Prologue
Destiny’s Burden
By: Andrew Allen
4200 words
A pain crossed his nerves as the acidic bile ate through his clothing and started nipping at his shoulder blade. Dax clenched his jaw, tore off the leather overcoat and threw it on the ground. Bubbles fizzed as the liquid he poured neutralized the acid that was burning his skin.
Dax ran for cover after the first quick encounter with the foe. Peering around the giant boulder, he watched the rogue Creepie wildly searching for his presence.
“I can’t believe this ugly ass thing can even tell where I am.” Dax thought to himself.
The creature’s bulbous head was a hideous sight paired with its stringy human body build. Its arms were longer than normal, and they could move at a moderate speed. Sensing the man was close the creature started to make a line towards Dax.
Click. The sound of metal snapped together as he pulled back the rod to ready his weapon. The creepie was about 100 yards away from him when he spun out of cover holding an elongated hand cannon.
“Hey, you ugly bastard!”
The creature hissed as it picked up speed in response. The gap between them quickly diminished.
“This one is for keekay!” He said as he quickly fired from the hip to send a net projectile out of the hand cannon with a thunderous, BOOM! The barbed weights tied to the net struck the vicious charging creepie. After impact, the net swung around its body and wrapped the humanoid uptight. The monster slammed to the ground wriggling around in pain as the net constricted. Dax fired a tranquilizer and the creepie was subdued by the time he reached it.
Dax pulled out a small pen gun. He carefully loaded it with a digital tag shooting it into the creature. He then pulled out a handheld device that showed a 3D model of the Creepie. They both had the same very recognizable gash across their foreheads. He clicked into the picture for more details.
Multiple tabs aligned the top of the digital screen Dax held. The screen had a list of bounties the one that was currently highlighted was a bounty for a murderer. He clicked into a tab titled overview.
REWARD
5000 Golden Cores – Alive
2500 Silver Cores - Dead
Reward for the capture or death of Creep-010099 Height, 5 ft -11 in, Weight, 170lbs.
Markings/Identifiable:
Noticeable gash across the forehead.
Thick scar across his chest.
Tattered blue jeans.
Wanted for the death of little Timmy and his cat Keekay. Funds provided by the Midwest sector community.
Dax clicked on the details tab which revealed a rotating 3D image of the creepie with dimensions and arrows marking his identifying attributes. “Ha! Yep, that’s you alright.” He said to the unconscious creature. He then clicked on the proof/evidence tab. In this tab, there were a few different angles in which local cameras recorded the event. A look of anger swept across Dax's face as he watched and read up on the evidence presented to him. He swiftly kicked the humanoid in the head with his boot after watching the video. He put the device back in his coat pocket and said, “Alright then! Let’s get your ugly ass back to town.” He started to drag the creature back towards the small village to claim the bounty.
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