Chapter 9: Poor things.

After searching the fourth apartment down on the other side of the staircase, they had failed to find the parasite.

This was naturally to be expected as parasitic types had the ability to sneak into any crease or hole no matter how small. It was a part of what made them so dangerous.

Stark quickly motioned for them all to head back towards the staircase before saying. “The giant ate only one grenade which means that the parasite ate the other two. Let’s just sit back and wait for them to explo-“

Two loud bangs thundered from within a drain pipe just a few metres away from them.

Thinking fast, Stark lunged for the drain pipe and blasted his flame thrower straight into the drain’s interior.

Victoria, Beverly and Hockney quickly observed as something could be seen wiggling just beneath the messy stone floor.

Soon cracks gave way to smoke as the parasite erupted from the next drain pipe down from them before rapidly increasing in size.

Stark and Victoria both bore witness to the rest of its terrifying body.

It grinned at them like a ghoulish hound with a fleshy pale body with snake like characteristics. By either of its two sides dangled a pair of heavily reduced limbs vaguely resembling an arm and a leg.

The thick smell hit them all again causing them all to lose focus.

The parasite charged forward with it’s mouth wide open, knocking down walls as it slivered towards the four youths

Beverly was the first to regain her composure and Blocked its assault with her riot shield. The force of impact sent the brown haired girl crashing into Hockney causing both of them to tumble to the ground.

The parasite slowed down for a few seconds before quickly accelerating again.

Victoria aimed her shot gun and fired straight into its gaping mouth causing it to rear back in pain. It then let out an ear battering scream that shook the two youths left standing to their knees.

Seeing that there were now bleeding bullet wounds in and around its mouth, Stark immediately ignited his flame thrower along with Victoria, intending to explode its flammable blood.

From the two of them two pillars of fire then spiralled towards the creature causing it to quickly retreat back into the drain pipe.

Upon seeing it flee Stark and Victoria immediately stopped their flaming onslaught as to not light the entire building on fire.

Stark then quickly yelled to the other four. “One of you has to blast the drain pipe it just entered with fire and another has to blast the next drain pipe further down. I’ll blast the drain pipe right behind us so that it has nowhere to flee no matter what direction it chooses.”

Hockney was the first to react and nodded before running over to the drain pipe the monster slipped into. Victoria ran over to the one further down and Stark quickly hovered over the drain pipe he chose for himself. All three of them blasted the drain pipes with extreme prejudice causing the floor beneath everyone to heat up rapidly.

At the next moment the floor suddenly exploded as the flaming parasite increased its size in one final frenzied attack.

The four all made movements to avoid its flailing body to varying degrees of success.

Beverly was too slow and crushed by its burning tail while Hockney was squished by a falling piece of the ceiling.

The parasite swung its burning tail and head around wildly shattering the walls ever further, causing the floor beneath everyone to suddenly collapse.

Stark felt his stomach rise into his chest as he fell to the third floor along with the dying Necromorph. Dust and smoke soon obscured everything as he crashed to the ground.

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“Where is everyone!” Victoria’s voice could be heard amidst the crackling of flames and the last breaths of the parasite.

Stark staggered to his feet before stepping forward across the sharp and jagged debris and through the black smoke and dust.

The garbage had caught fire again causing Stark to begin the process of loosing consciousness once more. His entire body grew numb before everything faded to black.

The next thing Stark knew he was back in the street facing the now smoking building once again. Surrounding him were Beverly and Hockney who both observed as the smoke slowly rose into the cold air.

“Victoria was the only survivor?” Stark let out a deep breath before continuing to say. “I’ve had enough of these simulations for one day.”

Both Beverly and Hockney turned to face him with Hockney speaking first. “What a pain… how the hell are we going to stop that thing from rampaging during its final moments in tomorrow’s attempt?”

Stark stroked his chin before responding. “Let’s wait for Victoria to respawn and then we’ll discuss it with her.”

Stark then fixed his gaze on Lupus who was still paralysed and lying face down with Delilah still sitting on his back.

