Drip!

  At the heart of the cave, the underground lake sat still while water dripped from stalactite. Jackson stood over the edge and scanned the drop below to find nothing. He knew he was close, as the scent of the creature was nearby. But it was too close to his liking.

  ‘I want to ask a question.’

  Jackson readied himself as a voice echoed through the cave making it impossible to tell where the voice came from and how far the creature was. It spoke fluent Spanish, its tone was clear and easily understandable like it had a Spaniard accent.

  ‘Why would someone like you kill my incubators? None of this makes any sense, but from what I see, I can tell you are not entirely friendly.’ The voice waited for Jackson to reply, but the reptile kept his mouth shut as he tried to figure out where the monster was. ‘Okay, I see how this will be.’

  From the roof of the cave, the monster jumped down and landed on top of Jackson, knocking the rifle out of his hands. The reptile flipped his body after he pulled out his shotgun from his belt and blasted it at the creature before he could get a good look at it. It was ineffective, as the creature smacked the weapon away and made the reptile’s snout bleed with a single punch. The monster picked the reptile up with one hand and threw him over the edge through coeloms, causing one of them to spike through his right leg.

  Jackson shook his head; he snapped stalagmite off and pulled it out from his leg before he leaped behind cover to hide from the creature that attacked him. The reptile patched his leg up as best he could with a staple gun. While he observed the monster overlooking the darkness, unable to find the reptile.

  The creature chuckled, ‘impressive.’ It jumped down in search of the reptile. ‘I didn’t think you would survive that one.’

  The creature was bipedal, he stood at 8 feet tall, his avian legs and feet looked similar to an ostrich. It was muscular, its chest and neck had black scales with sand-coloured feathers on its back. Each hand had a protruding claw from each of its three fingers while every knuckle had a thick exoskeleton. He grinned arrogantly with its sharp fangs revealing themselves, it had a jagged face that looked like a rough sketch of a vaquita with two brown goat-like eyes. It lacked visual ears and a nose, but it could smell and hear better than anything.

  The creature peaked around corners, trying to find their reptilian foe. ‘Perhaps you can help me. We are both similar in a way, yet also different.’ The creature waited for a response but was left in disappointment. ‘A quiet type, that’s okay. Hopefully, you’ll listen to me.’

  Jackson circled the creature with his Glock and knife at the ready. Noting every detail about the creature’s psyche while trying to find any weak point before he could plan an attack.

  ‘I am like you, no? I think our circumstances are different but... you smelt… old.’ The creature laughed to himself. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you. But I hope you can understand what I mean.’ The creature crouched down in front of a puddle to look at its reflection, he played with the water as he tried to collect his thoughts. ‘I woke up last year, I don’t know why but it felt surreal. I know how to speak, walk, read every language, what made humans scared, what I needed to eat, drink, and breathe. Yet I knew nothing other than my basic instincts. It infuriated me! I went everywhere but found nothing to answer my questions!’

  Jackson ran towards the monster from behind, firing his Glock with their knife out. The reptile ducked as the creature swiped at them. Jackson lunged but the blade snapped when he struck the side of the monster’s stomach. Frustrated, the monster tried to kick the reptile away, only for them to be knocked to the ground after the reptile caught their leg. Jackson elbowed its leg from the side hoping to shatter its knee, only for him to realise that his blow did nothing. Recalculating, Jackson pushed the monster away while he fired a few shots at the monster's head hoping to cause as much damage as possible.

  Click!

  Jackson holstered his pistol as the two locked themselves in melee. Besides wounding the monster, the reptile just made it angry. The creature’s attacks were unorganised but powerful as each strike obliterated every coelom like they were styrofoam as they tried to hit their agile opponent. Jackson used their momentum against them, he landed hook kicks, delivered blows on the monster’s pressure points, and used his tail that kept the creature off balance and disoriented. Everything that could deliver maximum damage, if only it would work.

  Each hook kick could liquify an average human’s chest, yet the monster shrugged it off like it was nothing. Every punch to the monster’s pressure point was met with a confused expression, like the monster thought it was meant to hurt, instead, it tickled. Nothing was harming the monster.

