The sound of glass cups clinking together and men laughing filled a local bar that was always filled with off duty, and sometimes on duty, soldiers looking to unwind or burn some energy. With Molina being a usually quiet city and the war now over, men and women of the armed forces were celebrating the new found peace and their survival.

  Desdemalta entered the war at a severe disadvantage. Outnumbered and outgunned, they weren’t as equipped for long-term combat like their neighboring countries who were also battling invaders on all fronts. But despite the many struggles and casualties, Desdemalta won most of the battles they had engaged in. The many battles weighed heavy on everyone, so it was only fair that they be allowed to let off some steam after four years straight of constant warfare.

  While others partied and were getting drunk, one soldier was sitting alone at a table near the window. His gaze was fixed on the military base in the distance where he and his team called home and the glass of whiskey in his hand remained for the most part untouched. Instead he lit a cigarette and spent his time swirling the smoke around his fingers as they danced to every motion he made. Then a hand slammed down in front of him, breaking his long gaze.

  “Rowan! You’ll never make friends hiding in a corner like this.” The voice shrieked.

  The man, Rowan, coughed in surprise. The sudden slam made him almost swallow the cigarette he was puffing on. He fought to regain his breath before looking back up with an angry frown and questioned, “The hell was that for Millie?”

  Millie stood up and crossed her arms, grinning ear to ear, “To get you to smile a bit. For a man that’s happy to be alive, you sure don’t look like it.” She grabbed a chair and sat across from Rowan. “Brick and Reuben are already drunk, we might have to carry them out again.”

  Rowan groaned and he chugged his whiskey. She was right. This was a celebration and he was killing the mood. Normally he’d be all about completing his missions, but in these circumstances there was nothing wrong with taking it easy for once. Especially after everything he and his team had been through. Their specialty was zone control. That meant diving into enemy territory and taking it from them by force. Millie was their medic, the rest of them were breach specialists. Machines in uniform that killed men without mercy. Just thinking about those that he killed made his replacement mechanical right leg shake and the parts where metal met skin ache. It was always Millie that reminded them that they’re human and they are allowed to feel. Now that the war’s over, it was about time for Rowan to be a human again.

  He finally stood himself up to join his teammates in their celebration, until he felt someone throw themselves on his back and throw an arm over his shoulder. Rowan smelled a subtle hint of Hibiscus and knew who it was.

  The person, a woman, rested her head on his left shoulder with her arm draped over his right. Her long, curly black hair hung down her back and shoulders in a thick ponytail that not even her hair ties could contain. Her almond colored eyes fluttered to move her long eyelashes and then drifted over to Rowan as she gave him a soft and warm smile. A small amount of sweat was traveling down her Golden brown skin and her eyes that usually always carry a seductive look were now set on his scowl. Her plump lips puckered as she poked his cheek and began mocking Rowan, “Why the long face? You’re the only person I know that can be angry at a party.”

  Rowan scowled, “Haunani, good to see you survived too.”

  Haunani laughed and gave a mock salute like she’s imitating a general, “That’s Captain Haunani Rosario to you. I’m just kidding, Titles mean nothing today. I’m happy to see you and your team made it out alive too. Did you keep that good luck charm I gave you?”

  Rowan fished in his pocket and pulled out a little wooden charm carved in the shape of a small wolf that she made for him before they were deployed then said, “I never leave home without it.”

  Haunani smiled back then became lost in a conversation with Millie. Haunani and her team were members of a company of snipers within the army’s Black Ops units. They specialized in convoy protection and scouting from afar, so many times on missions she was there watching his back. Even if she wasn’t on the front lines, there was no mistaking she was there by how deadly accurate her sniping was.

  Rowan was honestly happy to see her, to see they all survived how terrible that war was. Then radios all over the bar began to buzz to life. Every captain or anyone that had their personal radios tuned to the channel specific to Molina’s military base looked to each other in unison as the static began and voices came through the speakers. Screams and the sounds of gunshots firing in the background was all that they heard, followed by inhuman screeching. After a couple minutes, a man spoke into the radio. His voice was out of breath and he grunted in between breaths as if something had injured him. “Attention, any soldiers still alive in Molina. This is Commander Durst. Something….not human…..is attacking and killing people all across the city. They’ve made it to the base, even the automatons are acting up. They’re all covered in these violet pus bubbles, and….” His voice trails off as the screeches are drowned out by metallic whirring and sickening squelching. An audible loud screech of metal being warped can be heard in the background. All that Durst could get out was, “Oh my God.” before machine gun fire rang out and the radios went silent.

