Location: 128, Arlington drive, Aurora, ON, Canada

Time: 9:30 AM

January was a cold, and unforgiving month made worse by the fact that it was only just the beginning. The air was in frantic motion, and the temperature had dropped to double digits below zero. The clouds blanketed the sun, and covered the sky in a dark grey mass.

"Fucking hell I'm freezing in here!" exclaimed a soldier in the back of a van, as he slammed on the wall to get the drivers attention.

"The fuck is going on with the heater?!" bemoaned the heavily armored soldier, whose face was covered up by a filter laced mask.

The driver, wearing similar attire, glanced back and said "it's already the highest it can go".

"Well make it go higher!" the soldier demanded, as the driver returned his attention back onto the road.

"Just weather through it Psyche" said the soldier that sat across from the vehicle's dissident.

"Like hell I will" said Psyche, as he glared at the soldier sitting across.

"I'm in the drivers seat Psyche, so I make the rules and you have to follow" said the driver.

Psyche let out an annoyed groan, and said "then next time I'm driving".

"And next time you can make the call, but right now I'm the one calling the shots" said the driver, as the soldier sitting beside the one across Psyche looked at the broad shouldered dissenter, and shrugged.

After a minute more of driving the van came to a stop, and the driver announced "we're here". He was the first out of the van, and as the driver, it was his responsibility to open the rear doors to allow his comrades to get out.

Each one-stepped out in an organized line, one after another before separating a bit and looking around. The ground was covered in snow, and ice. Large white mounds that went up to their knees, and made it difficult to walk across.

"God it's even colder out here than in there" complained Psyche, as he shivered a little while walking over the snow by taking wide steps. The snow absorbed his feet with each step, and held them securely in place.

The driver glanced at his surroundings, which consisted of a snow-covered neighborhood complete with windy flurries that partially obscured the view.

The other two soldiers checked the rifles slung around their necks, as the driver looked at the house that was his strike team's destination.

A two-storey building made out of brick, the orange color being easily discernible even through the varying white splotches. There was nothing special about it, and much like the other buildings nearby. It didn't look out of place.

For anyone passing by, and overlooking the house. It looked normal, and mundane. Not warranting any kind of attention, or investigation. But the driver knew better than to simply judge a book by its cover, and as he looked to the road by the drive way.

He knew with absolute certainty that the house was far from normal, and the proof were the abandoned police cruisers that were parked by the curb. There were two of them, and each one had enough space to carry two officers each.

Psyche had already made his way to one of the cars, and was sifting through its internal contents.

'Damn it Psyche…' thought the driver, as he watched his fellow soldier pillage a cop car like a bandit in the apocalypse.

The driver walked back to where his comrades were gathered at, after surveying the front yard of the house. It was empty, and bland just like the house.

"Alright so…" said the driver, as he gained the two soldiers attention.

"At a glance it seems that the Intel's on point, we've got four missing officers given the abandoned cruisers" said the driver, as he pointed at the cruisers in question.

The two soldiers looked at the cruisers, as one of them said "a logical assumption" while the other one gestured with his rifle and pointed at Psyche who was knee deep in one of the cruisers.

"Well that's just low" said the soldier who stood next to the silent rifle bearer, as the driver turned on his radio and spoke into it.

"Are you done looting the cruisers?"

The driver could see Psyche stop his quest, and probably turn his head to look at him.

Key word being 'probably', because of the poor visibility brought on by the chaotic flurries.

"Almost" replied Psyche over the radio.

"You know we're not quite in the apocalypse right?"

"Don't care, empty cars means free stuff for me".

The driver rolled his eyes at Psyche's words, and said "well hurry it up, we have a job to do and we don't have all day".

"Yeah, yeah just gimme a sec" replied Psyche, before disconnecting.

The trio waited for about a minute before the driver reconsidered giving Psyche a call, but just as that thought popped into his mind. He sees Psyche headed towards them, trudging through the snow with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

It took Psyche a couple seconds to wade through the snow and group up with his comrades. He arrived with a slight shiver, and miffed carefree demeanor.

"Alright. I'm here numbnuts".

"Welcome back to the land of the sane how's the haul?" asked the driver.

"Pretty shitty. All I got was an uneaten candy bar, and some book" answered Psyche.

"What kind of book?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Some book I've never heard of called 'Deep Space Chronicles'" answered Psyche, as his bookworm squad member asked to see the book. To which he obliged, and handed over the written work.

