"Shit. Did you feel that?" Vadakin states over the radio.
"Yeah, I felt it. What the hell was that?" Matt replies.
"Felt like it could've been an earthquake." Austin states.
"No, there's no way. An earthquake would've lasted longer. I would go as far to say that might've been an explosion." Brewer remarked.
"And what gave you that Idea?" Asked Matt.
"Maybe the fact that we aren't anywhere near a fucking fault line."
"Fair point." Vadakin stated.
"Okay, two of us will need to remain out here while the other two will go back to the CP to figure out if there was any damage and check on Meader, Andrew and Mom." Austin stated.
"Alright then. I'll take Brewer and we'll continue patrolling." Matt said.
"Roga dat. Austin, let's go." Vadakin said as he turned and started to jog away.
Austin and Vadakin jogged off into the distance as the sun started to rise. Matt looked at his watch, "0645. Damn. It's a new day and we still haven't found this fucker yet." Matt started to walk forward, and Brewer followed along as they continued the patrol.
"So, what do you plan on doing after this is over?" Matt asked.
"Go home, finish off college and get a good paying job. How about you?" Brewer responded.
"Sounds nice. I am stuck here until I finish trade school. You got someone waiting for you back home?"
"Nah. I am a single son of a bitch. Maybe one day someone will come along but for right now I got money and a limited amount of happiness."
"I feel that one brother."
They continue along for a few more miles chatting about various things. What they are studying, job fields they hope to join. They chatted about the current political state of the country and home life.
"Alright, there's one thing I gotta know. What is your favorite NFL team?" Brewer asked.
"Uhhhhh. The Baltimore Ravens." Matt replied.
"Really? The Ravens? Of all the possible teams that have been way better why?"
"I'll give my reasoning after you tell me yours."
"Fair enough. My personal preference is the Eagles."
"Man...I swear. The reason I like the Ravens is because I lived in Maryland for most of my life."
"That's fair. I like the Eagles out of spite of my parents being Cowboy's fans."
"That is one thing everyone can agree on. The Cowgirls are fucking retarded."
"Amen to that."
Meanwhile, Austin and Vadakin are almost to the CP. For most of their jog back they were completely silent, each in their own thoughts and trying to imagine what might play out. Finally, the crest a hill close to the CP and they lay eyes on the house and the CP tent. The gaze upon the truly horrifying sight. The tent with all the long-range communications is a smoldering heap. The house is in shambles, with one side looking like it could collapse at any moment.
"Well, fuck my life." Austin said.
"Holy shit." Vadakin stated.
The pair walked into what was left of the CP. The radios that were charging and the long-range radios were gone, completely blown up. The table that the map was on was smoldering still, and the door to the basement was still open.
"HEY! HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON?" Brooklyn yelled, "Where is he? What happened to the house?"
"Whoa! Quite trying to run into a death trap alright. The house looks like it could come down on the East side at any time, which could kill any of us if we are in the basement." Austin stated.
"Well, someone must go in there to look for Andrew. I need to know if he is alive." Brooklyn sobbed.
"I'll go in because I know the basement the best. Vadakin, watch miss life insurance over here." Austin stated.
Austin walked down the stairs and flicked on the rifle light. He started walking the perimeter, inspecting the basement's support beams to see how long he had to check the entire basement. After clearing most of the supports, he called for Vadakin to come down with Brooklyn to help look for myself and Meader. After clearing majority of the basement, they finally came across the auto-healer.
"Hmmm, well this is a problem. Come on, everyone out of the basement. We'll go sit in the chopper because I'm not sure how much more time we have until the east side collapses." Austin stated.
The three of them walked out of the basement and over to the helicopter.
"Okay, let's state the facts. We know that the basement is empty. No-one was down there." Austin says.
"We also know that Berry and Meader would never leave here without a radio. That means that they never left the basement." Vadakin states
"So, therefore that leaves us with two possibilities. One, the clown kidnapped them or two, the clown blew up the CP and the east side of the house and killed them. With that second possibility is the chance that the clown ate the bodies."
Right after Austin finished his sentence, the east side of the house collapsed. Followed by, a couple minutes later, the rest of the house coming down.
"There she goes. We spent our entire lives in that house and its gone." Austin states solemnly. "However, we need to report and meet back up with Matt and Brewer."
"Yeah. I'll call them up and we will be up and out of here right after." Vadakin replies.
Austin takes a few steps away from the chopper to the rubble. He squats down and looks at a photo of myself and Brooklyn. He picks it up and shoves it into his pocket. As he walks back to the helicopter he draws his sidearm and fires three shots. The shots echo in the silence of early morning hours as the sun finally begins to rise. Vadakin turns around to see the corpse liquefying. Austin walks up to the liquefied shapeshifter and whispers something into it's ear, then he fires a final shot into its head and walks away.
"What did you say to it?" Vadakin asks.
"Maybe next time get the eyes right." Austin states.
