Escape From Thera: Chapter 3

My boots steps echoed around the stairwell, bouncing away infinitely above and below me. The concrete was hard and the air was stifling, even more so than the outside. It was musty, moist and probably moldy. Thank God for this scarf even though it wasn’t going to do all that much. Tugging on the bill of my hat I grabbed the banister with my other hand. It was dark but I was getting good at seeing in low light environments.

Cresting the stairs, I turned to the next floor and stumbled. My foot had caught in a crack in the ground and sent me stumbling into a wall. My hands smacked against it making the aches in my shoulders resonate.

I let out a soft grunt pressing my forehead against the wall. “Fucking bow muscles.” I said to myself. Probably. It was harsher than I thought though.

Glancing at the crack that had taken my foot I gasped slightly. There was a huge gash in it. Several actually, that looked like they were torn away by something huge. I touched one of the gashes and it was so smooth. I knew that erosion could do things like this but this seemed like more. Something did this more recently.

Trying to be as quiet as possible I stood and got my bearings. Glancing above as I gripped the stairwell a smile broke on my face. In sharpie marker someone wrote out on the ceiling, ‘Eat Shit Jackson.’

“Who’s Jackson? And I guess permanent marker really does last forever. Gotta miss college right?”

Covering my mouth, I snorted a laugh away and started walking again. As I walked the air wasn’t so bad up here. It was actually pretty breezy. I didn’t think air could taste so sweet. I started taking the steps two at a time when a rope smacked me in the face. Thick and corded but fraying at the ages. Why it was here I didn’t know.

Shoving it away I kept walked and crested the top. There was an old metal sign that used to have a number on it. It looked like the number 1 but it had broken into shards. Metal pieces rested on the ground and I picked them up. Holding them over the symbol it made out the number 4.

“Fourth floor huh?” I nodded slowly in thought as I went toward the door. But there wasn’t a handle. Again. Why were all the good doors lacking handles now? Was this a fashion trend that I had fallen out of?

Eyes dropping to the floor again I kicked through the dust and dirt. My foot hit something and it bounced across the floor. It was the old knob, bronze and rusted. Reaching my hand out I ‘caught’ it and it floated in the air. I turned my fingers and it rotated slowly observing it. Splotches of shine still there under the grime. Sadly I couldn’t just shove it back on the door and suddenly make it work.

I tried.

Dropping the door knob, I turned back toward the door. It probably had metal in it. Almost all doors had metal in them. Pointing my hand at it I felt the metal rattling in the door just because I gave it my attention.

Stepping closer to the door I pressed my palm against the former handle. The metal rattled against the door, vibrating slightly and I smiled. I felt the for the tumblers of the lock and made them turn, the deadbolt move, the latch flip and more. Turning my palm it clicked and I swung my arm back. The door did the same, almost smacking my arm as it whisked open.

Grinning I kissed my palm. “I am the best.”

Taking a step through the door the musty smell dipped away to be replaced by outside air. I wasn’t sure which was better at this point. Especially not this strange ass mixture.

Tightening my scarf again I walked the carpet and it crunched under my feet. It was fraying into pieces and burnt by the sun. At least it had some give to it unlike the concrete stairs outside. Turning a corner I stared down a long hallway that was once occupied by bright young students.

Now it was a ravaged reminder of what life once was. The walls were smeared green, black and red. The carpet was torn asunder and scattered against the ground and doors were ripped off their hinges. Some of them were snapped in two while others were hanging on by a thread.

Nothing new here.

Going down the hall, stepping over doors, boxes and shelves I glanced into some of the rooms. They were ransacked, turned over bed frames, shattered windows and broken dressers. A polka dot bra and jeans lay shredded and spilled across the carpet. Yellow sheets lay dragged into the hallway.

I crossed over an old air conditioning combination heating unit and walked into one of the wrecked rooms. It was spacious, meant for two. From the front corridor if I went right I’d find a living room and to the left was the bedrooms. I walked toward the living room where a couch was once setup. The cushions were scattered on the ground, a table lay broken in the middle of the room and a wooden stand somehow remained intact.

The stand had a once flat screen TV on it and I touched the power button. It didn’t respond, cause of course not, but it would’ve been funny if it worked.

“What’s going on America? Today’s forecast is a meteor with a chance of impending doom but the weekend will have nothing but sun.”

Scowling I turned around toward a sink. It was stained brown by something I didn’t want to figure out. The cupboards were all open and empty of edibles. I picked up a few cups that weren’t shattered. A purple coffee mug that brought a frown to I face.

