Shadows of a Dying Light

Chapter 15

Berk leaped over the oozing corpses of the men he had begun to get along with, many faces he would never see in the Garrison again. He could see the bullet wounds, scratches, and gashes on each body as he fearfully pointed his flashlight around.

"May Allah bless your poor souls..." Berk whispered as he pushed forward, eventually coming across the van that he rode on. He looked inside, finding nobody. The man grabbed his walkie and began to contact Serkan.

"Serkan, this is Berk. Where are you?"

"Gathering the last of our men." The other man's voice crackled through the speaker. "There aren't many alive anymore. I've only found four others in total."

"Listen, we have to leave right now. That thing is still around, and who knows what else it's capable of doing."

Berk looked around with worry as he spoke into his walkie. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

The man shoved his walkie back into his pocket and began to head into the van. Once inside, he sat in miserable silence.

"What will Hunter do?" Berk said to himself.

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•

He saw Brecken's astonished face, and with just the last little bit of strength, he apologized.

Crane's words dripped out very slowly, but they were still audible. And just as he had finished his apology, the infection had pushed him right back to the emptiness. The projection of the outside world began to fade into view once more. He could see and hear things, yet he was imprisoned within his own mind.

However, things had begun to change. Crane had discovered that he could intercept the infection's control, momentarily gaining his body back for a little bit. Although it only worked for a few seconds, it encouraged him to try harder, to break through the wall he was stuck behind.

And he wanted to do so once more, but each time he tried, he could feel something malevolent lash out at him, putting him right back to square one. However, each time he kept trying, the feeling had begun to shrink away a tiny bit.

It was just a matter of time before he could begin to control body parts, but for now, he needed to pass through this.

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•

"He's just going to stay out there, let loose like a dog." Lena said sternly, making Brecken feel just the tiniest bit of shame.

"Yeah... There's really... nothing else we could do with him at the moment." The leader said. "So we'll just have to wait until Kyle can come back to his senses."

"That will take all night!" Said Lena. "And Crane still needs to deliver the elixirs to Dr. Camden!"

The doctor let loose a sigh of impatience. "Once this entire situation is dealt with, we're sending him back to Sector 0 to drop the elixirs."

"Yeah, we'll do that." Brecken said. "Let's just hope he can make the trip there in the dark..."

.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•

The Volatile's feet stomped on the floor, making pieces of trash fly in different directions. It sniffed out for prey, the smell of rich, crimson blood making it drool in hunger and delight. Soon enough, the creature's beard was coated in a slimy blanket of slobber.

It kept on looking around, not finding any signs of living humans. It could feel itself grow irritated from the lack of killing. The other thing ticking off the monster was the constant banging it felt inside its head.