Chapter 37, Death Of A Beast.
~6.6~
Everyone was listening to a story Pain was telling, she wandered into camp about an hour ago and the first ting she said was "Okay, you gotta hear this fucking story."
"And then he just dragged me down the hall until we reached this big room with a dwarf in it, and man was that weird." Pain continued the story, "Then I just said my name and everyone began burning, it's a good thing I stole Mullins lighter apparently."
She continued on story, going into gruesome detail about each freaks death, Etrius looked over and saw Kim standing with everyone else, she was signaling him, he used another signal to show she had his attention, she made a few more signals and Etrius knew he had to go, he looked back to see everyone seemed to want to leave.
"I think The general needs more detail." Etrius said.
"I ripped out it's throat, making sure to do it by the pressure points, before let it bleed out!" Pain growled as she turned to the general and made some motions.
Etrius silently slipped away and began to head over to everyone else.
"So Razor's gone?" Etrius asked quietly.
"We don't know when he left." Kim said as she held out a note, "Boomer found that on Mr. Teddy Boggles."
Etrius took the note and quickly read it.
"Damn him." Etrius said quietly, "Where do you think he went?"
"Like he said." Kim said as she took the note and held it up to him, "Someplace extreme."
"We need to find him." Kim said, "I have a strong feeling he's doing something stupid."
"He's always doing something stupid." Boomer said, "But here, it's probably something extra stupid."
"Are you coming?" Kim asked.
"Of course." Etrius said, "If he's in danger than it's something all of us should worry about."
Kim nodded and they all began to head off, they went through the castle until Boomer nudged Kim.
"I think he went into the tunnels to skateboard." Boomer said.
"Seems right." Kim said.
"Then we should go look." Lloyd said as he began heading that way.
They all hurried off to the tunnels and went in, they then began to explore, no one saw him at all.
"I know he's around here somewhere." Boomer said, "I know him too well."
"This way." Kim said suddenly as she turned down another hallway.
They followed her and soon they reached a rather large room, Razor was laying in the middle of the floor, Boomer went to go in but Kim quickly grabbed him, she shoved him to the wall.
"What gives?!" Boomer asked angrily.
"Shut your mouth!" She hissed at him.
He was quiet as she looked out into the room.
"Etrius, you'll have to go." Kim said.
"What's happening?" Beecher asked.
"He's the only one who won't die stepping into that room." Kim said, "It's some sort of trap."
"Damn." Boomer said as Kim let him go from the wall.
"Alright, I'll go." Etrius said.
"Just be careful." Kim said, "Don't stress out."
Etrius looked into the room silently, he went in and quickly looked around, he had his pistol for good measure.
"Lloyd, no." Kim said quickly as she turned to him, "You need your sword."
Lloyd let go of his sword, he looked back at Etrius.
"Will you be alright?" He asked.
"Shh!" Kim suddenly shushed.
It was now dead quiet, Etrius turned his attention back to Razor, he began to cautiously make his way over to him, holding onto his pistol tightly, he reached Razor's side and nudged him, he didn't react at all, Etrius looked around slightly, something in the corner of his vision suddenly caught his attention, he looked quickly to see a large black tendril swaying slightly, it suddenly bolted towards him, he grabbed Razor and moved out of the way before it could reach them.
"Etrius!" Kim shouted.
He quickly threw Razor to Boomer, the tendril then changed course to them, no one else seemed to see it, but Kim did grab Boomer and forced him someplace else.
"Etrius!" Kim shouted again, "Run, damnit!"
Etrius saw the tendril was coming right for him, he got out of the way quickly, he then shot at it, out of a crack in the wall came another tendril, it's attention was on Kim and the others, knowing he was the only one to see them he knew what to do, he began signaling to Lloyd what to do while also trying to keep attention on the one that was after him, Lloyd was doing good for himself following Etrius's orders, after a while of dancing with the tendrils and Lloyd attempting to attack them they slammed into the ground, out of a crack came... something.
It was a complete skeleton of a person, but they had what looked to be some sort of snout and horns, it moved in a way Etrius had never seen a person move and the tendrils set it down, glowing white eyes shot up at him, the tendrils then shot towards him as the creature attempted to run at him, running in a way he has never seen.
