Catherine woke on her back.

Another nightmare. And somehow even more horrifying than the last.

But as she looked up and saw the open sky above her and the sun rising through the treeline, she gasped and sat up. She looked down at herself with growing horror as she saw that it hadn't, in fact, been a dream. She had a giant horrifying mouth for a stomach. But just when she thought she might pass out again, she realized that it was moving according to her volition. She stilled her… ribs? And slowly closed the mouth. And with it closed she looked rather normal… well human at least.

She was still gaunt, covered in dirt and gore, and likely smelled like death. But at least now she only had what looked like a long, and particularly nasty, scar running from her belly button up to between her breasts - instead of that terrifying, nausea inducing, aperture. Most importantly though - she was alive.

She was alive, and she was free.

And she had eaten people.

…

She…

Holy fuck

But despite knowing she should be feeling horrified at having been buried alive, and had eaten her way out through a mass of rotting corpses, Catherine wasn’t bothered by that fact.

I’m probably just in shock. Do people in shock realize they’re in shock?

But Cat didn’t want to spend any more time near the mass grave, especially now that without that omnipresent hunger, the corpses and rotting flesh once more looked more disgusting than appetizing. So she stood up, and that was when Catherine realized she was essentially naked.

The clothes she had been wearing had been little more than rags after days of decay, being carried roughly, and buried. Between clawing her way through corpses, and the gaping maw in her chest, there was little covering her other than some scraps of rubber on her feet and some cloth around her legs, that did more to hamper her movement than cover her body.

Deciding that there was nothing else for it, Cat dug into the pile of corpses for some vaguely intact clothing. It was all covered in dirt and gore and rot, but then again so was she.

Not as if I can get any more disgusting.

Catherine pondered for a moment, but the sheer number of dead, many of whom had wounds that appeared to be from weapons or wild animals convinced her that protection was more important than cleanliness, especially considering her current, already soiled, state.

As Cat covered herself in clothes and rags from head to toe, she received a pair of notifications.

Skill unlocked! Scavenging is now level 0!

Skill unlocked! Cloth Armor is now level 0!

Catherine checked the descriptions of the two skills.

Scavenging (0): Whether searching for sustenance or materials, a skilled scavenger can make use of their surroundings even in inhospitable environments.

Cloth Armor (0): Lighter even than light armor, cloth still provides some measure of protection, even if minimal.

They both seemed useful enough, and this proved that she could acquire skills even without being given them alongside a class. Although these two were much more mundane than her class skill appeared to be.

After a bit more scavenging and wrapping cloth around herself, Cloth Armor reached level 1 and Scavenging reached level 2.

Catherine now looked less like a gaunt, disheveled human with a large scar and more like a humanoid pile of cloth and rags. She strangely didn’t feel overheated, even under the now midday sun. Shaking her head and looking around, she decided it was time to head out. Ideally she’d find a town or settlement of people, preferably with baths. But she’d more than settle for a retaining pond or a small stream where she could at least dunk herself and wash off some portion of the stench that was surely coating her.

Odd that I don’t smell anything bad. Either I’m desensitized, or it’s my class helping out. Either way I’m grateful for small mercies.

Cat turned toward one of the nearby houses, and then behind her toward the treeline. She didn’t remember a state or national park being this close, but then again she wasn’t much for leaving the house when she didn’t have to, and certainly didn’t go hiking or camping.

She decided to check out the suburbs first, since there were more likely to be people there, and she started on her way.

----------

Catherine had checked twelve houses so far and found nothing. Well not nothing but the objects of most interest were 3 cans of food, some blankets and clothes she’d used to add to her makeshift armor, and replace some of the most ragged bits of cloth, and a wooden baseball bat.

Metal would have been better. Or better yet, a hatchet… or a pistol… or an assault rifle…

She cut herself off. Fantasizing about finding military grade gear or a still functioning refrigerator wouldn’t help her. As she wandered between the houses, her stomach growled.

Her stomach growled. She looked down, lifting up her rags slightly, and saw the rib-teeth open and shut slightly. It was disturbing, but she’d gotten slightly more used to the idea after testing out how she could move the strange mouth-thing.

It was as much a part of her as anything else, and just as much under her control. Which was to say - not entirely. She could use the strange mouth just like her pre-existing one, but just as one might grimace or exhale involuntarily: when she was hungry, her torso-mouth would writhe slightly, barely opening and closing.

She hadn’t found anything to open the cans with, and she didn’t really want to go eat rotting corpses if she didn’t have to. But then she had an idea. That mouth ripped through flesh and cracked open bones. Why shouldn’t it be able to get into a metal can. It’s not like they were particularly tough.

Cat held one of the cans down, opened her second mouth and slowly placed it inside. She gingerly closed it and squeezed her muscles. And with a metallic screech and a slight pop, the can cracked open and she could taste the flavor of briny green beans mixed with a metallic taste.

