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** CHAPTER 57** Lost in Nightmares Part II

What he witnessed burned his soul as if having hot knives driven through his chest. His brother was dead in front of him, lying in a pool of his own blood. This had to be a bad dream; a nightmare. This couldn't be happening to Evocanis again.

Evos were stronger now and they had the tools and training to defend themselves from any threat. If that was the promise that the Retcans gave them, then why was Fx dead before his eyes?

"Calm down Husky!" Anubis yelled at Husky, trying to make him come back to his senses.

Husky was limp, his eyes lost and drowned in tears. His soul was shattered into pieces.

"Husky!" Anubis kept on yelling at his friend. But Husky couldn't listen anymore. He was lost in his memories; memories of his life with his brother in Canis Major before all this chaos started. As he mentioned once, he didn't know life without Fx. Without Fx his life was over...

"Listen to me, Husky! Look!"

Something in Husky made him react for a second. Staring at the pool of blood, he had that close look that the shock of loosing his brother had denied him just seconds ago.

"It's just his armor, Husky!" Anubis desperately tried to confirm.

Indeed it was part of Fx's armor. But even that didn't guarantee that he was alive. Both Evos had very little reasons to feel relieved.

The amount of blood was considerable. It didn't seem like a lethal loss of blood, but if he was bleeding that much, it was almost certain that he would continue bleeding close to a deadly level. They had to find him fast.

Contemplating that piece of broken armor and realizing it wasn't Fx made Husky feel a fire inside him. It was a strange mix of hope and anger.

"He must be close." Husky stood up and looked all around him. But where to search was the question. There were so many places around them that Fx could be at. The ComPod was detecting that armor cuirass in front of them, so they soon realized that they would have to find Fx without any help.

Husky kneeled in the pool of blood and gently placed his fingers in it. He smelled, tasted the blood and closed his eyes.

"It is my brother..." He whispered. He once again stood up and looked around. Husky had a feeling of where to start the search, whether it was his senses or his hope driving him into the unknown. "Let's get moving, Anubis!"

Husky had never shown such determination. The young husky felt almost intimidating. His innocent eyes were different now; they were full of anger, sorrow or maybe it was his survival instinct taking hold of his body.

It was difficult to tell. Husky had never been in such a situation, so he never had a reason to act this way.

"I can sense him. We need to keep moving." Husky said. He upped his pace, but soon realized getting deeper into that ship could be seeking their demise.

Only led by the faint scent of Fx's blood, they soon had the feeling that they made it outside the hangar area. It was still a big area where they were, but it didn't look like a massively open space. Or so they thought...

The lighting in that ship was extremely poor. If it wasn't for the strange light that came from beneath them through what seemed to be drainages, they would be in total darkness. But that light didn't help to reveal as much as they need. Their sight was limited to just a few meters before them.

It felt as if they walked through a corridor, but they couldn't see any walls surrounding them. They only saw pillars and beams that had nothing but darkness beyond them. Bellow them, the drainages that emanated the little light they had, went on for at least another hundred meters.

"What was that?" Anubis whispered. The ship emitted a wail that sometimes grew in frequency and sometimes it dropped. Crunching and crackling sounds could be heard at the distance as well, producing a very disturbing and disorienting echo. But there was something else behind those fur raising lamentations that surrounded them.

"You're right; there it is again." Husky confirmed. "I heard it a few minutes ago, but I thought it was my imagination."

That sound was not part of whatever that ghastly wail or the crackling noises were. This was a constant metallic sound. It sounded like steps.

"On your guard!" Anubis' heart almost stopped when he saw something crossing their path not ten meters ahead. It was so fast that he couldn't make anything of it. It went from one of the walls of pure darkness to the other in less than a second.

This corridor felt like a tunnel, yes, but there was more around them that they couldn't see. Judging by the noise, the area surrounding them was very big, though they couldn't see much other than this path that was led by the light coming from beneath them. Standing in the middle of this path of light gave away their position and blinded them from whatever surrounded them within the darkness.

