The flashing orange light from a silent alarm was barely visible in the bright corridor, adding only a small portion of disturbance to the scenery in front of Robert. Making the first step outside of the room, he felt something wet. Looking down and noticing a pool of red liquid around his foot, he quietly sighed. The source appeared to be a young woman, dressed in the formal attire of a service worker. The bloody gash on the neck and chest had terrifying gaps in the flesh as if someone had torn it with a clawed paw. Her face was a grimace of despair and horror, which took away any signs of beauty.
The surroundings were not any better. The white walls, made from a strange polymer material, the same as inside the room, were covered with deep marks and blood. The corridor wasn’t big, being a short branch from a main pathway. It had only five doors, with Rob’s being in the end. Quite narrow, not more than 2 meters (7 feet), it still had three dead bodies. One was a young man in the same uniform with a mixture of silver and purple colors. His bloodied hands were frozen in a futile attempt to put his guts inside cut open belly.
The other corpse was completely unrecognizable. Mangled by a violent butcher into a piece of meat, it was additionally beheaded. The head itself was crushed into a paste, lying in a distant corner of the corridor. Rob couldn’t even tell the gender of the dead. The only thing he could say with certainty was that the deceased was not from the staff, wearing yellow pants and what seemed to be a green t-shirt.
No weapons. So, no one was ready.
Ignoring the blood on the floor, he made his way to a main corridor. One of the doors was opened, showing the inners of the similar to Rob’s room. The difference was in multiple personal belongings placed around in an orderly manner. Only the small bag was lying near the entrance as if dropped by its owner in panic.
It could be the room of the unknown. The other two were the ones who I saw before losing consciousness. But where are the attackers? The demon? Or demons? I haven’t heard anything. Is the soundproofing of the room that good?
Stepping into the main corridor, Rob saw the very same picture of a gruesome massacre of defenseless people. There were many more doors than dead, but still, he could count at least a dozen motionless bodies. Each of them was killed most viciously. A few of them had signs of brutal violence as if the murderer played with their victim for some time. Still, there were escapers. To the left, near the end of the corridor, there was a lost single boot, while its pair was nowhere. Nobody from the dead had the same shoes, indicating that the runner could make it. At least through this corridor.
Deciding to follow this trace, Robert quietly moved through the pathway. Leaving red footprints on the floor, he slowly walked forward, while checking the rooms in search of possible clothes. Unfortunately, the several opened doors had belonged to women, leading him to stay barefoot and in a simple bathrobe. Moreover, the unhealthy heavy atmosphere of the unknown pressed onto him. The deadly silence with the faraway sound of the howling alarm, the constant orange flashes, the corpses of civilians – everything told him to focus on the situation and not on the waste of time on what wasn’t a crucial thing for survival.
I have enough experience in fighting nude. Nothing new. At least I don’t need any weapon.
Before reaching the end of the corridor, he saw the first signs of struggle. Robert couldn’t name it fighting as the potential guard in black-purple uniform seemed to have no chance. Being thrown into the wall to create a few cracks on its surface, he only managed to leave blood traces around. His wide glassy visor on the helmet was shattered, turning the face of an unlucky guy into a horrible mess. His baton was lying near him, losing the third part of it as if someone simply had bitten it off. The palm, which tried to use the weapon, was a few meters away.
At the bare minimum huge strength, strong bite, and ability to cut through the metal. Got it.
Kneeling near the dead, Robert tried to notice as many details as possible. His eyes were already focused on the thin silver bracelet around the wrist of the guard. Similar things, only painted in other colors, were carried by most of the guests. Grabbing the hand, he took off the bracelet, ignoring a protruding bone and meat instead of a palm. Having seen a lot during his past years, including his own awful wounds, his heart was beating faster only because of the nervous atmosphere, but not because of the dead. The latter couldn’t become a threat.
If they don’t turn into zombies… But I’ve seen that. Not precisely that, but close enough. So, do you work?
Standing up and walking to the nearest room, he placed the bracelet near the control panel. The following message about failed identity authorization made him swear. The change on the screen clearly showed that the thing was indeed a key, but a basic checkup of parameters would effectively prevent him from usage. Moreover, even after observation, Robert couldn’t find a way to open it manually. That left him with nothing, but only to follow the corridor. Dropping the bracelet down, he continued.
The pathway made a turn in the end, leading into a small hall. There was a similar exit from the opposite side of the huge room, creating a symmetrical plan. Several lift doors were on the left, but all of Rob’s attention was directed to the right side, turning him into a motionless statue. Taking up all the space of the wall, an enormous viewing window was located there. And the scenery behind the thick made him speechless as endless dark space left limited options to speculate about. Still, Robert moved forward, pressing his own face against the glass in an attempt to see better. Eyeing the stary scenery once more, he focused on the hotel itself only to confirm his assumption.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Yep, this is a ship. I even see how my module is rotating around the central point. Probably to create a gravitation force, but who knows. Maybe locals managed to invent technology to produce it artificially. So, I am on a ship in space with at least one demon on the board, having no access to rooms, and no knowledge about the whole situation, while the ones who could bring me up to date are mostly dead. Just nice. I would even dare to say – perfect.
