R&C: Anomaly

2. RUN

Disclaimer: I do not own Ratchet & Clank

"REEEEEEAAAAAAHHH!"

Without even needing to take in a deep breath, an almost ear shattering scream is let loose from the creature. Eli stumbles back in pain from the loud noise, even worse considering they are in a building. Just as he manages to get his bearings he spots the monster sprinting towards him at a fast pace. He barely manages to scrambles backwards before he makes it to the door and slams it closed.

He barely manages to lock it before the door almost cracks off its hinges from the force of a body slamming into it. He keeps stepping back as the creature slams its body multiple times against the door. Already he can see cracks forming on it and will not hold for long. "What- Fuck- I don't—!" His words stumble, his mind trying and failing to come up with a reason for what he saw, so many things that are impossible from what he saw. His ears are still ringing as he continues to stumble back until he makes it the T-section of the hallway.

He turns to run back to the main front doors.

"Raaaaahhh!"

"Reeeaaaagghhh!"

"Aaaaaarrrrhhhhh!"

"Grrrrruuuuhhh!"

He freezes as multiple other screams can be heard deeper in. Just through the long hallway he went down earlier when he first entered he spots some side doors at the far end with some windows installed into the doors.

He watches as he spots multiple silhouette's pass by the light in the windows. They pass through the hallway… and are heading right for him.

"No… what the fuck is going on?!" He questions out loud to himself as he begins to step back.

*CRASH*

His head swivels around back to the door he closed earlier. The door breaks open and he spots the creature land on all fours before letting out a loud growl and glares in his direction.

The other doors on the side either break down or still have them get beaten on by more of the denizens of the hell hole Eli finds himself in. "Fuck!" He shouts and books it the other way. His only means of escaping from the horde of monsters is a large staircase. He latches onto the railing on the side and makes large strides up the stairs, taking them two and three at a time until he hits the first platform and is about to turn the corner and go up to the second floor until he spots a set of large barrels along the wall. He quickly grabs one of them and rolls it down before pushing it down the stairs. It's not much of a distraction or a blockade but it does at least break their sprints towards him. He makes it to the top of the second floor and looks around for anything that could help. He doesn't have time to debate where or what to do as the screams from below are getting closer and much more frantic. Silently cursing to himself, he goes to the nearest door and quickly ducks in before closing it and locking it.

He takes a second to think now that he has something between himself and the charging horde. He takes a few seconds to catch his breath as he tries to make sense of what he saw. 'Okay… what was that? That wasn't human. Where the fuck am I? Who are all of them? The eyes… that one's eyes. They were white. Is it blind? It didn't turn around until I kicked that can… made noise. Maybe I can—'

"Grrrrrrruuughhh…" A low moan can be heard, even amidst the frantic noises outside the room because this one is much closer. He turns around, eyes wide and searching all over.

Two bodies. Two people are beginning to stand up in the same room he is in. The room is pretty dark bar from the boarded up windows letting in light but he can see the figures as they stand tall. He hitches his breath as they slowly look around, their shambled looking figures as they stumble out of whatever piles they were laying.

*SLAM*

"Aaah!" He shouts in surprise as something slams into the door he was up against. It's only after he yells that he realizes his mistake. Turning back to the figures in the room they are staring right in his direction. 'Fuck!' Not wanting to yell anymore, he shouts in his head before quickly reaching into his jacket as they begin making their way to him. He quickly pulls out his pistol, takes aim and fires.

Four shots go off, two for each of them. His ears start to ring from shooting inside the building but his focus is on his enemies as they flinch and stop from being shot in the chest.

Except they snarl and charge at him again in bloodlust fury. "Shit!" He aims again and manages to put another shot on the right ones head, ending it and making it slump to the ground.

The last one though manages to latch onto him and begins to trying to bite him, a feral inhuman look as it gnashes its teeth towards him. The only thing keeping it from tearing out his throat is him holding it by the throat away from him with his free hand. He struggles to hold it for few seconds before using its own momentum against it, twisting themselves around and bringing it around, allowing him to slam it right up against the door. With space now between them, he quickly pulls up his gun right as it tries to push off the door and sends a round straight into its face. He flinches as blood splatters onto him, even getting some in his mouth.

