“You’re bleeding,” Tala said.
Theo rubbed at the back of his head and when he pulled his hand back there was blood on his palm. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Keep your focus on that thing.”
“Get him up,” I called to Tala. “Hurry it’s coming.”
The Abomination lurched forward letting its body fold down the stairs. With every step the ground shuttered, the glass shook and the creature's body squished like rotten fruit. An awful stench burned inside my nostrils as it got close. The scent made my eyes water and the air thick and hard to breathe. How could Theo even stand to get close enough to hit it?
Tala pulled Theo back then helped him to his feet. Theo had a dazed look in his eyes and stumbled a little when he stood up. Regardless of what he said, he was hurting, and I wasn’t sure how useful he was going to be in a fight. I decided to step between them and the Abomination. The sense to prove myself brimmed underneath the fear that cut deep in my mind. That sensation drove me to swing my knife right towards the creature's head.
My attack went wide and caused a laceration just above where Theo’s baseball bat was stuck. The sound of flesh splitting mixed with a vile bubbling sound as the Abomination began to bleed. A thick yellow and black liquid oozed from the cut and drenched the monster’s entire side. It fell too quickly and ran too easily from such a minor cut. Looking at the Abomination’s condition revealed that it was still marked as [Infested]. Either the infested condition was greater than bleeding or this wasn’t simple blood coming from its body.
The Abomination squealed when it hit the final step, twisted its arm to the side and like a slingshot let loose, swung it directly at me. The attack was so quick that I didn’t have enough time to react. In the last second I managed to pull my arms up in a defensive position and took the brunt of the force into my shoulder. The force of the whipping threw me against a nearby leather chair to which I rolled over it and hit against the glass railing of the walkway.
Everything went blurry. Sight, sound and sensation all turned into a rushing of endless noise and yet nothingness all at the same time. My neck had rolled awkwardly as I hit the chair and now it was still while my shoulder was throbbing in pain. I sat up the best I could using the glass of the walkway to sit back against. My knife was gone and my hands both felt weak.
“Ward!” Tala yelled. I turned to look. She was holding Theo under his arms and the two of them had made it a few feet onto the walkway. She said something to Theo then let him rest against the rails. She readied her tire iron but Theo grabbed at her arm and pointed at the Abomination. I followed their gaze. He was pointing at the aurous colored bile spilling faster from the monster’s wound. It no longer drenched the rotting flesh and discolored skin, it poured out like a waterfall of waste. Bubbling, toiling its way to the floor. The sludge piled on top of itself until a large cancerous mass formed on the ground. It started to breathe. Inflating and deflating over and over again. Then it started to move. It sludged its way towards me, pushing and pulling itself across the carpet.
I kicked the turned over chair and it hit the bile with a squelch. The impact squished the mass in an awkward shape then rebounded in a rush past me. I had to duck out of the way in order to not get hit. The chair slammed against the glass railing shattered it and fell several floors. The sound shuttered the air and made the chandelier above shake.
The oily skin of the boiling goo started to shiver violently as if it was about to burst. Something from deep within pushed from within. Then in an explosion of chaotic energy, coiling vines shot out in all directions. My Codex flared to life indicated that this thing was in fact the Abomination’s infestation.
Abomination Infestation - Level 1
Condition: Enraged
Weaknesses: ???
Resistances: ???
An Uncommon monster variation. It was Level 1 and clearly angry at me for having slashed it out of the Abomination. It had released its inner vines letting them twirl above it like snakes shocked in pain.
The loud thumping of the Abomination began again as it started its march forward. It had its bulbous eye locked on Theo and Tala and was gunning right for them. It stomped the ground hard causing everything around us to shake. A few paintings on the walls fell to a clatter. The sound of broken glass echoed up from below as pieces of the chandelier started to fall.
“Go! Run now!” I said, waving for Tala and Theo to run. A snapping sound shot past my ear as one of the vines whipped past my head. I rolled to the floor as another vine cut through the air. I fell to my stomach and crawled to a nearby entryway table that sat below a large painting of a sunflower field. I tried my best to fold my body behind the table and await another attack. It came one after another. Whipping and snapping all around me. The vines cut and slashed against the wall, cut gouges in the carpet and started breaking all the office decor on the table.
A scream cut through the chaos that surrounded me. Looking out I could see Theo fallen to the ground. There was blood on his forehead and he wasn’t moving. Tala was standing alone facing off against the Abomination.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
A loud crunch sounded above me as the sunflower painting suddenly fell from its hanging. It fell over and landed between me and the Infestation. I could hear Tala continue to scream and the horrible impacts of the Abominations steps and its horrendous howl. All of this accompanied by the ceaseless slashing of the vines and the twinkling of the glass chandelier.
It was too much. All of it was too much for me to handle. All my senses were being bombarded at every second. All my emotions flared at once. Anger, fear, panic, pride and the will to survive. Pain invaded my chest again and tore at the ache in my shoulder and the tension in my neck. I tried to think of what I should do. Do I fight my way past the Infestation and try to save Tala and Theo? Do I look for an escape and do what Dr. Matthias suggested and run from the screaming? I couldn’t decide. I just couldn’t calm my thoughts enough to make a decision. Instead I pulled my knees to my chest and waited. Waited for death to take me away from the fear.
