Jack, Week 9

The smoothed section of the tunnel lasted the bulk of the week. The shadows were consistent throughout, never breaking so much as a single shadow in sequence. Jack continued walking, but his pace slowed considerably the further he went with no change in environs, the tensions building inside of him becoming increasingly difficult to bear.

Eventually he reached something new, though it’s not something he was pleased to see. He found, lying face down and sprawled upon the floor of the tunnel, a human body, stripped of clothing and mutilated almost beyond recognition. There was no pattern to the marks on their body – it seemed to simply have been shredded by god knows what. Jack immediately clasped his hand over his mouth and nose, as the smell was revolting. He sidestepped the body, giving it a wide berth, and continued walking – only to encounter another body about 15 minutes later.

The bodies began to appear with increasing frequency, until eventually he came to the sight at the end of the tunnel – he hoped – and nearly vomited upon seeing it: a massive pile of the bodies, all naked and mutilated, stacked up on top each other, spilling down into a vaguely pyramidal shape, and obstructing all but an incredibly thin passage through the tunnel at the top of the pile.

That sight and smell was enough to make him seriously consider actually turning back, eating the two weeks of time he had spent walking down the tunnel (plus the two weeks he would spend walking back) and trying to forget it ever happened. The only thing that gave him pause was the faint glimmer of light from the other side of the pile of bodies. If it was the light of day, he felt compelled to press on and see what lie on the other side of the tunnel. If it was not, he did not want to imagine what horrors lie beyond the pile of bodies.

He ultimately decided to turn back. He turned, and began to walk, and did so for about half an hour before a sight far ahead in the direction he had come from caught his eye. A faint orange glimmer. Fire.

Jack’s eyes widened. He ran ahead to confirm his fears – and as he did, he saw a tall figure with elongated arms and legs standing at the front of the blaze, gliding toward him with the flames following rapidly in the creature’s wake. Jack immediately turned and ran. He did not stop for even a second, but he did glance back from time to time, and saw that the creature and the flames were advancing on him. The wind began to howl, bringing embers of flame with it, as well as the smell of burning flesh.

Eventually Jack reached the pile of corpses. He hesitated for a moment, but then gave in and began to climb the pile of corpses. The flesh was almost rotting, and peeled back when Jack would grasp it – he resorted to wrapping his hands around their skulls for support. The creature was really close now. Jack was about halfway up the pile when the orange glow of the flames completely illuminated the tunnel around him. Another minute passed and Jack was almost at the top of the pile, when he felt a cold hand wrap around his foot. He looked down and saw the creature climbing the pile, with an elongated arm grasping his ankle. Jack climbed down slightly, gave the creature a kick in the head, and climbed faster. The creature briefly released his ankle, allowing Jack the time he needed to get to the top of the pile. Much to his horror, the pile extended a great distance down the tunnel – at least 20 meters. He began to crawl atop the corpses as fast as he could. The flames were being held at bay as the creature struggled to fit through the opening. Jack emerged through the other side, slid down the pile of corpses, and ran as fast as he could.

Within 30 minutes the orange light of the flames had completely faded into the distance, apparently having stopped advancing. Jack allowed himself a moment to breathe.