Status: Redo of my old story
Silence Falls
Chapter 51: In the Swamps
Otep looked to Bert after the man decorated in military attire came out of the Humvee aiming his AK-47 at them and demanding them all to withdraw from the van, but she was mystified by his command for he suggested the devil being in the van with them. She had so many queries on what they were confronting right now sitting in the pilfered van they swiped from a dead man she brazenly murdered. Who the hell were these guys? Were they even the military or were they just draped that way to derive power and authority from anyone that crossed their paths and didn’t know any better? And why the fuck did they need such destructive bulky weapons for against a group of senseless patients? And the most noteworthy thing of all, why did that man just say the devil was in the van with them? What devil?
“The devil? Who the hell is he referring to?” Connor whispered to the others in the confinement of the white van that had to swerve to a standstill when it came across several giant Humvees blocking the path of their freedom. There was no demonic entity in this vehicle...unless they were hinting to him. He was a cannibal after all and the only one in the group that stood out because of it. “Me?”
“What the fuck do we do now!?” Bam seethed fiercely, wishing badly he had dragged Otep from the driver’s seat so he could be behind the wheel instead. If that had been the case, he could have had the luxury of mowing these guys down without hesitation unlike Otep...nevermind that their armored Humvee's chances against their meager white van.
“Looks like we don’t have a choice in this. Those guys mean serious business carrying guns like that. We need to do what they say unless we wanna get shot. We don't stand a chance against them with these small handguns.” Otep sighed back in defeat, her hands unlocking around the steering wheel.
“Fuck no! We're not giving up!” Bam nearly shouted at her, his hands clenching the life out of the seats in front of him. He couldn’t allow this to end, not after having sipped the sweet clean air of freedom, the lush grass beneath his hands, and the sun kissing his skin. The other soldiers pouring out of the Humvees lugging the same calamitous weapons tripled both his horror and perseverance at the same time. He couldn’t give up! He couldn’t go back underground again! He won’t!
"I WILL NOT REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN!” The man yelled, targeting his gun at the poor defenseless van. His men proceeded to spew out of the other vehicles to stand their ground behind their leader, equipped and qualified. “GET OUT OF YOUR VEHICLES, THROW YOUR WEAPONS DOWN AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!”
“GODDAMN IT!” Bert cursed powerfully, shattering the stillness in the van, and causing the girls shaking in the backseat to bounce with fright. He fumed in his seat for a few more minutes, dissecting their position deep within his mind into as many different rundowns as he could in order to unearth a way to bamboozle these guys, but there was nothing. Otep was right, sadly. They couldn’t win this, they didn’t stand a chance. It’s either they die fighting, or they relinquish and get thrown back underground again. Not being able to stomach witnessing his friends perish before him and alongside him, Bert chose to yield. “...everybody out of the damn van!”
“What? Just like that?!” Bam balked from the back seat in awe. He didn't expect Bert to give up so easily after all they went through to get to this point.
Bert wrenched around in his seat to face Bam’s criticism with a livid reaction that was jointly felt between the two young men. “Do you honestly think we can take up men with bulletproof body armor and bigger guns than these!?” Bert exhibited his handgun to Bam so he could see for himself the clear contrast between the two weapons present in this fight, only then would he understand the low chances they’d have in withstanding this gun fight with these men.
Bam said nothing, his mouth open and closing in several endeavors to quarrel back. Growling in reluctant defeat, he thrust himself back down in his seat and just clasped his fists in anger, wishing he had something useful to continue to refuse surrender.
“Exactly my point!” Bert griped back, not too cheerful himself. Unlike Bam he worked for years to escape that subterranean facility and now he’s about to get a one way ticket back into it. “Now, everyone just do what these pricks say...and maybe they won't fucking shoot us.” Getting out of the van hastily and bristling at his defeat, his friends slowly accompanied him. Living in an insane place like the buried facility for years after years can make a person less frightened of the surface world and what peril it holds. Bert wasn't too certain about his abrupt switch in mood as his feet touched the packed dirt of the road again, but at this point, he almost didn't care anymore on what was going to happen to him just so long as he didn't have to go back down into the ground again. At first he didn't oppose the concept of captivity again. Better alive than dead, because if you’re dead you can’t escape. But now he didn’t care. If they planned to execute him in the next ten seconds then that would be fine with him. He was done with it all anyway. Done with trying. Done with the torment. If he wasn’t ever meant to live life freely again then he might as well be dead.
Hermanni, who solely lingered in the van, sat up to snoop out the window and deep into the forestry on either side of the vehicle, hunting for something to use to get his friends out of their present predicament. The forest didn’t look like conventional forests, more like a foggy rainforest enclosed in moss and algae with camouflage regions that could turn into sinkholes of vile swamp water and sludge in seconds. When Hermanni detected what he was looking for, his green and blue eyes seemed to gleam for a few seconds until the ground beneath them began to convulse from the approaching earthquake of thousands of patients.
The military men with their hefty guns examined their surroundings in confusion as to what was happening before a literal stampede of patients from the subterranean facility came barreling through from their right, taking them by surprise as they tackled them down to the ground, pummeling their fists down on the armor, lacerating flesh with their nails and biting at the soldier's throats. It was a disordered spectacle that had Bert and his friends literally gaping at the horde of patients like they came out of a scene in a horror movie. Hermanni ascended out of the van and used his fingers to whistle to gain his preoccupied friend's attention on him instead.
