The long line of army trucks was moving in an orderly fashion across the narrow stretch of hardened sand that people in these parts called a road.
With all the racket, it was hard to hear the soft voices that came from inside the truck. They were discussing things related to games, fantasy, and goblins. It was a topic that was completely different from the norm but considering the current situation understandable.
Sitting just behind the driver, her rifle at the ready, Sandra kept her eyes peeled on the forest. Dry yellow leaves were whizzing by, and she cursed at the recklessness of driving this fast on such a road. This way, the lookouts would have barely any time to warn them, she thought with an angry glint in her eyes.
"Keep your cool, Sharps." Came a grunted voice from her right.
Looking over, Sandra scrunched her face wishing she could use one hand to flick a finger, but instead she forced her annoyance from her voice. "I don't know what you mean, Peltmans. Just enjoying this breeze Harms is providing."
Seeing the dangerous look in her eyes, the burly man swallowed. "Whatever you say, Sarge. Was only trying to be helpful." Then he turned back to the others who were ignoring him and had their eyes on the surroundings. They were discussing the same thing they had since the briefing.
"I am telling you, what will they do if we don't follow orders? After this bloody thing is over and the world falls apart, everybody that listens to them will end up as Goblins. Did you ever play a game? Why would you want to be bloody cannon fodder?" A wiry man asked.
"Are you crazy, Eli? That's insubordination. If the higher-ups hear you, you'll be in deep shit. Besides, they told us Goblins could turn into orcs and other stuff eventually. That's cool right?"
"'Could 'being my problem with all of this. It means it isn't a guarantee. What if we are the ones that stay Goblins forever? And what do you think will happen after the world merges? Things will bloody change is what will happen. No. I don't know what I will pick, but I will decide for myself. They can do whatever they want with me after." Eli responded, sounding obnoxiously sure of himself as always.
Sandra looked across her shoulder at the ragtag bunch that was her squad. It was the first time one of them had full out said they would do something that went against orders, and she knew she had to do something. No matter her thoughts on the subject.
"And what exactly do you suggest we pick then Eli? It would have to be something that can turn you invisible! Because otherwise, you will get court-martialed when they find you. "Sandra asked, trying hard to keep calm.
Eli looked at her, finally realizing he had gotten carried away. "Just voicing my opinion, Sarge. But I doubt they know what they are talking about if they think turning into a Goblin is ever a good idea. Something like Fiend or Kobold or perhaps even those Insectoids sounds better to me."
Grunting, Sandra shook her head. "And you base this wisdom on what? Your years of playing games that are, in most cases created by the people you think are wrong?" She looked him straight in the eye.
Seeming anxious, Eli was visibly struggling to keep his opinions to himself. After a while, he sighed and looked away. "Whatever. We will see who's right when this is all said and done."
Shaking her head, Sandra felt her anger flare up again, and it took her a moment to suppress it. It wasn't directed at Eli. Well, not all of it, she thought angrily, but at the situation in general. The fact that he might be right wasn't helping either. But instead of his misguided confidence, she based her opinion on an accidentally overheard conversation.
The day they had left the research area, she had been out on patrol duty. In the dead of night, with floodlights trying to stay the darkness she had walked back to her tent taking a shortcut through the unlit excavation site. At one point a high pitched voice coming her way startled her and, knowing she wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the excavation area, she had hidden behind some large crates. Shock still filled her as she remembered the conversation she had then heard.
Two scientists had meandered her way, one carrying a flashlight that he used to wave around in oval patterns on the ground.
".. can't be serious Allan. Their unfounded decision will change the lives of millions of people." A female scientist said.
"It isn't completely unfounded Tess. And what is the alternative? Listen, I know you feel we should not interfere with the merging, or with what people turn into, but we don't know everything. People with more knowledge deemed this the best course of action."
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
"Don't act coy Allan! You know as well as I do that if they would share what they know, we could make a better assessment of the coming situation!" The female scientist shook her head vigorously." No. What I think is that they don't know. And they are basing their decisions on the fact that they want control over the populace based on the misguided notion that they can control the mingled goblinoids."
The male scientist sighed in resignation, appearing to have heard this argument before. "Are you and the others going to be headstrong? If they see you turned into something else after the first merging, they won't like that, and you know it."
"Fuck them. Based on my findings, the best options for humanity's survival, if we can still call ourselves that after this, would be either Fiend or Kobold. The others agree, so you are the stubborn one!"
