DAA) Chapter 1 Part 3 (Patreon)

“What is that!? What is that! What the fuck is that!?” Briggs yelled at the top of his lungs. I understood that he was freaked out, but he needed to calm down.

I walked over to him and slapped him in the back of the head. “Get your shit together! You are acting more like a girl than I am!”

“Pfft!” Thomas couldn’t hold back his laughter. I guess this broke some of the tension in the air.

“Aiya’s right. Let’s move back and find good positions. Right now we do not know what that thing is. If it attacks us then we can just…” Cap stopped in the middle of his sentence as we watched the praying mantis-looking monster suddenly lift one of its blade-like arms. The blade portion began to glow green, and right as the bright light got to its breaking point, it swung its arm down. Before anyone could even react, a beam of green light cut through the air and right through Briggs.

“Huh?” Brigg’s eyes widened, as did ours. He turned to look at me with a look of horror in his eyes before his body suddenly split in two.

He didn’t even get to scream. But those eyes filled with fear imprinted on my mind. “Briggs! Fuck!”

Death comes with being in a militia. You could die at any time. No matter the mission, there was always a chance of death. But for the past two years, I have gone through life and death with these guys. They were my brothers. And to see Briggs look in his eyes, my mind went blank. “Shit! Briggs!”

Tears streamed from my eyes as I looked at the body lying on the ground. His blood and guts spilled out onto the floor of the cave.

“Shit! Shit!” Sounds of gunfire could be heard as Carlos began firing at the monster in front of us. Cap and Thomas began to follow. I felt a set of hands grab my arms, pulling me back as we made our retreat. My eyes stayed locked on to Briggs’s body.

We quickly retreated, unable to pull our dead. But what got me the most was that as soon as we retreated, the monster actually rushed forward and began eating Briggs’s body. The fucking thing actually began eating his body.

“Let go of me!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I kicked Bryan away. I readied my weapon and began marching forward, my hand on the trigger. Half blind from the tears in my eyes, I aimed for those two glowing red eyes. To me, that was its weak point. I had no idea what this monster actually was.

All I knew at this time was that I wanted to kill it no matter what. I watched through my blurred visions as my bullets sparked off the surface of its grayish skin. Until finally, two of my bullets hit their target.

“Keereee!” the monster cried out in pain as greenish fluid, I can only think, is blood splattered out of its eye. It staggered for a few seconds before suddenly falling to the ground. It flailed about, but I did not stop there. I dodged its scythe-like arms sho,ved the muzzle of my gun in its eye, and fired off a few more shots.

My breathing was heavy. I felt as if I was being stepped on by some invisible force. But all I knew at this moment and time was that I was able to avenge my brother.

“You idiot!” Cap, who seemed to have been following me, yelled out in anger.

I turned and looked at him as I gave a snort: “You didn’t stop me!”

“I know…” Cap lowered his head before placing his big palm on top of mine. “I knew if I did stop you, you would resent not only me but all of us. But I was ready to jump in if needed.”

“I had to kill it. If we just fell back and left Briggs…” My mind was a mess. I had never had to deal with the loss of someone so close to me. These guys were my family.

“I understand. You did well.” It was then Cap did something he normally would never do. His big, muscular arms hugged me and patted my back. I couldn’t help but break down. For the first time since I was really young, I let all my sorrows out. The loss of a family member is not easy. It hurt more than anything.

The others stood guard while I cried. I owe them for this. It too a while for me to calm down, which I felt slightly embarrassed about. “I gathered up his rations.” Bryan walked over with a full of rations.

“Split them amongst us. Give a few extra to Aiya.” I couldn’t help but feel slightly bitter. But I still took the rations and put them away.

“We should move.” The scent of blood was strong. I did not wish to have more monsters showing up. But that was only a side issue since, for some reason, in front of my eyes was a strange display. It said two words: [Level Up!] I have no idea why I was seeing such a thing, but I might actually be going crazy.

“Cap, when we go back I want to see one of those brain docs.” I really seem to be losing it. Because no matter which way I look that same screen followed my vision.

“No problem but let’s get out of this place first.” Cap answered with a hint of worry in his eyes.

“I’m fine for now. We should just get the hell out of this place.” I forced a smile as I checked my mags before reloading my weapon. I might be seeing shit, but for now, the task at hand was more important. At least the small screen was see-through.