Chapter 20

The groan of twisted metal behind our backs brought me back to reality. I didn’t need to turn around to know the fanged fiend would be upon us within seconds. So, this was it. After all that we’d been through, we had finally reached the end of the road.

I looked up at the neon “Exit” sign beckoning not 40 feet in front of us. It might as well have been a mile. I could hardly walk, even with Allie bearing most of my weight. Her entire frame shook with each of our steps, her battered body already strained far past its capacity to endure.

My chest was heaving but my lungs seemed unable to gather enough air, almost as though the hole in my chest was leaking air as well as blood. It was probably due to my lungs filling up with liquid - I was effectively drowning in my own blood.

“Allie.”

“No, stop. We’re not giving up!” she said between gritted teeth, shaking her head while dragging us forward another step.

They say that you can experience a lifetime in that split second when you come face to face with your own mortality. It may not have been quite that long, but reliving the chaotic sequence of events over the past few weeks that had led us here brought a sudden and unexpected clarity to my mind. As though a veil had been lifted from my mind’s eye, I could finally understand that no matter what I said, what calamity befell us, or whichever monstrosity Charon threw at us next, Allie would never abandon me. She would stand her ground until her very last breath, because this was her hallowed ground, her last refuge, her final stand.

She would die with a smile on her lips so long as the end came while she was by my side. I understood it with perfect clarity now, to the point that I could not believe how foolish I’d been to even hope otherwise. I could understand her thoughts and actions all too well, for were the roles suddenly reversed, I would be doing the exact same thing.

“Give me the knife,” I said, wincing as I began to disengage my arm from around Allie’s shoulders and plucked Susan’s knife from where it hung under her belt.

Allie pulled my arm back and stared fiercely into my eyes. “You’re not listening to me. I’m not leaving you behind. Not a chance in hell, you hear me? So stop wasting your time and keep walking!”

The wry smile that twisted my lips gave her a pause, crumpling her brows at my unexpected reaction to her words.

“I know,” I said simply, bowing my head to her, partly in apology for my pig-headedness, partly in shame that I’d given the love we shared such short stock. I should have known she’d never leave me, not even when all hope was lost. “Now quit bossing me around and do something useful, for a change.”

“Huh?” Allie managed to stare at me like I’d clubbed her over the head.

“You know as well as I do that we’re never gonna make it to that door,” I said, gingerly raising my shotgun and checking its ammo. It was true, and we both knew it. Deep within, Allie must have known this entire time that we were merely clutching at straws, subconsciously aware that we’d never make it out. I could tell now where all this had been leading to, with both of us dying in each other’s arms. Well, time to change the script. “And I’m fucking sick and tired of running from that overgrown ape.”

To her credit, it only took Allie a full second to grasp the meaning of my words. A glorious smile lit up her face as she leaned over and planted a passionate kiss on my lips. Brief as it was, it tasted of the sweet sunshine I’d never see again and the tantalizing scent of her skin on a rainy Saturday afternoon. By the time I snapped out of it, Allie was already lifting her rifle to her shoulder, her eyes promising grim death to the monster stalking our steps. The unmistakable metallic click of the safety being turned off echoed from the dimly lit walls.

I turned around just in time to watch as the metal door gave one final groan of protest before flying off its hinges and crashing to the floor. The fanged fiend had to crouch low to fit its massive bulk through the doorway but it didn’t seem in a rush when it noticed that its quarry was trapped in the narrow corridor beyond.

We, on the other hand, were impatient little fuckers.

Much as I’d been hoping to draw first blood and knock that damn beast on its ass, Allie beat me to the punch. Its entire body was covered in slick blood, particularly its chest and arms. They seemed to have drawn the brunt of the damage from whatever last-ditch attempts the other survivors had made to stave off its assault. It seemed to have weathered the attacks just fine, as the few wounds still visible were swiftly closing even as I watched. The only notable injury was its missing left claw, which had been severed at the elevator. It likely didn’t expect much resistance from these two final prey.

That’s where it was wrong, dead wrong. I didn’t know what kind of skillset or weapons the other survivors had possessed, but I doubted any of them were nearly as vicious or accurate as my Allie. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have stepped past the doorway in such a leisurely fashion, even going as far as crouching head-first and offering Allie a clean shot. There was simply no way my girl would miss that kind of opportunity.

Indeed, all I heard was a bang and the monster’s nostrils disintegrated into a cloud of blood and gore, spraying the walls with red. It howled in agony as it reeled back against the vacant doorway, clutching at its ruined face with both claws.

This was a trend I’d happily encourage. In fact, I took the time to pluck the can of bear spray I’d been lugging all this time and lobbed it high into the air.

“Allie!” I cried out.

Clever girl that she is, my Allie didn’t miss my cue and her next shot hit the can mid-air just before it collided against the monster’s head. It was a fine shot and the explosion that followed only made it better. The pressurized contents of the bear spray can exploded right next to its head, producing a deafening bang that left a shrill ringing in my ears and spread noxious fumes all over the tight confines of the corridor.