My ex loved the color purple. Not the movie but the color itself. She had a lot of purple stuff in her old room. I’d spent a lot of time in a room like this. Just chilling out, watching Netflix, eating pizza and having sex. Everywhere really. Her bed, the couch, her chair, sometimes even her roommates’ bed. Chick was a bitch what can I say.

“They’re all probably dead.”

My heart ached and I couldn’t breathe for a second. Just a small catch. I felt the stinging in my eyes and made a face. I wasn’t going to cry again. I wasn’t going to cry. I ground my fist into my palms and sniffled. Rubbing my eyes quickly I thought back toward when this thing first happened.

When I saw the meteor, a barreling rock of fire, radiation and destruction. I didn’t see the meteor itself. I just remember seeing the light in the sky. It was like the sun was rising except it had been late at night. The few pinpricks of white in the dark sky. I could still remember the ground shaking under my feet like a kid shaking a snow globe.

The power went out a few hours later. My cell phone stopped working and the wifi had gone out too. Then the wave came. Like the force of a train when it shot past except everywhere. Raw energy that slammed into my body. It was like sticking my fingers in the light socket. Except I wasn’t five and stupid.

I’d blacked out part way through it and when I woke up I really knew two things. I could manipulate metal and the world had gone to a special type of hell. Shuddering out of that wonderful memory I gave the apartment another once over. Going toward the bedroom I glanced at the mattresses. Bursting at the seams with cotton and springs like puss.

Grabbing one I dragged it off the frame and tossed it onto the floor. I was left with the black metal bedframe and I felt a strong sense toward it. I reached out and touching it made the frame vibrate loudly.

God this was some good metal but it was too damn heavy. I couldn’t just yank it off. And my bag would probably get torn by the pieces. Though if I had the time maybe I could strip it down into small pieces. Make shift arrows maybe? Options. I liked options.

Standing I left the room behind and walked back into the hallway. Going to another closed door I was shocked that not only was it closed but it was locked. How the hell did I find so many locked doors? Was that my actual super power?

“Jokes on you locked door. I am Magneto.”

I pressed my hand to the door and did my little trick. This one was a bit more stubborn than knob less out back. But stubborn or not it would bend to my will. The lock clicked and the door opened at my command. I was 3 – 0 for doors at this point. Pushing it open I glanced around inside and had to pause.

The room was in perfect condition. Dresser stacked against the wall, couch on the opposite wall, some My Chemical Romance poster on the wall, and a neatly made bad. Typical pre-crisis teenaged room. Except for the gaping hole in the right wall and a huge glowing red flesh sack just hanging in the center of the room.

It had fleshy webs stretching to the corners of the room to keep it suspended. A light in the center illuminated what might have been a body in the center. It reeked of something between hot plastic and steak. Not at all a good combination.

My stomach started doing flips and I almost fell over. Grabbing the door frame for dear life I took huge breaths of air outside the room. Bad move though because I felt what little food in my stomach fighting to burst free. I took a step back and tried to shut the door but the sack started to move.

My eyes focused on the sac as the thing inside it twitched. No it was more than a twitch. It was writhing within. Arms dragged against the material going so far as to puncture it. The air hissed as orange liquid dribbled forth. The smell of rot filled the air and a new wave of nausea hit me like a brick between the eyes.

Taking two steps back I tripped over a door and stumbled into the wall. Holding myself up, both hands flat against it I stared at the sack as it tore open. The entire bottom just emptied and liquid splashed onto the carpet soaking in. A meaty thud followed and I cracked my eyes to see it.

It stood on hands and feet. Red flesh pulsed beneath a bone white skeleton. The flesh bulged against a clearly too small cage. Even the skull had blood pouring from the orifices as it struggled to stay standing. If it weren’t for the horribly bent spine and posture it could have passed for person shaped. A person turned inside out so that their endoskeleton was an exoskeleton.

It took a step forward and slipped collapsing into a disorganized mess of limbs and bones. The creature gurgled and hissed as it tried to stand again but ultimately failed to right itself. I was quiet as a mouse as I watched the thing take a step forward and stumble again. It could barely function.

I had a really simple choice with this. If it got a handle on this body, it would be a monster and kill me. So instead I’d put it down before it got to that point. Glancing at the ground I made sure I had a good stance before pulling my bow out. Nocking an arrow from my quiver I started to pull back. The fields from my hand repulsed the arrow making it shudder in my grip.

