N2, Realization

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

“…”

“Blergh.”

‘Ugh, that tasted awful.’

“…”

‘Wait. This already happened…’

I saw the big hallway around me and began to remember that nightmare. The enormous rats and the frightening giants. My body stiffened in fear as I remember what had happened.

I wanted to curl up in a corner and close my eyes. I wanted to wait until this nightmare was over. I didn’t want to witness that scene again.

Time passed as I kept my eyes closed. I could hear some noises, sounds of things moving in the underground passage, and the occasional shriek of a rat.

I finally mustered the courage to stand.

‘This is not a nightmare… probably.’

I needed to think, about what had happened last time, and about how to find a safe place.

‘Let’s do some recount.’

First I had found myself in this big subterranean hallway. Next, I had witnessed the rats devouring a giant’s corpse. After that came the giant warriors that had killed the rats. Then the one giving the orders had examined the corpse and given the order to split the rats open. In the end, he had approached me with his spear held high.

‘And I died… No, wait, I’m still alive!’

I remembered, at that moment I had thought I was about to die, but I was clearly alive now, maybe I had been able to escape at the last instant. That was the most obvious conclusion.

I had escaped and lost myself again. Then just now I was eating something disgusting. That may be what made me regain my senses back.

‘But that’s not the problem…’

I recalled everything that took place once again. This time I went over the details slowly. My mind was still sluggish, I needed to take the facts in one by one.

It took time, but I began to see the events that had unfolded in a new light.

What I had seen weren’t huge rats and giants, they were normal rats and normal humans.

‘Yes, that makes a lot more sense.’

It wasn’t that everything was enormous in this place, it was me who was small.

I started to move my body slowly, turned my neck, raised one arm, then another one, flexed my legs...

‘Ugh, I’m in a big mess.’

This definitely wasn’t a human body, I twisted my neck and body as much as possible and finally became able to inspect myself. I managed to see a furry hind leg and a long hairless tail.

‘Damn!’

It was just as I thought, I was one of those rats! It was so evident now. I brooded over the sluggishness of my mind, even easy facts were difficult to unravel.

‘How did this happen? I’m not a rat! I’m human!’

I tried to think about the events that had unfolded before appearing in this underground place, but I was somehow unable to remember anything. I began to rack my brain, trying to recall any piece of information that could give me a clue about my current situation.

‘Not good… I’m… My name is… my name…’

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This couldn’t be true, I couldn’t remember even the smallest bit about my past. My life was gone, whoever I was, not even my name had remained.

I felt despair, not only was I in this unknown place but my memories, that could help me out of this mess were also gone.

‘…Maybe I will start to remember as time passes…’

I comforted myself with the idea I would eventually regain my past experiences.

‘Yes, I should focus on getting to safety first!’

Now that I had reached a conclusion I began moving, if I stood here I might come across humans again.

I took a final look at the squashed remains I was munching before awakening. It was some kind of gray bug with several legs, it was too crushed to discern any other details.

‘Ugh, that’s not something I want to put in my mouth again.’

I was hungry, but not hungry enough to eat everything I came upon. I focused my attention elsewhere, the passage here was straight and stretched far into the distance. I could see far away, so I decided to begin crawling down the gloomy corridor.

My steps were awkward at first, but I was getting better as I advanced, the less I thought about my movements the easier it became.

I started exploring the underground, the dim light gave the hallway a strange atmosphere. My progress was slow but steady, some rats were wandering around, but they didn’t pay me any attention.

I kept going. From time to time I passed by some small semicircular tunnels, they seemed perfect to hide if I came across something dangerous, but I decided against inspecting them for now, they were quite dark and remembered me of a sewer.

‘I wonder if I'm under a city.’

I hadn't thought about where I was going, but at this moment I decided I should reach for the surface.

Soon I found a bifurcation, there I noticed some chalk marks in the corners that looked like simple pictograms and arrows. I took a little while trying to decipher their meaning.

I could guess some symbols, some seemed to depict a rat, there was one that resembled a lizard, and a couple might be a dog or a wolf. But most scribbles were too abstract for me to grasp, like some kind of arch between two vertical lines. In the end, I determined I wouldn’t be able to recognize more of them.

‘Ugh, that much thinking makes my head hurt.’

After a short rest, I chose the way that showed neither dog nor lizard drawings.

Time went by, and I began to quicken my pace, I went through several corridors. Sometimes the path took a detour, others I arrived at an intersection or the tunnel split in two, chalk marks were always present in those spots and helped me pick the route. Gradually the passages led me upwards.

Suddenly I heard human sounds coming my way and quickly hid in the closest small tunnel. The place got brighter and I squinted my eyes, moving shadows appeared on the floor followed by five pairs of boots. I remained hidden until I was unable to hear the group’s noises.

‘Phew, that was scary.’

After that encounter patrols became more and more frequent and I started to doubt if it was possible to reach the surface safely. On one occasion I almost failed to conceal myself in time.

While wondering if I should go back I suddenly smelled something delicious, my hungry stomach protested and I agreed to take a look.

‘Mmmm, I hope someone dropped their meal.’

With an improved mood I carefully approached the source of the rich scent, but soon noticed there were other rats moving this way. I readily quickened my strides to be the first to reach the food.

‘Out of the way, that meal is mine!’

My first reaction was to get in front of the others, however, a lot of rats were gathering. The situation was beginning to remember me of the big pack I saw devouring that corpse and I got uneasy. Slowly I relaxed my steps and let my fellows have the initiative.

‘You go first, I will take the leftovers.’

I was a bit regretful, but my instinct told me something was amiss here. Before long the light in the corridor got more intense. As the pack reached a corner my doubts soared, I knew this was definitely wrong, but the smell compelled me to keep going.

‘I should go back...but I’m so hungry!’

Finally, after passing the corner I was able to see where the scent was leading us, with my eyes squinted I could see a few human figures waiting for us. I halted in place while the rest of my entourage kept going towards their certain demise.

‘It’s like they can’t see the danger.’

Without warning the figures started moving and the rats at the front were slaughtered. As I heard their pained squeals I managed to react and ran away from the hideous scene, fleeing as fast as I could.

‘Shit, shit, shit!’

My heart beat strongly, half from the dash and half from the terror I was feeling. At last, I found one of the small tunnels and hid in its deepest part. I couldn’t stop shivering in the cramped space.

‘Scary, I was about to die again!’

A long time passed and I gradually calmed down. After a short deliberation, I reached a conclusion. It was too dangerous to stay here. With the recent rat massacre in mind, I gloomily began to return to the depths of the underground hallways.