Etrius went to move out of the way but was immobilized, he couldn't even turn his head, then everything seemed to turn to slow motion, he felt as if he couldn't even breathe, almost as if his body was accepting it's fate even though his mind knew it could get away, it was almost as if they were fighting, his broken arm began to hurt, when it reached inches away from him something happened, something he knew was going to happen in the back of his mind but attempted to avoid.
Kim stepped out in front of him.
Watching the tendrils pierce her skin and and lift her Etrius was helpless, still unable to move, still unable to breathe, completely...
Useless.
Utterly useless to everyone around him.
What he feared most of all in life.
The creature ran to her and wrapped his skeletal hands around her throat, it pulled both tendrils out of her before tossing her aside, her lifeless corpse rolling slightly before left to rest, Etrius left to watch the life drain from her human eye, a single tear dripping from it, and that's when everything went wrong.
Wrong for that THING...!
Etrius moved in a blink of an eye, he grabbed the creature and quickly moved to the wall, shoving it into the wall.
"You're dead, BASTARD!" Etrius shouted.
He then threw it into another wall, then was immediately next to it, he grabbed it and forced it back into that wall, he wasn't worried at all about the tendrils, seeing as how he could see them easily, now he felt as if this thing wasn't a threat at all, he was easily taking it on but it wasn't enough, he just lost something dear to him, and nothing could ever replace her. EVER!
He felt his anger build up rapidly, then it felt as if it burst out of his back, it was painful but Etrius didn't care, black tendrils sprung from behind him before it shot to the creature, the tendrils then ripped it apart, now in a blackout rage he didn't stop, he had never felt so powerful, he had...
Remembered Kim.
Etrius was quickly pulled back to reality, he looked around quickly to see Beecher, Lloyd, Boomer and Razor next to Kim, Razor still appeared unresponsive, he quickly ran over.
"Beecher?!" He asked, desperation in his voice, "I-is she...?!"
Beecher was silent as he was searching for a pulse.
"Even if she were... she'd need a full operating room and..." Beecher trailed off as he lowered his head, "Nothing can be done..."
Beecher lowered his head more and looked away, Etrius's world quickly began to come down as he looked at her laying in her own pool of blood, it crashed down on him as he saw just how much there was.
Lloyd slammed his fist on the ground before he jumped on top of her, he immediately began to preform CPR.
"She wouldn't just give up on us!" He shouted, "Help, damnit!"
Etrius quickly clenched his fists, he let out a low growl before he grabbed her human arm, he then thought about her, how happy she usually was, and he wanted it back, he wanted her back.
He give his own life to have her back.
"Gah!" Kim suddenly gagged up blood.
"Kim?!" They all asked as they grabbed her.
She coughed up more blood before she began to breathe right, she was shaking tremendously and was in obvious pain, they all looked at Beecher for guidance, it seemed almost as if he didn't even know what to do, now Etrius had to take charge.
"Boomer, Lloyd, help stop the bleeding." Etrius ordered quickly, "Beecher's the fastest, so go get help!"
Beecher quickly jumped to his feet and ran off, Boomer and Lloyd then began doing their best to stop the bleeding with Etrius.
"Boomer?" Razor asked tiredly.
"Deal with him." Etrius said as he looked at Boomer, "We got her."
Boomer turned his attention to Razor quickly, Razor was obviously dazed but was talking normally enough, once he finally grasped what was happening he was right there to help, he opened her arm and pulled out surgical thread and a needle, he then quickly began to stitch her back up.
"That should hold for now." Razor said, "But she definitely has raptured organs."
He stood up and looked around.
"You said Beecher went to get help?" Razor asked as he looked at Etrius.
"Yeah." He replied.
"God I hope they bring a stretcher." Razor said, "She's in bad shape."
They waited a few minutes before they saw Beecher come back with more medics, they saw he had a stretcher with him, they got her back to the camp as quickly, but calmly, as possible, once back she was taken into Beecher's medical tent and that's where they were for what felt like forever.
Beecher came out of the tent in blood stained nurse scrubs, he took off a medical mask as the other medics began to leave, one patting Beecher on the shoulder, after they walked away he looked at everyone else.
"There's... not much more for us to do." He said solemnly, "I don't know how long she'll last, she lost a lot of blood."
