I felt the pull of the seat belt throw me back hard into my seat as something fleshy hit the helicopter rattling the metal. Something in my stomach jumped as my body shook and I felt the burn of acid in my throat. I’m going to throw up. The nutrient bars went down fighting but they sure came back up easily, fuck. They taste so much worse the second time. 

“Blugh!”  Another kid who seemed to share the same opinion as he openly emptied his meal all over his lap.  

It was all too much. The smell of gunpowder, the red flashing light that tried it’s best to put me into an epileptic shock and the sound of scraping claws and flesh was so loud that even the mighty engine couldn’t overpower the sound of whatever was squealing outside. 

I gripped the seatbelt with all my strength, my knuckles white under my thick gloves. I couldn’t feel anything but the pressure felt comforting. There was too much stimulation, my inner ear felt like it had gone ten rounds with a Slayer.

“Our- five minutes- jump -die.” A man in full combat armour tried screaming orders. He was the only one standing up but that was a bit of an overstatement as with every shake he threatened to fall. I couldn’t understand a thing he said but when he thrust a some sort of padding into my hands I could pick up the idea. He wanted us to die.

“What! You can’t be fucking serious!” A boy cried, his tears glistening on his cheeks. Was I crying? The others who weren’t wearing their helmets were openly crying, grasping their seats for dear life while the ones who did wear their helmets looked disassociated. Most likely crying as well. I couldn’t feel anything under my thick helmet. We were all given standard non-Slayer military equipment. We had thick layers of body armour, so thick that had I been a regular person I would have been a dehydrated husk thanks to the heat. 

The man slapped the boy, ironic cause it probably hurt the regular man more than the boy.

“Get your shit together! You don’t want to die then jump! It’s a fuck ton safer down there than up here! Aim for the landing pads, no parachutes. We’re the next group so unbuck-” He never got the chance to finish before the sound of scraping metal overpowered his voice.

Sparkes flew as a pair of thick claws ripped open the side of the helicopter in a horrific display of light and sound. Like the worst birth ever a disgusting creature ripped through the side of the helicopter.

A poor girl who had her head right below where the monster was trying to force its way through unfortunately got a claw around her face as it tried pushing its way through. Her screams her so loud as the second claw latched onto her face to use ass leverage for itself to pull it inside. The girl had short blonde hair and little adorable freckles bridging her nose. Had. But now her hair quickly became bloody and the bridge of freckles was quick to become a large ravine of blood and flesh completely losing her nose in the process.

The creature’s head finally breached the thick wall of metal revealing a human-sized skull in the shape of a bird’s. Then it’s large broad grey shoulders where the neck went from bone to muscular flesh. It kept clawing its way through as children unbuckled and all ran to the front and back of the helicopter desperate to get away from the thing. 

Whatever it was, it pushed it’s way in making a large hole in the helicopter as it entered the helicopter, stepping over the poor girl whose face had turned into a horrible mess. Her weeping was awful, her tears had mixed with her blood and dripped down what used to be her cheeks. Her throat had also taken a lot of damage causing her cries of pain to come out of her throat rather than her mouth creating a sound that I would no doubt be hearing when the nights get too silent. 

The creature stood at seven feet tall, six because of its large hunch. Its face had a bird skull and its eyes were an abyss with a single golden star glowing in the infinite void. Unlike its avian head, the rest of the body was remarkably human. Its body was grey and muscular, larger than any regular human I’ve ever seen. Though, it had it’s ribs elongated so that it had bones coming out the side of the chest creating a cage of bone. Other weird things about the creature was it’s lack of any reproductive organs and its avian-like legs with its talons carving into the steel floor. 

It let out a scream that shook the whole helicopter and the wings behind its back spread wide knocking a few children in the jaw by accident due to the sheer size. Everything about this creature screamed it shouldn’t exist. A monster from the heavens. A Seraphim.

It felt like hours passed as the Seraphim looked around trying to understand its surroundings. Trying to decide which of us should die first, should it rip our throats out with its beak or tear us apart with its claws? A monster that wasn’t going on a slaughter purely because it was indecisive on how it should kill us.

