Serpentine [AiE] WiP

>You've been wandering through the desert for some time now.

>Soon dawn comes and you watch as the pale day breaks.

>As the last of the stars die out, you hope you don’t end with the same fate.

>Reaching a single cactus, as lonely as you are, you look up and try to pick out another landmark for you to follow.

>Spotting some starkly rugged cliffs in the distance, you start moving.

>Moving is important; the more distance you put in between the last landmark, the closer you are to safety.

>About two days ago, you woke up with several burns and bite wounds on your extremities. You are missing two toes on your right foot, which seem to have been bitten clean off. You have a large gash on your chest and the surrounding area is swollen and bruised. The most noticeable wound has to be the hole in your skull where your left eye should be.

>To top it all off, you smell like death itself.

>You are not sure who you are or how you got out here, but you are however determined to find help.

>Even if you’re in a lot of pain and have an altered body image.

>Then again, you don’t really know who you were before.

>Your will to remember is the only thing that stood between you and death.

 

>Enough of your poor health status.

>Let's take a recap of your inventory.

>Other than a torn leather jacket you are using to cover your head from the sun, you also have a flask of whiskey (half empty), a knife, your wallet, a simple revolver, and skin of a strange serpent-like animal you killed and ate yesterday night.

>It was some grotesque double-headed rattle snake with feet and wings.

>You think it may have been an amphisbaena, but those are only from myth.

>Besides, where are your love, power, and good fortune?

 

>In the wallet were just a few things like pictures, credit card, driver's license, some money, and a few other things like business cards and such.

>Looking at the driver’s license, you see a picture of you and a name.

“Anonymous.”

>It must be your name.

>At least you have that to go on.

 

>A sharp stabbing pain in your chest snaps you from your thoughts.

>You scream and you grasp your chest as you collapse.

>Picking up your gaze from the ground, you look ahead.

>As you squint, you see tons of buffalo stampeding aimlessly in circles, a cloud of debris following suit.

>One of which is slowly trotting your way.

>The little thing doesn’t look too threatening, but it is odd behavior for a young animal to stray too far from the herd, especially towards humans and other predatory animals.

>Regardless of why the young buffalo would want to inspect you, you grasp your gun.

 

>Last time you ate was yesterday around midnight, after all, but that little fuck almost ate you instead.

>It stops and tilts her head to observe you, looking at you with great fascination.

>You maintain your deadpan glare and observe her pretty much the same way.

>Upon a more thorough inspection, you see that she has some kind of headband with feathers. She also has a blond tuft of hair and a very fine amber coat.

>Looking back up, you see the others are coming to observe you too.

>The young one taps your foot and runs back toward the direction of the herd.

 

>”That’s cute,” you think, aiming your gun.

>You fire a shot.

>It was way off the mark, but it hit nonetheless.

>Your accuracy must be thrown way off due to your missing eye.

>The buffalo calf starts screaming as if it was human, which was quite unnerving.

“What the actual fuck?”

>You shudder for a bit then shake off the tension.

>Casually walking up to it, you fire another shot. No need to make the poor thing suffer.

>You use whatever strength you have left and start tearing the fur apart from where the wound hit.

>Taking one big bite, you realize more buffalo are stampeding towards you.

 

>You almost piss yourself at the sight and start running as fast as your feet can take you.

>You make a beeline to the cliffs in the distance, being your only chance at escape.

>You scale them on all fours, not even daring to look behind you.

>As soon as you reach the top, you start to feel like you just hopped out of the frying pan and into the fire as you observe the terrain.

>Large holes cover the entirety of the area.

“I swear, if a giant worm or something eats me I’m going to be-”

 

>You are snapped back to attention as you hear a blood curdling roar from behind you.

>Looking back down, there is a single large buffalo with a feathered headband still making its way towards you with unparalleled determination.

>You slide down the cliff and dart through the terrain, hopeful that you don’t awake whatever is living there.

>The buffalo screams something in some strange language. As much as you would like to run, you are tired, so instead you face him.

>His eyes seem so full of hate, anger, vengeance, and so much more.

>You grasp your gun tightly.

 

>This wasn’t some animal, this was a beast determined to murder you no matter what it took.

>The both of you circle each other as if daring one another to make a move.

“Let’s get this over with,” you growl.

>He stomps his hoof and snorts in response, preparing to charge at you.

>Suddenly, you see wolf-man like creatures crawl out of the holes behind him, not making a sound.

>You are taken aback and slowly try to distance yourself from them and the angry buffalo.

>They jump him, causing the buffalo to start kicking and flailing to get them off. Eventually he runs off, roaring in rage at having his vengeance impeded.

 

>You should be happy, but with him finally gone that just leaves you here with these newer creatures.

>Before you know it, you are grabbed from behind and pulled under the earth.

>As soon as you hit the ground you scramble to your feet and try to face the attackers, only to find that you can barely see.

>You try to aim your gun to one of the silhouettes in the dark and fire, only to miss.

>You are beginning to realize having a gun is pretty much pointless with one eye missing.

>The creatures around you seem to freeze in place.

 

>You take this opportunity to back up against a wall so that you’re not surrounded.

>As your eye adjusts to the dark, you take in your surroundings.

>The tunnel seems to have tens of hundreds of smaller sub-tunnels in where more of these dogs could attack you from.

>As soon as one of them attempts to stand, you fire again and look back the way you fell in.

>You can see just a tint of light peering in as you gaze upward, wondering how the fuck you are going to get out of here.

>It almost feel as if the ground you stand on was pulled from underneath you.

>Escape is so close, yet so far.

 

>You turn around to see that the dogs are offering you gems.

“I don’t want your damn rocks, I just want out,” you say, pointing upwards.

>They tilt their heads in confusion and turn to face each other.

>You are quite aware they can’t understand you, but if they are anything like dogs on earth, the tone of your voice will be enough of an explanation.

>They file down one tunnel and wave you over as if they want you to follow them.

>This is a very bad idea.

>You should turn around.

>You want to scream for help, run, or hide.

 

>Instead, you walk down the same path, down the rabbit—or dog, in this case—hole of impending doom.