Under Destruction by Ace Thurman

Life is not all that nice in the future. Half a century ago we set great aspirations and hope for the ‘Bright Shining Tomorrow’. In truth, our kind had no idea what we were getting into when we started the ascent into the heavens above. In hindsight, we should have been more prepared. In truth, we should have brought an all-purpose readiness kit and a positive sense of paranoia. Even in the year of 2143, violence and brutality is not completely erased. Our tools for repelling the dark have only advanced. I see these acts every time I do my patrols around the ‘pristine community’; and I thought my job was hell. My profession is not for the faint of heart: keeping the peace; an act that is not appreciated by the ‘general public’. Peacekeeping is basically the equivalent of a pen pushing job back on earth, except with you get less pay and more bloodshed. Even though people hate you for what you do, it’s a job that must be done.

My radio buzzed to life “Number 32, we’ve got a sit. at Wilson Street.” Said the announcer with mild disinterest. Duty calls. I look around the unkempt police car, eyes dancing over the trash and gunk spread about. I grasp the ignition and turned the car on. The vehicle leaped upwards and hovered a foot above the ground. The underside radiates with pure energy. I tap the throttle and the car dashed forward, away from the dreary side-street where I once resided. ‘Wilson street’ echoed in mind, only to come up with terrible memories. The bad side of town was always trouble for peacekeepers. Only a few minutes passed as I sped towards the capital of crime. As I approached the scene, flares of blue and red erupted outwards. I halted the car, leaped out and peered around the area. Everything was eerily quiet, there were empty cop cars, signs of struggle, and piles of clothing and uniforms strewn about.

The masses were scattered around the police cars, facing an open door to a dark, looming apartment complex, it’s dark gaping maw of a door. I drew my weapon and slowly approached the door, never letting my eyes wander from the abyss. Slowly but surely, my heart’s racing, I reach the door, peering at my corners as I entered. The lobby of the apartments was dreary and creepy, intensely aged it seemed abandoned for years. Something was off, I had a bad feeling in my gut. A strange wet slosh came from behind the lobby, something was definitely off. I flicked on the tactical flashlight on the side of my gun and scanned the room, safe to say that that it looked better dark. A hard-metallic sound exploded from behind the lobby. My freak-o-meter was going haywire. My hand raced towards my radio, then my flashlight went haywire. I smacked it once, nothing. Sounds began to appear in front of me. twice, it flickered to life. The beam set illumination to a bark, slimy shape standing behind the front desk. I panicked and fired off my pistol, my shots made it moved, first shot the thing morphed to the left, then right, then down. It perfectly avoided my shots and scurried out of the lobby into the empty staircase, vanished without a trace.

I was officially speechless. What the hell did I just witness. It looked like a huge amorphous black slime, hunched over something. I lurched forward, looking behind the lobby desk, only to see another pile of clothes. Strange, very strange. I holstered my weapon, and reached for my radio. Still static, this scores a solid 10 on my freak-o-meter. I backed out towards the door to try a radio in one of the police cars, suddenly the door slammed in my face. I slammed and kicked it to try and unjam it, no luck. ‘Well I think I’m a little bit of screwed’ I thought, trying to calm myself. It would have worked it another loud and thunderous noise hadn’t shaken the entire complex. As dust and dirt spread on me from the patchy ceiling from above, I knew I had to move.

I advanced towards the evermore darker stairwell, I peered upwards and saw the light of night. I think if I can make it up there I can get a stable radio connection. The building shook again, making me rethink my strategy. What was causing that shaking, I wondered; I wondered a lot of things right about now, all with the main idea of ‘what the hell is going on and why am I still here’. A low rumble sound echoed from downstairs. My body was stricken with fear, conflicted between two terrifying mediums. Whatever that creature was, it must be causing this. If there ever was a time for manning-up, this was it. Escaping to the roof would have left me with an opportunity to call back-up, but if this shamble shakes again it’ll collapse. If I go confront the beast, I don’t think I could win, but I’ll go down fighting. The building gave a terrible tremble, more sounds emerge from the depths below the staircase.

“Shit”, I said out loud as I charged downstairs into the darkest depths of the apartments, to confront certain death. Man, I make bad choices, it’s just like a damn horror movie. I exchanged magazines and put my tactical flashlight to high. The flights of stairs extended into the inky black, barely illuminated by the flashlight. The stairs quivered at another seismic shock. Dust fell on my head. As I approached the bottom, I saw the creature hunched over something, I sprayed my gun dry at the beast, only to hit nothing, it moved so quickly it avoided my shots again. The thing pounced on my body, I thought it was going to be the end, but then it raised its obscure body upwards, and slammed downwards, causing the building to collapse. Death to us both. In the morning, the apartments were collapsed, crime scene went up, just another attack on the poorer district. Just another day.

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