Cerberi

A lanky redheaded man thrust his arm toward me. "Matt," he offered with a tilted grin.

I smiled and shook his hand, "Cassie."

A thin, black-haired woman shrugged at me by way of introduction, "Lily." I recognized her as a newcomer like myself. She looked impatient and annoyed with the whole situation and I vaguely wondered if she had been drug out here against her will, as well, before a chipper brunette threw her arm around me.

"I'm Elizabeth. And that's Elliot," she gestured toward a stout, brown-haired man. "And that's --"

"And you already know me," James offered, looking far more approachable than he had that morning.

"You, Matt, and Lily are the greenies," Elizabeth giggled, squeezing her arm tighter around my shoulders. "This is our little welcome group. We figured we ought to let you guys get settled in before we threw you out here--"

"Since we're past the formalities, let's get going, huh?" Heath interjected gruffly, cutting off the bubbly woman before she could go off on a tangent. She shot him a glare before releasing me.

I watched as everyone pulled their gas masks on and I quickly mimicked them. The pliant black material formed to my face; it stretched beneath my eyes and across the bridge of my nose before curving in toward my mouth and then stretching back out across my jaw bone. I reached up to twist open the vents that ran horizontally down the center, lifting my green eyes to the small group before me. There was no visor to protect our eyes and Zervium had a brutal sting. We'd been requesting the engineers of our city to construct something for us, and they assured us that they were working on a prototype, but they seemed to be moving slowly.

I shifted my weapon to my other hand, uncertainty welling in my belly. If we were caught out here after curfew, we'd be in for it. Hell, being out here in general was a major offense. Our commanding officers would not be pleased with us. We might even have to appear before The Council if anything went wrong.

"Won't everyone hear gunfire out here?" I asked cautiously, the mask distorting my voice.

Heath gave me an impatient look, "We're not staying here. We're going toward Salem."

"Now come on!" Elizabeth sang, prancing backward, away from the group. James was the first to finally take off, picking up a light jog and veering to the left. Everyone followed and I fell in at the back, glancing around cautiously.

It was a steep downhill for about a quarter mile before everything evened out into rolling hills. Perhaps a mile ahead of us was where things got tricky. Wild, untamed land rose up, spanning across the horizon. Gnarled trees stretched toward the sky, looming large while thick vines strangled their trunks. Bushes and weeds jutted out everywhere, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The plants would want to kill us and so would the animals that they were hiding. Mutants had to be careful, too, though, as the greenery didn't distinguish between what it caught. If it moved, it was a target.

The faint pounding of our feet on the soggy grass died out as we halted a few dozen yards away from the jungle. I lifted my weapon, pressing the stock into my shoulder as my eyes roamed over the trees.

We waited.

Nothing could be heard or seen except for the faint rustling of leaves trembling in a nonexistent breeze. They knew we were here.

Heath lowered his weapon, turning back to face us. I slung my gun over my shoulder, adjusting the strap so that it wasn't cutting into my neck. Glancing around, I noticed everyone else had a knife in hand, and I silently cursed myself for being ill-prepared. Heath frowned at me before yanking a blade from its sheath at his waist. It looked like he had an extra. He silently flung the weapon at me, the thing haphazardly flipping end over end. I leaned away from it, reaching out to snatch it from the air and breathing a sigh of relief when I grabbed the handle.

I heard someone snicker at the murderous glare I set on the blonde man. I couldn't be sure, but it looked like he was smirking from behind his mask.

"Nice catch, greenhorn," Elliot chuckled, nudging my shoulder. "Heath's kind of a prick, so you--"

The man in question cut him off, "We need to get going. We'll have to spread out some. If we stand too close, the plants will have an easy time picking us off. If you greenies get into any trouble, just shout. One of us will come help. Remember: move fast."

Everyone nodded and we broke apart, putting a good six feet between us as we neared the vegetation. It was unsettling to see the plants lean toward us. Unsettling and extremely disturbing. With a final glance at the other Cerberi, I stepped past the tree line. We all broke into a sprint, dodging trees and leaping over vines that tried to coil around our ankles.

Suddenly, the rich forest floor was racing toward my face. My hands darted out instinctively, but the air was still forced from my lungs as I hit the ground. I twisted around as I regained my breath, stabbing at the thick green appendage winding up my leg.

Before I could look around or shout for help, my breath was stolen away again. I felt a leathery vine wrap around my neck and start constricting like the snake it was. It pressed down on my trachea, cutting off the pathway to my lungs. I swung my knife-wielding hand out wildly, hoping the blade could find purchase before I suffocated. Black spots speckled my vision and I could feel my heart pattering madly in my chest. My movements slowed and I weakly clawed at the thing around my throat. I felt something slithering around my arm as my shoulders slumped forward.

Just as I was on the verge of slipping into the darkness, I felt the vise around my neck slip away before the various other vines wrapped around me were hacked off at their bases. I filled my lungs greedily, the raw burn feeling almost wonderful. I glanced up into dark eyes, disoriented. Heath drug me to my feet and shoved me forward. My legs faltered at first, but as my oxygen-soaked blood reached the rest of my body, I was able to move freely again.

He just kept saving my ass. I didn't think I'd ever be able to climb out of the hole of debt I was in.

I slashed at the limbs that neared my face, my feet pounding the ground. I glanced around to see only five others. Someone was missing. Just as I began to wonder when we'd ever get out of the deathtrap, the forest spit us out as suddenly as it had sucked us in.

