The Shadow of Sirius

[Crysis]

“Reiner, humph, I would’ve never guessed, sometimes I tried to guess people’s names in the institute, no use, just a little amusement I guess from that routine, that damned routine…” Erich sounded agitated.

“Machines, that’s what they made us… They told us our purpose, they’ve trained us for it… I mean the others, they never seem to even attempt to make contact… Sure, we were never allowed to meet on a personal level or have any information about each other but still...” Reiner continued, something was on his mind. Erich nodded, agreeing with his every word. “They’re as bad as the drones and machines…”

“Do we really need this? Them? What life have they given us? We’ve been institutionalised our entire lives, like lab animals… I say, we make this ours, what do you think they’ll do with us if we slip, we know too much…” whispered Erich with a certainty in his voice which sent a chill down Reiner’s neck, death wasn’t something he usually put much of a thought on.

“Make THIS ours? Why not just make way with it all… There’s some sort of compound to the West, they must have some form of transport there or even so, it’s the direction the GPS points.” There was a slight uncertainty about it, but they had no idea where they were, there best bet was to follow the trials course until it was safe.

The boys held back a while, quiet, their night vision now perfectly adjusted, their ears almost seem to twitch slightly as they caught the sounds amongst the whispers in the cold winds of the forest. The smell of fresh pine in their noses, their senses fully attuned with their surroundings, they were one with the shadows. In perfect synchronisation, as the wind picked up once again and began its shrilling whistling like a banshee’s cry, they slid out of the crevice and began a steady jog alongside the trail in the foliage. Walking over the foliage avoided footprints, they’re constant pacing and GPS calibration kept them on track, their training was paying off, they functioned as one. Every fifteen minutes they would take turns at their calibration points to climb a tree and confirm they were on the correct path and also look out for any threats hidden amongst the night.

Day two had come upon them, they hadn’t slept yet but they had made it to the outpost they spotted. It was a stone shack built on a raised platform about ten feet off the ground, a satellite sat on the snow covered roof, it was a radio signal point. The boys watched it from a distance, from a slightly lower point on the mountainside, angling themselves slowly to get a clear view from above it. Erich took a pause as he lead the way crouched down, he looked over his shoulder, where was Reiner, he adjusted himself and looked all round as he raised his arm to the hilt of his blade by his neck. In an instant his arm was locked in a figure four locked in from behind, a deep grunt was let out as he was hurled into a bush at his side, his mouth covered by a glove pressed against it. It was Reiner, Erich let out a breath on the glove of relief.

“You idiot! Unnecessary much?!” whispered Erich as he panted lightly for his breath.

“Perhaps, but you were drifting off, focus… We are shadows, it doesn’t mean we can’t be seen, however we can disappear as quickly as we appear. Side-tracking… You missed the man smoking a cigarette on the corner of the porch…” he smirked, Reiner lay off Erich and they both lay in a prone position under the bush looking at any movement in their peripheral vision. Erich opened his eyes wide and rubbed them with his hand clenched in a fist, ‘Focus!’ he told himself. Reiner signalled to the Rock on the towers side;

“Mine”, Reiner waved his arm in front of him at a forty- five degree angle and shot it upwards, he then pointed towards the underside of the porch, then with a thumbs up motion raised his arm, “Yours”.

It was settled, with a quick tap, instigated by Reiner, the two made their ascent to the small station. Reiner took the upper route and climbed onto the rock which stood a few yards from the satellite and with a ghostly leap, jumped onto the roof of the structure, landing like a feather, weightless. He leaned over the edge, the smoke from the cigarette rising by his face, his looked down. Erich had already crawled and snuck himself under the staircase, the man’s boots knocked snow through the holes onto his face. Erich placed his hands as Reiner before him, clasping them together in a cupping motion and whistling a hoot. *Hoot, Hooooot* The man stared down leaning over the banister his cigarette in hand, his woolly hat on, in a split second Reiner had come down on him like a falcon with a swift strike on the back of the head, it knocked him over the rail and he fell limp on the ground beneath, a ten foot drop was not to be taken lightly either. Erich dragged the man towards him and lay him behind a small protruding rock from beneath the radio hut and covered it with snow, he made his way up to meet Reiner who had already entered and scoured the station and was pacing back outside, he crouched before Erich picking up the cigarette dropped by the man and tossed a loaf of bread at him.

“Smells funky” he said as he put it closer to his nose to take a whiff, whoa… He took a drag from it and puffed out.

“Hey?! We don’t do that! What are you doing?!” exclaimed Erich as he swiped at Reiner’s hand.

Reiner swung back his arm pushing Erich’s arm clear at the elbow diverting him away and into the room with his momentum. “Screw them, this is some of that dry herbal stuff those farmers smoked outside the institute walls, occasionally you’d get a whiff remember? By the windows on those evenings?” Erich nodded, “Not bad…” there was a pause, the two stared at each other. “Listen, we can’t be far from another hotspot, people have to be within walking distance, this guys all alone at here, now I don’t feel right about this whole system, this wasn’t our choice… They ‘created’ us… I say we make for it…” Erich looked back at Reiner, a smirk appeared on his face mimicking Reiner’s, however it turned to a grin as he pulled Reiner into the station room with him and closed the door. “What’s going on Erich?!”.

“Listen, I was hoping you’d say those words, we can’t be too sure you know, who’s entirely loyal to the Emperor and will have you ‘gone’ for speaking against him, and those of us with… our own brains… Now, you remember when you came? The lump?” said Erich still holding Reiner by the chest.

“Mhm, I’m glad we’ve found… Trust, good for us… Hah! What about the lump?” Reiner mocked Erich’s newfound trust in him however he had no idea why he was being asked this question.

“Well, clever one… That lump, it’s a tracker… Now we’re gonna have to get that out” He looked Reiner dead in the eyes as he unsheathed his dagger, its glinting silver blade hissing as it revealed itself.

“Shit!” Reiner nodded and unlocked his armour, he then opened his jacket to reveal the scar which marked the spot, he pulled off his glove and stuffed it in his mouth.

Erich drew the blade closer to Reiner, he stabbed the tip at the top of the scar, and with a swift downward swipe the incision was made, Reiner gargled as he clenched his fists, the veins in his neck showing clearly. Erich dug the blade in about an inch and used his index finger to pop out a small chip in the shape of a pill. “Done my friend… Now it’s my turn”.

Sweating, placing a hand on his shoulder, stared down at the table, a small pill before him… Reiner spat on it and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. He unsheathed his blade and the procedure was repeated in the same manner as the first. “Bastards!” Erich moaned for a few seconds before motioning Reiner to go outside. They gathered some firewood and using the poor dead man’s lighter started a small fire which they began to heat their knives over until the steel was red hot, one to the other then sealed the scar shut with the burning blade as it seared the skin shut and then put their armour back on.