The Confluence

The Confluence Part XI

Time was lost in the claustrophobic blackness - meaningless without the sky. A cold wind ripped through Adrian's soaking wet clothes, making him shiver uncontrollably. His teeth started chattering, but the bony skittering sound of his bones clacking together was horrible, and so, clenching his jaw, he stumbled on. Either ten minutes, an hour, or three hours later, a small soft orange glow began to coalesce into existence about a hundred feet ahead of him. Panting, Adrian hobbled with a hastening pace toward the unknown light. As he got closer, he noticed that the light actually reached the rocky walls around him, alighting them with a pale glow. The sides of the cave wall were beginning to widen out as Adrian approached, and suddenly, he was out of the tunnel.

He was in a massive cavern, all around him stretched out was ancient rubble of rotting wood and crumbling stone walls of what must've been the remains of the old town. At the center of the cavern was probably the most held together ruin that Adrian noticed; it was a massive crumbling gothic church, staggering in the eldritch years it had seen. Yet there were bright Christmas lights strung up through holes in the masonry. Adrian noted all the amps and speakers. Jesus....did people party down here? Adrian thought to himself. Then, his brain shifted gears as he looked around. There was blood everywhere, black looking in the orange lights. There were blood drenched heaps of clothes and shoes spread around in a madhouse mess. "Oh god. Oh fuck. Oh holy fuck!" Adrian moaned. There was a fleshy slapping sound coming from his left, that started stealthy and quiet, but as he turned, the steps starting padding faster and faster and with a jolting horror, he saw one of the grey things crawling down the far cavern wall, clambering down with a spider-like ease, it's elongated limbs crawling hungrily and speedily toward him.

Before he could react, the thing launched itself at him, pushing off the ground with it's horridly thin legs. It's tall body slammed into him as he brought the shotgun up and Adrian felt his feet leave the ground as it sunk it's weird three fingered hands into his shoulders. Before they collapsed to the ground, Adrian shoved the shotgun barrel into the things smooth oily stomach. Adrian hit the rocky ground with a bodily thud, with all the air rushing out of his lungs. In the same moment, the impact jarred his finger, pulling the shotgun's trigger. With an echoing roar, the shotgun punched through the creature's gut, tearing a hole the size of a bowling ball through its stomach, the torn edges of the wound searing and burning with the bizarre smell of sulphur and ozone. The thing reeled, and twisted, and the thin flaps of skin and pus-like meat holding it together tore, and the top half of the creature tumbled down to the cavern floor with a loud slap. It's thin, stork-like legs took two sideways steps, spurting the curdy yellow white fluid before collapsing to the ground as well.

Trying to suck in breath through his wheezing lungs, He rolled on his side, and looked with utter horror as three more of the things poked their alien heads out from the holes in the church, their black, liquid holes of faces boring into his eyes. Catching his breath, Adrian reached into his front breast pocket, and his numb fingers scrambled to pull out four shells, and sitting up, started to load the shotgun, casting glances over to the ruined church and the creatures heaving themselves through the holes and broken windows of the church. Adrian counted three of them. They began to stalk towards him, and the hungry slurping sound pervaded his ears, becoming the only thing he could hear.

Adrian loaded the last shell, and clumsily stood up, and started running as painful as it was. The cut in his side and had stopped bleeding for now, but it hurt horrendously. Adrian saw one of the outlying ruined cabins ahead of him, with a small window as a point entry, due to most of it being collapsed. Adrian beelined towards the window, risking a look back. The creatures were still moving slowly, apparently enjoying stalking prey with nowhere to go. As he neared the small black square of a window, Adrian heard the things pace pick up, and without hesitation, Adrian dived head first into the window. He cleared it, slamming into cold and wet floorboards. Recovering quickly, Adrian crawled the six foot distance to the far wall of the ancient abode. Reaching it, he turned around, stood up and leaned against the back wall, and aimed the shotgun directed at the small window. There was nothing but shadows at first, but the slurping sound got louder and louder. As he watched the window, He saw one of the black, three clawed hands grasp the sill of the window as the creature lowered it's head to look in the window. The second it's head peeked out, Adrian fired. The top of it's head exploded, flinging it backward, it's hideously long limbs flailing and twitching in the air. With a sickening crunch and a whine of splitting wood, a grey fist punched through the wall of the cabin, the arm clawing everywhere, whipping back and forth. He saw something rush by the window, heading towards his right. The right side of the cabin was heavily collapsed, and through the crisscrossing logs, the monster began making it's slippery way through, bubbling excitedly.