Categories > Original > Horror > The Quiet One
Be all That You Can Be
0 reviewsGeneral Emily Perkins commands the last American army. Her orders are simple; neutralize the source of the demons. She has tanks, planes and soldiers all ready to do their best, but will their be...
0Unrated
-Emily looked over the map in front of her with grim determination. The dark territory was constantly changing so the information taken by the drone might not be accurate. But she didn't have a choice, this had to stop and with Washington in ruins and the rest of the country in chaos she was the only one who could stop it.
-It hadn't been easy organizing the scattered military forces; many former generals had turned into war lords trying to control their own little territories. She had been forced to bargain, plead and even threaten men who had once defended the country to do so once more. It hadn't been easy, but she had managed it somehow.
-"We will push the invasion here," She said pointing at the map. The area she indicated was relatively flat and would make their weapons more affective. Most of the creatures in the dark territory used teeth and claws, it was best to fight them at long range.
-The stern looking man at her side looked to where she had pointed and nodded in agreement. He had short grey hair cut to military perfection. His tight jaw and hard eyes revealed a man who had lived a life of drills and battles even before the time of the dark territory. His body was built like a rock though his age hid his muscle with fat.
-"We will move in the ground forces first," Emily continued, "tanks and artillery will provide support from the rear and the air forces will wait in reserve until they are needed. The tanks will be the fallback position once we draw them out and the planes will napalm the whole area. That should clear a path all the way to the dark castle. Make sure the men understand to shoot anything that moves and to fall back to the tanks the moment they meet heavy resistance."
-"Yes sir," The man said as he stood up straight and saluted her. The action was more out of habit then necessity, America no longer had a standing army, and even though Emily was supported by the remnants of the former government much of her authority came from the troops she had at her command.
-The man walked away and began barking orders to the soldiers who sprang into action. They had about forty tanks, twelve planes and eight hundred soldiers in all. Only four artillery cannons for long range support, they would be relying heavily on mortars and bazookas for much of the upcoming battle.
-Emily knew what had happened to the original assault on the dark territory, but those soldiers had been unprepared, they hadn't known what they were dealing with. This time it would be different, this time they knew what to expect. Emily had been given one simple order by her superiors, the elimination of the force behind the dark territory.
-She knew it had to be at the black castle, and according to the rumors the one behind it all was a young man, or rather a monster in the form of a man. She had been on several small assaults on the dark territory to gather intelligence and test the weaknesses of the enemy but she had rarely seen anything that even remotely resembled human. She suspected that the further towards the center she got, the more evolved the monsters would be.
-That night Emily's sleep was filled with nightmares. Images of horrors she had witnessed and those she imagined, terrible creatures ripping apart her men and devouring them. Her friends crying out for help, begging her to save them only to be silenced by unspeakable demons. And standing behind the demons, behind the monsters was a man. A man whose face was veiled in shadows but whose eyes pierced through the darkness and right into her heart. And over the screams of her dying comrades Emily heard the man speak to her as clear as day, "I see you," he whispered.
-Emily awoke in a cold sweat with her heart pounding. She was sitting up looking through the dark tent for the man from her dream. She looked down and saw that she was holding her sidearm in her hand. She put it down shaking and took a deep breath. Was she loosing it?
-The tent flap opened and her second in command poked his head in with an alert look in his eyes. "Everything ok sir?" he asked. Even when he was concerned he had a face that was chiseled from stone.
-"Just a bad dream lieutenant Hughes, nothing to worry about," Emily said trying to convince herself as much as her second in command. Hughes gave another sweep of her tent with his eyes before nodding and returning to his post. The man had been with her since before the dark territory and he had always been protective of his commanding officer, perhaps more so than he should have been.
-The next morning Emily watched her troops as they prepared to lead what they all hoped to be the last assault on the dark territory. Many of them wore crosses and said prayers between tasks, most people believed that the creatures from the dark territory were demons from hell. Emily didn't believe that, they were evil and horrid, but they could be killed like any other living thing.
