DAA) Chapter 1 Part 2

It sounded almost like four legs on the ground. Maybe a rat or some kind of other animal. It was soft yet heavy sounding which kind of confused me since this would make it a much larger animal. After going to a few battlefields, you will eventually get used to listening to footsteps. Missing a single one could be the difference between life and death.

As we marched forward, the scuffling sounds did get louder, but that was not my main concern. “Cap…”

“I know. Something is really off.” Cap’s expression did not look good. None of us had a good expression on our faces. Mainly because our environment had changed. We were no longer walking on a smooth surface as we did when we first entered the ruin. It was now wet and mossy. We had to watch our footing due to the rocky floor underfoot. While some spots were still smooth there were bulges that stuck up out of the ground that one could easily trip on.

“The mist is dissipating.” Bryan announced in a low whisper.

It was at this time we finally got to get a good look at our surroundings. Rocking floors and rocky walls. Strange mushrooms and rocks that glowed in the dark, giving off a pale blue light.

As we exited the mist and came to stand in this new, strange place, I turned to see Carlos, who was in the back, touching a rocky wall behind us. “Cap!”

“What!?” My sudden yell startled Cap, but when I turned to him and pointed at the wall, his face fell. “Carlos, is that where we came from?”

“Yes, Cap. Sorry, I panicked.” Carlos had been banging on the wall without making a sound, his eyes wide. I guess seeing our exit no longer being there scared him. I, too, was quite freaked out. But I was not as spiritual as Carlos was.

“What the fuck is going on!?” Briggs yelled out as he, too, went to check the rocky wall.

“Everyone gather together.” Only Cap had composed himself which made me and the others relax a bit. We all got into a circle and kneeled down with the butt of our weapons on the ground.

Cap looked at us all and sighed. “For a bunch of vets who have seen their fair share of near death experiences you all look like a bunch of little girls! Pull yourselves together. We have no idea what is happening but our route her is now gone. We seem to be in some kind of cave. We only need to do pack checks and see what supplies we got left. We need to ration as much as possible.”

We all took our bags off and took out our rations. Carlos had the most since he was the main cook. While I came in second since I did not eat much, to begin with. Briggs had the least since he was always eating. Once everything was taken out, Cap began splitting the rations up.

“I think little sis should get the most.” Briggs, of all people, spoke up and pushed some of his rations over to me.

“I can’t do that, Briggs. We should all have a fair share. You eat like a pig as it is so if you give me some of yours you will be the first to die from starvation.” I pushed the rations back. I was not about to take from my brother-in-arms. Cap had already given me a few extra compared to the others.

“But…” I looked at Briggs, who seemed to be having some kind of inner battle with himself and shook my head.

“Rations have been split up. If you die we will just take them back it’s that simple.” Cap grabbed his rations and stood up. “All of you need to understand one thing. We do not know if we can even get out of this place or what kind of danger we will face. We need as much energy as we can get in small amounts. Each of you have rations to get you through a week. Hell we might not even last a week if what ever that scuffling sound is turns out to be something we can’t even fight.”

“Cap what can there be in this place that could kill us?” Thomas was the one to ask the question. He did have a point. We had guns and knives, so we should be fine. But with how things were at this time. Like how we mysteriously passed through a solid rock wall, we might run into something we do not expect.

There were too many variables. But for now, we had at least calmed down. This was the key point of survival. Clear minds to react to the unexpected.

“Alright, we will make some marks on the wall and follow it to the left.” Cap stood up after packing his pack once more and put it on. “Keep alert and ready. Do not fire unless we need to. Conserve ammo.”

“Yes, sir!” we all replied.

We once more began to move. The mist was now gone, and we only had the dim lighting around us. But at least we could see. The area we were in was wide, but we still walked along the left wall so we would not lose track of our direction.

Kereee!

A strange sound filled our ears and echoed down the tunnel. This was followed by two red glowing lights in front of us. The only problem was that these red lights were attached to a massive body of what looked to be some sort of praying mantis that was at least fifteen feet tall!