The cave system started out normal. A simple pathway of tunnels naturally formed after millions upon millions of years of change the Earth endured. But as they got deeper, the more unnatural it became. The tunnels were smoothed like the rock was neatly carved out. Yet with no marks left behind by machine or human hand. The two soldiers had to watch their footing with every step they took with how smooth the ground was.

  While their flares gave away their element of surprise. They still felt capable of handling the threat. With every step they both took, the more determined they became. With every breath they took of the cave’s cold stale air, the more they wanted to fight the monster that slaughtered their comrades.

  At the end of one tunnel. The flare Ben ignited illuminated a large room. Bones covered the floor, all of which were human. The methane of the flare that seared the remains it landed on released a pungent odor that reminded Ben of corn and pea stew.

  Some seemed fresh with how glossy they looked under the red glow. Curly made his way to the centre to kneel down at one of the skulls that seemed familiar to him and picked it up.

  ‘This is John. It has the crack exactly where he got his injury.’ Curly commented before respectfully putting the skull down.

  ‘How do you know it is him and not just anyone?’ Ben responded as he scanned the room for any potential threats.

  ‘Because it wouldn’t be anyone else but him.’ Curly frowned as he examined the bones he stood on. ‘They were… sucked clean. That shouldn’t be possible.’

  ‘With what we are dealing with, anything is possible.’

  Curly awkwardly chuckled. ‘Yeah, I suppose you’re…’

  Before he could finish, the two men raised their weapons at the ready as they heard a rock scrapped across the ground. Ben and Curly pressed their backs against each other to prevent the creature getting a jump onto them.

  ‘That fucker is here!’ Curly hissed.

  ‘Seems like it.’ Ben agreed as he aimed his rifle down the tunnel that they came from.

  ‘Alright! Show yourself, coward! Stop hiding so we can kick your Chinese ass!’ Curly taunted as he punched his vest a few times like he was demanding a challenge. A primal urge to deal with an adversary.

  Ben kept his cool, trying to figure out where the sound came from. The tunnel led them there, and yet they didn’t encounter their target. If I was a super soldier, where would I be? Ben thought to himself. Something wasn’t right for him. Like that noise was deliberate.

  Figuring out what was happening. Ben shoved Curly to the ground before jumping out of the way. Just in time as the creature they were hunting jumped down from above.

  While the light of the flare obscured the creature’s form, Ben had a clear idea of what he was looking at. It was humanoid and twice as tall as Ben. Black fireless smoke covered its entire body, with the only discernible features being its white eyes that stared directly at Ben.

  While the two soldiers believed they were looking at a super soldier driven mad with experimental technology. They instead stared at the last of its kind. A Jinn, specifically a ghoul. A beast that hungered for the taste of human meat.

  It let out a thunderous roar as Ben opened fire into the creature, trying everything he could do to hurt it while he crawled away. But all it did was annoy the furious beast as hot lead bounced off its skin.

  The bones beneath its feet turned to dust with every step it took towards the man who foiled its ambush. Five knife-like blades protruded from its fingers, all eager to carve up some fresh meat. But it wanted to take things slow and have a little fun with its meal.

  ‘You fucking cunt!’ Curly screamed, knocking the creature away with a powerful shoulder. He then proceeded to fire his rifle from the hip while insidiously laughing. Unloading an entire magazine into a creature unfazed. As Curly witnessed how his weapon was doing nothing, he kept walking back until he hit his back against the wall. Unloading bullet after bullet into what was to him an invincible monster.

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  In retaliation, the jinn slashed Curly’s M4 in half before it sliced at his chest. Cutting through his steel nanofiber mat plates like they were tissue paper.

  Curly fell to the ground, gasping in shock as his chest was split open. Blood oozed between the gaps of his fingers while he tried to stop the bleeding.

  ‘Fuck!’ He whimpered, shocked at how easy the monster cut through his armour.

  But before the Jinn could finish off its prey. Ben crabbed it from behind and suplex the monster away from his comrade. The creature shook its head, confused as to how and why someone would do such a manoeuvre on it. It looked up to Ben standing between it and Curly. That time, without his main weapon. If the creature could laugh, it would. However, because of Ben’s bravery or stupidity. It promised itself that it would give him a quick death.

  On the other hand, Ben knew he couldn’t win against the creature in a straight up fight. Bullets couldn’t hurt it, so the best he could do was organise an escape. To do that, he needed to create distance between him and the horror that stood in his way. Desperate, he reached for the last flare he had on him. Swiftly, he took the cap off and struck it.

  As blue flames spewed as a blue light illuminated the whole room. The black smoke that covered the creature’s body evaporated in an instant as Ben aimed it in its direction. His nose flooded with the smell of sulfur while it revealed a malnourished monstrosity underneath.

  The jinn whaled as its protective shell was removed. Making it vulnerable to the world it terrorised. Before Ben could react, the creature turned around and sped out of the cave to be as far away from them as possible. Ending the fight as quickly as it started.

  Taking the opportunity, Ben reached down to Curly to help him up. ‘Come on, we are getting out of here.’

  With a pained whelp, Curly nodded in agreement as he placed one arm around Ben’s shoulder. ‘How the hell did you figure that out?’

  Ben kept his focus as he carried Curly out of the cave. ‘Lucky guess, I suppose.’ He lied. In reality, he was just desperate and figured it would give them or at least Curly a chance to escape. At the back of his mind, he wasn’t sure why his foe reacted the way that it did. He theorised the smoke were nanobots and the flare just damaged them. He reasoned that the creature looking the way it does were the results of China making a super soldier.

  However, despite being a proud conspiracy theorist at the best of days. He was left with more questions than answers. The best Ben could do was accept that there were technologies out there that he didn’t know of or understood. But regardless, he was adamant that they were facing a human.

  When the two soldiers made their way out of the cave, Ben gently put Curly down to remove his vest to patch him up. From Ben’s perspective, the cut was deep but nonlethal. He figured that Curly could make a full recovery in a few days or weeks. But for that to happen, they would need to return to the village.

  ‘We… we forgot our guns.’ Curly tiredly said to Ben as he began to bandage him up.

  Ben shook his head. ’We don’t need them. Right now, we need to focus on getting you out of here. Can you walk?’

  ‘Sure I can. But I might need some help.’

  Smiling at Curly’s remark about how obvious he needed assistance. Ben finished patching him up before he got Curly into his feet. They both made their long trek back to the village. While they didn’t kill the creature or wound it by any means. They would walk back with confidence and with the knowledge that they scared it off. To them, they believed they found a weakness, and if there was a weakness. There would be a way to kill it.