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End Boss: A short Story

Brian Nyaude


 END BOSS

 

  THE LOST CHRONICLES

 

 

  Bryan Nyaude

  All rights Reserved. The characters, events, and settings of the story are all a work of fiction and a product of the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014 by Bryan Nyaude

 

  X

  It was two a.m. in the morning, when I finally made it home, my heart still pounding from sheer fear and disbelief. The events that had taken place during the day still shocked me to my very core. Our whole school being destroyed, thousands of screaming students, the orbital gun firing—it was all too unreal. Pausing briefly before, I maneuvered my hover car and parked it next to my house. Just what was that monster, and why had it attacked our school? I shifted out of my vehicle at the same time my eyes shifted up, noticing something strange. The lights in my house were off—no one was home. In fact, every building block within my vicinity was dark, no lights or anything.

  I unlocked the front door and used the safety code. “Mom. Dad. I’m home.” I yelled as a lingering smell of cinnamon cake caught my nostrils. “Are you here?”

  It was too dark and gloomy to see anything, nothing stirred in my wake. I placed my satchel by the table and went over to the living room. As I sat down, I activated the com link screen on the central wall, hoping to hear any news about the incident.

  “All residents, be advised, this is a code alpha emergency broadcast. I repeat, please evacuate to the nearest bunker and wait for further instructions.”

  Just what was happening? My heart was pacing hard; the heat inside the house was starting to get to me. In my mind, none of this was real, or I didn’t want to believe it was. But it was happening and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I watched the com link as more of the unknown creatures rampaged through cities, all across the planet, making short work of the soldiers.

  “This is not a drill, I repeat, evacuate the area for your own safety. The unidentified creatures are hostile and do not engage them at any cost.”

  Okay, I was really scared now. Standing back up, I marched for my room, to pack some of my gear and clothes. Suddenly, my whole house vibrated as I heard a loud roar of a menacing beast. It was close. Whatever those things were, I knew best to stay out of their way. Scurrying to the wall, I tilted away, my back pressed hard against it, as I listened carefully into my surrounding.

  “Definitely not what I expected to find, when I got home,” I sighed, trying to remain calm.

  The shaking in my hands was getting worse; I couldn’t stop myself, even if I wanted to. I really had no idea what I would do if those creatures came after me. At best, I could slap them on the face, resulting in my demise, of course. As I limped forward, I slithered past the kitchen, entering the bathroom quickly. It was the safest place in the room, the only place stable enough to withstand an earthquake. Gun shots, outside, sent chills up my spin—it felt like it was happening in my ear. Some of the bath sanitizers were falling to the floor, making a messy puddle as they broke apart. The bathroom trembled gently, in rhythm of the powerful creature’s presence. The creature was drawing close, its footsteps echoing softly around the walls.

  “In here,” a voice I have never heard before yelled. “We have to find cover, now.”

  Loud footsteps, from probably five or so people, shattered out of the living room, their presence drowning out my fear. Who were they and what were they doing in my house. One of them had the nerve to open fire, inside my house, striking at something. I ducked down to the ground, with my stomach pressed against the floor, watching as bullets sliced through the bathroom interior. What were these idiots doing, and who were they trying to shoot? Was it the creature?

  It was then, I saw the wall in my bathroom, to my left, start to bend funny. It was like something was trying to break in from the outside. My heart raced out of control, severe signs of a panic attack starting to manifest. The wall kept bending inward, breaking from the center, the ceiling crumbing down, too. A slow growl followed, a large bluish dark face lingering out of the crumbling wall. Giant eyes, the same color of its unnatural skin, gazed down at me, their killing intent oozing into the air around me. By instinct, I jumped up to my feet, bolting out of the bathroom, towards the living room. Six faces turned and faced me, their guns pointed directly at my chest. The wall inside the bathroom tore apart, loud scrunching noises following in its wake. Looking back, I saw the massive creature break through the bathroom door, as it continued on towards us, its jaw open.

  “Get down,” one of the females in the group shrieked, taking a few steps towards me, her gun blazing hot.

  She had short hair, slight make up, purple leather jeans—a bandolier wrapped across her upper torso. Rolling left, she shot at least forty-five proton bullets at the creature’s head, before throwing a few timed guided grenades at its feet. Gasping, my eyes widening, I turned away and fled the living room, reaching into my parents’ room. There was a loud explosion in the living room, followed by thick smoke and debris.

  “Oh crap,” I said, peering into the nearly destroyed room. “Those were my parents’ favorite drapes.”

  Just great! Could this get any worse?

  Opening the door, I walked over to observe what remained of my house. My father was going to flip if he saw this mess, and I wouldn’t blame him. Beneath my feet, water spewed onto the black marble floor, dripping from a few broken faucets. I moved away, with my eyes peeled to the floor, the sound of gun fire finally receding. Was the creature dead? Two of the strangers, inside my house, walked over to me, their guns half-way raised. They looked left and then right, listening for any signs of danger. One of them, the girl who shot the beast, walked over to the left window, glancing down onto the bottom floor. She sighed, wiping off sweat from her forehead, her gun facing the floor.

  “What are you all doing in my house,” I rattled in anger, estimating the cost of the damage. Even with insurance, we wouldn’t get back half the stuff back, especially the priceless heirlooms. “How could you throw grenades inside my house?”

  “You there, “the girl whispered, turning her gaze toward me, the others observing in silence. “Why haven’t you left this section? You were ordered to evacuate this region, weren’t you?”

  “I just got home,” I replied, shaking my head, my hands still trembling. “What is going on? What was that monster?”

  “We don’t know yet,” she replied, reloading a new magazine into her gun. She picked up a few frozen food packets from our portable freezer and placed them into her satchel. “I suggest you pick up a few belongings and follow us to safety, right now.”

  Nodding briefly, I walked over to my room, my heart still racing, but before I could enter it, something stirred. It was a strange noise, emerging from the debris. Was the monster still alive? I backed away, retracing my steps into the living room. The strangers in my house opened fire, unloading the weapons into the debris, attempting to destroy it before it was up. Brave and admirable as they were, their efforts did nothing to stop the creature from getting up and charging at us again. I had never seen anything like it before; it had to be some sort of creature from another planet or something. With tough scales and a snout, it was both reptile and canine. The creature retracted its long, sharp claws, hurdling toward one of the strangers. It crashed into him and pinned him, turning its head with ease, as bullets bounced off its body. This creature was too powerful, and as it pained me to admit this, we were no match.

  “Everyone, let’s go,” a large man roared, pressing his back hard
into the main wall.

  Oh man, this is bad. The large man had opened a huge hole in the wall, wrecking our house even further. We all made a hasty run, leaving the fatally injured man behind, as we exited the house. It was utter chaos in every direction I looked. Houses, buildings, and even mobile vehicles were being laid to waste, as fire began to spread. The excessive damage warned of additional creatures roaming freely about in our city. How could this be happening?

  Military assault vehicles flew above us, firing rapidly at something nearby. I heard screams and yelling, also gun shots from every direction. To my left, a large skyscraper, about 800 feet in diameter, begun to collapse within our reach, making it impossible to cross the western section. We all sprang back, in the opposite direction, seeking for another safe passage. I looked back at my house, or what remained of it, and spotted the creature leap out, through a broken window. It darted hard, chasing after us with everything it had. That was when the strangest thing happened—the creature began to self-replicate at an alarming rate,