The archives

Talbot Grimes: The Hunger

He moves through the death and decay of the void. He doesn't remember his name. Everything's a blur. He feels pain in his stomach. In his arms. In his veins. He needs... he needs to find one of those... flowers... the nectar... the sweet serum that gives... strength. Strength for what? He remembers... the killers... experimenting on them. Why? Why was he experimenting on them? He doesn't... remember. He caused a lot of suffering, but he doesn't feel remorse. He doesn't even know if he should feel remorse. He doesn't feel anything but an ache in the pit of his stomach for power.

He has flashes of The Doctor. His screams. His agony. Turning the tables on him. Experimenting on him like he had done with so many others. Where? Not here. Somewhere else. Another world. All of these... these... survivors... marooned from other... worlds... How does he know this? He doesn't remember... He remembers the experiments. What was he trying to understand? The nectar? The serum? The right dose? The right dose... to use without hurting himself. Too late.

He feels the hunger. Not for food or drink. Not for talk or fun. For a flower. A single flower. For serum. He knows The Entity is watching him. He knows it. Feels it inside his bones. He doesn't want to be snatched for another trial. To suffer or cause suffering. And to what end? The great horrible mystery of it all. He wants to understand this place. He does. But he senses that to know... to really know would drive him... mad. Madness. That's what this place is. The embodiment of madness. He doesn't want to be pulled into another trial. He wants to return home. He must return home. That's why he was studying the serum. It gave him insight. Insight to what? He doesn't remember.

Home... he doesn't even remember where home is. He only remembers The Void. Hundreds maybe thousands of discarded survivors. Not dead. Not alive. Something else. Alive but dead inside. Burnt. Emotionless. Useless to The Entity. He remembers... he remembers rising from The Void, finding... a flower... Had this flower been his salvation? Had the flower been his way out? He falls to his knees and shouts at the abyss and the abyss answers with... silence. The silence is so deafening it hurts. He buckles over. Climbs to his knees. He needs... serum...

He's lost. He doesn't know where he is. He sees things like tentacles reaching out for him from the fog and he knows they're not real. None of it is. He's losing his mind if he hasn't lost it already. His eyes play tricks on him. He sees giant, nameless creatures looming over him. Doesn't matter. They're not real. None of it is. His hunger confuses him. Oppresses him. He'd do anything for that feeling again. Anything. Even... return to the trials. He would. He'd rip survivors and killers apart limb from limb for that feeling again. He begins to mumble words. A promise... one flower... one flower... and I will do anything...