Dr Marchand leaned back in her comfortable office chair while she waited for the laptop to chug through the corrupted files and restore them to an interperatable quality. To her great surprise, the instant her back hit the chair, the final result was regurgitated. "What kind of monstrosity of a machine did the man cook up this time?" Muttered the doctor. Pushing the thought to one side, she opened the first of the many videos and began to watch.
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Cole Hayward trailed behind the group slightly, occasionally jogging a few steps to keep up. Despite his talkative nature, Cole had barely said a word thoughout the hike down the mountain; having taken the many hints prior to exiting the mountain. The sky was beginning to darken rapidly, and an evil wind whistled and moaned through the shrubbery, sending shivers down Cole's spine. Nothing interesting had happened throughout the journey, but the sudden change in atmosphere had the group on edge. Temujin had a hand on one of the many hunting knives on his toolbelt, Aiden had slipped on his knuckle dusters and Sam's grip tightened on his rifle. Sergei, on the other hand, appeared almost relaxed. A dense fog began to roll aound the undergrowth, hiding the ground in a blanket of smoke. Something definitely wasn't right. The fog felt... warm. Sergei suddenly stopped mid stride, looked around his feet slowly, and then at his sorroundings. A low rumble reverberated through Cole's bones, it was a rumble so low and powerful that it was as if the mountain was speaking.
"SCATTER!" Yelled Sergei snapping around and waving his arms frantically before diving next to a tree and bracing himself. Too late. In that split second, a almost blinding pillar of fire tore the ground appart, sending molten chunks of rock flying through the air. Right before his eyes, Cole watched as the shadow of Sam Stobart was engulfed by fire and slowly disintegrated away into the dusk. He couldn't hear anything, the sudden eruption had been deafening and Cole's ears were ringing with a piercing frequency. Before anybody could come back to their senses, a shadowy form crawled up from the crater left behind. Scales glistened like polished rubys covered in dirt and infused with rock, muscles trembled and flexed with deliberate violence. Only the upper half of the beast was visible to Cole, and fortunately for him, it's back was turned.
A faint scream and a short burst of gunfire drifted through his ears. Cole only barely registered that it came from above him, and he whipped around to see what was happening. Warm blood gushed down from just above the lower branches, painting the leaves and Cole a deep crimson. Guts and burnt bones soon followed. Panicking, he rolled over and began to fumble with his sniper rifle that was strapped to his back.
"What the hell.... Where is it? How is it so fast?" Cole glanced around terrified, but stopped dead when a putrid stench of rotting flesh and old blood washed over him. His eyes widened. The world went quiet, and his heart almost stopped. "When did it get behind me?" Slowly turning his head, Cole saw the ugly grin of the monster behind him, as if it was savouring the terror that it filled him with. It was playing with it's food.
"Brother... Mother... I'm so, so sorry."
That was the last thing Cole Hayward ever thought.
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Dr Marchand kneeled over the bin gagging and retching at what she had just watched. Her shirt was drenched in a cold sweat, and her jeans stained with coffee. Harvey Wilson had walked in some time ago without the doctor realising, and was now stood over the chair horrified.
"Some easy death they had." Muttered Harvey through gritted teeth. "Easy death my ass."