-The army mobilized and the troops marched forward into enemy territory. The tanks followed at a distance pulling the artillery behind them. Emily and Hughes rode in front of the armor in a jeep while scouts marched in front of the advancing army. It wasn't easy going. Despite the fact that Emily had chosen the area because it was flatter than the rest of the terrain it was still covered with gnarled rocks and boulders. There were Thousands of dark crevices where demons could be lurking, ready to snatch any soldier who wondered too close.
-Everyone was on edge, their eyes and imaginations played tricks on them and everywhere they saw demons. Several times soldiers shot at shadows and every time Emily expected the rest of the men to start firing blind but Hughes kept tight reigns on them.
-They had made it nearly half way to the dark castle without incident. Further than Emily imagined possible, they hadn't encountered a single demon. Perhaps the initial fighting had caused more casualties to the enemy forces than anyone predicted; perhaps their territory had expanded beyond what the demons could effectively patrol.
-Her optimism was quickly replaced by cold reality as thousands of demons suddenly poured out of their hiding places and attacked her men. The hideous creatures seemed to come right out of the ground and threw themselves at terrified soldiers. Anyone unlucky enough to be caught was ripped to pieces by the ravenous beasts and eaten while their comrades fought for their lives.
-Emily and Hughes wasted no time in barking out orders. Everywhere the surviving soldiers tightened their formations, standing back to back and mowed down the attacking demons. The concentrated gun fire ripped the beasts to pieces spilling all manner of bodily fluid onto the battlefield.
-Demons shrieked in pain and convulsed in death. Even when mortally wounded they dragged themselves towards their intended victims, driven by the insane desire to kill. The opposing forces were too close together to use artillery or mortars. The tanks used their machine guns and the snipers tried to support their friends as best they could.
-Emily gave the order to fall back but the demons worked hard to cut the soldiers off from their retreat. Emily had never expected the demons to set up an ambush. In every previous encounter they had simply come head on. Now her entire strategy was falling apart and her men were dying.
-Finally the soldiers seemed to be gaining the upper hand. With the combined efforts of the machine guns from the tanks and the soldiers in the thick of things the demons were being overwhelmed. That was until the second wave of dark territory terror appeared.
-They swarmed out from the cracks in the ground and even down from the sky. Bugs, enormous and savage insects descended on the human soldiers like a plague and devoured them. Everywhere insects the size of basketballs ate men's faces and tore at their flesh. The soldiers tried to fight back but their guns were ineffective.
-Several men with flame throwers began roasting the creatures to save their comrades. The bugs popped and crackled as they were cooked by the stream of fire. One unlucky flame thrower was overwhelmed by the insects. His fellow soldiers tried desperately to help him but before they could one of the bugs bit into the man's fuel line. His tank exploded, covering everyone and everything around him in liquid flames.
-In the midst of the chaos several groups of soldiers managed to make it back to the tanks but as they did they saw something. Emily noticed them pointing past her, past the tanks. She looked to the rear flank and her heart sank.
-Dozens of huge creatures that resembled elephants and other large beasts were rapidly approaching from behind. "Where the hell did they come from?" she asked herself as she realized her army was surrounded. She quickly got on the radio and informed her tank commanders of the situation. The gun turret of every tank turned in unison to face the oncoming threat. The ground shook from the deafening boom of the tanks main guns as they all fired together. Explosions sprang up around the incoming war beasts and several of them were brought down but many more continued to advance.
-The tanks reloaded and fired again while the artillery crews raced to get the guns in place. Emily looked through her binoculars at the beasts and say that they only looked like elephants from a distance. The creature's tusks branched out into pitchforks; its trunk was covered with spikes. Its skin was black and mangled. On top of one of the creatures sat a woman, one of the largest women Emily had ever seen but a woman none the less.
-The woman riding the monster was obviously strong; she wore thick gold colored armor and brandished a huge halberd. So the demons did have a leader class after all Emily thought as she got on her radio again and called in for an air strike. She had to clear their line of retreat even if it was through several miles across dark territory.
-She gave the coordinates and the soldier on the other end sounded hesitant but he followed the orders. Emily then ordered her tanks to concentrate their fire on the lead demons beast. The artillery units had almost gotten into position when dozens of giant wolves attacked them.
