"Pick up the pace, son, or else your ass will be handed to 'em on a silver platter."
Duly noted...
"It's kinda hard when you're not wearing shoes at the bottom of a mine shaft." Speaking of, ow. I think I stepped on something mildly sharp.
Obviously unamused, the tall man glanced over his shoulder, his misty eye watching me with disinterest. Yes he had taken the pleasure of removing his mask at my expense. Aren't I grateful?
"Maybe ya shouldn't have walked outside in snow without any." I bristled at the condescending tone. Yet before I could retort, he looked back and trudged forward. "Now hurry up; I ain't got all day, and the last thing I need right now is some stupid kid's death on my concious."
How remiss of you...
"Honestly..." I muttered sourly, carefully watching my steps yet quickening my pace a little, "I express gratitude for saving my life, and this is how I'm treated..."
Obviously hearing me, the flamethrower man scoffed, "The fact you haven' been dined on by a Wendigo yet should make you gratified enough kid." I winced, "You're lucky to have been dragged down the mines instead."
"Yeah, lucky me..."
"Although, this is twice now I've saved your ass." He continued rather casually, fully oblivious to my glare, "Do ya make it a habit of getting yourself in trouble, kid?"
"Trouble usually finds me." I replied, letting my tone leak displeasure at the usage of the word 'kid,' "And I have a name you know."
"Really? Well congratulations. Now come on."
And the walk continued, my escort either flat out ignoring me or just focusing on getting me to safety. Probably both. His weapon aimed upwards just in case of an ambush, he made a point to glance over me if there were signs of Wendigos behind us, prompting me to nervously look behind me occasionally. We traveled down numerous damp corridors, sometimes taking a moment to pause and breathe, and I wondered exactly how long this man stayed in these mountains enough to navigate this place without fault.
That is, of course, assuming we weren't lost.
"What's your name then, kid?"
My head perked up at the unexpected question. Guess he's just bored. "Jack Wright. And yours?"
At that, the taller man paused momentarily, sparing me a humoured glance, "Heh, what are the odds?" ...Excuse me? "Yer obviously not with the others. How'd ya get all the way up on these mountains in nothing but your PJ's?"
A little miffed by the fact he outright ignored my question, I answered with a shrug, "I'm a traveler."
"That right? In your pajama's?"
"Well I lost the rest of my equipment somewhere on these mountains." I rubbed the back of my head, pretending to act sheepish about it, "Now I have practically nothing to defend myself against this curse until I recover it."
That got a reaction.
The man paused, facing me now fully with an inquisitive gaze, "Ya know about the curse...?"
My expression serious, I nodded, "Yes, I am well aware of the Wendigo presence, and am here to prevent it from spreading."
A dark chuckle emerged from his throat, "Heheh, aren't you the optimist."
"Well realist actually-"
Oh fuck. An echoing roar from way behind me alerted our senses.
"Come on." Mr. Flamethower Man immediately commanded, already rushing ahead with me closely behind. "It won't be long before they'll find us."
That's comforting to know... "Way ahead of ya."
So here' something to note: They've found us.
"I told yer not to make too much noise!" The old man hissed, standing protectively in front as we reached a small ditch. The echoing sounds of approaching monsters coming in close proximity.
Kinda hard when you're not wearing shoes to protect your feet, mate!
"Here, use these!" He then said loudly, passing me a satchel. What? Upon taking it, he put on his mask and pointed behind us. "There's a wall down there that'll take yer right to the surface! You any good at climbing, Jack?"
Either my silence was enough of an answer, or we were both more focused on the white creatures appearing from the darkness.
"Well, there's a first time for everythin'." Huh? "Good luck." Wha-?
Argh!
The fucking asshole just literally pushed me down the slope!
Fuck shit ow damn fuckingpainfulithurtshitfuckohmyGod-!
Ow!
My fucking tailbone!