"Interesting…" the soldier muttered, as he looked at the book and briefly sifted through it.

"Well maybe next time you'll find an abandoned car that has something worth stealing" said the driver, as he patted Psyche on the back.

"Looting" corrected Psyche, as the driver replied "whatever" before stepping aside to face the squad.

"Commencing radio check" said the driver, as he turned on his radio and patched into it.

"Ray – radio check" said Ray over radio.

"Check confirmed" replied the driver.

"Hawking – radio check" said Hawking over radio.

"Check confirmed" replied the driver.

"Still don't get why we have to do this shit" said Psyche over radio.

"Because protocol" replied the driver.

"Who the fuck came up with that protocol" asked Psyche, as the driver shrugged in response.

"No idea, anyways, Dash – radio check" said Dash over radio.

"Check confirmed" replied Hawking, and Ray.

"I hear ya, you genetically identical ninny" said Psyche over radio.

"Alright good, now let's get on with it" said Dash, as he gestured for the others to follow him as he lead them towards the house.

They raise their rifles up, and descend upon the front of the house carefully. The house had two windows, the drapes of which were closed, barring visible entry into what the interior was like.

Dash instructs through hand gestures to split into pairs, and cover the initial perimeter of the house. Ray, and Psyche and Dash and Hawking each paired up respectively before splitting off from either side of the house.

The alley between houses and the passage leading into the backyard were empty just like the backyard itself.

Hawking looked at the transparent sliding door, and tried to peer through the blinds to get a look at the interior.

"See anything?" asked Dash, as Hawking nodded sideways.

"Unfortunately no, it looks like the lights are off" replied Hawking.

"So how we wanna do this? Frontal assault or a party in the back?" asked Psyche, as Ray looked at him with a furrowed brow.

"Let's try a frontal assault, and then work our way from there" proposed Dash, as Psyche nodded and the group made their way back to the front of the house.

Dash non-verbally commanded his squad to take up breaching positions near the door and beside the windows. After which he checked the door, trying the handle to see if it was unlocked. A single push revealed with a click that the door was unlocked.

Dash turned to the others, and said with gestures that on the count of three they were going to breach. Everyone readied themselves for what they might encounter inside, flipping on their night vision goggles and readying their rifles.

'1…'

'2…'

'…3!'

The door opened, and the group swiftly entered the house. Their night vision goggles turning on automatically at the absence of light. The house lit up in an inverted display of colors, as the team quickly cleared the first floor with little issue.

Hawking found the light switch, and said "turning on the lights" before flipping the switch.

The night vision goggles were flipped off, as Dash said "all clear confirm?"

"Confirmed" replied Hawking.

Ray gave thumbs up to Dash.

"Nothing but boring as balls house" declared Psyche.

"Alright, now split up in pairs and widen your parameters" instructed Dash, before doing a double take saying "wait what?"

Psyche had gone off into one of the rooms, and Ray had tagged along in order to make sure that he didn't get into something he couldn't handle.

"What?" asked Hawking, as he looked at Dash who let out a sigh and said "never mind".

"Let's go and check out the rooms in more detail" said Dash, as Hawking looked at him and nodded.

"Right" replied Hawking, as the two of them headed off into a room together.

After a couple minutes of searching the four soldiers grouped up in the living room to gather their thoughts, Psyche was sitting on the couch with one leg crossed over another with his rifle on his lap. Ray was standing in the doorway with his rifle in hand, and keeping a close watch on his surroundings. Hawking paced around the room, while studying the furniture and appliances carefully. His analytical gaze taking in every little detail, as he tried to make heads or tails of it all with respect to his mission objective. Dash was leaning against a wall by a window, the room being illuminated by an overhead ceiling light.

"Progress brief?" asked Dash, as he looked at Psyche.

"Checked the kitchen, and got nothing" said Psyche, as he raised up a finger and added "aside from the fact that you both share the same boring sense of kitchen utensils".

'Same boring sense…' thought Dash, as he asked "what-how do you know what kitchen utensils I have?"

"I sometimes steal your kitchen utensils when you're not home".

Dash blinked, as the missing pieces of his residence puzzle clicked.

'So it wasn't a ghost' thought Dash, as he felt a sensation of relief followed by bitter sadness.

Hawking pulled a book off the shelf mounted onto the wall, and looked at while saying "family room showed no signs of anomalous activity or the police officers".

