Chapter Text
Click. Cli-i-i-i-ck.
Elias sat next to the other man, who silenced himself and rested his head on his shoulder.
“You're okay with participating?”
“It’s getting better,” Marius mumbled, careful not to poke him with the spikes on his foam-sculpted helmet, “Plus, making these noises is fun.”
Elias pursed his lips, pulling him a bit closer. He didn't mind the spikes.
“You can keep making them,” He said.
Cli-i-i-ck.
Marius would still wake him in the night sometimes- shaking and kicking. God knows how many times it happened and he didn't wake up.
“It’s kind of a nice distraction anyway. I’d just never stop thinking if I weren't distracted.” Marius tapped his heels on the metal legs of the bench.
“We could go out somewhere: take a vacation, or just go back home for a while. Take some time off.” He suggested.
Cli-i-i-ck.
“Elias, I'm okay, really. I feel like I'm so close to being able to finish processing it all, and I think this could do it.”
…
“It's just hard to look at in the mirror. I wish I were fighting them instead, with an actual gun, and not just my handgun like in New Mexico. I want to know I can fight them, I can protect myself and the team, not just be a liability.” Marius added.
“Let's arrange for that then, we can talk to… whoever the hell is arranging this mess.”
Cli-i-ck.
“I think it was Collinn.”
“Ah, mh-hm.” Elias placed his hand on top of Marius’, “You're sure you’ll be okay?”
“I'm sure. I know it's weird, but I do really think it could help- it's almost like I'm facing my fears.”
“Alright. I'm coming to drag you out if something happens though, okay?”
Marius lightly bumped Elias with his shoulder, smiling, “Okay.”
It was disgusting to look at, really. The way creatures' hard skin stretched around its body, wrapping over itself in layers. Up close, it almost looked wooden, stuffed with organic material that could hardly be called natural.
Even more disgusting than its inhuman textures was the fact that it was trying to appear human, evident by the pulsating red that ran up its cheek, imitating Aruni’s scar. It didn't understand what it was, but it understood that it was an important detail to replicate. That wasn't just disgusting, it was terrifying.
Blitz pulled the trigger, his bullet piercing the crimson and disappearing into an eruption of a viscous mess. The creature fell to the floor, lifeless and already beginning to deteriorate. He paid it no mind as he moved past it, eyes sweeping to either side and snapping back to focus down the barrel of his P12 every few seconds.
Stepping out into the hallway, the ceiling above him creaked, thin wood chips sprinkling onto him, bouncing off his helmet. Behind him, Amaru gave a firm pat to his shoulder, and he nodded, turning right and she split off, making her way up the stairs.
More fragments of wood came down on his helmet as Amaru walked above him, and he could tell she stopped when the rot was no longer showering him. He could barely hear her fire over the creaking of the building and the writhing of the thick tendrils that sprawled over the walls.
“Hostile down,” She crackled over his radio, and he let out a breath.
He took careful steps as he moved down the stairs, pausing when he heard a particularly loud, odd noise at the bottom. There was crackling, as well as a sound he could only describe as prolonged tearing of flesh. It made his cheeks pinch, but he took another step, the sound fading out as he followed it around the corner.
He was greeted with the sight of an empty room ahead of him, which didn't particularly put him at ease.
Fortunately, he cleared the room and its attached hallway quickly and with no problems, but coming back to the base of the stairs, the source of the noise was still undetermined. Which unsettled him greatly.
He snapped to aim at the wall as he heard the same noise from before behind it, slowly lowering his weapon as he realized there was no accessible way in or out. The corners were cracked and crumbling open, peeking into a dark but clearly hollow space. He hesitated to approach it even after the noises died down again, careful to make as little noise as possible while unfolding a breaching charge onto the wall.
Light was quick to flood into the closet when he blew it open, and his focus wavered upon seeing two shoes tumble out on top of the rubble. Identical to his in design, merely colored different, they were easy to identify and he felt his heart drop; his eyes drifting upwards, trailing up the body of a creature, its head hidden in a glob of tissue hanging from the ceiling.
“No,” He breathed, the sight bringing tears to his eyes. Please, no, we were supposed to save you!
He took a step back as the creature writhed. Please, stop!
It ripped itself away from the nest on the ceiling, revealing its head, with a silhouette that matched that of the man they came in to extract. His pistol was pointed at its head, and he could swear he was pulling the trigger, but nothing happened. Not even the click of an empty chamber.
Within seconds it had knocked him onto his back, pinning him under his shield as more tears welled, unable to fight back even if he could move.