Then the two bickering scientists had left her earshot, and she had rushed back to her tent.
The truck bounced up and down on the sandy road, pulling Sandra back to the present. Resigning herself to the fact that discussing this with anybody would get her into trouble, she tried to determine if she could get away with what she had planned. The uncertainty made her furious, and she wondered how much longer it would take to the midway point. A quick look at her dull plastic watch told her the countdown would end in ten minutes. She knew they would probably stop soon, to prepare.
As if someone heard her thoughts, a crackle came from the radio and a hard to understand male voice followed.
"We are approaching the designated area. Everybody move to your sectors.
Reaching over to the driver's seat, Sandra tapped Harms' shoulder. The tanned man nodded without looking. "Got it, Sarge."
With practiced ease the long line of trucks dispersed around the lead vehicle and groups of soldiers jumped out and started moving around, putting down equipment and a large radio pole.
Exiting her truck, Sandra looked at the six men and women in front of her. She only knew two of them well. The other four had been diverted to her squad one week ago. Luckily the two she knew were trustworthy and would have her back. The others she wasn't too sure about yet. She looked at the only other woman in her squad, someone who had been with her since basic training.
"Hernandez, Harms, Elli go and operate the guns. Remember to lean back when the timer ends, or you might fall across something you need in the future."
The smaller, black-haired woman with the misleading baby face nodded. "Will do Sarge. Let's go, you two."
Sandra looked at the time again. The neon red digits showed less than five minutes remaining. For a moment, she wondered how many people in the world were doing the same thing. Then she looked around, inspecting the roughly one hundred soldiers that had been guarding the dig site previously. There was no sign of the spec-ops that had arrived moments before the evacuation. They had stayed in the lead vehicle and had not exited it the entire trip, their only purpose: guarding the scientists that had not taken the helicopter back to the main base.
Remembering the hasty evacuation of the research facility and all the equipment they had left behind, she recalled the briefing.
They were woken up in the dead of night and gathered next to a line of trucks, most with engines already running. Uncomfortable and sweating, one of the scientists, urged on by an officer, had stepped forward and explained that they weren't examining potentially dangerous materials. They were trying to determine the exact moment that the world would change during something he called The Merger.
The soldiers had become rowdy, and some had shouted that the world was ending. Eventually, the officers, backed up by the spec-ops, managed to regain order. Seeming even more uncertain the scientist continued. He gave a brief rundown of what to expect and ended with which lifeform to choose.
Finished, the scientist had hastily stepped back, and an officer told them the merging would happen in eight hours. They needed to evacuate the area, and they would travel to the main base immediately, which was almost twelve hours away. That meant they would weather the merger in-route. It had taken more shouting to get the soldiers to calm down again, and one was carried off for trying to contact his family.
"Sarge, we have less than a minute remaining." Peltmans deep, steady voice startled her awake.
"Alright. Remember your briefing and get ready. And..." Letting the sentence hang for a moment, Sandra struggled with herself, feeling training and conditioning fight with her desires and common sense. Eventually, her training lost out, and she added.
"And guys..." The seriousness of her voice made them all snap to attention and look over. "Life after the merge will be long and hard. Make sure you decide for yourself what you want to become."
Looking down at her from the trucks mounted-gun, Eli seemed shocked for a second before he nodded with a stern look on his face.
A loud beeping countdown came from Sandra's watch.
"Ten seconds," Sandra muttered, taking a deep breath and steeling herself for what was to come. She needed to decide what to do, but she was still uncertain.
At two, she put her back against the truck wheel and opened her eyes wide, hoping to pick up something from what was to come.
It was in vain, however, because before the counter even hit zero, everybody sagged to the ground. All around, trees stopped moving in the wind; clouds froze in mid-air and birds fell to the ground.
After an indeterminable amount of time, everything lurched and began moving again. The few trees to the side shook, and some were uprooted from the earth by an unseen force. Many of the toppling trees disappeared before they touched the ground, and soon, different trees shimmered into existence. The road they had been driving on began to overgrow with purple-colored plants. And more and more trees appeared a few hundred meters from the circle of trucks.
Sometime later the clouds started moving again, a reddish sheen covering them.
In the direction the convoy had come, an immense jungle now covered the land. From deep within a loud and angry roar echoed outwards.