U.S.S.A Alice

Chapter 12 Memento mori

Everyone was grabbing weapons and equipment while rushing to their posts, my heart was beating a mile a minute. "So why are you in charge? What happened to the chief of security?"  He looked down at me.- "He and his second were with the captain during the gala when this all happened, and I'm the highest-ranking one here. This attack was clearly coordinated to wipe out our command structure, not even a sergeant left. Alright, we need to get you to a safe location until we've dealt with the threat. Tobey, take her to the secure holding room."  He walked away to grab a rifle off of a weapon rack on the wall and joined the rest. Tobey motioned at me to follow him.- "So am I  actually being detained or what?"  I joked.- "Not unless you punched me or something, anyway I'd probably feel safer being in a cell. Hell, you probably should."   We reached the room which contained the holding cells, I don't think I've been in a room quite as empty and chilling as this. Like I wasn't supposed to be here, I brought my arms close to my body. "Are you cold? I can get a blanket while everyone's still getting ready." - "Uh yes, please, also is it usually this cold in here?"  He looked uncertain; as if he didn't know how to answer my question. "No idea, I seldom come in here, anyway I'll be right back. Just stay in here please and don't come out till you hear the all-clear."  Just like that, he was off to somewhere unseen to get me a blanket to keep me warm from my imagined coldness.

I was alone again now, in this empty jail with no prisoners but myself. I felt the anxiety bubbling in my gut, not knowing what to do as we were potentially under attack from a barely understood threat. I sat down in one of the cell cots, I huddled to retain my body heat. It felt like something was siphoning the warmth from my body as if there was a dark presence absorbing my life force. I held a pillow close to me, it was the only thing in here that comforted me. I turned on my wrist cell and scrolled through my album of photos with Damien and me. Everything this week was going so well, almost perfectly. I stumbled on the one we took together as we were leaving to go, why did we have to mess with that obelisk? I jumped at the sound of gunfire thundering and soldiers shouting. Oh god, they really are here. I could hear thumping somewhere all around the place, could they actually break in? Oh god Damien, where are you?

After a few minutes, I finally got the courage to get up and leave that cold confinement. I manually opened the door and saw soldiers aiming their weapons at the entrance or out whatever windows they could find; this felt like it would soon be a warzone. I stepped out of the doorway, looking for either Tobey or one of his squad members. There was an air of quietness in the place as if everyone was afraid to speak. I couldn't contact any of them as I didn't know what frequency they used. As I was sifting through the holographic images, I felt a large heavy hand on my shoulder "Alice?"  A deep voice inquired from behind me, causing my heart to feel like it had stopped.- "Jesus!"  I turned around in an instant, almost crashing into them like they were a solid wall. I needed to stop doing that. "Whoa, hey I didn't mean to scare you like that. what're you doing out here?" I looked up at him.- "I was getting tired of being cooped up in there, do I look like a prisoner to you?"  Tyson seemed genuinely apologetic, he put his hands down when he realized I wasn't going to fall down. "I know, you and Damien have that in common."  His posture shifted back slightly, I couldn't tell if he was looking at me since the digital eyes on his helmet weren't on. 

-"I guess I can't disagree with you there, we could actually use his help about now, but chances are very high that he didn't make it, especially not by himself."  There was no way that could be true, I wouldn't be able to let myself believe that. Damien had to at least be safe somewhere. "Hey, let's get you back inside and actually get you a blanket this time.  I had Tobey go do something, sorry about that."  As he was about to usher me back inside the jail cells, we were interrupted by a bunch of crashing noises. A black mass fell through a ventilation shaft just a few meters from us, several soldiers surrounded it with their weapons trained on the black fleshy blob. We just stood there in surprise; stunned at how sudden it appeared, watching as it twitched and shifted.  Shifting and crunching could be heard coming from it. Before anyone could react, a tendril sprung out towards a marine, launching him into a wall. I was too afraid to do anything but cover my ears from the booming gunfire. The two marines seemed to have killed it, when one of them stood underneath the shaft, an unimaginably long spindly arm reached down and grabbed him. All we heard was gunfire and screaming.