Neo-Odyssey

Chapter Twelve

"Looks like the boys are just about finished up..." Florence mused beside Clarice as the two somewhat distant figures began carefully plodding back towards the main group with a decent looking haul to boot.

"Good. Hopefully this means we can get back to the plane already."

"Oh, you're feeling nervous now?" Florence asked, eyeing the flight captain up and down, discerning a faint nervous trembling from her new acquaintance.

"Kinda? Something just doesn't feel right to me is all..."

"About the foraging spot?"

"I don't know." She signed, fidgeting with her hair as her eyes darted about the ominous misty lands they now found themselves in.

For the last few minutes, something had felt distinctly wrong to her. She couldn't say what, couldn't say why... but she knew something bode ill for the lot of them. Something dangerous. Something unseen.

And I can't even really put a word to it. Ugh, if I say something I'll either sound paranoid or cowardly. Just great. Next we'll be getting a bunch of giant enemy spiders thrown our way or something stupid like that...

She bit her lip and took a few deep breaths, which did little to calm her irate nerves, shivers of discomfort running down her spine. At the least, her returning companions were growing steadily closer, which meant that all of them were that much closer to going back to the plane.

Even so....

"Captain Ferrell... is something amiss?" Kaleb inquired, adjusting his classes as he strode over to the two women of the group.

"She certainly seems to think so. Thank God Jonah isn't here, he'd be acting real insufferable if he saw you getting cold feet. Well, he'd act insufferable if he saw any of us getting cold feet. Heck, he tends to act insufferable when it suits him..."

"Indeed, Miss Bennu. We should count ourselves fortunate that your irksome fiancée is back at the plane. No doubt stirring up trouble and making a nuisance of himself."

Florence face puffed up red at that assertion, the young woman clearing her throat and shaking off her otherwise demure tone for a more assertive one.

"I've been meaning to say, could you please cut him a break? I get you might not gel with the man, goodness knows I barely manage it, but it's pretty unfair to profile him because of it.

"Profile? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh yes you do," she insisted, japing a finger into his chest, "just because he has a few screws loose doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Sure he brought a knife onto the plane, yet, hasn't that dumb move of his helped us out pretty well so far? I can tell you this much, he doesn't want to hurt any of us. In fact, if you ask me, I can't think of a person alive who wouldn't go to the lengths my fiancée would to help this group out.... so... there..."

Florence huffed a bit as she caught her breath, throat horse from the impromptu lecture, of which Kaleb seemed thoroughly unimpressed.

"How... unexpected. I did not take you for the sort of woman who'd act out of the blue like that. If you are so suddenly keen on lectures, perhaps sample one of mine; get as far away from that man as you can. One glance was all it took me to know he'd be trouble. I'd hoped someone who knew him as well as you did, bickered as much with him as you have, would've understood that better than anyone."

"Tch, see that Clarice! I can't believe you'd just up and admit you've been profiling him! Ever heard of something called bias? Certainly you've heard of assumptions! There are reasons why he is the way he is. If I weren't the only one who's ever given him the time of day, maybe he'd have finally moved past them by now."

The Air Marshal remained stoic, turning away from the woman and setting his sights back to the duo of Tantoo and Collin, who were just about within speaking range of the others.

"I don't care what excuses he has, or that you have to give on Mr. Dunkel's behalf. Anyone who trusts someone crazy enough to run out in the pitch black, knife in hand, after an airplane crash of all things, is disappointingly moronic. Wouldn't you agree, Captain Ferrell... hmmm... Captain Ferrell, did you-"

Kaleb was quick to catch her before she fell head first into the black swampy waters, her limp body flailing in his arms.

What in the ever-loving fuck is that...

It felt like a jackhammer in her heart, her entire body resounding with unfelt vibrations that threatened to tear her apart. As quickly as it washed over her, it passed, yet, a small discomfort lingered in the back of her head. As did a peculiar sensation trailing around the direction of her two incoming comrades, who were now sprinting recklessly towards them in an effort to see what was wrong.

"Captain Ferrell, are you alright!?"

She swallowed hard, grappling with her discombobulated body like someone on the knife's edge of a bout of sleep paralyses and full awakening. She looked towards her new friends, and saw the waters shimmering oddly beneath their feet.

