The two men

The metal bulkhead shrieked as it slowly opened. Light beamed into the room from a rifle mounted flashlight, illuminating the cold storeroom. The light beam quickly scanned the walls with purpose, flicking between top to bottom. Once cleared, two men entered the room, both armed to the teeth like they were about to start a coup. Each man took to their side of the room and stood, patiently listening, periodically tracking any unusual noise. The howl of the freezing Antarctic wind blew a gale outside the walls of the frozen base. Creaks and moans came from the walls themselves, straining to stay put from the blizzard that was currently ravaging the base.

A faint but obvious glass clink was heard, both men zeroing in on the noise with their flashlights, rifles at the ready. The source of the noise came from a shelf near the back of the room, holding medical beakers and various other lab equipment. One of the men reached into a tactical vest pocket and pulled out a small flat box and pressed the rocker switch on the side, surging the box to life. A screen on the front glowed with life, illuminating the mans bearded face. The man pressed the touch screen a few times than pointed the box towards the source of the noise. The other man’s eyes flitted between the shelf and the bearded man, waiting for a response from either.

“We’re not alone.” The bearded man whispered, with a slight hint of fear in his voice.

The other man gave a nod and a slight grunt, then lowered his rifle and swapped it for a different firearm, only this one was thicker and had a larger barrel. The other man checked the firearm then raised it towards the shelf.

“Ready.” Explained the other man, taking a deep breath.

The bearded man, keeping his rifle trained on the shelf, switched off the box and pocketed it. He then slowly and deliberately made his way to the other man, keeping his eyes constantly peeled to the shelf, kneeling beside him.

“On your mark.” The bearded man stated.

The other man pulled a lever on his firearm and a low hiss leaked from the front of the firearm. The other man then pressed and held a button on the side of the firearm causing a faint clicking sound to repeat. Then with a quiet whoosh, a small pilot light on the front of the firearm burned a low flickering orange, barely making a difference in the dark cold storeroom.

With the new light source, the glass beakers on the shelf clinked again, then again on a higher shelf, as something moved around, energized by the small heat source.

The other man took a deep breath, then smiled an uneasy smile. He pulled the trigger and a stream of yellow hot flame spurted out of the front of the handheld flamethrower, lighting up the storeroom as if the sun had suddenly exploded.

The huge fireball hurtled forwards, engulfing the shelf and all its contents. The two men flinched from the heat several feet away but maintained their focus as everything in front of them burned.

Pops and cracks could be heard amongst the sound of the fireball being ejected from the flamethrower and then when the other man let go of the trigger, the fireball almost instantly disappeared, leaving behind a layer of fire covering most of the room.

The two men stood and watched as the room burned, waiting, and watching for any movement. One side of the shelf, burnt beyond repair, gave way, and crashed to the ground, along with all it held. The bearded man flinched and opened fire, releasing a burst of gun fire into the debris. The bullets ricocheted off the floor and lodged themselves in the back wall, kicking up smoke and embers into an already smoky room.

“Sorry.” Explained the bearded man, not taking his eyes off the fire.

The other man was about to respond but the rubble started to heave as something pushed up from under the debris. The two men watched with curiosity and fear as the shape grew bigger and an arm like appendage reached out from the rubble, slamming into the ground to steady itself.

The bearded man once again opened fire, as the other man dropped the flamethrower and bought up his rifle in one swift, well trained movement, opening fire on the growing shape. The bullets pierced the shape with a wet thud, seemingly having no effect. The bearded man stood up and tapped the other man on the shoulder, signaling for him to follow as they retreated towards the bulkhead doorway.

As the two men neared the doorway, the shape, having grown another arm, started to shake, causing the room to start vibrating, then it let out a loud but muffled screech. The two men used the moment to stop firing and make a mad dash through the doorway, closing the bulkhead behind them, spinning the locking wheel, and trapping the shape.

The two men stepped away from the door and leant against the opposing wall, catching their breath. The bearded man proceeded to eject the almost empty magazine from his rifle and reached into his vest for a fresh one. As he was about to insert the new magazine, something huge slammed again the bulkhead door, scaring the bearded man and causing his to drop the magazine.

