Operation Identify Ch. 01

He suddenly stops, as if he's caught a scent. His eyes open and he brings his head down until his leer lands on Mendez.

Rippppp! Two rounds blast into the creatures jaw, shattering it into a million fragments. The disfigured creature continues to stare at Mendez as the bullets rip through it.

Rippppp! Rippppp! Bennett and McIntyre continue to fire in a frenzy at the creature, motivated by the visual reward of flesh tearing off its body and bone's splintering like IEDs.

The creature begins to raise its right arm and bring its hand, his index finger extended in a "shhh" motion, to where its mouth would have been.

RIPPP! A burst of rounds turns the hand to slush, another tears the shoulder from its cuff.

Its one eye left still fixating on Mendez. "STOP!" Mendez commands.

RIPPPPPP!! The firing continues. The creature's body torn all over, flesh dangling from the torso, was a horrendous sight.

"Private McIntyre and Corporal Bennett STOP FIRING NOW," she shouts at the top of her lungs.

The firing stops.

Bennett and McIntyre look over at Mendez. "But Sarge," in a disappointed tone, "he's almost dead."

"Belair!" Mendez calls.

... No Answer.

She turns her head over her shoulder and notices where Belair was laying in the prone was now a huge mound of leech-like creatures, covering his body like an ant hill.

"Belair!" She shouts as she quickly jumps to her feet and moves back to where Belair was standing.

"Sergeant, wait!" Bennett yells and gets up to follow her.

McIntyre stares in disbelief at Belair, "use fire! Leeches hate fi--," McIntyre is silenced by a massive tentacle like structure slamming onto the top of his helmet and rapidly enveloping his entire body, from helmet to boots.

Bennett turns back to look, Mendez is completely occupied by the chaotic movements and tiny screaming sounds coming from the leeches, Belair's body spasming.

"McIntyre!" Shouts Bennett. The tentacle structure had come from the humanoid creature's body and seemed to be sucking the enveloped McIntyre into itself like a vacuum; or maybe more like an aardvark with its noggin buried in a hill of ants.

Bennett brings the rifle up to his shoulder and opens fire on the tentacle, the rounds passing through the tentacle and the holes quickly filling back in as if nothing happened.

"Stop! You're going to fucking kill him!" Shouted Mendez, noticing McIntyre's blood beginning to pour out of the holes of the tentacle, and the plugging back shut an instant later as it healed itself.

Bennett stops firing, the tentacle pulling back into what was left of the creature's body now.

"Shoot at the body!" Mendez brings her rifle up to her shoulder and starts squeezing the trigger, firing round after round at the body of the creature. Flesh tearing off just like before, but the creature continues to pull the tentacle back into itself; its body undulating as it contracts and recedes further.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Shouts Bennett over the firing rifles.

The tentacle fully absorbs into the creature's body.

The creature begins to heal just as the tentacle had. It's lower body first reacting and beginning to rapidly regenerate. The lower right leg where the calf muscle had been shot off and the splintered tibia and fibula quickly snap back into place, the bone quickly filling itself into its proper composition.

"Look," Mendez points at the leg, "he's regenerating!" She frightfully exclaims.

The calf muscle now filling itself in and fresh red skin pulling around the muscle.

"Let's get out of here!" Bennett shouts.

"Let's go!" The two about turn and start sprinting in the direction of advance, leaving the body of Belair and the creature to regenerate.

They sprinted for several minutes straight like this; Mendez's and Bennett's bodies were supercharged with the adrenaline rush's stimulating hormonal effects.

"We can't stop!" Mendez shouts at Bennett who was losing energy and rapidly becoming fatigued.

"Come on!" She yells as Bennett begins to slow, "give me a second!" he shouts back, gasping for air.

SCCCCCCCCRRRRRREEEEEEEE EECCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!!

Their hearts nearly stop.

The creature comes bellowing down from the clouds above, torpedoing just as before and slams into Bennett.

Mendez screams, "FUCK!" The creature pins Bennett to the ground, he's back in his full form now, appearing as if he hadn't ever been shot.

"Stop!" Shouts Mendez. She pulls the rifle up to her shoulder.

The creature, perched like a gargoyle on Bennett's pinned belly-down body looks up at Mendez. He shifts his hands to around Bennett's forehead and in one quick motion, CRACK, snaps his neck in two.

BANG! BANG! Mendez pulls the trigger and in an instant the creature jumps up and swats his wings behind him, propelling him forward to where his abdomen is pressed against the muzzle of Mendez's rifle.

Mendez stared speechlessly at the creature that just landed in front of her. Her eyes remain fixed on his and his on hers.

"Whh- what are you?" Asks Mendez.

The creature stares quizzically at Mendez, closely scrutinizing her face.

And in what seemed like the blink of an eye, the creature whips his hand towards Mendez's neck, tightly coiling his fingers around her throat. With ease, he lifts her off of the ground, his left hand grabbing the barrel of her rifle and tossing it behind him.

Her feet dangle like that of a helpless sheep awaiting the slaughter.

Suddenly, they're off the ground. The creature's wings rippling with unbelievable power. Quickly, they shoot higher and higher up into the sky. As they are rising, he removes his hand from her neck and spins Mendez around so that her back is pressed against him. She gasps for air but can only take in so much. His arms hold her across the chest and abdomen, tightly forcing her to stay still.

"Stop! Please! PLEASE!! STOP!" Mendez wails.

The creature tightens its grip around her body as it rises higher and higher into the air, perhaps 2000 feet now. It's left hands slithering across her torso, but maintaining a tight grip with his right hand around her neck.

Mendez was helpless and the panic was overriding her prefrontal cortex's control. She begins to hyperventilate as the creature shows no signs of slowing his ascent. Her body enters a state of mild shock and she passes out.

End of Chapter 1