I took a mont to count the hooks I had in the bag and, as Id suspected based on their weight, there werent enough to attempt another climb. I considered using them to get as high as possible, then using the jump pack to try and make it the rest of the way, but quickly saw the many ways in which that could go wrong. Still considering my options and not eager to climb back the way Id co, I started walking along the cliff wall, hoping that the Pilgrim had simply affixed his hooks to another spot on the cliff further up, I walked a mile up and saw nothing, deciding to turn back. I made it a quarter mile further than where Id started, when I felt vibrations in the ground. I cursed, and started walking with the strange gait Id adopted before descending into the Cut itself. This ti though, the vibrations kept building. I was too late to fool whatever predator was hunting below ground.
I broke into a run, drawing my shotgun as I did so. The vibrations kept building, until I could swear I felt sothing burrowing less than a dozen yards behind . Suddenly, I felt another set of vibrations, deeper in the earth, and approaching from the opposite side. I was surrounded. I considered my options, wondering if the Cerberus could cut through enough earth to damage whatever was hunting before it reached the surface, when ahead and to my right I noticed a darker patch of cliff wall and realized it was a cave.
I made an abrupt change of path, turning toward the cave and trying to create as much distance between myself and the creatures below as I could. As I turned to enter the cave, I froze. Just inside the entrance was a monster, far more horrifying than anything Id ever encountered before. It looked like a long pile of twisted flesh, covered in thick blisters and scabs across its body. It had multiple sets of arms and legs, each covered in thick plates that reminded of the calluses I had on my hands from holding my guns, or swinging my sword. The worst part of it though, was what I assud was its face. It had an enormous mouth, filled with human-like teeth as far back as I could see, its nose was above it, stretched to the point of near breaking, and it had no eyes that I could see, though they may have been buried in layers of sickening flesh.
I went to raise my shotgun and fire, but as I went to do so, a massive maw appeared beneath , and I found myself being swallowed by the twin of the creature in front of . I clawed at the ground, trying to keep from being pulled down, my shotgun swallowed ahead of . I left deep rends in the ground, but it was no use. I felt myself be consud, the teeth of the creature scraping and tearing at as I slid down into darkness.
I wasnt sure of how much ti had passed in the creatures stomach. I fought, and clawed, and bit. I struggled for breath, finding odd air pockets that let take a single shallow breath, but never enough of one to fill my lungs. Eventually, I didnt have the strength to move, but I was cursed with consciousness nonetheless. Whatever healing ability I had seed to be sohow keeping alive and aware in spite of my own desire for so kind of release into oblivion.
Eventually, I was expelled. I lacked the awareness to be certain of how, but I found myself suddenly able to breath. I slled rot, and carrion in the air, and as I laid where I was my senses, which had dulled in what I assud was so kind of attempt at self preservation, slowly ca back into focus. I was facing a cavernous ceiling, smooth, which indicated to that it was unnatural. I slowly and painfully turned my head to the side, not eager to sit up in case the monsters were nearby, and found that I was laying atop a pile of corpses. To my right were a half dozen dead chaleon coyote like the one Id encountered at the start of journey, and to my right were a few more, as well as several mutated animals I didnt fully recognize, one of which looked a bit like a Bloodmane, but long sharp spines grew like twisted horns from its back. I also saw, thankfully, the shotgun Id lost only a yard away from .
I slowly moved to sit up, grabbing the shotgun and sliding it into my pack. It was covered in viscera and dirt and I didnt want to risk a misfire. The inside of my pack was dry though, and I pulled out the cerberus. If there was ever a ti I needed heavy firepower, it was now.
I stood, finding myself in the center of a pit. I felt hot, in spite of the fact that I was underground, and realized that it was radiation, seeping through the walls of the caverns in thick almost overwhelming waves beyond anything Id ever felt before. With my senses so overtaken I didnt notice when one of the beasts Id seen earlier crept to the edge of the pit.
I froze, staying completely still, and watched as it dragged one of the corpses to the edge of the pit, and started biting into it greedily, taking out a leg in a single bite. It was smaller than the ones Id encountered so far, maybe half their size. I watched as it quickly devoured its al, and then moved off into one of the many underground paths that seed to branch off from the cavern in which I had found myself. It hadnt seen , which confird my theory that it was blind. I crept along to the edge, moving slowly, and without rhythm, to make my way out of the pile of corpses.
I began making my way around the edge of the cavern. I inhaled deeply trying to catch a whiff of fresh air, and looked for any paths that seed to slope upward. I didnt detect the scent of fresh air, my senses were too overwheld by the scent of the carrion pit behind , and the powerful radiation that surrounded . I was able to find a path that seed to slope upward though, so I began to follow it. The path continued for a long ti, then began to break off into more paths. I went down whichever ones seed to move upward, needing to backtrack at a few dead ends, or collapsed tunnels, continuing to walk in a way Id hoped was undetectable. At one point I heard the approach of one of the creatures, and I had to press myself against the wall to avoid the grasping, misshapen harms that reached out blindly, seeking purchase as it moved. One of them brushed gently against my chest, but it continued moving, not taking any notice of my presence.
I let out a breath, and kept moving. Id seen horrors in the wastes, experienced them too, since the day I was born, but the mont the creature touched I felt a revulsion unlike anything Id ever experienced. After walking through a few more tunnels, continuing to do my best to stay alert, I reached a dium sized antechamber. At first it seed to be empty, but then I noticed several of the creatures piled into a corner, sleeping on top of each other, their huge forms rising and falling like a horrid mountain made of flesh. I went to keep moving, when I paused, looking at the wall nearest to . It had marks on it. I took a half step, dragging my foot then making a hop and turning around, still trying not to walk with any recognizably human or animal gait. Looking closer on the wall, I saw what I could only describe as art. They were long rends, clearly made with the claws of the creatures, leaving deep grooves in the rock. The grooves were made in primarily spiral patterns, but a few of them looked almost like approximations of hands or feet, drawn into the wall itself. The creatures were blind, but they mustve been able to feel what they created, or sense it in so way I wasnt aware of. I felt the sense of revulsion I had grown, forming a sickening pit in my stomach.
I pushed it down, and looked for another path. I saw two. One that sloped sharply down right in front of , and one that seed to curve upward, right next to the creatures in their slumbering mass. I took a deep breath, and started making my way toward the path next to them.
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