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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
Life in the dark future is hard, and conflict is constant between the empowered and the power hungry.

The Mantis Variant - Book One - 26. Chapter 26 - Underground, Part Three

The survivors return to their home, as other Biological Shifts are saying their goodbyes to their dead.

 

Lahari, Agrell, and Ilya helped the group of freed prisoners limp down the stairs within the Messiah Tower. The other Biological Shifts who were part of the rescue party dealt with the Messiahs below, and they escorted their kin out the entrance and into the Teshon City streets.

Quite a few people were startled by the sight of them. To most of the abovelanders who were oblivious of the vast community that lived beneath their feet, the Biological Shifts appeared as monsters. Many citizens of the city knew nothing about their underground neighbors, and coming face to face with them was shocking. Some people screamed, others jeered and yelled hateful slurs, while still others simply fled in fear.

Eventually, the bloody and bruised group arrived at the mouth of the tunnel that led below, and the guards raced out to help their fellow inhabitants back into the underground.

"Everyone, get inside, quickly!" called out a man with skin that was striped like a tiger.

Agrell supported an escaped prisoner on either side. She held them close and helped them get down the stairs into the darkness. They seemed shocked that such a normal-looking girl so readily made physical contact with them, but they did not complain about the assistance.

Soon the group reached the first main chamber, and they all entered. A number of other Biological Shifts came rushing in with bandages, ointments, and potions for the injured. Broken bones were set, and a few gashes received stitches.

Several of the inhabitants were very surprised to see the two abovelanders.

The unique Biological Shift with the appearance of a plant lost consciousness again and slumped to the floor.

One of the men who was giving medical attention to the injured called out, "Someone, give me a hand getting him up onto the table."

"I can do it!" skinny little Agrell offered.

"I need someone probably a little stronger than," but the man interrupted himself. "You're a Messiah?!" he screamed, as Agrell scooped up what looked like a massive tree trunk, as if it were light as a feather.

Lahari launched herself in front of Agrell and positioned herself between her and everyone else.

"No, she's fucking not!" Lahari roared. She then enunciated very clearly for all gathered to hear, "Agrell is not a Messiah. She is one of us," she said definitively. "Even though she doesn't look like it," and Lahari turned her gaze around the room to each of her fellow Biological Shifts, "she is one of us, and she is not a fucking Messiah."

"Keep her away from me," someone said under their breath.

"She's not one of us," another argued in a whisper.

Lahari’s black spines flexed and extended.

"I'm just here to help," Agrell pleaded.

Lahari told Agrell, "You keep right on helping."

There was more quiet grumbling from some of the others, but they focused on caring for the injured until they were patched up and bandaged.

"Let's get further below," one of them urged, and everyone begin heading deeper into the underground.

Many below now viewed Agrell as a cannibal, and they shot her disgusted or fearful looks. They flashed her hateful expressions and she heard things mumbled under their breath that she knew were about her. More than once, she dropped her head in shame about the things she went through, but Agrell tried to focus on the people she was helping.

At the next massive underground chamber, one of the Biological Shifts within told everyone that there was a ceremony for the dead, and they should make their way to the well of fire. The group eventually arrived, and the ceremony was already in progress. Bodies that were wrapped in white sheets, and an old woman whose skin was covered in thick hair was speaking over the corpses. Giant curling horns grew from the sides of her head.

"We send our friends, families, and loves to the fire."

The giantess dropped one corpse and then another into the well. She lifted the next body from the floor, and enormous tears began to stream down her cheeks.

From the well’s opening, a continuous stream of smoke rose that disappeared up the chimney. Then a strange noise began to issue from above everyone's heads. The sound quickly grew into a shrill metallic scream, and they all looked up. Then something shot out of the opening in the ceiling

What came out of the chimney opening?
Copyright © 2022 Adam Andrews Johnson; All Rights Reserved.
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This is my first book, so I thank you from the bottom of my being for taking the time to read it! Please, keep reading and leave feedback :-)
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Something which hasn't been raised before is how the Messiahs knew about the Underground and that the Bio-Shifts were living there. They seem to know a great deal more than they should. The obvious first thought about this object is that it is another attack, a counter counter attack.

Poor Agrell. In any other civilized place she would be getting therapy for the trauma she experienced. Here she is trying to redeem herself by her deeds.

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The fighting with the Messiahs continues, but the wounded shifts from the top of the tower are evacuated to the underground. Agrell and Lahari help. The shifts become suspicious and concerned about Agrell since she is a messiah. Lahari defends her. Agrell feels guilty.

 

They attended a burial ceremony where dead shifts are thrown into the fires. But they hear a scream--Is someone crying out for the dead? Was someone who is not dead thrown into the fires and escaped in pain?

I hope the remaining messiahs are being killed in the tower.

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What fresh hell is coming for this poor group thru the ceiling???  I am sure the Messiah will not just take a loss laying down; but can this group not even just bury their dead without being tormented again?

Agrell has to know that until those she are trying to help can get to know her; they are going to see what she did as evil, even though she was forced through the process.  You would think a group that faced discrimination would not discriminate; but I have found that is rarely the case.

Let's hope the the groups of those that want harmony between the bio-shifts and the humans can win the fight for acceptance of their fellows.

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To me, while the triumph over the Messiah's at the tower is long overdue, I suspect whatever is coming out of the chimney may be deadly...With her strength will Agrell find a way to counter it?

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6 minutes ago, drsawzall said:

To me, while the triumph over the Messiah's at the tower is long overdue, I suspect whatever is coming out of the chimney may be deadly...With her strength will Agrell find a way to counter it?

I hope they killed enough of them, but I fear they did not. There were not many in the raid. You would imagine with a tower in a large city there would at least be hundreds of them. I fear this will end up in a back and forth escalating retaliation.

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