"Arh! God! Fuck!" He curses as he spits out the foreign material. It takes him a second to spit it out but its then that his hearing comes back properly and now that he's not preoccupied with coughing, he really starts to hear the pounding, growling, and snarling at the door he came through… that he notices theirs a bullet in now. "Oh fuck." He whispers in horror as the cracks in the door begin to widen, even more so from the bullet hole, as the creatures begin to slam themselves harder against the door. "Goddamnit!" He shouts and quickly looks around. He smiles as he notices another door in the room. He bolts to it and just as he swings the door open that the other door breaks open. He doesn't bother looking back as he's already through and slamming the door closed and locking it. Just like before, this room is occupied and the others continue to slam into the next door. This time theirs only one creature, which he ends with a double tap to the head. He bolts through the room, minding the desks that are littered about, and swings open another door and is through. He's back into the hallway again but it's short lived as even more of the feral creatures begin running down the hallway to him. To the next nearest door he heads to it, noting only one of the creatures slamming against it.

With not much of a choice, he turns the handle and slams his foot into the door at the same time. It was a push on his side so he manages to knock the creature back and slip himself into the room and lock the door. He barely manages to pull up his pistol as the creature inside goes to attack him before he ends it like the others. No rest for him still as the horde has already broken through and is still hot on his heels from the sounds of his gunshots. As much as he doesn't want to keep alerting them to his location, he has no other weapons on his person and from the claws and teeth on these things they can do some serious damage if can't take them out quick enough. He does note that the second creature he killed did manage to cut his arm a little, making him wince and curse. That still doesn't stop him though as he pushes forward through another adjacent door in the room.

That's how the next several rooms go as he desperately tries to find a way out of the death building he's in. He's already needed to reload and drop his magazine who knows where and when but he's already had to go through over half the magazine of his next mag. Already he's got several scratch and cut marks on his arms and body. The claws the creatures have are particularly sharp and even jagged. He hisses as he moves with the painful injuries he has now.

He shoots two more of the creatures as he finds himself running around a corner of a hallway. He stops for a second to find his next obstacle to pass but his eyes zero in on the very end of the hallway.

A large hole in the wall has been blasted at the far end of the hallway. Leading right to the outside. Much to his relief its still daylight out and he doesn't see anymore sand being kicked it up through the hole. He's still on the second floor but just getting to the hole is going to be a major improvement on his part.

"REEEEEAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Time to move!" He whispers shouts to himself as the screams of the horde behind him make themselves known. He sprints his way forward at full tilt to make it to what may be his salvation. His footsteps stomp harshly onto the floor as he speeds through the hallway. The many footsteps and stomping behind him can be heard and even though they are still some distance behind him, he knows they will not be for long if he doesn't get out soon and theirs no amount of ammo he will ever have to take out the horde. "C'mon, c'mon!" He strains as his lungs begin to burn and his muscles begin to ache from the strain he's pushed himself through in the past hour. Closer and closer his salvation is almost within his reach, a smile forms on his face. "Almost there… almost there… almost—!"

"RAAAAGGHHH!"

"Puh!" Something comes out from the side as he's a few doors away from the hole, completing taking him off his feet and carrying him straight to the side and slamming into a door. The tearing of plaster can be heard as his back explodes in pain. He can barely get himself together as he's thrown all about. Instead of being carried he soon is thrown onto the ground and rolls once while another body can be heard hitting the ground. He groans as he tries to get his wits back together before he manages to find himself in another room. His flashlight lays on the ground, illuminating the room as he spots the door he went through gnarled to disrepair, blocking the access along with parts of the wall having collapsed onto the opening as well. He quickly pushes himself to his feet and does a quick scan of the room.

"Raaagh!"

"Argh!"

