Escaping The Mine [3]

There wasn't anything different about this particular beast compared to the mutated beasts that charged into the mine.

They were duplicates of the same original beast, after all. There were some slight differences, but nothing major.

The only difference was that while those beasts were very far away and only slightly visible in the distance, this one was towering over them.

And it really was "towering."

It had to be bigger than average. There was no way it wasn't. 

'I brought a baseball bat to deal with these fucking things?' 

Honestly, Gio knew the bat would be close to useless, but having something was better than having nothing. 

The mutated beast was at least fifteen feet tall, if not more. Gio was prone and Ricky was crouching with his head tucked, so it was considerably larger than them. 

Its skin was a milky white color and translucent. Within, it was possible to see the red and blue veins and arteries running through its systems. The shadows of its organs could be seen in its torso, but the milkiness of its skin became much thicker in that area, making its vitals harder to distinguish.

It had a mostly human form. It stood on two legs, but its arms were equally long and could clearly be used for mobility if necessary. Both its hands and feet were adorned by claws that were at least a foot long and extremely sharp off appearance alone.

It was a large creature in more than one way. It was bulky, and if it had proper musculature, it would be built like a warrior with a robust physique. 

It did not have eyes. It had strange protrusions where its eyes should have been, but it was as if someone deleted them. Its nose was no more than two holes in the middle of its face. It did not have anything like hair, and its ears were just like its nose. 

It had a mouth that hung open, salivating, with three rows of jagged teeth primed for when it found its prey. There was no doubt that this "thing" was a beast that only lived to kill and eat.

Not all mutated beasts looked the same. The original mutated beasts were mutated from the animals existing in the world already. That was why they were called "beasts." 

However, the categorization for mutated beasts and monsters was much different now. Even an entity like this one, an otherworldly demonic being, could be considered a mutated beast.

There was a lot of information that could be shared about these specific beasts, even, since Gio was a walking encyclopedia of all of the knowledge he'd ever experienced.

However, now wasn't the time for such words. Gio wasn't going to say them, and Ricky damn sure wasn't going to hear them. 

Gio couldn't speak. Words could not be spoken at this moment. Even words meant death at this moment.

However, he had to warn Ricky somehow. He gripped his arm as hard as he could and stared at him. 

Ricky continued to look at Gio. He kept his hand over his mouth and breathed shakily as he tried to be as quiet as possible. He knew exactly what was in front of them, but if he looked at it, he knew he wouldn't be able to contain himself.

The two sat there, staring at each other, for much longer than they wanted to. According to Gio's internal clock, it was ten minutes.

The mutated beast originally approached this location after hearing their footsteps, but as they had gone quiet, it did not sense them. The machine they stood next to was bound to go cold at some point, but they were lucky.

It still had an aura of heat, as it was still running even after its operator had fled and died. If it weren't for that, the two of them would have been food by now.

They felt its breath merely inches from them. Gio knew he was fine. He was hidden under the excavator entirely, so he blended into its signature wholly. He had also seen countless beasts before. He acknowledged how terrifying they were, but his eyes were cold when he looked at it.

The real problem was with Ricky, He trembled as the mutated beast's hot breath pushed against his face. He nearly jumped when its saliva dripped into a puddle on the ground just a little in front of him.

It grabbed the excavator and swept its neck around, attempting to sense any signs of living beings. The sounds of Ricky and Gio breathing and existing were covered by its purring motor, but the beast could differentiate those sounds.

It remained because it knew that its prey was somewhere nearby.

Bang!

It slammed its claws against the excavator, ripping the metal to shreds. 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It struck the machine several more times. Ricky wanted to run with every fiber of his being, but the grip of the boy holding his arm seemed unreasonably strong in this moment. 

It kept him still where he was even as the excavator tipped back and forth around him. 

It forced him to sit there, risking being crushed by the treads of the machine before the beast could even reach him.

But it was only because he stayed there that he lived. 

When ten minutes finally passed, the beast moved, on the lookout for new prey. The base instinct for most mutated beasts was to look for the easiest possible prey instead of chasing more difficult prey, after all. 

Gio didn't hesitate. 

He pulled Ricky along with him and moved to the next point, away from the perception of that beast.

The rest of their journey was equally silent and nowhere near as terrifying. 

Well, having mutated beasts around every corner could never not be terrifying, but they at least didn't have to confront them.

They stayed hidden even after leaving the perimeter of the mine. There were plenty of cars on the street and various poles and buildings to hide inside of when beasts got close. It really became easier when they got past the security checkpoint. 

Finally, they reached their destination and rushed into the building, hiding behind the wall.

Ricky breathed a huge sigh of relief when they got into the building.

"We're finally here."

"Yeah, but this is only the start."

Gio glanced around. Whether it was because they were lucky or because it was left like that by an employee, the doors were unlocked.

That much was already a blessing for them, but they wouldn't be so lucky with the weapon storage. 

'It won't be so easy to access that.'

"We're safe from beasts as long as one doesn't somehow make its way in here, but we should still keep quiet. Just follow me and don't worry about anything else. If we meet anyone, let me do the talking."

Ricky found it hard to believe that anyone other than him would take a thirteen-year-old seriously, but he decided to agree for now. Up until this point, Gio hadn't been wrong. It was better to trust him.

The two moved through several corridors until they reached an elevator separate from the main elevator used by guests.

They entered it, as its functionality still hadn't been cut, and Gio pressed an array of buttons.

"Fifteen, eighteen, three, twelve, twenty-two, ten, eight, nine, three." 

When Gio repressed the floor markers in that order, a piece of the metal elevator wall slipped away, revealing a hidden button.

Gio knew an abnormal number of details about this mine site. That much was true. He had studied this place's catastrophe very specifically in his past life. At that time he was in a position where he had easy access to such information as well. 

Of course, he wasn't thinking about that now. He was only using the information he had. 

"This is it."

It wasn't a hidden floor, per se, but it wasn't a location that could be easily reached. 

The basic weapon storage was, of course, more easily accessible, but that was not what Gio was targeting. Where they were going, they'd find more than just arms meant to deal with civilians. 

'We haven't encountered anyone so far.'

Not just in this building, but in general.

'It means that everyone that didn't gather at one of those three points is already dead or hiding so deeply that they won't be found until all of this is over.' 

Unfortunately for them, even after all of this was over, they would never be found.

Gio shook his head and pressed the button leading to the hidden floor. After a short elevator ride, he and Ricky arrived at the room he wanted to see. 

From wall to wall, it was filled with weapons. They were on racks and numbered over one hundred even though some were missing, providing Gio and Ricky with a plethora of choices. 

"Pick something you think you can handle. If you don't think you can aim a gun, just grab one of those."

Gio pointed at an array of batons and cold weapons on one rack to the side.

"All of those should be either Artifacts or Marvels, so they'll work well enough on mutated beasts." 

For Ricky, it was definitely better to pick a cold weapon.

For him, however…

'Swords and spears aren't the only things I used in the tower.'

When he entered this room, Gio had already spotted it. The gun that his old partner was modeled after. There was no doubt that he was choosing it. He also took with him a pistol and the only explosive he found in the entire room.

As he slung the gun over his shoulder, grabbed the appropriate bullets, armed himself with several grenades, other explosives, and really anything useful he could find, Ricky also picked a weapon for himself.

His weapon of choice was a club, quite aptly in Gio's opinion, but he also took an assault rifle and a pistol for safety.

Gio nodded at his choices.

"Alright. Since we've prepared, let's get ready. There's only one more thing we need to do, then the next step is escape."