"Palmer!" Melody squealed, running over and hugging his leg like a lifeline.

  "Melody! Not the time!" Palmer growled, his rifle still aimed squarely at Yahd. His eyes darted between her and the glowing figures in front of him.

  Yahd was frozen, his pistol raised, his expression shifting between confusion and alarm. 'Wait, huh? What is happening? He's from the compound, right?'

  "It's okay!" Melody grinned, "They like you!"

  "Like me?" Palmer asked, a whirlwind of confusion wracking his mind. He pulled his eyes away from Yahd, looking down at Melody, seeing her big smile.

  "She says she was rescuing me. All these other people are going to take us away from here!"

  "It's true," Zoe said, stepping forward cautiously, her hands still raised in a non-threatening gesture. The faint orange glow of her aura seemed to flicker gently as she spoke. "We are not here to hurt either of you."

  "Our job was to rescue her," Kalimba spoke up.

  The mercenary rubbed his wrists, looking down at where the bindings had been; deep red marks covered his forearms. He didn't know what he saw back before he had escaped from the helicopter; he wasn't sure he could put it into words even if he wanted to. "One second it was barren, the next it was like a jungle oasis…"

  He sat behind a dead tree, leaning against it, his coat covering him like a blanket. Not sure where else to go, he had followed some car tracks, hoping it would bring him to a nearby village. He took out a small flask and shook it; a small splash could be heard from inside. 'That won't last me till morning,' he thought.

  He spun around, alerted by the crunching of sand behind him. Rising to his feet, he retrieved the pilfered gun from his pocket, squinting to discern a black figure against the backdrop of the moonlit and star-studded sky.

  "Hello?" he called out. "Are you an animal?" Startled, he fired into the darkness. In that fleeting moment, a large red creature with bloodshot yellow eyes came into view, towering yet hunched, bipedal, with muscular ripples traversing its bipedal form.

  Panicking, the mercenary fired into the darkness. He watched in horror as the beast lunged forward, the bullets missing their target entirely. Before he could react further, the creature pounced.

  In a swift motion, the creature ripped the mercenary's head off, consuming it along with the rest of his body. His fingers crunched like pop rocks in its mouth as it chewed and swallowed.

  The beast stopped; it stood tall, fixing its hunched-over posture.

  It gazed down, reaching for the blood-stained pistol, scrutinizing the small object in its oversized hand.

  Slowly, it wrapped its fingers around the pistol's handle, encircling the trigger and squeezing it. Startling itself, a resounding bang echoed through the desert as the creature discharged the weapon.

  "This ground seems pretty fertile, considering the forest over there. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a town close," Zoe said.

  "You know," Palmer said, her words sparking a memory from many months prior. "I think she's right. Maybe like ten to twenty miles away, there's a town. More houses than people, but it is habitable. Running water, and gas."

  "No," Kalimba shook his head. "I'd rather we just power through and go back to the ship."

  "Wait," Asher said, looking at the map. "We went pretty out of the way, and between us and the ship is the colony. We can call Damon and tell him what's happened and see what he wants to do from there."

  Palmer looked over his shoulder, pointing to a dark spot on the map, "And between us and 'Outback,' is the town I was just talking about."

  Kalimba sighed, "Okay, fine."

  Forty minutes later, The jeep and truck pulled to a stop at the edge of the sprawling village. It was compact yet overgrown with lush vegetation. Most of the houses were made of orange wood and stone, blending into the desert terrain, but green vines and creeping moss gave the place an almost enchanted appearance.

  'This reminds me of Cassius,' Zoe thought. Zoe thought, lagging slightly behind the group as she took in the eerie, deserted beauty of the village. It felt like time had stopped here, the houses untouched by human hands for years.

  "Should we just pick a house to crash in?" Yahd finally asked after several minutes of walking. "Pretty sure we're the only ones 'round here."

  In front of her, Zoe watched as Melody skipped along beside Palmer, her hand squeezing his.

  'It's like when he's around, she doesn't have a care in the world,' Zoe thought, slowly shuffling cards in her hand.

  "Eenie, meanie, minie," Mitani pointed to different houses, "Moe!" he pointed to the largest house in the cluster—the only two-story house they could see in the whole village.

  Kalimba walked to the door, knocking loudly, asking if anyone's inside. When he heard no answer, he turned the knob; the door slid open quietly. "Hello?" He called once more, before walking in and sitting on the couch.

  Everyone walked in behind him.

  Palmer flicked a nearby light switch, but he swiftly realized that, at least in this house, none of the electricity was functional.

  "Should someone take watch?" Mitani suggested once everyone had found a place to sleep.

  "Good Idea!" Yahd grinned. "Since you offered, I think it should be you!" He sat on the dining room table that was covered with thick blankets.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Wait, hold on," Mitani protested.

