Chapter 7: Manhunt
Adrian looked around in a panic. He had his back against a wall and the giant monster was closing in. The edge of the large blade it was carrying scraped unabashed against the charred floor as the figure stalked closer to the freaked out human at the end of the room. Adrian glanced to his left and back to the big monster, before he dove to the side and over the counter next to him. He then stood up and ran on by when the pyramid headed atrocity swung its blood drenched knife in a stunningly quick manner, looking to decapitate the enemy. However, Adrian was lucky enough to lunge forward and drop to the ground and the knife missed his scalp by mere inches.
Adrian could feel the whoosh from the swing mess up his hair, but he was far from worried about that- he simply picked himself up, climbed over the counter on the other side and ran for the open exit.
"Fuck! Fuck! What the fuck is that?!" He ran as fast as he could force himself to, in no direction in particular. Rather likely to be not in the direction of where he was told to go, which he had completely forgotten about the second he got attacked. It was too intense for Ade for him to possibly think straight; and all he could do was just run in any way that seemed empty and not dangerous, even though that was impossible to do given the flashlight wasn't helping much outside. But as long as he was away from that monster with the sword, he could careless if he ran into a tiger pulling pink elephants out of its ass. And it was then that he slowed to a stop to catch his breath. He leaned against the closest building and wheezed for a moment, until an epiphany popped up in his head.
'Wait a sec... that wasn't a sword.. that was a knife.... that was a giant fucking knife...'
And with that Adrian groaned and fell to his knees to try and shake off the dizzy spell that had suddenly come over him- he had been running harder than he thought. That still wasn't enough of an explanation for him when he tried to start walking again and heard a clanging like noise underneath his feet, as if he was walking along steel. Sure enough, when he looked down, there it was. Far from the pavement that should have been there, all there was in the street- if it could have been called that anymore- was mesh grating. And it stretched out as far as the flashlight allowed Adrian to see.
'Wha.. how the hell?'
More clanging jarred him out of his thoughts... but that time he wasn't moving. He turned around, and saw that the monster with the huge knife had been following him. It wasn't close enough to hurt him yet, but it sure was coming close to it. "Oh shit..."
He backed away from it slowly before he turned to run, and immediately felt another sharp pain in his left leg. His wound was bothering him again. He grimaced as he hobbled as fast as he could down the street and ran up to the front doors of the closest building and pounded on them. He grabbed the doorknob and tried tugging it, but it was no use- the doorknob was broken.
"No!" He turned and headed for the next building.
"Stay away from me you fucking pyramid head!" He continued to wince as he moved forward. One hand was over his leg and the other over his stomach that had begun to cramp up on him. The Pyramid Head's slow, methodical movements were still enough to gain ground on its prey as its knife dragged along the grating, and it made a sickening screech as it did so. Adrian pounded on the next set of doors- no good. Now aside from fear, he was beginning to get frustrated.
Adrian raced down for the next building and pounded on those doors as well, but to no avail. He grabbed the doorknob and tugged it before he then immediately flew back, yanking it off in a single pull.
'Great! That's great.'
Ade turned to see where Pyramid Head was, and his eyes widened- it was getting closer. So close that it pulled its knife back in a huge wind up, and sized Adrian up before taking a mighty swing- which Adrian barely got out of range of. And there, he found himself running down a dark, narrow alley.
His flashlight illuminated the path he was running on, just enough for him to notice the chained up fence at the end of it- blocking his way. "Urgh! Dammit, this can't be happening!" He took the steel pipe he held and slammed it against the lock, praying it would break. Alas, as rusty looking as the lock was, it refused to give. Adrian turned once again to find out where his pursuer was, and a sudden sense of urgency washed over him- Pyramid Head had begun to wind up for another swing.
Quickly and almost instinctively, Adrian threw his pipe over the fence and scampered up over the neck high fence, diving to get out of the way which he barely did. He would pay for that move, however by landing harshly on his spine... right on the steel pipe he threw over.
"Ah!" He clutched his back at the nasty landing he took, but didn't have much time to shake it off as one swing of the big knife had cut the fence in half, and Pyramid Head was already pushing the steel violently to get his huge frame through it. Adrian stood up on the what appeared to be a backyard which was in horrid condition, but Adrian wasn't about to go and pay any attention to that- he simply forced himself onto his feet, grabbed the pipe he threw over, and ran over to the backdoor to the house he was in back of.
