Figured I'd finally post another story after such a long time. This one was one that I wrote while in college, and I touched it up a bit to post here. Granted, it's still in the drafting stage, but hey, that's why I post it here isn't it. To get feedback.

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Rita peered out from behind the exit of the bunker that served as her family’s sole source of safety, taking in the stillness of the outside world. Everything lay motionless, and no sound could be heard, but she knew better. The deceptive stillness of the land that used to be her family’s home for generations only disguised the dangers and the wiles of the enemy.

“What do you think, sis?” her little brother, Ness, said from behind her, his voice a bit too loud for comfort.

Rita shot him a stern look. “Keep your voice down. You never know what the ‘Masters’ are up to. Even when the place looks as normal as this it could always be a trap.”

“Well, we can’t just stand here,” said Vernon, her older brother, “we need to move.”

“I know, I know,” Rita said before turning her head back to the outside. “For Mom.”

She sighed as the events of the past week flowed through her mind. Her mother, who had started growing weak a few days ago, now lay bedridden, unable to move due to complications from pneumonia. That misfortune itself followed not two days after Rita and her siblings lost their father during an attempted provision retrieval mission.

She had learned from her eldest sibling, Kris, that her father fell victim to one of the many dangers that the Masters had brought with them when they lay claim to Rita’s family’s domain. A sentry, known to Rita’s family as a Screaming Queen, had spotted her father, giving away his position to the rest of the monstrosities that infested the land. The shrill, high-pitched alarm the Queen emitted always meant one of three things.

One: The imminent arrival of the gargantuan Heavy King. A colossus of immeasurable magnitude whose approach was always heralded by its seismic footfalls, the Heavy King sought to crush and grind its marks under feet of iron.

Two: A Long Lady was dispatched. A thin member of the Masters’ oppression unit yet still as immense, it wielded a ridiculously deformed arm that extended just under three times the length of its other limbs. This elongated weapon ended in many rows of long digits, giving the abomination access to innumerable claws which it used to slam, rake, and push.

Three: Both were on the attack. Rita’s father did not escape the coordinated assault of the two. Kris was lucky to make it back, albeit with moderate damage to his body from the Long Lady’s hand.

“We need to accomplish what father could not,” Rita said to her two brothers but also for her own benefit. She hoped to keep herself focused and optimistic. “Our mother needs care and nourishment, and we need supplies.”

Ness looked down and Vernon touched his little brother’s shoulder, comforting him. Rita knew that they still weren’t completely done grieving for their father’s death. In truth, neither was she, but they had to burry that grief and focus on the task at hand.

“I’m scared, sis,” Ness said, his eyes not leaving the ground.

For the first time, Rita turned her back to the dangerous, sprawling land of their enemies. She placed her hands on Ness and took charge, telling him to look at her. “I know you are, but we’re not going to get anywhere if we never step outside. I’ll go in front. Vernon, I want you to take the back and watch for anything that could take us by surprise. Ness, you’ll be safer between us.”

Ness nodded and Rita gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulders. She could never tell him how scared she was.

Rita crept outside the bunker with Vernon walking backwards behind her and Ness so that he was always facing the opposite direction as them. Rita glanced back at Ness who had his head low in a cower. If only Kris wasn’t injured, Rita thought. Ness was too young to risk death on this endeavor. But they needed a team member to carry the supplies. Rita and Vernon couldn’t do it while watching each other’s backs.

The three of them walked across the cold, barren ground, toward the tall, rectangular structure that lay in the distance. Rita never took her eyes off the structure. She didn’t want to risk losing the landmark that Kris said marked the way into the Dark Mine, which held the supplies that the Masters hoarded for themselves.

“Hey, Rita,” she heard Vernon say, “Where did Kris say the way into the Dark Mine was?”

“Don’t worry, Vernon, I have the structure in sight.”

“It’s tall and rectangular, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Made of wood.”

“Again, correct.”

“Because I also have one in my sights.”

Rita spun around, and Ness narrowly avoided bumping into her. “What are you talking about?”

Vernon pointed ahead at a structure that looked almost if not identical to the one Rita was leading them towards. “Did Kris tell you anything else besides what it looked like? Maybe any other landmarks nearby?”

Rita looked back at the structure behind her before returning her attention to the one Vernon pointed at. “I don’t remember him mentioning anything else. All he said was that the way into the Mine was near a formation that looked like this.” She pointed at the landmark that she had been traveling to before turning and pointing at the one in Vernon’s direction. “And unfortunately, that too.”

She felt a tugging on her other arm. She turned to see Ness looking at her with worry. “Rita,” he said, whispering through clenched teeth,” we need to get moving.”

“I know, but we need to figure out where we’re going first.”

Ness slowly pointed at something in the distance. “I don’t think that’s important right now.”
Rita turned her head in the direction Ness indicated. In the distance, two large, yellow eyes watched them, unblinking and never shifting focus from the travelers. The entity that watched them lay crouched, colored completely black, and having a slender frame optimal for speed and dexterity. Rita stared back at the creature, but she wasn’t sure if it was to intimidate it or because of fear.

