Chapter 37. New Beginning (9)
【Kiaaaaak!】
【Kuaaaaak!】
We quickly sensed that the situation had drastically changed. We couldn't help but notice. We looked at each other with pale, terrified faces.
The rapidly approaching noises caused my heart to malfunction. The sound of my heart pounding in extreme tension echoed through my faint consciousness.
Thump- thump- thump- thump-
Ghouls, acting as if they owned the place, openly emanated their presence. Countless footsteps overlapped, crashing toward us like a wave.
"H-how..."
Nadia accidentally opened her mouth and then quickly shut it in fright, startled by her own voice. Her gaze shifted each time her trembling ears guided her in a new direction.
Everywhere her eyes landed was where the ghouls' voices originated.
From the ventilation duct in the ceiling, beyond the slightly open door, from the station where the shuttle wreck was, and from the darkness between the containers. Our escape routes were closing in as if there were none.
If we didn't act quickly, we would be swept away by the wave of death, leaving no room to react before losing our lives.
'We have to hide.'
Or perhaps run.
Choosing to fight was not an option. The disparity in power was too great for a one-to-many battle. With our current equipment, we couldn't handle more than two ghouls at once.
Just two of them. Considering there were at least ten coming our way, it was hopeless. And we all knew that. The question mark shaking like aspen leaves on Carry's monitor was proof of that.
Desperately, I darted my gaze around, scanning the surroundings. Perhaps because tension had seized my mind, my breathing and my vision seemed to elongate, flowing sluggishly.
Hide among the container stacks?
No, that place was already compromised. While the all-encompassing darkness provided ample cover, it was more adept at serving as a monstrous maw than as a refuge. Approaching it now would mean a silent death.
So, the tightly closed break room?
That wouldn't work either. This disaster was caused by the madman inside. Even if we begged to be let in, the chances were close to zero. I couldn't gamble Nadia and Carry's lives on such a slim possibility.
'Where on earth should we go...!'
Even without doing anything, the deafening screams rattled my eardrums, making breathing challenging. It felt like someone had a stranglehold around my neck.
Desperately seeking a hiding place, what caught my eye was a restroom tucked in a corner of the warehouse.
〈Restroom〉
【Always maintain cleanliness. Warning: The plumbing of this facility is damaged. Contact maintenance immediately.】
As soon as I saw the half-open door, I grabbed Nadia's hand and ran. As if she had been thinking the same thing, she increased her pace and followed without a word.
With the destination set, Carry boosted its thrusters and dashed toward the restroom door. In the blink of an eye, it used its auxiliary arm to fully open the door, checking for lurking monsters.
Perhaps there weren't any ghouls hiding inside. Carry urged us to move faster by bobbing its floating form up and down. In just a moment, Nadia and I threw ourselves through the door opened by Carry.
As we slid through the door, Carry closed it as if it had been waiting for this moment. Though we hadn't run for long, leaning against the door, we panted heavily, struggling to catch our breath.
【Kiaaaaaak!】
The ghouls pouring into the cargo sector made their entrance almost simultaneously. They began demolishing everything in their path, perhaps searching for what had triggered their nerves. Or at least, that was the noise we heard.
The sound of buckling metal, shattering glass, footsteps crunching over broken shards, tearing wails—sound, sound... sound. Indescribable noises shook through my head.
Had we had more time, Nadia might have manipulated the circuits to enforce a lockdown on the door. But there wasn't enough time for that. As it stood now, the restroom door was merely closed, without any lock.
This meant if something on the outside pushed to come in, it would easily swing open. All we could do was fervently hope they directed their interest elsewhere.
In case a suspicious ghoul decided to yank open the restroom door and peek inside, standing idly by the door wouldn't do. We needed to find a more proper hiding spot.
"Huuu..."
Nadia's pupils, enlarged from fear, were trembling intensely. Still clasping her hand, I turned on the flashlight attached to my shoulder to illuminate the interior.
The only solace was knowing the door, like all in the base, was constructed out of metal, preventing light from leaking out.
For some reason, all the lights in the restroom had been smashed, the reason for which I discovered right away. I spotted a disabled security robot with an EMP emitter on its arm raised toward the ceiling.
I guess it made sense. Scattered around the robot were—well, what used to be bodies, now dismembered limbs strewn about without torsos. It seemed the robot, turned murder machine, had recklessly fired EMPs, breaking every light.
"..."
The scant light from the flashlight fell upon the gruesome remains. The scent of blood rising from the ground reached my nose belatedly.
The stench of blood was so pungent it seeped through my respirator, pricking my senses sharply. Already pounding dangerously, my heart seemed to find this insufficiency, thundering even harder.
'...they're all dead.'
It wasn't a feigning ghoul. If it were, it would have attacked us when Carry opened the door, far earlier when we were catching our breath against the door.
The darkened restroom was solely illuminated by a lone flashlight.
Water droplets plinked from damaged pipes, the floor was soaked with blood, ammonia smells embedded deeply within the space, and various foul odors vied to assert their presence.
Silently, we moved toward an empty stall. Even here, bodies were sprawled about—suits peeled away with skin, signaling they had fallen victim to maximum-power EMP blasts.
