046. Lazaretto, 6

(Luka)

Yura stepped back. The trees from the central grove really moved to attack him. Branches cracked, mostly breaking under their own movements, they're not flexible. At the same time, roots came out of the waters to reach him from below. He yelled, stepping back in panic. The others on the other side from me were screaming in horror as well.

The haunted tree is coming to life...

Roots like ropes and even some branches albeit dry, begin to flail around in our general direction, getting closer.

The core trees of this bog are erupting into something else. Like a dark fountain, some weird ink now spews from the broken wounds and cover them like rotten sap.

It's like it rots and turns into something from nightmares.

They shoot at it. I see splattered inks, broken branches falling, and some glass panels above me shattering. The bullet went through and opened this window behind.

The light coming in reacts harshly with the monstrosity. Its inks boil and turn to fumes.

It reacts and it is aggressive. I think that just made it mad.

I get the boat that was there as expected. One of two are here in dry docks for repairs long done or forgotten. It doesn't look too decrepit. Luckily for me, there's another hangar bay here on this side of the door, so I won't have to row near that monstrous tree.

I yell so to the others, that I got a boat here and will meet them from outside. Between a few more shots at the monstrous tree, they agree.

The monstrosity still rooted here seems to be growing...

I'm shaky but I do my best. I crank the levers to open the door with all my strength. I lower the kind of ramp to get the boat out, and then get the crane to drop it. I really went as fast as I could, hearing the ruckus in the greenhouse.

I jump into the boat with the rows in hands before it floats too far away.

I'm on the lake... Krikfalgorod's lake.

I shiver a little, but start rowing to go around the haunted place, toward the peer they're struggling to open. More windows or glass panels are falling in broken pieces.

The sunlight shocks the thing temporarily, but I can't say if it's a good idea. It makes it aggressive.

I get quickly enough behind the door they're opening. They jump in the boat one after the other.

The monster finally managed to extend some parts to hit us that far, reaching even the boat. We're rocked away. Shura is hurt even more. The others are screaming, at the monster and a little at me.

That had been a shitty idea, but I didn't get any better other... I didn't know...

The water is getting inside the boat fast now we notice. Orel is getting really mad, seeing the boat won't be able to reliably carry the five of us across the lake. He swears loudly and at me.

O - We're fucked!

And just behind us, the monster grown from some trees apparently is breaking out even further out of its cage. It's like we unwillingly released a beast from hell. Things grow visibly fast now. Odd leaves, taller branches, all wriggling and moving. It's really alive...

We were in stupor when something like a small flare appeared in the air, way behind. A slow thing with pulsating light was shot from somewhere else.

It burst then above, and released lots of white smokes that created flames, everywhere they fell. Soon enough, a fire was beginning to torch the entire thing and its building.

We were rowing the boat behind to reach the zoo's lake side, before it took too much water and sank.

L - What the hell was that?

O - Someone armed... Help has arrived!

We felt some relief for the first time in days. And we rushed to reach the shore, and then across the zoo to go meet our saviours.

~

We ran through the dust of the corridors and visitor centre. We headed into the street to meet them.

The army... Or mom and dad?

In the street before the botanical garden, now on fire, we didn't see anyone.

M - Where did they go?

S - Looking for us inside maybe... Ah...

We sat Shura who had run more than he should have. He also had been hurt by the monster tree. Yura and I have a look at him while Morgan and Orel go look for the people who shot the incendiary flare.

S - Luka... What the fuck was that thing? Why was it trapped?

L - I... Don't know... If it's linked to my family's investigation, then... Maybe, it has something to do with the other monsters. Maybe it's a sample or root they couldn't remove in time during the evacuation.

Y - Who is they?

L - That's what I wanted to know... Powerful people I guess. But I don't know whether they're gone or still alive, because I don't have any name. Maybe they were eaten by their own monsters, but...

I don't know. And that's been haunting my mother all her life. We don't really know who was responsible and what happened.

L - I think these things were experiments gone wrong, but more around Forodlystiev than here. Plus it was an open museum for all we know, so I can't believe a mutated monster like that would have been left visible to all in the open.

Y - Maybe it wasn't back then. Not that much. But the mines... And I don't know what could turn dead trees into... that.

S - Shit it hurts...

Where Shura was scratched as he jumped into the boat, dark stains are spreading. This looks awfully bad.

L - I think... Somewhere in the lazaretto, people tried to play god. With genetics and whatnot, in the past. And I think whatever horrible experiments they did has gone horribly wrong. And maybe it's still the same. I thought it would be safe now... But it's still the same. I'm sorry Shura... I'm sorry.

Shura doesn't blame me, but he's becoming feverish. Yura is facing the obvious. Our friend is doomed, as he feared before.

Whatever innocent plants had grown in the museum in the past, now it's only... Like the other apes of a sort.

Our friends return with two people who look like military guys, but not from Cordov. It's not our uniform.

Morgan looks awful. What happened?

O - It's bull... That can't be true.

A - I'm sorry boy.

Artom introduces himself to us. The lady with him keeps most of her face covered and is apparently mute. She has a tight neck scarf reaching above her nose. She still waves a hi.

They're packing rifles and grenades around them, clearly carrying an absurd amount of firepower.

Artom is an adult man, maybe our parent's age, since he has a speck of grey hair.

His friend or colleague Shan, I can't say what's her age.

Y - What's that about?

Artom just says it, too plainly.

A - Cordov is dead. What happened here in the past, it has spread violently. Everyone in the city is now dead, or worse. There was no evacuation because it happened brutally the other day. We're the last ones. Everyone else is... dead. Or something else.

Of course we cannot believe him. That can't be true.

Our hometown we left last month can't be razed down just like that.

Artom and Shan show us what they captured on their personal cameras. The places look familiar, but it's a horror tale and movie.

What we've survived and endured here. They're telling us it's been everywhere the same, if not worse.

Our little country, it managed to survive half its land to the lazaretto and the loss of its two older cities in the past. And now, something else finally brought it down? Our families are...

No, that can't be right...

O - It's bullshit!

~