-The beats were the size of cars and rushed in through the flanks. They bit and tore at the humans manning the guns and tossed them into the air like rag dolls. One wolf in particular stood out from the others. It was as white as snow and the size of a tank. The animal seemed to be the leader as it gulped down helpless humans and tossed aside the massive artillery guns with a flick of its head.
-Finally Emily could see her air support on its way and not a moment too soon. She watched with a confident grin as they approached their target but one of the planes exploded without warning. Emily's eyes went wide with surprise and worry as she looked through her binoculars again.
-She saw a form gliding through the black clouds and when it came into view Emily realized it was another woman. This one wore black leather and held a long sword in her hand, and she had wings! Emily had encountered gargoyles before but never one like this. The flying demon landed on the tip of one of the approaching jets and stuck her sword through the cockpit and into the pilot. She withdrew her weapon and took flight as the plane lost control and crashed into another, engulfing them both in flames.
-The woman was joined by several gargoyles that proceeded to rip and tear at the metal planes, smashing through the glass cockpits t get at the helpless human occupants. Emily watched as her air forces were utterly destroyed.
-Shortly after that the war beasts met with the tanks. The giant creatures crushed and tossed the armored vehicles like toys; they skewered the small soldiers on their tusks and ripped them apart with a swing of their spiked trunks. The woman with the halberd jumped down from her mount to kill any humans who crawled from the wreckage. She impaled and threw them through the air to her pets while laughing with joy and excitement.
-The soldiers at the forward flank were still fighting for their lives but it was a loosing battle. The gargoyles now swooped down to snatch them away and the wolves were also devouring them. Emily looked to Hughes to say goodbye when she saw him gritting his teeth as if he were in great pain.
-Hughes fell to his knees and Emily saw a young girl standing before her. She had black hair and a pretty face but there was something dark about her, threatening. Emily looked down and saw the girl holding a jagged knife with blood on it. She realized that it was Hughes blood, the girl had stabbed him!
-Emily drew her side arm but the girl moved to fast and drove her fist into Emily's stomach with more force than the girls small form suggested was possible. Emily felt herself falling into darkness to the sounds of her men being torn apart by horrible creatures. She had failed, but at least it was over.
-It hadn't been easy organizing the scattered military forces; many former generals had turned into war lords trying to control their own little territories. She had been forced to bargain, plead and even threaten men who had once defended the country to do so once more. It hadn't been easy, but she had managed it somehow.
-"We will push the invasion here," She said pointing at the map. The area she indicated was relatively flat and would make their weapons more affective. Most of the creatures in the dark territory used teeth and claws, it was best to fight them at long range.
-The stern looking man at her side looked to where she had pointed and nodded in agreement. He had short grey hair cut to military perfection. His tight jaw and hard eyes revealed a man who had lived a life of drills and battles even before the time of the dark territory. His body was built like a rock though his age hid his muscle with fat.
-"We will move in the ground forces first," Emily continued, "tanks and artillery will provide support from the rear and the air forces will wait in reserve until they are needed. The tanks will be the fallback position once we draw them out and the planes will napalm the whole area. That should clear a path all the way to the dark castle. Make sure the men understand to shoot anything that moves and to fall back to the tanks the moment they meet heavy resistance."
-"Yes sir," The man said as he stood up straight and saluted her. The action was more out of habit then necessity, America no longer had a standing army, and even though Emily was supported by the remnants of the former government much of her authority came from the troops she had at her command.
-The man walked away and began barking orders to the soldiers who sprang into action. They had about forty tanks, twelve planes and eight hundred soldiers in all. Only four artillery cannons for long range support, they would be relying heavily on mortars and bazookas for much of the upcoming battle.
-Emily knew what had happened to the original assault on the dark territory, but those soldiers had been unprepared, they hadn't known what they were dealing with. This time it would be different, this time they knew what to expect. Emily had been given one simple order by her superiors, the elimination of the force behind the dark territory.
