The Creature

(A word of apologies for the military geeks. I have no idea how it works.)

The Old World.

Far away from the concrete walls.

Far away from civilization.

The Old World, after 18 years of desolation, still stood. But it is not what it used to be.

Places that were once filled with people, bustling with activities, now have plants and grass all over them.

18 years ago, The Old World was a busy place. People would work in the cities of The Old World. They would find love, create a family, and thrive in the majestic glass buildings. Or people could be poor, living under the sewers, trying to find a meal day in and day out. To some, it was somewhere they could change their lives, to many, it was a meat grinder, and they were fine with it.

It had everything. The good, the bad, the dreams, the heartbroken, The Old World was tough but it was humane. It was an artificial animal, swallowing everything it could, but it showed our true nature.

Now, it has been claimed by mother Earth. She sent out one virus, and the artificial animal is dead. It was a humiliation of the human race. The arrogance they had was shattered in a span of a few years. With a microscopic creature, Earth eradicated half of its virus, the human. Gaia showed the human how pathetic and weak they were.

Trees have grown into the streets, grass have found its way into the crack of the walls. Vines and weeds have become a usual sign. Human is missing from this place.

With half of the world gone, the temperature changed and nature also. The rains and the winds through their tens of thousand days have made the concrete buildings worn out. What used to be a nice, gray color now covered in a green mold. The signs of deterioration are everywhere. On the walls of the buildings, on the cars that were left behind, or on the metal street lights that used to be so bright.

Over the walls of the new world, trees are abundant. They are everywhere. 18 years without humans have made it grow. Although the jungles have not claimed everything, it definitely brought a different feeling to the cold color of the concrete and metal. In stead of gray, metal, black, it is now green and yellow.

However, the greenenry is not the thing to worry about. Afterall, to bring everything back to normal, Earth would need at least thousands of years.

It is the animals that now roam this old world.

The virus from 19 years ago did not come from a human.

It came from an animal.

And with the rates of mutation, it traveled from animals to animals, to even insects, infected many of them.

When the first human died, the animals however, did too. There was only one different.

The total number of creatures other than human far exceeded all the human population at that point.

And they bred much, much faster.

After a few years, the government started building walls. It was to contain the virus from the newly vaccinated civilization, they said.

What the world did not know, was the fact that the walls were to keep them from being harmed from the animals.

When the vaccine was introduced into the human body, created what today calls Homo emovere, the same event happened to the animals, but in a horrible way.

The C virus intergrated itself into the DNA of many other creatures, alternating their physiology.

Animals started to have mutations. Some grew horns, some grew wings, some grew in size. It was horrific. Their strength increased exponentially. A bear which used to be vulnerable towards guns now can dismiss it easily, a tiger could be seen with scales covering its whole body, and insects grew to five times their original size. The walls kept them at bay. Even though sometimes there would be some attacks, the majority of the time the walls are very safe.

At least, it helped covering the truth from the rest of the world for a while.

With the shared resources and knowledge of The Human Council, they devised strategies and technologies to combat the animals. Humans were safe from The Old World.

But in the end, humans are greedy.

They needed to claim back the lands. The growing population will sooner or later need more space to live and cultivate. Thus, The Council started the reclaimation project.

Troups and vehicles were sent out to deal with the animals of The Old World. Guns and ammos have been used endlessly because it has never been easy.

Their physiology is different to what they know, some even have weird abilities. The laws of physics were bent in a couple of special cases. After ever win, they would take the corpses of the animals and bring it back for research.

The human lost many, but they made some progress.

Until recently.

A reconnaissance team was dispatched from the wall with the purpose of scanning a deep and dangerous area. Usually, they would not send anyone there because it was very dangerous. Dears with horns as sharp as knives and spiders the size of golden retrievers live specifically in the area.

However, with the reduction of the activities, the headquaters started to be suspicious.

"Eagle 2,3,4. Are you clear? Over." The leader of the group talked on his radio.

They are named Eagle 1 to 4 respectively. These people are one of the best among their peers in the reconnaissance troup. Right now, these people are wearing camouflage protective gears with colors matching their evironment. On their hands are rifles which have a strange blue hue covering the nozzles, on their backs are military grade knives which can vibrate at the speed of sound. On their hips are hand guns which share the same properties of the rifles.

As the creatures in The Old World evolved, the solders had to have their equipments upgraded also. The guns and knives have been augmented to penetrate and pierce deeper than anything of the previous era. They are energy weapons.

Every single one of the team are wearing their goggles that can use heat vision, night vision and function as camera recorders. These images are sent directly into the headquarter, which is in total control of the situation at this point.

"Roger, eagle 1. I am clear. Over." The other members of the team replied.

Today is the fourth day of their mission. They were given orders to go as deep as they can into the area to find any anomaly that has been creating the absent in the activity of the animals around here.

They have seen a clue of an animal being pulled somewhere, and they are now trying to follow it. The animal was a huge elephant with plate armor-like scales all over its body. Last night, the soldiers saw something the size of a tank being pulled away right in front of their eyes with a speed that they could not comprehend fully. The sight of that has made the headquater extremely anxious and ordered them to follow the tracks.

It has led them to an old theater in the city.

When they arrived, they saw a huge hole at the entrance of the theater, the diameter of it should be almost 13ft (~4m). The size of the creature inside must be as big as a small house.

"Remember, Eagle team, you guys are here for the reconaissance only. Please continue carefully. As soon as you get an image of what is inside, retreat immediately."

The director at the headquater gives the team an order. His voice sounds serious.

"Roger. HQ. Over."

"Eagle 2,3,4. Head in!"

After hearing the order, they reply and slowly advance forward. Their rifles are already reloaded and in tip top condition. Before entering, they each turned on the light on their heads.

As they approach the old theater, a foul smell immediately invades their nostrils. It is the smell of decomposed bodies. There are blood stains and organs everywhere on the floor.

"Eagle 1. There are many animal bodies. Over."

"Yes. Be careful, everyone. Over."

"Roger Eagle 1. Over."

"Whatever is inside that theater, it is one fucking monstrosity!" The director talks on the radio.

The team keep their silent. Other than the sound of the wind blowing, they could only hear their heart beats.

The more the soldiers progress, the more the bodies and the stench. But there is no signs of life. They keep following the trail of bodies to the inside, and reach the stage.

Someone, or something, has piled up a huge amount of animal corpses into a mountain. The sight was something right out of a horror movie. And on the top of the mountain corpse is a hideous creature.

Lumps of flesh are covered entirely on its body, every lump is at least the size of a human head. And the creature has at least tens of thousand lumps like that. It has 6 legs that look like claws and a gigantic mouth with human-like teeth. On the inside of its mouth, small tentacles are seen. The size of the creature is at least 13ft (4m) tall and 26ft (8m) long. It matches the hole at the entrance.

Judging by the size of the creature, if the team were to engage in combat with it, they would have lost instantly. The only lucky thing right now is the creature appears to be dead also. Signs of decomposition are all over its flesh.

"Please Eagle, confirm its death and take a sample if possible."

The headquarter gives an order.

Hearing that, the leader steps forward, his weapon ready on standby. The rest of the team focuses their guns right at the monster.

The leader takes out a box of containter, uses his knife to cut a piece of lump from the creature without fail. Strange, red purple blood dripped out from the cut.

As he closes the box, everything seems fine. No abnormality was found.

"Eagle team. You have done great. Please return!"

"Roger."