The Parasite

"Search his body for keys." Mavro tells me, as I panic. We just killed a guard, surely we'll die for it.

I find the keys, though they're only the keys to the slave's cells.

We run as fast as our broken bodies can. My ribs ache, but I cannot stop now. Mavro doesn't plan on either. There's not a single guards in sight... perhaps they are hunting sea monsters. I haven't seen the owner either, though it's not like his down here often.

Mavro's leads the way to the cell block. There aren't any guards here. Strange, even if they had to hunt sea monsters they wouldn't leave this place unguarded.

"Open the cells." Mavro tells me, as he walks away.

I open them.

The slave's don't move. Their eyes are bleak and empty, they've lost their will. Broken by the pit, even if they escaped what would they have?

Mavro comes back, with a bucket... a bucket of cold slop. The slave's turn their heads. Smelling the delicious food, they lick their lips hungrily. They haven't eaten in a long... long time.

Mavro drops the bucket and kicks it over, spilling the slop onto the floor. They don't care; food is food. Then he stomps on it, spits on it too. They still stare at it hungrily.

"Pathetic. Is this all your worth? A bunch of animals who slobber at the sight of rotten slop. Your worse than the pigs who watch you fight in the pits. If your hungry, eat. Come on eat, like the filthy animals you are." Marvo says calmly, his voice cold.

I'm stunned, and it appears so are the slave's. Looking down at themselves as if only now realizing how pathetic they are. Fighting over a single bucket of disgusting slop, day after day, until they finally die in the muddy pits.

"If you want more than this pathetic life then, follow me. But not as animals or slaves, but as men." Mavro declares, powerfully.

Blue flames radiating within his deep black eyes.

The slave's stand, their eyes no longer empty, now full of conviction. A spark a hope has been lit within them.

Wow... Focus! There's no time to admire.

We charge through the facility, Marvo leads the way, it seems he knows this place like the back of his hand.

We stop at the guards armory, only to find it empty.

Still no resistance from the guards.

The facility is massive, with many twists and turns yet Mavro seems to know exactly where he's going. How... many times must he have tried to escape.

"Against the wall!" Mavro shouts. We do as he says, without fuss.

"The exit is just around this corner." He says.

"Then why don't we get outta here already?!" A young man shouts, nervously.

Mavro sighs. "Have you not noticed the lack of guards?, I've been in this hell-hole all my life and yet I've never seen this place as empty as it is now. It must be a trap." Mavro says, thinking to himself.

"A trap? But why would they do that? It doesn't make sense..." I say, trying hard to think of the reason. My thoughts are interrupted by a loud thud against the exit doors.

Then another, and another... it gets louder and louder, as if the Butcher were knocking on the doors.

Boom! The doors smash open as a guard flies through them. The guards body hits the iron wall beside us, his body exploding like an egg.

The men behind me shiver. So do I, what the hell... could've done that?!

My question is answered as a huge... Owner?, What...

The Owner steps through the broken doors, body is a mess. His eyes rolled to the back, his skin purple, veins popping out.

The most disgusting part is... the tentacles sprouting out of his fat mouth. The tentacles are so thick they break his jaw as to make themselves more comfortable. The Owners stomach squirms, somethings inside of him. It expands his body, breaking his bones as it does. It's... disturbing. The men behind me vomit at the sight. They've seen people die many times but this... this is just unsettling.

We have no wepons, how are we supposed to fight this thing?

Behind the Owner several more creatures like him follow, the guards... they're mindless. Slimy tentacles sprouting from their mouths.

We stay hidden around the corner... they're getting closer, as if sensing our presence.

"The parasite..." Mavro mutters.

"What are they?" I ask him, nauseated by the sight of them.

"I'm not entirely sure... I only know the Owner kept it under lock and key, never daring to unleash it." Mavro says.

"Then why the hell did he keep it?!" I ask, dumbfounded.

"Greed." He replies.

"I have an idea..." He says, suddenly.

***

The parasites draw near. I jump out from the shadows attracting their attention, I'm not alone; the unshackled men are with me.

The creatures chase after us, bones cracking, drool running out of their broken mouths. They shriek as they run, they're fast but unbalanced. Falling over as they chase after us, trampling over one another to catch their prey, to spread themselves into more host's.

Spreading till all is them and they are all.

An old man falls to the ground, and a creature attempts to consume him but before it can, the young man swings a metal pipe into the creature's head.

Another man helps the older up.

We continue running as fast as we can. My ribs ache, and the men are weak, they haven't eaten in a long time and lack energy.

"Keep moving! We're almost there!" I shout, struggling to move myself.

A tentacel shoots out from a host's mouth and wraps around the young man's leg, pulling him into the horde.

His gone... there's nothing we can do. We have to keep moving. The men groan, they can't keep up.

Another man falls, then another... several more, till there's only a few left. I don't have time to look back. Some do, and they are consumed aswell. The horde grows bigger.

I run alone... as I approach the pit.