Otep snooped over her shoulder to pinpoint Hermanni indicating towards the swamps...and it looked to be the kind of swamps that not only held mysteries and death, but could definitely keep them undisclosed with it’s heavy foliage. “Uh, Bert…”
“What choice do we have, Otep?” Bert demanded, having accompanied her gaze to Hermanni who was trying to get them under cover before the soldiers regained the upper hands again. Turning his head to the others, he clamored out in a haste, signaling the swamps. “EVERYBODY IN THE SWAMPS NOW! MOVE IT!”
“The devil? Who the hell is he referring to?” Connor whispered to the others in the confinement of the white van that had to swerve to a standstill when it came across several giant Humvees blocking the path of their freedom. There was no demonic entity in this vehicle...unless they were hinting to him. He was a cannibal after all and the only one in the group that stood out because of it. “Me?”
“What the fuck do we do now!?” Bam seethed fiercely, wishing badly he had dragged Otep from the driver’s seat so he could be behind the wheel instead. If that had been the case, he could have had the luxury of mowing these guys down without hesitation unlike Otep...nevermind that their armored Humvee's chances against their meager white van.
“Looks like we don’t have a choice in this. Those guys mean serious business carrying guns like that. We need to do what they say unless we wanna get shot. We don't stand a chance against them with these small handguns.” Otep sighed back in defeat, her hands unlocking around the steering wheel.
“Fuck no! We're not giving up!” Bam nearly shouted at her, his hands clenching the life out of the seats in front of him. He couldn’t allow this to end, not after having sipped the sweet clean air of freedom, the lush grass beneath his hands, and the sun kissing his skin. The other soldiers pouring out of the Humvees lugging the same calamitous weapons tripled both his horror and perseverance at the same time. He couldn’t give up! He couldn’t go back underground again! He won’t!
"I WILL NOT REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN!” The man yelled, targeting his gun at the poor defenseless van. His men proceeded to spew out of the other vehicles to stand their ground behind their leader, equipped and qualified. “GET OUT OF YOUR VEHICLES, THROW YOUR WEAPONS DOWN AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!”
“GODDAMN IT!” Bert cursed powerfully, shattering the stillness in the van, and causing the girls shaking in the backseat to bounce with fright. He fumed in his seat for a few more minutes, dissecting their position deep within his mind into as many different rundowns as he could in order to unearth a way to bamboozle these guys, but there was nothing. Otep was right, sadly. They couldn’t win this, they didn’t stand a chance. It’s either they die fighting, or they relinquish and get thrown back underground again. Not being able to stomach witnessing his friends perish before him and alongside him, Bert chose to yield. “...everybody out of the damn van!”
“What? Just like that?!” Bam balked from the back seat in awe. He didn't expect Bert to give up so easily after all they went through to get to this point.
Bert wrenched around in his seat to face Bam’s criticism with a livid reaction that was jointly felt between the two young men. “Do you honestly think we can take up men with bulletproof body armor and bigger guns than these!?” Bert exhibited his handgun to Bam so he could see for himself the clear contrast between the two weapons present in this fight, only then would he understand the low chances they’d have in withstanding this gun fight with these men.
Bam said nothing, his mouth open and closing in several endeavors to quarrel back. Growling in reluctant defeat, he thrust himself back down in his seat and just clasped his fists in anger, wishing he had something useful to continue to refuse surrender.
“Exactly my point!” Bert griped back, not too cheerful himself. Unlike Bam he worked for years to escape that subterranean facility and now he’s about to get a one way ticket back into it. “Now, everyone just do what these pricks say...and maybe they won't fucking shoot us.” Getting out of the van hastily and bristling at his defeat, his friends slowly accompanied him. Living in an insane place like the buried facility for years after years can make a person less frightened of the surface world and what peril it holds. Bert wasn't too certain about his abrupt switch in mood as his feet touched the packed dirt of the road again, but at this point, he almost didn't care anymore on what was going to happen to him just so long as he didn't have to go back down into the ground again. At first he didn't oppose the concept of captivity again. Better alive than dead, because if you’re dead you can’t escape. But now he didn’t care. If they planned to execute him in the next ten seconds then that would be fine with him. He was done with it all anyway. Done with trying. Done with the torment. If he wasn’t ever meant to live life freely again then he might as well be dead.
Hermanni, who solely lingered in the van, sat up to snoop out the window and deep into the forestry on either side of the vehicle, hunting for something to use to get his friends out of their present predicament. The forest didn’t look like conventional forests, more like a foggy rainforest enclosed in moss and algae with camouflage regions that could turn into sinkholes of vile swamp water and sludge in seconds. When Hermanni detected what he was looking for, his green and blue eyes seemed to gleam for a few seconds until the ground beneath them began to convulse from the approaching earthquake of thousands of patients.
The military men with their hefty guns examined their surroundings in confusion as to what was happening before a literal stampede of patients from the subterranean facility came barreling through from their right, taking them by surprise as they tackled them down to the ground, pummeling their fists down on the armor, lacerating flesh with their nails and biting at the soldier's throats. It was a disordered spectacle that had Bert and his friends literally gaping at the horde of patients like they came out of a scene in a horror movie. Hermanni ascended out of the van and used his fingers to whistle to gain his preoccupied friend's attention on him instead.
Otep snooped over her shoulder to pinpoint Hermanni indicating towards the swamps...and it looked to be the kind of swamps that not only held mysteries and death, but could definitely keep them undisclosed with it’s heavy foliage. “Uh, Bert…”
“What choice do we have, Otep?” Bert demanded, having accompanied her gaze to Hermanni who was trying to get them under cover before the soldiers regained the upper hands again. Turning his head to the others, he clamored out in a haste, signaling the swamps. “EVERYBODY IN THE SWAMPS NOW! MOVE IT!”