"The... water... moving...!" She stuttered out, a desperate expression washing over Tantoo's face as his eyes darted down, then to Collin, then back at her. He seemed more in-tune with whatever was upon them than she could put word to, and with an impossibly deft, perfectly timed jump back, narrowly avoided what could have been his death. Collin too for that matter, whom he pulled back with him, and whom followed suit in his own turn.

Right from where they'd been standing, something large and terrible shot up from out of the dirt, massive and imposing. Horrible discordant chirps sounded from its maw as its thick treelike body swayed from side to side, many dagger like limbs extending out as if branches shored of their underbranches. Its form was plated from top to bottom in thick armorlike chitin that glistened ominously from the swamp much which had coated it, most of the disgusting mess sloughing off of its upright form. Its head swayed about, antenna scanning it's surrounding as its mandibles chomped at the air, green viscous drool pouring from it.

"Is that a centipede?" Florence asked, her voice shell shocked, disbelieving her own eyes as the gargantuan predator turned towards the new noise.

"We need to run..." Kaleb said calmly, slowly backing away, Clarice still held in his arms, though she was steadily getting out of his grip and back onto her own feet.

"Whatever you all do, do not run!" Tantoo called out, making exaggerated movements that further managed to captivate the monster, which turned and towered over its former target anew.

"He's right", Collin concurred,"we'll never escape something that large and that fast, especially on its home turf. Like it or not, we need to fight."

They didn't get any further opportunities to coordinate. The monster centipede show towards Tantoo fast as lightning, reeling back as it drove into his outstretched short spear, aimed statically towards the threat. Though this was hardly a cause for celebration, as when it pulled back in agony, ichor spewing from its head wound, Tantoo went high into the air with it, hands locked in a death grip onto the only real weapon they had against it.

Collin was the next to act, rushing fearlessly towards its static body. The creature didn't notice it at first, which was how he managed to get several good hits in, his powerful fists cracking into its sternum.

Unsurprisingly though, it didn't do much other than make the boxer's fists bleed, not ever a crack to be shown for his efforts. Before long it got to grips and began trying to skewer him with one of its jagged spear-like appendages. Collin dodging out of the way of each animalistic attempt on his life with the sort of skill that only came with countless hours of practice.

Amazing. He doesn't look panicked. What the heck does a person have to do to get nerves of steel like that?

Tantoo, however, was another story, the man yelping frantically as he swung around the beast's head, battered by its antenna as he kept his grip on the spear, desperately avoiding its ravenous snapping mandibles with everything he had as he desperately tried to maneuver his feet onto any part of its body so he could try wrenching his weapon free.

"Any ideas, Kaleb?" Clarice asked of the now sweating Air Marshall, his eyes wide in disbelief and terror alike. She couldn't blame him, he, all of them, were only human.

"I don't know..."

Even still, it wasn't encouraging that their only military man was as useless as a screen door on a submarine.

"Fine. Be like that. How about you Flo-"

Clarice felt a whoosh pass her by as Florance Imran Bennu threw something full force at the creature, which struck its back with a crackling shattering sound that rang of broken glass. Seconds later, its turned back was on fire.

"Was that a Molotov Cocktail?

Florence nodded.

"Yeah, whipped a few up with the spare jet fuel. What? Didn't I mention it before?"

Okay, now she's taking this situation too well. On the surface at least. By the look in her eyes we're going to need to have a sit down once this is all over with.

The creature screeched as the flames washed over it, heating up its carapace and licking its fleshy joints. Even so, a side from some discomfort, it appeared shockingly unharmed.

"Well shit. I guess jet-fuel can't melt centipedes. If Jonah were here, I'm sure he'd be cracking a joke about-"

"Finally! Got it!!!" Tantoo roared in triumph. Kicking off the centipedes head as it was screeching off in frustration, tearing the spear free.

"Hold on, I've got you..." Clarice cursed as she moved as quickly as she could. She didn't expect to catch him, Collin was clearly on that, but some distraction help couldn't hurt.