Though I neither wanted to know nor see, to hide in these stalls we had no choice but to push the bodies aside, experiencing it all with our eyes and hands.
Such vividly grotesque sensations originated to me at that moment.
【No, no! Stay away! Damn it, get lost! None of you can come in!】
The words rang out—a frantic shout from the man at the core of this chaos. Though the barrier of the door only faintly carried his voice, it was clear enough to understand the situation. More than clear.
【Damned system...! You tampered with the store! Summon all remaining security robots ASAP! Call them before—】
【Kiaaaaak!】
Amidst the ghastly wail, the sound of tearing metal echoed. The cry of ghouls, overrun like maddened hounds, appeared to cease his life; only silence followed the abruptness. Despite the sudden quiet, what was occurring felt vividly imaginable. In this wordlessness, one's imagination easily soared, envisioning horrors.
Gouging his already-cold remains with claws,
Stabbing, stabbing, and stabbing again—a butchered body, toy-like in their depraved handling.
With Nadia, I crammed myself into a stall, once cleared of the body clutter. Carry, because of its size, had to hide in a different stall. We implored it to stay hidden, no matter what, eliminating worry over mishaps involving it.
Our focus needed to be on our safety. We couldn't move a step outside until the ghouls beyond withdrew.
We turned off the flashlight, plunging the restroom back into darkness. With sight cut off, the sensitivity of my other senses intensified.
Dropped water droplets were audible, shivering breaths echoed, the chill of cold air was palpable, and the tangible presence of ghouls patrolling outside became apparent.
【Kuaaaaak!】
【Kiaaaak!】
The ghouls who had barged in unleashed a collective scream before sounds of rummaging echoed. Was it fortunate among misfortune; this noise didn't last long. Appearing to vent their fury, they were now retreating.
- They are retreating. I hear metal plates. They seem to be climbing into the ventilation shafts.
Nadia pinged me with a trembling hand via hologram communication. Her hands shook so violently that without auto-correct for typing errors, the message might have been indecipherable.
At that very moment when all our focus was outward,
Bang!
The sudden pounding against the restroom door impacted my heart like a blow. Now I understood what it meant for one's heart to drop. The sinking feeling was so intense, it verged into buoyancy.
"......!"
Nadia's tail instinctively shot up before curling tightly between her legs. She kept her mouth pursed tightly, trying to suppress any sound, though the respirator inhibited a perfect seal.
Her errant hands sought a grasp in the air before clutching tightly onto me. With eyes tightly shut, Nadia halted her breathing.
I mirrored her, equally as silent, because signs of a lone ghoul tearing down the restroom door, its entrance signified by screeching iron, now reverberated in our ears. The fact the door couldn't withstand force, due to lacking emergency lockdown, was evident in its haunted destruction.
Perhaps the ghoul's brutality shook the water pipes—resulting in the sound of water forcefully spurting out with a 'whoosh'—
【Krrrr?】
Was it unfamiliar with the feeling of stepping on water? A squelching sound emerged and lingered, indicating roaming.
... Squelch, squelch, ...squelch
Just water sounds, yet. Each splattering droplet left us breathless. Should these auditory waves be visualized, they'd be small ripples hitting walls, marking our presence with fixation.
The steadily encroaching sounds and the aura had nearly strangled us out of breathing.
... Squelch ...squelch ...squelch
They approached gradually. The ghoul mumbling a subtle dirge.
If it were alone, I'd have charged out, ended it swiftly with a single strike. But not all the monsters had left. Several still lingered in the cargo bay.
Squelch-
When the water's sound finally halted before us, thoughts spiraled endlessly. Now we were in a standoff, only a restroom stall door between us and the ghoul.
Did it know we were here? The ghoul ceased all movement, or so it seemed.
'... One chance. With a single, decisive move.'
If it dared to open the stall door, ready to pierce its throat with a plasma cutter, to silence it before any noise was made, I braced myself.
Squeezing my hand with rising force, in the next instant,
Bang!
【Kiaaaaak!】
The ghoul abruptly demolished a stall partition, lashing out with its arm. The darkened restroom filled with sounds of breaking and tearing. But no burst of bright plasma energy was visible.
It was understandable, for the ghoul attacked a stall to the side, not ours. Had the realization dawned any later, disaster might've struck.
The stall it assaulted was where we'd piled up bodies. To divert attention, of course, effectively done so, it seemed.
【Rrrrr...】
Its growls, noise grating through its throat, conveyed satisfaction. Sounds of it dragging bodies out disrupted the restroom's stillness as the ghoul vanished with its prey, plodding slowly away.
Finally, the ghoul exited through a forcibly broken ventilation outlet. The dull clamor of rattling metal extended farther and farther away.
Until that noise completely disappeared, we ground our teeth. Making even the slightest sound felt like an invitation for its return.
After a little while, all the sounds vanished.
"Phew...."
Only then could we finally exhale the breath held captive. Inhaling offered the ammonia-rich scent, now subdued, from the spraying water.
Now, I could explicitly state; the real enemy wasn't the danger but humans—a volatile time bomb waiting to go off.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【(；☉_☉)】