Two months had passed since David first arrived at the apartment and he had settled into a steady rhythm of living.

Despite his hopes that he could further increase his stats even further with the ingot, it was impossible. The speed at which he could absorb essence from within was only enough to sustain his hunger and thirst.

However it only took a week for it to completely run out of essence, and seemingly turn into a regular metal, losing its weight. After that, David began to go on supply runs every few days.

Through trial and error, he was able to learn that the gorillas would fall asleep during the two hours of light each day. He had suffered a lot to gain that information. Fortunately, the beasts were all of similar poor health, and with his improved abilities, he could outrun them.

Exploration of the facility was also one of his concerns, and apart from resupplying trips, he also travelled to other sections. As far as he could manage, that was.

Two hours was not a long time, and the facility was enormous, he could only manage to reach the borders of the metal production sector. Despite his ability to outrun the gorillas, he still felt a visceral unease around them, and wanted to avoid them at all costs ,as he didn’t have to interact with them to retrieve an ingot.

Yet, the isolation was getting to him, and he felt a constant urge in the back of his mind, telling him to seek out other humans.

Which was why he was currently preparing to journey further than he had gone so far.

He would leave at four hours to daylight. He knew the landscape to a certain extent, so he could navigate it easier during the night, especially if gorilla bulls were chasing after him. However, he didn’t know what to expect of the other sectors, so he wanted to keep the option of daylight to help him stay safe if he needed to.

The purpose of this trip was to enter the inner residential district. If there was any semblance of humanity in this place. It would be where the powerful lived.

---

Two hours into his journey, and it was eerily quiet. The only sound being the light padding of David’s bare feet on the ground.

He had repurposed the majority of Vernathy’s clothes to suit him better. The shoes had gone right away, being too uncomfortable to fit in. They might have been the same size for clothes, but the man had much smaller feet than him. Next were the trousers; he ripped off the bottom half, turning them into shorts for further comfort. Finally, he only wore undershirts, and left the dress shirts and blazers behind.

Because he was running around constantly, he could stay warm, even with the lowered insulation.

At this point he was at the border to the inner district, he just needed to find the entrance, it was likely to be merged with the rest of the wall.

Nevertheless, he still held out hope, and ran alongside the barrier.

It was at times like this that David often thought about his predicament. Where he was all alone, with only the endless scenery of towers, or containers to keep him company.

Well, when there weren't bloodthirsty monsters after him.

After two months of solitude he truly felt lonely. Even though he was very independant before he moved here, it was still unnatural.

Back on Earth, he would interact with the owners of hostels, people who took him in for a night or two, and of course, his audience. But here, there was no one.

Not a single soul who he could chat meaningfully with, or meaninglessly.

He sighed, then set aside his thoughts, lest he become too conscious of the horrible fate that had befallen him.

It was about six miles down the wall, where he met his first foe.

The gorilla-bull hybrid stood on its hind legs, almost completely still. The glaring eyes that David had become all too used to stared intensely into him.

Feeling something off about the situation, he gripped his ingot tighter and assessed his options for escape.

There was only one, behind him, or if he was willing to go through the enemy, straight ahead.

On his right was a wall of containers, looming high into the sky. It stretched on for at least a mile the way he had come back. Which meant, there would be no turns to lose the gorilla with, until he reached that point.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Yet the reason he hadn’t moved yet wasn’t due to fear. It was instead the gut feeling that he was in danger, and he had an idea where it came from.

Usually, the gorillas, upon seeing him, would lose track of what they were doing and immediately start chasing. However this one was strangely in control of itself.

The vicious snarl was enough to tell him that the gorilla was still out for his blood.

David started backing away, not breaking eye contact, but that proved to be the trigger for action.

It lifted its head up to the heavens, and let out a bestial roar.

Ice broken, David turned on his heel and began running, his ears ringing slightly.

Stealing a glance at the watch he had taken from Vernathy, he saw that he still had an hour until daylight emerged, and the gorilla got some much needed beauty sleep.

Or rather, the gorillas. That battlecry was loud enough to alert all of them from up to five miles away.