That was what "cushioned" my fall upon reaching the bottom of the slope, the harrowing roars of the creatures above and the sight of fire indicating the battle had begun. He was holding them off... For me.
...Shit, I need to go. I can't let his selflessness go to waste.
Rubbing my poor tailbone, I picked up the satchel and quickly made a break for it. What did he give me anyway? Opening the bag, I pulled out... A flare.
...Sure, why not? Worked for Emily, didn't it? Though we never see her effectively use it against a Wendigo...
It seems he's given me a good handful of the things, and it looks like I'll need one to see clearer; the thought of encountering one of those monsters in the dark sent a shiver down my spine. Now, how do you use one these thing-?
There we go- My eyes!
Quickly shielding them from the sudden light close to my face, I waited for my eyes to adjust before continuing on, intending to get out the way that man said. With luck he can hold them off long enough for me to reach the surface.
Ya know, once I figure out how to climb a wall out of here... Oh please tell me it's not the same wall Sam climbed up...
If it is I'm gonna kill myself-
Then every part of my body froze, the only sound being the frizzling of the flare, and the growling of the Wendigo before me, crawling on the ceiling and staring at me with clear hunger in its pale eyes.
Weeeeeell fuck... I'm dead. That's it. Game over.
Then, jumping down from the rocky ceiling, the creature laid on all fours, approaching me cautiously,m as though determining whether I'm easy prey of not. Well what can I do, you daft motherfucker? Just get it over with! I have nothing but a satchel and flare and-
...The flare...
As the creature then loomed over me, jaw opening wide to devour its Sunday meal, both its large spider-like hands reaching to grab, no doubt to tear my head off first.
And now!
With as much strength as I could muster, I shoved the flare forward, straight into the throat of the surprised creature, and pushed hard before letting go. The Wendigo, in obvious pain and displeasure over the fire going down its throat, started roaring and choking, the sound bouncing off the rocky walls and enough for me to cove rmy ears.
Now's my chance!
As it walked off, grabbing its own neck, I quickly ran forward, continuing my way towards the exit. Yes, excellent, I actually managed to fight off a Wendgio!
...Fought off... A Wendigo...
...Ha!
Hahahahahahaha! YES! Take that you skinny cannibalistic motherfuckers! Score one for the Wright!
I'll totally rub that in those teen's faces. Hitting one with a shovel? Meh. Shooting it with a shot gun? Bitch please. I fucking pile-drove into one and shoved a flare down another's neck.
I'm the best character of the game! Woo-hoo!
...Aha! That must be the exit!
Light was pouring out from above, a snowy white wall waiting for me, obviously leading up to the harrowing storm above. My triumphant grin slowly melted, however, at the realization this was indeed the exact same tall wall Sam had climbed up in the game, and I was gonna have to do that as well.
My voice croaked, repressing the urge to shout my frustrations. "Fuck!"
If my family could see me now...
Rock-climbing, with snow, albeit willingly. And they said I never get enough exercise- Shit! Almost slipped! Careful Jack, snow and climbing doesn't mix well; you have to take very, VERY cautious and slow steps whilst climbing up this damn wall. What especially makes this harder to accomplish is the fact I'm not wearing any protective footwear, except for socks.
My feet are literally freezing to death.
Still, I continued onwards... Or upwards. I'm so close to making it out of this alive, then I can return to the warm lodge for a long-ass rest. That is, if the Wendigo's haven't invaded the place already. Last thing I need right now is an earlier incident of the house being set on fire in order to kill off those things.
After that, I need a plan.
Yes, a plan. Something to get rid of this threat once and for all. I don't know why I'm here, but judging from the game I'm stuck in, there must be a purpose for me being here, and I doubt it has anything to do with making the moves on a particular blonde.
Though, to be fair, it's Sam, can you blame me-?
A screech below halted my train of thought, and I quickly gripped the edges of the wall hard before I slipped off in surprise. God dammit! Those things are still following me?!
