FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Waking up to enjoy the few moments of clarity before the heavy grief settles in. There is only a few moments of bliss before I recall they are all gone, they left me all alone. I think to myself that is why I try to force myself to sleep even after a I just woke up, is it just a desperate solution to fight off the tears. This of course was going on for several days and ago before I tried to improve my own life and find an opportunity that will secure my retirement. An opportunity that only requires leaving the life I currently know for just a few years and come back with a pension for the for the rest of my life and something I can pass down to my child that has almost forgot about me. This opportunity is happening now and I realize I'm late to the meeting. I check for messages from my son and feel slightly relieved when I discover that there is none, although I feel guilty my whole trip to the meeting because of this.

I finally get there and I am greeted with a large, over eager badger sweating and shaking unlike I've never seen before. I was pretty familiar with William from our past and can say he always acted the same since his younger years when I met him, but he is acting so unfamiliar from his normal state. He was overly confident, serious, and always successful. My former friend was only recognizable by the signature silver fur slick back starting from the brow of his muzzle with only a thin patches of white fur on his face and two thin white lines that trail down his neck, the rest of the fur you could see was black, neck, paw, and tail. He was in a somewhat dull gray suit today versus his shiny silver suits or almost polished reflective black suits I've seen of his. When he speaks he has to pause to collect himself. I know what is he is about to say must be must be a little less than legal but I choose to push that fact to the back of my mind.

"I managed to secure the planet before the bidding" he stated releasing a artificial smile. "The groundwork is not done yet but that won't be too important at the moment. They just scanned the planet's surface for a likely place to set up shop. If there too much ice and needs more time to boil off we will know before long before you hit the surface. Also it the plates shift irregularly there will be a ship big enough for the whole crew with dry supplies ready, although with the lack of mountains this one looks really promising." He is really ginning now.

"I am a geologist I can make that decision for myself."

"We only have a few surface scans but I bet you're gonna like what your see."

I quickly grab the folder he tries to wave about. He goes on to explain with glee how this is the moment he saved up for and can start and legacy with. I tune him out and concentrate deeply looking for anything that seems out of the ordinary and I'm astounded and overwhelmed how big this planet is. I couldn't help but mutter this fact aloud and it catches William's attention and sends him off on another tangent.

"They didn't want to spent all the money and suffer through the delay of the sale to inspect the planet's whole surface. Then search for the best leveled out spots to take pictures, send specialist there, bring them back. So after using my superior business negotiation talents, I managed to convinced them to save their money and give us the planet with a slight discount. This way we all skip the part where we get over bid again and again by some mega corporation that is just going to sit on it so people like me can't succeed. As big as this rest stop is going to big you will see your stock raise very quickly and look where is is so far apart from other planets so fuel will have a premium cost. I just need you to get down there make sure no one kills them themselves get some vegetation growing and whatever you need for a planet to have use."

"We will need a lot more of sonar. With as much equipment that goes into the ground we just need to be sure. I am not seeing any major plates and it can explain the lack of mountains. Make sure your have your architects are willing to change their plans if needed and ready to downsize the operation in case it we have complications with the planet. I will not take any shortcuts on this."

"This my legacy, something that will carry my name for generations to come. No shortcuts, I am going to make this fuel stop last so long I am planning to have a museum dedicated to my greatness down there once your finished" His former form now restored and it was enough to convince me he was being honest with me.

I try to contact my son to let him know the news and of course I was let down and have to leave a message. For months we only communicated through missed messages and soon we would have years of complete silence until I return. I wonder if, when he is older maybe he will have time to see me and maybe have kids of his own that I'll be able to watch over from time to time. I plan the next few weeks and set up a precise schedule. I didn't even have to schedule any packing days because William sent out a company to box up everything and take it to a storage so I could spent most of my time enjoying the things I would miss the most. The schedule includes binge watching my favorite shows, eating my favorite foods, having meetings with the team leads, and lastly I set a few nights aside to have open just in case. After reviewing plans, sending them back, reviewing them again, the planet thawed and several months passed.

