Mona stops for a drink.
Past the doors, Mona found herself in yet another new location. It was some sort of red room with no walls given its borders extended far beyond where she could see into total darkness. What she could make out in front of her was the dull crimson of the flesh-like floor, the meaty surface seeming to pulse like a heartbeat every few seconds.
On either side of her stood two rows of ten cribs. Painted white, twenty infantile figures stood silently inside them, their featureless faces all turned to stare at her in judgment. On top of each of their tiny heads sat a little yellow flame, crackling in the darkness like runway lights directing a plane to its destination.
Obviously she would be the plane in this analogy, but what were they leading her to? As soon as she asked that question, a wailing noise started up from just beyond her field of view. It sounded close enough to a crying baby, though it was far too deep in tone to be any earthly child.
Then came a thud. The crying grew louder, the source approaching. As it did, the doll creatures began to jitter in place, their flames growing brighter as fire began to spread.
Another thud, this one even closer. Mona didn't know what to do, frozen in a moment of panic. Peering back behind her, retreating to face the previous specters wasn't an option. The doors had disappeared as they so often did, stranding her in this fleshy, pulsing void along with whatever was about to crawl out and kill her.
Then another thud, the source coming into view. Some kind of bloody, malformed arm emerged first, the rest slowly approach behind the appendage. Illuminated by the dolls that were now fully ablaze, she could make out the stubby, crooked four fingers on the creature's enormous hand. They gripped at the soft flooring, pulling its body along towards her.
Now fully in view, Mona could confirm that it was worse than anything she'd been imagining before now. The thing's body was similarly distorted, the torso elongated and red with visible organs poking out from beneath paper-thin flesh whenever it raised up to pull itself forward. As for the left arm and the legs, they hung limply behind the creature, lagging on the ground and seeming to be wholly useless save for the tiny fingers on that hand gripping a leaking, sickly umbilical cord attached to its bloated belly. Predictably, it leaked the same white fluid as everything else.
Attached to a weak, barely functional neck sat a lopsided baby doll head, hair torn out so only a few strands of black plastic still stuck into a bumpy scalp. The mouth hung open lifelessly as the cries continued, the jaw staying static despite the realistic way the sound would stop and start or grow and decline in volume. The eyes were a different story, however, the glassy black orbs spinning and shaking in their sockets with no clear indication as to what they were looking for or at.
While the eyes seemed indecisive, the rest of the thing was anything but. Slow as it was, it was determined to drag its way over to Mona. Wanting very much to not experience whatever it planned to do to her, she repressed the urge to wretch at the sight of the beast and ran for it. To where, she had no idea, but there must be something in here besides this horror.
Despite its lumbering pace, the monster was always right on her trail. If she slowed down, she was certain it would catch her. How was she supposed to escape? How was she supposed to fight? Was she really meant to die here as some kind of cruel joke?
She hadn't noticed exactly when the walls of this place finally appeared. Though they retained a layer of flesh wallpaper in keeping with the rest of this area, this new hallway resembled a corridor in a hospital. Just to drive home the comparison, a set of thin doors came to block her path a short ways up ahead, Mona barreling through them with her shoulder before continuing to run. They felt wet.
Maybe this was her chance. Just outside the doors, she found a set of three paths – one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead. Turning left, she rounded the corner and sprinted as hard as her legs could carry her. Behind her, she heard the doors slam open with a squelch, her pursuer continuing in one of the directions.
Several more seconds of running and she seemed to have lost it. Thankfully, it took a wrong turn, meaning she was out of harm's way. Lucky considering she was officially out of steam, stumbling to a halt and gasping for air in the middle of the hallway.
"Fu...fu…" She couldn't even work up the energy to swear. Everything just kept coming one after the other. How much more was she expected to take? Her body couldn't keep going like this. And she still had no way to defend herself. If nothing changed, she'd die of exhaustion before that thing even made it back to her.
Wobbling along, Mona saw another branching path leading left once again. That seemed like the ideal way to go given there was less chance of either the straight or right paths looping back around into this direction. Then again, geography meant nothing in this world and she might be walking face-first to her death.
Down the short hallway this path produced was, of all things, a glowing soda machine up against a wall. While the presence of a dead end filled her with an existential dread unlike any before, she was pretty thirsty. Guess it couldn't hurt to go check it out, she thought.
Walking up to the machine, it seemed to stock exclusively Kooba Cola. Never heard of it, but she couldn't afford to be picky when her mouth was as dry as it was now. Hopeful, she pressed every single button on the machine to try and get some reaction. Nothing happened. Then she tried smacking. Still nothing.
Should have figured it was just another taunt. Just as she turned to leave, Mona was struck by a sudden idea. Despite the chaos in the operating room, she'd managed to retain the coin that freed her. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled it back out and looked it over in her hand.
Comparing it to the slot on the machine, it seemed like it could fit. Might as well try it. With a shrug, she slid the coin inside, hearing the clunk as the tiny circle of metal fell into the depths. So far so good.
Before she had time to press a button, though, the machine began to shake. Something was moving around inside it. Was it another monster? The internal parts of the dispenser struggling? She was about to find out, taking a few tentative steps backwards just in case.
Then came a crash in the lower part of the machine. Something heavy had fallen into the tray below. After a few seconds wait, Mona approached it once again.
Reaching out, she pressed the tips of her fingers up against the plastic slat covering the dispensed item. Hesitating for just another moment, she pushed it open as slowly as she could. Her hand and fingers remained intact, spurring her on to fully reach inside and grab hold of her supposed beverage.
Well, it definitely wasn't a soda. Her fingers closed around cold metal as, against all odds, she retrieved the shotgun she'd been so desperately trying to find. She could hardly believe her eyes, yet there it was clasped between her sweaty, blood-soaked hands.
The long, gleaming black set of barrels was contrasted against a dark walnut stock, the weapon weighing heavily in her grip. After a bit of fiddling with it, she managed to open it and expose the...ammo holes? Whatever, the places she could load her shells.
Frantically reaching into her pocket, she grabbed two of the shells she'd collected from her old room and slammed them in, closing the gun up and holding it up like she'd seen people do in movies. Shoving the stock awkwardly under her arm, she tried to keep herself from smiling. She shouldn't be getting confident, but how could she not be when she finally had her hands on this big bitch?
Resisting the urge to say something quippy, Mona turned away from the soda machine and started back the way she came. The odds had quite effectively been evened, so it was time to stop running.
It's that time of year again. I came back from my trip just to update this. Been doing some location scouting in Maine for inspiration, so I hope it paid off. Back to work.
That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading. Share if you're enjoying. Always remember to drink Kooba Cola.