"They are all around us, Anubis." Husky said; his voice starting to tremble as those metallic steps were heard around them in short but constant intervals. They couldn't see anything, but they felt every fur strand on their bodies standing, telling them that there was danger around them like never before.

Both Evos were soon paralyzed. They fought against a fear that was eating them from the inside out and disabling their movements. Anubis unsheathed his large two-handed Lanthracit blade that he carried on his back. Husky readied his E.M.P gun in one hand and a short blade in the other. They were both back to back looking at all sides, waiting for the inevitable.

Husky had the integrated flashlight of his E.M.P gun activated, pointing at both of his flanks. The darkness ate his light like a beastly glutton.

"That's not helping, Husky." Anubis said "That will do nothing but give away our location."

"They already know we are here..." Husky replied. His sight was focused on where he heard these sounds the closest. It was very difficult to tell where it came from; certainly it came from around them, but pinpointing its location was next to impossible.

It was hard to tell what lied beyond the darkness on both of their flanks. Husky could see all sorts of black distorted figures. They could be beams, pillars or waste materials from the ship. But every now and then he thought of seeing a ghastly figure dashing from one hidden spot to another.

If these were machine assassins, they never acted that way. Something was hunting both Evos down.

"Husky, we have a probl...!" A very fearful Anubis advised, drowning in his own words. He turned his sight toward their rear as they slowly progressed forward, never separating their backs. Husky turned to Anubis to see what his friend was talking about. Horrified, he saw something approaching at great speed from behind. His heart again almost stopped and the adrenaline rushed in his veins, provoking a sense of fear like never before.

In the path behind that they just came from, a mass of darkness made its way rapidly towards them, eating the little light that came from those vents below them.

"They are turning the lights off!" Husky said. It was just darkness approaching, but fearful already of not knowing what was around them, that darkness was like a rampaging monster that came to swallow them alive. The little field of vision they had would now be gone and they would be left to the mercy of whatever was stalking them.

"Run, Husky!" Anubis yelled.

It was out of pure instinct. They ran as fast as they could towards the direction where they were originally heading to. The sensation of something following was now worst. That sense of whatever was after you getting faster by the second invaded their hearts and mind. They never looked back.

"Dead end, Husky!"

Cruel as their destiny was already proving to be, not a few meters before them a solid wall stood. Both Evos abruptly came to a stop, immediately turning to face the wave of darkness that approached them from behind. Their hearts were now up their throat and their bodies were invaded by an intense sense of despair as the darkness got closer and closer.

With their backs flat to the wall that had denied them their escape, they braced for whatever that darkness brought with it.

And light was no more...

In the darkness, the sounds of their weapons being drawn once again could be heard. A faint blue light came from Anubis' two-handed blade as it was activated, revealing the fear that had invaded the Great Dane's face. Husky drew his E.M.P gun and immediately activated the flashlight that it had. Their armors came equipped with lights in both their belts and their gauntlets, but they felt that the more light they had, the quicker they would give out their location. Of course, they knew that whatever followed them already knew where they were.

The eerie metallic steps suddenly were heard coming from all directions, getting closer to them by the second. How horrible it was to feel the need to point their flashlights towards wherever that noise came from, but at the same time not wanting to do so out of fear of facing that danger right in the eyes.

What did we get ourselves into? Husky thought for a second. He felt as that would be his end. But the memory of his brother immediately came back and gave him the strength he needed. No one knows if it was luck or what, but in their desperation, they devised something that looked like a door right next to them.

Fighting was not an option. Whatever was coming at them at full speed was either huge in size or in numbers. With almost zero visibility it would be a heavily handicapped fight against the two frightened Evos.

It was probably the adrenaline that gave them unnatural strength, but without even thinking it twice they both kicked the door as hard as they could and miraculously it opened. They ran inside hearing that clanging noise almost a few meters behind them. Once at the other side they closed the large door and managed to secure it with a primitive locking mechanism it had. If that door wouldn't have been hinged at its sides, making it easier to smash it open, they would probably not be alive.

Both Evos dropped on the ground panting of physical and mental exhaustion. The clanging at the other side wasn't heard anymore. For some reason, whatever was following them had stopped.

