The darkness surrounding Cale receded and-
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The moment it did, loud footsteps were distinctly heard coming from behind him
Not wasting any time, Cale's legs started running on their own, He didn't dare look behind to see how close it was, afraid that turning around to check might make him slower and give It a chance to catch up.
Grab!
"Agh!" Cale yelped astonished by its speed and its grip strength
'I-it grabbed me?!'
'Even though I was running at full speed, It caught up to me regardless and grabbed me by the Nape?!'
Cale was even more Astonished because he had even gotten a head start
Gurhg
A dragging sound left its body, as if its stomach were growling for a meal
It used its other free hand to grab Cale's pale neck and threw its plump body at his, causing Cale to lose balance and fall down
Thud!
Szzzz
Its liquid hands were sizzling and skin burned, as if it were boiling water
"AGK!"
A scream desperately tried to escape cold lips, but it couldn't, every single sound that tried to claw its way out would stop at the burning throat whose skin was being penetrated by the second
Every time Cale struggled to escape, the burning sensation only grew more horrid
Spasms occurred in every inch of his body, desperately trying to break free from the creature's grasp that threatened to end him
In the midst of this. Cale then realized the grave mistake of underestimating those liquid-like lifeforms, but it didn't lend him any time to draw another breath and proceeded to choke with Intense force.
"Kugh!"
Dong~
Dong~
Dong~
Bells chimed in the distance ringing along with-
Trrr~
Trrr~
Trrr~
The school's...
Thud!
Tok!
Footsteps came rushing and invading his brittle ears from everywhere
They were running, desks were heard toppling over and falling down to the ground, as if they were rushing
"Agh!"
Desperation firmly gripped Cale trying to shake off the monster choking him but instead,
Gurhk!
It simply scoffed at the futile resistance he pulled and started choking him with even more force than before. Cale's vision started to become hazy and then-
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
At the edge of his eye, another monster in the distance ran towards him, conciseness starting to fade in and out
Death loomed over Cale's head as it approached closer and closer like a guillotine's blade
Closing his eyes in resignation, He gave up and accepted his fate
Crunch!
"?!"
However. The monster had done something completely different than what had originally been expected
It-
'Bit one of its own?!'
Cough!
Cough!
Violently coughing and gasping for air. Questioning at the same time why that liquid burning monster had attacked one of its own kind
Splurt!
Dark Red Blood started to spurt uncontrollably out of the wound the monster was inflicted with
Standing there dazed. Cale paled at what had just been witnessed, eyes shaking with terror
'I know I said that after their schedule ends they'd have a moment of freedom but this?'
Looking around, a similar scene was seen everywhere
Crash!
Thud!
Crunch!
Tear!
Spurt!
The scene of these monsters tearing, eating and killing each other on the floor threw and plunged Cale's mind deeper into confusion
'It's...an all out free for all'
The monster that were close to choking Cale to death lied there, weekly resisting the monster that attacked it
'No wait! I can't stay here any longer!'
He could think, question and understand what was happening when his heart would still beat with vigor but such a thing would not be possible while being eaten alive.
Moving his numb legs, he got up after drawing the cold breath his lungs begged for he started running, narrowly missing the monsters feeding on their own kind
"Huff Huff"
Bang!
Argku!!!
Getting shoved to the wrecked wooden wall, a red tinted colored creature tried to use its claws to counterattack the one who attacked it first but
Crash!
A punch was sent straight to its jaw, breaking and crushing it completely
Strange liquid poured out of its body in a steady flow, It trembled and wiggled around pathetically. A tinge of pity tugged at Cale's heart strings at the sight of the one-sided fight, the small and petite horned salivating kangaroo didn't feel the same way as him however
BANG!
Like a watermelon, what looked to be his skull, was utterly crushed under the sheer of weight of the dark blue kangaroo's clenched fist
Dark red bone fragments touched the soles of his shoes
Ba-Thump
In a heartbeat, it was in front of Cale, ready to deal the same attack it had done to its victim before him
GUgkii!!!
A shriek left its gaping mouth, salivating at the thought of crushing another skull
Thud!
However, because it was so utterly focused on killing Cale, the small horned kangaroo was left guardless against other threats from behind
This time, as if it were karma, the horned creature was grabbed by the collar and thrown to the wall, completely decimating the dusty wooden wall in the process, the figure that had 'saved' Cale stood before him in a crooked position
A faceless tall lanky figure, devoid of any color stared at Cale for a few seconds, as if it were judging if he were a threat to it, if he needed to be eliminated.
"..."
Then its colorless body took on a deep color black, as if it had seen enough and judged that Cale's being here was not a threat to it
Crouching, it went inside the destroyed wall, readying its fists and buckling its legs to fight
Feet quaked and trembled, but Cale stood back up gritting his teeth and forcing his natural instinctual fear down for the sake of survival.
