head.Then a sweet, familiar voice came from its lipless maw:
"Daddy, look! I drew you!"
The world froze.I was back in that sunlit living room. My daughter. The crayon drawing. Her expectant eyes.A cold iron hand clenched around my heart. My legs faltered.
"Daddy… you're going to break your promise again?"
The voice… my daughter's voice… soft, disappointed.
The beast lunged.
"Down!" Zach screamed, hurling the beaker at the ground between us.
CRACK!The chemical agents burst into a violent yellow-green cloud.
"Move!"Zach yanked me into the smoke.Behind us, the creature shrieked in rage, thrashing wildly as its senses were scrambled.
At the smoke's edge, we collided with Thomas, Irene, and a handful of terrified civilians.Thomas's armor bore fresh claw marks. Irene held a fire axe.
"They're… retreating?" Thomas gasped.
I scanned the dark streets.The SCP-939s were no longer attacking us.They were moving toward the town center, consolidating.They weren't trying to wipe us out.They were protecting something.
"They're hunting strategically," I muttered."This isn't about killing everyone… not yet. We can't stay. Evacuate to the fallback point! Request heavy fire support!"
We began a rolling retreat.As we fled, a middle-aged man stumbled and fell.A mid-sized SCP-939 burst from an alley, jaws wide.
"Cover me!"I shifted my Gauss rifle to max power and fired.The blast struck its front leg, sending up scorched tissue and a burst of smoke.
I barely registered the strange, twisted dark markings along its skin. Not natural.Branding? Symbols?
No time to analyze.The creature shrieked in pain.Thomas dragged the civilian up.
"Go!"
We reached the emergency extraction zone.Pinewood lay silent behind us.The SCP-939s had not pursued.They had disappeared into the shadows, guarding their unknown objective.
The helicopter's roar approached.The rope ladder dropped.
Back at the temporary outpost, civilians were quarantined.We debriefed and checked gear.Irene immediately began running samples: the slime collected at Carter's site and tissue scraped from Thomas's armor.
Minutes later, she stared at the screen, pale, shaking.
"David…"Her voice trembled."The sample… contains human DNA embedded inside SCP-939 sequences."
My blood ran cold."What does that mean?"
"I cross-referenced the missing persons database… the genetic markers match the Marcus family. Six people. Disappeared mysteriously from Pinewood ten years ago."
Irene looked up, horror written across her face.
"They weren't just feeding, David."Her voice cracked."They're searching… or worse… they think they're searching for 'family.'"