Stark immediately marched over to them with a smug grin.

“Going back in for another round?” Delilah asked immediately when he noticed Stark approaching.

Stark ignored the boy’s question before squatting down beside Lupus and saying. “Together the four of us beat that Demi Necromorph you couldn’t kill, it’s crazy how team work out performs a meat head doing things by himself.”

“You still died so shut up.” Lupus sneered with a mouthful of grass.

Stark then grinned at Delilah who rolled his eyes.

At the next moment Victoria emerged from the front doors looking like she had been through hell. Her hair was a complete mess and filled with blood and dust and her right arm was horrendously mangled and dripping with blood, eerily dark blood.

Stark immediately ran over to her as Delilah held his hand over his mouth in shock.

“You survived!” Stark quickly grabbed her by the shoulders before looking into her eyes.

Victoria smiled at him as blood poured from her head.

Stark didn’t know what to do to help her as there were no means of healing her in a simulation like this.

“Are you in pain?” Stark asked with great concern. It may have seemed like a stupid question but there was a good chance that she was in shock and would thus be numb to pain.

“I don’t think so…” Victoria seemed to become delirious as her head had suddenly fallen into his chest.

Gradually Stark transitioned from holding her by her shoulders to supporting her weight. He quickly spun her around and squatted down so that he was cradling her head carefully.

Beverly and Hockney immediately ran over to the two of them.

“Victoria!” Beverly ran over to her friend in a state of distress. She squatted in the grass beside Stark before stroking Victoria’s hair gently.

“You all have to get away.” Victoria suddenly groaned with an expression of terror in her blue eyes, her complexion was pale and cold sweats assaulted her body. “The parasite… it’s…”

“It died?” Stark said confused. “We killed it.”

“It survived, but only barely…” Victoria said before she suddenly pushed Stark away from her causing her to fall to the ground.

She then started to spasm and contort as black blood suddenly erupted from her mouth. The thick stench of the Cosmic Death soon followed as Victoria’s eyes rolled back into her skull.

“END THE SIMULATION NOW!” Beverly yelled up at the sky knowing the director heard her.

Stark also looked around waiting for the director to respond. No response came.

The sight of the always bright and bubbly Victoria in such pain boiled Stark’s blood. Sure she was annoying at times, but what in heaven’s name could she have done to deserve this?

Victoria suddenly convulsed as something slivered out of her mouth. It was none other than the parasite which had somehow healed itself.

As it grew rapidly in size it began to cast a dark shadow over Stark and Beverly.

Without any weapons at their disposal, they both closed their eyes accepting their fate.

Stark was the first to be devoured whole followed by Beverly.

As the parasite crunched their bodies in its jaws it set its sight on the nearby Hockney who also made no attempt to fight back.

In one swift motion he too met a grim end.

Lupus and Delilah were next. Like the rest they went without a fight.

Victoria was the last, still conscious but only barely.

The parasite slivered over to her, its deformed snout mimicking the grin of a clown, as the cloudy sky silhouetted its contorted form.

The blonde girl was motionless, her internal organs destroyed from the parasite’s inhabitation of her body.

With a single bite, her suffering came to an end.

“Just end the simulation already…” Stark sneered as he was the first to revive. Looking ahead he saw the parasite lock eyes on him before rapidly closing in, it’s massive body shaking the earth itself as it’s mouth opened up again.

Moments before Stark died, beverly returned to life.

The brunette was speechless as she watched her peer be devoured once more.

She quickly followed.

Soon Hockney came and went, then Lupus and Delilah came and went. Then there was poor Victoria who couldn’t even react before dying again.

Over and over again they died and revived, it must have went on for at least two dozen cycles. It was as if the dying universe itself was laughing at the six of them, cackling wildly as it took its dying breaths.

Eventually they encountered a mercy, a death they didn’t come back from.

The simulation ended and the light of the institution illuminated their pale and sweaty faces.

Ahead of them the director stood in the doorway without a hint of pity on his face.

“Bastard…” Stark sneered, this was perhaps the first time in his life that he had hated this man.