The trip was finally over. Cryostasis only has me feeling a little dehydrated but I am looking forward to spending these next few days recovering. I think dealing with the A.I. on board the flight was what really exhausted me, it was just as arrogant as William is but in a much more annoying superficial way. I couldn't wait to get to step off this ship and go to my quarters. I happily step down off the bridge of the ship and head down the ramp through a long pathway of heavily enforced metal. Multiple types of steel over lapping each other, just a sample of how quickly and efficiently this crew has been working even with only landing a few months before me.

I walk into the first room at the end of the tunnel and am ambushed by an auditorium full of people staring at me. After the awkward moment of silence passes the speaker introduces me and tell them this is who they been waiting for. I get drafted into making a speech and they start playing a prerecorded video of Williams taking up the whole back wall. I notice the front wall is translucent and is looking out the side of the mountain, it must be late night. Video Williams welcomes me to the stage and with eerily perfect timing explains my title, qualifications, and tells me to go over the Terra forming process as soon as I reach the mantle. I turn back to see the screen go fade into the company logo then fade again and display an image of the nearest sun and the planet. The final image repeatedly cycles highlighting the zones of the planet in what I'm guessing the respective teams colors.

"Hello I am Sharon Mosher and this display behind me shows an overview of the process we are here to maintain and manage. The energy of sun in the galaxy has been reflected on this planet its so powerful, if we wanted, we could cut this planet in half. Our goal is to keep that from happening and as you can tell from the image make sure each of these regions are stable and usable to their maximum potential. Our first step and main priority is to make sure all the artificial tectonic plates act and move in a way we want them to. This planet is extremely large and to only have minor plates in the lithosphere is a real advantage. The artificial tectonic plate we are in will hold the whole facility and have the main power to push all others away and hopefully always stays on top. It will slowly move towards the center of the planet because the only seduction is near the equator and causes the volcanoes to form in the volcanic belt section or Zone 5 this red region here." I try to point but before I do I realize I can't reach that high so I make an awkward gesture towards the image and carry on.

"The image here is flashing on both sides of the planet but we are on the upper side there and there is another team working the other side. To make things easier and because I'm short I will be pointing to the lower half, just don't get confused. Monitoring, recording data, and communication is key to this whole operation. This whole planet was frozen over just a few years ago so keep that in mind when performing your task and always report any signs of flooding right away. We are trying to convert as much of the water as possible to deuterium, tritium, and oxygen. It will be used as much as possible around here in an effort to not need to create storage under the ice caps in Zone 1. That brings to our next step, keep an eye on the ice cap in that blue region. We have control of where the sun's rays hit the planet so we want to keep the ice in same zone as much as possible. When production goes up it may recede a little bit but we can make micro adjustments at that time. From there we need to design aqueducts to through the snowy light blue region or Zone 2. Here is the computers and main monitoring hub. I will infuse the water with nutrients for the hydroponics hydroponics staged there. All water will flow through those giant coils of wire around the water pipes so impurities in the water will pass through and generate electricity using magnetic induction. Later in this green spot or Zone 3 the water will split off in several canals spinning a turbine in each of the runoffs that will also be running off to actual soil based trees and plants!" I get a little too excited for that part and it shows. "To finish all the water is filtered for us to use then pumped back to start the process again. The last yellow area or Zone 4 is just outside that wall and will be turned into the Fuel Station itself. For now it's just going to be teams from Zone 3 and Zone 5 prepping and digging the site before the rest of the teams join in for their parts electrical, plumbing, and the rest."

I look over to see all the Scalies. I knew there purpose here was to tend to the farms. Sad to see a race trying to rebuild themselves being forced to do the work others thought they were too good for. I feel the urge to force one more point.

"These farms will be extremely important to our own survival once our own supplies run out." I look over to the lizards to hope they understand I really do care for their struggle. I wait too long and there seems to be no response. "In between this zone and the desert zone we will have our above ground fuel stations, lots of space to cover. We will have to tunnel strategically so be sure to listen to the architects and engineers on where to put these. Most of the fuel these larger ships use is hydrogen based and needs to be cooled. This means it will be delivered from the arctic region and needs the most direct path. Everything ties together so please if there is any issues make sure to bring it up right away so we can work it out right away. You should always feel free to come to me directly and will see me around checking over everyone on all zones to ensure proper functionality. Does anyone have any questions?" Silence, just the way I like it. "With that I'll give the floor back to your original speaker." I quickly find my seat and decompress. I notice I drew the attention of a young coyote with a rather unique fashion sense similar to my son's when he was still in school just a short while ago.