"Come on, open!" He repeatedly knocked on it, turning the doorknob, which was locked. "Fuck this," he mumbled, before he lifted up his steel pipe and slammed it hard into the glass of the door, shattering it quickly as Pyramid Head shoved the fence blocking its way, causing the rest of the fencing that surrounded the backyard to fall like a line of dominoes. Adrian jumped in fright- the realization that he could die at any moment had finally sunk in.
He reached his hand through the door and unlocked it before he quickly ducked inside and threw the door shut. He wasn't safe however, not for long. But as long as he could get a second to breathe, he'd be able to start running again. Ade would have to be careful, however- the house he was in was quiet, although it didn't neccessarily mean he was alone. The kitchen he rested inside of was pretty dark, just like the rest of the house.
Adrian peered off into what he could see of the living room, and slowly made his way through the house, quickly making his way for the front door just ahead and in his sights. He stopped right next to the door and looked around to make sure he was safe, which he was for the moment, before he looked at the map that the flashlight shined on for him as he tried to figure out where he was. He had made a right out of the restaurant... went that way a block or two, and ducked into the alley on his left and into the house where he was now- and he cursed to himself as he realized that he had ran away from where he was supposed to go, making the distance he had to travel a couple blocks larger as a result.
He couldn't lament for long, though, as he heard the backdoor literally smash into pieces, and the large monster he was running from squeezed into the open doorway. It then proceeded to continue on its slow but menacing pace after Adrian who crumpled the map into his pants pocket. His hands fumbled with the lock on the door before he opened it and stumbled out onto the sidewalk. "Shit... shit!" He didn't turn around to see if the Pyramid Head was behind him, he just wanted back inside of a safe haven where he could catch his breath for a moment or two. And at the rate he was going, he probably wouldn't find one before passing out from exhaustion.
The only thing that kept him from sprawling out in the middle of the demented looking street was the fear of what would happen if that monster had caught up to him. What did it even want? Did Adrian deserve to be running from a monster so terrible that his imagination would never have been able to conjure up? He didn't know. There were so many thoughts racing through his head as he ran that he didn't know what to believe, what to listen to. Nothing stood out in his mind other than running as fast he could with the leg wound he had, the stomach cramp that bothered him, and the dizzy state he was in. Adrian couldn't stop himself, though. No matter how much pain he was forced to deal with, he couldn't bring himself to stop running. As if a voice in his head told him that he just couldn't give up so quickly. But still, if he was asked why he kept running, he'd probably say that the thought of his brother suffering the same fate pushed him on. But even that wasn't enough to keep Adrian from resting.
He slowed down in front of what appeared to be a corner store. Adrian didn't understand what it was about it that caught his eye, but it just looked like a good place to hide in until he could pull himself together to start running again. He approached the front door, and with a bit of surprise and luck, the door wasn't locked. Adrian pulled it open rather easily, only to slam it shut immediately upon entry.
Ade took a shady look around the corner store's few aisles, and noticed the cash register and the counter it rested on in the back. He ran past aisle two, and on the way by he grabbed a hand sized bag of potato chips and ripped the bag open in midstride before carelessly shoving chips into his mouth. He may not have been able to keep food in his system, but he needed to feel somewhat like he had a full stomach.
He then noticed the freezer in the aisle on his left and headed over to it. Adrian opened it up and put down his steel pipe, leaving his other hand free to grab a one liter bottle of soda. He popped off the cap, eyeing it a bit suspiciously as he held it in his hand before finally he shrugged, put the bottle to his lips, and took a swig of it before he spat it right back out.
"Warm," he mumbled, "figures." He looked at the soda for a moment longer, shrugged and began to chug the soda down, drops of it dripping down and off his chin as a result. He quickly finished the drink and wiped his face with the back of his hand before he blindly reached into the bag and placed another handful of food in his mouth. And then, as he began to chew, his eyes bugged. It was going to happen again...
'No... this is different..'
He coughed and choked as he fell to his knees and tried to cough out whatever was in his mouth. But after a moment of failure in doing that, he poked inside his mouth and pulled out what was choking him with two figures... and whatever it was squirmed in his grasp.
"UGH! FUCK!"
The cockroach wriggled free from Adrian's hand and scurried off before it got itself smashed by a drained, disgusted, and angry human being. His tongue poked out of his mouth from the disgust he felt, before he instinctively reached back into the freezer next to him and grabbed another one liter bottle of soda and began to drink the nasty taste out of his mouth. And then, after he discarded the second empty bottle of soda, he felt it in his stomach. This was the pain he had been used to feeling those past few weeks. He winced as he crawled into a corner, obviously threatening to vomit, when he heard a voice behind him that had kept him from doing such a thing.
"Are you okay?"