"Hus... Husky..." Anubis tried to speak, but his words were overwhelmed by the heavy breathing. Husky placed his hand-paw on Anubis leg, somewhat telling him that he was okay. He couldn't speak as well.

But not giving them even a second of rest, something brutally pounded on the door. Over and over again as it chilled both Evo's blood and took them to the limits.

"Enough!" Husky yelled. "Leave us alone!"

Anubis was so shocked he didn't know how to react. He just kept putting all his weight in that door, keeping whatever wanted to get in from doing so.

"Give me back my brother..." Husky uttered.

The pounding suddenly stopped. It was hard to tell if whatever followed them simply desisted, or it retreated to attack later on.

Two or maybe three minutes passed and both Evos still sat on the ground with their backs flat to the door. They finally managed to recover enough to think over what just happened.

"This is beyond us, Husky..." Anubis confessed. His voice was completely broken by fear.

"... I am not getting out of here without my brother..." Husky whispered back in a raspy serious tone. "I don't want to force you, Anubis. If you think on making it back to the ship and leaving, I will help you do so."

"Never, Husky! How could I abandon you and your brother?" Anubis responded a bit defensive. He felt guilt after putting his fear in first place for an instant. "As you just said, we are not getting out of this place without Fx."

"Fx..." Husky cried the name of his brother. "I'm intelligent enough to know he might've not made it..." Husky took long pauses between each sentence. The pain he felt inside was eating him alive once again. That situation was completely unreal, but he knew that however it would come to an end, if it did, there was a high chance that he would have to adapt to a life without Fx.

"Either way, I need to find him and bring him back to Canis Major. IT doesn't matter if he's alive or not. That's where he belongs." Husky continued painfully starting to accept the possible future. Accepting this outcome only drowned the young Evocanis in tears.

But despite the immense fear and sorrow, Husky was determined to find his brother. But where could they start looking for him? There was so much terrain they hadn't covered. They could easily been getting themselves even deeper into the ship when Fx was probably just a few meters from where they were originally. It was a frustrating realization.

"Those things are gone. Let's continue Anubis." Husky took the initiative and stood up. He dried his tears, took a deep breath and turned on the flashlight in his belt.

Anubis stood up and turned on his flashlight as well. The light on their belts was a broad light and illuminated all around them in a small but useful radius. With the help of the flashlight in their gauntlets, they could illuminate points of interest at a further distance.

With their strength gathered, they continue through an uncertain path. They had no idea if they were heading in the right direction and just trusted their instinct.

This area was different. The silence was very noticeable, telling them that it wasn't like that large open area where they had just been. They didn't know where they were going. They just had the feeling they should continue. Anything was better than staying in that massive area they had just been in.

"I can still feel my brother, Anubis." Husky said as he sniffed the air around.

"I don't know... I can feel the smell of blood, but very faint." Anubis also tried to sense his surroundings, but it was hard. The air was thin in that ship and it was contaminated with dust and other wastes. However, it was good that the determination of finding Fx was giving them the strength they needed to continue.

Everywhere they lit in that place was full of waste, eroded materials and ship pieces. It seemed they were there for many years. Below their paws they could hear the crackling of dust and other particles covering the floor. The light beam of their integrated flashlights was visible due to the heavy dust in the air.

"Stop." Husky whispered. He kneeled down and saw something that grabbed his attention. Anubis kept standing and looking all around. "Blood droplets. They are fresh." Husky still whispered since the place was muffled, telling them that they had gotten away from the large area they started from. "It's Fx, we got him!" Husky was somewhat relieved that he hadn't lost the trail.

"Where should we continue?" Anubis asked as he shined his flashlight all around.

"I don't know. Let's walk around and see if we can pick up his trail."

"It's strange how Fx made it through this place." Anubis remarked. "It's quite a coincidence that we ended up in the same path."

"Please, Anubis. Let's not think about it and just find Fx..." Husky replied slightly irritated.

They both carefully walked around the area that seemed like a working or living sector. There were many cubicles and small rooms around with all sorts of unidentifiable artifacts. Some looked like tools, others were completely incomprehensible.