Here goes nothing, she thought as she shoulder charged it with everything she had, stumbling backwards into the muck after her body crashed into its own, her bones ringing from the collision, her flesh bruised. She'd be nettled about her hair getting soaked in the stuff if she hadn't incidentally dodged some of its limbs in the same uncoordinated motion.

"That was brave Captain Ferrell, but stay back and let them deal with it! It's far too dangerous for a mere civilian to engage with!"

"You think I'm doing this for funsies? Grow a pair and help out if you're so fucking worried!"

"Clarice, get up and move before it goes for you. You're a sitting duck lying on the ground!!!" Collin barked at her as he narrowly anticipated the Centipede monster's latest strike, managing to roll out of the way at it careened into the swamp, cratering the ground where it impacted before snapping its torso back into its idle position.

"What is this thing? A Blood Souls boss?" Clarice muttered as she scrabbled away from it before she could get skewered by its limbs, scurrying over to Collin, who was just about ready to give punching the thing another go.

"Maybe don't break your hands on it, Megaton Merriweather" Florence called out, though, he didn't even react to the snide remark. He was completely focused on it, eyes washing over its every subtlest movement as his fearless stony face grimaced in apprehension.

"This is bad. That spear's just about the only thing that's hurt it so far, and even then, it doesn't look like it's done any serious damage..."

"Uh... you sure about that chief?" Clarice questioned as she gazed at the damage Tantoo had done, a gaping hole in the creature's head where the spear had pierced through, one of its two bulbous eyes leaking fluid through the chasmous wound.

"I've dealt with more than enough cockroaches in my life to know that the head isn't always a sure kill when it comes to creepy crawlies. The things living here don't make sense, and since it's not letting up, I'm pretty sure that means we can't count our chickens before they've hatched. Tch, Tantoo, you think a center of mass shot might do better?"

"By all that is good on this green Earth, get over here and help me out you lazy chatterboxes!!!" he screamed as he barely managed avoiding the monster's frenzied strikes, the only think keeping him a step ahead his outstretched spear, which the monster hesitantly avoided as best as it could. An advantage that, while keeping him alive, wasn't exactly a surefire survival strat.

Just then, another Molotov hit the thing, and Tantoo seized the opening, throwing his spear into a segment of its torso as hard as he can, the thing going right through, failing to stop, and hitting the ground next to Florence, who was going for another Molotov.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit... Clarice's thoughts ran that on a loop as she sprinted fast enough to keep up with Collin, diving for the spear as he in turn pushed Florence out of the way of its latest attack.

"The spear, toss it here!!!" Tantoo called out, and Clarice obeyed instinctively, chucking it afar and into his hands. He threw it again as the menacing monster towered over the three, its tip running up and through its upper body, getting stuck there.

"Why won't it die!" he cursed as, bleeding profusely, internal organs trailing out, it still menaced them, hissing with unbridled fury.

Then time seemed to freeze for Clarice, a moment stretching out for an eternity as the spear-tip glinted amidst the flames that lingered on the monster's body, steadily petering out.

That...

It seemed to... fizzle, the air around it hazy, like a mirage. She could taste an acrid tang in the air as a sticky sensation washed over her, distinct, though similar, to the swamp gunk that caked her skin. She heard something, a low pitched sound, only distinguishable by its nature of being the most horrible thing she'd ever heard, like the pure undistilled essence of the very concept of nails on a chalkboard, or a car getting key'd.

Looking at it sparked something in her very soul.

Her mind took a second to process it.

No...

Then she noticed a third and final Molotov soaring through the air towards the creature, which seemed turned to lunge anew at its latest irksome target.

NO!!!

Her mind was out of sync as the rest of her moved under its own volition, slamming sideways into Collin and sending them tumbling over to the hole the creature had caused with its emergence, enough wiggle room available for the both of them to fall in.

Though they were also uncomfortably, life threateningly close to its appendages.

Collin would've undoubtedly screamed at her for that dumb move... were if not for the sound that came after, the same that Clarice had heard before, tuned up a thousand-thousand-fold.

Then came light, then darkness. The earth shook, the air burned, and an explosion of ungodly magnitude roared above them.

The creature fell still as the tunnel around them collapsed into itself, the pair falling deep down into its unknowable depths...