Despite its rusty hinges and previous protestations, the door
silently swung shut; not even a subtle click was audible as it settled once
more into its grooves.
Breaking through the silence though was the damnable static. Once more the troubling sounds of glass and steel rattled out from the receiver.
Only the utility light provided any illumination in the dark kitchen. No end to the room was visible; the luminescence gave out after only a bit.
Quickly Jeremy scanned as much of the room as he could. The whole of room seemed surrounded in steel counters jutting unevenly from the walls. Their hollowed bottoms surrounded in chain fencing, caging in the striking horrors of the room.
Slick sounding shuffling, gasps and moans, nauseating gurgles of ripping flesh, echoed all around. Within the narrow band of the utility light, crawling, tumbling together in jumbles of parts and invaded space, were hundreds of figures confined behind the fencing. So stacked and slammed together they seemed as a singular creation of madness. Blood was seeping from within their midst, coating the ground around the cages and slipping slowly toward the center to be hungrily swallowed by the drain.
It was then, looking at the draining blood that two sets of calloused and pocked feet splashed into the light. It had been a mistake to think the static only came from the cages. He knew it was already coming; the airborne hand whipped by his ear and lodged itself in the fence as he dodged to the side. Without his spear, he'd only be able to dodge now.
The hand, and all the others that landed within reach of the tumultuous creatures, was pulled into the cage with a crunch of such excess that it could only have been torn consumed in some terrible maw. Jeremy too found himself caught by the things under the counter when the blood slicked floor betrayed his footing. Three wretched hands shot out, holding the man tightly against the fence as the obscene female forms shuffled to reach for him.
Though the ammo was precious, Jeremy swung the shotgun off his shoulder to unload a burst of lead at the pair. Meaty chunks flew from their bodies, scattering across the room and floor to the apparent delight of other monsters. Scores of grasping hands held only knuckles and though the figures swayed, they did not fall until another round of lead separated their bodies from any possibility of coherent form.
As if sensing their inability to harm Jeremy the hands cautiously withdrew into the makeshift cage. Though he did not know why he did so, Jeremy kicked the larger hunks of flesh to the creatures.
The static did not quiet, but after pacing the whole of the room he found no creature freely roaming. There was, however, a wooden door that ought to have lead into the yard, but it was boarded up with heavy planks and what seemed to be seven boxes of nails if the empty boxes set on the counter nearest the door were an indication. One box remained mostly full, this Jeremy took, thinking perhaps it might be used to slow or incapacitate walking monsters.
He turned and went to open the door back into the dining room hoping to find another path, perhaps one he had overlooked. As he reached out his hand he felt a pressure against his foot. Looking down he saw a hand pulling back into the cage, leaving the can of anchovies against his foot to spark his curiosity. Cautiously he peeled back the top.
That the indescribable mass had a can of anchovies, let alone give it to him was curious, but to peel it open and find fuses snuggled together was even more so. Pocketing one of the fuses didn't seem terribly out of place after taking the box of nails. It seemed this nightmare operated under its own confounding reality. Its horrific dangers were offset by unsettling quirks and perversions of human life.
In an almost casual manner the sound of metal crashing, puncturing metal reverberated throughout the house, drowning out all for a moment. The echoes did not last long and soon silence rushed into the gaps. Perhaps the pathway Jeremy had been looking for had opened up.
Breaking through the silence though was the damnable static. Once more the troubling sounds of glass and steel rattled out from the receiver.
Only the utility light provided any illumination in the dark kitchen. No end to the room was visible; the luminescence gave out after only a bit.
Quickly Jeremy scanned as much of the room as he could. The whole of room seemed surrounded in steel counters jutting unevenly from the walls. Their hollowed bottoms surrounded in chain fencing, caging in the striking horrors of the room.
Slick sounding shuffling, gasps and moans, nauseating gurgles of ripping flesh, echoed all around. Within the narrow band of the utility light, crawling, tumbling together in jumbles of parts and invaded space, were hundreds of figures confined behind the fencing. So stacked and slammed together they seemed as a singular creation of madness. Blood was seeping from within their midst, coating the ground around the cages and slipping slowly toward the center to be hungrily swallowed by the drain.
It was then, looking at the draining blood that two sets of calloused and pocked feet splashed into the light. It had been a mistake to think the static only came from the cages. He knew it was already coming; the airborne hand whipped by his ear and lodged itself in the fence as he dodged to the side. Without his spear, he'd only be able to dodge now.
The hand, and all the others that landed within reach of the tumultuous creatures, was pulled into the cage with a crunch of such excess that it could only have been torn consumed in some terrible maw. Jeremy too found himself caught by the things under the counter when the blood slicked floor betrayed his footing. Three wretched hands shot out, holding the man tightly against the fence as the obscene female forms shuffled to reach for him.
Though the ammo was precious, Jeremy swung the shotgun off his shoulder to unload a burst of lead at the pair. Meaty chunks flew from their bodies, scattering across the room and floor to the apparent delight of other monsters. Scores of grasping hands held only knuckles and though the figures swayed, they did not fall until another round of lead separated their bodies from any possibility of coherent form.
As if sensing their inability to harm Jeremy the hands cautiously withdrew into the makeshift cage. Though he did not know why he did so, Jeremy kicked the larger hunks of flesh to the creatures.
The static did not quiet, but after pacing the whole of the room he found no creature freely roaming. There was, however, a wooden door that ought to have lead into the yard, but it was boarded up with heavy planks and what seemed to be seven boxes of nails if the empty boxes set on the counter nearest the door were an indication. One box remained mostly full, this Jeremy took, thinking perhaps it might be used to slow or incapacitate walking monsters.
He turned and went to open the door back into the dining room hoping to find another path, perhaps one he had overlooked. As he reached out his hand he felt a pressure against his foot. Looking down he saw a hand pulling back into the cage, leaving the can of anchovies against his foot to spark his curiosity. Cautiously he peeled back the top.
That the indescribable mass had a can of anchovies, let alone give it to him was curious, but to peel it open and find fuses snuggled together was even more so. Pocketing one of the fuses didn't seem terribly out of place after taking the box of nails. It seemed this nightmare operated under its own confounding reality. Its horrific dangers were offset by unsettling quirks and perversions of human life.
In an almost casual manner the sound of metal crashing, puncturing metal reverberated throughout the house, drowning out all for a moment. The echoes did not last long and soon silence rushed into the gaps. Perhaps the pathway Jeremy had been looking for had opened up.