  The bar slips into a dead silence. Before, they were partying so loud that they drowned out the outside world. But now that they’ve been made aware of the world again, off in the distance toward the direction of the center of Molina, they could hear the screams of people losing their lives and the ungodly screeches of creatures that may have once been human but not anymore. That's when the world fell apart, and they all felt it. Many were unsure if what was happening was real. “This has to be a joke.” and “This has to be some kind of nightmare. We must have been drinking too much.” were thoughts that parroted off one pair of lips to another. Others, the ones who had refrained from drinking themselves silly, knew very well that this was no dream. This was real life, trapped in a living nightmare.

  Men and women began to scream and panic. They questioned what protocols are in place to tell them how to handle this situation. Not even the higher ranking officers in the bar could muster a good enough response to give people some direction.

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  Haunani and Millie were frozen in place, processing what they just heard. They both looked to Rowan hoping that he would have some kind of wisdom that’ll make sense of what they just heard.

  Millie’s entire body shuddered violently while she tried to make sense of what just happened and the panic erupting around her, “We just heard people die. I thought i’d be used to this but…..this feels different. Like something none of us are ready for.”

  Haunani just shook her head then whipped around to Rowan and asked, “What the hell was that, Rowan?”

  Rowan was still trying to figure it out himself. Regardless of the situation, the real problem was the small army in front of him that was scared out of their minds and disorganized. Molina would surely succumb to whatever is happening without its protectors level headed enough to do their jobs.

  Rowan walked past Haunani and Millie and called out, “Hey! Everyone please listen to me!” The call fell on deaf ears for the panicked masses. Rowan knew he would need to go to more drastic measures. He grabbed his rifle from the wall and climbed up on the bar, then shot two rounds through the ceiling. The crowd went quiet as they all were now looking up to Rowan. The light of the setting sun draping over him like a cloak through the fresh new holes he shot through the roof. Now he had their attention.

  With the room silent, Rowan let his rifle hang at his side in one hand and addressed the soldiers in front of him, “Now that I have your attention. Most of you know who I am, for those that don’t, my name is Rowan Servis. Many of you I’ve served with since boot camp, many more have seen me on the battlefield. I understand we just barely came home from war with our lives. I heard the same radio transmission you all did, and now we hear it in the streets. There are people that need us out there and they can’t save themselves. I don’t know about you all, but come hell or high water i’m going out there. Are you?”

  Rowan jumps down from the bar and walks amongst the crowd. Their faces begin to turn from fear to determination as they clutch their weapons with white knuckles. He continues, “I will not set aside your feelings. You’re tired, You’re scared. So am I. So, pack your fear in bullets and load them into your rifles. I’m heading out there to save as many as I can. Those that want to join me, feel free.”

  The soldiers have now erupted from panic to pure determination as they all begin spilling out into the streets behind Rowan who starts giving orders, “Two teams head west and set up a safe zone, Three teams cover ground in the North part of Molina and do the same, I’ll take my team West, the rest go south. Haunani, your team head East and scout that section of the city. We need to know what's happening here. Everyone keep your radios on and send reports every few minutes of what you see. Keep each other informed about everything that you’re seeing out there.”

  Haunani and the three soldiers behind her all grab their rifles and begin heading off to the Eastern portion of Molina. She looks back and grabs Rowan's shoulder then says, “Not the leader type my ass.”

  Rowan responds, “Don’t die out there. Radio me if anything happens, I mean it.”

  Haunani gives him a wide grin and waves as she runs off while giving orders to her people for them to keep their eyes open for any routes to higher ground and to keep their radios on.

  Rowan looks over to Millie, Brick, and Reuben who are awaiting their orders. He walks over to them and exclaims, “We go west. Scope out the scene, search for survivors, and set up a safezone. Then we go from there. Move out.”