-She knew it had to be at the black castle, and according to the rumors the one behind it all was a young man, or rather a monster in the form of a man. She had been on several small assaults on the dark territory to gather intelligence and test the weaknesses of the enemy but she had rarely seen anything that even remotely resembled human. She suspected that the further towards the center she got, the more evolved the monsters would be.
-That night Emily's sleep was filled with nightmares. Images of horrors she had witnessed and those she imagined, terrible creatures ripping apart her men and devouring them. Her friends crying out for help, begging her to save them only to be silenced by unspeakable demons. And standing behind the demons, behind the monsters was a man. A man whose face was veiled in shadows but whose eyes pierced through the darkness and right into her heart. And over the screams of her dying comrades Emily heard the man speak to her as clear as day, "I see you," he whispered.
-Emily awoke in a cold sweat with her heart pounding. She was sitting up looking through the dark tent for the man from her dream. She looked down and saw that she was holding her sidearm in her hand. She put it down shaking and took a deep breath. Was she loosing it?
-The tent flap opened and her second in command poked his head in with an alert look in his eyes. "Everything ok sir?" he asked. Even when he was concerned he had a face that was chiseled from stone.
-"Just a bad dream lieutenant Hughes, nothing to worry about," Emily said trying to convince herself as much as her second in command. Hughes gave another sweep of her tent with his eyes before nodding and returning to his post. The man had been with her since before the dark territory and he had always been protective of his commanding officer, perhaps more so than he should have been.
-The next morning Emily watched her troops as they prepared to lead what they all hoped to be the last assault on the dark territory. Many of them wore crosses and said prayers between tasks, most people believed that the creatures from the dark territory were demons from hell. Emily didn't believe that, they were evil and horrid, but they could be killed like any other living thing.
-The army mobilized and the troops marched forward into enemy territory. The tanks followed at a distance pulling the artillery behind them. Emily and Hughes rode in front of the armor in a jeep while scouts marched in front of the advancing army. It wasn't easy going. Despite the fact that Emily had chosen the area because it was flatter than the rest of the terrain it was still covered with gnarled rocks and boulders. There were Thousands of dark crevices where demons could be lurking, ready to snatch any soldier who wondered too close.
-Everyone was on edge, their eyes and imaginations played tricks on them and everywhere they saw demons. Several times soldiers shot at shadows and every time Emily expected the rest of the men to start firing blind but Hughes kept tight reigns on them.
-They had made it nearly half way to the dark castle without incident. Further than Emily imagined possible, they hadn't encountered a single demon. Perhaps the initial fighting had caused more casualties to the enemy forces than anyone predicted; perhaps their territory had expanded beyond what the demons could effectively patrol.
-Her optimism was quickly replaced by cold reality as thousands of demons suddenly poured out of their hiding places and attacked her men. The hideous creatures seemed to come right out of the ground and threw themselves at terrified soldiers. Anyone unlucky enough to be caught was ripped to pieces by the ravenous beasts and eaten while their comrades fought for their lives.
-Emily and Hughes wasted no time in barking out orders. Everywhere the surviving soldiers tightened their formations, standing back to back and mowed down the attacking demons. The concentrated gun fire ripped the beasts to pieces spilling all manner of bodily fluid onto the battlefield.
-Demons shrieked in pain and convulsed in death. Even when mortally wounded they dragged themselves towards their intended victims, driven by the insane desire to kill. The opposing forces were too close together to use artillery or mortars. The tanks used their machine guns and the snipers tried to support their friends as best they could.
-Emily gave the order to fall back but the demons worked hard to cut the soldiers off from their retreat. Emily had never expected the demons to set up an ambush. In every previous encounter they had simply come head on. Now her entire strategy was falling apart and her men were dying.
-Finally the soldiers seemed to be gaining the upper hand. With the combined efforts of the machine guns from the tanks and the soldiers in the thick of things the demons were being overwhelmed. That was until the second wave of dark territory terror appeared.
-They swarmed out from the cracks in the ground and even down from the sky. Bugs, enormous and savage insects descended on the human soldiers like a plague and devoured them. Everywhere insects the size of basketballs ate men's faces and tore at their flesh. The soldiers tried to fight back but their guns were ineffective.