"I don't understand. Why would the machines need all this?" Husky said as he leaned in something that looked like a table. There were strange utensils scattered on top of it. He sniffed around to feel Fx's trail.

"I don't know, Husky..." Anubis replied. He kicked something that was definitely a chair that had one wheel left in its base. "This is strange. Why would a machine need a chair and a desk?"

"This place is old. Nothing has been used here in ages." Husky replied. He had dug a device from the dust that saturated the floor as if it was ash. This device was completely eroded by time but some of its features were recognizable. It had a screen and some buttons that were still attached. "We should keep moving." Husky continued. He threw the device on the floor once he had briefly examined it.

The area being smaller with normal corridors made it easier to search around. Although getting around the debris was proving an assiduous task. They went around what seemed to be furniture and other large objects that fused with the grey dust. Sometimes they went through holes on the walls, creating shortcuts through the difficult terrain that these ruins were.

"This ship... Intelligent beings once lived here." Anubis whispered.

"What is it?" Husky asked when he missed what Anubis had said.

"Nothing... It's this place. Why do the machines have all this? This ship is probably not theirs." Anubis came to a logical conclusion. It was impossible to think that a ship like this would be build on purpose by a machine race. Going back to the Hive report, they remembered how the machines had fused various ships to form a fortress and those ships looked very different in appearance. Could it be possible that all this was taken from another race that had fallen victims of the machines? If that's so, then how many other races had been attacked by these monsters?

The corridor that they walked through soon closed in on them. A large barricade of debris was blocking their way.

"Are we sure of going this way? If there isn't a visible path then I don't think this is where Fx was taken." Anubis concluded.

He was never answered. A loud bang startled him all instead. Pointing his light to where the sound came, he saw Husky with his elbow buried completely in a wall next to them. Husky pulled it out and punched the wall again. The wall didn't seem to be made out of metal or any other unbreakable material, but it was certainly sturdy enough. To this point, there was a possibility that Husky didn't how strong he was since he was never placed in such situation.

Husky again pulled his elbow out of the new hole he had just made, took three steps backwards and with a swift front kick he blew part of the wall.

"This way..." Husky whispered seriously. He got in the hole into the next section.

Anubis didn't dare to question Husky at this point. There was no need to. They needed to focus on finding Fx and getting out of that place.

The room eventually led them to another area. This area they were in was interesting enough to make them notice it. Some large capsules that were still standing in the middle of the wreckage made them approach cautiously, but they were interested on knowing what happened in that place in the past.

Husky approached one of the capsules and gently wiped the dust from a plaque.

Apocálypsis Worker Unit Type-01 Prototype: Euro-American Union, August 21st, Year 52 after the Rebirth. Exper...

This could be read in the plaque below the capsule. There was more written but it was hard to tell since it was blurred and virtually illegible.

"9051..." Husky realized. It was a common language around the universe, although some of those words were not familiar.

Looking into the capsule, the dirt in the glass made it impossible to tell what was kept inside. Was this a lab of some sort? They weren't too sure about that. It was too small and there didn't seem to be more laboratory tools or machinery other than the large capsules.

"Let's keep on moving, Husky. I don't like this place." Anubis told his friend. Husky nodded and both continued their way through this strange place.

At a paused pace, it took them forever to cross that sector. The constant feeling that something might be approach them from behind was still present, but somehow it was diminished thanks to how silent the place was. If something was after them, they would hear it making its way through all the wreckage of those ruins.

"Wait, Anubis." Husky placed his hand-paw in Anubis' chest, making him stop abruptly. Husky then kneeled down, followed by his large friend. "Can you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"Hush!" Husky silenced his friend and both stayed quiet for a few seconds. Soon, what Husky thought he had heard was confirmed. It was close; that was for sure. That never desisting wail they heard in the opened area of the ship could be heard close by behind a large door.

They were close to an exit from that abandoned sector. Due to the sound, it was possible that they could be close to another large open area. There was no way they would make the decision to exit through that door and face the danger that they just faced minutes ago.

