Sergeant Matthews looked over his squad, all sullenly bouncing in their seats as their AMPV rumbled down the highway. No one had protested when they were given their orders, but the looks on their faces made the general consensus plain.

This was bullshit.

Truth be told, Matthews felt the same way. It was bad enough that the whole damn base had mobilized like it was preparing for war. You’d think that type of activity would warrant some information about what they might be up against. Instead, all the brass or the spooks would say was that they should “keep eyes on the platform” and “be ready for anything.” What Matthews was ready for was someone to tell them what the hell was going on.

He did as he was told, though. It wasn’t his job to question commands. To his squad’s credit, they’d done the same when he’d shoveled the shit orders to them that morning; even seemed to have a pretty decent attitude about it. With or without intel, they were still preparing for something along with everyone else at the base. But now the colonel had them rolling off to protect some family in one of the rich neighborhoods outside of town.

Probably the colonels’ sidepiece, Matthews thought with a smile.

That had better not be the case, though. Who the hell were these people to deserve special protection? What about his family and the families of his squad?

As if things weren’t shitty enough, some type of freak dry electrical storm had taken out all their coms. They’d been warned it might happen, but no had actually expected it. Now they were completely cut off from any communication with the base.

The whole situation was FUBAR and they hadn’t even reached the target location. About the only good thing to come out of the mission so far was being graciously blessed with a few crumbs of information before they left.

“You won’t need to be prepped for snipers, explosives, artillery, chemicals, or any other conventional or weaponry,” the colonel had barked. “Just set up a tight perimeter. If you encounter what we’re sending your squad to protect that family from, it’s going to come at you like a rabid animal. Stay tight and bring it down with whatever force you deem necessary.”

Matthews couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Sir, I apologize if I’m speaking out of turn, but all this…” he waved to the preparations going on around them “…it doesn’t seem like we’re just preparing for a stampede of pissed off bears. What are we dealing—

“You are speaking out of turn, sergeant.”

The colonel glared at him for a moment before continuing.

“The hope—and the expectation—is that you won’t have to deal with anything besides a rich housewife, her daughter, and maybe some of her friends. But until the shit hits the fan, you don’t have the clearance. Just orders.”

And a squad full of men and women you’re willing to throw blindly into harm’s way, you sanctimonious piece of shit.

That type of disregard burned Mathews up, but not nearly as much as the lack of trust did. He’d been working at the Woodstock facility for two years. He was used to the higher ups and the suits not telling them anything they didn’t need to know. The curiosity eventually dulled itself into more of an annoyance. You did your job, you got paid (very well), and you went home. Sure, there were plenty of whispers about what they were working on in the labs, but Matthews never once partook in discussing them. Not even with his family. Did the colonel actually think he or anyone under his command would be stupid enough to talk about classified operations with a yuppie mom and a bunch of brats? Not very likely, especially after the crap they were dealing with to get to them.

The drive through Woodstock had been a much bigger pain in the ass than anticipated. A fair number of cars were pulled over to the side of the road, but others had stopped right in the middle of it. The people were even worse, holding up their cell phones and waving as if they expected them to stop and explain why they didn’t have phone or internet access. Some even ran up and tapped on the side of their transport. He understood that seeing an armored military vehicle in a residential area was unusual, but c’mon. It’s not like the power was out. Take away people’s access to personal media and they start flipping their shit like it’s the end of days or something.

Matthews closed his eyes. He’d need to be annoyed about this later. Right now, there was a task to get his troops focused and ready for. The AMPV was starting up the hill toward Bluefin Lake, which meant they were close. He moved to the center of the vehicle’s narrow aisle and steadied himself.

 “All right, listen up. We’re about to make contact, so let’s go over this one more time.

The target has been deemed a high value residence. Our orders are to guard all civilians found within the home, but with priority consideration for two of them: Emily Inman, 14-year-old female, and Maggie Inman, 39-year-old female. Pictures were uploaded on your eye cams before we lost coms. Identify and secure them first. Understood?”

The squad replied with a dispirited muttering of yes sirs.