The two men froze with fear as they both looked at the bulkhead door. Through the porthole window, an expressionless alien face stared back at them with black pupil less eyes, the room still ablaze behind it. The monster let out a pained moan as it banged against the door shaking the walls and floor. The bearded man frantically searched for his dropped magazine, while the other man raised his rifle and targeted the alien creature through the porthole window.

The alien went quiet and motionless as it stared at the two men through the window, quietly contemplating its situation. The bearded man found his dropped magazine and reloaded his rifle, bringing his firearm up to target the creature who was still doing nothing. Then in an instant, the locking wheel spun wildly as the alien had figured out how to open the door. The bulkhead door violently swung open, slamming into the wall, paralyzing the two men with fear at the sight of the fully grown 7ft humanoid alien.

With the alien no longer contained, the two men opened fire, emptying their magazine into the creature who seemed unaffected. The alien, ducking under the doorway, rushed forward swiping at the two men. The bearded man rolled out of the way, barely avoiding the alien’s monstrous arm. The other man, not as quick as the bearded man, took a heavy blow to the chest, sending the other man hurtling down the hallway. The bearded man recovered from his roll and focused on the alien, opening fire once again. This drew the alien’s attention away from the other man who was struggling to breathe after being heavily winded.

The bearded man backed up down the hallway leading the alien away from the other man, giving him time to recover, continuously firing until his magazine ran dry with a click, just as he reached the end of the hallway where oxygen bottles were stored. The alien, no longer being pelted by bullets lowered its arms and started marching towards the bearded man, growling in anger. With the alien bearing down on him, the bearded man, in one swift move, ejected the spent magazine and inserted a fresh one and cocked his rifle, then he grabbed one of the grenades attached to his tactical vest and pulled the pin but held onto the lever.

As the alien reached the bearded man and was about to swing at the bearded man, he fired a quick burst of bullets at the alien. The alien flinched from the surprise attack, giving the bearded man enough time to drop the grenade and roll behind the alien and start running towards the other man who had fully recovered and was reloading his rifle.

As the alien recovered, it looked at where the bearded man was and realized he was gone. The alien looked behind it to see the two men running down the hallway towards an open door. As the two men were about to reach the open door, the alien spun around on the spot to start chasing after the two men, but its scaly foot kicked something. The alien looked down, in time to see the dropped grenade explode at its feet, as the two men dived through the doorway.

The explosion from the grenade was enough to critically damage the oxygen tanks releasing the pressure oxygen, which caught fire and resulted in an even bigger fireball, engulfing the alien. The fireball travelled down the hallway towards the two men who had recovered and slammed the bulkhead door shut just in time to protect themselves from the inferno.

Due to the massive explosion, alarms all throughout the base were sounded, as the fire spread throughout the base. The two men simultaneously decided to make a hasty retreat out of the base and find a vehicle to escape in.

Once outside, they found a working Nodwell 110. They climbed the tracks of the carrier and entered the cabin, finding the keys still in the ignition. The bearded man sat in the driver’s seat and turned the ignition key. The 6-cylinder diesel engine roared to life, as the two men made themselves comfortable for a long ride to the nearest base. As the other man was looking at a compass on the Noddy dashboard, a large explosion went off inside the base, blowing the roof off a section of the base. The two men looked up at the explosion as another part of the base exploded out into the freezing Antarctic wilderness and were shocked at what they saw.

Amongst the rubble was the alien, kneeling in the snow. The alien looked around at the frozen landscape, scanning for something that only the alien knew. Its eyes focused on something way off in the distance, then stood upright, its 7-foot-tall figure fully visible. The two men just started in awe, not knowing what to do. The alien, hearing the 240hp idling engine, turned to see the two men sitting inside the tracked carrier. Instead of attacking the two men, the alien ran off into the snow, bounding over snow drifts with ease.

The two men realized the direction the alien was running was the same direction they were about to go as that was the nearest base. The two men looked at each other, not saying a word. They both knew the Nodwell was built for pulling power, not speed. There was nothing they could do. There was no radio in the Noddy and they wouldn’t get to other base before the alien.

Which no other choice, the bearded man put the carrier in gear and slowly started after the alien, while the other man reloaded both rifles ready for another fight.