The next person drafted into a speech was Mr. Gilbert, the lead electronics engineer, quarters all the way in Zone 1 to be with his team. He was a muscular husky and looked like he was right out of a soap opera with really defined features. He was must of brought his own crew, it seemed like they knew him already based off the cheers ejected from one side of the room. I should take this time to get to know everyone but I look for my opportunity to break out of here. So as soon as he is done joking around and gets started explaining his part of the operation I cease my moment to slip out to find my room and get to sleep. Laying down I feel a little guilty for leaving but I have more time to get introduced everyone later.

I wake up those familiar moments of bliss that seems to last a little longer out here as I am free of the duties and responsibilities of a normal life. I run over the reports and note progress is going very well. I notice the sonar reports indicate readings of similar shape large hollow pockets, a mystery for another day I guess. A report marked urgent with the title "Heat Injuries" catches my eye. Nothing too serious, except one driller who didn't seem to notice his arm blister up and tear open until it was half cooked. Still I am beaconed to go down and investigate from the corporate overseers wanting to protect themselves from any lawsuits they may have to handle in another message in tittled "Employee Liability".

I arrive and just notice the majority of the work is done and we can use drones for anything else here. To mark it off we will have build a wall of wind turbines, one reason for more power, and as second reason to create a monumental sign to let people know were to not cross. I have a feeling this should have been placed up already but I can't quit remember why. The foreman named Chet, a musclebound white and brown Siamese cat with a long black face with black ears, is reluctant on giving me any information and complains that the ground is shifting. He claims it is causing a lot of warning signs to fall over and he can't help that. I file my report on the other side of the planet back in the tundra. I grab some hot cider, give my body time to adjust, and then call a meeting with the higher ups to give them the news. I feel like everything is going right until I notice some dispute between a few of the workers on the way back to my quarters.

I notice some electricians complaining about moving the some of the wires back a small distance because the wall size increased. I ask to see if I can solve the issue. I listen to each side and it seems like they both know what needs to be done and the electricians plan on moving the wires back for an increase in dam wall size. I asked why they were auguring in the first place and immediately regret it. All sides start talking at once so I stop them and ask each person one by one. Both the electricians tell me it was the way they were told but the architect here. He was the one wrong and they were mad that they didn't got told to correct something when they were doing what they were told from their boss. The crewmen that was sent to expand the plot of dirt for filling with cement was just caught in the middle. He was informed they fixed the issue already and was planning to dig that night. Instead he had to remove his own steal rods from the area tonight first anyways, so we all agreed we would just bump the priority of the wires and I start writing a message to send and everyone left happy, kinda. These electricians really don't like to listen to anyone other than Mr. Gilbert so I'll have to get on his good side soon to make my job easier.

The next day I wake up and enjoy the morning with some black tea. Tea is the one thing in the supply that seems like it will last the whole time I am here. I spend the day watching simulations of the clouds that will from bringing the digital water back and watching it draining into the aqueducts to cycle through once again. I notice we can more coils down around the drain tubes it will be the most impure point other than the gray water returning back to the filtration plant. I get more reports on the hollow tubes underground and these ones look so different I almost assume they are from the other side of the planet under I reread the sender and notice they work under me. I tell my computer to plot the moments and try to run any simulation to explain these and as a whole nothing make sense. If I narrow down the scope a few of them can be explained and individually they all can be explained. I really don't think this is correct so I run it past Chet who makes it seem he is too busy to really see me and passes it off as some Brownian motion. I start he may have something to this phenomena and start to wonder why the computer can't trace the source until he says, "A butterfly flaps its wings." Chaos Theory. This man proves almost useless until he made a mention he has been dealing with seismic quakes. He mentions that they are more serious of a problem then the random pockets in the ground and I quickly question why I wasn't made aware. He answers back that he has it under control and I reluctantly leave it at that.

I decide to go to my favorite area the farm land, to see if they grown some tasty vegetables out of the soil yet. I can almost imagine the taste when I get an urgent message from inside the hydroponics department on the way to my destination. At the moment it is also the office of our lead architect and he doesn't seem to pleased. When I arrive at the office I see a miniature model of a turbine floating on some digital view a ring with several smaller rings cascading down all equipped with very fine lasers constantly moving changing the rotation of the miniature turbine.