Goosebumps sprung all over his arms, as he thought about the possibility of a family of creatures coming after him. Which, if he wasn’t quick enough, would be the case.

His feet pounded against the floor without restraint, testing the durability of the callouses grown during his stay.

A glance back confirmed that the distance between the two was growing. Just over half a mile, then he would be able to escape immediate danger.

Just as his hopes were rising, they were dashed away. Up ahead, a mass of bodies was becoming visible, charging forwards like an army on horseback.

“What the fuck…”

That was certainly more than should be in the area, and they had come much quicker than they should’ve.

Dismissing the plan to retreat, he started running towards the lone gorilla.

He was loath to get near the beast, but it seemed like he had no other choice.

With all the strength he could muster, he ran straight towards it, and jumped to the side at the last possible moment. The gorilla shot past him, unable to stop its momentum.

Quickly clambering back up, David set off, this time in the opposite direction. The cries of the monsters bounced against the walls and filled the long stretch of road.

He only made it another quarter of a mile before, up ahead, another troop of gorillas appeared in view.

Now he was completely trapped.

The single beast which had begun the affair was still on his tail, not giving him a chance to even take a breather and think through his options before the two walls of monsters crushed him.

He was completely overwhelmed.

The only thing he could think of was to try and use Vernathy’s keycard and hope one of the containers opened to hide in. Sadly, that seemed like an impossibility.

By now, he had discovered that the card only worked inside the man’s sphere of influence, and anything past it didn’t budge.

He looked up to the sky and mumbled through his breath.

“If there’s a god, then please, bless me now.”

His hand rose to start sliding the card against each container.

After a hundred or so failures, he put it away.

He was now directly in the middle of both gorilla troops.

There was one last plan he had, which he didn’t even want to think about, but it had reared its ugly head and looked like his best chance of survival.

The beasts were vicious and terrifying, but they were still beasts. Their intelligence seemed to be incredibly lackluster. He believed he could use that to his advantage.

Once again, he changed direction and ran to the single gorilla. After drawing closer than he ever would’ve wanted, he stepped aside, and the monster shot off. This time, David didn’t run away. He followed and as it started slowing down to change direction, jumped, and slammed down on the bull head with the ingot.

While it made contact, he sent essence through, bursting the head from the inside as the energy fired out.

He had learnt that trick by accident when he wanted to know what would happen if he reversed the flow of essence from the bar to him.

Unfortunately, it made him lose essence permanently, until he recovered it through more absorption sessions.

After killing the monster, he didn’t waste time and laid it on it’s back.

Sending a much smaller amount of essence into the metal, he cut an incision into the torso

He put the ingot aside, and grimacing, started reaching into the beast and pulling out its organs. For some reason, there was also a fist sized rock among the innards, but he didn’t think about it too much.

When the body had been emptied, he ground his teeth together, and with closed eyes, climbed inside.

He was unsure whether it would even be large enough to fit him, but once he curled up tightly, he was fully inside.

The stench within was even worse, but he put up with it. Three quarters of an hour were all he had to put up with, maybe even less if the two groups left sooner.

The question now was; were they smart enough to attack the gorilla? Or hungry enough?

Three minutes later, they arrived. Their search for him sounded like a tumultuous stampede, but no matter the racket they made, his protective case was never even nudged.

I guess they care enough about their own kind to leave the body alone.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes. The beasts didn’t leave, but they calmed down. The vigour of their search gradually dimmed, and after another ten minutes, they had all settled down for a short-lived slumber.

Soon the snores of rest echoed out, and after another five minutes, David felt safe enough to get out.

As he looked over the sea of sleeping bodies, he felt a bone-deep relief, and started to laugh.

Calming himself down, he picked the ingot up, as well as the strange rock. Mindful of his step, he soon escaped the land of the unconscious, and continued down the wall.

He had contemplated killing the gorillas as they slept, but he was already shaken by the first he finished. Ending an entire ecosystem of them didn’t seem possible.

He would return to the tower, and take some time to relax.

Eventually, he approached the original location of the troublesome gorilla, and found something which he missed the first time around, when he was completely fixated on the beast

The entrance to the inner district. A handle waiting to be used.