-Several men with flame throwers began roasting the creatures to save their comrades. The bugs popped and crackled as they were cooked by the stream of fire. One unlucky flame thrower was overwhelmed by the insects. His fellow soldiers tried desperately to help him but before they could one of the bugs bit into the man's fuel line. His tank exploded, covering everyone and everything around him in liquid flames.
-In the midst of the chaos several groups of soldiers managed to make it back to the tanks but as they did they saw something. Emily noticed them pointing past her, past the tanks. She looked to the rear flank and her heart sank.
-Dozens of huge creatures that resembled elephants and other large beasts were rapidly approaching from behind. "Where the hell did they come from?" she asked herself as she realized her army was surrounded. She quickly got on the radio and informed her tank commanders of the situation. The gun turret of every tank turned in unison to face the oncoming threat. The ground shook from the deafening boom of the tanks main guns as they all fired together. Explosions sprang up around the incoming war beasts and several of them were brought down but many more continued to advance.
-The tanks reloaded and fired again while the artillery crews raced to get the guns in place. Emily looked through her binoculars at the beasts and say that they only looked like elephants from a distance. The creature's tusks branched out into pitchforks; its trunk was covered with spikes. Its skin was black and mangled. On top of one of the creatures sat a woman, one of the largest women Emily had ever seen but a woman none the less.
-The woman riding the monster was obviously strong; she wore thick gold colored armor and brandished a huge halberd. So the demons did have a leader class after all Emily thought as she got on her radio again and called in for an air strike. She had to clear their line of retreat even if it was through several miles across dark territory.
-She gave the coordinates and the soldier on the other end sounded hesitant but he followed the orders. Emily then ordered her tanks to concentrate their fire on the lead demons beast. The artillery units had almost gotten into position when dozens of giant wolves attacked them.
-The beats were the size of cars and rushed in through the flanks. They bit and tore at the humans manning the guns and tossed them into the air like rag dolls. One wolf in particular stood out from the others. It was as white as snow and the size of a tank. The animal seemed to be the leader as it gulped down helpless humans and tossed aside the massive artillery guns with a flick of its head.
-Finally Emily could see her air support on its way and not a moment too soon. She watched with a confident grin as they approached their target but one of the planes exploded without warning. Emily's eyes went wide with surprise and worry as she looked through her binoculars again.
-She saw a form gliding through the black clouds and when it came into view Emily realized it was another woman. This one wore black leather and held a long sword in her hand, and she had wings! Emily had encountered gargoyles before but never one like this. The flying demon landed on the tip of one of the approaching jets and stuck her sword through the cockpit and into the pilot. She withdrew her weapon and took flight as the plane lost control and crashed into another, engulfing them both in flames.
-The woman was joined by several gargoyles that proceeded to rip and tear at the metal planes, smashing through the glass cockpits t get at the helpless human occupants. Emily watched as her air forces were utterly destroyed.
-Shortly after that the war beasts met with the tanks. The giant creatures crushed and tossed the armored vehicles like toys; they skewered the small soldiers on their tusks and ripped them apart with a swing of their spiked trunks. The woman with the halberd jumped down from her mount to kill any humans who crawled from the wreckage. She impaled and threw them through the air to her pets while laughing with joy and excitement.
-The soldiers at the forward flank were still fighting for their lives but it was a loosing battle. The gargoyles now swooped down to snatch them away and the wolves were also devouring them. Emily looked to Hughes to say goodbye when she saw him gritting his teeth as if he were in great pain.
-Hughes fell to his knees and Emily saw a young girl standing before her. She had black hair and a pretty face but there was something dark about her, threatening. Emily looked down and saw the girl holding a jagged knife with blood on it. She realized that it was Hughes blood, the girl had stabbed him!
-Emily drew her side arm but the girl moved to fast and drove her fist into Emily's stomach with more force than the girls small form suggested was possible. Emily felt herself falling into darkness to the sounds of her men being torn apart by horrible creatures. She had failed, but at least it was over.
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