chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was about three weeks after Aridail and I shared that awkward night together.  We had successfully planted a large crop of potato like vegetables on the outskirts of our camp.  We had discovered despite being small and covering in hair like roots, with just 2 of them prepared in a stew provided a grown man enough nutrition to work for a full day. It tasted foul, but the weeks of rationed supplies made them very popular among the survivors.  We were off checking the crops when we saw them approach. At first glance they appeared to be survivors like us, but something was wrong. Their clothes were torn, they carried no supplies, but upon seeing us they seemed even more distressed.

“Run! Run” one of them yelled out, sprinting towards us, gasping for air.

We hesitated for a second, until we heard a scream from the forest, with some unearthly bestial growls,. We needed no further encouragement,  and started sprinting towards the camp. I yelled towards the group, about 6 or so people.

“This way! The camp is this way!

We ran into the camp, the rest of the survivors rushing to see what was wrong. I turned to the new arrivals, desperate for information

“who are you? What's going on?”

It doesn't matter! We need weapons, they are coming! Don’t stand around come on!

“What do you mean they? Who is coming!?”

“monsters! I have no idea what they are! They look like us, but they are crazy strong and attack us! Don’t let the fact they look like people trick you!”

First officer Vargbran quickly took command of the situation and began issuing orders

“All crew members break out the weapons locker and prep weapons. Everyone else grab a large branch, something to use as a club, and stick together. Form a circle like we practiced, and cover your partners to you left and right- And Doctor- get these new guys looked at and be ready to treat patients. NOW STOP STANDING AROUND PEOPLE! MOVE IT MOVE IT!

The camp exploded into a wave of activity as the terrible cries came closer, I ran over and saw the new arrivals, a number of them had serious injuries from what looked like claws, and bite marks. They looked like they could barely stand. Adrial helped the others inside the makeshift med bay, while I looked at the most critical patient. He seemed delirious, in a high fever, his chest ravaged with a deep pattern of scratches, Painful but not life threatening. He began shaking, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.

“They don’t want to kill us! They want us to hurt! They need our pain! Arghh!

“Adrial! Get over here, hold him down, I need to sedate him”

He continued to thrash, until I managed to inject the needle into his arm, holding him down until he went limp. I had barely began to clean the wound when a  wall caved in behind me, and something knocked me off my feet.  I was terrified, a figure was tearing at my body with sharp claws, I couldn’t get a clear view. I heard screaming but all I could focus on was thrashing, fighting this shadowy figure on top of me. I threw punches, kicked, the pain and adrenaline fueling my fight or flight instinct, knowing everything depended upon fighting off my assailant. A survivor swung a makeshift crutch at the figure, knocking him off me, as I scrambled to my feet seeing my attacker for the first time.

At first he looked  human like, though his limbs stretched out too far. He was crouching, hissing at me, his fingers laced with sharp claws, his head long and bird like, with sharp teeth, dripping with drool  poking out of his jaw. His skin looked human like, but was grey, almost ashen. His hair was clotted and greasy, clinging to his face, as his large orb like eyes dug into me with a fierce hatred.  I barely had time to take him in before he delivered a vicious kick to my chest,  knocking me to my knees.  My vision went black, as he turned to the wounded survivors, tearing them apart before I could even react. He slit their throats with his teeth, tearing vast chunks  as they screamed,  even punching a claw into one poor souls heart. He gave a final gasp before falling to the ground. He turned towards Adrial, who had frozen in terror, shaking with fear. I screamed out to run, but before I could do anything he stabbed his claw into her gut.

He turned to me, his face twisting into grim smirk of satisfaction, letting off a growl of pleasure seeing my horror.  Then before my very eyes his appearance began to shift. His body warped, buckled and shrunk in, his features melding, growing, until before me stood a mirror image of myself. He had even replicated my clothing, glasses on his face, even with the tape over the frame. He twisted my features into a smile,  his features lit up with a murderous hunger. He began to stride towards me, licking his lips trying to form words

“The forrrm- is sssuffficent. Your role is needed. But you are no longerrr neeeded…  I will be you now yessss….  MMMM youur fear will fuel me, your meemoriees  will be mineeee!”

His hands morphed into claws once more, his teeth jutting out ready to tear me apart. I was terrified, but seeing this thing kill the woman I love, the people I tried to save and now to take my face? I could take it no more. With a feral cry I seized a scalpel and leapt upon the imposter, my desperate final attack taking it by surprise, squealing driving the scalpel deep into its eye.  It thrust its arms at me , raking me with cuts, but I kept stabbing, again and again and again, screaming in a berserk rage  until finally it was still. I watched as my features faded from the creature, reverting back into it inhuman appearance. I barely left time to check it was dead before running over to Adrial, who had gone into shock.  I worked in a fury, righting the makeshift surgery table, lifting her up and desperately trying to clean and seal her wound. I could see her weakening, her pulse slowing but I kept fighting, screaming at her to live. Finally I heard others approach the room, but I took to time to explain, I screamed at them to help me. After 2 hours of frantic surgery, I had done all I could with the supplies we had. It was down to her body now, as I had no idea if she could endure the injuries she had sustained on top of the fever she had developed, most likely from the creatures claws.

First officer Vargbran lead me from the blood drenched med-bay and sat me down by the fire.  He was stressed, angry, and demanded to know what happened in the med bay. It took me a while to calm down enough to speak properly, I had been so hyped up on adrenaline and rage I hadn’t had time to process what had happened. Eventually I managed to tell him what happened, though I paused before telling him about the beast transforming into me. It was crazy and I could hardly believe it myself. There was no way he would believe me. He would think I was out of my mind, and odds are would lock me up, and who would treat Adrial then? So I lied,  omitting the strange creatures transformation abilities. He seemed to accept my story in the end, and told me what had happened in the main camp. They had been attacked by a large group of them, about 20 strong. They managed to drive them off, killing a large number of the creatures but they managed to snatch a number of survivors away into the forest. He said he was going to form up a rescue party and go after them.

“Get some rest Dr Swift- you look like hell, and Adriel needs you up on your feet as soon as you can. I’l  handle everything tonight, and you need some rest.

Grateful for dismissal I stumbled over to my quarters and promptly passed out  on my bed without a second thought.