She chewed and swallowed before realizing that she hadn’t spit out the can. But it didn’t feel like there was anything stuck there. She opened the mouth and tried to spit, but all that came out was a disgusting bloody slobber. Well, hopefully that was nothing to worry about.

And it was at that moment that Catherine heard another growl. But this time it didn’t come from her stomach-mouth, it came from behind her. She slowly turned around to come face to face with the largest dog she had ever seen.

Catherine stumbled backwards, falling on her ass and letting out a yell. The dog, meanwhile slowly approached, baring its teeth. As it approached, Cat realized it wasn’t a normal dog. Beyond its size - nearly as big as a horse- it’s teeth seemed a bit two big, and too sharp. But none of that seemed impossible, just strange. It had a ridge of bones along it’s back - as if its spine had grown spikes right through its skin - and its claws were jagged, serrated even, and dripping some viscous black substance that Cat was sure she didn’t want anywhere near her based on how it made the ground and grass it touched sizzle slightly and wither.

And suddenly, catherine knew something.

Tar Hound Pup (Lvl 6)

PUP!?!?!?

And despite, or perhaps because of, her shock at its designation, the pup chose that moment to pounce. It’s jaws opened wider than Cat had ever seen a dog’s mouth open, and snapped shut on her flailing right arm she had raised in defense, biting it off at the shoulder and taking some of her torso with it. As the beast rapidly shook its head to the side, it came away leaving Catherine with a sizzling, burning wound covered in that black oozing substance she had seen on its claws.

It burned! The tar like substance was burning and eating away at her arm, and Catherine screamed in pain.

Skill Unlocked! Pain resistance is now level 0!

Skill Unlocked! Corrosion resistance is now level 0!

But as the hound came in for another bite, or perhaps a finishing blow, Catherine felt something even stronger than the pain. She was hungry. She was starving.

She was ravenous.

And as the Tar Hound turned its head sideways and opened its jaws so wide they could grab catherines whole torso between them - catherine opened her mouth too. Catherine’s midsection opened up and her ribs spread wide.

And just as the beast opened its mouth so unnaturally wide… Catherine opened hers even wider.

And the beast’s eyes seemed to widen. It slowed and started to pull back. But it was too late, Cat closed her jaws around its head and ripped into its snout and ket munching and ripping - never letting go and pulling the two combatants closer.

And when Catherine bit into the dog’s skull, crushing it, the beast went limp.

Ghoul Spawn has reached level 1!

For a moment Cat paused, but her hunger was too overwhelming and she continued tearing at the body of the creature as she checked her status.

Body

Movement

Mental

Special

Str

1

Agi

0

Cha

0

Mem

0

End

2

Dex

0

Log

0

Wil

0

Con

2

Spd

0

Wis

0

Lck

0

Huh so It just raised the relevant attributes. Guess I get 1 Str, and 2 End and Con per level.

Catherine idly lifted a piece of the dog’s viscera to her lips and bit into it before dropping it and gasping in horror. Why would she do that!?! It was one thing to eat with her… other mouth, but this… well how was it different anyway? It tasted good. And she’d killed it, she deserved to enjoy this meal. People eat dogs, and this is more of a monster, how is it different from eating a rare steak?

I always liked my steaks well done though…

She looked at the half eaten remains, and absent-mindedly licked her lips.

At this point… fuck it.

And Cat fell upon the beast with gusto and dug in.

----------

Catherine sat under a tree, relaxing in the shade, and watching as the last bits of skin grew over the fingers of her regenerated arm. It looked good as new, with some slight modifications.

Since she had instinctually added that extra mouth on her torso to help her claw her way out of the grave, she decided to try adding more features to her body, without changing it up too much.

So now her right hand had what looked like a raw puckered scar, but which she could open into a mouth with sharp teeth so she only needed to grab something to eat it. She had also added a bracer kind of protrusion made out of bone. So she could deflect attacks and she could let creatures bite onto her arm without hurting her… Well creatures of a smaller size at least. It wouldn’t do much for anything that could bite off her entire arm in one snap, but it would work if there were any more normal sized animals. She’d seen videos where people shoved their arm into the mouth of a dog that was attacking them and it seemed effective as long as you had arm protection.

She’d also added to her cloth armor and attached some more rags and scrapps as well as just putting some extra clothes on. It was a bit overly warm, but better sweaty than dead… or whatever would happen to her.

The next step would be to try and find a small animal to test her hand out on, and maybe add one to her other arm. She somehow knew instinctively that she could do so right now, but she’d be hungry again if she did. And Cat didn’t want to risk that, with how little control she had over herself while hungry. She was going to make a concerted effort to stay topped up if at all possible. Both so she could stay rational, but also to recover from wounds.

Later. First I need a nap.

And Catherine relaxed against the tree and dozed off.