  ***

  By the time Rowan and his team made it near the Western portion of the city, it was already a blood bath. Bodies of the dead were piled up one after the other and fresh blood stained any open road or surface. Sharp pieces of bone like projectiles protruded from walls, surfaces, and people they were impaled to. The stench of decomposition and death under the summer sun was almost unbearable. They moved cautiously, walking over pools of blood and black liquid that had a strange hint of a violet glow. Across the street, a blood drenched baby carriage rolled in their direction. None of them dared to open it. With the amount of blood it was covered in, it was safe to assume no signs of life would be found there. Rowan couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Millie had to forcibly shake her fear aside and immediately began checking for survivors. Rowan, Brick, and Reuben made a protective circle around her wherever she decided to stop. So far, there were no living bodies among the mounds of the dead that littered the streets.

  Brick looked around then said, “May God have mercy on our souls.”

  Rowan called back, “Good to see you boys sobered up. We’re gonna need you in your right minds for this one.”

  As Millie went to check another body. One of the dead bodies began to writhe and spew a black liquid out of its mouth. Its skin tore and peeled and violet spores broke through from underneath. The skin fell away and ripped like a child opening their christmas present. Bones cracked, the body flipped over backwards and new plates of bones grew from its skin. Its chest cavity tore open as all its innards were laid bare and a gnarled bony like cage grew over its now exposed organs. Its neck turned a whole 180 degrees and it walked backwards on hands and feet with its chest and stomach arched high in the air. It screeches a feral scream, signaling more like it to rise from among the dead and attack the team of soldiers.

  One of them went straight for Millie but Rowan used the butt of his gun to knock it away and put his body between Millie and this creature before him. Brick and Reuben were spraying shots at the others but the monsters shrugged their bullets off. Most of the bullets hit the bony growths that were protecting their most valuable parts and fell to the street. The creature that attacked Millie opened its mouth and its tongue coiled out like a snake before launching at Rowan. He narrowly dodged the attack as the tongue, which he now noticed had a sharp end to it, whizzed past and struck the light pole next to him. Rowan used that split second chance to fire rounds at the squishier parts he could see. The bullets tore into its mouth and any smooth muscle not protected by cartilage armor. One of its arms flew off in a fountain of blood as it screeched and fell over. Brick and Rueben did the same, aiming for the more vital parts or chipping away at the bony cage until the internal organs were showing. One of the creatures tried to back attack Brick but Rueben shoulder charged it to the ground and delivered a tactical knife straight into its heart. The heart beat its last as the thing bled out in a blackened puddle and died.

  Reuben yelled out, “Captain! Their hearts! Break their bones and aim at their hearts.”

  Rowan did exactly that. He walked over to the one he shot earlier and stepped on its head to keep it still. Then he fired three rounds into its chest, two to break its cage and one to pierce the heart. With the creatures dead they all reconvened to discuss.

  Brick yelled, “What the fuck was that?”

  Rowan replied, “I don’t know. But we have to keep moving. If they heard the shots then more will be coming soon.”

  They continued down the road a bit until they heard the sound of a struggle. Trash cans falling down and someone grunting as if they were in a fight. The team quickened their pace until they saw someone fall from the nearby alleyway with one of those monsters on top of her. The girl kicked it away and was ready for another attack. Before it even had the chance, Rowan signaled Brick and Reuben who charged the creature. Brick shot it down from a distance, blowing its soft parts off and sending them splattered in the streets while Brick pinned it down, pried its chest open, and stabbed its heart.

  Rowan and Millie caught up. Millie was still checking for survivors while Rowan approached the terrified and blood covered girl. She didn’t look any older than 23 and her big Olive green eyes were beginning to well up with tears. The tinge of violet coloring in her pupils held a faint glow as she stared into his eyes. He dropped down to one knee and asked, “Are you hurt?”

  She answered, “I don’t know. I’m scared.”

  Rowan looked at her and smiled. Given what’s going on, she had every right to be. Hell, they all did. He wanted to reassure her, show her that he’s here to get her through this. He responded, “It’s okay. Me too. Then let’s make sense of this madness together. My name is Rowan Servis.”

  She wiped her tears then straightened her back and gave a weak smile back, “Hi Rowan, my name is Shara Fend. You don’t know what’s going on right now either, do you?”

  Rowan helped her up then said, “I wish. For now, let’s make a safe spot for folks to take a break. Stay close to us, okay?”

  Shara nodded then lifted her pole up in defense and replied, “Where you go, I follow.”

  The five of them continued on down the hellish street, checking for survivors among the dead and inviting anyone still living to come along. Rowan was unsure where somewhere “safe” could be in a situation like this, but for the growing number of people that were looking to him for guidance, he had no choice but to find something, and fast.