"A 3D hologram that can be moved and worked on and will update the computers model so production can change instantly." Speaks a male voice confidently. "I even very thoroughly put voice memos on all the key features like the one about all the turbines are equipped with a beacon on top that will help guide the super concentrated light source that heats this rock not to roll over the designated area and cook us all alive. That is unless I trigger that event manually and possibly do the universe some good by eliminating all these illiterate idiots trying to kill each other."

"I'm confused"

"Hi Confused, I'm Gin"

That's when I see the figure crawl out from under his screen. The young man in the jacket from the auditorium.

"Tell me what you are talking about, clearly and calmly. I don't have time for games young man" I respond, a bit too quickly, and now realizing that he reminds me a bit of my son, a bit too mom like as well. After the awkward silence permeates in the air and we both take the time to gather ourselves we start the conversation over with the proper tone.

"Your drill foreman hasn't been setting up the turbines. It's a huge safety risk. They need to be set up and taken down and moved back because they relay the boundary lines that contain the sun's rays. I heard someone had their arm cooked. It could have been a lot worse."

"We have the turbines up now in their final spots. Although I will have a little talk with the foreman about this discrepancy. Also I will need any data showing the dates when those voice logs where created if possible." I respond in a automatic almost robotic tone but then my eyes wonder. There is so many band insignias scattered all over the walls behind him. He notices my curiosities.

"You don't seem like the kind that listens to that kinda music" he seemed to be hoping I did but doubting.

"No but my son does. I can't tell you what ones but some look real familiar. Do you know if any of them still play? Maybe I can try to find some tickets and take my son when we all get back home. He is going to be so much older by then." That's when it sinks in. I might have grandkids by time I get back. My son could almost be as old as me due to the cryostasis state we travel in and the time we spend here and take traveling back. "You know never mind I should go."

We parted ways while that same awkward feeling left in the air and it remained stuck to my skin until I reached the surface. Finally time to find some fresh food. This was a true rarity, everywhere farms where deemed obsolete by hydroponics but I always heard rumors that they bared the best fruits and vegetables in their day. Before everything were sealed, things had flavors that don't exist now. I find something a few of the Scalies are eating ask them if I can try one and they gracefully smile and point towards the brightest of the bunch. It has overwhelming flavors, new and awful dirt tasting flavors. So earthy and looking at it much smaller than usual. This has been an appropriate way to end to a rough day.

I wake up and before I get to enjoy my few moments to myself I see I overslept. Probably do to running up and down this place so much yesterday. There is a message marked urgent from Mr. Gilbert and it is in a voice format so the anticipation starts building. I call down to him and he tells me it's not going anywhere but wont tell me what 'it' is. More anticipation as I rush to get ready and make my way near the icy caps once more. I get there I am greeted by a happy Mr. Gilbert and taken to a small circle of workers recording a giant block of ice. I'm quickly informed this is the remains of a crowd that started this morning. I approach the ice I am startled by what I see.

A sinking feeling lands hard in my stomach and I know I have to face this right away. Crowds of workers have be recording this all day and this thing would be grounds for us to lose all the permits needed to complete this project. I am staring at an ancient life form. It is a massive worm, one that can devour anyone of us whole. It is as tall as almost three of me and looking at it coiled up I imaged as long as ten of me laying down but it is probably much longer. The beast has no eyes, no face, just a giant gaping mouth. Its body is just a series of ball shaped muscles of various sizes. I see the someone named it Stanley as the name 'Stanley' is carved in the ice, sloppily but surprisingly deep into the ice.

"Beautiful isn't it?" jokes Mr. Gilbert.

"The mouth of the beast seems to hold some sort of muscled teeth crouched inside looking ready to pounce and help pull in its prey. Nothing about this is pleasing in the least. I have to call this in and I have no idea how the company is going to handle this." Anxiety begin to coarse through my veins resting in my heart a bit longer than most places.

"It has been taken care of and they seemed to respond calmly. They decided to send a special team out to capture any specimens we may find so they can study these things. All the recordings are to be stored off-line and for now outside communications is to be limited."

"So did they tell me what to tell the other workers by chance?" I scow.

