March 15, 2011 by Mark Lidstone

Blood Brothers – Killing Friends 2

For Jordan Lidstone

He pushed his way through the bodies scattered throughout the floor toward the giant, steel, security door – his pulse rifle hung from it’s holster at his hip. His boots clicked against the hard floor and the dog tags around his neck clinked against each other. Jordan, Burst to his squad, wiped the sweat from his eyes staring down at the alien symbols on the door’s keypad. He typed in the pattern leaving bloody fingerprints on the keys. Burst had gotten the code from the security guard screaming a few feet behind him. He’d promised to let the man live as his reward. Unfortunately, Burst was forced to break the poor man’s legs to convince him it was a good deal.

There were two red lights on the doors access panel. The first light switched to a bright green shortly after Burst had entered the key. The door didn’t open. To the right of the keypad was a small scanner with a flashing yellow light. A fingerprint scanner. He glanced over his shoulder at the guard on the floor and grinned to himself.

Upon realizing what was happening, the guard began to scream louder and tried to push himself away from his approaching attacker, dragging his lifeless legs behind him.

“No, please” he pleaded.

Burst grabbed him by the wrist and forced the man’s hand to the floor – pinning it down with his blood-caked boot. He passed out before Burst could even begin sawing at his finger with the hunting knife he’d kept in his belt.

“Just hope this thing doesn’t ask me for a retinal scan”, his said with a smirk.

Once the finger was scanned, the second red light flashed green and the heavy door hissed and slid open revealing a long, quiet, hallway. He stared toward the small door at the other end. His goal.

Three days earlier, Earth was winning the war. Our troops had severely crippled the enemy, eliminated nearly their entire army. It was a long, torturous, process but we had finally gained the upper hand. Then there was the surprise attack. Ships appeared out of nowhere, thousands of them through the clouds blocking out the sun. Their soldiers outnumbered ours ten to one. In the first day, the majority of Earth’s army was killed including the majority of Burst’s squad. Afterwards, he was told the enemies had taken prisoners. His brother was one of them.

Burst had spent the next few days tracking him down. He was a one-man army. Without breaking a sweat, Burst took out any prisoner ships he could find – releasing what was left of the human prisoners. The ships were all guarded by Earthlings. They were easily persuaded to give him the information he needed to find his brother. They may have switched sides but they were still only human.

Burst pulled a pair of glasses from a pouch on his belt and put them on. Once he had flipped the switch on the side of the lens, the empty hallway was quickly populated by large, glowing, figures. Their armour made them invisible to the naked eye but with the thermal goggles, the hallway lit up like his father’s house at Christmas. He counted eight alien soldiers total – seven equipped with rifles while one carried a large, axe-shaped, melee weapon.

Without hesitation, Burst emptied an entire clip into the hallway, spraying the bullets to force his enemies into cover. He ran through the doorway as his enemies returned fire and immediately took cover behind a conveniently placed, waist-high, wall. He pressed his back against it, reloaded his weapon, and waited for the opportune moment. Right on cue, the giant axe pierced the air inches from his face and wedged itself into the floor.

Instantly, Burst vaulted the wall, kicking the unarmed giant in the chest before it could advance. Once it was knocked back, he unloaded an entire clip into the monster’s right shoulder causing it to turn it’s back to him. In an instant, Burst reloaded his gun and put it to the head of his opponent, jabbing his free hand into the bullet wound to keep the beast weakened.

With his newly acquired shield, Burst rapidly killed the other seven with direct shots to the head. When he was finished, he dropped the one tonne mass of alien mulch and bullets to the ground and reloaded his gun with his only remaining clip.

The only remaining thing between him and his brother was the door. He walked to the end of the hallway and opened the door using the same finger and code given to him by the guard bleeding to death in the other room. Once the door hissed open, Burst nearly fell to his knees.

In front of him, strapped to a chair, was his brother. He appeared to have been too late. His brother was barely breathing and his head hung low. His shirt had been removed and his entire chest was skinned. Blood soaked his pants and pooled on the floor. What was once an unstoppable force of muscle and the embodiment of courage, was now a weakened mass doing what he could to force each breath into his lungs.

“Fal’, Burst whispered to his brother. He watched his eyes roll into the back of his head. He slapped him hard. “Fal” he screamed. Fal’s eyes suddenly pierced Burst’s. He opened his mouth to say something but it was muffled by a mouthful of blood which poured down his chin.

Burst pulled out his knife and started to cut at the ropes around his brother’s wrist but was interrupted with a blow to the head so powerful it sent him to the floor. His vision had blurred with a flash of white light while blood filled his left ear. He struggled to find his gun but the blow had knocked it from his hands and was nowhere in sight. He felt a force press down on his neck, holding him in place. Once the suit’s camouflage switched off, the glowing figure standing above him turned into a solid form. Burst had a good look at his attacker. Above him, with his foot on Burst’s neck and holding a gun towards him, stood eight feet of pure alien muscle.

Burst could do nothing, he couldn’t move – couldn’t speak. He knew it was over. He would either die by the gun or the monster above him would crush his neck. He could feel his bones creaking under the pressure. He stared the beast in the eye. His entire frame shook from the sound of the gun’s blast and his vision went red.

To Be Continued..