ARChIVE: BloodRise

"To positions, everybody! Portal dilation in 5 minutes!" The intercom blared out instructions as people scurried around and the ARCHIVE powered up.

The Archive was a pinnacle of human achievement, and in this day of fallout, radiation, and cold, it allowed humans to see back into the computer programs that Mankind had created before the Great War and subsequent rain of nuclear weapons. It was a massive hypercomputer connected to a digitization array portal, and the technicians loaded the program, and sent things through, to see what it was like inside. Most of the programs were video games, as they had a coherent world to investigate.

Today, however, they were sending in humans. The program being investigated was something called Minecraft. It worked in such a way that if the technicians were to intervene in any way, the explorers would be lost.

"Alright boys! Look alive! You have agreed to go where no man nor woman has gone before! Into a computer program!" The sarge told the soldiers who were to escort the scientists in. Then the soldiers gathered weapons, and as the fell into lines near the Digitization Portal, the scientists came in, along with someone who had experience with the program from "playing" it. "Portal dilation in three... two... one...! The swirling energy expanded into sight and eventually filled the confines of the array. And the investigation team walked in.

The blocky world surrounding them was in stark contrast to the open areas of their Base Reality. It was filled with. . . green things and growing life. All pixelated, of course, but still, it was amazing. "Hey, what's that... brightly glowing yellow thing up there? Some sort of giant lamp?" "No, it's called Sol, the sun." "Whooaaa..." Then they heard a rustling. The soldiers raised their guns. but it was just a Pig. They did not know this, and tried to shoot it. The bullet passed through and stuck in the dirt. The humans started screaming in terror until they realized it was harmless. "We'll have to take one back through the portal." "Hey! is that a cave?" "Investigate!" The team hunkered down in the cave, but then the Sun started to dip below the horizon, and a Zombie spawned on the hill. Then, more mobs.

A pack of Zombies had spawned next to one of the soldiers in the cave, and pounced on him, and began ripping, tearing, biting. Blood splattered, and the others screamed as the unfortunate soldier screamed for help. They ran, tried to run back to the portal. The soldiers who got lost managed to survive the night. They were the lucky ones. The rest ran, but were shot by arrows, or the Zombies got to them. Screams, blood, gore all around. The smell of terror and pain was heavy in the air, as the last three people near the portal slipped and slid in the red ooze.

Then, a creature walked out of the shadows, completely silent. It was green, and speckled with lighter shades of green fading into a very light gray. It had no arms, and four stubby legs. It walked towards the three humans, it's face contorted into a sick upside-down grin, and eye sockets that seemed empty. The man who had played the game before knew that this was a Creeper, and ran to the portal. A second Creeper walked out of the shadows. The first detonated itself right next to the two soldiers. The second chased the man who played Minecraft. He had just reached the portal when it cought up to him, and the zombies grabbed his feet. He was halfway through the portal, and people standing near the portal rushed over and tried to help the man, but it was like tug of war, and the man screamed as his torso began detaching from his legs. Then, the creeper detonated, sending a shockwave through the man, and spilling his entrails on the floor. "CLOSE THE PORTAL!!!" "But there are still people in there!" "CLOSE IT!!!!" "Alright!!" However, the mechanism for closing the portal broke, and "I can't! it's malfunctioning!!!" The technicians who were helping the man screamed in terror and ran as fast as they could, but they could not stop the torrent of mobs seeking blood from pouring out into Base Reality.

(To Be Continued!)