I coughed and retched but gleefully began emptying my shotgun in the beast’s general direction. A thick yellow cloud obscured my vision and tears began leaking from my eyes, but there was a savage grin on my face as I emptied shell after shell into the mist.

I squeezed the trigger one last time but my gun was empty. I heard a similar click on my right but unlike me, Allie expertly slid the empty magazine out and seamlessly popped another one from her belt before resuming her assault. I knew she only carried two extra magazines strapped to her belt because we had shed our backpacks at the beginning of our escape and she was making each bullet count.

I was trying to retrieve some shotgun shells from my own ammunition belt when I caught movement within the mist. Startled, I barely had time to drop my shotgun and slide out my knife when the fanged fiend emerged from the cloud of gas and pounced toward me with terrifying speed.

Using dash was out of the question in my current condition. It was all I could do to lurch sideways, launching myself in a headlong dive to the floor. Even in the midst of my panic, however, I didn’t neglect the strange knife we’d taken from Susan. It was the only weapon the pair of orb hunters had carried and judging from the severed claw left on the elevator floor, it might prove to be our only hope of slaying the beast.

The monster’s rush barely brushed by my side but it still clipped me and sent me reeling against the wall with brutal force. My head rang from the collision and I started to see double, though it still didn’t prevent me from exulting at the gush of blood that spurted from the vicious gash that ran along the fanged fiend’s flank. I had barely felt any resistance as the knife’s wicked edge sliced through the monster’s thick hide and corded muscles.

Roaring in pain, the abomination wheeled on me and furiously clawed down at me. Stinging bits of concrete peppered my face as I rolled out of the way at the last moment, barely holding on to my knife in my haste. I saw one massive claw looming above my head, ready to plunge down and smash my skull to a pulp, when a gunshot rang out and sent the monster reeling sideways. It was hurt! Maybe we could pull this off after all!

Desperate hope began to alight in my heart as I pushed off against the wall and clumsily slid behind the creature, using both hands to deliver a wicked slash against the back of its left ankle. More blood splashed out from the hideous gash in its Achilles tendon or at least where I hoped it’d be placed if it had one at all.

Apparently, it did, because it let out a howl of agony as it collapsed on one knee, clutching at its ruined ankle. Another shot from Allie rocked its head back and I was running on an adrenaline high as I lifted my knife for another slash when disaster struck.

The monster kicked out blindly with its foot using incredible force. It nailed me squarely on my left shoulder and shattered the bones there with a sickening crunch. The force of the blow sent me sliding across the floor until I was stopped by the wall, where I curled up around my chest and groaned in agony.

“Kai!”

Another gunshot rang out after Allie called out to me and I lifted my head just in time to see the beast whirling on her and letting out a furious roar. Allie snapped off another shot as she backed away, probably hoping to draw the monster away from me. That definitely worked because it had suddenly forgotten all about me as it advanced upon Allie, dragging one of its legs uselessly behind. Allie kept peppering it with shot after shot from her rifle, taking advantage of the monster’s wounded leg to maintain her distance. However, my eyes widened in horror as I watched the flesh at its blood-soaked ankle wriggling as it began to knit together once more. I tried to get up but my entire left shoulder was a mass of fire and my legs only spasmed uselessly.

“Move, goddamn it. MOVE!” I snarled in my head but my body’s only response was to cough out a mouthful of blood.

I fumbled for my shotgun with my one good arm but I found my hand grasping at empty air. The shotgun must have been knocked away by the blow, lost in the darkness. Besides, how would I even load a gun with a busted shoulder?

Snarling like a rabid dog, I tried to ignore the agony drowning my brain as I crawled forward on all fours. I was nearly moved to tears when I discovered that the fingers of my right hand were still curled securely around the hilt of my knife. The monster was still ambling its way forward, each of Alllie’s shots driving it to a shuddering pause before it resumed its grim approach. Even so, it was still moving faster than I could, desperately dragging myself along the cold stone floor.

I tried to shout at it, to somehow draw its attention from Allie, but I couldn’t even speak, my lips completely parched and my lungs too weak to do much more than draw one ragged breath after another. With an inward growl, I desperately reached toward that core of power inside my body, all the while bitter despair tore at my soul. I’d tried to activate my powers while on the run with Allie and had only been met with abject defeat. I was simply too spent, too wounded and frankly too close to dead to activate any feat of superhuman strength.

This time, however, the boundless well of power residing in the deepest recesses of my flesh was startlingly easy to find. How could I have missed it before? Not that I gave a damn about the reason. Right now, I was far past caring. I commanded it to life, in order to draw upon its power one last time, when a message popped up in my head.

Warning! A system failsafe has been activated!

You have attempted to activate the skill [Dash] while your lifeforce is severely depleted. Attempting to activate any physical skills in your current condition will result in severe injury or death, thus triggering the safety stop mechanism.

Do you wish to remove system failsafe?

The only answer I could manage was a wordless roar that flooded my mind and painted everything in red. Thankfully, the system seemed to take that as a yes.

