Feast

The girl silently stared at the huge underground expanse she had discovered, her hand almost dropping the phone she was holding.

Dozens of openings constellated the limestone walls of the cave while huge stalactites hung from the ceiling like Damocles’ swords, ready to punish her for any mistake. Exiting from the passageway, the young woman had stepped onto an elevated platform, connected to the bottom of the cave by a multitude of slick and treacherous step-like ledges.

At the bottom, many meters down, she could see a number of small water pools, each fed by innumerable small springs that seemed to flow from the rock itself and were connected, one to the other, by a slow and snaking brook that had carved its way through the limestone, before disappearing in the largest of the many openings that made the walls look like Emmenthal cheese.

However long she kept looking, there didn’t seem to be an evident way out.

Calm down, calmdown, calmdowncalmdowncalmdown. It could be worse. You can do it; you just need a plan.

She gently slapped herself on the cheeks, her breathing slowing down and steadying once again.

First, I check for threats, then I’ll see if there is a way to go down there without breaking my neck. Also, I need to explore the second cave back there. And mark my way. I cannot lose the sense of direction.

91%. With the torch still on, she looked around the platform, finally finding a couple loose rocks on the ground. Always ready to bolt, she tossed one of them at the bottom of the cave. The thrown rock bounced all the way down, every small impact echoing in an almost musical way in the enclosed space of the cavern.

As soon as the sound started propagating, she saw a small shape dropping from the shadows of the ceiling. Gliding swiftly in the air on what seemed to be two sets of wings, it landed on top of the rock, soon followed by an entire cloud of the creatures, each trying to get to the noise until they formed a writhing heap on the ground.

While swarming, the creatures started a cacophony of high-pitched screeches, which echoed and warped in the large cave, causing her to feel nauseous and a bit disorientated.

The cries also seemed to stir more of the inhabitants of the cavern because under her horrified eyes, she saw cat-sized millipedes scurry out of their burrows on their many spindly legs, snatching some of the grounded screechers with their powerful serrated mandibles before disappearing once again in their nests.

A couple meters to the left, a chrome beetle as large as a labrador raised its armored abdomen; in a second, a clear liquid was ejected from a nozzle on the tip, spraying a group of the winged animals, which, in a couple of seconds, were turned into nothing more than a puddle on the rapidly corroding ground. The insect then calmly approached the bubbling puddle, extending its straw-like mouth and starting to sip from it with gusto.

The bat-like creatures soon realized their rapidly worsening situation, scurrying off on the ground and using the small talon on each wing to start climbing on the walls of the cave, trying to get to the ceiling once again.

Every now and again, they came in contact with some sort of larvae, which immediately started glowing and discharging what seemed to be electric charges around their bodies.

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From a couple of the pools, large crawfish emerged to participate in the feast, their powerful claws snapping in challenge at any monster coming too close and slicing through the chitin and bone of those too stupid or brave to heed their warning.

Horrified spectator to the feast was Alice Desare, 22 years old from Milan, Italy, scared shitless and definitely not on Earth anymore.

83%. She turned and ran, back through the corridor, into the cave and then once again through the small passage, rushing to her hideout and only then allowing herself to collapse in a heap of shivering limbs.

She didn’t care about the noise, or being eaten, she didn’t even know if she would survive drinking the damn water, the monsters where simply the cherry on top.

She closed her eyes and cried.

After a while she stopped. Her hazel eyes were puffy, and her feet were bloodied from running on the sharp rocks of that godforsaken place.

She was fucking done.

I’m gonna get out of here. I don’t care if I have to eat that damn glowing lizard to do it.

And then I’ll find the one who put me here and make them eat every single one of those things.

She finally turned off the torchlight, chastising herself for her carelessness with the battery life.

First of all, I’ve got to do something about the walking situation. I need to keep moving but I can’t risk hurting myself.

It took her a bit of thinking, but after a while she ripped her pajama pants to the thighs, searched for a sharp stalagmite and, upon finding it, started ripping the cloth, soon producing some very ugly foot wraps.

Could have thought about them earlier, but I cannot cry over spilt milk, can I?

Now, I’ll need an early warning system for the cav… for my base, it won’t do to have giant salamanders barging in without me knowing.

Alice approached one of the stalagmites and, with a bit of swearing and slipping, snapped it off. She carried the heavy cylinder of stone to the only way out, planting it like a parking pole.

The sounds of swearing and breaking stones resonated through the empty rooms for a long time, agitating the bats in the main cave, their annoyed screeches only adding to the echoing noises. Alice kept working, sweating her dwindling water reserves and preparing for the long haul.

It took her quite a bit of effort but, in the end, the entire opening was protected by movable pillars of stone. Interspersed between them, she placed thinner and sharper stalactites, hoping for them to work like pikes, impaling anything coming too fast through the orifice.

When she felt comfortable with the new level of defense, Alice sat down on one of the stumps left from her toiling and collected her breath.

That was hard, and loud, but it was also necessary. I’ll need to move them every time I go out, and put them back up again when coming in, but hopefully it will be worth it.

Next up is finding an untainted source of water, it’s becoming more and more important.

Damn glowing pool.

A droplet from the ceiling splashed on her head, dampening even more her short brown hair.

I refuse to die of thirst in a place where it rains ins… it rains inside!

I’m an idiot.

I need a bowl or to use my clothes as sponges to drink from them, and I think I’ll try to do both.

She hurried to remove her t-shirt and placed It on one of the stumps.

After that, she raised her club and started using its wider side to hammer the center of her previous seat. After the first dozen hits, the stone started chipping, forming a shallow bowl in the soft calcite, as soon as that happened, Alice placed the entire weight of her upper torso on the club and started moving around it.

The sound of scraping stone soon filled the cave. The stone on both ends crushed and turned to powder, powder which further helped the hollowing process, creating a vicious circle of grinding and being ground.

When the pressure of hard stone started being too painful for her sternum and hands, the girl stopped walking and inspected with her hand her now smooth and rounded club.

Aha! Now me bonk good!

Jokes aside, it actually worked!

Looking at her seat, Alice removed the ground stone and marveled at what felt like a round bowl with a diameter of almost five centimeters and maybe a centimeter deep in the center.

I will keep working on it, and if I’m lucky, it will fill up while I do other things. She thought with a smile.

She then retrieved her now quite damp shirt and started suckling on it, feeling moisture dribbling into her parched mouth and down her throat.

She was still thirsty but knowing she might not die from it was an incredible relief. A short one, as a rumble in her stomach reminded her of the many meals she had missed.

One step at a time Alice, I have a plan for emergency food rations, but I’d rather find some living sashimi before thinking about those.

She finally sat down on the ground and started planning her future.