The snow bites hard against the wooden sign with the heaviness of the storm battering the wooden moorings and threatening to displace it, hurling it into the white void. Life out here was hard and that was only the half of it.
For moments you can almost catch a glimpse through the hailing snow of what the sign read, the text rough and cracked from years of nature's onslaught.
UNITED STATES NATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE STATION 4.
At the bottom of the sign, caked in rust and grime reads:
U.S. OUTPOST #31 ANTARCTICA, USA
The sign shakes as the storm; noisy and temperamental continues its assault oblivious to the other noise growing as something approaches. A black military style helicopter flies over it, the noise is deafening for a moment as it flies low and fast, moving into the camp announced by the sign.
The snow swirls as the helicopter hovers above the camp, surveying the scene. On the ground a group of four wolves prowl, as though searching for prey. They look up as the helicopter appears through the rush of snow, somewhat confused it would seem by this strange shiny black object above them. They wince slightly at the noise of the rotors and the sharp icy blizzard being blown into their eyes. Menacingly, one of them; the largest male resplendent in his black fur and numerous scars from years of survival, howls at the bizarre bird.
Still hovering, the door of the Helicopter slides aside and a figure, decked in black and red body armour leans out. The soldier is attached by a cable, supporting him as he pulls out a large assault rifle. For a moment he aims, shifting with the slightly chaotic movement of the Helicopter.
BANG!
A bullet hurtles through the air striking the lead wolf in the head, exploding it in a wash of blood and gore. The other wolves howl in horror at the sight of violence and turning, bolt from the centre of the camp. The Chopper continues to hover, surveying the surviving pack of wolves disappearing into the white nothingness of Antarctica.
Slowly the Helicopter descends into the centre of the camp, or at least what can be considered the remnants of the camp. It comprises about ten wooden buildings, all interlinked by tunnels created from metal sheets. Each building shows signs of destructive explosions tearing them into pieces; holes letting in the freezing cold. Blackened by the numerous fires the explosions seemed to have caused, debris litters the ground, spreading from what appears to have been the explosions occurring within the enclosures themselves.
The Helicopter lands with a bump, jostled slightly by the inhospitable winds. Settling the rotors begin to slow.…
Out of the door jumps the soldier with his assault rifle raised. He raises his hand in a fist as he scans the area. Nothing moves.
He shifts his hand to an open palm and then moves to one side as two other soldiers, dressed in the same black and red body armour, exit the Helicopter and move in opposite directions before stopping, their weapons raised ready for action.
The lead soldier closes his hand again into a fist. They all wait for a moment, surveying the surroundings.
Nothing moves.
He then opens it again and a figure, fully decked in Black but with blue embellishments to their body armour climbs down from the Helicopter. From the curves beneath the armour we can deduce this is a woman. On her uniform are the letter CSO - Chief Scientific Officer
She steadies herself as she steps carefully from the Helicopter, ducking as though worried the slowing blades would still cause her serious damage if she stood up. Keeping low she moves beside the Lead soldier and stops. Slowly standing she extends to her full height of over 6 feet, towering over the soldier. She surveys the desolate camp; destroyed by fire. Nothing living could survive here she mused to herself.
The soldiers all stand up as two others leap from the Helicopter carrying light weapons and heavy backpacks full of complex military equipment. They all spread out into the camp towards various buildings.
Left alone for a moment the woman looks up at the sky, entranced by the white void leading to nowhere.
The soldier proceeds slowly through the darkness of the burnt out husk of a structure. Broken chairs litter the floor alongside shattered glass and other detritus. Desks, caked in ash still held insights into the day to day of the inhabitants of the camp. Various microscopes and high tech equipment along with the occasional half empty cup of what one assumes used to be strong hot coffee.
The soldier, his gun mounted torch searching through the damage, moves towards a door at the back of the building. He advances slowly, raising his weapon as the door, slightly ajar, bangs erratically, buffeted by the storm outside.
He reaches forward with one arm, his gun still raised and pushes it open, daylight easing into the room. The soldier proceeds through the door and slows as his finger moves over the trigger. He freezes momentarily, staying silent and still.
Scanning his torch light, he spies two objects hidden in the shadows of a burnt out ruin. He pauses a moment before he reaches to the radio attached to his tunic. Pushing the button he speaks in a low register, his voice quiet and serious.
‘Ma,am. We’ve found something’.
The woman responds to her crackling radio as she surveys the remnants of the scientific equipment, lit by the blue of her torch, wondering what the hell happened here. Steadily she makes her way to the door and pushes it open, squinting in the daylight. Ahead the Soldier is standing, still as a statue, his weapon poised and aimed at the two objects.
Moving beside the soldier the Chief Scientist surveys the two bodies. They are covered with snow and ice and seem almost frozen solid. One of them is white and Male with a scraggly beard. His gaze is intense and frozen in a look of paranoia.
The second, also male but black, is equally preserved but has a face of terror, as though his last moments of horror were frozen for all eternity.
The Chief Scientist moves forward and kneels between the two bodies. Bringing her torch up to the white corpses eyes, it stares back unflinching at her.
‘Who are these guys?’ She enquiries.
The Soldier, his weapon still raised slowly lowers it, easing slightly.
‘Identities uncertain Ma’am but they looked as though they died together of Hypothermia?’ His voice changes slightly at the end of the sentence so it becomes an uncertain question.
The Scientist turns her attention to the black man, her torch illuminating the terrified look.
She shivers slightly for a moment, unsure if from the cold or the aghast terror in the man’s eyes.
Behind her another soldier approaches. He stops and stares at the two bodies for a moment.
‘Ma’am, you should see this.’
The Chief scientist drops her torch from the look of horror on the man's face.
‘What now?’
Moving through the remnants of the camp, she wipes the snow from her goggles as the storm starts to whip up faster and harder. She approaches a large clearing, littered with blackened detritus. Squinting slightly through her goggles, she moves to remove them, taking them off to reveal the hard green eyes of a focused woman. They sparkle as they catch the hard sunlight that manages to momentarily break through the snow storm. The green contrasts against the deep blackness of her skin.
Pulling back her hood she reveals her face to the harshness of the environment as she breathes deep the cold air. This is Chief science officer Reynolds.
As she walks into the clearing she passes one, two, three soldiers, all staring at the vast twisted shape in front of them. Their weapons are half raised pointed at the deformed monstrosity.
In the centre of the clearing is a huge organic mass. At first it is difficult to make out what it is comprised of but as one looks hard enough various arms, tendrils and maybe faces seem to exist within the mess of gore. It is blackened with fire damage and appears to be contorted in some bizarre pugilistic pose.
Reynolds looks around at the other soldiers and then back at the mass. What the hell is this thing?
‘Search everywhere. We’ll take it all back with us.’ she orders.
The soldiers all nod and Reynolds starts to back away, turning and walking at speed. She turns the corner of a destroyed building and stops, breathing deeply. She can feel her heart racing but she is unsure if it is excitement of this new scientific discovery or some more terrifying realisation.
Looking up at the whiteness of the sky, she pulls her hood and goggles back on as the storm howls back at her, almost screaming.