As the frost of the Cryo Pod leaves my gaze, my feet hit the cold tile floor.
Time already, huh?
We all eat our meals, mostly Tofu and Protein bars. Some of the more dramatic guys put on some Halloween makeup and warpaint.
In the locker room, I change into my armor; slot my pouches into my belt and make sure I’m carrying flares and ammo for my trusty Rifle.
In the briefing hall; the CO barks out his orders. I don’t think most of us are paying attention. An MP is yelling at the guy next to me for not having his shotgun stowed away.
We’re deploying on the Alamo, our squad is told to march to the river and begin a FOB for a rescue mission. Apparently a distress beacon was sent, probably just a technical error. Still, work is work.
The ride is short; but annoying. My fellow Marines keep Oorahing and screaming; I have a headache and it’s too early for this.
We’re here. Like herded sheep we all move off the dropship…
…Into the dark.
Into the abyss.
Have you ever…stared into the abyss?
Do you even know what an abyss looks like?
I’ll tell you, it looks like a massive colony building. Benches, vending machines, signs of ordinary life that should be lived by some backwoods researchers or whatever.
Only covered in black. Pitch black. Strange black fungus outlines what was once normality; a sign that the mysterious forces of the universe have staked their claim on what we hold dear.
What was once familiar; is not safe.
Even the Chapel, the prayer room…there’s no divine presence felt. Only a cold vacuum, as it becomes hard to imagine regular attendance and good faith put forward here.
Despite the chatter and jabber of the comms channel; all I can hear is the void. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. In my heart, I know we’ve stumbled into something cruel.
If it was a massacre; where are the bodies?
If it was a sickness, where are the bodies?
If it was anything…where are the bodies?
We’re moving north now. Some reports on comms claim they’ve seen bugs. Weird creatures, black and red and grey; reports of a variety of colors. Are the guys just paranoid, sharing a delusion?
Or is there really something down here with us? A science experiment gone wrong? Strange beings from a far off world?..
…Or even, Demon’s from Hell itself?
Our engineers construct their walls and barricades. I take a break, dig into some of my MRE. It tastes awful; but I like it. It should taste awful. Something normal and familiar; uncorrupted by the shadows just out of my sight.
There isn’t silence.
There is squelching and gnashing, hissing and sounds of dripping liquid.
Coming from the shadows.
Coming from the Abyss.
Rifleman fire into the abyss. Sounds of bullets winding past tree’s and rocks slice through the air.
I still haven’t actually seen these monsters. I wonder if their real. Maybe the Abyss causes hallucinations. Maybe it gets into the mind of a Marine recently resurrected from Hyper-Sleep. Maybe…
I watch as a muscle-bound grey arm, rises through the window of Hydro. It grabs a squad member of mine by the throat, as he begins to shriek. I raise my rifle to shoot…
But as I fire the first shot, he is dragged outside. I didn’t see the full form of what had taken him.
But in the distance I can hear him.
Screaming at first.
Then the sounds of squelching, and muffled begging.
Only for these sounds to be absorbed too…
…Into the Abyss.
A moment passes.
Then another.
Overwatch is giving us order’s too fast.
Reports on open comms seem to be conflicting with one another…
A few Rifleman ignore orders and charge into the darkness, the sounds of shooting are then silenced by sounds of flying liquid and crunching.
They’re dead, right? Well. I hope they’re dead. A knot in my stomach tells me they want to be dead. As opposed to whatever these beings may do, a fate worse than death awaits us here. I know it in my heart.
The chaos, the slight disappearances of man by man, marines rushing into the dark while Overwatch gives the order to evacuate.
I begin to turn south, as I heed Overwatch’s order. Only to feel the ground beneath my boots begin to tremble. And tremble. And tremble again.
Something was coming, like a freight train; so suddenly and terribly. I had to quickly react in order to—
Oh.
…
…Oh.
I’ve been hit.
By what? I can’t really see…
As I fly through the air, I sort of make out the shape of what I think may be some kind of mutated Rhino. Or perhaps a demonic bulldozer. It had broken through the northern defenses so quickly, I really didn’t have time to process it…
I landed on the ground several yards away. Immediately, I know I’ve shattered all the bones in my right leg. That’s not good. It’s really not good—
Suddenly, I sensed a heavy presence over me. It wasn’t done running, was it? Charging not at me; but at those behind me. As it’s several ton foot raised over me, it stomped down with enough pressure to put an end to my critical thinking.
Yeah, pretty sure that just turned my spinal cord into dust. Out of the corner of my eye; I am pretty sure I see one of my hands flying upwards in an arc.
Did it at least hit whatever was behind me? Did it even notice I was there? I am unable to turn my head and look; due to now being a mangled mess on the floor. It’s over for me. I wasn’t looking in the northern direction; I turned away, and now this is it.
How much time has passed since I turned around? 3 seconds? 4 seconds?
Is that all the time it takes to go from a full functional living soul; to just a grave marker on the battlefield?
As my brain rapidly shuts down to put me out of my misery; I think to myself. Well, the best that I can in this state. No thoughts string together quite so cleanly; given my physical affliction of being a powdered husk.
Why were we here? No, really.
Why?
I had a life before the USCM, ya know.
I had a brother I meant to visit. It was always “next weekend” and never “today” though.
…When was the last time I called my Mom?
What was the last thing I said to my Dad?
Did any of the higher ups here really think about this? Do they care? Probably not.
I mean, I’m a Marine. Or well, I was.
I was a number, a cog in the system. Ready to lay down my life to fight.
I just wish I atleast could have died, knowing what battle I was even fighting.
Why I’m here, in the abyss.
What really lurks here, how far it will spread.
How much it will take from the others here, how many of them will experience fates so much like mine. Do they have regrets? Do they think these thoughts in their final moments?..
….
It’s cold now.
This must be it.
It feels so numb, like frost covering my entire body.
If life is warmth; surely this freezing embrace must be death here to relieve me.
I accept it. I did my job, whatever it was.
For whatever it was worth.
I go into the cold, as my soul departs…
….
…
……
…As the frost of the Cryo Pod leaves my gaze, my feet hit the cold tile floor…
Time already, huh?