The Toronto Affair
r. James Chapman stepped off the helicopter as the last of the Marines had secured the area. Before them was the city of Toronto, which had been out of contact with the rest of the world for three days. Two days ago a scout had disappeared inside the city, and now Chapman and the Marines were being sent in. Chapman's job was to act as a field medic of sorts, and to write a report on the going's on in the city when they got out.
"If we get out." Chapman thought to himself. Chapman heard the sharp call of the Marine commander, Captain Grecko.
"What's wrong?" Chapman asked.
"Probably nothing, but we should be prepared so I'm giving you this." Grecko handed him a machine pistol with a belt holster. Chapman took it, knowing full well that doctors weren't really supposed to be armed, but he also knew that something was going on in that city, and it would be best to be prepared, as Grecko said. Then Captain Grecko whispered to the two closest Marines: "All right, Jensen, Morgan, into the city. Careful! MacNeil, cover them with your gatling gun. The rest will follow when you're through that fence."
Jensen and Morgan followed their orders to the teeth, moving quickly through the thick underbrush to the fence. Then Jensen pulled some wire cutters from her belt and ripped the fence open with them. The two of them moved forward through the fence, keeping their weapons pointed towards the interior. All the while MacNeil kept his weapon pointed at their sides, ready to send off a burst of covering fire. Grecko waved MacNeil through the fence then, once it was clear that they were meeting no resistance, he ordered the rest of them through. The Marines trotted down the main road, Chapman doing his best to keep up with them. They picked one of the nearby buildings at random, it seemed to Chapman. Chapman heard a sound, a door opening. The Marines had been so quiet running down the road that the sound of the door opening had startled Chapman greatly. The Marines seemed unaffected. As Chapman entered the building he heard another sound like water spilling and splashing. Capt. Grecko waved them towards the room the sound appeared to be coming from. Jensen opened the door and a look of disgust swept over her face. Chapman moved forwards to the door and felt his lunch crawl up into his throat. In the room were three totally naked, totally skinless bodies hanging from the roof, suspended by some unknown material. They all moved into the room, one at a time, and Chapman saw the source of the splashing sound. The bodies were hanging over a tub, and their blood had filled the tub to overflowing, causing the splashing sound. Suddenly there was a scream. Chapman turned and saw that Morgan had been pulled down by something.
he Marines just stood there, still recovering from the shock of the hanging, skinless bodies. Chapman pulled his pistol and fired at the creature, hitting it in the side, causing it to leap
at him. But Jensen, MacNeil and two others caught it in the air, their shots hitting it again and again. The beast went down, and since Chapman was the doctor, he moved to Morgan's side. But it was too late. The thing had ripped out Morgan's throat, and he was already dead when Chapman got there.
"He's dead." Chapman said. Capt. Grecko merely seemed to shrug and said:
"Jensen, Hawks, get him into a body bag, then dispose of this thing." he indicated the dead Morgan and the dead creature. When the jobs were done Chapman asked Grecko:
"What about them?" was the question, motioning to the hanging bodies. With a nod from Grecko, Hawks climbed a pipe on the wall and cut them down. Jensen quickly bagged them. There was a metallic crash as the door slammed opened and a very large version the dead creature stormed through the door.
"Holy S--t! Chapman heard MacNeil yell. Everyone in the room turned their firepower against the beast. One man even had a rocket launcher type weapon, but it's heavy missiles didn't even dent the thing's thick, scaly hide. Chapman turned and ran, and he heard Capt. Grecko's loud yell of `Fall back! Fall back now!' and then he heard the sound of rapid running as the Marines ran after him. Then they exited they room through another door. The sound of a door slamming rang in Chapman's ears as Grecko shut the door then assisted Jensen in barricading it securely. MacNeil slid down the side of the wall, chuckling softly to himself. In the center of the room was a large hole. Jensen, Grecko and Chapman moved to the side of it.
"That's one big hole." Jensen stated.
"Could this be how they got into the city, through underground tunnels?" Chapman wondered out loud. There was no time for either one to answer. MacNeil had risen from his spot on the wall and was moving towards them, a crazed look on his face. MacNeil was still chuckling, but louder now.
"We have to get out of here. We have to! Wehaveto! Wehaveto! Wehaveto! Wehaveto!" Chapman could tell from looking at him that he had snapped. And he couldn't blame him either, with all that had happened today, the doctor was surprised that he himself was still sane.
Grecko approached MacNeil, about to say something. But he was cut off as MacNeil fired his gatling gun, his hysterical laughter ringing louder than the kick of the weapon. Luckily for Grecko, MacNeil's aim was off, so the shot only hit him in the arm. The kick of Jensen's weapon filled the air as she filled MacNeil full of lead and he hit the floor. All was silent, bar the sound of Jensen's shells hitting the floor. Since MacNeil was clearly dead Chapman moved to Grecko. The sound of the creature banging on the door informed them that they didn't have much time to get out.
'm fine Doc," Grecko said, "Just get on the horn and get us an airlift out of here." Chapman grabbed the radio from Grecko and called the chopper back. Two minutes later the last of the bodies and the last of the Marines and equipment was loaded onto the helicopter. Five seconds after they got into the air, the creature had busted the door down.
The next day an assault squad with Tank and aircraft support entered the the city and wiped out all the creatures. Number of confirmed kills: 793 954 unidentified creatures. To this day nobody knows what they were.
Back to the archive 
Return to.... SSC
