John and I stood watching the dolphin swim around in its massive tank. It was a beautiful creature and it swam very gracefully. I had been on the upper level earlier and had gotten to pet the dolphin. My fingers had brushed over its wet, rubbery skin and it had made me smile. I liked dolphins. I thought they were beautiful.
The dolphin, whose name was Icca, began swimming wildly. We could faintly hear the squeaking noise she was making through the glass.
"She's excited about something," I said with a smile.
"No..." said John, "she's worried. Something's wrong."
Suddenly we heard an explosion from somewhere on the other side of the building.
"Time to go," said John heading towards the exit.
Something was wrong. There were more explosions going off now. I had to find Amy, and I had to find my family. I lost track of John, but I knew he had gone to find his own family. I looked about. People were running this way and that. I turned a corner and saw flames ahead. Someone grabbed me and pulled me down behind an overturned desk.
"Stay down!" said the employee urgently.
"I have to find someone," I said trying to get up.
"No!" said a second employee holding me back. "Do you want the Rod Scorpions to find you?"
"The what?"
"The Rod Scorpions, look."
I peeked over the top of the desk and saw come from the fire several tall figures. They were bright, acid green suits with big helmets. Through the helmets I could see their faces. They were skulls.
"What are those things?"
"They come from another planet...they come from Mars. They're here to liberate Icca!"
"What?!"
"The government has been keeping an eye on the Rod Scorpions for years. The Rod Scorpions are animals rights activists to the extreme basically. They're here to free the animals, and possess our race."
"That's stupid! We don't-"
There was another explosion and I blacked out.
I woke up I don't know how long later with a bad headache. I was in my bed in my room. I looked around. Everything seemed normal enough, apart from my head. I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked fine. I was in the same cloths I had been in at Icca's building. They were singed a bit and torn in several places. My face had a scratch across my left cheek, but if anything it gave my face a nice touch. I walked out to the rest of the house. No one seemed to be around.
"Hello?" I called.
No one answered. The ceiling fan above my head began to move seemingly of its own accord. But then stopped. Something was off. There was just something weird. There was a loud chime and I jumped. I looked over at the coffee table to see my phone had a voice mail on it. I picked it up and listened to it.
"Ethan it's Amy. I've been captured by the Rod Scorpions and am being held captive in a house at the end of the road behind you guys...the one we used to walk down. They want you to come free me...they...they dare you to come free me. Your family and my family aren't here. I don't know where they took them. Please save me, Ethan. Please."
The message ended. I had no idea what I was up against exactly but I decided to gather some weapons to be safe. I belted on my Bowie knife and another dagger that had been my dad's. I also grabbed a machete from the basement. I was about to set out when I heard a voice call out to me from seemingly nowhere.
"Ethan, before you leave you should know we know where you are. We will always know."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Grock. We've implanted a tracker in you so we can always keep tabs on you. Good luck getting your girlfriend back."
The voice laughed loudly and then slowly faded away. I could not tell where the voice had come from. It seemed to have been coming from thin air. I began walking. I would get Amy back, or die trying.
As I was walking past the gated community near the end of my street I heard another voice call out to me. But it was high pitched and almost robotic sounding. It made me jump and I turned to see where it was coming from. It was getting dark out and all I could see where many pairs of glowing eyes staring at me from behind the fence of the gated community.
"Who goes there?" the voice asked.
"My name is Ethan, I don't want any trouble I'm just trying to get my girlfriend back. If you have her please give her back."
"If
we have here? Why would we have her. Most likely the Rod Scorpions have her. They've taken just about everyone."
"Who are you guys then?"
"We're survivors. The Rod Scorpions haven't tagged us and they don't know where we are. Are you tagged?"
"I have a tracker in me...so I was told."
"We can get it out of you," said a deep voice. "My name is Jacques. We will help you, Ethan. You'll never get your girlfriend back with the tracker in you. The Rod Scorpions will be on you like flies to a piece of shit."
The glowing eyes began to move and the side gate opened and out walked a group of people, most of them wearing masks of some kind.
"Drink this," said Jacques handing my a leather skinned canteen.
I drank. It tasted like old, musty water. But immediately I began to feel the effects. My body became very tingly and numb. I saw Jacques pull a knife out. He began feeling around my body. He stopped at my left leg and then cut it open. I felt pain, but the liquid they had me drink made me really not care.
I woke up some hours later. my leg had been stitched up. It was sore but I could stand on it.
"The tracker is out and destroyed, Ethan," said Jacques. "You must go now. Save your girlfriend. She has a tracker in her too most likely. Find it and cut it out. Take the juice with you and give it to her first." He handed me the canteen.
"Thank you...all of you," I said looking at the others behind him.
"You can try to find us again, but only if the tracker is out. We must not be found."
"Sounds good," I said. "Thank you again."
"Good luck."
I headed out of the gated community. I walked to the road and stood watching. The houses were empty and abandoned. There was no one around. I began walking down the street. There was a cloths line with shirts and dresses on it outside one of the houses. It began to move as if from wind, but there was no wind. Suddenly before me appeared the shape of a man. It was made of a strange black, liquid form, or maybe smokey form. It was hard to tell.
"Welcome traveler," it said to me.
"Hello..." I said warily..."Who are you?"
"My name is Grock. I own this street."
"We've met before then."
"I do not have you registered human."
"I bet you don't." I swung my machete. As I guess it did nothing but pass through the form of Grock. Then down the road came the skeleton soldiers in the suits. They ran at me. They were solid material. I cut them down with my machete.
"Grock, I want my girlfriend back!"
"Wait...you...but you had a tracker in you...you were registered!"
"I don't anymore."
"No matter, you can't kill me with your blades silly human."
"But this will!" shouted a voice from behind. A burst of flame consumed Grock and he shrieked in agony.
It was Jacques again.
"I forgot to mention you'll need a flame thrower. The Rod Scorpion can only be killed with fire. Their puppets, the skeletons are easy enough to destroy but the Rod Scorpions are a bit tougher."
"Again...thank you."
"No problem. And I'm coming with you the rest of the way."
"Thanks Jacques...that's nice of you."
"Yeah, yeah, let's go."
Ring. Ring.
My phone went off. I pulled it from my pocket. It was Amy.
I woke up.
