Chapter 3

~~ Evaluation ~~

|Department Of Defense and Technology — D.O.D.T|

Inside the 40th floor of the sky high building...

The office was enshrouded in darkness, the windows were covered with thick dark blinds.

The office wasn't in complete darkness though, as the light beaming from the large flat screen TV, brought some illumination. This made it possible to see the silhouettes and the few faces of the men seated around a long rectangular table.

They all faced the direction of the TV screen, watching what was transmitted with keen and undivided attention. One could say they didn't even blink at all, making them akin to functionless androids.

The TV displayed a footage of some people camping out in the woods at night. They were seated round the campfire, chatting casually and laughing heartily.

After about half an hour had passed, which the was cut out of the footage, when one of them decided to take a leak in the dark, about a few meters away from the camp site. Not too long after, they heard a girlish scream!

This prompted some to jolt up in shock, while others remained frozen on their wooden seats. The scream came from the direction their friend had gone to ease himself. But he was a guy, why shout like a girl? Except he was extremely frightened.

Thump! Thump!

The hearts of the campers started beating fast and loud.

“Ronny!” one of the men found his voice and shouted in the direction of the scream. No response was heard. Everyone took quick, terrified glances at each other.

The man cupped his hands over his mouth and tried again, “Ronny! What's happening over there!?”

But then again, like before, silence followed.

“Do you think he's okay?” a woman asked, already sweating.

“Maybe he was attacked by a bear?”

“No. I don't think so. They're no bears or wild animals in these parts of the woods ...”

“Yeah, it's completely barricaded.”

“Then what happened to Ron?”

They kept asking and answering themselves.

Then, at that moment, a silhouette highlighted itself in the darkness before them. Those who were still seated immediately bounced to their feet and, alongside their standing accomplices, began to stagger back in fear.

After a couple of seconds, the silhouette moved into the range of the warm light rendered by the campfire.

Sigh... Those that had held their breath in anticipation sighed in relief. Everyone calmed down a bit as they recognized the silhouette as Ronny, their camp mate who had disappeared into the darkness and let out a strange scream.

‘Phew... He's okay. ’

Then just as their hopes were up, the strangest thing happened. Blood drooled out of Ronny's mouth, ears, eyes and nose. He staggered and staggered like a drunk man.

Gasp!

Everyone gasped in freight. A sudden surge of perspiration inundated them when they also noticed that his hands were missing.

One lady couldn't hold in her shock and freight again as she screamed loudly, and like it was a catalyst, everyone panicked. But still, no one could go close to the armless Ronny as they were too scared.

Whoosh!

A blur zapped before them.

The campers stood still like statues once they saw it. Only their eyeballs moved to check others next to them, in order to confirm that it wasn't only one person that saw it.

Whoosh!

Another whoosh occurred, as the same blur zapped by, ushering in a short gust of wind and the camp tents scattered in different directions.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

One could literally hear the raging heartbeats of the campers as they were beyond frightened.

Whoosh!

The blur zapped by again, this time, pushing the armless Ronny into the campfire and he was immediately engulfed in flames, causing him to dance like a madman and scream at the top of his voice.

“Aahh!!!”

The campers panicked and scattered into the woods, running for their dear lives.

But before any of them could move beyond five feet, the blur encircled them.

Bam!

Some got hit and thrown against trees, while others lost parts of their bodies. Low growls and munching could be heard as the blur attacked them in a grotesque frenzy. No one was left out.

After about a minute and half of yells and ruffling, the whole place became silent again like nothing had happened. Like a gory massacre just hadn’t taken place.

But just a few meters away from the campfire, one could see the silhouette of a large figure standing on all fours as it shred the flesh of a dead camper with its mouth gruesomely. It then vanished at an instant.

Serenity once again reigned in the woods, cricket chirping and Owls hooting.

The campsite was now painted red; literally. Severed bodies scattered around, blood splashed on the ground like red paint, the campfire kindling with a roasted man in it. It was a gruesome sight to behold.

The camera glitches all of a sudden as long red fangs slammed into its screen with brute force, then the feed cut off. Everything went blank.

The TV was turned off, whilst the window blinds being rolled up, giving way for the rays of the mid-morning sun to peer through the windows and into the room. Now the faces and bodies of the men were clearly visible.

The men were clad in different colors of tuxedos, which were either black, deep blue or brown. They still had their eyes fixated on the TV screen like they were still watching something. Their lips quivered in bewilderment, their faces held expressions of shock and a tint of fear. It took all their will to resist dropping their jaws. They had never seen anything like this before. No one had.

As terrifying as it was, it was still deemed unbelievable!

“Ahem... ” a man with thick brown hair and brown eyes cleared his throat, standing beside the TV with a remote in his hand. “This got to us from one of our planted cameras in the woods yesterday. We had planted other hidden cameras ever since we heard of the first missing report.”

The men just stared at him with perplexed faces.

‘Stay strong, Peter.’

Although he had watched the video prior to this meeting, he was still as stunned as the other men here. He managed to keep his cool so as not to add to the men's chills.

“What are we looking at here, Mr. Rhodes?” a man seated at the far end of the rectangular table, asked which a stoic expression. He didn't seem shocked or stunned like the other men.

“A wild bear? A chayote maybe...?” he added, resting his elbows on the table and his chin on his interlocked hands.

“I don't think any of those animals could have caused such a massacre, even if it was hungry!” a man in brown suit answered before Peter could speak.

Peter cleared his throat, “Yes, I've thought this over and over. No animal is capable of doing this. Although, there's a probability that some wild animals could go on a rampage, but the time span at which this took place, debunks that notion. No known living thing is that fast. Not even a cheater.

“Yet again, for that number of people to be killed so quickly, could be achieved by a pack of wolves. But, we only saw one blur and the figure of a beast. So, literally nothing makes sense here. This is unlike anything we've ever seen or faced before.”

The man with the stoic demeanor rested back on his cushioned seat and ran his finger across his silk black hair, his eyes narrowed.

“This would make it the third attack in just one week. And we've promised the cops to solve this case before it escalates. We have to act fast before the town is in full panic.”

“Sir, I advise we send some men to the woods to investigate with the cops as soon as possible,” Peter chipped in.

“Oh, I know...” the man nodded with an unexpected reaction, he smiled. “Finding this... Thing, is not the problem. It's what we do next that matters.”

Everyone now had their eyes on him. He exuded this aura of confidence and superiority. He was the Boss after all.

“Our men need to be adequately equipped in order to fair against whatever is out there,” he said and exhaled.

‘Oh, Mr. Patterson, one step at a time,’ Peter advised in thought.

“You have a solid point there, sir. But I still feel some men should check it out first. They should study the layouts, ban people from coming to the perimeter.

“And if they really work it out with the cops, we could locate where the thing will show up next; we'd be one step ahead of it. Then we'd face it with enough firepower to bring it down,” Peter conspicuously heaved a sigh afterwards, his heartbeat aggravating a little as he wasn't sure if they'd listen to his idea.

Apart from the boss, most of the men were cooperate shareholders; some for the technological aspect of the Agency, and others for the security field. They couldn't care less about anything aside money.

But he also felt they'd concur, since the success of the Agency rested on the citizens' trust and safety.

After about a minute or two or indistinct murmuring between the men, the boss, Mr. Patterson opened his mouth to speak.

“It is decided then. We'll send some men out for scouting.”