A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.
After they had exited the bedroom, (f/n) was somewhat lost. She knew that the kitchen was to her left, and Brent had never gone down that way. Luckily, the shutter path had been completely straight. If they went straight down the current hallway, they might find themselves back in that area with the many rooms. Hopefully, the creature wouldn't still be there. There was also the problem that they were backtracking from the center of the lower level and entering that wretched kitchen.
All in all, she wanted to forget about Brent's hand wounds and continue on with her original plan. They would meet up with Nick and Tara quicker that way as well, but Nick and she hadn't explored the area around the kitchen at all. So, they might've missed something valuable.
As she considered these positives, she was already heading down the hallway. She could hear Brent behind her, but she caught the sound of something crinkling also. Curious, she glanced back to him. He was opening a granola bar. Her stomach growled quietly to where he couldn't hear. Never did she expect a plain granola bar to appear so tantalizing.
The constant gruesome images would've ruined her appetite if it weren't for the fact that she was in a constant survival situation. Not to mention that she hadn't eaten for several hours, and she needed energy to keep open her tired eyes. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped and started staring.
Brent nearly ran into her and caught her gaze in the process. He scoffed and walked past her. "Sorry, I lost my camera already today. I'm not losing my only snack. Besides ..." The male held up his hands. "It's covered in my blood. You don't want that in your mouth. If you do, then we're going to have some issues." His hands lowered back to in front of him.
She rolled her (e/c) eyes and went to walk beside him. "I have no intention of trying your blood." (F/n) did have a desire to snatch the bar out of his hands, though, but she forced herself to resist. There didn't need to be a conflict between them, and another thought crossed her mind. "I don't think that I'll be having meat for awhile either." An involuntary gag emitted from her. "My stomach couldn't take it. I just want a warm drink and a fireplace after we get out."
"Such simple things." He took another bite from his bar, but he caught any fallen crumbs and put them in his jacket pockets. "I just want a nice payment after all of this. All of us should get the full reward for having to deal with this sh*t. F*ck the rule about killing that thing. It would kill anyone before they got the chance to even leave a mark on it."
Nearly, she boasted about her previous escape from it. She kept quiet, however, not wanting her luck to turn against her. Brent's chances of surviving this were low in her opinion. With him being so obsessed with the reward, he could easily lose sight of a onetime escape. Her eyes peered to his hands again. "How did you get away from the creature with only those wounds? Nick mentioned that the creature targeted you."
He was about to answer, but he halted for a moment. "You've seen Nick?"
Not stopping, she nodded. "Yes, and Tara. I got separated from them after the creature attacked me. I haven't seen them since, but they're headed for the center to find the supply stash. That's why we need to hurry with your hands so that we have a better chance of meeting up with them."
Walking again, he took another bite of his snack. After a swallow, he responded, "Good, I thought that one of them might be dead by now, but it seems like all of us have expected someone to be dead." He blew some red bangs out of his face. "With any luck, they're still together. Laura's the one at the most risk now."
A knot formed in her stomach. She agreed. They were at least in pairs. If (f/n) saw her friend alive after this, she would be surprised but incredibly grateful. "You mentioned that you got away from one of the creature's attacks? How?" Brent asked as he glanced around. There was a room to their right up ahead, and both of them were nervous about the creature popping out from within.
"You answer my inquiry about your hands first."
His eyes stared down at them, and he visibly winced. "The creature cornered me at one point. My flashlight had been knocked away, and I only had my camera. I had to use it against that thing. The creature swiped it out of my hands, and, in the process, it cut my palms with its nails. That had been enough time for me to retrieve my flashlight and run away. I don't know how I lost it, but it seemed uninterested after that attack."
"The creature has interest in all of us. He's playing around. Otherwise, we all would've been killed already. He can outrun us easily I believe, and our strength is nothing in comparison to his own. Light is one of his weaknesses, though. If we come across him, turn your flashlight on high and shine it at him. That's how I mainly got away."
"That would make sense." He took the last bite of his bar and shoved the wrapper in his right pocket. "I doubt that it has been exposed to harsh light often, but why do you keep calling it a he? It's a monster, not a person. I don't care if it has human male characteristics. It doesn't deserve that kind of recognition."
"I'm not saying that he deserves anything. I just find it easier to call him by that pronoun. You have your own preference. It's not really a concern."
Scoffing, he shoved his hands in his pants' pockets. "It is. I don't need to be walking through this death maze with someone who might get attached to the thing. Next thing, you'll want to hug the creature."
Offended, she almost slapped him, but she didn't want to create too much of a scene. Then again, he was the one causing this. She would just handle it better. "That's quite the assumption to make." Her voice did rise with each word, however. "I have no intention of that." (F/n) moved a little bit ahead so that she wouldn't punch him.
"The thing has tried to kill me on multiple accounts. Why on earth would I try to defend him? Someone could chop off his head, and I wouldn't give a d*mn. That would be the better for all of us." She spun on her heel, and he ran almost into her. Her right index finger struck him several times in the middle of his chest. "Stop creating trouble where none needs to exist! If we can't work together, we'll both probably die or get nowhere. And, I doubt that you want to spend the rest of your life in a closet with a corpse."
Whacking her hand away, he pushed her aside and continued on walking. "I need to fix my hands. Hurry up already. Then, we can meet everyone else." His tone hadn't lightened at all, but he dropped the subject at least.
Several choice words left her mouth in a mumble, and he didn't pick up on a single one. Laura really needed to better pick her other friends. Nick and Tara weren't bad, but Brent was on the other end of the spectrum. She couldn't wait to get some other company.
They made a left turn and found themselves back in the hallway where she had last been attacked. From there, she hoped that she could find the way back to the kitchen. She moved to walk in front of Brent, but she didn't like having him behind her. If they encountered the creature, he probably wouldn't give a second thought to sacrificing her to it; she would probably just run.
With luck and a bit of time, she managed to locate the freezer door. It had been left wide open, and that awful smell still came out of it. Brent headed in and chuckled. "I think that I found your snack. Quite a selection that you have."
"Let's just head in further unless you want to sample some."
"I'm good. I already ate." He pushed open the next door and headed over to the sink. (F/n) clenched her fists and waited nearby. She was tempted to grab one of the knives for defense again, but that hadn't turned out so well the last time. Her flashlight was her best bet. Anything else would probably be used against her, and she had no wish to offer anything up to the creature.
Looking to Brent, she noticed that he was taking his sweet time. She refrained from making a snide comment and decided to head over to the swinging doors. (F/n) peered through one of the circular windows and out into the dining hall. Hesitantly, she held her flashlight up by her head.
Rows of metal tables filled the space, but that was about it. She saw a swinging door opposite to the present ones. They could exit through there and head towards the center. About to lower her flashlight, she stopped. The light hit something metal. (F/n) peered back to Brent, and he was wrapping his left hand back up again with new fabric from presumably his shirt. "We're heading out this way when you're done. I see something in the dining space."
"As long as it's not something living, I'm fine with that unless it's one of my friends." He had placed emphasis on 'my,' and she huffed in annoyance. Perhaps, part of his behavior was from the fact that he was jealous of her long time friendship with Laura. Most likely, he wanted more than a friend. Hopefully, Laura would never date someone like him. She pushed the thought aside and waited for him to finish.