The Mirror City

twenty-five

it must be the end.

When I saw my left arm fly away from me, I knew these Growlers weren't to be messed with. They're more rabid than the ones we encountered before. At least the first ones have more civility, while these batches were one step closer to becoming a mutation that felt very uncanny.

My right hand is currently below my sliced arm. I never anticipated that these Growlers could easily pull limbs without any effort. As quickly as they do, my left arm was dusted to bone. Even the normal Growlers struggle to even kill a person without having anything. These guys probably elated the gas to a hundred and one. That's it, I'm calling them Ferals.

I kept on running with the light source on my mouth. Got to keep the wound pressured or else I'm gonna lose more blood before they even get me. Unlike the Growlers, they were fast in numbers, but Ferals have their heightened jumps. I'm starting to consider they got so intoxicated with Mason's project and everything turned up pretty well for them.

In this place of the wreckage, I can't pinpoint which part of the Vault I landed in. Not that I have any knowledge beforehand, but I'm starting to suspect this is where the rumors came from. I passed by incubators like the ones at Mason's, although they're clean, my stomach did a full 360 when there are dormant bodies on top of one another in a big pile of bodies. The Ferals didn't mind them, they just toppled them all over and soon the bodies almost did a WHEEEE in my head. Damn it, Troy, now's not the time!

When my vision started to get blurry, I knew I'm fucked and dead. I can't lose focus now or else I'm going to end up as meat. If Growlers never eat their victim, Ferals do have some appetite. As if they were never fed to begin with, and I'm currently on the menu. I was panting heavily and without stopping, my body wanted to fall so badly on the floor, but I urged myself to stay on foot. I have to get back to Theo. He's all that matters.

Something tripped me and soon, I was kissing the floor. My body kicked with pain when my torn left arm especially decided to have a taste of the dusty floor. I could hear the Ferals closing in, their hungry voices all agreed in unison on which part of my body they should eat first. Not that I can understand them, it's the only idea I could conclude from those wretching and belching and growling. Much of it was also yelling, so there's that. I tried to face myself up, my back on the floor. I could see faint light from the hole I came from. The fact that I thought I could see a figure from above, tells me I'm close to losing my consciousness. The bleeding won't stop and I'm sure I've left a trail. The light source was once again a few inches away from me. My body told me to lie down but I disagree, leading to more pain and agony. I'm extremely tired even from breathing, my head is spinning once again losing focus of my surroundings. I never noticed my hearing came back moments ago, well I don't want to be eaten alive by those fucks. Now I don't have that choice anymore, I'm dead. Super dead. One step closer into being their meal.

Ferals appeared and they started circling me, I think. I have no idea what they're currently doing. It's either they're planning they way of attack or they're just admiring me as their food. I'm so close to fainting, not having the strength to force myself awake at this point. My body is telling me to just lay down while my head is telling me to accept my fate.

One finally decided to lounge itself towards me and I was sure I was already dead. But it was Kane that surprised me once again, smacking the Feral out of my view. His baseball bat is now tainted with blood. He immediately strapped something on my waist, as I tried to make eye contact with him. He was obviously busy, and I was delirious, why would he ever make eye contact with me in this time of disaster. Then something tugged me way up and sooner, Kane was drifting away from me as I ascended towards the gaping hole above me. My remaining arm tried to reach him but he drifted away from me. Though it was kind of embarassing when both of us made back up again. Cleo and my father greeted me with much delight, and I could only look at Kane as he tried to remove the strap from his waist. It was then I realized that father created a contraption to fetch me down below. The same device we use when we do repairs at the lowest section of this hellhole.