They walked for what felt like an hour, they ate and drank on the move. Nothing was remarkable to Ryan’s taste; he always hated the meals the Order provided. Dense nutrition bars that tasted and had the texture of sawdust, with a side of a high protein and electrolyte energy drink that he would describe had a milky texture with a salty aftertaste. The reptile didn’t seem to care about the food, but if there was something to say about the Order it was their pragmatism and carelessness for flavour.

‘Something doesn’t add up.’ Ryan said.

‘What isn’t?’

‘When we have reports of them, we see them coming out of closets before they attack their victims. Yet we only detected their realm in one home. When reports indicate that they are spotted all over West Germany.’

‘Monsters never follow our understanding of logic.’

Ryan chuckled, ‘yeah, I know that. But maybe the way out is to find a closet and leave that way. Yet again, how come we only detected them once in a small town? Not just that, but how come I survived when my entire squad was wiped out?’

Jackson thought about it, trying to rationalise the convenient nature of what led him here. ‘They planned this!’ Jackson stopped and turned around to a monster behind them. It took on the appearance of a young girl wearing a nightgown, she floated off the ground, her face a gaping void.

Ryan noticed a creature appear from the other end of the hallway, it took the appearance of one of Ryan’s squadmates, Jenny. Their appearance looked identical, the creature had her long blond hair, the mole below her right chin, and her crooked right thumb. Yet Ryan could tell the proportions were off. The hands were stretched out; the eyes were wider than they should be, and her neck looks crooked to one side.

The two men raised their weapons while they pressed their backs against each other ready to face the creatures that stared back at them. ‘Speak!’ Jackson demanded.

The girl with the missing face raced her hand and pointed at the reptile. ‘Butcher! We know of you.’

Ryan smirked and whispered to the reptile. ‘Seems like you have some fans.’ Jackson tapped Ryan’s leg with his tail, telling him to pay attention.

The creature changed its voice to sound more childlike. ‘We saw what happened, why the world turned on you. What they did at Appleseed.’ Jackson frowned, the handle on his gun creaked as he tightened his grip. ‘Tell us, do you remember Han…’

Before the creature could utter her name. Jackson fired his weapon while he stomped towards the creature, his rage fiery hot, each step his claws dug into the wood and ripped chunks off.

Click!

He ran out of ammo, though that didn’t stop him. The reptile raised his weapon above its head and cracked the shotgun over their head like a bat. Bending the metal and knocking the creature to the ground. Jackson pulled out a Charge-Spike, a weapon designed to inject an explosive device once it penetrated a hardened surface. The reptile jammed the spike through its collarbone and shattered it. He kicked the monster away before its chest exploded which created a large hole leading to the next room.

Meanwhile, Ryan shot at the creature that imitated his friend as it bolted towards him. Ryan ducked at the slash of its claws, he pulled out a flare and ignited in its face. The monster let out a thunderous scream before it scurried back into the darkness of the hallway.

‘Ryan!’ Jackson called; his voice rang with rage after his encounter. Ryan sprinted towards him without a reply, his wrath made him more terrified of him than his constant deadpan expression.

Jackson escorted Ryan to the hole in the wall that led to a room full of cobwebs, having the appearance of an abandoned attic. He’s pissed! He thought as he watched Jackson march with the intent to rip and tear anything that dared stand in his way.

A creature emerged from the darkness before Ryan could register what he was looking at. Jackson fly-kicked the beast through a brick wall and over the guardrails into the darkness below.

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Jackson walked into the next room where he created a wall and found an infinite staircase that spiralled to the light at the top and the darkness down the bottom. Ryan looked down to be welcomed with a million smiles and eyes. All of which in different shapes and colours.

Fearing for his life, he and the reptile bolted upstairs as the darkness rose. Jackson threw down a few charge-spikes and grenades, but it didn’t slow down the darkness. It chuckled at their feeble attempts; they whispered voices of the people Ryan knew before they died. Alternating between voices and distorting them to get at Ryan, to make him afraid of what they were while they ignored the reptile. For now.

Ryan did his best to ignore them, he fired his shotgun downwards until he had no ammo left. He held the weapon like a bat in case he needed to use it. Though he knew if the situation came to that, he would already be dead.

They both found a locked metal door, Ryan sighed in relief for he believed it could be their chance to escape. The reptile pushed Ryan aside as he wedged a knife between the door frame and snapped the door off its hinges.

Inside the dark room was an open storage closet. With nowhere else to go, they both jumped into the closet and emerged into the headquarters of the Order. More precisely, the intel department. Everyone rose from their desks and aimed their sidearms at the two men. Not everyone in the room was not capable of fighting, they were never soldiers to begin with. Some were even too old or out of shape to make a stand, but they were ready to shoot and kill what they suspected to be a monster which entered their office.

‘Name, rank, and occupation.’ One man shouted.

‘Jackson Abernu, Operator, Butterfly Legion.’ The reptile replied.

Ryan raised his hands, ‘Timothy Ryan, Agent, Disposal Unit.’

No one looked convinced. ‘Do you know how long you were gone?’

Jackson checked his watch. ‘Eight and a half hours.’

‘You were gone for two weeks. We lost contact with you.’ They all kept their aim at the two men, expecting them to be imposters.

‘Wait!’ Ryan pulled out the data slate. ‘We got what you need.’

A desk worker snatched the data slate from his hands and headed over to the master computer that projected a holographic map of the entire planet. ‘Inserting slate. Data should only represent the threat in West Germany. Entity currently dubbed Doppelgänger.’ She announced while she typed the command protocols on her keyboard.

On the world map, only a few red dots in West Germany popped up. Representing where the creatures appeared recently. Everyone sighed in relief while they lowered their weapons. ‘Hey sorry we raise our guns at you.’ One person said to the two men.

‘Hey, no problem, partner. Even the short guy could appreciate your iron.’ He nudged Jackson’s shoulder, expecting him to reply.

Instead, he stared at the hologram. His eyes were wide and his face sunken into despair. Ryan looked at the map to see dots started to pop up more. Soon the entirety of West and East Germany was covered, then Europe, it didn’t take long for the entire planet to be covered in red dots.

No one knew what to do or understand what they were looking at. It was a threat they couldn’t fathom. One that threatened the entirety of humanity.

Bang!

The closet door slammed shut. Everyone raised their guns at the door, some shook as they figured the monsters were there. Jackson pulled out his knife as he approached the door. He opened it and peered inside before he gently closed it. ‘Just wind.’ Jackson announced, his way of saying everything was safe.

Ryan took a stretch, like the nightmare was finally over and he could rest after a really long day. He walked over to the reptile to praise their survival and for saving them, even if they knew the true potential of the threat. ‘So, it’s finally over?’

Jackson shook his head; he stepped closer to whisper into Ryan’s ear. ‘I saw them, they're here.’