The Eternal Winter - Book 1 - Chapter 45 - Escape (Patreon)

                                                                                             Alexander North

By the time we take two steps out of the storage room, we find ourselves stopping due to the shaking of what feels like the entire base, along with cracks beginning to form on the ceiling.

I share a glance with Cynthia before we both burst into a sprint down the hall towards the main hangar. And on the way, we end up finding the civilians and soldiers that we had separated from a little while ago rushing out of a different storage room.

For some reason they each send me frightened gazes, but I ignore them as we run.

Once we make it to the main hangar though, the shaking of the walls grows stronger, and the reason why becomes quickly evident.

We all stop at the entrance to the main hangar before looking between the wrecked hallway, where a cave-in apparently happened due to the shaking, and the main hangar, which once again has the two large frozen ones fighting in it. Although this time, the lieutenant colonel along with three captains are fighting along with him, with each of them covered in injuries all over their bodies, just like the large frozen ones themselves.

None of them have any weapons on them, and the officers’ armor is all but destroyed at this point as well. It’s to the point that I have trouble seeing them surviving even if they were to win the battle. But at the same time, the frozen ones look to be in even worse condition.

I narrow my eyes before frowning.

“Alex!” I hear a familiar voice shout, attracting my attention towards the command center, where I see captain Andrew along with my squad. Or at least, everyone in my squad except for Robert.

“Glad to see you’re alright!” I shout back at him while keeping an eye on the fight right as the lieutenant colonel rushes at the worm with his fist raised while letting out a loud shout. Meanwhile, the three captains move around the frozen symbiont in what looks to be an attempt to herd it towards the worm on the other side of the lieutenant colonel. “Where are the civilians and soldiers of the base? Did they already evacuate?”

The captain nods his head as he runs down the stairs and says, “Yes, they did. But everyone here,” he pauses with a quick nod of his head behind himself, “decided to wait for you until the last minute.”

So, everyone but Robert.

I guess that’s to be expected.

“Alright,” I respond before looking at the tunnel that the worm had dug that should connect to the third hangar, making it the only clear path to the stairwell. “The hallway seems to have caved in, so it looks like we’re stuck going through the tunnel.”

The captain and the others catch up to me right as I finish, following which he nods and we all begin heading off towards the tunnel in a hurry. But before we can get anywhere near close to the tunnel, the large body of the frozen symbiont suddenly goes flying straight in front of us, making an imprint in the way and freezing everything around it.

“Hurry up!” I hear one of the fighting captains shout as the three rush past us as well and begin trying to stall the monster for us to make it past them.

I give them a salute in thanks while rushing past them again towards the tunnel, stopping only after we reach it to make sure along with the captain that everyone made it.

“Go!” I hear the lieutenant colonel shout while holding onto the large worm. “Get out of here before we can’t hold them back anymore!”

Damn it, is he trying to sacrifice himself?!

I feel the captain pulling on my arm, making me start running alongside him and the others back into the tunnel, leaving behind the fighting frozen ones and symbiont hosts.

Let’s just hope that those are the only powerful frozen ones around here.

As we run through the tunnel, it gets noticeably darker and darker until a certain point where it just stops growing darker, making me let out a sigh of relief.

If it had kept getting darker, then I wouldn’t be able to see at all.

Actually, now that I think about it… why are we able to see at all inside of this building when there’s no light?

I stop walking at that thought before looking down and thinking about it.

Could it be because of the lights given off by the frozen ones and shards? Or what?

A few seconds later, I feel someone walk into me before immediately apologizing. And when I turn around, I find Cynthia and the others seemingly having trouble seeing.

“Am I the only one who can see?” I ask out of curiosity.

“Probably,” Cynthia answers in a tone that would suggest her not being happy with that fact. But immediately after her answer, captain Andrew says, “I can see well enough.”

Hmm, looks like I’m not the only one then. Of course a symbiont host has better night vision than a regular human.

My thoughts are interrupted at the sound of something moving across the ground, so I turn around again to see some small versions of that large worm frozen one crawling across the walls, floor, and even the ceiling of the tunnel towards from around a bend in the tunnel. And surprisingly, they don’t seem to have any energy in them, considering their lack of blue glo-

One of them suddenly falls from the ceiling, exposing a faint blue glow from its underside before quickly turning over to cover it again once it lands.

A couple of the others exclaim in surprise while everyone begins drawing their weapons, but I’m left using my claws again due to the loss of my sword, which was apparently destroyed by the frozen symbiont during our escape. Along with my knives.

I grimace at that thought, but I quickly focus on the worms as more of them begin to jump down from the ceiling.

“Watch out, there are a bunch of smaller versions of the large worm here on the floor, walls, and ceiling,” I warn the others while raising my clawed hands to a ready position.

I just hope they don’t have some sort of surprise for me. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they do.

And as if responding to my thoughts, the closest worm to me suddenly opens its mouth and spits out a pale blue glob that makes me shout, “Dodge!” while avoiding, letting it fly straight past me, and straight past the ones behind me as they react to my shout and move to land on the floor of the tunnel. It then begins sizzling as if made of acid or something while also somehow freezing the area around it.

Okay, that’s just unfair. Acid and ice? Seriously?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord Invite

Top Web Fiction

Table of Contents