SkyFall : Eulogy of The Void

Maze Runner

Aaaahhhh!!!!

Waaahhhh!!!!

Terrified screams echoed through the narrow alleyways outside, reverberating between the grimy walls of the Gantz district housing complex.

The residents, only just realizing that a horde of scourges had infiltrated their densely populated eastern district, recoiled in horror.

A middle-aged mother opened the door to one of the apartments on the upper floor. Suddenly, she felt something wet on her face, as if raindrops were falling. But which raindrop was thick and as large as a water basin?

As she looked up, her head disappeared into the mandibles of the giant desert locust, swallowing it whole.

A toddler, who had run out of his unlocked home because his parents had not yet returned from work, approached the source of the screams out of curiosity, unaware of the danger.

When the toddler saw the sharp and sturdy hind-legs of the colossal desert locust, they inexplicably drew closer. As the giant insect leaped...

Slash!

The toddler was instantly cleaved in two. His bisected body was kicked and thrown far away, splattering blood across the open door of his home.

In the empty space on the lowest floor of the dilapidated housing complex, Xin locked eyes with one of the giant desert locusts, motionless and tense. The colossal insect approached slowly, its hind-legs poised to leap and ambush the human who had struck its head with an iron pipe earlier today.

Unaware that his presence had caused brutal and merciless deaths to the surrounding inhabitants, Xin focused on observing the filthy and dilapidated room. There was little space to maneuver, and everything was incredibly narrow. Only one person could pass through its corridor at a time, and there were very few small windows and ventilations.

This place seemed perfect for outmaneuvering the giant desert locusts.

Xin contemplated a plan to prevent the locusts from surrounding him. If he was lucky, and only a big if, he might be able to trap some of the giant desert locusts in these cramped spaces.

The most plausible scenario for now was in an enclosed space like this, confining those locusts in such a space where fresh air and light struggled to enter, would made them automatically lose their greatest advantage- their powerful hind-legs - that made them so troublesome and dangerous.

"These repulsive and disgusting creatures won't be able to jump and fly as they please. Damn it, escaping from them is so exhausting." Xin felt frustrated deep inside.

Little did he realize how absurd it seemed to the ordinary human eye that he could still escape and survive, running faster than the leaps and flying speed of this swarm of insect scourges.

For a moment, Xin fell silent. His breath, rapid and erratic, quickly regained its composure and slowed down.

Just a second later, Xin leaped into the room next to him.

Crash!

Tumbling and rolling, Xin hastily got up and ran. The giant desert locust that had just tried to pounce on him lifted its massive insect head, filling the air with a cloud of cheap cement dust. The concrete staircase behind Xin, where he had stood moments ago, crumbled into pieces.

Xin reached for the frame of a small window, just enough for him to crouch through. He maneuvered and slipped out of the window, jumping out just milliseconds before the giant locust's head smashed into it, getting stuck. The iron frame bent, and the concrete wall crumbled. If Xin had been even a moment late, his backside and legs would have met a grim fate.