The boar in the centre shrieked; small droplets of mucus spewed out in clouds with every exhale of its hot breath. The beast looked us in the eyes; its brows folded over its gaze—you could see the wrinkles below the spiky fur of its coat. Its bright blue irises darted from person to person as it grunted deeply at each target it fixed its gaze on.
We had the beast firmly in our sights, fingers loose on the triggers. We need to stay calm. If we spook them, they'll come charging at us full force—it'll be chaos. If the events of the school were anything to go by, we need to utilise strategy and teamwork to take these mutants down.
The two beasts beside the one in the centre separated themselves, drawing an outline of the clearing as they cautiously stepped around us. Their hooves dragged along the soil, tossing dirt and colourless leaves up in the air. The spiked armour on their spines clanked with every step. The two beasts stopped and began observing us closely.
The beast in the centre began to arch down, dragging its hooves along the dirt, tossing soil behind it. The beast stared us down, single-minded. grunting louder and louder.
"Get ready."
I called, keeping my eyes locked on the central boar, picking up every little move it made; each flare of the nostril, each flex of a muscle was noted in my mind.
The beast let out one final roar, this time low and rumbling and then threw its head forward.
The boar charged—full force. The boars around it observed, arching down in a similar way to how the centre boar was before it charged, but they were just standing waiting, guarding. The ground shook every time one of the beast's hooves slammed into the ground, discarding the soil behind in mists. Its long curved tusks pointed forward, leading its head, eyes, body and mind towards its target: The Van, with us surrounding it.
Miko dropped to one knee instantly. The butt of her assault rifle was buried into her right shoulder. She focused through the scope attached to the top, clenching tighter on the grip—the muzzle locked still. Her left foot and right knee were carved into the soil, anchoring her down. She squeezed the trigger.
She let out a small burst of rounds before stopping. The bullets carved holes in the boar's face; they were armour-piercing rounds this time, so they burrowed deep. One of the bullets pierced the shell of its eye, bursting it. Bright blue droplets sprayed, painting the air before landing back on the fur of its face as it charged forward.
The boar wailed in pain, clenching its eyes tightly as the stinging took control of the beast's every instinct. Its knees gave way to the pain, stumbling on the dirt. However, its advance did not stop, its charge now erratic.
"Disperse!"
We threw ourselves in all directions, creating space between the Gurkha, which was now the beast's destined target, and us.
The boar slammed into the body of the van. The spikes on the boar's spine snapped when meeting the opposing force of the van's armoured plating. It roared again, twitching on the floor as it struggled to lift itself up. It whimpered.
The other beasts reared themselves for a charge, grunting with the desire to protect their brethren. Repeating the same drag of hooves that the previous beast did, they charged at us.
But before we could even derive a plan, BB threw itself at the boar on the left, zooming through the air. It rolled into a horizontal ball; it looked like a snail's shell with long, sharp pincers at the end. It spiralled through the air, slicing arcs in spirals, whooshing with every full rotation.
The boar didn't stop; they would soon clash. The beast's flesh met the pincers on the end of BB's tail. Spinning like a saw, BB sliced clean through the side of the boar, leaving a long gash from neck to tail. Only a thin layer of skin on the other side of the boar kept it from flopping to the floor in two pieces. Blue blood sprayed, landing on BB in glowing puddles. BB was painted in blue camo, with the lifeblood of the boar.
One was down, but the other continued its advance, heading straight towards the van. BB wouldn't get there in time before it struck. We crouched down, opening fire. A Gunner in the Gurkha, turned spraying rounds in a horizontal arch. But we were caught off guard—disorganised—grazing the beast, and failing to pierce any vital organs.
"Out the way! Out the way!"
Agents called out as they dived desperately to the ground, hoping to clear out of the boar's charge.
CRASH!
It made direct impact with the van, causing it tumble over on its side, putting the turret out of commission.
I was the closest to it, still on my feet. It turned its head to meet my gaze. It snorted, puffing out hot smoke. I felt the heat of the water droplets tickle my face. I slowly reached my arm across to the hilt of my katana, wrapping my fingers around the cotton chords, clenching tight. The boar stretched its leg across, slamming its hoof to the floor—the ground shook. The gaze of its chest met mine; face to face, we initiated a wordless challenge—eying one another down, waiting for the other's move.