“Ravager,” Vernon whispered.

Rita nodded slowly and took a step back. The Ravager’s eyes followed even that miniscule movement, and its body shuddered slowly, anticipating the coming assault. Rita now stood without many options. The Ravagers were designed to be virtually an inevitable death no matter the action one employed. With its keen vision that picked up every small motion, the beast would begin its pursuit within milliseconds of Rita and her siblings running. If they elected to remain stationary, the Ravager would initiate the charge eventually. All this was merely a decision of whether or not to expedite their deaths.

“We only have one chance,” Rita said, “and even then, it’s not a very good one.”

“What is it, sis?” Vernon asked.

Rita took in a deep breath. “I’m going to make a run for the structure we were going to before. I want you two to go in a different direction. It will most likely go after the one that moves first.”
Ness looked at Rita through wide eyes, “No! You’ll be ripped apart!”

“I’m the fastest of the three of us,” Rita said. She looked at Vernon who nodded, verifying the statement. “Vernon’s the stronger one. He’ll be able to protect you in ways I can’t.”

“It’s the only way to prevent all of us from being killed,” Vernon told their little brother.

Ness looked at the ground before reaching over to his right arm and removing a pale blue ribbon that he kept tied around it. He handed it over to Rita who took it before looking into the eyes of her brother. No tears came to her eyes. She couldn’t let them.

“Just bring it back, okay?” Ness said, his voice choking, “This one’s my favorite.”

Rita wrapped the ribbon around her right arm before turning away from her brother and sniffling. Did her brothers notice?

Glancing at the foreboding creature, she saw the front end of the Ravager shaking, an ominous indication of its oncoming attack.

Rita stood up and gave her siblings one last glance. “If it doesn’t come after you, wait ten seconds, then run.” She then dashed from the group, not daring to look back. The sound of the Ravager bounding across the ground was all the verification she needed that it had her marked.

Keeping an eye to the ground, Rita tried to keep her mind focused and free from panic as she heard the Ravager closing the gap. Her eyes picked up on what she had been waiting for, the split second, hardly noticeable initial appearance of a shadow on the ground. Rita knew that this happened fast, but her mind processed many things at once, making the darkening and growing shadow that appeared on the ground in front of her seem like it was being played frame-by-frame.

When the shadow grew large enough to envelop her, Rita swiftly made a hard right, clenching her eyes shut in that moment in dreaded preparation for her demise. A relieved exhalation escaped Rita’s lungs as she was rewarded with the sound of the Ravager striking the ground. Their obsession with leaping upon their prey made them predictable, the one hidden flaw in the otherwise perfect killer.

Rita looked back and saw the Ravager regain its footing after the impact and turn around to resume the pursuit. She turned her attention back to her surroundings, darting her eyes around wildly, scanning the area for anything she could utilize as sanctuary. She noticed a large, white tower standing against another smaller structure. If she could make it to those, she could find shelter in the space between the towers.

The Ravager’s size would not fit through there. But she could.
Summoning everything within her, Rita managed to increase her speed. However, through desperation her body could not keep up with her own speed, and she stumbled, laying on the ground as the shadow of the Ravager once again made its descent. There was no waiting for the right moment this time. Rita scrambled to regain a running position and made a blind leap to escape the growing proximity of the shadow.

Hearing the Ravager strike the ground again gave her less relief this time. Her heart hammered within her, sending bursts of tight pain throughout her chest. She could feel her speed decrease slightly, and her breaths became ragged, less effective. Rita heard her pursuer recover and the tell-tale bounding of the beast echoed in her ears.

She approached her saving grace. With a cry of desperation, Rita gave one final push and launched herself into the gap between the towers, wincing as the Ravager’s claws raked her thigh. She landed in the dark, alley-like vicinity with a thud, breathing heavily and coughing, sobbing and laughing with relief at the same time. The Ravager clawed at the gap, its razors nicking the walls and reverberating throughout the hiding place.

Rita backed away, retreating to take further shelter in the darkness. She stretched herself on the ground and held her wounded leg. The lacerations were long but thankfully not as deep as they could have been. Rita closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart and regulate her breathing. She survived a Ravager attack but could not find the time to relax. Her brothers were still out there, and she didn’t know where.

Rita shuddered, gripping herself as an overwhelming flood of buried emotion burst forth from the dam she had maintained for so long. She could do nothing but lie on the cold ground, sobbing like an inconsolable baby. She cried for the loss of her father. She cried for her mother’s suffering. She cried for her hatred and fear toward the Masters. She cried for her brothers who she would probably never see again. She cried because she knew that even if things worked out, she would still have to keep up the statue façade. Her family needed one who was collected, one they could count on when everything fell apart. And now she was gone. She cried because it was the only thing she could do at this point.

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The Masters family cat turned away from its attempt to get at the rat he had chased behind the refrigerator. Warden Masters entered the room, the sound of the thick boots he always wore thudding against the cold tile floor. Ivy, his teenage daughter, followed closely behind him, wielding a broom in one hand.

“Looks like the cat failed to catch that one,” Warden said with a sigh. “Cursed vermin!”