Quantum Fold II – Panic - Chapter 4/8

Adrienne kept to the path, following the dusty boot tracks as if something unseen were tugging her forward. The pull toward the distant glow was subtle at first—tugging at her chest—then stronger, almost insistent. She told herself it was nerves, imagination, exhaustion. But the feeling didn’t fade.

 

She passed more structures scattered across the plain, each carved from the same pale stone as the temple where she’d first arrived. Their lines were familiar yet wrong—echoes of Egyptian, Incan, Babylonian—but blended into an architectural style no human culture had ever built.

 

The heat was relentless. The air scraped her throat with every breath. She stopped often, hands on her knees, waiting for her lungs to catch up. Sweat soaked her clothes She peeled off her plaid shirt and stuffed it into her pack. Her canteen was already half-empty, and the sun was still climbing.

 

The sounds of fighting grew louder—sharper cracks, deeper booms—but still far ahead.

 

What unsettled her more was the sense of eyes on her. The land was open, broken only by boulders and jagged outcroppings. She slipped into the shadow of one and waited, watching. Nothing moved. She picked up very faint thoughts, words she didn’t understand. The feeling persisted, prickling the back of her neck.

 

When she finally pushed on, she spotted dark shapes strewn across the ground. She approached slowly.

 

Giant insects—massive, armored, grotesque—lay twisted and broken in the dust. The same species she’d seen flying overhead earlier. Dozens of them. Their chitin was cracked open, ichor baked black by the sun. The hybrids had cut through them easily.

 

But then she saw the soldiers.

 

Or what was left of them.

Bodies torn open, limbs missing. Something had fed.

 

Movement flickered at the edge of her vision. She dropped behind a rock and dug out her binoculars. The shapes resolved into a tide of beetle-like creatures—hundreds, maybe more—racing across the plain toward the glow. A living current of chitin and legs.

 

A sound snapped behind her.

 

She spun.

 

Soldiers. All around her. Guns raised. Eyes hard.

 

They saw her at the same instant she saw them.

 

Instinct took over. She activated her VDD, willing it to jump—anywhere, any dimension, back to the temple, back home—

Nothing.

 

She tried again. And again. There was nowhere to run.

 

Panic surged.

 

“Hold it right there… don’t move,” one soldier barked.

 

Another narrowed his eyes. “What is a human doing here?”

 

“Take her,” a third said. “The captain will want to see this.”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can view Quantum Fold episodes in order from the beginning in the album titled, "Quantum Fold":

 

www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720326169...

 

You can view Quantum Fold II episodes in order from the beginning in the album titled, "Quantum Fold II":

 

www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720331313...

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

This is an A.I. image generated using my SL avi.

 

I hope my pictures make you smile ♥

 

If you like what you see, please toss me a fav and follow me. I love seeing your comments. They make my day and keep me motivated!

 

I love my followers. You guys totally ROCK! ♥♥

 

And if you're taking time to read this you are SO awesome!!! Thank you!!!! ♥♥♥

 

Done