‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 19

THE NIGHT BEFORE BATTLE
Oen found Avva curled around Eva in their makeshift bunk, the child’s breath shallow and quick. The air smelled of antiseptic and fear.

“We’ll get through this,” Oen whispered, his calloused hand resting on Avva’s shoulder.

She leaned into his touch—a fleeting warmth in this metal tomb. But when her fingers brushed his, Oen pulled away. The ghosts of his past still screamed louder than the klaxons.

“It’s too soon,” he lied. “We need time.”

Time they didn’t have.

THE DAWN OF RECKONING
The armory buzzed with grim purpose. John distributed the new armor—steel-plated exoskeletons with jury-rigged UV floodlights strapped to the backs.

“Remember the rules,” he barked.

The steel umbrellas stay up (Acid rain dissolves flesh in 3.2 seconds)

Flash the sky at 47-second intervals (The ship’s pulse rhythm)

If you hear singing, shoot the source (Even if it looks human)

Oen checked his electro-shock gauntlet. The charge indicator flickered with three letters:

E-V-A

He showed Ocean, who paled but said nothing.

THE EXPEDITION
The blast doors groaned open. Outside, the world was a graveyard of twisted steel and frozen screams. The dust clouds pulsed like a dying heart.

“Move out!” John ordered.

They advanced in pairs—Oen and Avva, Ocean and Olive—their steel shields interlocking like tortoise shells. Every 47 steps, the UV floodlights flashed upward, illuminating…

The underbelly.

Not a ship.

A living membrane, veined with throbbing tendrils that plunged into the earth. Where the light hit, the flesh recoiled, revealing brief glimpses of…

“Are those… faces?” Avva gasped.

Human. Thousands of them. Pressed against the inner surface like flies in amber.

One pair of eyes snapped open.

Eva’s.

THE REVELATION
The radio crackled. Danny’s voice: “The ‘dust’—it’s not data. It’s souls.* They’re harvesting consciousness to power—”*

A scream cut her off.

From the vents near Olive’s feet, black sludge bubbled up, forming crude letters:

WE ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU CALLED

Ocean raised his gauntlet. Olive grabbed his wrist.

“Wait! It’s—”

The sludge spoke in Eva’s voice:

“Daddy promised we’d play forever.”

• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 19
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 18
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 17
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 16
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 15
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 14
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 13
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 12
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 11
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 10
• Kill Everything That Moves – Part 9
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 8
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 7
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 6
• “Kill Everything That Moves” – Part 5
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 4
• Kill Everything That Moves – Part 3
• Kill Everything That Moves – Part 2
• Kill Everything That Moves – Part 1