It didn’t have long to decide as the fully armoured man pulled the trigger on his gun, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off the beak of the Seraphim. To the man’s credit, he stood tall and bravely, his eyes burned with defiance. He didn’t need words when he roared in defiance of the monster as the bird-like man leapt forward closing the gap between the two in seconds. His screams weren’t manly when the monster pulled his trachea out of his throat. 

It was then the climbing vomit in my throat finally made its journey out through my lips covering my lap in stomach acid.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” The pilot screamed in fear. The pilot banked the helicopter forward. The pilot seemed to have no care for its passengers or even staying in the air as they rocked the helicopter like a wild bull sending the monster into the ceiling, the wall and into the children screaming in terror. 

I cried as I felt the weight of the creature hit me hard in the chest, its claws wildly flailing caught me on my chest easily tearing through my seat belt and body armour leaving only a small red line across my chest. It had only been a glancing blow. With a cry of terror, tears openly falling, I kicked wildly at the same time the helicopter jerked to the side sending the monster and anyone who wasn’t buckled in into the wall.  

I, unfortunately, happened to be one of them as both I and the monster were sent careening towards the open hole in the wall. The monster wailed as it fell through but through luck alone, my arms that swung desperately and I was able to grasp a piece of metal saving me from the same fate as the Seraphim.

Gravity returned as I slammed hard into the outside of the helicopter. The metal felt cool against my open wound as a hurricane of rain and wind pelted against me trying it’s best to loosen my grip. If it wasn’t for my shards of metal biting into my hands I would have fallen below slamming my head against the large domes of Mayrterdom.  

“Oh God, oh God please,” I whispered under the howl of the wind. I quickly grabbed another jutting-out piece of metal pushing my body hard against the helicopter trying my best to not be sent off. 

I could feel my heart in my chest too scared to even pull myself up. The sheer fear of the situation paralysed me from getting myself to safety. The irony would have been funny had I not been a weak grip away from dying. 

There were hundreds or maybe even thousands of them. A swarm of those bird-headed creatures swarmed the sky attacking helicopters. There was no formation or sense of strategy besides throwing as many bodies against the problem till it went away. Like a tidal wave of flesh, they swarmed helicopters attacking propellers and ripping metal apart with just their claws. It would have been a lot more impressive had I not noticed the red that dripped down the throats of some monsters who were a bit more messy eaters when tearing apart my peers. 

Though if you gaze into the abyss the abyss also gazes back at you. Not so much psychological as it was a reality as one of the seraphim noticed my dangling body. The demon struggled partially through the wind but its strong muscles overpowered the storm. It was coming closer, it was coming a lot closer very quickly. Fuck even in this weather it would close the distance shortly. 

Bearing down my teeth I pushed my hands hard into the shards of metal. The pressure stung a little but I was designed for this, my skin wouldn’t even break to this. The only real problem was getting up. The sheer wind and the shaking of the helicopter were too much. 

A strong hand found my own. The grip was lathered in sweat and rain but despite that I found myself being dragged up. It was one of the fellow kids who had been knocked around, his brow was bleeding from where the Seraphim probably got an unintentional hit. With the audible heave, my knees scrapped against the little daggers of metal and I ended up coughing out the rainwater that had built up in my mouth. I was finally back inside though, arguably more safe than before. My body was trembling but alive.

My saviour stood above me, taking deep breaths, he himself didn’t look like he was faring much better than myself. He fell to his knees grasping at his heart and holding his chest like a mother trying to bring their child as close to their body.

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“Thank you.” I manage to breathe. 

He didn’t respond, he only looked down the hole left in the helicopter. Towards Mayterdom. One of New Brisbane’s most proud and awful constructions post-armageddon. Several metal domes were built above waves slightly off the coast. Deep enough so land Seraphim would struggle but the large Seraphim that live deep in the ocean wouldn’t be able to get past the shallows. 

“There are so many of them.” The boy whispered to himself. I pulled myself up to stand next to him looking out towards metal domes being swarmed by monsters. 

“You know Matrydom never releases its survival ratings to the public, the only thing we know is that it’s less than ten per cent every year.” He continued.

I didn’t bother answering. This clearly wasn’t a conversation for me.