 “As far as hostiles, your guess is as good as mine. The colonel said we’re highly unlikely to be engaged, but if we are, it won’t be a typical firefight. No bullets, explosives, or chemical components. My bet is on harsh language and scathing insults. Hope none of y’all are sensitive types.”

The squad laughed. It felt good to be on the same wavelength with them.

Matthews was about to continue his speech when the AMPV’s brakes screeched. He scrambled backward, barely maintaining his balance. The squad members seated in front of him lurched forward. Drake, who was manning the mounted gun, slammed his head against something and cursed.

“Sorry!” Gorman called from the front cab. “Had to stop. Something’s in the middle of the road.”

“Then go around it, genius!”

“Can’t, sir. Road’s too narrow and we’re on an incline. Too many trees on both sides. Not sure this thing could punch through ‘em, but even if it could, there’s a good chance we’d roll over. And…uh…think you might want to take a closer look at this thing.”

“Hey Sarge!” Now it was Drake calling from the gun mount. “I got eyes on what Gorman’s seeing. Not sure what the hell it is, but we definitely need to check it out. No getting past it, anyway. ”

Matthews moved towards the vehicle’s cab and glanced over Gorman’s shoulder out the front window. The object blocking their path appeared to be a large hunk of metal. It was black with a glossy surface that shimmered in the moonlight. Its rounded base, which sat dead center in the road, was adorned with spikes that jutted out in all directions.  The closest thing Matthews could approximate it to was a twentieth century-era sea mine, but with infinitely more protrusions, all of which appeared to be sharp.

“You think it’s something to do with all the weird shit going on today?” Gorman asked. “We should probably call it.”

“Great idea, Gorman.” Matthews sighed. “Be even better if we had coms.”

There was no way this didn’t have something to do with what they’d been prepping for. If thing in front of them was just a rock, then it wasn’t any type he’d seen before. The colonel’s assurances about there being no explosives didn’t seem all that certain anymore, either. But without being able to contact the base, it was up to him to make a decision on how to proceed.

Matthews stomped back to main compartment. “Alright folks, we’ve got an object blocking our path. Not sure what it is, but it doesn’t look natural. I know I told you no explosives, but we’re approaching this like a potential IED. Frost, Dietrich—get your EOD suits on.”

The two soldiers groaned and got up, pulling their explosive ordinance suits from the compartments under their seats. As they helped each other put on their gear, Matthews banged his fist against the roof of the AMPV.

“Drake!”

“Yes sir?”

“Keep eyes on us. If you see something moving in our direction, waste it. Gorman, you be ready to back up and get the hell out of here if the colonel was wrong and that thing blows.”

Frost and Dietrich finished suiting up and headed towards the door. Matthews got behind them and signaled to Gorman, who pulled a lever to his right. The back of the AMPV collapsed down onto the pavement with a clang, turning into a ramp that led down from the seating compartment onto the road.

Frost, Dietrich, and the other squad members seated closest to the exit barely had time to notice the other dark, hulking mass in front of them before it darted up into the vehicle. The soldiers in the middle had just enough time to hear a sound like a group of swords unsheathing before a hail of spikes jammed through their bodies. The soldiers near the front lived just long enough to hear Drake scream as he was pulled down from the gun turret.

In the instant before two spikes entered Matthew throat, he got his only glimpse of what they would have been protecting the family from. It was huge and terrifying, but still a flesh and blood creature. If they’d engaged it at the residence, there may have been casualties, but his squad would have killed it in a straight up fight.

This wasn’t a fight, though. It was a trap. Armored personnel carriers were great for keeping things out, but they turned into well-built coffins if something got in. That ‘something’ had also forced them to stop in the middle of the road while another something hid and waited for them to open the door. Whatever this animal was, it was smart.

Matthews was dead by the time Gorman turned around. Unlike the others, his position in the cab allowed him a few seconds to thrash and cry out before the creature tore into his flesh. Once the driver’s wailing had ceased, the large black object on the road uncoiled itself and rose, its claws clicking from the pavement onto the AMPV’s ramp. Upon reaching the vehicle’s blood drenched interior, the creature that was already inside turned and emitted a series of rapid, guttural sounds at the other.

Now you go find and help Other.

I will stay and feast.