The boar initiated, grunting, snorting, roaring—doing everything possible to make me buckle at the knees. I stood, unflinching.
KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA!
A gun fired—Kaoru.
"Over here, you ugly bastard!"
He stood on top of the flipped Gurkha. He didn't release, unleashing a barrage on the boar; everything he had—bullets, vocals, even the weapon itself, straight at the beast.
The boar turned to face the gunfire, forgetting all about me.
I took my chance.
Sprinting at the boar, I unsheathed my blade from its scabbard. I dropped to my knees, momentum carrying my knees along the floor—burning. I slashed the joints. Flesh tore, and sinew snapped as I cut clean through, taking out the two knees on the right side of its body. It collapsed, letting out a cry on the way down as the beast's knees failed it.
"Open fire—everything you have!"
I cried, whipping my pistol out of my other holster—opposite from my katana's—and opening fire at the boar, setting an example.
What followed was an unholy orchestra of percussive gunfire, screaming out in hopeful cries—calling for the beast's death. The boar wailed and shrieked, begging for the suffering to end. The firing continued until eventually the beast went limp, mute, not a single heartbeat tethering it to this world.
This was the horror that aethesium created. Or so I thought in my head at least.
We stopped once we realised it was dead. The deafening pounding of gunfire slowly cross-faded into the sound of heavy panting as we took our time trusting the moment of quiet. Eventually, the moment of silence—beside our combined heaving—became indefinite as the boars lay limp, not even the twitch of a muscle.
"Is it over?"
An agent asked, probably to whatever god was watching over us.
Her question was answered with silence. Silence that was bliss. Silence that we desired to return.
There was heavy panting as bodies tumbled to the floor.
The bodies that didn't tumble held each other close in victory. Not a single soul was lost. It was a complete victory. Tears welled up in my eyes as I gripped Kaoru close, wrapping my arms around his back.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
I repeated continuously in his ear.
"Whoa, it was nothing, Himiko."
He responded, voice quiet.
I grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing him back an arm's length. I looked him in the eyes—He struggled to meet my gaze.
"Are you joking?"
I asked.
"The way you climbed on the van. If it weren't for that, it probably would've ground me to a pulp."
He looked me in the eyes, chin slowly raising as pride began to slowly creep onto his face via the corners of his mouth.
"Nah,"
He said.
"The way you slid in and sliced its knees was bad ass."
Miko walked over to us, rifle over her shoulder, hand on her hip.
Kaoru turned to her as she approached, eyebrows raised.
"Matter of fact, Miko?!"
He shouted, fist clenched in front of his mouth, eyes squinted.
"You cooked the hell out of him."
I slowly crept back, sliding one foot behind the other as their attention was occupied. I stepped towards the Gurkha in the back—it backed up as soon as the boars appeared. I opened the back door. Aiko and Nozomi were sitting inside. Aiko looked like she was with us again—eyes revitalised, skin less pale. She stopped shaking.
They both looked at me.
"Is everything Ok? Any injuries?"
Nozomi asked, voice soft.
"Nope,"
I replied, meeting his softness.
"It was a complete success. We're getting better at fighting these things now."
I looked at Aiko.
"You good now?"
She nodded, eyes puffy and red.
"We'll send you back to base-"
"No!"
She interrupted, catching me off guard. My eyes were wide open, brows furrowed.
"This is for everyone's safety. You're a great marksman, but until you can handle it again, you'll be in the way. Take a break then, once you're back, we'll take you again."
She stared back, brows furrowed, eyes glossy but tense.
"You're saying I just sit around at base, twiddling my thumbs, hoping you return safely."
She shouted, waving her hands in frustration.
"Yes."
I responded, plain and simple.
"Nozomi, get her back and look after her. Send any updates."
He nodded. Aiko's face was still tense in frustration, staring me down with intensity.
I met her gaze; brows raised in the centre. My eyes struggled to meet hers.
"We'll talk later. See you."
She looked forward, teeth clenched, arms crossed.
I closed the door and stepped away. The engine fired up, and the hum of the van vibrated through the ground. The wheels rolled as it turned away, driving through the path we cleared, shrinking as it got further and further away. I had begun to make my way back to the group, head hung low.
"You Ok Himiko?"
