Awake

Despite his insistence on falling asleep, C could not bring himself to close his eyes for long. He tossed and turned occasionally, but the lingering insomnia subsided. He tried to empty his mind, and also started to take deep breaths. It worked for a while, with him thinking of nothing but the sleeping bag underneath him, until he heard a faint buzz from afar, akin to a siren. C sat up, and tried to listen closely. He heard nothing, but he was still unnerved. C did not know whether it was his burnt-in instincts or his drive to protect F, but found himself getting up and investigating outside. He felt completely outmatched, and his arms started to shake. "What if it is the skewers?" C thought. Nevertheless, he still crept slowly out of the tent.

The outside area was pitch black, with only the faint embers of the campfire keeping the camp bright enough to be distinguished from the surrounding brush. C's tension peaked, and he quickly bolted back inside the tent. He searched around, and realized that he did not have any weapons on hand; not even in his backpack. He heard slight movement in the bushes that lined the camp's perimeter, and had a sudden thought, devoid of reason. "It might be Fredrick." An iota of hope was sparked. He went outside the tent again, this time feeling a bit more brave and sure of himself - even though he was still unarmed. He stomped out the campfire, and darted into the foliage on the outskirts of camp, and started to wander through the nearby forest.

The new moon made visibility more limited, with only a few beams of light making it through the sparsely opened treetops. He noticed that there were less leaves brushing against him after a while, and saw that there was a faint path in the forest after his eyes partially adjusted to the darkness. He walked down the path, and saw that it had a few fresh footprints on it. He followed the path in the direction of the footprints, and eventually stumbled upon a small clearing after a couple of minutes. In the middle of the clearing was a familiar set of steel doors, which were moved ajar from their closed positions. "Not really a couple hours away, is it..." C thought to himself.

C pushed aside one of the metal doors, and peered inside. He went slowly down the stairs, and reached the bottom rather quickly. The stairs led to a long, massive hallway that contained a nearly uncountable series of doors on both sides. "A different bunker." C thought to himself. Overwhelmed by a sense of unease, C decided to cut his trip short and head back out.

Walking back along the narrow path, C heard a rotor approaching from the distance. He immediately recognized the sound: it was a helicopter. He rushed back to the camp in a sprint, navigating precariously through the forest trees. He arrived at the outlying foliage around the camp, and heard the helicopter hover close to the ground. The rotor was just over the treetops, which C found a bit odd. In seconds, the branches several meters from C were suddenly snapped and launched to the ground with enough force to kick up dirt. C looked over the foliage to see what was happening, and saw that the entire camp was lit up with an ominous light blue tint. He glanced upwards at where the "helicopter" was, and instead saw a massive, nearly 15 meter long creature hovering above the trees.

Barely illuminated by two orbs located at its sides, C could make out an underside - which was smooth and distinctly "U"-shaped - as well as a head, which, like the reaper, was mainly composed of what appeared to be a turret. The back part was separated into two upper and lower halves, holding in place an object that was flickering in and out of C's vision. It was a fast moving rotor, which was the source of the helicopter-like sounds that had fooled C. Barely having a moment to think, C nearly bolted out towards F's tent, but was then pulled backwards into the underbrush.