"They said to keep it quiet but you know, the word just going to get around anyways."

I get back to my room to finish what I skipped over when getting ready in the morning. More messages, I glance over who sent them only two seem important. One from Chet, in charge of landscaping now, and Gin's message. I immediately know they are related so I chose to skip over Chet's and just open Gin's message first. Inside I see him having a mini meltdown about the wind turbines again. He is saying he has to manually monitor and control our solar mirror and he doesn't have time to go over the dam simulations. He is worried that the overflow could just damage the water turbines in their path so I need to run through them and get the foreman to get those wind turbines back up. I open Chet's message just to see chaos. Most of the wind turbines have been knocked down and it looks like mini hills formed overnight. He is blaming the Scalies, claiming they were partying too hard and must of stolen his equipment, taking the vehicles out for a joyride. I know better. I pull up the sonar reports and start to compare the hollow spots underground and just as I suspected they are moving.

The main power cuts out leaving the room to fill with darkness and a strong chill. For the moment I paralyzed with fear then the backup power switches on. I know I have to run for the backup emergency radio. I haven't got a clue how to get the word out to each station in every area but I can at least hit most of it at once and meet with Gin on the way to recruit his help. Chet and his crew is going to be hard to reach, the crew waiting on me to do the dam testing, the Scailes out in the fields just separated by a wall of translucent aluminum but might as well be on another planet right now.

To my surprise a whole crew of people are waiting for me already. Chet is the loudest and fastest to yell in my direction as soon as I become visible from around the hallway. Chet uses some colorful language to simply ask what's going on. I quickly explain and urge Mr. Gilbert to show what they recorded as I push through to the com station. I put out a mass alert but it only can be heard with the rooms with speakers. The default message is to go to the auditorium located right below us. From there we need to get to the shuttle together.

I meet the newly formed team and explain my plan and it immediately gets backlash from Mr. Gilbert. He starts claiming they have the strongest enforced rooms over in the tundra and that the creatures can't travel through temperatures that cold. That's when Gin counters with the fact heat ray that isn't contained and will reach that zone due to the beacons on the wind turbines going down. He states we have a better chance staying where we are and moving what we have in storage to our location until we have a safe way to reach the shuttle. He continues not able to stop himself from gloating he explains he has been controlling the sun's energy manually. Being overwhelmed by the people flowing in and explaining the troubling news that one of the dam overflow area has collapsed and that some of the people that were there to test it died. Apparently one of those creatures just crashed through and tunneled through the steel on the other side causing a rush wave of water that drowned everyone that didn't have time to react. In that moment we saw what appeared to be waves in the dirt just outside the translucent metal. These dirt waves taking form and raising all around the outside marching towards us. Then worms of all different sizes began punching through the sands and swallowing people whole like a fish catching a bug landing on the surface of a lake for a drink. It was disturbing in ways I can't process at the moment and I am just left with a feeling that I am very small and am at the mercy of these things now.

Alarms start to go off again and all the doors begins to close. A few people leak out of each door forgetting their sense of reason and direction. A few push towards the shuttle and moments later see activity in the ground shifting around and turn back instantly. Some ran into the kitchen and they even make it to the freezers and pantries before coming to their senses and then stop to think clearly.

"I'm going to the tundra, they can't survive in the cold." shouts Mr. Gilbert as he manages to recruit a small squad to travel back with him.

None of the Scalies made it near yet but you can see them closing the distance. Now a cycle of them fading from view caused by a new hill forming and then slightly less of them appear conquering each mound of dirt each time. Their numbers fade but a few of them ended up close enough to the view to start banging on the translucent aluminum wall. The doors are sealed at this point and not budging even with the help of the crowds trying to franticly let them in. Those of us left watching just hears the screams echoing filling the air. I try to convince myself the sounds must be only created by our minds because this room is sealed from the outside environment but somehow we all hear them, screams that are way too real. Multiple voices, scratching sounds actively burrowing into our eardrums leaving unforgettable scars. The worms we are able to see suddenly raise up in pain and quickly burrow underground. Just then I piece together the events and realize the Scalies are being cooked by the sun. Before anyone knows how to react their white bloods cells rise up from under their scales and migrate into bigger blobs, sizzling and dancing on their scales. Blisters form and connect and soon scales bubbles out as their meat disconnects from their muscles and then scales splits across to open on random spots over their bodies. It's a horror to watch and they stare back while becoming lifeless, but the scene is far from over. After the white blood cells evaporate the red ones rush up and do a similar dance and then they their bodies turn darker slowly. Leathery and lifeless, stiff, and scared, they freeze. I turn to see Gin rushing to controls late reaction but in time to still catch Chet creating all this destruction.

