“-and although the beast’s activity HAS ceased for now, and we are getting reports of what may be its body, it is only at this lull in the carnage that the true cost of the past two days can be tallied. Over five billion dollars of damage in infrastructure alone, dozens of civilian deaths, the loss of a major army base with all hands… this is the sort of victory that may have been claimed by Pyrrhus of Epirus. May the new year bring us all many better days, and may their steadily-accumulating weight bury deeply the pain and loss we all now feel from the toll of this terrible crisis that has claimed so many of our loved ones.”
**Thirty Minutes Earlier**
“Brad you complete moron, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Setting off the bomb.”
“You barely know how to work your phone!”
“Sweetie, the army uses them, how hard can it be?”
“Shut up! Get out of there! This door’s almost free; we can still make it out if we run for it!”
“You can. You’d better. I started this, I’m finishing it.”
“That wasn’t your fault! That was BOTH of our faults!”
“Nope. You told me so, remember?”
“I hate you!”
“Aww, I love you too, Leo. Now get out of here. I think I hear it coming and there’s going to be a reeeeaal big bang in the next few minutes.”
**One Hour Earlier**
“East side is a total loss. We’ve pulled the survivors back through the west exit and collapsed the corridors, but it’s fast and fits through spaces a human can’t. We have to assume it’ll get here shortly, and general… we’ve lost the bomb.”
“Lost it.”
“It was in the east wing. No remote detonation possible in its current state. Someone’s going to have to go in and set it up manually.”
“What about the lab team?”
“The initial assault was too fast. They’re either dead or wish they were by now.”
“Great. Full evacuation.”
“What?”
“We already fed this thing three spec ops squads and half this base; I’m not going to send in anyone else to play hero and end up as lawn clippings. Let the goddamned airforce handle it. So what if it takes out a bit of the city, if we don’t do this they’ll all get eaten by it anyways.”
“Sir, listen-”
“Shut up and do it.”
“Sir, LISTEN, can-”
“Court-martial or silence. You pick.”
“The SOUND, sir, can you hear the-”
“The what? The whaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA-”
-army base penetrated, bomb lost
**Two Hours Earlier**
“Alpha and Bravo down. Charlie, report in.”
“FUCK YOU WHERE IS IT?”
“Charlie, report in.”
“IT’S JUST ME EVERYONE’S DEAD WHERE IS IT IS IT BEHIND ME?”
“Evac at zone two, proceed ASAP.”
“IT MOWED US DOWN LIKE GRASS, IT’LL GET YOU TOO! IT CAN HEAR ME TALKING TO YOU! IT CAN SEE THE RADIO WAVES! IT’LL FIND oh shit oh shit oh shit oh SHIIII-“”
“Charlie, report in.”
“Charlie, report in.”
“Charlie, report.”
“sssss.”
“Charlie? Charlie?”
“ssssSSSSS”
“Shit. Requesting permission to evacuate nonessential personnel?”
**Three Hours Earlier**
“Two stupid kids go missing for half the day and we have to go look in the old sewage plant?”
“Kids love doing stupid shit. Don’t you remember being a kid?”
“Yeah, but. Sewage plant.”
“They cleaned it out real nice when they were done. Know your municipal history, Les.”
“Alright, I’ll admit it looks like the set from a horror movie down here. Still not smart to do amateur-hour urban exploration inside an abandoned concrete tube sticking out of an abandoned concrete box attached to a crumbling brick shell. “
“What’d I just say about kids?”
“Fine, fine, FINE. It makes sense the kids would do this. I concede that, you win, I surrender, woo you. Why do we have to go look for them after they go missing for half a damn day?”
“Because perfectly respectable idiot university kids don’t vanish from social media unless they’re asleep, and they went missing at six AM. And, more importantly, their families have money.”
“Figures. Hey, how much money are we talking?”
“Board of Directors at the university. Gobs.”
“Like… Rolex money?”
“Easily.”
“Cool, because I just found one.”
“Just…lying there? Where’s the kid?”
“Well, his wrist is still in it.”
“Not funny, jeez, not funny at – holy FUCK.”
“I mean, it’s KIND of funny. Look at that, looks like blunt impact – no cuts. Think he got it stuck in some sort of machinery down here, or – what? What? What?!”
“I… think I found the kids. Oh god, no, that’s… that’s more than… that’s… at least three heads. Yeah, four. Five six seven oh god.”
“Seven what? Bodies? What the hell are you looking at, a morgue? Did we find the local mob dumping ground?”
“No. I think it’s….some kind of nest?”
“What kind of what?”
“It’s like a goddamned mound, fuck – all torn and pulped and…did you hear that?”
“Something slapping on concrete, yes, and I was hoping you didn’t. Let’s go. Let’s go let’s go let’s go now now NOW.”
**Twelve Hours Earlier**
“Julie, I’ve got mosquitos in my freakin’ earball.”
“C’mooon. Look at the lake, look at how preeetty it looks with the sunlight.”
“One went up my NOSE; this just isn’t romantic.”
“Awww, but you know what IS romantic? This.”
“Really? Like, REALLY? Right here, right now?”
“Nobody’s out here yet, and it’s coooool. ‘Sides, I’m friggin’ COATED in bug spray.”
“Is that like, okay?”
“I guess? Just don’t lick me or anything.”
“That sucks.”
“Don’t do that either.”
“God you are so witty you’d better shut up or my head’ll explode – hey!”
“Hey what?”
“We’ve got a peeper! No audiences, pal – get out of the bulrushes and go to the internet if you wanna see this shit that bad! You got three seconds to say you’re sorry and then I’m coming over there! One, two, threeeeeeetheFUCK? What is a”
**Twenty-Four Hours Earlier**
“Brad. The sign is right there. Can you fucking read?”
“Look, it says don’t feed the geese, and this is a singular goose. What’s the worst that could happen?”