For just a moment, confusion and a dizzying pain at the back of my head were all the world was to me. I could barely move my body, just barely remembering that someone was atop me. Then, as if I suddenly regained the ability to hear, a shard of glass from the once window fell and shattered.
The sound woke me up a little, and I looked at the position we were just standing. Slid across the table were streaks of blood, and at the end was the motionless top half of a bisected man. His flesh was punctured and lacerated by the shards of glass that it crashed through.
Yet, with the rest of my train of thought coming back, I looked towards where that body was probably flung from.
What I saw was a monstrous abomination of amalgamated bodies. The creature had a build and stance akin to that of a gorilla; it had a massive upper body and used its arms for stabilization and weight distribution. It had to have been made up of at least a dozen people, their figures still somewhat distinguishable as if it hadn't finished its fusion.
The most completed sections still had seams between the skins of different people, clearly defined. There were sections that had transitions from people of differing races, and the mostly complete sections had shed most, if not all, the clothing that covered them; as such, there were a few nipples and a single dangling part of male genitalia that were exposed. Perhaps the clothing was shed as a way to increase the potential expansion directions.
On the other hand, the sections that weren't very fused together looked more like the gory side of body horror. Strips of flesh and muscles tangled and twisted into themselves from one body to what I can only assume is a fresh addition. Unlike the somewhat smooth fusion of the complete sections, these ones had massive skin gaps where I could assume it had planned to fuse the body after connecting a new network for its motor functions.
As I finished sizing it up, I felt the body that had been gripping onto me this entire time grip just a little bit tighter. I looked down to see sheer terror in her eyes as her body shook uncontrollably. It wasn't surprising; I felt this was the first creature that truly set itself apart from us. It was unnerving, and I certainly wasn't unaffected, but if I was, we could die, so I could only stifle my fear.
'She must've seen it too, but even through that, she still managed to find enough strength to push me out of the way. Hopefully, from what little bit of movement I saw from it, it was slow. It's not like there's anything to gain by fighting it either.'
Though I felt it was probably not the right thing to do, I wanted to comfort her in some way before I proposed my plan.
I stroked the back of her hair to try to calm her down a little. Her eyes trembled as they reached mine, and in response, I tried giving my best reassuring gaze, which must've worked as she collected her breathing a little.
"I-I'm okay for now… let's just get out of here before it does anything else."
I took another peek at the abomination that was slowly making its way over, each of its movements creating a slight vibration in the floor. It didn't seem to have much urgency in reaching us, perhaps it had short-term memory, or maybe it couldn't speed up. Either way, it didn't mean that we no longer had to worry about it, and it would still reach us in just a minute or two even if we did nothing.
I pointed at the door located on the other side of the room. It should hopefully lead us away and let us carry on our little expedition through the plant. Slowly, she got off me, and we retrieved the items we had dropped as we crawled around. The height of the windows happened to be just tall enough for us to crawl on our hands and knees, and not low enough to the point we had to lie on our bellies.
As we made our way to the exit, we ran into the body that had been thrown moments ago.
It was still alive and stopped us in our tracks for a moment.
It let out low guttural sounds as it seemed to mindlessly look around the room. Unlucky for us, it was basically right next to the door I planned for our escape.
With only the most optimistic of minds, we shuffled towards the door anyway. This was the only "potential" safe option, as the other door led directly into the plain view of that creature.
Of course, the half-bodied man saw us quite quickly.
Its low growl rapidly picked up, and suddenly its remaining limbs became animated as it tried its hardest to grapple me, though its fingers were just a few feet shy.
The moment it started moving like that, we picked up our pace, and the moment after that, the tempo of the shaking ground increased, and the stomps became louder.
Realizing we were probably fucked, I grabbed Abby's hand and pushed ourselves off the ground as I pushed open the door with a forceful smack. Without a single glance backwards, I ran as quickly as I could while trying to account for Abby's top speed.
Almost dragging her behind me, we ran through every other corner for as long as she could, since only when I started hearing her heavy breathing did I slow to a stop.
"Hah… Haahhh…"
I wasn't in perfect shape either, but she was heaving, and the moment I let go, she dropped a little as her hands planted themselves onto her knees.
Looking past her, there wasn't a single sign of that abomination catching up. That didn't mean we lost it so simply, though.
'Did we really just lose it that easily? No, it couldn't be… right? It shouldn't be, if it were the case, then how could there be so many people already a part of it, especially those… newer parts of it. Could it be some kind of endurance hunter like humans were back then?
Hah, fuck. Whatever it is, I guess I'll just have to experience it firsthand.'