The youthful spirit of Gin was quickly shattered by the reality of the Chet's brute strength, gained from years of tough manual labor. To the rescue I sprang into action not without a clue how I would be able to change anything. Luckily for me there was a few angry people that came rushing pass me to remedy the situation. After Chet was restrained we registered what horror we just bared witness to. Gin picks himself up, pride hurt and moves the death ray back. Chet yells that Gin is crazy and needs to keep the rays close and kill the worms but someone finds a way to motivate him to shut up rather quickly.

Gin changes moods in an instant as he quickly returns to sun's ray at home in his throne of power and using the view ring displays a full 3D map of the whole facility complete with the updated damage from the down turbines up to the collapsed dam overflow outlets. He quickly goes over the most reinforced walls, where the food is stored, most direct paths to the shuttle as we stand frozen in aw. His expertise in the structure and his knowledge of the layout has captivated us until someone finally breaks free and asks what is the main plan and the arguing begins once again.

"Here are our options. We can follow the electricians back to the caps and maybe try to disable the sun ray entirely. Mr. Gilbert and his team traveled through the hydroponics bay and most likely took the service tunnels up the rest of the way to avoid any weak points or flooded areas. The enforced walls down there might maintain, if they didn't you would have lots of high voltage wires to help shield from an incoming assault from those things until the power runs out." explains Gin.

"They are hold up there until the new fleet arrives to capture the specimens. That fleet have no clue what they up against. After all that it will take them months to get here if they even left right away." I counter.

"We can hold up in here and try to reach the shuttle ourselves, when it's safe of course." It grows silent until Chet suggest to use the sun's rays again. Then it happens again we hear screaming from outside. This time it sounds closer like its coming inside and right underneath us. A mob runs to the kitchen and fans out until one of the exhaust vents starts to echo the banging from someone crawling down.

I instinctively run down to try to help where I can but am blocked by all the people crowding. The crowd is an amazement at this headstrong lizard woman pushing her way through them until a person from the medical staff interjects themselves and blocks her path. They try to force them to sit down and start barking commands for someone to get water, another command to the crowd to get a towel. They try to scan her and gets as far as telling her you need to stop moving right now before she loses interest. They try to let her know when they get back they will need some major operations as they have no more white blood cells left. They continue with telling her parts of their flesh is cooked and will need to be checked by a specialist to further determine what to do when the all is interrupted by the sounds of heavy scraping along the kitchen wall. The kitchen is underground and its clear what's causing the scraping when all off a sudden a wave of people all fall towards the opposite side of the room, scattering off tables, counters, and over cutting boards, knives, pots, and pans. The section of the metal wall behind the stove becomes indented in as another clash hits it and sends a quake across the whole auditorium.

Some poor soul, knowing how hard it is to push through a crowd, mistakenly makes their way backwards and tries to hid in the pantry but when they open the door their greeted by one of the beast with a welcoming opened mouth with proboscis extending to catch it's victim around the shoulders and reel them in. They manage to grab a hold of the edge of a counter but it was just another mistake, now they are being devoured feet first. A few people attempted a recuse but only get a within a few steps away before getting repealed by the blood curdling screams. The screaming only gets louder as more of the felines body is being crushed upwards until it the creature reaches the ribs. When the ribs puncture the lungs there is a short hiss of air then the the scream became a gurgle. Blood starts oozing out around their eyes and dripping out their mouth. Then the oozing blood quickly changes states and starts spraying out from the eyes in a fine mist and slowly a steadily stream of blood comes out their mouth increasing in volume and intensity until the body was dries. Mostly devoured all that's left is a face dripping blood lightly with blood stained fur. It becomes so silent as the last bit of the head disappears you can hear small bubbles of blood forming and popping from behind the eyes as it slowly sinks lower into the worm's body. The worm finishes it's meal as everyone clears out of the room and watches as the worm tries to press forward but has a hard time getting a grip on the smooth surface of the floor. I watch as it effortlessly raises up and slams down breaking through the floor and tunneling back to the inner planet sending out a vicious quake.