But to their horror, a strong sound as if objects were being thrown all over the place came from behind them. It was so frightening it made their heart burn by the sudden scare. That was not furniture and other objects falling from their place due to both Evos leaving them in an unstable position. The sound was frequent and getting close. Something had followed them through the darkness of those ruined corridors.

Both Evos ran to the door and looked for a way to open it. The door that wasn't even an option could now be their only salvation. Kicking it didn't do anything this time. This door was extremely sturdy and it was a double-slider type.

Looking desperately to both their sides they didn't find a possible route for escaping. They had to open that door and quickly.

"It's getting close!" Husky advised; his voice broken once again by fear.

This time, Anubis took the initiative and wielded his large blade, thrusting it in the gap where the two sliding doors met. The Lanthracit blade was made to cut through metal like a hot knife through butter as they had studied and experienced before when exploring that blue comet some months ago.

The metal glowed orange were the blade slit through it. Anubis didn't wait to go all the way down and hoped that it was enough so he could stick his hand-paws in the gap.

"It's getting closer, Anubis!" Husky yelled. He drew his E.M.P and pointed to the wrecked corridor they walked through before. His flashlight didn't reveal anything, but he could hear It getting closer.

"I'm trying!" Anubis yelled back. He tried to force open both sliding doors, but centuries of corrosion surpassed his strength.

Suddenly, Husky did see at the distance how some of the furniture fell down or it was pushed aside. But his shaking hand-paws didn't help him see what did it.

"I need some help!" Anubis yelled again.

With his eyes wide open, Husky stood frozen as he heard and finally saw that thing approaching.

"Husky!"

He finally came to his senses, he yielded his E.M.P and immediately turned back to where Anubis was. He stuck his hand-paws in the gap made by Anubis and forced the door open.

"One... Two... THREE!" Anubis led. With one powerful yank, both Evos were strong enough to slide the door open, which was followed by a teeth grinding screech. They opened the door enough for them to squeeze through the gap and get out of that place.

But it was not over. If they made it through, whatever followed them could also make it through. Husky panted heavily, walked backwards facing the door pointing his E.M.P to the pitch black gap where they just came from.

"Leave it, Husky. We have to run!" Anubis suggested, forcibly pulling Husky with him.

Both ran through large corridors. These were different. Similar to the area where they were initially, but thankfully this place was illuminated, though faintly.

They could feel safer in this area since there wasn't much that was hidden from their sight, but that thing was now after them.

"What was it?" Anubis asked while they ran.

"I don't know! But I saw it!" Husky responded stressed out to the max.

They were now lost. They had lost track of Fx's trail and they ran without any apparent objective. It wasn't long until they reached another dead end. This time a solid metallic wall at the end of a corridor had denied them continuing on their search.

Both Evos again were frustrated, fighting to regain their breath. They were not achieving anything by making their way inside this ship and they knew it.

"DARN IT!!" Husky yelled furious, punching the wall. The punch was so strong it left a ringing sound in the solid metal wall. How he didn't break his arm was beyond logic.

"We have to continue, Husky..." Anubis said, leaning on the wall trying to catch his breath. "We have no other option."

"Why did they do this to us?" Husky asked completely defeated.

"I don't know..."

"AHH!!!" Husky growled furiously, taking his E.M.P out and emptying a full magazine at the walls, floor and ceiling. A completely different nature was starting to be seen in Evos, unfortunately thanks to the machines.

"Calm down, Husky! We will make it out!" Anubis said what he could to help. But to that point he didn't even believe in his own words.

"We can go back and see if there is another way." Anubis suggested. "We are in the machine's territory, Husky. This is war and we will eventually have to fight." True words came from Anubis. Husky managed to catch his breath and clear his mind once again. He nodded at his friend.

It was futile to keep running. They were fighting for their life, for their race's freedom. They would tell the machines that they weren't afraid anymore; that this time they would fight back even if it meant loosing their lives.

A feeling of determination grew strong inside their hearts once again. As they turned back to continue their search, they were now face to face with what would prove if their resolve was strong enough.

Walls stood at both their sides and behind them. In front of them, the face of death stood staring right at their souls with its blank mask... It had found them.