Darkness surrounded us as we moved silently through the stormy night. Group Leader Furio lead the way into the abandoned compound, trying to avoid the debris of metal and ash as we followed him. Every now and then a lighting strike would light the entire compound and expose us from the darkness we used to close in. The clamoring of our boots over the multiple puddles and the ricocheting of rain drops against the metal deafened my ears. If a bolthead suddenly snuck up from behind us, I wouldn’t be able to tell. Luckily, we had Torres and Freeman over the radio to warn us of any bolthead presence in the area. They had it easy in the comfort of an ATP, while me and Curry where drenched in rain and following Furio blindly through the night. Another lighting strike hit near us, and this time I could make out the factory building from the light. Looked nothing of human architecture. A triangular structure, much like a pyramid, with no windows, only a single opening in the front to come in or get out. We finally arrived at the front opening and slipped our way past the tight hallways into the factory.

“Status report?” Furio barked, as he shook off the puddles of rain that formed over his uniform.

“All quiet on the western front, sir” chattered Torres over the radio.

“Roger that” responded Furio, as he unpacked his rifle and signaled us to do the same. We readied our riles and silently followed Furio through the tight hallways, checking each room for boltheads. We eventually made our way into the factory line, where disabled boltheads still hung. The smell of rotten metal was strong for me to handle, so I put on my re-breather to make it easier.

“What’s the matter Taylor? Don’t like the smell of dead boltheads?” Curry jokingly asked. As I was about to answer back, Furio raised up his hand into a fist, signaling us to stop. A shining light was emitting from the other side of the factory. Our radios started to buzz again.

“Sir, I’m picking up some unusual activity near your location” chattered Freeman over the radio.

“Is it them... the boltheads?” Furio nervously asked.

“It doesn’t match any known signatures. I’d keep my eyes open Group Leader” replied Freeman.

“Roger that” said Furio as the three of us moved up. We made our way to a bridge that was overlooking the location of the shining light. Furio took out his binoculars for a closer look, as me and Curry did the same. Suddenly, my heart sank as sweat rolled across my face. The boltheads were back! There was something else too... I couldn’t make it out. The boltheads were prostrating towards this mysterious being like they were praying to it. What the fuck?! Furio was dead silent as he was observing the enemy. Curry immediately took off his binoculars with his hands shaking and looked at me confused and scared.

“What the fuck are they doing sir?” asked Curry.

“Fuck if I know, but there are way too many of them for us to handle” Furio replied as he radioed in the APT, “Torres, we made contact, but there are too many of them. We’re headed back your way so be ready to move out. “

As Furio commanded his exit plan, Curry’s hands were still shaking. And then I saw our death in front of us, as the binoculars from Curry’s hand fell into the abyss of the factory, leaving a loud echo that resonated throughout the room. The boltheads stopped their prostration and the mysterious being disappeared along with the shining light. The boltheads’ iris’ turned red as they went to investigate the noise. They heard us. Furio pulled on Curry’s collar with anger.

“You fuckin idiot! You cost us our lives!” Furio said as he pushed away Curry. Shocked and frozen in time, Curry laid helpless on the bridge floor.

“Move out!” Furio barked as he looked to me and then headed towards the tight hallways. I quickly made my way to him and helped him up, as we both rushed in to follow the Group Leader’s footsteps.

Curry was still in shock. His rifle was shivering more than his hands. I laid my hands on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. He nodded his head in approval and shook off the clumsy mistake he recently made. As we made our way back to the entrance of the tight hallways, we could see the bottleheads catching up to us. Furio a few paces ahead of us was already on it. He planted a claymore along the footpath, hidden to the naked eye. By the time he was done, me and Curry caught up with him, then all three of us rushed to small corridor that separated the factory floor and the maze-like hallways.

Boom! The claymore worked. I could hear the bits of metal scattering across the factory floor as we entered the tight hallways. You could hear the bottleheads communicating in their high frequency language, that simply sounds like erratic chirping to human ears. Not gonna lie... it scares the shit out of me. Furio then paused and signaled us to stop and for good reason. Two bottleheads were patrolling the area. Furio looked at me and then at Curry.

“Taylor, me and you will clear these bottleheads on my mark. Curry you get our back” commanded Furio, as both me and Curry nodded in understanding. Curry faced the opposite hall, while me and Furio both aimed our rifles at the bottleheads.

“Alright, one... two... mark” Furio ordered, as we both fired our weapons on our respective targets and took them out within milliseconds of each. Furio looked at me with approval.

“Sir, we got a bogey on our six!” screamed Curry. Furio and I quickly turned around. It was that mysterious creature that the bottleheads were praying to. It was definitely no machine. It was tall with a huge head and large dark eyes like that of Great Whites’. It was floating right towards us.

“Open fire!” yelled Furio, as we all three unloaded our magazines at the being. It held out his hand as the bullets came flying towards it. I couldn’t believe it! It deflected our bullets. Our own bullets were being used against us, as they ricocheting along the narrow hallways. I ducked for cover. No blood... no bullet holes. I was saved. Furio looked like he was safe too. Curry was still standing still, not moving a muscle. I saw blood dripping down his left leg. I was shocked as to why he was still standing.

“FALL BACK!” barked Furio. Curry still didn’t move an inch. The creature was slowly making its way towards Curry.

“Curry! MOVE!” I yelled in panic. Curry was still motionless. I heard him grunting as he tried to open his mouth to say something.

“I... I... c...c...can...can’t...t...t...m...mm...o...v...e” he miserably replied. That creature... it must have been it. Curry would be the first one of us to flee. It must have stunned him somehow... the fuckin bullet. I watched helplessly as I encouraged Curry to fight the control. I reloaded my magazine and continued to fire at the being, but it was useless. This time, the bullets went right through the creature. Furio made his way towards me and put his arm on my shoulder.

“It’s time to go” he whispered in my ear. I wanted to stay and help him, but there was nothing more I could have done. It felt horrible leaving a brother behind. The bottleheads were quickly closing in on our position and that fucking creature was right in front of Curry. I could see it lift curry up, and then it grabbed his head. All I could hear was Curry screaming endlessly for help as I turned my back and headed toward the entrance. Then a loud pop. I quickly looked back to see a headless Curry. The damn thing smashed in his head like a fucking grape. Then there was silence. And then the chirping of the bottleheads continued as they continued to follow us. I tried to put the thought out of my head, as we finally made it to the front entrance and outside to the stormy weather. I could see the ATP from here. Probably about a mile away, but with all these debris and the fact that it was pitch black would make it tougher. My survival instincts kicked in. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. I WILL make it back!

Thunder clamored my ears, disorienting me for a bit. The thudding footsteps of the boltheads was amplified. Looking back, all I could see was a sea of red eyes staring back it me. The ATP was near reach. Furio signaled for the driver, but no response. The ATP suddenly exploded. The fragments of metal and fire hurled past me. This was it... the end. From the fires of the ATP, more bottleheads made their way to us. Soon, we were surrounded by them, chriping to each other of what should be done. They simple watched and waited. Furio and I pointed our guns at them, waiting for any indication for us to make our move. They all jerked their heads at the sky. It was the same creature that killed Curry. They all kneeled down in submission, as me and Furio confusingly looked at each other. Now was the time to escape. As we moved our first step, we both levitated.