Its only because of a reflex that something charges him that he brings his left arm up in defense. The creature latches on and bites into his arm. A scream of pain leaves his mouth as a row of jagged, sharp and broken teeth tear into his skin and deep into his flesh. Two hands latch onto his arm as well as he just barely manages to keep the thing from pushing further onto him and onto the ground. His yell of pain turns to a yell of anger as he raises his gun into the air and pistol whips the thing in the side of the head.

Then again…

And again…

And again.

Several blows land on the things head, blood starting to come off its head, including Eli's own arm, as it's grip begins to weaken on him. This time Eli tries one more time and hits the edge of the butt of his guns magazine straight into the things eye.

That does it as it lets out a yelp of pain and lets go of him reaching and grabbing onto its crushed eye before Eli brings his foot and kicks the creature away. It stumbles back, having been dazed quite harshly after the beating it took to the head, and falls back before slamming into the wall and cracking the plaster. Eli groans as he looks at his arm.

A large gnash of a bite wound can be seen bleeding all over his arm. It bit clean through his jacket and that part of his jackets sleeve is just barely holding on from the tearing. A look to the door shows the rest of the horde has made it and is now trying to break through the rubble and the other occupant in the room is getting back up. Still angry at the attack, Eli raises his gun just as the creature stares at him fully when it stands up, its entire body no illuminated from his flashlight.

He is surprised to note it's the same creature that he first saw in the place that first chased after him. It lets out another scream as it charges, arms extended forward ready to latch onto him as it's blood-stained teeth head for him.

With his sights moved over its head, he squeezes the trigger.

*Click*

His heart sinks and he freezes as nothing comes out.

He's so stunned from that he just stands there as the creature crashes into him, biting into his shoulder. He yells as he's pushed backwards.

*CRASH*

This time right through a window. The both of them go through the second-story window, the dark room they were in now changed to brightness. The creature lets him go as they both fall to the ground. Eli awaits the painful and death filled crash of the ground but instead he lands on something somewhat softer by comparison. He lets out a grunt and groan of pain as he lands on a large mound soft dirt and sand. He rolls over several times along the mound before he finally hits relatively flat ground. He groans as he grabs onto his shoulder, the new fresh bite wound now amplifying the pain he's in, on top of the wound on his arm and the crash landing he did.

When he's managed to regain himself he notices and hears more and much louder screams going off. He opens his clenched shut eyes and spots the source of the screams. Several bodies litter the ground, gnarled and mishappen as they impacted the much harder ground. A look up shows the window he crashed through with several of the creatures screaming, covering their eyes as before they force themselves back into the dark building.

A much closer scream shifts his attention. Another body is screaming and writhing on the ground, hands covering its eyes as it starts swiping at whatever it can. It's the same one that's been hounding him the whole time. Anger flows through him as he looks around and finds his pistol. He grabs onto it but he noise gets the creatures attention as it scrambles to its feet and blindly swipes in his direction. Eli frantically begins to try to reload his weapon as it gets closer and closer to him. Much to his relief he's able to load in his last magazine and rack the round in. As he goes to aim, the pain in his shoulder and arm makes his aim unwieldy and off-balance.

By the time it gets to him he is able to fire once. Unfortunately his shot hits off the side of the skull deflecting off its forehead to the side and shearing off a large chunk of skin and throwing it off-balance as well but it continues to charge. Eli is thrown to the ground again but this time he manages to put his foot between him and the creature as it swipes at his face. He turns his face to the side, the claws barely unable to graze his skin. Frustration and anger boil over in him as with what little strength he has left he pushes the creature off him to the side. As it looks upwards towards the sky it grabs at its eyes, almost like staring into the sky is painful.

Eli doesn't care though as kneels over the thing and his anger wins over. With his gun raised high into the air he brings it down on the things fingers.

And again.

And again.

And again.

The first couple hits breaks the fingers and force its hands away but Eli doesn't care as he continues to pistol whip the creature that has been chasing him and trying to kill him. It's feral screams turn to ragged and bloodied gurgles as Eli continues to lay into it without any remorse whatsoever, the frustration of the whole situation he's found himself in forcing him to get any anger he has out on the thing below him.

