Lying on a bed was a tall, scruffy young man with crystal blue eyes. He stared at the bunk above him, releasing a tired sigh. Lugging himself up in bed, Logan tilted his head to look out the nearest window. Outside, everything was covered in a layer of snow. He frowned as he saw the small flakes dropping from the sky.
"This sucks," he whispered.
Logan climbed out of the bottom bunk, shivering as he opened the chores below his bed. Looking at the messily folded grey uniforms, Logan eventually heard something shift above him. Looking up, he spotted his stupid Bunkmate hanging off his bed, grinning at him.
"Whatcha Dooing?" His Bunkmate playfully asked.
"I'm looking for your dad."
Logan's monotone reply struck the man above him, causing him to gasp and roll out of view. Above Logan, he could hear the man shaking the bed dramatically, releasing sounds of pained groans.
"You wound me!"
Logan shook his head and smiled.
'Idiot'
Logan returned to grabbing out his clothing, from his grey uniform to his chores for some winter overhauls and an extra layer of socks. If he was going out, he was going out prepared.
Pulling up the black overhauls over the grey uniform, Logan stood to his full height. Logan finally saw his friend in full glory—A large-toned frame with a brown crew cut lying in a death pose like a possum.
'He really waited like that the entire time I was getting dressed? I'm not even surprised,' Logan thought, defeated.
"Are you just going to lie there all day?
Logan waited, but no answer came.
"Fine, but I'm getting breakfast without you."
Logan's Bunkmate's body slowly reanimated at the sound of food, "I was just joking. Don't leave without me."
"Too late," Logan said, closing his chores and putting on some boots before walking down the aisles.
"See ya!"
Logan walked towards the door, trying to avoid the people cramping his living space. Living in the barracks was a real turn for the worse. Well, there were things worse, like how the world had fallen in just about two years. It wasn't even a single event, just a cascade of dominoes. It would be weird not to have some tragic event strike the world: famine, world war, robots, terrorists, biochemical, biological, nuclear! Ultimately, you're left with the remains of a crumbling civilization, where people have to live with a reforming government and a tiny living space.
Things had been getting progressively worse, but it wasn't until his hometown was bombed that Logan realized things would never get better. His family. He never got to say goodbye. He didn't even know if they were alive.
Awakening from his dark thoughts, Logan reached the door and avoided talking to anyone. Throwing a beanie on, Logan opened the front door. A gale of icy wind blasted past Logan into the barracks behind him. Stepping out, Logan turned around and shut the door behind him.
'Why does it have to be so cold?'
Logan scrunched in discomfort at the blowing wind.
Tucking his hands to his sides, he walked through the windy, cold weather with his head down. Out of the corners of his vision, he passed rows of barracks, like some cookie-cutter military base. People in grey uniforms were out this morning, clearing the paths, hauling equipment, and looking busy. Logan looked up for a brief moment toward the center of the camp. In the distance, a large four-story fortress-like building loomed over the center of the camp.
A quick pair of shuffling feet was approaching Logan from behind. Pulling up beside Logan was his Bunkmate.
"Hey! You left me this morning." His Bunkmate pouted. "I thought..." Logan's Bunkmate paused shyly and pulled at hair that wasn't there.
"I thought we had something... special."
Logan's Bunkmate looked expectantly at Logan. Snow crunching filled that long silence before an evil smile took over Logan's Bunkmate's face.
Logan's bunk buddy giggled at his stupid joke.
Logan kept his head down, not even acknowledging his insanity.
'I'm not in the mood for your crap this morning.'
On the edge of Logan's vision, Logan could see his friend looking over him before leaving him alone. They walked in silence for around twenty minutes until they arrived at the mess hall.
It was part of the internal square at the center of the camp, which had many essential facilities, such as a hospital, emergency service, and finally, the central complex building.
As they entered the Mess Hall, Logan looked back at the main complex building, a bastion, a fortress; it was a wonder what lay inside. What was not a wonder was the inside of the mess hall. Scanning his ID at the door, Logan entered the building. He saw a vast stretch of almost a hundred steel tables and chairs, and a line of people serving food along the far side of the building.
The Mess Hall was empty today, and the line outside the building was short. This means it will be easier to find a secluded seat.
A smile bloomed on Logan's face as he went through one of the lunch lines on the far side of the building. Looking down, Logan had received some sloppy meat paste with mashed potatoes and an apple.
'What a disgusting meal,' Logan thought as he looked down at the "food."
'Probably all synthetic, too. I wish I had some real food. Like takeout with the family...' Logan walked somberly to a secluded table.
'I wish things weren't this way… I wish I had my family.'
Logan and his friend sat down near a table at the entrance.
"Does something feel strange to you this morning?" Logan said.
"I mean..." Logan's friend replied, taking a bite of his apple. "The compound was less busy this morning, and uhhh, you're not in the mood?"
Logan's frown deadpanned for a moment.
"You're really giving me the cold shoulder." Logan's friend smiled at his bad joke.
Shaking his head, Logan scanned the surroundings: Line cooks were missing, no guard at the front, and not many were eating this morning. It would have felt like a dream come true, but something felt off.
'I'm sure I'm just crazy.'
As Logan waited for his friend to finish his food, he watched slowly as people filed into the Mess Hall. Outside the front door, yelling could be heard, and he watched briefly as stretchers and people ran out in front of the building.
'There must be some emergency going on in the camp. It would explain all the missing people.' Logan thought.
Logan's friend finished his food and dumped their trays before walking toward the exit. Alex approached a short, slim older man in line outside wearing the signature grey uniform.
Alex asked the old man, "Sir, what's going on out here?"
"Well, they were carrying people over to the medical ward. They were all unresponsive."