Leveling my gaze on the creature, I held my breath and let loose. The air spiraled home, slamming into the creature’s forehead. Flecks of white from its former skull shot into the air and it stumbled backwards. Crashing on its side, it spasmed for a while, splashing in its own goo before going still.

I felt for the arrow but it didn’t want to leave its new home. Bastard. I had to go retrieve it myself. Lowering the bow and stepping over a luggage bag and I walked into the room. I left my bag at the door rolling my shoulders. It was like a heavily trafficked porta potty at a county fair. God this was a special hell. Standing over the creature I looked it over. I never got close to these things before.

Its flesh glistened in the light, dripping a red ichor. The bones protruding from its body were soaked in it and the jaw looked dislocated. It must have been seven feet tall if it stood up. Its arms were stretched probably to its knees if it stood up. It might have been a person once but not anymore.

My fingers hovered over it as I crouched. Its head was moist and I wretched slightly but I was too curious to not try it. I turned the head and glanced into its mouth. Its breath was worse than its stench. Didn’t think that was possible. Some of the teeth were sharp and pointy but others were flat and even had flecks of metal in them. Fillings. 

I guess if the meteor mutated me, it must have super mutated them. Guess they were super mutants to my regular mutant. Never have I been more happy to just be slightly above average.

Dropping its head I reached for my arrow when the jaw cracked back into place. My eyes went wide and I yanked my hand back. It’s head snapped forward trying to turn me into a one handed wonder. I tried to run back when one of its arms swung out and hit me into the wall. I hit it head first and couldn’t focus on anything.

Black spots and stars filling my vision I grasped at the air. I fell down onto the couch grunting against the ground. Pushing off the couch slowly and wiping drool mixed blood from my mouth I glanced upward.

It was thrashing around again, trying to get back to its feet. It’s claws and fingers were ripping up the carpet ruining the perfect exterior of the room. It hopped to its feet and head swiveled toward me. Growling it lurched then leaped forward.

Fuck. Move Jenny move!

Rolling upward I tried to aim my bow but that wasn’t anywhere nearby.  Instead I snatched an arrow out and shoved it into the neck of the super mutant. Gripping the arrow and using my powers I was able to keep its snapping jaws away from my face. Getting another arrow, I thrust it into its eye and that got a response.

Screeching it reared backwards and I slid underneath it and scurried out of the apartment. I reached for my bow and felt it sliding across the ground toward me. My new friend wasn’t having that. It snarled and bolted at me. Bow was going to have to stay behind. I jumped into the hallway and slammed into the wall trying to get my balance back.

It burst through the door breaking it open as it careened into a wall. As I carefully jumped over luggage, shelves and doors it just broke through them. A few times it fell over but it didn’t stay down for long.

Bolting out the door and into the stairwell I whipped my arm hard and threw the door shut. I even gave a twist to lock it for good measure. Turning around my eyes flew wide as I saw the stairs way too close to stop by. I leaped forward kicking my arms and legs forward.

I wasn’t going to have a good landing. I threw my arm out grabbing hold of the rope and swung forward. It swung me way too fast and I slammed into the wall hard. I let go of the rope and slid to the floor with a grunt.

Dizzy and adrenaline pumping I slid to the side wishing the world would stop spinning. Come on world. Just sit still okay? I need it to be still. Pretty please with meteors on top? The door exploded outward as the super mutant bounded forward. My head jerked upwards and my heart must have leaped into my mouth.

It jumped throwing its entire body forward and the shadow covered me. It was going to fucking crush me and probably eat my bones. Yeah fuck that. Grabbing an arrow from the quiver it almost yanked my arm out of socket. Eyes wide I glanced at it as it pointed directly at the creature coming at me.

“You seem to know what you’re doing so fly true!” I let go and it flew like a bullet.

It slammed into the creature’s chin, going right through the head and clanging against the arrows that were already buried within the cranium. The super mutants head slammed into the wall above me with a crack and the rest of the body fell down. Its arm draped over me and the stench erupted once again and I couldn’t hold it back.

I blew chunks right there and then all over the thing and part of my pants. Several burst of vomit later and I was dry heaving in the stairwell just enjoying the silence that pervaded my personal space. Panting I wiped my mouth slowly and leaned my head back against the wall. Opening my eyes a crack they narrowed and then I started laughing. Because right there, above me and on the ceiling was a follow up message to ‘Eat Shit Jackson’.

“’Drink piss Austin’. Looks like you got a friend huh Jackson?” I laughed enjoying the fact that I wasn’t dead yet and didn’t even try to imagine my next move.