After over a dozen blows, the things face is barely recognizable as it weakly tries to move. Eli is having none of it as he places his gun's barrel right at the center temple of the creature.

*BANG*

A few small flecks of blood splatter on his face but he doesn't care as he's breathing in and out heavily, trying to calm himself down and keep his arms from shaking. With the hole placed dead center in the creature and the adrenaline slowly fading away, Eli groans as he slowly pulls himself to the side and off the creature. He falls onto his back and stares up into the sky, which is starting to darken slightly compared to earlier as dusk just barely starts to settle in.

"Ahhh… fuck…" Eli groans as the pain hits him full force now. "Goddamnit… what the fuuu—…" He can barely finish his sentence, his words turn to full on groaning as he tries to push himself up. The pain flares up some more as he barely pushes himself up to sitting. When he does he barely hears the sounds of growling and snarling. Looking back up the window he crashed through, he can just barely make out some movement inside, along with some distant yells inside the building. Taking another look around he sees the rest of the horde that tried to follow him. A few more bodies litter the ground, these ones having not been able to land on the soft dirt piled hill and instead went straight into the ground. Their bodies are gnarled, bleeding, broken beyond recognition and he's pretty sure he still sees one still twitching a little. With the darkness starting to creep in, Eli opts he needs to find shelter.

Better, smaller and much safer shelter.

With more groans coming from his mouth, he agonizingly pushes himself up to his feet on shaking legs. He takes a few steps forward and begins walking towards a small cluster of buildings. A few steps, then he turns around and stares up at the window again.

"Fuck off." He curses and flips them off with his uninjured arm before groaning again and going forward. "Goddamn… c'mon Eli. Just get moving. Need… something." He begins muttering to himself, trying to stop the bleeding from his wounds but to little success. He needs some form of medical supplies soon or else he will most likely perish.

He starts moving, stumbling a little as he does to make as much distance from the hell spawn-filled building behind him. The sun is already starting to dip into the horizon so if he doesn't find shelter soon, he's going to be stuck outside in the cold with nothing to protect him.

"Fuck." He groans as he presses himself against what is essentially a street light pole. Many of the buildings are dilapidated and too broken open for him to be able to properly hunker down. "Theirs… got to be… something." He mutters as he looks around. There are several buildings around him, some big and tall and somewhat intact but he's had enough of venturing into large structures at the moment. He's looking for something smaller that he can easily move in, secure, and barricade with little time… like a home or store or something. He does spot several smaller buildings now. Most of them are destroyed with large gaping holes or crushed sides of the buildings about them.

One building though does get his attention and is the best he can hope for in his situation. It's a smaller mostly circular building, with a tall coned dark metal roof. The walls are made of some type of stone or concrete and are light grey. The only problem he sees the sizeable hole on the roof where the metal and the stone meets but doesn't really compromise the walls that much.

Not one to be picky at the moment, he gets moving to it as the sun is close to disappearing over the horizon. He stumbles up to the door but albeit slams himself into what vaguely looks like a flat door. "Arhh!" He shouts and hisses in pain as his wounds flare up. He stares angrily at the door before looking around for anything to open the door. "Where the hell is the handle? What the fu—" In the middle of his growing tirade, and his feeling of the door from every angle, his hand brushes a small panel next to the door. He didn't notice it at first because of the dirt and dust covering it but soon an aqua colored square light illuminates it, making him jump at the sudden light up, along with the creaking and groaning of the metal door as it slowly moves to the side, sliding into the wall. He looks in amazement at the technology. 'This building… it's advanced. Way more advanced than the first building I was in. What is—?' He groans as his injuries remind him of a more pressing matter for himself at the moment.

Along with a very distant scream and yell. He quickly steps inside and after a quick look around the small room, which looks vaguely like bedroom, and finding nothing hiding, he heads back to the door and quickly looks for the panel to close it. Since the inside of the room wasn't exposed to the elements as much he was able to spot the panel easily enough. A quick hand swipe on the panel and the door closes. Still he doesn't want to take any chances so he finds what is essentially an giant metal dresser and some boxes and starts shoving them in front of the door, pushing through the pain just to make sure he can somewhat secure the place with as little stuff as he can muster.