Dash nodded, and said what everyone was likely thinking.

"So all that's left is the second floor" said Dash, as he instructed everyone to move towards the staircase and get into position.

Hawking took the book with him, finding its contents vaguely interesting but beyond that there was something about the age of the book and its contents that caught his eye.

Something he wanted to look into further.

Dash lead the team up the stairs, taking point while Psyche followed close behind with Hawking and Ray following after. Ray was in the back, and kept an eye on the rear.

They went in with their night vision on, as they stepped into an abyss-laden staircase and carpeted floor.

Dash located the light switch, and after warning the others, he illuminated the darkness. Then the squad did what they did best like clockwork, quickly clearing the rooms as efficiently as possible. In a matter of seconds they were done, and in that brief time they had found what had become of the officers that had entered the house.

One was in the washroom, the other two were in the guest bedroom and master bedroom respectively. The fourth one was in the bedroom turned into a study filled with bookshelves and an unpowered computer.

"Fan out, and check the rooms for anything that doesn't belong. And keep an eye out, whatever we're after its on this floor" said Dash, as Psyche scoffed.

"No shit Sherlock, or are the dead law enforcement not enough of a red flag?" replied Psyche.

"Just saying".

"You ain't my dad" replied Psyche, as Hawking interjected "technically he is".

"Screw technicality! Technicality can go suck my dicks!" exclaimed Psyche, as he gestured to his crotch.

Ray looked at Hawking with a furrowed brow, as Hawking replied "echidna DNA". At which point Ray nodded, and expressed understanding through his face.

"Pair up in twos and move out. Keep everyone on the same page" said Dash, as he paired up with Hawking and headed out one way while Psyche and Ray headed the other way.

The duo of Hawking, and Dash first entered the washroom. Where they found the police officer face first in the sink, blood staining the ceramic edge and trailing down the curvature of the bowl.

Dash kept a careful watch of the interior with his rifle at the ready, as Hawking walked over to the presumed dead officer and lifted up his head to get a closer look.

The officer's face was a blood mess, the forehead was crushed, the eyes were dark red stains, and everything below the nose was an indistinguishable mess of broken bones jutting out like jagged knives, and torn flesh. Some of which hung loosely from the base of the mouth.

"What's the diagnosis?" asked Dash, as Hawking felt the structural composition of the dead man's face with a finger.

"Definitely dead, and his face is crushed to all hell" answered Hawking, as he took a closer look at the forehead.

"The entire cranium is crushed, and from the looks if it the brain was turned to mush".

Hawking put the officer's head back in the sink, and turned to face Dash.

"It all likely happened in a short time span" said Hawking, as Dash replied "brutal".

"That's not even the half of it, the nasal passage was completely shattered which if the officer wasn't dead beforehand. Then he would've suffocated to death" said Hawking, as Dash radioed to the others and informed them of the fate of the officer that they had discovered.

"Same thing on our end, dudes face was obliterated" informed Psyche from his end.

"Right, and signs of our potential target?"

Psyche's laughter echoed from the other end, before the signal was cut.

"Let's keep looking" said Dash, as Hawking nodded and the two left the washroom and headed into the study room.

Hawking walked over to the bookshelf, and took an interest in it. Sifting through the assortment of hardcover tomes, plucking out books, looking through them, before putting it back. Rinse, and repeat.

Dash walked over to the deceased officer by the wall, and poked at his head with the barrel of his rifle. Sure enough the man's face was crushed, just like the officer in the washroom and the one that Psyche and Ray had found.

"Just like the others" commented Dash, as he looked at Hawking who had his head buried in a book. Curious, Dash walked over to Hawking and asked "found something?"

"Not entirely sure just…tracking down a hunch" replied Hawking, as he looked through a hardcover blue book.

"Enlighten me" said Dash, as Hawking brought the book over to him.

"This book was produced originally in Germany" said Hawking, as he pointed out the name of the publishing company on the inside of the front cover. Which was clearly, and distinctly German.

"Makes sense".

"Now here's the thing, all the books on that shelf and the one downstairs are also made in Germany".

"So the occupant of the house has a thing for German imported books?"

"That's one possible explanation…" replied Hawking, as he sifted through the books on the shelf as though he was looking for something.

Stopping when he found it.

'I knew it' thought Hawking, as the proverbial light bulb in his head went off. From his expression, Dash was compelled to ask "what's up? Did you find something?"