His body moved before the brain could even process the scenes of grotesque tearing and cannibalism that ensued in the carnage filled school
"Ha Ha Hg!"
Not looking behind, nor to his sides, his quivering heavy and pained legs glided through the blood stained floor, almost falling and slipping in the process
Reaching the stairs, Cale started to go down the floor rushing, neck stung and burning with an unfamiliar sensation
Caressing his neck on instinct. He felt it sting more and more as his lungs burned from the running
"?!"
Cale abruptly stopped, his heart started beating louder and faster than before along with his stomach that dropped to the bottom of trenches
The feeling of something that shouldn't be felt coursed through his nerves and warned his brain, flowing through his cold hands that caressed the burnt and blistering neck
'Blood...'
Bright red blood had stained Cale's hands and it wasn't a small amount of it either
'That monster....not only did it choke me and almost killed me that way but it also used it's nails to dig into my skin!'
The skin on the neck smelled charred, fear settled and whispered softly in his ears
"I-I'm not gonna die because of this right?"
His voice cracked with panic mixing into his tone, pupils shook wildly from side to side, a cold breath left raggedly from his parched and dry mouth
'No hold on, if I still haven't collapsed after this much running then its nails shouldn't have dug that deep into my neck'
Reason took a hold of him, positivity and delusions told him this injury was simply an illusion and that he was fine
Cale continued running hoping that he was at least right about this
Rushing down the stairs until reaching the ground floor, legs swimming through the corridor, drawing closer and closer to the exit
Tok
Tok
Every step felt laborious to Cale, but it didn't stop him from analyzing the scene before him
'There is a lot more blood here'
As opposed to the previous floors he had been in, the ground floor was a complete mess with blood being splattered against the floor and walls
'But no bodies?'
There was a lot of blood, excessively so, even forcing Cale to start breathing through his mouth in order to avoid the disgusting smell that permeated through the corridor
However there were no Bodies in sight
Whilst thinking why there were no Bodies
"...."
Cale stood before the exit, the gates in the distance open and lustly invited him to cross them
The glass doors were noticeably in perfect condition with not a single drop of blood close to it as opposed with the rest of the school
Opening the door, he inhaled the cold air in
"Huhm!"
And started running to the large gates with vines hugging its arched doorways
Crash!
"?!"
A piercing shatter scratched itself in his mind
Thud!
Looking behind. Cale saw the monster masquerading as a student running at an unnatural speed
Unfazed even as its arms twisted and bended in grotesque ways, not towards him But to the large gates, almost as if desperately trying to escape.
Crash!
Crash!
Thud!
Thud!
The other monsters started to break the windows and jumped out of them and started running towards the gates
Just like the other monster, they were also unfazed by the injuries they sustained by jumping out of the window like the other monster
"I don't even know at this point!"
Cale stopped doing something as fruitless as understanding the situation and ran with the flow instead
Crash!
Thud!
More and more monsters started to jump out of the windows and started running towards the gates like the others
Some bumping into Cale while running but they didn't pay attention to him like before and instead focused on the gates
Eyes glimpsed at the tall lanky figure running by him, seemingly having sustained some injuries, however it appeared victorious in its battle
"Huff Huff"
The lanky figure had already reached the gates, skillfully maneuvering through the harsh terrain
Cale on the other hand?
"Kgh!"
He was stumbling, falling face flat to the ground
'Damn it, why is the pavement so wrecked!'
Propping himself up again, he ran towards the gates once more with hope glinting in his shaking pupils
By the time almost all the monsters had reached the gate
Cale was so out of breath, that he started slowly jogging his way to the gate, heart beating so loud that It was the only thing he could hear in his skull
Fortunately, having already been close to the gate, nothing was standing in his way and no strange beautiful voice rang out while Cale was about to pass the gate.
Step
'What happens if I pass this gate?'
Would he return back? outside of the school this time?
Step
Or would his body get mauled to death by those strange creatures?
Step
Each step felt heavy, eyes remaining unfocused yet strangely unfaltering, saliva flowed through his cracked cold lips, trickling down the burned neck that started to hurt more and more as time passed
Step!
Cale took one final step
A step that had reached and passed the gate
His lungs and mouth gasped for the cold air, face reddened with sweat trickling down his cheeks and spine
Raising his head. Cale stared at the red sun with the 'fake' moon conveniently placed next to it
Everything around him, his surroundings, the sound of his mouth gasping for air, the thumping sound crashing into his head relentlessly, ringing constantly with no stop
Were all engulfed in a gentle darkness. It was a sweet embrace, sweeter than hot chocolate