Spending a full minute observing the beautiful scenery of eternal calmness, Rob turned around to face the harsh reality. The quick check-up near lifts confirmed his suspicions – nothing would work without the bracelet. That left with a second corridor in an attempt to find something useful. Or at least someone alive.
Stepping over the bodies, he subconsciously was waiting a strange signs or insane text, written on the walls by own blood of another madman. There was nothing. Moreover, under the bright light, he couldn’t even notice any traces of breaking any equipment. Everything worked fine, despite lots of corpses around. The only fear he had was to see a child. No matter how acquainted he was with death, if it was related to children, it felt terrifying, unfair, and simply incorrect. Rob still remembered the event from the village in his first realm and his inability to save a pair of youngsters.
If I was as current as me back then, those bastards would all die. Power is indeed an answer in some cases.
Fortunately, there were no children. Only adults. Mostly guests, dressed in different attires with very contrasting choices of colors. The situation wasn’t any better from this fact, but it was more tolerable for Rob, taking into account his experience. Checking them one by one only to see another awful injury, Rob noted the shocked expression on quite a few of them. As if they were not expecting such an outcome. Seeing the results of protection from a single guard he found, only strengthened this assumption. However, the warning message about the demon’s attack sounded too ordinary and not something unique. Especially after repeating “not a drill” several times. That left the question - what was the set plan of action during this threat?
No bodies near lifts. Not taking into account the dead crew members, the number of guests is much less than the number of rooms. Only a single guard and a pair from the ship’s personnel. Maybe they did have enough time to evacuate, but somehow quite a few dumbasses waited for too long to do it in time. They could be asleep, or too scared to leave the room. Or too stupid. That could lead to sending crew members to take them to a safe place only to be too late. Then a demon or demons must have followed a trace, and something tells me they also don’t have access to lifts. So, there must be a way out, which is not a human-sized ventilation system, made by bad movie writers.
Walking down the corridor and almost making a round trip to his place of the appearance, Robert found his answer in the form of an unlocked door with signs “staff only” and “emergency exit”. Leading to a small room with shelves that were filled with detergents, spare towels and bathrobes, and other things that had to be refilled or changed from time to time in an average hotel. However, his attention was captured by a row of bottles and boxes with snacks. Glancing one more time to the exit, Rob simply sat on the floor and grabbed the food, hastily tearing the packing.
When did I eat last time? Was it a week already? Damn. At least my body can handle it without much of a problem.
However, the more he ate, the more his body started to demand, intensifying both hunger and thirst in the process. Robert had to forcefully stop himself from overeating as it wasn’t a good idea to fight on a full stomach. Standing up and shoving something akin to a chocolate bar into his pocket, while wondering why anyone would need one on his bathrobe, Rob made his way to the vertical ladder. Going through several levels downwards, it had a body at its foot. The way up was closed with a hatch.
The first clumsy step almost led to a fall, when Rob’s foot slid on the metal because of being covered in blood. Climbing down, he quickly checked the next floor only to see the same layout and only three corpses of guests. The end point of his descent, on the other hand, was completely different. The loud howling alarm here was much louder, constantly trying to dive deep into his mind in its stubborn attempt to remind him about an idiot who forgot to turn it off.
Stepping outside the short technical corridor, which was filled with cables and tubes, Robert found himself in a huge room with a high ceiling. It had several lifts on the opposite side, and a big entrance door to the right, while white walls were replaced with mirrors. Filled with different equipment, it had an empty space in the center with a low podium.
Is it a gym? Wow.
Looking at many types of heavy barbells, a row of dumbbells, treadmills, and other things, which he lacked during his training on the island, Rob nearly missed an odd growl. At this point, the sound accompaniment was muffling all surroundings quite noticeably, giving a short gap in its agitated cycle to hear anything properly. Luckily, it was enough for him to notice. Hastily turning around, Rob found a strange creature in the nearest corner.
Around one meter tall (around 3 feet), it looked like a hairless monkey, whose skin was burned and lately painted in a bright red. Its hands were at least twice bigger and longer than its legs. The demon, and doubtfully it could be anyone else, had huge black eyes without sclera, an empty hole instead of a nose, and long claws on the tips of his fingers. The wide-opened mouth had shown a row of curved yellow teeth. Sharp, they had noticeable gaps between them as if they meant not to chew but to tear flesh apart. The short tail, not longer than Rob’s palm, was waving from side to side, while its owner was digging a hole inside the chest of a dead man as if trying to get the heart out.
Currently, it was eyeing Robert without blinking. Licking its lips with a snake-like tongue, the demon growled once again before it made a short step forward. Leaning on the frontal limbs, the creature ran its claws across the floor. The deep marks in tough material instantly changed the course of actions in Rob’s mind. The easiness of cutting simply couldn’t be ignored. Previously he saw only the results, but now, after an obvious display, Robert was pretty sure that his shield would be as good as paper.
Making a firm stance, Rob raised his hands. His widespread fingers were slightly trembling under the pressure of the situation. Still, his breath was calm and steady, completely focused on the enemy. The latter gripped the polymer surface, creating a set of holes, and growled in agitation, before tightening its muscles in preparation for a jump. Then the demon disappeared.