Covert Infiltration

The lights in the room suddenly turned on as the door was covered by large metal barriers, allowing C to look around the blockade. The room was filled with soldiers, all armed with various rifles or shotguns. The soldiers were told to stay back from the doors, leading C to notice the two machine guns set up on the sides of the room. C assumed that they were SAWs, but remembered that the military had phased them out several months prior; either way, he quickly moved to the back of the room.

The soldiers moved into position, forming a ring around the door consisting of three semi-circles; one of proned soldiers, another with those that were kneeling, and the last of soldiers standing. C was given a headset by one of the soldiers. "Might need to cover your ears for this." The soldier said.

By the time C slipped on the headset, the movement in the room had died down. The entire room was silent, with only the shuffling of gears being heard from time to time. C had wondered if the assailants had left, until metallic stressing revealed their presence. The strain pierced through the silent room, and C could not tell where it originated from; as was the case for the soldiers, who occasionally peered around at the side walls. The stressing slowly became louder, but the barricade was not budging at all. A soldier then shouted: "They're above us!"

The ceiling collapsed, with a skewer jumping down towards the left side of the room. The soldiers immediately fire at it, with the hail of bullets creating a deafening series of sparks against its hull. C saw that it took a defensive stance, bracing against the storm of gunfire. He was pulled back, and realized that a small group of soldiers were taking him to an exit from the room. He looked back at the action, and witnessed several more skewers burst through the barricade. With the focus turned away from them, the infiltrating skewers were able to rush in without much resistance.

C was dragged along as the soldiers rushed to a smaller room.

"We'll have to loop around and head out the back exit," One of the soldiers planned, "Since our trap didn't work at all."

"What about the others?" C asked.

"There are several exit routes similar to this one in that room. If they manage to evade the skewers and make it out, then we'll all regroup as soon as we head back into the forest."

"What about the commander? What will we do after we leave? How did the skewers get into the bunker in the first place?" C questioned, with panic starting to rise in his voice.

The group went through the exit route for a while, until a soldier finally answered him.

"The skewers hadn't been injured by the turrets we set up outside; they were only stalled. Their armor - whatever the hell it is made out of - wasn't even dented by the fire." The soldier's explanation halted for a while, before continuing, "The best we can do now is run. Until we can find a way to pierce their armor."

"What can even pierce through that level of armor, then? Why did you guys try to bunker up at all against them?"

"The guys up at W.U. are polishing up experimental plans. We'd tried to dissuade the aliens from going there by being louder than them. But I guess in hindsight, that cost us a lot."

"In hindsight? Those guys that are still back there, are they goners?"

"Those things haven't been this aggressive before. Only once we holed up in this bunker did they come for blood."

C was silent for a while, with the thought of the skewers chasing after him overtaking his mind. The soldiers had not slowed their ascent, but the constant run up several stairs was starting to take its toll. They entered a rather large storage room, when they heard the skewer's distinct scrapping nearby. C, now in a state of extreme caution, stayed close to the back of the group. The soldiers moved past the crates in the room, and neared the middle, when the lights flickered off.

The group stood in silence for a few seconds, with C especially remaining motionless. The entire area was pitch black, with the alarm lights no longer flashing. The soldiers attempted to locate their flashlights. One of the soldiers managed to turn a flashlight on, when it was suddenly swatted out of his hand. The flashlight smashed against the floor, and the soldiers tried to aim around in the dark. C knew they were under attack, and tried to locate the assailant. The scratching noise that the skewers usually made was absent, leaving him completely blind to its location. He heard the soldiers' gear rumble in quick succession, each followed by what he assumed was their bodies hitting the floor. Before C had time to think, he felt a sharp smack to the back of his neck, followed by the impact of the concrete floor.

The last thing C felt was his front being dragged along the concrete. He tried to focus and stay awake, but soon had fallen into unconsciousness.