The brave soldier – fanfiction by Refugnic

It was a peaceful evening in the town of Redford.

Kasper had recently returned from duty at the nearby military base for his weekend off and was just kicking back on the couch, while his sister Laura was busy in the kitchen preparing food for them both when the doorbell rang.

Laura chimed from the kitchen, “Can you go and get it please?”
“Sure thing!” Kasper shouted back, heaving himself up from the couch.
From a force of habit, he first checked the door spy to see who was standing in front and bile rose in his throat as he saw a young man in a suit and flowers in hand.

He opened the door and asked, “Yes, may I help you?”
“P…pardon me, but this is the residence of Laura Barrington…right?”
“…so it says on the doorbell sign. I’m her brother, Kasper. And you are?”
The young man straightened up but was still a head short of the towering and intimidating Kasper, who was still clad in his camouflage pants and wore a beige shirt.
“My name is Gary Hollingsworth and I would like to…”
Kasper interrupted him, “Get lost, kid. She’s not interested.”

Suddenly Laura sounded from behind him, “Who is that at the door, Kasper?”
Kasper rolled his eyes and replied, “Just someone, who got the wrong address.”
He then turned back and gave Gary a death stare, who almost wet himself right there.
“You…you’re right. Silly me, how could I mix this up. Sorry about that!” he blabbered quickly and all but ran away.

“Strange…I could’ve sworn that was Gary’s voice,” Laura commented as she came to the door himself.
Kasper feigned ignorance and asked, “…and who is this Gary?”
“Err…my…boyfriend?” Laura admitted carefully.
“And I’m hearing of this the first time right now because…?”
“Well, you see…” Laura started, twirling in her ponytails with her fingers before saying, “…you were always to busy at the base and I didn’t want to bother you with such minorities.”

Kasper hunkered down a little so he was on face height with his sister and replied, “Laura, you know damn well that there are no ‘minorities’ when it comes to you. Not for me. And aren’t you a little young to have a boyfriend yet?”
“Aaaand there’s the other reason why I haven’t told you…listen big brother…I love you and I really appreciate all you’re doing for me ever since…but I’m a big girl now. I can take care of myself. Okay?”
Kasper snorted, got back up and tousled through Laura’s hair and replied, “Yeah, sure you are. But I still worry about you and nothing you can say or do will change that.”

He pulled Laura into a light hug and smiled at her, “Okay?”
“Sure thing.”

The same evening, Laura and Kasper sat on the couch together, watching an old movie when the phone rang.
Laura was the first to get up and fetch it.

After a few minutes, her cheerful expression changed and got replaced by an angry one. After hanging up, she stood directly between Kasper and the TV, forcing him to look up to her.
“What’s up?”
“Say, this person who ‘got the wrong address’…was that a young man around my age? About this tall, brown hair, green eyes?”
“…what of it?”
“Because Gary’s mother just called…she told me, that he went to see me and ask me out for dinner, but came back completely terrified. You wouldn’t know anything about that…would you?!”

Kasper sighed and admitted, “I may have told someone who fit that description that I don’t think too highly of him visiting you…but then again, how was I supposed to know that he was your boyfriend?”
“Hello?! You could have asked?!”
“That was unnecessary. That guy was clearly no good. No spine whatsoever.”
“Argh!” Laura cried out in frustration, punching Kasper into the shoulder with all her might, however she missed the soft spots and instead hit the solid bone, hurting her hand.

As she shook it, she pointed to the door and demanded, “Get out! At once!”
“No.”
“Kasper Barrington, leave my house this instant!”
“…as far as I remember, I’m paying the rent for this, so this is my…hey, where do you think you’re going?!” Kasper asked while Laura began to storm off.
“Packing! If you won’t leave, then I will! Honestly, this is why I’m not telling you these things!”
Kasper got up and shouted, “I’m just trying to protect you here!”
“Yeah well, screw yourself! I don’t need your protection! I can take care of myself, just fine!” Laura shouted from the top of the stairs before slamming the door to her room.

While she was packing however, the alarm sirens from the base and also the alarm of the town began to sound simultaneously and the TV immediately switched to the emergency broadcast.

“What in the…” Kasper asked, as he turned to the TV.
Laura also came to join him, her anger disrupted by the sudden signal.
“Kasper, what…” she began speaking, however Kasper merely motioned her to be silent as the broadcaster said, “Our nation has come under attack by an unknown aggressor. Enemy agents have begun appearing all over the countries, laying waste to cities and settlements with unknown weaponry. So far, every countermeasure has proven ineffective. All citizens are advised to stay at home and lock their doors and remain near the TV for more information, we will tell you…”

Kasper switched off the TV and asked, “Laura, how far did you get with packing?”
Laura asked, fear in her eyes, “I…what the hell is going on?!”
“No idea, but this siren means that I’m supposed to report for duty…and you’re coming with me. Now get your stuff. We’re moving out in 5.”