System failsafe removed.

You may now activate your skills.

It didn’t have to tell me twice. Molten fire scorched a blazing trail through my veins as renewed strength coursed through every fiber of my body. The knife in my hand shook violently as I pushed off against the ground, rocketing forward in a violent blur of motion. In the split second that it took me to close the gap to the fanged fiend, I somehow managed to catch the look of horror in Allie’s eyes as she opened her mouth and stretched her hand toward me in a desperate, last-minute protest. She knew what this impossible burst of strength meant, and what it would ultimately cost me.

Gritting my teeth, I averted my eyes and leapt into the air, the knife in my hand held high above my head. The sheer speed of my dash saw me floating through the air, laughing in the face of gravity as I closed the distance to my target’s unprotected back. Within the recesses of my brain, a queer familiarity with the anatomy of humanoid creatures blossomed into life, especially in regards to their most vulnerable areas and how to best drive a single strike with the most ruthless determination for the most ruinous results. A quick series of warnings flashed across my brain.

Warning! System failsafe has been disabled!

Skill [Backstab] activated.

Skill [Critical Strike - Melee] activated.

Allie had badgered at me until I had finally relented and accepted Susan’s orb skills from her, citing her incompetence with knives or any sort of melee weapon, for that matter. I knew it had only been a gesture from her to try and keep me alert, with my head in the game. We both knew I had a better chance of sprouting wings and flying away than summoning a skill in my current straits. Even more importantly, we had both received the stern warning regarding the over-abuse of skills.

Well, I was going to abuse the fuck out of them now, and the feral snarl that escaped my lips was one of unadulterated fury.

“Get the fuck off my girl!”

The fanged fiend had barely begun to twist its head around when I swung my knife down in a brutal blow that carried all the force of my swinging arm as well as every last bit of momentum from my dash. The beast barely had time to let out a confused grunt as the knife crunched right into the middle of its unprotected skull. The deadly point penetrated the bony plates protecting its brain and bit deeply until it was stopped by the hilt. There was still more than enough force to carry the swing down, slicing through flesh and bone until it cleaved a bloody rift down the middle of its skull and all the way to the top of its spine. Only then did the knife come to a screeching halt, grinding against its vertebral disks.

Then the rest of my body crashed into the beast’s massive back, the impact driving both of us tumbling to the floor. Agony swept over me as though I’d been drenched in molten steel, scorching every nerve in my body until I couldn’t even draw enough breath to scream.

The beast’s monstrous bulk lay beneath me, twitching spastically as though it had been fulminated by a lightning bolt. Underneath its skin, muscles began to convulse and its bowels released a fetid pool of fecal waste over its legs as its nervous system completely shut down, severed by the edge of my knife. Impossibly, the torn flesh in the back of its head began wriggling as the edges of the hideous wound began to slowly draw closed.

That’s when the gunmetal barrel of Allie’s rifle speared right into the gap and deep into its skull. Several muffled roars soon followed as she discharged the rest of her magazine straight into its brain, not stopping until the gun clicked empty and dark blood and gory chunks of grey matter dribbled out of its ears. The frenzied worming of its flesh finally stopped for good.

“Kai!” Allie cried out, dropping her rifle and falling to her knees beside me. “No, no, no!”

I could feel her hands cradling my head as she pulled herself closer but I was losing my vision, close to blacking out completely. Damn, and I’d been hoping to at least see my girl’s beautiful face one last time.

“S-So.. Sorry..” I gasped, struggling against the looming darkness and the cold that pervaded my core to push out that one word. My one overriding emotion was regret. Regret that I hadn’t kissed her cherry red lips more often. Regret that I hadn’t spent more time basking in her warmth in my arms while she laughed within my embrace. Regret that I hadn’t told her I loved her every minute of every day I spent by her side. Regret that I would be leaving her alone with the dreadful void that would take my place from this day forward.

“Kai, no! Please, don’t leave me. Not like this. You must hold on. Please baby, hold on just a little longer. We’re almost there. Dammit, we’re almost there. Charon, where the fuck are you, you sick fuck! It’s over! Get us out of here!” she screamed, terror and desperation drowning out the final vestiges of hope in her voice. I could feel her sobbing disconsolately as she dragged my body toward the exit, but exhaustion betrayed her and she slipped on all the blood, crashing to the floor.

Heedless in the all-consuming depths of her despair, Allie stumbled to her feet and tugged at me again, all the while calling out to me. I knew it was too late, however. Already, her voice sounded as though it came from impossibly far away. I wanted to let her know as much, and that I’d always love her, but I couldn’t feel my body anymore. A great darkness welled up within my mind, threatening to devour everything.

To my lasting regret, the final words I heard before dying were not those of my beloved Allie. Instead, a dry chuckle echoed from the gathering shadows and jolted me awake long enough to hear Charon’s cheerful proclamation.

“Congratulations, Alexia Fox! As the sole remaining survivor, I hereby declare you the champion of the Trial of the Ark!”