I rush up stairs see the crew still trying to map out a plan and with the expression on my face they know we need to make a run for the shuttle.

"We can use the drones to grab the sonar equipment and see if there is an alternate path out to the launching bay or possibly use that equipment to scare them away or distract them." Gin gains approval from the crowd and acknowledges with the nodding heads all in tandem until Chet rebuttals. "I just destroyed the sonar equipment trying to kill those beast. We still have some drills left and you can use them to get out of here by sending some off in various directions to lead these things astray but we need to bring back the sun's rays to protect us now on our weakest side."

"The suns rays, the ones that killed my people? My kind, that are still pressed up to the doors and the ones outside you can still see, that could have made it in to safety if you opened the doors!" Exclaimed the lizard women. The people in this room go quiet, like they have no control they just part the way leaving a path between her and Chet. Some think about stepping forward when they see the kitchen knife but the most anyone will mustard is an exaggerated exhale. Her screaming and grunting muffles and the feeble whimpers of Chet. He has no fight left in him and just gives in to his justice. His forearms raise up halfway to his chest before falling back down and he does not even attempt to stand up from his sitting position. We all know she is stabbing him in ways to keep him alive long as possible but none of us do a thing but watch until she is done. Finished she collapses and cries right next to what used to be him.

Another quake gets sent down from above us to motivate us to move once again. The roof bends down and the some plastic light covers drop down causing the ring view to glitch out for a few moments. We quickly run down the stairs and over to the auditorium. Chet's team, having less of his selfish qualities, with no words all decide to suit up and attempt to make their way to the warehouse and try to get control of the drones. They know the way better than anyone else and their courage inspires someone left from the electronics team to go with in case that needed access to rooms to make a quick get away or in case they our forced to make an alternate route. We all watch in silence as they exit the room knowing that most of them are not coming back if any at all.

As soon as the door closes behind them Gin rallies everyone. "Okay we don't know for sure but we are guessing they hunt by vibration based on the fact they have no eyes. They seem to hit us when there is lots of noise so stay as quiet as you can. We wait for the drills to be sent off as a distraction. That is when we know the path to the shuttle is confirmed to be clear. We may need to send a drill towards the shuttle to make a path but we will monitor that from here. Just stay calm and wait awhile before anyone tries anything."

A lone voice pipes up "Do we need to gather any supplies?"

"No, on board they set up everything we needed already just in case the planet wasn't safe in the first place. They couldn't have planned for something like this but it is a normal precaution in case the atmo fails, or the ice caps melts too quickly, or something along those lines. Just start recording your goodbyes to your families just in case. I'm gonna sit here and try to study them if they decide to surface out here again."

People slowly disperse and some actually start making recordings. Some already figured it out, like I did, by time the messages got back there would be no one who know them left. We all just wait silently as to not cause a panic with anyone else.

I sneak back to the viewing ring and before I fully walk in I turn around, taking in the view of all the chaos. The force that had to be generated to cause all this in what we believed to be one of the strongest rooms on this planet left me amazed. I must of stood still just long enough to draw attention from the Scalie who creeps in as I begin viewing the damage reports from 3D hologram. I trace the path back of Mr. Gilbert and crew hoping they made it. I look for the drones and follow the path back to see so far the team made it undetected. In a whisper we talk to past time and calm ourselves down a bit.

"What's your name?"

"Its Cheryl, and yours?"

Just then a group gasp from down stairs but then silence again, we continue our talk. I find out she came with her whole family in hopes that that would all still be able to grow up together and then send her kids to college when they got back. Her whole family was promised less than just one electrician or one construction worker would make but I couldn't let her know that. She lost them all and even though we tried to help we ended up watching. She watched her husband die and carried her kids to the doors when they didn't open she handed them to her trusted friends and forced her way in through a vent, cutting up her hands and feet in the process.