"You need a donor?" Lloyd asked as he stood up, "I'm right here."
He held out his arm quickly.
"I always knew having the same blood-type as her was a good thing." Lloyd said, "And I'm sure I'm the only one here with B+."
Beecher seemed to calm down slightly.
"Thanks, Lloyd." He said.
"Of course." Lloyd said, "I ain't giving up on her easily."
Beecher lead Lloyd back into the tent, Boomer looked at Etrius, he made a hand gesture but it was too late, he was already blaming himself.
Etrius got up and went into the tent, Beecher was getting Lloyd ready to exchange blood, he noticed Etrius, then gestured to an area off the tent that was curatined off, Etrius went over and hesitated before he opened the curtain, Kim was laying on the table in peace, just seeing her broke his heart, knowing it was his fault, he went over and looked down at her, he was silent as he watched her chest slowly rise before falling again, sometimes it wouldn't rise for a while.
"There isn't much for us to do." Beecher said from behind him.
Etrius looked over at him, Beecher's head was low and his arms folded.
"We have two cans of oxygen but I know she's be pissed if we wasted it on her." Beecher said, "It was amazing that her heart wasn't pierced, but a lung definitly was, along with her stomach."
He looked away a bit more.
"I... really don't know how much longer she'll survive...." He said quietly, "It's amazing she's alive even now."
Beecher looked over at Lloyd who was watching quietly from a chair.
"I didn't know she was in that bad of shape..." Lloyd said as he looked away.
"We can't do anything about it now." Beecher said as he looked away from him, "But you are right..."
He looked up at him again.
"She wouldn't just give up on us like that." He said.
They all went quiet after that, Etrius looked back at her, she was shaking ever so slightly, then someone else came in, they looked over to see Soldier walking over, he went right over to Kim.
"She looks like she's in bad shape." Soldier said.
"You've been gone awhile." Etrius said.
"I was busy looking for someone." Soldier said.
He moved her hair slightlly and looked at her robotic forehead, it almost seemed like he was trying to see something.
"I knew it..." He said quietly and he looked away, "I better find him faster."
He then walked away, Beecher looked at Etrius with a confused look, Etrius just shrugged, he looked back at Kim quietly, after a minute Beecher went over to Lloyd and started to take the needle out, Etrius watched from where he was, after he got the bag of blood he took it over to Kim, he hooked her to it and stood up straight.
"Now all we can do is hope..." He trailed off.
Etrius quickly grabbed Beecher's arm and began to drag him off, he quickly looked at Lloyd.
"She's not here to help so we'll be right back." Etrius said.
Lloyd nodded and Etrius took Beecher away, they left the camp and found their way back to the room they were stuck in a while ago, Etrius finally let him go and turned to him.
"Don't beat yyourself up about it." He said, "This situation is different, you don't have averything you needed, and there was no avoiding it, you did everything you could and it's enough to make her proud."
Beecher was quiet as he looked away.
"I know..." He said, "But you should take that advice."
He quickly looked back at Etrius.
"This isn't your fault, I know you're blaming yourself, but I knew she wouldn't just let you die." Beecher said, "She probably didn't see any way out of that without someone dying, and she chose it to be herself for a reason."
Etrius was quiet.
"I know you brought me here to try and cheer me up, but if I learned anything from Kim is when to tell when someone else needs it more than I do." Beecher said, "So I'm willing to support while she's gone, for her."
Etrius lowered his head.
"I didn't want this to happen." He said quietly.
Beecher went over and pulled him into a hug.
"None of us did." Beecher said, "But it's her personallity to save other's over herself."
The two of them were quiet as they stood there, Beecher rested his head on Etrius shoulder, Etrius could feel him sobbing, he finally hugged him back in an attempt to comfort him, he wasn't sure how Lloyd or Boomer were taking it, and now he was hoping Razor's depression wouldn't come back because of this, but there wasn't anything for them to do.
Only pray.
~Oh...~
Shit that was sad.
But it was also really true, she wouldnt just let them die like that, so I appreciatte that.
But DAW!
It's so sad!
Anyways, sorry forr this chapter, I wwould havve said that I hoped you enjoyed but this isn't that kind of chapter....
And I'm sorry Etrius, it was my decision to kill her off, but hey, we got a better plot now! Haha... ha... sorry.