Oh shit... They can climb too.
With that epiphany, I raced upwards as fast as possible, hoping that some deity out there wouldn't make me slip from being this reckless. Please God, I know I haven't been to church except for twice in my life despite being a Christian, but you can't just leave one of your own children to die like this, right?
Right...?
"RAGH!"
Oh fuck!
The noise drawing closer, I quickly looked down, feeling a bit sickened at the long drop, but that was minuscule compared to the Wendigo crawling up after me, smoking blowing from its mouth. The light shone from above, revealing its now-more scarred features, and the pale skin looked a lot more... Flustered?
...Oh!
"Back for round two, are you...?" The flare in its throat mustn't have killed it, only damaged. Hence why it was slowly heading towards me. Well, I don't wanna stick around to let it catch up. With that, I continued upwards, hurrying my climb.
Behind me, the creature groaned loudly, clearly expressing pain. Oh, it hurts? Good. So then why do I feel a slight pang in my chest at the discomforted sounds? Pity? Yes... Perhaps I do feel sorry for this thing, along with the others. Those poor miners; forced to become experimented into mindless animals out of the curiosity of science. And those who became such creatures by being trapped in the mines.
Thank God I managed to save Hannah from that fate. As for them... Perhaps I could put them out of their misery, once and for all-
Shit!
"Argh!"
Damn thing grabbed my foot! Okay screw doing that out of pity, all these fuckers are going to die!
Wincing at the pain through my leg, I glared down at the Wendigo, who was attempted to pull my assualted left leg towards it. Claws embedded themselves into the skin, and I inhaled sharply at the unwelcome pain. Quickly, my free hand reached for something, anything to get rid of this monster.
C'mon, there must be a loose rock or something-
Aha!
"Hey, big and ugly!" My stare met its enraged own, holding up the sharp rock. "Open wide!"
It obliged, a roar of pain and anger aimed at me, and I dropped the object. And it was not a pretty sight. My face winced in sympathy and discomfort as the rock landed straight into its mouth, further plunging the stuck visible flare further down its throat.
Surprised at another foreign object lodged down its throat, the creature started choking, finally releasing my bleeding foot and letting go off the wall from the shock of it. I watched with a solemn expression as the screaming monster fell to the depths below, landing with a loud crunch sound.
Ouch...
And it didn't look like it was getting up anytime soon.
Alright, time to keep moving. Closing my eyes, I wished the thing a small prayer before continuing my ascent, grimacing repeatedly by using my left damaged foot. It doesn't hurt that much, but it still bloody stings. It'll need to be looked at. Hopefully one of the teens was a medic; that was never established in the game.
How useful it would be to always have someone who was working to become a doctor or nurse in a teenage group.
And at last! Success!
My hands gripping over the cliff, I pulled myself upwards, body meeting the pure white freezing blanket of snow as the outside world welcomed me back. And this time, there was light snow falling instead of a storm, which was fine for me. Rolling over on my back, I took that long moment to rest, uncaring of the cold right now-
"Ah-choo!"
Okay... Maybe my body cared enough.
Sitting up, I pulled my feet away from the edge of the hole, keeping a safe distance from accidentally falling in. Wonder if that Wendigo's got up yet, or I had successfully killed it.
If that's the case, then I killed a Wendigo...
...Nope, no feeling of accomplishment there. I took a life, in that case. Despite what it is, it was once a human being; a sentient life form, undeserving of his or her fate.
...Huh...
I should go...
Standing up, giving my wounded foot enough rest, I trudged onwards, onto the nearest pathway through the woods in hopes of finding the house.
Welp, found the house.
It wasn't all that difficult, really, when it quite stands out with all those lights on, while it was dark outside. With a tired yet triumphant grin, I slowly moved towards the door, most of my energy exerted after everything I've been through. My bleeding foot, my aching back, my shallow breathing. What I would kill right now just ti sit in somewhere warm and rest after all that bullshit.