During our conversation I notice Mr. Gilbert's team must of made it further due to a huge wall being torn down on the 3D model floating in between us. It was good they are still moving and by tracing the damages along the way they at least attempted to gather food from storage in Zone 3. Maybe if we make it out ourselves we can request the help they will need to get back also. There is finally activity happening by the shuttle. We see a partial path being carved in our direction and get excited. I don't even know if they plan to come back or if they are clearing the path for us to follow. I rush back down to Gin and trying to get everyone's attention along the way.

I notice a new slam mark against the metal and Gin sitting undisturbed. The man staring at him says he did not even move when the worm hit the metal but it scared everyone else. I shake him excitingly and let him know we are about to be rescued. He gets up gets close to the tunnel and makes some wild arm motions that mean nothing in particular but everyone seems to understand. A few lines form at the door but not too close just in case one of them burst out of it. Cheryl informs us they are creating tunnels towards us. Gin adds that they are aimed underneath us so we need to brace for impact, stay calm, wait until they pass us by, and then move. He tells us whatever we do do not run right away and then I look at everyone losing confidence.

People start to panic as the moment stretches out. One vulpine starts hysterically trying to reason with herself, alternating between denial and acceptance. Neither is helpful at this point and it starts infecting people around her. Nervously some try to push her away to the back of the line but this incites an argument. Before drills have a chance to pass and lead the worms away the noise summons out a worm crashing through the floor. The steal cuts it on its path up and when it flops down on some of the crowd, squashing them, it raises up again with a red trail of blood from its belly up to under its chin. The hysterical vulpine, unharmed but covered in some of the blood splatter starts screaming and everyone tries to take off running. I follow Gin who is trying to catch up the electrician and lone construction worker by his side waving us on. They are half crouched ready to run as soon as we get near. Right by my side is Cheryl and even as injured and beat down as she is she is faster than both of us. Passing me and slowly catching up to Gin. We all are thrown to the ground as one of the worms burst through the side of the wall. The electrician and friend disappear out of sight behind the cloud of dust and new placement of the metal sheet, now bending off the wall it was once part of. The metal perfectly tracing were the worm came through and on the opposite side a new tunnel where it must of existed with its prey. To our surprise the electrician and construction worker run towards us to help. They lift up Gin, then Cheryl, then they run towards me when a second worm glides through the same hole, traveling through the newly existing path snatching up the electrician in its mouth and crushing the top half of the construction worker along the mangled wall. His body hangs there for just a second before the weight of the legs brings the rest of what is left of him down. I pull myself up and try to catch up to Gin and Cheryl who are now neck and neck to the shuttle.

I feel my body getting heavier with each step forward. I am about half the way down the path now. I take a moment to look at myself and see a lot of blood. I know trying to figure out what happen to me is only going to slow me down and I know I am not going to like what I see but I reluctantly look. Upon inspection I notice similar puncture marks in my left side and one clean through my upper left arm. I know it's the re-bar from behind the walls and happened when that worm made its way through. I try to keep focus, knowing it is possible for me to keep running like this because I have been doing so this far already.

We pass about three quarters of the way down when Gin turns around to help me. It was a well rewarded deed because just in that moment another worm comes through the only entrance to the launch pad and pulls Cheryl in its mouth, face first, locking her in with four large proboscis. There is no struggle, we just hear muffled screams just like we did with the rest of her people. It retreats as another one appears coming up from behind us. Far back at first but crashing into the sides of the walls so violently it makes it hard to keep taking steps forward as it struggles to get closer. Gin grabs me throws me as far forward as he possibly can where I am forced to crawl, falling still, the rest of they way. I cry as I hear him yelling from behind. It got him feet first, his cries echo into the large empty room. As the quakes begin to lighten up I am almost able to stand. I shakily force myself up after falling on bruised knees.

I feel my tail sinking down. Gravity pulling it down due to some added weight. I touch it to confirm but I already know. I am bleeding out bad, as soon as I see it my body goes cold. I can be quiet now. I make my way to the shuttle slowly and stealthily. I make my way to the ramp and up it. I go through the door and open the nearest first aid cabinet I can find. I patch myself up the best I can given the circumstances and sit down by the door against the wall. I look forward at some seats but I don't have the energy to move to one. I check my arm, it is broken but I can't do anything about it right now. I'm still bleeding but its a little less now. I am colder now but I am also relaxed. I close my eyes and wait here in case someone else makes it also.