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  Sensing that his attacks were fruitless, Jackson distracted the monster by throwing dirt at its face so he could retreat back into the darkness. Giving him time to reload his only firearm while examining his equipment for other options to hopefully slay his foe.

  ‘So you’re with them! The people that hunted me down, wanted to kill me for what I am.’ The monster frowned, insulted by Jackson’s assault. ‘Maybe they did something to you, forced you to go against me, your own flesh and blood. Please, hear me out!’ He pleaded to only be met with silent apathy. ‘I need to understand. Why my mind itches, why my soul forces me to do one thing. It tells me to kill kill kill! It screams that I must breed to create more of me. But I don’t understand why it does. It makes no sense, why should I suffer? Why do I need to be the enemy of humanity!?’

  Jackson emerged from the shadows and charged at the creature with a Charge-Spike in one hand. He blasted at the creature's face to disorientate the monster so he could get close enough to spike the beast. Only for the reptile’s hand to be caught. The monster ripped the spike from his hand before they punched the reptile in the stomach. The blow made Jackson gasp for air as blood spat out from his lips. He tried to escape the creature's grasp, firing multiple rounds into the creature’s side. Only for him to be met with multiple headbutts that made him drop his gun.

  The monster examined the reptile’s blue blood while they picked him up by the collar of his vest. ‘Why do you go against me? There is something that unites us.’ The beast wiped their fingers across the reptile’s blooded head and tasted Jackson’s blood. ‘Copper… nothing that should be from here, just like me.’

  Jackson slashed his vest’s collar to escape the creature's grasp using his claws. Before he could touch the ground, the creature backhanded him across the room straight into the stone wall. The reptile winced as he struggled to get up, his ribs broke upon impact. The monster kicked his stomach to flip the reptile on his back and slammed his foot down onto Jackson’s chest to keep him pinned.

  ‘Why won’t you listen?!’ The monster gestured around the room. ‘There is nothing you can do to me! Nothing! So please just pay attention. You can understand what is required of me, and what the world wants me to be. Whatever that may be. I tried to find an answer only to be left even more confused. When I walked to a church and heard the priest talk about how we are all made in God’s image, that we all have a purpose.’ The monster couldn’t help but smile to himself, ‘funny. For a God that talked about love, he made me. But why? Why should I be made? Why did a loving God make a creature designed to harm humanity like an invasive species? I did what the humans had done in the church, I prayed for God. Yet I couldn’t see him, I couldn’t feel his presence.’

  While the creature monologued, the reptile used his tail to go through his equipment attached to his belt. Trying his best not to grab the intention of the monster that steadily applied pressure to his chest. He looked to his right and noticed his Glock on the ground and in good condition. Above the monster was stalactite that looked fragile.

  The beast paused and smiled as Jackson let out a pained groan as one of his ribs popped and dislodged itself. ‘So I wondered,’ the monster continued. ‘Perhaps God never existed. That they were made up so people can cope with the horrors of the world. It made sense for them to. This is a cruel world, one that made me! I never wanted to be born, but that itch always reminds me every second that I need to take it for myself. Perhaps that is what I should do, perhaps I need to make myself known!’

  The monster staggered back after Jackson used his tail to pull the pin off a flashbang and threw it at the monster’s face. The reptile jumped out of the creature’s grip with a fragmentation grenade at the ready. After grabbing the Glock, Jackson shot the stalactite which knocked the creature down, but he knew it would only slow the creature down. He threw the grenade at the entrance in hopes of trapping the creature inside the cave.

  The monster smiled at the reptile as he pulled out his charms. ‘Not bad.’ Jackson heard before he teleported out of the cave right as the grenade exploded.

  At an abandoned oil rig out of the Gulf of Mexico was one of the Order’s operating bases. The reptile teleported onto one of the designated teleportation cells in front of a confused crowd. His colleagues turned to the bloodied reptile and rushed to him the moment he collapsed to the ground. Succumbing to his injuries.