*Not sure if there are any big trigger warnings, but it if you can really "visualize" scents and vomiting, this chapter may not be for you.
39
Out of Time
Time couldn't be counted anymore, at least they didn't count it anymore. The buildings were a vivid green. The pavement crumbled and cracked with the angrily sprouting vegetation. The group wore masks to protect themselves from the pollen threatening to glue their lungs together if they breathed it in too much. They moved toward the outskirts of the city where their eyes didn't get aggravated too much. A man with silver hair rolled his shoulders after dropping the weighted pack on the ground. "Hey, watch that! It's the only food we have!" A brunet man with a scar running over his left eye barked at the silvernette. "Shut up Oga. They're cans. A few dents won't do anything."
"Did you say something, Annoyichi? I couldn't hear you over the mumbling fly over there."
"Whatever, bastard. I'm going to sleep."
"Make sure to wash your eyes out first, Furuichin." Aoi, a woman wearing bandages for clothes, called out in a singsong voice. Oga looked at the woman over with a raised brow. She had lost part of her mind after the world collapsed. The blonde goth by the name of Hilda didn't seem to care, however. "I'll help you wash out your bandages." Hilda's voice came out in a purr and Aoi giggled. Glad to see she didn't lose that part of her mind, Oga thought while rolling his eyes. They all found each other walking around the desolate jungle that erupted from the center of the Earth.
Oga took one last look at the outside world, then pulled up the crate covered with fabric to keep the pollen out. It started when the American government managed to convince several other governments to lift all their national environmental bans against corporations, and people alike, from dumping their garbage into Her stomach. Flooding the oceans, killing the wildlife, souring the air, Mother Nature decided that this was an offence that could not be pardoned. Mother tore from the center of the Earth and ate. She ate all humans from all walks of life. The elite couldn't throw any amount of money or firepower to keep Mother from devouring them whole. Mother took no pity. It took several months of terror for Mother to finally lie dormant in her thick cocoon to rest before continuing her cleansing rampage.
With barely any firepower left, humans fled and hid at all corners of the Earth. They came out like cockroaches, skittering when Mother rumbled in her resting place. They all knew this wasn't over until Mother was defeated. The only humanly possible way to do that was to kill Her while dormant. If it failed, however, Mother would have less mercy over humans, if that was even possible. Though she preyed on adults, their remnants noticeably scraped over the streets, babies disappeared. Rumors whispered that Mother decided to hoard them and raise them herself. To make sure she was respected within the next generations. Of course, those were the optimistic whispers.
Oga sighed when he heard the girls giggle further in the cave the group had made their hideout. The world is ending and they were giggling. The brunet fluffed up his jacket as he hunkered down to sleep. It didn't matter what they did in their final days, as long as they were ready for tomorrow. They found a weak spot in Mother's cocoon.
...
The ragtag group left early the next morning. Although the sky looked grey much of the time, it was the shade that indicated morning versus evening. That's what they had gotten used to anyway. As they walked closer and closer to Mother's cocoon, the jungle grew dense. Not even the animals that guarded her could move through the choking foliage. They decided not to use machetes on the vines since Mother had been moving more frequently in the past few days. They hoped not, but it seemed like she was waking up. Finally reaching the blackening spot, they all stared at each other.
They continued to look around until most eyes landed on Furuichi. "You first," they all said. "Tch. Typical." Furuichi's seeming bravado was genuine annoyance. The group made him their errand boy, and at times whipping boy. If the silvernette was going to make it out of this alive, he had to stand by his group. It didn't mean he had to do anything extra, like giving up his life, for them. Furuichi stuck out his hand to tenderly touch at the black spot. Mother rumbled, but not enough to cause alarm. Pressing harder into the spot, Furuchi could feel the give under his hand, like pressing into the rotten spot of a fruit. The soft pop when the delicate hand pushed all the way through was a relief, but then the stench caught them all off guard. "Blerrrrrruuggghhh!" No one could escape from vomiting a little into the grass sounding them. Recovering first, Furuichi used his other hand to open the black spot so they could all jump inside Mother's cocoon. As they all pressed on, they couldn't deny that the stench came from millions of rotting corpses digesting in Mother's stomach.
Walking a short distance, the group stood dismayed at the tunnels leading deeper into Mother's cocoon. "Looks like we're going to have to split up…" Furuichi said while flashing a light through each tunnel. "We might have more luck going between these two. There's slightly more growth along the walls."
Oga hated that the silvernette was right, but now wasn't the time to bust balls. He had enough sense for that. Didn't mean Oga was going to be the weakling's tunnel buddy though. "Hilda-"
"Aoi and I will take the right tunnel. You boys take the left."
Oga's grip nearly broke the poor plastic flashlight in his marred hand. "Fine. Head back if you see nothing in 20 minutes. Go straight back to base."
Furuichi nodded stiffly as did the others. He wasn't scared that this might be the last time he'd ever lay eyes on the group, he was pissed at having to see Oga last if that was the case. The huge brute couldn't stay quiet for the life of him, clunking around, they'd sure wake Mother up if she hadn't already. "Stay close," Oga commanded and took the lead down the tunnel. "Yeah, yeah, yeah captain."
"You wanna take the lead then?"
"No, be my guest."
"That's what I thought."
Furuichi just kept walking. The faster they were able to do this, the faster the silvernette could try to find whatever was left of his family. The men walked on pins and needles. Mother's breath grew thicker as they continued down the tunnel. "Do you think she's really down there?"
"Now's not the time to get scared, Idiot Furuichi."
"I'm not scared! I was just asking, bastard!"
Furuichi couldn't help it when his hands shook as Mother yawned loudly for them to hear. Furuichi's lightbeam betrayed the lie of his statement, but it also betrayed Oga's. "She is here."
Mother stood tall in the center of her cocoon that opened into a large room. Large purple veins slid across the floor to feed Mother, her roots anchored deep into soil. Before she looked more like a tree, but to the men's horror, by consuming humans and purging the Earth of its toxins, her metamorphosis left her slimey. Her beautiful, and savage branches transformed into grotesque, swollen blue sausages, dripping with brown liquid that smelled worse than rancid meat. Oga and Furuichi gagged at the smell and her image. "You have it right?"
Furuichi nodded.
"Let's put this bitch to rest then."
Furuichi bristled at the callous choice of words. "You know it's our fault, right?"
"Seriously? You want to have that conversation now?"
Furuichi opened his mouth, but a harpy's scream nearly burst their eardrums. Oga drew his machete, and slashed at every hideous vine that slapped their way. Mother had begun to wake up, and she was not happy to see humans so close to her vulnerable state. Both fighting in desperation, Mother cackled when she noticed the humans losing steam. A snack would benefit her enough to finish morphing sooner than scheduled.
"Oga! Fall back! We can't take her like this! Look!"
Mother's sick, gnarled vines quivered as they hit the floor. Furuichi pointed as they moved like worms, melting into the floor only to regenerate into Mother's body. "As long as she had most of her body, we can't beat her."
Mother took interest in this human. He paid attention. It would be a joy to devour him whole. Along with the other nuisance that continued to hack at her precious body. "Oga! I'll cover you! Fall back! Go!"
Oga only had a second to cast a wary glance at the silvernette before rushing back toward the tunnel they entered through. It was when Mother shrieked with rage that Oga dared to look back once more. "FURUICHI!"
Before the tunnel collapsed to close the silvernette and Mother together, Oga watched as Furuichi cradled the dirty bomb to his chest and rushed head first into Mother's weak body.