My feet hit something. At first I thought it was a broken piece of glass but when I laid my head against my knees and almost cried, I saw metal flash red light. It was the kitchen knife. Everything froze. The image of that simple weapon switched something in my mind. Changed something in my heart. I gripped the blade, summoned the rusty knife from my inventory, and knocked away the sunflower painting.
I knew that I didn’t have the skill to properly use two blades at once but I was filled with so much adrenaline and desperation that I had to do something. Dual wielding seemed to be the best option. In a shock of courage I rushed for the Infestation, blades in both hands. The squirming bile snapped its vines back and forth, searching for prey. I dodged, ducked and cut at any vines that got close to me. The sluggish nature of the weapons was still there but I persevered. I cut a vine clean through, barely twisted out of the way of another, and slashed again.
I was making progress in my assault. The Infestation started with over a dozen reaching vines but I managed to cut it down to a mere four. My confidence got the better of me as one of the fallen vines suddenly wrapped around my leg catching me off guard. It was enough time to have one of the other vines whip me across the chest. I saw a splash of black in the hue of red sunlight. Blood had shot through the air. My blood. The aching I had been feeling in my chest was drowned out by a passionate agony of pain. It was unbearable. The most intense pain I had ever felt in my life. A warning colored itself in my view showing that my condition had deteriorated to [Injured].
I lost feeling in my hands and feet. The world was swirling and my ears filled with otherworldly sounds of death. I found myself on my knees, blades in my hands slipping from my fingers. Then I remembered. I remembered I made a promise. A promise I was going to keep. I tightened my grip, bit my lip, and lunged forward plunging both blades into the center of the Infestation. It didn’t scream, in fact it didn’t make any noise in reaction to my attack, it simply stopped. Stopped moving, stopped twitching, and its vines had fallen to the ground.
I was covered in wretched slime that caused my throat to clench tight against my own bile. The Infestation’s scent was incredible and dug at my eyes with a burning claw. I pulled myself back to my feet and stared down at the bloated mess of yellow and brown sludge. I had managed to kill it.
[Internal Corruption Defeated]
[Experience Points Earned: 165]
A soft green glow slowly faded up from within the Infestation’s body. It came to a stop a foot above the mass and pulsated. I knew what it was immediately. The first Uncommon item I had seen. My first true piece of loot. I eagerly swiped at the green glow and received something incredible.
Colt Revolver (Uncommon)
🗡 2 - 9 Damage
Ammo: .38
Capacity: 6 Rounds
Attack Speed: Slow
Combat Power: 94
Shortly after switching my blades for my newly acquired gun I received another notification.
[Obtained: 3 - .38 Rounds]
I pressed my will into my inventory and manifested the rounds in my hands. It felt good to have a gun in my hands again. Though there was a difference to the heft and texture. I hadn’t noticed it at first but as I gripped it in my hand the familiarity I once had started to change. I couldn’t let my mind dwell on that. I had three shots to take out the Abomination and save the others.
I loaded the gun and sprinted for the walkway. Tala had grabbed Theo by the hand and was dragging him to safety. They were almost at the other end with the Abomination at the center of the walkway. I took aim and fired. The sound of gunfire reverberated throughout the marble walls, and high glass ceiling. My ears rang at the impact and even my own hands shook uncomfortably. It was a sensation I was prepared for yet it still surprised me.
The Abomination hardly reacted to the shot. There was a new black scar on its back with signs of smoke drifting from it. Despite the lack of damage my attack did manage to catch its attention. The rolling mass of flesh turned to face me. It’s single eye wide and staring. If it was mad I couldn’t tell. All I knew now was it was coming for me.
I cocked the gun, lifted and aimed for the Abomination’s eye. I slowly squeezed the trigger as the creature rampaged towards me. It was slow but powerful in its approach. In the midst of its charge the gun fired. The bullet landed dead center piercing right through the large black iris. That caused the monster to let out an agonizing scream. Its arms flailed out in all directions and it started to stampede. I pulled my Codex up and only saw that the Abomination’s condition was now at [Injured]. I managed to deal some good damage but it wasn’t enough. If my next shot didn’t kill it then I was a goner.
Closer and closer it fell forward, arms outstretched, and black ooze poured from its socket. The shot to the eye hadn’t slowed it down and I wasn’t sure another shot would suffice. I needed to think fast. To figure out a way I could take it out with my next shot. Should I fire at the legs? Take another try at where its eye used to be? Then it hit me.
I aimed and fired. This time the sound of the gunshot rang high and long. It hung in the air. Waiting for what would happen next. Then it started. First it was a low sound of creaking metal and clanking glass. Then a screech that cut through the still air. The chandelier fell fast and hard. It landed directly on top of the Abomination in an earthquake of dust and light. Then stone cracked. The walkway gave way to the impact. Crumbling under the still moving mound of flesh and bone that was the Abomination. In a moment of shock and awe the terrain around me changed. Dust bloomed out in all directions. Loud rumbles took over the open airway and the building shook violently.
I had to cover my eyes from a blast of debris that cut my cheek and stabbed my hands. I lost my footing and fell backwards, barely catching myself on my elbow and felt more pain stab my shoulder. My vision was obscured, my hearing impaired and the world trembled.