A rush of excitement I hadn’t felt in ages surged through me. Just like the feeling of going on your first trip, or getting that new game. It was blissful. I stood up and grasped his hand, shaking it with confidence.
“Alright kid, let’s get the basics down.” Rob said, handing me a loaded AR-15. I grabbed the weapon and gripped it tightly, feeling the cold metal press against my skin. Pointing it up, I aimed it around, testing out its almost perfect mobility.
“This is nice,” I said to Rob with a smile.
“It will get you started.” Rob said, chuckling.
“First Order of Business. I want you to meet the rest of the crew.” Rob said, stepping back.
“Nick”
“Luke”
“Holley”
“Bill”
“And of course, Mary, the lovely chick you meet earlier.”
“We are the smallest team currently stationed in Northern Illinois. There are many like us, some larger and some smaller. Our primary goal is to track and exterminate any and all anomalous creatures. That gun you have there, it isn’t just your average AR, it is specially designed for this line of work, packed with entity killing hollow point rounds.” Rob said, pointing at the AR. I looked down and examined it once again. He was right. Everything was off. It was much larger and bulker than a normal AR-15.
“So, what you’re saying is this thing can actually kill entities, like ghosts.” I asked, looking the gun up and down, before looking back up at Rob.
Rob laughed, “Yeah, I guess you can put it that way.”
Rob then made his way into the hallway, motioning everyone to follow him. I strapped my gun around my chest and followed the way. Walking through the hall, I could tell everyone was uneasy, as if something really horrible was about to unfold. I tensed up as well, holding my AR tightly to my chest, ready to rip it off in an instant.
“Stop.” Rob shouted in a whisper. Then the sound of a loud train engine began booming through the valley. I recoiled in shock, trying to keep myself from falling. Luckily, Nick was close behind and caught me at the last second. Rob scanned the outside, slowly peering through the tall doors curtains. The sound inched closer and closer to us. Now ear bustlingly loud, Rob screamed at the top of his lungs.
“WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE RUN FOR THE BACK DOOR!”
I tripped and stumbled as everyone ran in a panic, almost slamming into the couch. I collected myself and continued on. We all made it to the back door. Kicking it open, Rob took aim at whatever was outside and fired. The loud, ear piercing sounds of gunshots rang through my ears. The rest of the crew joined in the mayhem as well. The shots grew louder, and so did the beast, roaring louder than anything I had ever heard in my entire life. I plugged my ears as I watched a large black hand sweep down and strike Rob, throwing him like a rag doll into the cornfield next to him.
I couldn’t just sit and watch as everyone die, so I took action, running out the door. I took aim and lit up the sky like fireworks. The beast was enormous. It had long jet-black arms, with a small miss shaped frame. Tall slender legs and a massive deformed head, with razor’s lining its pointy jaws. It screeched in pain as the bullets penetrated through his torso, ripping off bits of flesh with them. It began writhing and trying its best to shield its self but it was no use. The bullets slid through like a hot iron going through a piece of foam.
“Rob!” Mary shouted, running over to him.
Me and the rest of the gang didn’t lay off, emptying mag after mag into the beast before finally it fell with a loud bang, rocking the ground side to side. Everyone sighed in relief as we tried catching our breath. I quickly made my way over to Rob, stopping just behind Mary. I stared down at Rob laying on the ground unconscious. We made our way down to him, pushing through the tall corn planets that blocked our way.
“Rob!” Mary Shouted again, as she dropped to the ground and started shaking his head.
“Rob! Wake up!”
Rob snapped wake, flinching in fear. He almost smacked Mary across the face with his gun.
“What happened? Is that thing dead?” Rob asked, rubbing his head. Trying to get his bearings back.
“Yes, it is dead.” I said, interrupting Mary.
“Good,” Rob said slowly, standing up and chuckling.
“Damn, son of a bitch got me good.” Rob said jokingly, patting Mary on the shoulder.
Let’s get out of here. There will be more coming. Rob said, making his way up the hill and out of the cornfield. Grabbing his keys from his pocket, he waved everyone over to the van sitting in the parking lot next to the house.
We all headed his way, staring at the now dead beast laying in front of us. The smell that emitted from it was horrid. Think of a dumpster that sat for a year and then some. I held my nose as we made our way past it. Rob took out to gas tanks. Handing one to Nick, they both covered the foul beast in gas before lighting it a blaze. We stood and watched as its flesh began melting from its bone. Rob took one last revenge strike and spit on the creature right before we all hopped into the van and sped off, leaving the entity to burn.
We traveled down the rural country roads, zig- zagging through the tall dense tree lines. All of us were still a bit shaken up, watching the tree line closely for anything suspicious. Rob slammed on the brake. We slammed into each other as the van came to a screeching halt.
“Guys, 12 O’clock, we have another one.” Rob shouted as I rushed to take a peek through the front windshield. Standing in front of us was a small woman. With long dark hair and a bright yellow dress on, she stared directly into the van. Her eyes were nothing more than dark pits. It felt as if she was practically staring into our souls. Shivers ran down my spin as I tried to kick the uneasy feeling I was getting from her.
“We just can’t catch a break, can we?” Holley said as she grabbed out her pistol from its holster, cocking it back, ready to fire at the anomaly.
“Listen, no matter what you do, don’t stare into her eyes.” Rob said nervously while opening his door slowly.
We all followed as we slid the Van’s side door open and stepping out onto the hard rocky road below us. We slowly made our way around the side of the van with our guns drawn.
Rob held his hand up, ordering us to stop. We waited patiently for rob to give us the go ahead. The lady down the street was maybe just about 200 yards in front of us. This was a large enough distance for us to be safe until it made its way towards us.
The entity, now having her sights locked onto us, began lounging towards us at high speed. She was growing closer by the second. We stood there nervously, waiting for Rob’s signal. It felt like an eternity before he finally swatted his hand down and we opened fired.