  Asher cracked one eye open. The room was a lighter shade than he last saw it, guessing that it was early morning. He slinked out of the bottom bunk, walking to the bathroom in the next room over.

  He lifted the seat, seeing no water in the bowl. Asher mumbled a curse, and walked back to the bedroom, putting on his glasses, and slipping on his shoes. He moved down the stairs and walked through the living room. Mitani, the one they 'nominated' to take watch, had passed out in a chair in front of the window next to the front door.

  His breath clouded in the early morning air; the sky had turned a dark blue, the constellations still littering the sky. "Probably about five," he guessed. "'Once I get back, I'll wake them.'

  He wandered around, looking for some place with running water, or a place to use the bathroom without being indecent. Indecent to who? He didn't really know. Even with no one around, the idea of going in the open didn’t sit right with him.

  For several minutes, he walked until he peered down into a stone well, checking for any signs of water. Suddenly, a scream—raw, blood-curdling, and filled with agony—echoed through the village.

  His head snapped up, scanning the surroundings in alarm. 'Where did that come from?' he wondered, turning his gaze back toward their temporary home. 'It sounded like a woman's scream, but not Zoe...' The cry echoed again, a woman's voice screaming so vehemently that he feared her vocal cords might tear, but the sounds emanated from the opposite direction of their dwelling.

  Before he realized it, his legs were moving on autopilot, sprinting toward the source of the noise. He dodged twisted trees, leaped over shrubs, and veered around crumbling houses. Each scream urged him to move faster, the desperation in the voice searing itself into his mind.

  He crashed through a fence, reaching what was obviously the town square. Buildings and homes placed on the outside of the circle, the dirt paths turned to brick road as the center of the circle stood a bronze statue.

  Asher's breath got caught in his throat. He hunched over, dry-heaving, feeling as if he were about to void every internal organ he had.

  The statue stood marred in crimson, with chunks of flesh marring its once dull bronze coating. Beneath it, the bricks were drenched in blood, fragments of bone, and tattered clothing—a grotesque scene, as if someone had put fifty people in a blender.

  Asher doubled over, dry heaving, his stomach twisting painfully at the sight. "I-is this… real?" he whispered, tears streaming down his face. His breath hitched as he forced himself to take a trembling step forward. His shoes squelched against the blood-soaked bricks.

  He whirled, hearing a rustling in the backyard of a nearby home.

  Meanwhile, Leo hopped the fence into the backyard of the small, wide, orange home. His two colleagues followed suit.

  "It's gotta be around here. It's within a mile," he said.

  Back at the square. 'I don't know who that is, but if they're sneaking around; I bet they had something to do with this,' Asher thought, hearing the sound of movement behind a nearby orange house.

  The village was sloped, with the group's home being at one of the highest points in the area.

  Without hesitation, he sprinted down the hill, cutting between houses and weaving through back alleys. His glasses fogged with his rapid breathing as he pushed himself to move faster.

  Skidding to a stop behind a peeling blue-and-orange house, he closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them, an amber glow bathed the surrounding area, his energy aura shimmering faintly. 'I bet they're still asleep, so I'll send them a message. I'll warn them!'

  He clutched his hands together, concentrating on what the message was going to say. About ten yards away, the sound of a branch breaking nearby made him whip around, his aura dimming as his concentration broke.

  "Ah!" He screamed, and with his hands still clasped, sprinted farther down the hill. Asher weaved between houses, then cut across town back in the direction of the home.

  "Okay, a little farther and I'll release it. Just maybe a quarter of a mile more." He hopped over a small stream. Bang. A shot rang out. Asher’s body jerked mid-air before crumpling to the ground. Blood poured from the gaping wound in his throat, pooling beneath him as his energy flickered weakly around his crumpled form.

  The beast emerged from the shadows, a grin stretching grotesquely across its red face. In its hand, it tightly gripped a pitch-black pistol.

  Asher's hands fell to his side, "Message, release!" He thought. He attempted to speak, but only a gurgle escaped his throat. Coughing, he felt the blood slowly seeping back down his throat and into his lungs. "Send to Zoe, Palmer, Mitani, Kalimba, and Yahd!"

  He heard it again—a chorus of people screaming, the woman's wail louder and more piercing than ever. Gazing down, he observed the beast's mouth moving, mimicking the earlier wails it had heard.

  A bullet ripped through Asher's skull and punctured the ground beneath him as the beast pulled the trigger once more. It continued firing in rapid succession until the gun clicked, spent.

  The beast spat out the glass from Asher's glasses as it started its feast, its eyes rolling back in its head.

  Upon reaching Asher's kidneys, it emitted a groan of pleasure. "So fun!" it gurgled. "Killing you was so much fun!"