The Damned Thing (1740)

Part 1:
The sun was high in the sky and a group soldiers were huddled in a circle. The year was 1968 in Thanh Hoa, a little town by the coast in Vietnam. The bodies of 67 Vietnamese civilians were scattered throughout the town. Each murdered with gruesome medieval methods. The dry earth absorbed the blood of the innocent, and left a red coagulated layer on the surface once its thirst had been satisfied. The houses of straw burned quickly when they were introduced to fire the night before. The only thing left of them now was a pile of ash and hot coals. The wind whispered death across this forsaken land.
The soldiers belonged to 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry. Their mission had been to check the town of Thanh Hoa for weapon caches and Vietcong spies. Each soldier was equipped with an array of weapons. Six men carried standard M16 semiautomatic assault rifles, and two men carried the M2 Carbine. One carried C4 explosive and a radio. Each man carried 2-4 grenades, one smoke grenade, and a standard issue KA-BAR combat knife. This knife could also be attached to a soldier’s primary weapon and used as a bayonet. The Sergeant of the squad also carried a Russian Tokarev, a weapon passed down from his father.
A shirtless soldier sat in the middle of the circle with his knees pulled into his chest. He was covered in dried blood and weeping heavily. His machete lay motionless in the dirt next to him, also coated with a thick layer of blood. A young boy sat and starred at the ground just outside the circle. Only the child and the dead knew what truly happened there. What killed them was no mere mortal. The human only acted as its gateway or portal, into our world. A man named Herbert Walsh was this portal.

Part 2:
“Keep a close eye on Walsh. I still don’t know what’s going on here.” I said to Private Horvac, and he nodded in agreement.
Kao and I took the frightened child to the outskirts of the village. Once we got out of earshot from the rest of the group we began our questioning. Kao was Vietnamese and could speak the language fluently, acting as a translator.
“So what did you see?” Kao asked the question in the child’s native tongue.
The child responded, and Kao translated it into “I do not know what it was.”
“Was it the man sitting in the circle back there?”
“Yes… But not as he is now.”
“Tell me exactly what you saw?”
“I awoke last night to screaming. My father wasn’t in the hut with me so he must have ran out. I could see a fire in the center of the village. I peeked out the side of our hut and saw a crazy man with a machete. He was chasing down other people and killing them. He kept on laughing and screaming in a deep, demonic voice. I do not know what he was saying, and his voice cannot be imitated. It was not a human voice, it was deep and dark.” The young boy looked down and went silent. His gaze refocused and he continued. “He started burning down the huts once the village was quiet. When the people inside went to escape from the fire he would kill them. When he was chasing down two children I snuck out of my hut and went into the jungle. When the crazy man finished setting all the huts ablaze he started laughing. Then he passed out. I remained in the woods until you people found me.”
“You say the thing that spoke wasn’t human?”
“Yes, it was not a human voice”
I gave the young boy a candy bar, but he did not smile. He took it and ate with no emotion.
Kao gave me a skeptical look.
“Sarge, I think something is wrong here, Walsh wouldn’t just go kill a whole town of people. From what I have seen Walsh is a pussy. Do you think this whole demon thing could be true?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t.”
“Should we tell the others?”
“If he really did murder all those people, we have to tell them. Later on I have to get back to the HQ and tell them what happened”.
“Won’t Walsh get in deep shit?”
“That’s not up to me. If I don’t report this and they find out we will be just as accountable. Go get Walsh and bring him to me, and then tell them the kid’s story.”
“You got it Sarge,” Kao replied.
Kao escorted Walsh back to me. He walked slowly and took a seat once he reached me.
I kneeled down and said, “so what happened last night Walsh?”
“I don’t know sir”, he replied. He was avoiding eye contact as best as he could.
“The boy told me what he saw. He said it was like you were possessed.” Walsh looked over his shoulder uneasily. “You have to tell me what happened”.
“I would tell you if I knew sir. I remember going to sleep and waking up in the village. I don’t know where this blood came from or what I did last night.”
“Did anything unusual happen to you yesterday, anything at all?”
“Sir, I really hate this place. I hate the rain, I hate the bugs, and I hate the people. Before I went to sleep last night all I could think about was getting out of this shit hole. I can’t stay here anymore, we aren’t winning this fight. Everyday we have to go out and hunt an enemy we can’t see. They hide in tunnels and make this place a living hell for us. I prayed for a way out, not just to god but to anyone that could offer a way out. I need to get out of here sir, I can’t stand it any longer!”
He began to sob with his head in his hands. I gave him an extra shirt in my rucksack and handed it to him.
“I will try to help you, but I think your best bet is to claim insanity. According to the boy you murdered all those civilians last night. The boy said something took hold of you. When I go to HQ I will try to get you the best deal I possibly can.”
Walsh was now weeping. I brought him back to the others and they gave me an uneasy look as we approached.
“Set up camp here, I’m going back to HQ to explain what happened. Keep your eyes peeled.” As I turned and started the trek I could hear my comrades whispering. Although I couldn’t decipher the words I knew they were of disbelief and confusion.


