The Corrupted Soul

Chapter 5

Why exactly did I agree to do this?

I tucked my Crawler legs in close to my body to hold some extra heat in before the wind took hold of it. My breath clouded in front of my face, though I could hardly see it in the dim lighting. The snow crunched beneath my boots, and the trees occasionally dumped a small load of snow from their branches as the wind commanded. Thankfully the white powder wasn't nearly as deep here than it was in the open fields of the park or on the sidewalks, in some places I could even still see the gravel pathway.

It had to be past midnight by now, though I could still see rather well. The snow caused a faint pink illumination that aided my sight, though by Crawler standards it really wasn't that dark. Somehow the clouds caused it to be brighter than if it was still a clear night, as the moon was but a sliver in the sky at it's current phase.

I walked the paths of Riverview, hoping I could encounter one of the Ferals that seemed to enjoy this area, based on the newly uncovered patterns the reports gave us. Clementine had suggested one of us stake out at night, as we would be unharmed by the cold and the Feral if we were to meet. I hissed silently to myself as I remembered how I agreed purely to have something to do. Just because I can't get hypothermia or frostbite doesn't mean I am immune to the cold, I must have been here for hours by now!

Although, I had to admit, the walk was nice. I truly couldn't remember the last time I had walked the many trails of this park, but it had definitely been too long. If it weren't for the fact I was here working, I might have even climbed the trees to watch the sky. I could definitely see why so many people came here in the dark to walk through the pathways, it was quite quiet and calm, which made it all the easier to hear any possible creatures in the area, be it mouse, crow, or Feral Crawler.

A very faint thud caught my attention. I slowly removed my hood, and turned to face the direction the sound had come from. I narrowed my eyes and hissed slightly, something was very wrong. The sound seemed quite far off through the thick trees, but my instincts still tried to alert me of the danger.

My instincts may have been hard to understand at times, but I usually didn't question the silent - if pushy - guidance, this time however, it was very strange how active they had suddenly become. It was as if a switch had been flipped, and they were now in overdrive over something I had barely heard, and hadn't even smelled yet.

I fell into a hunting crouch, allowing my Crawler legs to brace on the ground around me, another few thuds met my ears from the path up ahead. Ignoring the silent protests from the back of my mind, I stalked forward, much like a cougar or lion on all fours.

The thuds suddenly grew much faster and rapidly grew louder. A strong scent hit me like a stone wall, it actually caused me to step backwards as I shook my head to regain my senses. It was a putrid and strong scent, it smelled vaguely Crawler, but very, very different.

I froze in place as a massive, thundering beast turned the corner and skidded to a stop in front of me, his white claws leaving streaks in the snow and ice as he halted. He resembled the Crawler in the lab more than myself. There was a thick armor on his Crawler legs, as if his exoskeleton had grown thick spikes on each joint. The sharp claw-like spikes protruding from his wrists looked as though they could easily slice clean through the various trees around us, they almost looked as they had been sharpened.

He glared at me, rising up on his Crawler legs to make himself appear bigger. As if that was necessary! Does this guy lift weights or something?!

I couldn't make out many more details of the figure in front of me, despite only being feet from him, it was as if my mind couldn't process what it was seeing, and most of the sight came out in shadow. Perhaps that was just bad luck.

All I could truly think about was the fact I couldn't move. It was as if I was paralyzed in fear, unable to look away from this predator in front of me. My instincts knew his venom could kill me in hours, but my mind knew I was immune to Crawler venom. My instincts saw the top tier predator staring me down, but my mind saw a creature I had killed dozens of in the past.

My instincts screamed at me, to the point I could almost hear the word echoing in the farthest corners of my mind. Run!

My mind didn't have time to interject before I had already spun myself around and taken off sprinting the way I had come at full tilt, without any of my own input. It was as if my body was put on autopilot. My heart dropped as I heard a screech behind me, soon followed by the loud thudding of Crawler legs against the ground.

I pushed for speed, not sure how much faster I could go. I was much smaller than he was, but he likely knew these woods a thousand times better than I did. Traction was a struggle on the ice and snow coated gravel, but attempting to weave through the trees and underbrush would get me caught much faster. I was truly out of practice when it came to forest maneuvers.

As I attempted to evade the beast that was steadily gaining on me, still not sure why my instincts screamed at me to run, I made several sharp turns onto various paths instead of sticking to the main walkways. This seemed to slow my follower for a few precious seconds, just enough for me to regain my lead.

Despite clearing the treeline and now running through the field, I was not quite out of the woods. The snow here was much deeper, and made travel much more difficult. My assailant burst from the trees with a snarl, I stared in horror as I realized he was hardly slowed by the snow.

I should have been watching where I was running instead of what was behind me.

I flailed slightly as all traction was suddenly lost, as I ran straight onto the frozen pond. My trudge through the thick blanket on the ground turned into a race to stop myself before the ice gave way beneath my feet. I could hardly co-ordinate my own Crawler legs to go in the same direction, let alone run across the ice.

I yelped as the Feral too launched himself onto the ice, but had much better traction than I did due to the small barbs on the end of his claws. With his added weight, the ice refused to hold us any longer, and it gave way.

I plunged into the frigid water, forcing my eyes open, I could see he too had fallen down, but he latched onto the edge of the remaining icy surface and was able to pull himself up. I watched him climb from the water, even as I struggled to swim towards air. Flickers appeared in the corners of my mind, being attacked in a frozen lake seemed like something that should only happen once, shouldn't it?

My arms and legs felt as though they were threatening to lock up, the effort I expelled during my sprint, plus the frigid cold and lack of oxygen were not aiding me. I may have normally been able to swim up perfectly fine, but I wasn't in a normal situation.

Just as I feared I was about to black out, a figure appeared on the ice above me, and a hand reached down into the icy water. I wasted no time grabbing for it, and they pulled me up past the surface.

I immediately gasped for air and began to cough as I leaned on my elbows on the stone lining of the pond. I now recognized Olive's scent beside me, as she helped pull me up out of the water.