I watch as Ramil walks away, leaving me with my back against the shelf and my heart pounding in my chest. I feel my cheeks heat up as I recall our conversation.
Gosh, I'm still baffled by Ramil's approach. Poking me in my chest, pinning me against the wall like that... I never expected Ramil to be so assertive, intimidating, even. It was... kinda cute, to be honest...
My heart continues beating, so I turn back and keep looking for wet food to take my mind off of it. Why am I so flustered right now? It wasn't that serious! Fuck, I can't believe this! I take a deep breath, my irritation evident in my huff. Dammit, Ramil, getting me all hot like that. Who the hell does he think he is!? What an ass--
The ground shakes under my feet as I scroll through the shelf. What the hell? It shakes again. Is this an earthquake or some shit? What's going on!?
The shaking gets more intense, making suppiles fall off the shelves. Okay, what the FUCK is going on here!? "Ramil! What the hell is happening!?" I call out.
"How the hell am I supposed to--"
Ramil's reply gets cut off by the back wall of the store practically exploding! Bricks, rubble, and debris go flying across the store, shaking the building right down to its foundation! I squint my eyes to see what the FUCK just happened, but the dimness of the store keeps me from seeing exactly what it is.
Ramil suddenly runs up on me and grabs my wrist, trying to pull me with him. "Dude, come on!" he demands, yanking on my arm. We start running for the exit with Ramil leading the way, but before we can reach the door, a loud roar erupts through the store, hurting our ears. "AGGH! What the hell!?" Ramil questions.
We look up to see what just made that noise, and what we see is something that him nor I would've ever expected.
A t-rex sized Reaper stands in the hole it created, scanning the Stallmart for its prey. Only one thing comes to my mind when I see it.
"That's a giant fucking Reaper."
Its head suddenly snaps in our direction, its eyes locking onto us like its just spotted a wagyu steak. It roars again before starting on its way towards us. "FUCK!" I shout. Ramil and I get to our feet, and he scans our area quickly. "Over there!" he exclaims, pointing to an employee only door at the back of the store. "That's our exit!" Ramil kicks it into full gear, running ahead for the door.
"Hold up, fast-ass!!" I shout after him, trying to catch up. The Reaper shrieks again, and the ground gets back to shaking as it gives chase. "Shit, shit shit!!" Ramil shouts. His head snaps to his right so quickly, I'm surprised he doesn't get whiplash!
"Rory, watch out!!" he yells. In an instant, Ramil reaches into his satchel and rips out a small juice bottle filled with some yellow liquid. He chucks it to the side just as a Reaper jumps out for me! Fuck, how did I not see that!? I pull out my hammer and swing it like a baseball bat, whacking the Reaper into a nearby shelf.
"Watch your six and flanks!" Ramil demands, grabbing his spear.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean!?" I ask him.
"IT MEANS DON'T GET SNUCK UP ON!!" he shouts back, swinging his spear at another Reaper. I follow his swing with my own, knocking the Reaper back into another one. "We're almost there! Pick up the pace!" Ramil tells me. We're only a few more steps away from getting the fuck outta here! Ramil's hand reaches for the door, and--
"SHIT!!" he yells, suddenly jumping backward. I skid to a stop as the giant Reaper's tail swings down to the floor in the blink of an eye, blocking our path to the door and nearly crushing Ramil while it does! "Fuck! What now!?" I ask him. The Reaper begins spinning around, its tail sweeping across the floor and knocking over the shelves and displays in its path. It's coming straight for us!
"Jump!" Ramil demands, and we leap up to just narrowly avoid the Reaper's tail! It lifts its head up and shrieks again, and we cover our ears to protect ourselves from the deafening sound. "We have to get to the main exit!" Ramil yells, pivoting on his heel. He starts running for the doors, and I follow him. He seems to know better about what to do than I do.
We don't manage to get very far before seeing another small army of Reapers coming our way! "Dammit! Where the hell are they coming from!?" I ask, holding my hammer tightly. Ramil looks behind us, his eyes narrowing on the giant Reaper. "Him!" Ramil says before stabbing a Reaper in the face.
He grabs my wrist and pulls me into an aisle, giving us a temporary escape. "The giant is calling Eldritch into the store whenever it roars. We won't be able to get out of here if it keeps that up!" At the end of the aisle, two Reapers show up and run at us to attack! Ramil smacks on, followed by a stab. I swing my hammer into the other's face and kick it away, giving us an opening to keep running.
We duck into another aisle, looking around to make sure there's no Reapers around to attack us. Ramil whispers, "If we keep going straight for the doors, the giant's gonna keep calling more Eldritch. There's already a lot of them in the store, too. Here's the game plan: I'm gonna go to the main exits and kill all the Eldritch guarding the door. While I'm doing that, I need you to distract the giant."
"What!?" I question. "What the hell am I, the Flash? That shit'll eat me!" I argue.
"I know," Ramil says, reaching into his satchel. He hands me three smokescreens and says, "If the giant ever gets too close to you, throw that at the ground and change directions. Three should be enough for you to keep the giant occupied while I handle the Eldritch at the door. Use them sparingly."
I pocket the smokescreens and look him intently in his eyes. "Are you sure you can handle all those Reapers?" I ask him. Worry tints my voice as I imagine Ramil getting overwhelmed. "Do you wanna try to handle them all?" he asks.
To answer honestly?
Hell no!
I swallow hard, trying to mask my fear. "Okay," I tell him. "Stay safe, man."
"You don't need to worry about me. Don't get caught," Ramil says with a confident grin. Something about it makes me feel more sure this could work.