“Did you know they hand out weapons and ichor as rewards? The only people that live in this Hell is the people that win those events. It’s ironic that the fewer people there are the better chance at survival you have.” But despite that, he still helped me. “Thank you, for letting me pull you up. I don’t think I could’ve pried your grip away.”

What? That solid feeling beneath my feet was quickly replaced by the rush of wind. What had happened? I looked up and saw the boy still standing in the helicopter as I fell. 

Oh, he grabbed me and threw me out.

Dick.

I saw one of the roofs of the metal dome approach from beneath me. That is going to hurt a lot when I bounce off it. Would I die? I should be more scared, I just haven’t had enough time for adrenaline to affect me yet. I should be fine though, I’ve seen videos of Slayers dropping out choppers before and landing perfectly fine. Then again they had armour and ichor while I was wearing just regular non-Slayer equipment. I could only hope the Seraphim wouldn’t tear me apart while I was conscious.

A loud bang rang through my head as I collided hard against the dome. My chest caved in as I felt my ribs crack and my vision blurred. My brain ricocheted around in my skull like a marble giving me a concussion no doubt. From the height, I fell a regular person would have died if they hit the metal dome but my genetically engineered body managed to keep itself together. Though my insides were probably just a slushy of organs at this point.

My body bounced off the dome with such force that my second bounce still rattled my cracked bones. I felt it all, the way my organs weren’t in the right spot or the way that I had shards of bone in my muscles. I couldn’t do anything as my body slipped down the side of the dome as the rain had made the surface wet. One last bang rang as my body slipped off the top of the dome landing face first onto one of the many bridges that connected the many domes.

I small gasp but plenty of blood escaped my lips as my fall finally came to an end. Everything hurt, and places I didn’t know existed were discovered from the pain, I don’t think any bones were broken but all of them would be cracked except for a few ribs which were definitely broken and a dislocated shoulder. Not even my enhanced physic could protect me fully from my bad landing. To my credit, I did try to stand up. It wasn’t my fault my body refused to move.

Through pure effort rolled onto my knees and spat out blood and a tooth from my mouth. Damnit, that would take months to naturally regrow. 

“Oh fuck me… fuck this.” I whispered to myself. Looking up at least I was faring better than my peers. The seraphim were swarming the helicopters and the many turrets that dotted the many domes of Maytrydom fired but could only pick off the monsters away from the helicopters. There were a few kids jumping from the choppers, they must have been in the drop zone where some of the older students were protecting a cushioned landing pad. Some of the more impatient kids took a risk and jumped early not being able to stand the swarm of seraphim and landed into the waters below Maytrdom. I never saw any of them resurface.

I needed to get to the landing zone where all the students were. At least then I would be protected out here I was a sitting duck but my legs refused to listen to me leaving me a near-broken kid kneeling in the rain.

A loud thud landed next to me. Unfortunately, I knew what it was before I even fully turned my head. There they were, near identical copies to the one that ripped a hole through metal. 

Three of the bird skull monsters stretched themselves wide shaking off the impact of the landing. My graceful fall from the heavens must have caught the attention of some of the monsters. If it wasn’t for the numbness I think I would have cried, I couldn’t though even if I wanted to. My body just wouldn’t listen to me, It didn’t even register the fear that I was going to get torn apart, just a sick numbness.

The beasts made their way towards me, the slow steps mocking me. If they wanted to would be over already. No, the seraphim were created from humanity’s self-hatred, they would never allow a merciful end. 

As one of the winged monsters raised its claw to divorce my head from my neck. A bloody spray of gore and brain matter covered me, the creature's blood dripping down my face and into my agape mouth as what used to be its head now had a hole that I could stick my arm through. 

The other seraphim turned to face the actual threat, aka not me, but instead a human in a high-tec suit of armour. The Slayer armour. One of three reasons why New Brisbane wasn’t wiped off the map along with the rest of Australia. 

No two Slayer’s armour is the same, they all have different modifications, colours and quality depending on the Slayer’s achievements. What was similar was the fact that the armour covered the Slayer from head to toe in a mosaic of nanofibres, technology and an alloy of metal called Slayer steel that could allow the wearer to fight head to head with seraphim without the fear of getting their organs ripped out. 

The one that stood on the opposite side of the bridge was pitch black version but its visor glowed white like an angel of death. In the Slayer’s arms was a large gun that could be considered a cannon. Had a regular human fired it the recoil would cause them to be missing an arm.