Looks like my wish is about to come true.
In true gentleman fashion, I knocked at the front door, waiting patiently for someone to answer. Imagine their reaction to my state, they'd probably scream in fright or behave in a fuss. Hopefully one of them will have the damn sense to heal my foot before losing it.
And the door, slowly, hesitantly opened.
And I was greeted by the poking head of Mike, who, upon noticing the arrival, blinked in surprise before revealing himself fully, a small knife in his hand. "Jack...?"
"The one and only." I grinned tiredly, glancing at the weapon. "Something like that won't affect a Wendigo, ya know."
"Holy shit!" Mike continued, the taller man, quickly pulling me in. Ow! Hey! "What the fuck happened to you?!"
Also to greet me by the door were Matt and Chris, both looking stunned to see me. What, did they think I was dead? Wouldn't blame them. As I winced again, my foot now touching wooden floorboards and not easing the pain in the slightest, both men, wielding a bottle and one of those things you poke in the fireplace with, rushed forward to assist me, escorting me towards the lunge while Mike closed the door behind us.
And when we reached the large room, waiting for us were the rest of the house occupants. Josh and the girls stopped what they were doing to see us, eyes widening and jaws dropping at who was here.
"Hello ladies." I greeted jokingly, while some outright stood up from their seats.
"Oh my God..."
"Jack?"
"You're alive!"
"What the hell happened?!"
And Ashley then pointed out the obvious, "You're bleeding!"
Ten points to Ravenclaw...
Guiding me to the couch, Chris and Matt helped me lie down on the soft object, and I welcomed the comfort with ease, head resting on a cushion after all those hectic events. But any peace was interrupted constantly by the repetitive questions of curious teenagers.
"What happened out there?"
"Where did you go?"
"I thought that monster killed you! How'd ya survive?"
"Everyone, please!" Beth spoke in a commanding tone, prompting us all to look at her. Hands on hips, she gestured to the side. "Give him a moment to rest, Sam and Ash will be back with the first aid kit in a moment, and I don't think he wants to be bombarded with questions right now."
Thank you Beth.
After that moment was over, both girls returning with a kit in hand, Sam taking the lead by kneeling down beside me to examine the injuries. "Could someone take off his sock?" Matt obliged, and I grimaced and winced at the following pain as the fabric was removed to reveal the bloody sight. Sam, however, was more focused on my head. "I'm amazed you're still and about with this wound on your head."
With a small grin, my eye twitched from the young woman pulling away strands of hair to see the injury in full. "God loves me, obviously."
"How can you joke like that?" Chris asked, sounding amazed himself. "We thought you were a goner out there, when that- that thing dragged you away!"
"Are there anymore injuries?" Sam inquired before I could answer or anyone else could ask further questions.
Good for her, focusing on the moment at hand.
"Well, my back feels like it was dragged against rocks."
She nodded, "Would you...?"
Knowing exactly what she was asking, I glanced at the observers warily, "Not in front of a crowd."
Some nodded, ushering off the protestant others to leave the room while Sam tended to my wounds. Exhaling in relief as the sight of them disappeared, I smiled lightly at the girl, "Alone at last."
The blonde girl responded by shaking her head exasperatedly, "Shirt please." Carefully, I sat up and began removing the fabric, Sam assisting in that regard. And I shivered as her soft delicate fingers brushed against my bare skin.
"Could've bought me a drink first."
"I think it's the guy who's supposed to buy the girl a drink." Sam retorted lightly, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. "Lie to the side." I obeyed, not positing with my body laying on my left, followed by a quiet gasp.
I dread to imagine. "That bad huh?"
"Well it's... Not something that should be there."
I shrugged, slightly wincing as I felt something cold press against my back. "To be fair... My body wasn't all that appealing to begin with."