Part 3:
Sergeant Derenov arrived at the HQ at 3:30 pm. The camp was heavily secure with three heavy machine guns, and an entire company of soldiers. A medical tent and command tent were in the middle of the camp surrounded by separate barrack tents. This is where the men came when they finished their missions and wanted a hot meal and a dry place to sleep.
The command tent reeked of cigarette and cigar smoke. A large board covered with a map was located in the center of the room. Colored tacks and metal pieces were placed on the map revealing U.S and Vietcong positions. One tack was marked on the town of Thanh Hoa. Sergeant Derenov saw his commanding officer on the other side of tent conversing with other officers. He made his way over and gave a customary salute.
“Colonel, may I speak to you in private?”
Colonel gave a grunt of acknowledgment. He walked him over to a part of the tent that was less crowded.
“How did the raid go, any weapons?” Colonel said to Sergeant Derenov.
“It’s not that sir, last night a private named Walsh set fire to the town and killed all of its inhabitants during the night.” The colonel’s jaw dropped a little, exposing the chewed portion of his cigar. “There was a witness… A young boy, he said that Walsh had been possessed by some type of demon during his rampage. I spoke to Walsh, and he doesn’t remember anything about that night. I think he is telling the truth, he isn’t the man to do this type of thing.”
The Colonel brought Sergeant Derenov outside and behind the tent. “Listen to me carefully. You must not tell anyone else what happened last night. If word gets out about this we will all be in deep shit. I will tell regiment you were ambushed in the town and you simply returned fire. Make sure the bodies get burned or buried. Leave no evidence. Do the others know what happened?”
“Yes.”
The Colonel shook his head and rubbed his eyes with is fingers. “Ok, tell them what I told you.”
“What should I do about Walsh? I think he really was possessed.”
“Dispose of him, burry him with the others.”
“Sir, I can’t kill one of my…”
The Colonel interrupted him and said “In times of war we have to do things we wouldn’t normally. It’s for everyone’s own good, now get the job done.”
Derenov gave the Colonel a customary salute and went back towards Thanh Hoa.

Part 4:
I jogged all the way back to the town, and managed to get back in one hour. The men were still huddled in a circle in the center of town. Kao saw me and ran over.
“Sarge something happened. Walsh managed to get his pistol… He killed himself.”
All of the others followed behind Kao. “Ok, that changes some things. The Colonel doesn’t want HQ to know about any of this. He told me to burn the village to the ground and burry all the bodies. He is telling regiment that we were ambushed, and engaged in a firefight. No one must ever talk about what happened here. Is that understood?”
All of the men nodded in agreement, and looked uneasily at one another. I looked past the group to the center of the town. I could see Walsh. Blood had ran down his temple and formed a pool in the dirt. Maybe he was crazy, I don’t know for sure. But something tells me a different force was at work during the massacre of Thanh Hoa.

The Omega Man vs. I am Legend

I think that The Omega Man had some aspects of I am Legend correct, but was mostly different than the book. First off, the bad guys in The Omega Man had to be the stupidest villains ever. According to I am Legend the people who didn’t end up dying of the bacilli ended up turning into something similar to a vampire, not crazy albino people. One thing I hated about The Omega Man was the guy who played Neville. He was way too old for the part. In I am Legend Neville is 36 years old, Neville in the movie looks like he is in his 50’s. Neville in The Omega Man was way more reckless than Neville in I am Legend. In the movie he wrecks two cars, and drives like a maniac. Sure Neville in the book had his moments but nothing compared to him in the movie. Way too many corny one liners in the movie, and he could barely pull them off. The one thing the movie pulled off was the house Neville stayed in. It looked like a solid fortress. Neville in both the book and the movie seemed smart and knew how to survive. A huge difference between the two would be how in the movie Neville found a whole group of survivors. In the book there was one girl, and she was a vampire so she doesn’t even count. A big difference between the movie and the book is Neville’s death scene. In the book Neville commits suicide before he is executed in front of the hybrid vampires. In the movie Mathias throws a javelin better than they can in the Olympics and hit Neville square in the chest. Neville is standing in a water fountain for some reason and doesn’t notice the javelin coming towards him from a mile away. Naturally he bleeds out in the fountain and manages to save the cure. Overall, The Omega Man and I am Legend had more differences than similarities.