As we caught our breath, I partly questioned why I was spending so much effort to find Robert. It wasn't like after finding him, the world would magically be restored to how it was before. In fact, I couldn't even guarantee that he would be willing to come with me since I know he has his own family and whatnot to take care of. In the end, this'll be more like a wellness check than gaining a new member of the group.
I questioned how that abomination was able to collect so many bodies once again. Were they all really from kills, or could they also have been any random body on the floor? Is that big thing actually more akin to their clean-up crew than a tank?
"O-okay… I'm good now, where next?"
I looked at her face, where her skin glistened a little thanks to the sweat. Her eyes contained a slight spark that said she would follow me no matter where, at least for now.
"You still have that key, right? Let's just drive over to the armed security building. If he's not there, then I don't know where else he could be. From where we are now, I think if we head this direction, we should reach the outside and avoid that thing from earlier.
Oh, and before I forget here, take a gun."
"W-what? I-I don't know how to use a gun!"
"Here, I can teach you the basics real quick, then we've got to go. If this is really our world now, you'll have to learn."
"Ugh… fine…"
I took a quick scan of our area for threats before I brought out that empty gun that I still had. I quickly racked the slide to make sure there wasn't a round chambered and handed it over to her.
After telling her basic gun safety, I adjusted her grip and her stance for a good brace before showing her how to aim with the iron sights.
"Alright, you think you got it?"
"Uh…sure…"
"Cool, show me what I just did."
With a few awkward motions, she adjusted herself as best as she could remember about that earlier stance. I repositioned a couple of parts that she misremembered.
"Alright, that should be good enough. Remember, finger off the trigger until you intend wholeheartedly to shoot."
"You don't want to check my stance once more before we go?"
"I believe in you; you should only use this as your last line of defense after all."
Before I could even take two steps away, I felt her clasp onto my wrist.
"Hey… do you think we're really going to live through all this?"
I looked into her eyes, a sense of vulnerability struggling within.
"I…"
"If not, then PLEASE! Will you grant my final wish?"
Her wish was all but said as she pressed her body against me, clearly presenting herself.
'God! What is with this woman! Is it because we've been near death? I heard somewhere that when people come close to dying, their urge to mate and potentially pass on an heir becomes much higher; in fact, it might be affecting me a little.
No! I-I am a faithful man, with an already pretty terrifying woman at home! I have suspicions about what horrifying things she does, but I can never find proof of them. Maybe it's all in my head, or maybe it's just… that she's too good at hiding it! It is somewhat odd that she just randomly appeared in my life from almost thin air; in fact, it was almost like she already knew me.
Whatever, the point is, I can't let this woman go further than she already has.'
I closed my eyes for a moment and tried gently prying her away from me.
"Please… stop this, Abby. I think it's best if we keep a bit of distance from now on."
When I opened my eyes, I saw something strange. Her pupils started to slowly swirl, and a faint purple hue started to set in.
"Please, I'm begging you! If this is the end, I want to feel alive, one last time. I want to feel like a… woman just once more before I go!"
'What is this hue? Why are her eyes changing like that?! Wait, h-has she actually been a monster this entire time! Fuck I-...'
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***Abby POV***
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'Why? Why?? Why won't he just give in?
Am I not attractive enough for him? No, he's always looking at me, or my chest anyway.
Is he really that faithful to that woman from before?! I'm jealous; this woman is basically able to monopolize him.
This might be the first time I'm trying to seduce someone like this so aggressively, but I didn't expect him to be so resilient. I'm giving my all here!'
I went from his arm to his chest in a split second, all the while staring into his eyes. My breasts flattened against him, and I squeezed his torso tight.
"One final request from me! It's all I want! I won't ask for anything else afterward! If I'm going to die in this world, I'd like to at least experience it one last time!"
Ever since I stopped hugging his arm, I felt a weird sensation in my eyes. I simply ignored it, but from the reflections in his eyes, I saw a flash of purple erupt from my own before his eyes, somewhat glazed over.
"E-eh?!"
Startled, I took a step back from him and released my hold on him.
"H-hey, are you okay?"
He gave me a blank stare before nodding.
"So, will you let me… have sex, will you?"
It felt a little crude saying it outright, but I wanted an answer, needed an answer.
He nodded once more, and my excitement exploded.
"Really?! I mean, thank you so much!"
Yet as my excitement simmered, I realized an issue.
'Wait, what's happening? He's barely responsive and isn't even refuting anything. Is this mind control?! Have I gained the powers of mind control?! Heheh Haha, I-I have so much power!'
With a wide grin, I looked up at the man in front of me and decided to issue a new order.
"Hey, from now on that other woman isn't your fiancée, and I'm your new partner!"
But my excitement was premature, as instead of the previous nods, his glazed-over eyes returned to normal, and a mild set of confusion set in on his features for a moment.