NOVEL NEXT Chapter 94: In The Shadows, 5
He glanced at the upside down cross and thought about what it could mean, but alas, nothing comes into his mind. Thus, he went on and moved forward. Once he arrived outside, he glanced from left to right, and deduced where could the ghouls have gone.
After giving a few thoughts about it, he made the decision to go left, retracing his steps and going in the other direction from where he branched his steps. With utmost precise and quiet steps, moving cautiously under the cover of darkness, he hugged the wall with his back and moved forward.
All over the surroundings, silence prevailed. There was not much noise being made. Except for the sound of the wind shifting direction as its natural path was blocked by the towering structures, there was also the sound of chewing from the rats underground.
Albeit the sounds were worse, the disgusting stench of the streets mixed with the smell of ash constantly assaulted his nose. It was so horrendous that he gaged, that was only stopped by the sheer will of a mountain that he maintained at all costs. Because if he did, then the momentary pause and noise it will make could cost him his life.
Moments passed by, and he arrived at the intersection which he crossed earlier. He raised his foot and was about to place it down, when his senses tingled and so he stopped it, by letting it hover in the air, and retracting it back beside him.
Just as he retracted his foot, a loud sound came and a cloud of smoke came blowing past him. Under the cloud of smoke, his eyes widened as he stared at it, because inside the smoke, he saw a glowing red eye that was staring back at him. It was as if the abyss which he have mistakenly looked upon, have stared back at him.
Almost instantly, fear gripped his heart, and anxiety came flooding into his mind. Thankfully, years of experiences triggered a hidden instinct between him, and without him knowing and having the will to do it. His body started to move, and at the same time, time slowed down for him as adrenaline came into his bloodstream, and with it his heart came to beat faster into the rhythm of the battlefield.
Sweat dripped down from his forehead, and without sparing a second thought, his body quickly moved. He rapidly turns his right foot and faced the opposite direction and with a speed of a wolf, he dashed in the opposite direction. For some reason, if he faced that monster, then he would be at a disadvantage, which is not really that favourable for him.
Numerous thoughts came flashing into his mind. Confusion reigned, yet he maintained his decisiveness. Even if he froze due to fear, his years of experience in the battlefield would counter that and let his instincts reign over and beat the crap out of fear, as he recover from the initial shock, and thus, soon enough as he quickly dodge with haste the numerous obstacles that came into his view, he regained his composure and with it his situational awareness.+
However, the question remained. How did it know he was there? Could it easily detect him? He does not know, and not knowing, is not exactly the best feeling in the world, especially when your life is at risk. Nevertheless, he nimbly jumped and rolled over at the right times and on the right cue.
Once he had gained enough distance, he glanced over his shoulder to know what was chasing him, and once he saw it, he was again confused. Just as earlier, the ghoul was shrouded in a cloud of dust, which blocks his view from seeing what was inside. Fortunately, he could roughly guess the shape and how large the ghoul is.
When he deduced it, he was astonished; it was the same size and height as the fat man. Which means killing it would be tough, especially if he could not see where the ghoul is, where the head was, where was its armour and all of that. Not only that, these fat men have self defense systems as numerous arms and limbs were all over its bodies.
Even though not all fat men have defense systems, he must assume that these have, as he could not fully focus on it, and so he should at the very least assume the worst-case scenarios.
Quagmire kept on running and running. He was getting tired, but the ghoul does not seem to have a limit, and so his situation grew worse, thus he wracked his mind trying to find a solution to his problems. He glanced from left to right as he dodges and jumps, which unfortunately, he found nothing useful or anything at all, all broken.
Fortunately, as he was running, he caught something interesting in the periphery of vision. There was a house that was not yet destroyed, and with a pleasant smile that was more of a smile of relief and desperation, he exerted his final strength and dashed for the entrance.
Once he was near, he nimbly changes his footing so that he would be stopped and would arrive at a proper time before the entrance. When he was at the entrance, he grabbed the handle and twisted it; the lock clicked and opened, and with absolute haste he entered and smashed the door.
With a few seconds left to spare, he moved onto the second floor, and just as expected, the gigantic ghoul smashed itself at the front and destroyed the entrance. Sparing no thought, he opened the window and hopped into the roof and jumped from roof to room, and after a few moments, he hid inside a chimney that has a platform inside.
Overhead, he could hear the ghoul smashing stuff. When it became frustrated, it screamed at the top of its lungs, because it lost its prey. Quagmire watched everything unfold, and his desire to eliminate the ghouls in this base grew stronger and stronger.
With that in mind, he devised a more refined plan for the annihilation of all ghouls in this fortress.