The Great Expansion by Owen Jones

(1 rating) Rate this Story (5 best) 1 2 3 4 5

Odd monoliths stood in rows to the sides of a main aisle. Removing his goggles, Garrn allowed his senses to adjust. Underneath the dust and strange smells a familiar odour permeated the air around him. Prey. At the front of the room a black shadow detached itself from the wall.

Slowly and precisely Garrn adjusted his death circle, mounting the hooked frame around his mid-section and clipping the leg securely into place, behind and between his own. The shadow was a four-legged creature of obsidian black, larger than Garrn with a sleek, muscled body padding on vicious claws. Its thick, matted tail swung lazily as it stalked toward him, stillness would be the sign of a strike.

Garrn crouched waiting, watching the tail's undulations decrease. Silently it sprang forward with sudden and terrifying speed, front legs extended, razor sharp teeth bared. In that moment Garrn reared to full height, bracing with the leg and extending his circle. Black, snarling fur impaled itself on him, nails gouging flesh from his body whilst his own returned in kind. To fall was to die. The creature arched its back, pushing to disentangle the hooks from a soft, lower belly and only managing to sink them deeper. Despite the great weight, Garrn twisted viciously tearing the beast's entrails loose. As its head raised to roar in hate he tore out the throat with a slashing blow.

Blood soaked the floor as Garrn loosened the circle, sagging in relief as the dead weight fell into the life puddles. He had survived, but not for long if the ribbons of flesh hanging from his upper body were not salved. Picking up his hunter's pack, he withdrew the larger, folded collection bag inside. The creature barely fitted and it was agonisingly heavy as he threw the full bag onto his back, tying it tight to his bleeding chest. Collecting his weapons and collapsing the tail, Garrn hurriedly dumped it all into his hunter's pack.

Eager to leave, something still bothered him. What was the creature after in here? Limping down the room to the front, Garrn was awestruck. A beetle nest! Scooping some into his mouth and crunching happily, Gaarn filled the space left in his pack with as many as he could fit. Glory. Replacing his goggles, he left the room, marking it to be visited again.

Outside the heat had risen horrifically, singeing the hair of his body as he began staggering the return journey to the complex's entrance, constantly watching his back trail for foes. The winds were howling and the sand it brought rubbed his thick skin raw. Time had fled, leaving him at the mercy of the Above. Weariness settled on him like a shroud and he fell, hitting the ground violently. It was too much. He would end like many before him. Taken by the light. Above.

A beetle crawled from his strewn pack, he snatched at it and rammed it in his mouth. The incessant throbbing of the wind eased briefly. Garrn had no wish to die Above, with nothing over his head. Crawling to the pack he forcibly dragged himself up the embankment, using the complex's entrance for balance he stumbled into the maze of corridors. Instinct alone drove him to the lid, where he sagged, summoning up any remaining strength to open it.

Torturous twist by torturous twist it eventually popped free, the smells of the tunnels refreshing his senses.

Closing the lid, he removed his goggles and was swallowed by blessed darkness, perhaps now he would not have to be Garrn any more.