The six of us stumbled into the open field, our chests heaving. The forest was now behind us and to our left, stretching farther than I could see. I bent over, placing my hands of my knees, catching my breath. Straightening up, I spun to face the group, trying to see if I had miscounted.

No, there were only five others. Matt was missing. The realization seemed to dawn on everyone else, too, and we all stood there in stunned silence.

I tried, unsuccessfully, to not envision what had happened to him. I knew the plants had drug him down and now they would coil around his dead body, squeezing his flesh until he was decayed enough to squish like a rotting melon. They'd grind down his putrefied corpse and pull it to the soil around their bases to feed their carnivorous roots.

I nearly retched at the thought, my empty hand flying to cover my masked mouth as though it would do some good in holding back the bile rising in my throat. When I finally got a hold of myself, I saw everyone staring blankly at one and other.

Heath finally spoke up, like he was the unspoken leader of the group. "We should get his body."

Elizabeth rung out her hands, "We should. Then we need to go back. This was a stupid idea."

It was amazing how the mood could change in an instant. My eyes flickered to Lily and I noticed that she had bruising around her neck like I was sure I did at that moment. My arm was killing me, but the adrenaline pumping through my body was enough to keep the pain at bay. I didn't notice that I was trembling until I dropped the knife in my hand.

Heath shot me a sharp look, like he was telling me to keep it together. I hastily bent to grab the weapon, beads of sweat dripping from my forehead. The cool night air on my hot face was a minor relief.

We heard a rustling from the section of forest to our left, and we all simultaneously turned to face it. Two wolves were staring back at us. One had a fresh bullet wound on its shoulder. The two mangy beasts were the same ones who had retreated the fight that morning. One was taller than the other, with darker hair matted to its skin. The shorter one curled back its lips to reveal a set of yellowed teeth, a deep growl rumbling in its chest.

They moved forward with heavy steps, plodding toward us cautiously. As soon as we reached for our weapons, though, they broke into a sprint, snarling viciously. I twisted my gun around my body, raising it and firing at the large animal. The injured wolf darted to the left to come up beside me. Elliot, Lily, and James set their sights on the other one, falling back toward the trees as it stalked forward steadily.

Elizabeth sidled up next to me, firing a round at the beast's head, but it ducked swiftly. They adapted quickly. Heath dropped down onto one knee and fired at the creature's belly and hind legs, successfully hitting it in the left haunch. The wolf yelped at the electrical surge that followed, tilting to the side as it shook out its leg. I took the opportunity to aim at its belly. The animal howled, shifting to the side.

Elizabeth used its distraction to fire at its head, piercing through its skull. The beast instantly crumbled, its eyes wide open and staring straight ahead. Its limbs twitched before they stilled, its blood spilling onto the earth beneath. The wolf's death seemed to anger its companion, and it leapt at the trio firing at it with sudden ferocity.

An idea suddenly blossomed in my mind and I dashed away from my small group. I let my weapon hang off my shoulder as I separated myself from the other Cerberi, gaining the wolf's attention. It regarded me with intrigue before bounding after me, snapping its jaws savagely. I darted toward the jungle, slipping in amongst the deadly plants before angling to run parallel with the tree line. The wolf followed.

I vaguely heard voices shouting my name, but the blood pounding in my ears drowned them out. Hearing a sharp yelp, I skidded to a halt and spun to see the wolf struggling with the vines weaving around its body. They pinned its limbs and drug it down, a thick appendage coiling around the animals neck and weaving about its muzzle. The pitiful whimper it let out was cut short as the plants yanked its head toward the right, replaced by the sickening sound of its spine cracking. I felt my stomach heave and had to turn away as the beast's head was released to drop limply onto the ground. The vines began to close in around it.

Before they could turn on me, I stumbled out of the trees, heading over to my small group gathered nearby. They were standing there in shock, similar incredulous looks on their faces. Elliot clapped me on the back, but I didn't feel like celebrating.

"We need to get Matt's body," I muttered numbly, lifting my eyes to look at Heath. He gave a stoic nod and the hand on my shoulder fell away.

We turned back toward the trees, and my blood cooled at the thought of all the corpses they held. We silently filed back in, moving swiftly as we searched for Matt's body. We finally found it, wrapped from head to toe in green foliage.

While the rest of us fought off the vines that got too near, Heath uncovered the body. It wasn't a pretty sight. He was covered in purple and blue bruises, a trickle of blood dried at the corner of his mouth and his eyes staring wide and vacant at the leaves above.

Heath hoisted the dead man over his shoulder, and we struggled back toward the city, the plants never once leaving us alone until we broke through the tree line.

Elizabeth, Lily, and I followed Heath while James and Elliot trailed behind us. We climbed the last hill before the gate, exhausted and silent.

A shrill scream pierced the night air before it gurgled and fell silent, and I turned to see Elliot being drug away by a massive mountain lion. The cougar growled at us, the man dangling from its jaw slowly beginning to struggle less and less. We, with the exception of Heath, who was struggling with the dead body he was carrying, raised our weapons, firing at the big cat who only clamped its teeth further into Elliot's throat, spurting blood onto its muzzle. A thick trail of the red liquid acted as a path between us, and we kept firing, shouting at the animal. It merely drug the man toward the trees, swinging its body awkwardly over its catch. It hardly flinched as the bullets embedded in its flank.

I heard the alarm blaring from within the wall, and a moment later, the gate was rattling upward noisily. I stared at the spot where the cougar had disappeared with the Cerberus, my heart heavy and my eyes stinging with tears.

Behind me, I heard confused shouts from multiple Cerberi, their boots sinking in the mud as they filled the night air with noise.