After several minutes of shuffling around he manages o barricade the entrance to the place and takes a moment to breathe. Soon after he hisses and goes looking for anything to help him. A small hallway leads to a kitchen of sorts of but that's not his focus. He groans as he makes it to a bathroom connected to the room and goes in. A glass mirror cabinet is above a counter with a metal sink in the center of it. He grabs the mirror and quickly pulls it open and begins rummaging through it. He stops short though as he spots a small glowing blue box in the cabinet. Curiosity gets the best of him as he picks it up but he's feeling so weak it slips from his hand.

"Damnit…" He groans as the blue glowing glass case breaks on the sink. A wave of headache hits him as he leans heavily on the sink, covering his eyes with his uninjured arm.

He doesn't notice the small glowing blue lights fly around for a second before they disappear into his wounds.

He lets out a groan of frustration before looking back through the medicine cabinet. This time he spots a box with a large red plus sign on it. He may not be able to recognize the writing in this place but he does know the universal sign of a medkit when he sees one. A smile forms on his lips as he grabs it and practically tears off the lid before looking for bandages, gauze, anything of the like. He immediately finds a few packs of what might be packaged flat bandages as well as some gauze. Thing is, he was bitten and clawed at. He's not exactly a doctor or a medical genius but he does no how filthy and highly toxic a bite wound can be. He needs some sort of alcoholic solution to disinfect his wounds properly. Theirs just one problem:

He still can't read a damn thing in this place.

The labels on the bottles, tubes, anything with writing has absolutely no familiarity to him. What's worse is if what he saw from those creatures and that they used to live here before going feral, he has no idea if they and he have a similar physiology. What could heal and be edible to them could be poisonous to Eli.

And with the splitting headache he's feeling at the moment, he has no time to suddenly start learning their alphabet. "Fuck it." With a groan he begins the arduous task of bandaging his wounds up with what he's found.

After several long painful minutes, he manages to place the sealed bandages on his shoulder wound and arm, along with any of the deeper clawed cuts he has. The gauze is wrapped around his bitten arm wound as well and some of the others small cuts on his body. While it would be good to leave him with peace of mind to disinfect his wounds, without knowing anything of what the medicines contain or can do it could hurt him more than actually help.

"Best I can do… best I can do." He mutters as he ties off the last bit of gauze on his arm. Now that he's bandaged up as best he can, his fatigue and headache is really starting to hammer into him at the moment. Almost so he's just about ready to pass out. Walking back into the bedroom, he finds a modest bed in the middle of the room. Without a care he grabs the sheets at the head of the bed and pulls them down.

A veritable cloud of dust and sand is kicked up and he coughs a little from the dust in the air. Still despite that the underside of the sheets were relatively clean so that's the most amount of a plus he can hope for at the moment. Grabbing the pillow and turning it over, he collapses on the bed. Casting one last look at the barricaded door, his eyes grow too heavy for him to stay awake and conscious.

Within seconds, he's out.

There we have it. Eli has survived first contact with the denizens of the new planet he's found himself in. Hurt, injured and worse off than he was before, he's still alive and that's more than any can say for his pursuers.

Things went crazy for him and went from 0 to 100 real quick for the lone human. Now that he's on a hostile world, he's got to get ready and gets moving to figure out where he's at and what's his next move.

Next chapter will start to establish some things, and answer some questions and unlock some of the mystery revolving these mysterious, violent, albeit slightly familiar creatures that we know of, and get Eli setup.

Subject ZeroOne: Thank you. Glad you like it. I'll see what I can do.

This is the only other chapter I have completed for this story so for the next few months are going to be uploads for my other stories.

Thank you all for reading. Go ahead and fave, follow, review, whatever you wish. Take care everyone, have fun reading, but most of all have a great day to all of you.