“You look like shit. Didn’t the preschools teach you how to land?” The voice spoke out of speakers from the armour. It was masculine and teasing, a voice that reeked of confidence.

The Seraphim didn’t find him as charming as he obviously thought himself as they charged. Their movement was erratic jumping off the handrails and each other with such speed I lost track of which one was which.

The Slayer didn’t seem to have the same issue firing his gun once he took off one of the wrists of the winged beast. I couldn’t see his face but I could feel his smirk underneath his smile as the Seraphim wailed and stopped advancing. The other Seraphim quickly closed the gap clawing at the man’s helmet only grasping air as the Slayer avoided every attempt. I wasn’t sure if the Slayer was faster than the monster but he moved with such skill it didn’t matter. 

Putting the gun on his back the Slayer dropped into a fighting stance. I had never seen a human fistfight a monster but it was incredible. He moved quickly and every blow rang loud. Left, right, elbow, knee, uppercut. He was enjoying himself, he danced in the guard of the Seraphim taking every chance to punish the many many gaps the monster had. It may be powerful but it had never learnt how to box which was a weird thought to have. 

It was only when the other Seraphim entered the fray did the Slayer reached behind his back again taking out a large two-handed claymore. With a click of a button on the hilt, the edge of the blade made a miniature sun. A solar blade, clearly a two-handed sword variant. Regular-edged weapons had no effect on the hide of Seraphim but humans found out how to get as much heat out of energy as possible. The blade wasn’t even made of metal, just a super insulator so it didn’t melt.

The slayer swung the large blade with such speed that only a superhuman could reach bisecting a Seraphim in half as the superheated edge flash burned its way through flesh and bone. The other monster didn’t last long after as the Slayer swung the blade leaving a trail of steam and distorted air as it carved through the rain like some sort of exotic dancer. I only realised the monster was beheaded when the glow finally died leaving the Slayer standing above me expectantly. 

“I’m not carrying you.” He finally spoke after a few moments of silence. 

It took me a while and with great effort, I did finally push myself up to my feet. My body still stung despite the adrenaline but I could at least shuffle my way back to the drop zone.

“You saved me.”

The man hummed in thought. “I suppose,” he shrugged.

“I saved you the same way a torturer doesn’t kill his victim. I’m going to tell you right now that the higher years aren’t going to stick their necks out for freshmen they aren’t fucking. Even then it’s a coin toss.” 

“Why’d you save me then?”

He shrugged again. “Cause why not? It isn’t exactly a great time at the drop zone for myself. The Seraphim have unfortunately learned our patterns and lie in wait for weeks. The scary ones have learnt when our school events are after surviving a few years. The storm was supposed to dissuade some of the flying buggers but these harpies appear to be quite the bloodthirsty bunch.”

Harpies. Seraphim wasn’t a name for the winged beast but rather the name for all monsters that descended from the heavens. These apparently were called harpies. 

“Besides, a geared-up fourth-year Einherjar won’t die to harpies. This is more like a casual stroll for me.” He bragged. He wasn’t wrong. The fourth year was the last year in Maytrdom before being sent out to the field under the military. To reach the fourth year was to be effectively a real Slayer already, although I didn’t know what he meant by Einherjar.

It was only following the Slayer did I realised he was in no real harm the whole time, there were four more Slayers following us from a distance. Only making their presence known when a harpy tried attacking us. The monsters never made it within ten metres of the man before exploding into gore. Despite the danger the harpies posed he never altered his gait for his friends who fought the monsters, if they took too long they would be left behind. Faith that they wouldn’t die? They were also fourth years. Or was it that he just didn’t care?

Eventually, we made it to the drop zone where there were plenty of students with their guns pointing to the sky as corpses fell threatening to land on anyone unlucky enough. There were plenty of my fellow peers, the only ones without armour annoyingly. Even more annoyingly I caught the face of one person I did know, a certain boy who had the tendency to push people out of choppers. 

He seemed as shocked as I that I survived. His eyes widened as I approached, his jaw agape. So I hit him. Hard. As hard as I could right in his stupid face.

“That’s for pushing me out you dick!”