About half an hour passed, I think. The occasional noises being the medical equipment being put to work, and my noises and groans as my wounds were being treated. Foot wrapped in a clean light cast. dried blood on my head wiped off with a large bandage, and now an icepack was lying on my back, as I now laid on the couch on my stomach. An inconvenienced situation, but one I couldn't control.
"You'll need to lay there until morning." Sam said, resting a soothing hand on my bare shoulder. Quite warm... "It's a miracle you even survived."
"I defy all laws of reality, love." I replied casually, "Does this make me more attractive?"
Her lips twitched in amusement, "Somewhat." Before her tone returned all serious and worry, "But what happened out there? We thought for sure you were... Well..."
At the hesitation, I frowned, "You weren't really... Concerned for me, were you?"
She looked rather surprised by the question, "Of course I was! We all were! That thing took you away after you recklessly plowed into it. Which we need to talk about, mind you, I've never sen anyone do something so stupid in my life."
"You'll find I'm full of surprises, love."
"Will you please stop flirting for one moment?" Sam said tiredly, rubbing her forehead, "This is serious. You were dead for all we knew!"
Meh.
"Well, I'm fine now." I replied reassuringly, "You should go to your friends. I imagine they won't last ten seconds without you."
Sighing, the exhausted blonde shook her head with a small smile, "Sometimes, I think you're right. But I'm not leaving you alone just so you can try and get up, and probably leave." How did she-? "I know your type, Jack, the type who would run off to get things done himself."
"After one day of just knowing me?"
"You'll find I'm full of surprises, honey." She responded with a serious voice, yet her expression was amusement, a glint in her serene eyes.
Ohohohoho!
"Well, clearly." I chuckled lightly, "Well, since I'll be stuck here, may I at least have some soda?"
"I think you need water."
"Soda's my fountain of youth, love. Please?" Specifically coca-cola, but that probably doesn't exist in this universe.
Looking at me for a moment, Sam eventually nodded, the touch contact gone and already missed. Walking away, she paused to glance over her shoulder with a stern smile, "I better not come back to find you gone."
"My dear Sam." I responded playfully, "Who would run away from you?"
With another shake of her head, the young kind woman left the room, leaving me at last to my peace and thoughts. Well, after everything I've been through, I most certainly deserved the quietness. I don't envy these people, tell ya what. The most of me wants to leave this world and return to the safe - as safe as can be when it came to humanity - confines of my room and bed. To see my friends and family once more.
And yet, a part of me, wants to stay here... And help however I can.
Oh no Jack, you are NOT doing this! Have some common sense for a change! What can you possibly do against a mountain-full of Wendigos, uncontrollable teenagers and God knows what else could be lurking on these mountains? I meant what I said earlier in regards to putting those things out of their misery.
And there might be a way to do just that...
"So, ya survived, huh kid?"
The fuck?!
Did this fire-loving bastard just enter the house without knocking. "As did you." I noted instead, unable to contain the surprise in my voice. Mr. Flamethrower Man walked calmly into the lounge, taking in the sight of me with indifference.
"Tch, ya lucky things weren't any worse back down there." He inclined his head behind him.
"You're telling me..."
That was then Sam chose to return, and the soda bottle dropped from her hands harmlessly onto the rug at the sight of the newest visitor. "It's you..." She said in recognition.
The man gave her a passing glance, before returning his attention on my sorry state, "Saw your handiwork down there. No one's ever managed to choke a Wendigo to death before." Was that praise in his voice?
"It wasn't something I did with eagerness, I assure you."
His working eye wandered over my damaged body, "I figure."
"Jack, what's going on?" Sam asked, clearly wanting an explanation.
Without looking at her, I answered, meeting the man's stare dead-on. "Suffice to say, Sam, I the purpose for my being here was just to explore." His brow raised questionably, and I frowned hard, "I'm here to deal with the Wendigo threat once and for all."
"Oh?" His eyes narrowed, "And how do ya propose on doin' just that?"
"Blow up the mines."
