Gripping my pipe tightly, I swing it over my shoulders
Smash!
Its head splits over, spilling blood onto the floor. Dazed and stumbling, I step in again and swing my arm. I feel its skull crack as it falls to the ground.
"Hm, looks like these things are finally starting to show up."
Turning my head I see Aiden bashing another one of those things head's in with his gun.
"Yeah… this is like, the 3rd one."
Look at us becoming naturals at this. Seems like he's adapting pretty quickly too. Hm doesn't seem like these things have anything useful on them.
I walk over to the creature that's still moving. I raise my foot over its neck, and then
Crack
Its movements come to a halt. Aiden walks up from behind me after wiping the blood from his gun.
"We have to be getting closer to the exit."
"Yeah, I think so too. No guarantee, but I feel like we should be."
Aiden follows behind me as we continue walking forward. We're probably a long way from the elevator by now. Only real difference are these things, finally starting to see them now. I wonder if that means we're getting closer. They could be stragglers from the next floor, if they can move between floors. I've never actually seen one on the staircases, or a body. Not even traces of one. Could the staircases be another place that's "safe?"
It could be, but is it worth the risk to test. Maybe.
"Hungry… hungry."
I hear Aiden whisper under his breath.
"Hm?"
"Once we run out of food do you think these will be safe to eat?"
"Um…"
I hadn't thought about that before, probably because we still have a good amount of food left. But we are going to run out of food eventually. This isn't going to be a short trip. They're the only source of meat. Either that or… other humans. The thought of that makes me sick, but I feel like we're going to have to do that at some point. Maybe by some miracle we can avoid that but I'm not seeing that as a likely possibility.
"We better hope."
Click…
Click…
Click…
Slowly Aiden turns the barrel of the revolver, smiling slightly.
"What ya thinking about?"
"23, I've been conserving ammo, should have around 23 more bullets."
I think I've been around him long enough to notice abnormalities, at least some times… there's a certain look in his eyes.
"23, 23 more, 23 heads to burst…"
Followed by changes of pitch in his voice, and whispers under his breath
"can't waste bullets. I kill them… my hands, I'll crush them with my hands… I'll-"
Subtle grinning and shaking. I slow down to get beside him and grasp his shoulder firmly, giving him a little push at the same time.
"Hey!"
"Huh?"
"Keep your head in the game."
His eyes and his facial expression shift quickly, and he realizes what was happening.
"Yeah, sorry."
"Don't sorry it's alright. Just stay strong."
"Right."
I wonder if the symptoms are the same for everyone. I doubt that though, insanity affects everyone differently so I should expect that for other people as well.
The sound of unnatural noises pull me from my thoughts. Footsteps, uncanny grunts and screeches. Seems to be a few meters ahead of us.
Before long I see them coming in sight, only two this time. They notice us shortly after I do
"You get one, I'll get the other."
"Right!"
I take my knife from my pocket and dash forward. It pulls its arm back in preparation for an attack, I speed up even faster and move in before it even has a chance to swing its arm. I stop suddenly, planting my foot firmly on the ground.
Bam
I land a powerful kick to its torso, sending it flying back. They're separated now, which was my intention. I hear Aiden's footsteps behind me along with sound heavy blows and the screeching of that thing. Now it's time to focus on my own.
Alright, come on then. I grip my knife while running forward. A quick swipe is made towards me, I dodge effortlessly and slash across its stomach. I step in closer, slicing across its chest.
"Graghhh!"
It swings it's claws once again but it's still easy to dodge. Only this time it's not letting up. One more swing, another swipe, another. It prepares one more, but before it can attack I slam my leg into the thing's, knocking it off balance. It stumbles, almost falling, taking advantage of this I grip my knife and step forward. I plunge the blade into the creature's torso.
Hehe, it's almost how easy these things are becoming to kill. It's writhing in pain, attempting to stop blood from rushing out. It's wounds are deep but not fatal. I wonder just how deep the "emotion" these things might have run. The way it's glaring at me. It looks full of hatred.
It lunges at me this time, baring its teeth to bite me, I can see where it's aiming. I move to the right out of its line of attack. In a quick motion, I grab it by it's head and I pull it back, exposing its neck. I swing my blade, slashing through its throat, spilling blood over the cavern floor.
Unconsciously he begins to smile watching the blood flow from the creature's neck, cutting out everything except for this moment. His breathing begins to quicken and his hands begin to shake.
Calm down… calm down, I'm okay. I'm okay. It's not that bad. I take a deep breath, in and out. Little by little my nerves begin to cool. I'm okay…
I drop the body, watching it fall to the ground.
Sigh
It was easier to bring myself back from that at least. I look over-
"NONE WATCH OUT!"
I turn to see another one of those things inches away from me. It's already lunging towards me, I don't have time to dodge…
A hole opens up in its head…soon after it falls to the ground.
Huh? I watch as the blood flows from the wound. I turn to see Aiden aiming his gun in my direction.
"Did you shoot it?"
"Yeah obviously. Are you that surprised I didn't miss?"
"There was no sound… coming from the gun."
"What are you talking about?"
"Hand it to me."
"Okay?"
I take the gun and hold it into the air
Bang
The gunshot rings in my eardrums.
"Yeah, I still heard it man."
"Huh, maybe I was just too focused to realize or something. Wait no, I was over there. I know I would've heard that."
I walk back to the previous spot and hold the gun into the air once again.
Bang
Once again the sound of the gun rattles my eardrums.
"What the hell? You were right. That was completely silent."
I look down at the revolver in my hand. I turn it side to side, up and down. I examine every inch of it. It looks just like a normal revolver.
Then my eyes catch more of something. On the handle its like an engraving.
"Hey Aiden, come look at this."
He's soon by my side, staring at the same marks that I'm looking at. No it's not just that. It looks like the language of the gods.
"The power of the words. It's infused into the gun."
"I didn't think you could use them like that."
"Neither did I."
A new discovery. Pretty amusing, I wonder how this was done. Could we do this at some point too? Maybe that could be another experiment.
"Well that's useful to know. Now we know this won't draw any of them in."
"Now the only thing I really have to worry about is bullets."
"And aim."
"As you can tell I'm getting better at that."
"Heh, yeah. You're turning into a pretty go-"
Behind Aiden I can see the silhouette of a beast far more fearsome than I've ever seen…
I didn't have much chance to think, or to properly analyze what I was looking at…
Before it lunged. Its fist held high in the air. I pull Aiden away and sprint as fast as I can before its arm comes crashing down.
"SHIT!"
The ground caves in the area where we were standing. The vibrations of the attack rattle the cavern walls. Fragments of rocks and stalactites fall from the ceiling, crashing down all around us. Shit shit shit, I narrowly evade the falling rubble running as fast as I can.
RAGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!
The fierce cry almost breaks my eardrums. I don't wanna turn around. I can only hope that the rubble slows that thing down.