Laura, now terrified of the serious expression on the face of her brother hurried up the stairs, almost tripping over her feet, threw whatever she thought she needed into her open suitcase and came back down, where Kasper was already waiting, dressed in his uniform, his dogtag around his neck, the rifle in hand and his favorite knife in its holster. The very sight made Laura feel faint, as a devastating scream echoed over the noise of the sirens.

Gunshots and explosions followed.
And just shortly after, there was silence. The sirens had died, and no more gunshots could be heard. Only occasionally the sound of a small explosion disturbed the silence.

Kasper commented, “Not…good…”
“What…what’s happening?”
“…I don’t know, but I don’t think the ‘state of emergency’ is over…okay, change of plans. To the garage.”
“But…but the base…aren’t you supposed to…”
“Screw supposed, right now there’s only one important thing and that’s your safety!” Kasper yelled, dragging Laura with him to the garage of the small house, where the jeep of his father was kept.

He fumbled with the keys but eventually got them into the lock. The aged machine sprung to life while Laura opened the garage, but as she looked outside, she became paralyzed by fear.

The base in the distance was on fire, which quickly spread and dead people laid all over the place. And then she saw it. A hulking creature clearly not from this world.
And, even worse, it saw her as well, licking its maw as saliva dripped to the ground at the prospect of yet another meal.

Laura wanted to scream, but her throat made no sound.
Eventually she was ripped from her paralysis, as Kasper drove next to her, spotting the enemy and emptying his clip on her, however the creature remained completely unfazed and simply kept moving towards the two at a slow pace.

Kasper’s eyes widened as he stared the creature into its eyes. Despite every cell of his body telling him to run, he still jumped from the jeep, grabbed Laura and threw her into the back.

Just when he wanted to get back in himself, a strong pull tore him away from the chassis.
“Kasper!” Laura screamed, trying to reach out to him from inside the jeep, but he was already out of reach. She tried to get out, while the creature slowly pulled Kasper closer, its hot breath tickling in his neck.

Kasper struggled, kicked and screamed for Laura to get away, but Laura didn’t listen.
The creature raised Kasper high as if it intended to swallow the grown man whole, when one of his feet landed a kick against the snout of the beast, momentarily irritating it.
Kasper managed to free himself from its grasp and tried to get back to the jeep, however before even making two steps, he fell as the creature grabbed his foot, heaving him into the air upside down and forcing Kasper to face it.

Laura grabbed Kasper’s hand and tried to pull him back, but the creature simply pulled her into the air as if she had no weight at all.
“Let go!” Kasper commanded.
“Never!” Laura replied, tears streaming down her face.
Kasper forced Laura’s hand open, causing her to fall to her feet before grabbing his knife. He bowed upwards and cut open his boot to free his foot. He fell to the ground, where he rolled over.

The creature dropped the boot and instead went for Laura, who fearfully inched backwards. Kasper jumped to his feet and held the open claw back with all his might, as he groaned, “Laura! The jeep! Now!”
Laura nodded and ran for the jeep, when the beast decided that playtime was over and slashed at Kasper with its other claw. Fortunately for him, Kasper managed to evade the brunt of the strike by jumping backwards and the claw only grazed him, otherwise it would likely have cut his head off clean.

He staggered against the metal door of the jeep and slumped to the ground in a daze. Laura reached over the frame and pulled her big brother in before jumping into the drivers seat and hitting the gas pedal all the way to the ground.
The creature gave chase for a while and just for a moment it looked like it would catch them, when someone else screamed, diverting the attention of the creature.

As Laura recovered, she asked, “What…what the hell was that?!”
Kasper sat up and watched in terror as the creature tore into one of the other houses, “I have no idea. But…but I think we shook it.”
“Your eye!” Laura screamed as she realized the gaping wound in her brother’s face.
Kasper reached for the bloody streams over the right half of his face and said, “I’ll live…don’t worry about it.”
They drove in silence for a few seconds before Laura asked, “Wh…what’s going to happen now?”
“…I don’t know…but whatever happens…I’ll protect you.”

After the first wave had passed, the world laid in ruins and Kasper and Laura found themselves in the company of a few of the other lucky ones, which could barely be any more colorful. Yet up to this day, they had failed to find any way to battle these ‘demons’ as they had come to call them.

Yet a glimmer of hope returned to Kasper’s eyes, as he began to hear stories of a few people who managed to slay these demons. And these days he would meet them if all went well. Maybe then, he would be able to learn where these demons came from and, more importantly, how to send them back to hell.

Author: Refugnic
See this short story on Deviantart.