"Right here, take a look at this" said Hawking, as he pointed to a single stamp found within the book. The stamp was partially concealed by the words of the book, and to the untrained eye would've blended into the printed passages.

"Nordstern" said Dash, reading the name on the stamp.

"Did the intel make any mention of this?" asked Hawking.

"Not to my knowledge, everything I've told you and the others is everything we have on this house's background sweep" replied Dash, as Hawking handed him the book at his non-verbal request. Dash closed the book, and pocketed it before radioing to Psyche and Ray their discovery.

Only for the sound of a gunshots to grab their attention. They quickly traced the source of the shots to the master bedroom, and without a second to spare, they got their rifles up, and ran to the last known position of their comrades. When they entered the bedroom with their rifles out, and ready to engage whatever enemy they may face.

But instead they came onto what amounted to a crime scene, with Ray lying dead on the ground. His face riddled with bullets, and standing across from him was Psyche. His eyes shot open, and staring down the bed with his rifle aimed and ready to fire. Hawking, and Dash aimed at the bed reflexively after seeing Psyche, as Dash asked "what happened?"

"Our target happened" said Psyche anxiously, and clearly on edge. His heart racing a mile a minute.

"What is it?" asked Hawking, as Dash asked "where is it?"

"In there" replied Psyche, as he gestured to the large pile of pillows on the bed. Encompassing the entire bed, and making its surface a sea of pillows.

"That's what happened to Ray?" asked Dash.

"Tried to get it off his face, and ended up accidentally killing him" answered Psyche, as Hawking eyed the pillows for movement.

"Visual on the target?" asked Dash.

Psyche was about to open his mouth to speak when all of a sudden, something jumped out of the pillows, moving like a blurred dart. It struck Psyche in the face, and wrapped around tightly.

The soldier was sent stumbling back from the impact, as his grip on his rifle vanished. The weapon falling onto the ground. Psyche grabbed onto the creature on his face, and tried to pry it off. However, it wouldn't budge.

Hawking lowered his rifle, and grabbed Psyche from behind while Dash grabbed onto the creature. Moving quickly they tried to pry it off.

"MMMMMHMMMFFF!" exclaimed Psyche, his voice muffled and in audible pain.

Dash gritted his teeth, and tried his hardest while Hawking pulled back on Psyche hoping to make it easier but the creature was persistent. Its four large black tentacles holding firm around Psyche's face, and getting tighter by the second.

"It's not working" exclaimed Dash, as Psyche freed himself from Hawking's grasp and pushed Dash away. He fell backwards onto the floor, and continued his fight against the thing.

That resembled a pillow.

Hawking's gaze quickly shifted to the bed of pillows, as he spotted movement in the periphery of his vision. Quickly he tapped Dash on the shoulder, and gestured to head out of the room before bolting out. Dash glanced at Psyche before running out, and closing the door behind him. Hawking had his rifle pointed at the door, as Dash quickly patched into his radio.

"Command this is Omikron-687 we have located anomalous target, and it is hostile".

"There might be more than one" added Hawking, as Dash glanced at him with a furrowed brow.

"The other pillows might also be more of them" clarified Hawking.

"Addendum, there might be more than one anomalous hostile be advised".

"Copy that 687. Hold your position a containment crew will be on their way, estimate time of arrival being 5 minutes".

"Understood, will provide updates as necessary. 682 out".

Dash cut the radio, as he resumed taking aim at the door.

They couldn't see what happened on the other side, but they could imagine. The muffled screams of Psyche breached the wooden exterior of the door, the sounds of desperation, fear, and abject terror all vividly conveyed through the blocked vocal cords of a fellow soldier. It crescendoed up, until it stopped altogether. One final loud burst of sound echoing the fear of death, followed by a visceral crunch.

After that, there was silence, which felt like an eerie smog had fell upon the two that remained.

"First time was us, and this time was them" said Dash, as Hawking leaned against the wall, his aim undeterred.

"An eye for an eye I suppose" replied Hawking, as he gathered his thoughts.

Dash chuckled, and said "Ray's gonna chew Psyche up over this I just know it".

"I'd be surprised if he didn't" replied Hawking.

For the rest of the five minutes the two soldiers stood there watching the door, biding their time as they anxiously awaited for another human soul to arrive. Their trigger fingers trembling slightly, as they both anticipated the possibility of the door bursting open and the likely fate that would await them both. And for five long minutes they stood at the ready, until they no longer needed to stand.

The End.