Kaoru asked as he ran towards me, he held my shoulders, eyes trying to meet mine—hidden under my eyelids—confused.
"I just had to make the hardest decision ever."
I responded.
"What do you mean? Where's Aiko and Nozomi?"
He asked as he looked back to try to find the Gurkha, which was long gone.
"Back at base."
His brows dropped slightly.
"What? But we're gonna need Aiko's marksmanship on the field."
His hands waved aggressively as I walked away. I turned back to him.
"Did you see the state she was in?"
He fell silent, eyes drawing circles in the ground.
"Exactly."
I turned back to the Gurkha up front, still flipped. Agents were surrounding it, trying to push it upright.
"BB, reel it in."
I called out to the bot, floating in the air, buzzing peacefully. Still covered in the blue blood of the boars.
He responded. Two compartments opened in the side of the carbon fibre segment. Two projectile launchers slid out—buzzing. One at a time, he fired out two grappling hooks; one at the front wheel, another at the back, looping around the axles.
BB tugged back, reeling in as it used its full force to raise the Gurkha. The van's body slowly rotated upright, and the agents pushed along with BB's tugs. Within a couple of seconds, the van was back on its wheels, and we were ready to continue.
"Everybody return to formation."
I grabbed my portable radio to report back to base.
"We had a situation. Three giant mutated boars emerged from the trees. We made quick work of them—no injuries. One of them knocked the Gurkha over, but we managed to lift it up, and we're continuing our expedition."
I took photos of one of the boars, shooting from multiple angles for base camp.
We returned to our positions and advanced.
We ran into more phenomena. We slashed through vines that formed a wall in front of us. Each slice into the plant's walls caused it cry out in pain—they sounded like the cries of cows, chickens and other farm animals—and bright blue blood sprayed out of the cuts. The first time I heard it, I felt sick to my stomach. It began to become tedious once we became numb to it; we didn't have time to worry about whether it was alive.
"As soon as we're out of here, I'm going camping."
Kaoru said. I laughed.
"Not a bad idea, maybe I'll join you."
"What's that?"
We were interrupted by another agent who pointed ahead to a strange but familiar structure.
It was a silo, clenched tightly in rings of blue vines. There was grain all over the floor around it. It was surrounded by mutated creatures, all nibbling at the grain. Rabbit colonies that walked on multiple legs, dozens of heads that darted, fighting each other over food; the translucent insects were there as well. Chickens whose feathers were slowly falling off, rough and ragged as scales cut through their skin, leaking blood as they clawed their way out. It was like their dinosaur ancestry was fighting its way back.
I took a photo and reported it. Before we advanced into a small woodland area, leaving the Gurkha and a few squads behind temporarily while we found a way through.
Just a few steps in the woods, we saw another structure; large red wooden doors with white painted cross bracing nailed onto it. We analysed it.
"Barn doors."
I concluded. I tried to push the door open, but it wouldn't move. I turned to the five agents behind me: Kaoru, Miko, Connie and two other members from their squad.
"Help me barge the door down."
"Damn, Himiko. I didn't know you moved like that."
Connie said, patting my back as he walked past. He placed his shoulder to the door, waving his hands to the other squad members. We all copied, taking a step back before.
"On go. One, two, three, GO!"
CRASH!
The doors flew off their hinges.
Inside was a large wooden corridor with rotting wooden beams arching across, repeating all the way down.
Trees and shrubbery invaded the interior, branches peeking through holes in the wall—growing into the barn—and vines gripped the wooden beams, hanging, stretching across the room like washing lines. There were decaying corpses of farm animals, each being consumed by pulsating masses of meat, just like the one that was consuming the deer. Each one of the corpses had bullet holes in its head.
"Someone must've lived here."
Miko said, squatting over the corpse of a cow, pointing to the bullet hole in its skull.
"Yeah, you're right."
Kaoru responded.
"What if we find mutant humans?"
It was something I didn't even want to think about. What horrors could've befallen the owners of this farm? If they even managed to survive.
"Let's keep going."
I said. The muzzles of our guns scanned every space as we carefully stepped towards the doors on the other side, which were barely hanging onto their hinges.
I pushed the door gently.
CRASH!
It fell straight to the floor. I covered my eyes as the light outside shocked my senses.
It was a field, and in the distance was a large house.
Someone definitely lived here.