Ramil gets up and runs for the main exit, spear in one hand, and citrus bomb in another. I sigh and get to my feet, clutching my hammer tightly and waving my arms around. "HEY!! GIANT ASSHOLE!!" I yell out. The giant snaps its head towards me, its eyes narrowing as it growls. "YOU HUNGRY!?" I ask it. "COME GET ME!!"
I turn and book it out the aisle, swerving around displays and CD kiosks. The giant roars before giving chase, its monstrous steps shaking the ground as it runs after me. It catches up to me quickly, closing the distance with a disturbing speed that honestly makes me nervous. "Shit shit shit shit SHIT! I can't believe I came with this crazy bastard!" As I run into the aisle ahead of me, I look over my shoulder and see my face in the reflection of the giant Reaper's teeth.
Fuck.
I can't jump to the side because of the surrounding shelves, but ducking forward will just get me eaten! The good thing about these shelves, though, is that they can move! I grasp my hammer tightly in both hands and plant a foot down firmly, spinning to face the shelf on my right. I shove my hammer against the shelf and launch myself forward, throwing my entire strength and weight into it to knock it over. The shelf falls over and I fall with it, narrowly avoiding getting chomped in half by the giant's razor-sharp teeth! My face knocks against the shelf, and it admittedly does hurt, but I can't stop to worry about that. I'm pretty sure getting chewed into a fine paste hurts a lot more than this.
I flip onto my back and swing my arms out, using all my strength to swing the head of my hammer into the giant's snout. Safe to say, it doesn't work.
The hammerhead breaks like its fucking glass. Because of course it would. The giant's eyes meet mine as it growls. "Yeah, fuck you, too!" I shout angrily, flipping it off. It roars in my face, prompting me to get up and go back to running. I throw the handle at the giant's face to try to distract it, but it doesn't work as well as I'd hoped! I keep trying to run as fast as I can, but I already know I'm gonna start running out of breath soon.
What do I do here? I'm not close to any aisles anymore, so I can't jump out the way! Just then, I remembered the smokescreens Ramil had given me before we split. I pull one out of my pocket and take a deep breath before lifting my hand up high and throwing it down with all my strength, smashing it against the floor. The contents of the small bottle burst into a cloud of dust and ash which effectively block the giant's view and give me a chance to get the fuck outta here!
I pivot on my toes and dash to the right, running through the aisles to get away. I look behind me and see the giant looking around, confused about where I went. Ha! What a dumbass! Now that its not focused on me, I can get to Ramil and--
"RAAAARGGHHH!!!" a Reaper suddenly shrieks, and I whip my head around to see it pouncing at me! "Shit!" I exclaim, my heart skipping a beat. I stop short and drop to the floor, busting my ass from the fall but still avoiding the Reaper's sharp teeth. It soars over me as I get back to my feet. My backside is a little sore but with no serious injury. I reach for my hammer, but remember that it broke just a minute ago. Fuck it! Hands work just fine! "Come at me, fuck head!" I shout, putting my fists up.
The Reaper shrieks and runs at me, its maw wide open and ready to devour me. I step back, weaving out of the way and reaching to grab it. It shifts and I end up smacking my hand against its armor. "AGHH! Shit-!" I groan, stepping back and holding my hand close. If the giant managed to shatter my hammer, I don't even wanna imagine what would happen if I tried to punch one.
It growls at me and tries to attack with another lunge. I need to find a way to get a hold of this guy! He's so damn twitchy!
I avoid the attack and close in to grab the Reaper, but it's already back in motion! It spins around suddenly, its tail smacking my side! "AAAGGHH!!" I shout out, stumbling to the side. The blunt force of its armored tail goes straight to my ribs!I try to grab my side, but feel a spike poking out of it. "F-Fuck!" I groan.
I can't pull the spike out. I could bleed to death! Fuck, how am I gonna handle this thing!? My legs wobble from the pain, but I manage to keep myself standing and facing the Reaper. "T-That all you got, asshole!?" I taunt, my back close to the shelf behind me. The Reaper shrieks loudly and tries to snap at me again, but this time a manage to fight back!
I move to the side but not too far, keeping the Reaper in arm's reach. I reach out and grab its tail, careful not to impale my hand on its spikes. "F-FUCK OFF!!" I yell, spinning around with all the force in my body. I lift the Reaper by its tail and swing it as I spin, throwing it into the shelf against my back!
It shrieks as it topples the shelf over. Once it's vulnerable, I grab a couple soup cans and jam my hands into its mouth, using the cans ti shield my palms from its teeth. "Eat shit!" I yell angrily, yanking its head backward with as much power as I can muster. Its head separates from its jaw, and its black blood spurts out as it dies. "F-Fuck you!" I exclaim, freeing my hands from its mouth.
I stumble back, panting and gripping my side. "RORY, LET’S GO!!" Ramil suddenly shouts. That's my queue! I run towards the doors of the Stallmart, eager to reunite with Ramil. I look around the store and see the giant Reaper lifting its head, preparing a roar to beckon more Reapers. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!" I yell, pulling out one of the other smokescreens and throwing it.
I nail the giant right in the face, getting it to shut its mouth just before it roars. Suddenly, a hand wraps around the collar of my shirt and yanks me forward, and I'm pulled out of the dim store and into the cloudly Stallmart parking lot. "Follow me!" Ramil says, running ahead. My legs ache, and my lungs hurt from all the panting, but I do my best to keep up with him.
Eventually, we duck into a destroyed Wendy's restaurant. Ramil peaks his head out the window, but swiftly ducks back down. "Shh. The giant is heading this way," he whispers.
The ground shakes as the giant gets closer. Its giant silhouette covers the back window, blocking out the limited sunlight. It peeks into the restaurant, looking for us intently. And if we make even the slightest sound, we'll be dead meat.