I’ve got to get away, just keep running, don’t look back. There’s nothing back there but evil. Survive like always.
WARNING!
You have entered the Lost Zone. Your map has been disabled, and your chances for survival have greatly decreased. Many players have perished at the hand of unspeakable creatures in these woods. Proceed with caution!
She didn’t stop to see what happened behind, instead choosing to run off into the forests like a chicken with its head cut off, her only purpose being to escape the predatory monster on the hunt. The Leviathan was as formidable a monster as she had ever encountered, and she had no intention of letting it have her soul. It didn’t matter what powers it promised her.
But she couldn’t help but wonder. Would those powers have given her an advantage? She had not liked the way Blondie had taken away her spoils. The woman wasn’t even an official guild leader! She had assumed the role for herself when their old one went missing, whoever he was. Supposedly due to a technical problem or girlfriend problem – whichever – but she couldn’t help but wonder if Blondie had something to do with it. She couldn’t bring herself to trust a bully like her.
Brittany was also really upset over losing all of her weapons and being left with nothing despite all that hard work she had done to level up. The game’s glitch, or RL like the guy back there theorized, was proving to be a pain in the butt, something she wished would be rectified soon enough. At least she hoped that the glitch where none of the players could log out could be sorted. She had been here for a little more than twenty-four hours now, and she was beginning to feel tired and pissed. But she couldn’t afford to stop right now.
No way!
The Leviathan was probably trailing her.
There was no choice other than to run at whatever speed her legs could muster. Run forward, dashing between the trees, deep into the Lost Zone, which everyone knew to be forbidden.
Likely as ever, she was trapped between a hammer and an anvil. Whatever monsters she might face she deemed to be a lesser evil than the dark broth of fume and smoke that made up the far more dangerous Leviathan creature. She had little inkling of what direction she was running. She was wading deep inside the forests, the thick trees trying their best to hem her in.
Not afraid of the darkness, she continued on, ever so aware of the many eyes that sprouted around her. A queasy feeling consumed her. The monsters had registered her presence, yet she dared not return the way she came. The Leviathan scared her even more than the Lost Zone and every horror that swathe of trees might contain. The canopies grew thicker above, the ground hard with roots teeming below. She even tripped over a couple of them, her lips moving in a curse every time.
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Brittany kept running, running towards the danger she felt was lurking behind every tree her body brushed up against, but she didn’t care. In her mind, fear had gripped her cortex so tightly that her lungs threatened to run away with her mind, leaving her without air and without thought.
Get yourself together, Brittany!
But the fear made her run even farther, waves of dread crashing against every bone. Her entire body ached as a result, weary already by the sprint. Part of her wanted to rest under the boughs of the dark trees and gather her strength, but knew it could be detrimental if she stopped.
She wondered what had happened to Brad and Blondie. Had they managed to survive? Did they escape? Had they drawn the Leviathan in pursuit? Or had that fuming monster singled her out, thinking she was easy prey?
Just yesterday she had been a player with an impressive skillset. Known as The Iron Vixen, she had gained a reputation as a warrior to be respected and feared.
A game reset, and here she landed deep inside one of the many Lost Zone forests where she would never have returned to – not after she barely made it out alive from the Basilisk attack last time. Here she was again, helpless and with little weapons – not to mention the fact that her skill levels had all gone haywire. Although she lost her Class as a Warrior, with the fear currently coursing through her veins and the terror that clutched her heart she didn’t feel that she deserve to be called one now anyway.
But then an old adage came to her mind: even the bravest of warriors can feel an ounce of fear because it is that fear which keeps you alive. Fear meant the yearning for survival, and that meant doing whatever needed to be done to stay alive.
Brittany tripped on one of the protruding roots and collapsed hard onto the ground, the loose .308 caliber round that she had been clutching in her fist fell somewhere into the thick canopy of undergrowth.
[-10 Damage]
She dug around frantically for the stray bullet, being very much aware that every last round counted considering that aside from the hunting knife, this rifle was her only remaining gun with available ammunition. She also still had the Saiga slung on her back, holding on to the hope that she might find a cache of 12-gauge shells somewhere.
Brittany cursed to herself. The stray bullet was nowhere to be found. She quickly counted 131 remaining .308 caliber rounds on the heavy sashes she had been carrying, although this didn’t make her feel much better. The fact that she had to stop and reload between each shot could determine her ultimate fate.
Her mind was on overdrive even as she raised herself up and rested momentarily against the rough bark of a nearby tree. She quickly pulled out one of the rounds and reloaded the rifle just in case she would need it soon. As she listened to the gusts of wind, she felt that everything was uncanny in this forest – especially the presence of the wind that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. The air also felt musty, and it couldn’t mask the stench that wafted from nearby.
The foul, stinking odor of rotten corpses that likely belonged to the poor souls who had the misfortune to wander in here. Eaten by monsters, no doubt – this was something that might be in her fate too if she was not careful.
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