"And you're just waiting in line to get food?" Logan's friend showed a mixture of concern and amusement.
"Well, a man's got to eat. I'm holding up the line here." The older man muttered something Logan couldn't hear as he stood by.
"Anyways, I'm sure it will be fine."
"Yeah, I hope so. Thanks for the information. See ya!"
Turning around, Alex looked puzzled at Logan before they moved away from the mess hall back towards their barracks. Behind them, a growing murmur slowly rose from the mess hall as people theorized about what was happening.
Walking back toward the barracks together, Logan and Alex discussed the camp's eeriness. Why were so many laborers missing, and why were so many people being carried away on stretchers? And how did they have so many stretchers? Okay, that last one was a bad joke.
Close to their barracks, screams rang out to their right. Looking over, the pair saw women rushing out from their barracks in fits of screaming. Logan and his friend dashed toward the barracks to see what was happening.
Entering the building, they saw a woman writhing across the floor with bones shifting inside her body while her skin started turning into a dark ash color. As the women thrashed and screamed, more women rushed out from the barracks in fear of the demented event. As one woman pushed past, she bumped into Logan, sending him off kilter.
When Logan got his bearings to look back, there wasn't a woman on the floor anymore, but even so, he could see the back of a lady holding what used to be a human hand. The woman had golden hair and grasped the convulsing hand even as claws formed along what used to be human hands.
"What the hell is that?" Alex uttered in complete shock.
Logan was in the same shock, taking in the writhing, ashy-skinned creature on the floor. Then the woman, or what was now a full-on nightmare monster, let out a piercing scream. Stepping back, Logan was a mess of emotions.
'Get away. Get away from that thing, lady!' Logan screamed in his mind.
The young lady near the monster had released her hand and stumbled back away from the creature.
'What is happening here? What am I supposed to do? I have to do something. Get away!' Internally, Logan screamed at himself until an actual scream took him from his torpor.
"LOGAN!" Logan's friend shook him awake.
The creature stood over the poor girl with long, spiny appendages and ashy, molten skin. The creature's face revealed a large maw of teeth before releasing a guttural scream. The beast lunged down toward its first victim. Its clawed hands dug into her shoulders and pinned the struggling lady back to the ground. The creature opened its giant, facelike maw and bit into the edges of the poor woman's face. Screams rang out as the last worried woman ran, leaving a scant few inside the barracks.
Logan could hear it, the muffled screams of the lady on the ground as its maw ground further into her face.
"Get help!" Logan's friend screamed at the ladies running from the barracks.
As Logan stood in shock, his friend charged toward the creature as it tore apart the lady's shoulders and face. Reaching the creature, Alex tackled the monster, sending the two rolling to the floor. Blood spewed everywhere as the claws and teeth ripped away from the women. The girl who had been kind enough to hold the woman's hand lay there dead. The skin on her face was mangled, revealing the bones and muscles behind it. She was dead.
'I didn't even see her face before-'
Logan jolted himself from the dark thoughts and began moving, looking for something to use as a weapon. Turning around, he searched the front desk of the barracks for something useful.
"Logan!" Alex grunted out in his struggles as Logan frantically looked through the chores.
"Help me!"
Logan could hear bunk beds crashing behind him and the grunts and screams from his friend and the creature. Finally, he found a switchblade in the corner of the desk he was searching. Turning around with his prize in hand, he saw a disastrous scene.
Blood pooled splayed across the wooden boards of the barracks, bunk beds were thrown over and shifted, that poor woman lay dead on the floor, and finally, his friend, caked in blood, was sitting behind the monster in a headlock. The creature flailed about, trying to throw the prey off its spiny back. As Logan approached the front of the beast, it was slamming itself against the walls and bunk beds, trying to get the pest off its back.
Reaching the front of the beast, Logan readied his blade, looking for an attack.
His hands shook wildly, but he didn't have time to worry about that.
'I've got this.'
Alex made brief eye contact with Logan before releasing his hold of its neck and snaking his hands down to its waist. Lifting up and over, Alex slammed the beast into the ground. Now, on the ground, the creature pushed its claws off the ground, hitting the two on top of Logan's friend. The spines on its back pierced into his shoulder, making him scream out, but he kept his grip.
'It's on the ground now. I'm going for it,' Logan thought while lunging forward to slice its neck. The blade dug into the leathery skin and left a small cut against its throat, releasing a little black blood from its body. The monster tried to lunge forward as Logan backed away, but was pulled back down by the aggressor below it. The beast began struggling even more violently, repeatedly slamming its back into the ground, swinging its arms at Logan, and kicking wildly. Below the creature, Alex grunted in pain as it slammed them into the floor, digging its spines deeper into his arm and shoulder.
Trying to seize an opportunity, Logan went in for another stab against the creature and left another cut, but he was too slow to get away when it threw its left arm at Logan in retaliation, grazing his hand as he tried to pull away. Yelping at the sting, Logan stepped back and saw two men and a woman entering to help with the situation.
Equipped with shovels, the three and Logan surrounded the creature and dealt blows to it. The Blows rained down on the beast, but even with the black blood dripping from its skin, it struggled even harder. Raking its claws all along Alex's arm, it released another grueling scream.
Alex finally lost his grip on the beast, and the beast lunged off the floor toward the man in the deception of it. Coming down on top of an older man who had come to help them, the beast locked its claws into his shoulders, eliciting a cry from the older man. The maw opened up, and it wrapped its jaw around his face.
In a last-ditch effort, Logan situated himself behind the monster and plunged his blade straight into the back of its neck. Logan kept pushing his blade further into the creature's ashy hide. As his blade deepened further into the back of its neck, its body slackened. Then, as suddenly as the creature had come alive, it slumped on top of its most recent victim.
[You have slain a Dormant beast, Umbra]