I took a moment to count the hooks I had in the bag and, as I’d suspected based on their weight, there weren’t enough to attempt another climb. I considered using them to get as high as possible, then using the jump pack to try and make it the rest of the way, but quickly saw the many ways in which that could go wrong. Still considering my options and not eager to climb back the way I’d come, I started walking along the cliff wall, hoping that the Pilgrim had simply affixed his hooks to another spot on the cliff further up, I walked a mile up and saw nothing, deciding to turn back. I made it a quarter mile further than where I’d started when I felt vibrations in the ground. I cursed, and started walking with the strange gait I’d adopted before descending into the Cut itself. This time though, the vibrations kept building. I was too late to fool whatever predator was hunting me below ground.

I broke into a run, drawing my shotgun as I did so. The vibrations kept building until I could swear I felt something burrowing less than a dozen yards behind me. Suddenly, I felt another set of vibrations, deeper in the earth, and approaching me from the opposite side. I was surrounded. I considered my options, wondering if the Cerberus could cut through enough earth to damage whatever was hunting me before it reached the surface, when ahead and to my right I noticed a darker patch of cliff wall and realized it was a cave.

I made an abrupt change of path, turning toward the cave and trying to create as much distance between myself and the creatures below as I could. As I turned to enter the cave, I froze. Just inside the entrance was a monster, far more horrifying than anything I’d ever encountered before. It looked like a long pile of twisted flesh, covered in thick blisters and scabs across its body. It had multiple sets of arms and legs, each covered in thick plates that reminded me of the calluses I had on my hands from holding my guns, or swinging my sword. The worst part of it though was what I assumed was its face. It had an enormous mouth, filled with human-like teeth as far back as I could see, its nose was above it, stretched to the point of near breaking, and it had no eyes that I could see, though they may have been buried in layers of sickening flesh.

I went to raise my shotgun and fire, but as I went to do so, a massive maw appeared beneath me, and I found myself being swallowed by the twin of the creature in front of me. I clawed at the ground, trying to keep from being pulled down, my shotgun swallowed ahead of me. I left deep rends in the ground, but it was no use. I felt myself be consumed, the teeth of the creature scraping and tearing at me as I slid down into darkness.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed in the creature’s stomach. I fought, clawed, and bit. I struggled for breath, finding odd air pockets that let me take a single shallow breath, but never enough of one to fill my lungs. Eventually, I didn’t have the strength to move, but I was cursed with consciousness nonetheless. Whatever healing ability I had seemed to be somehow keeping me alive and aware in spite of my own desire for some kind of release into oblivion.

Eventually, I was expelled. I lacked the awareness to be certain of how, but I found myself suddenly able to breathe. I smelled rot, and carrion in the air, and as I laid where I was my senses, which had dulled in what I assumed was some kind of attempt at self-preservation, slowly came back into focus. I was facing a cavernous ceiling, smooth, which indicated to me that it was unnatural. I slowly and painfully turned my head to the side, not eager to sit up in case the monsters were nearby, and found that I was laying atop a pile of corpses. To my right were a half dozen dead chameleon coyotes like the one I’d encountered at the start of the journey, and to my left were a few more, as well as several mutated animals I didn’t fully recognize, one of which looked a bit like a Bloodmane, but long sharp spines grew like twisted horns from it’s back. I also saw, thankfully, the shotgun I’d lost only a yard away from me.

I slowly moved to sit up, grabbing the shotgun and sliding it into my pack. It was covered in viscera and dirt and I didn’t want to risk a misfire. The inside of my pack was dry though, and I pulled out the Cerberus. If there was ever a time I needed heavy firepower, it was now.

I stood, finding myself in the center of a pit. I felt hot, in spite of the fact that I was underground, and realized that it was radiation, seeping through the walls of the caverns in thick almost overwhelming waves beyond anything I’d ever felt before. With my senses so overtaken, I didn’t notice when one of the beasts I’d seen earlier crept to the edge of the pit.

I froze, staying completely still, and watched as it dragged one of the corpses to the edge of the pit, and started biting into it greedily, taking out a leg in a single bite. It was smaller than the ones I’d encountered so far, maybe half their size. I watched as it quickly devoured its meal, and then moved off into one of the many underground paths that seemed to branch off from the cavern in which I had found myself. It hadn’t seen me, which confirmed my theory that it was blind. I crept along to the edge, moving slowly, and without rhythm, to make my way out of the pile of corpses.

I began making my way around the edge of the cavern. I inhaled deeply trying to catch a whiff of fresh air, and looked for any paths that seemed to slope upward. I didn’t detect the scent of fresh air, my senses were too overwhelmed by the scent of the carrion pit behind me, and the powerful radiation that surrounded me. I was able to find a path that seemed to slope upward though, so I began to follow it. The path continued for a long time, then began to break off into more paths. I followed whichever ones seemed to move upward, needing to backtrack at a few dead ends, or collapsed tunnels, continuing to walk in a way I’d hoped was undetectable. At one point I heard the approach of one of the creatures, and I had to press myself against the wall to avoid the grasping, misshapen arms that reached out blindly, seeking purchase as it moved. One of them brushed gently against my chest, but it continued moving, not taking any notice of my presence.

I let out a breath, and kept moving. I’d seen horrors in the wastes, experienced them too, since the day I was born, but the moment the creature touched me I felt revulsion unlike anything I’d ever experienced. After walking through a few more tunnels, continuing to do my best to stay alert, I reached a medium-sized antechamber. At first, it seemed to be empty, but then I noticed several of the creatures piled into a corner, sleeping on top of each other, their huge forms rising and falling like a horrid mountain made of flesh. I went to keep moving, when I paused, looking at the wall nearest to me. It had marks on it. I took a half step, dragging my foot then making a hop and turning around, still trying not to walk with any recognizable human or animal gait. Looking closer at the wall, I saw what I could only describe as art. They were long rends, clearly made with the claws of the creatures, leaving deep grooves in the rock. The grooves were made in primarily spiral patterns, but a few of them looked almost like approximations of hands or feet, drawn into the wall itself. The creatures were blind, but they must’ve been able to feel what they created, or sense it in some way I wasn’t aware of. I felt the sense of revulsion I had grow, forming a sickening pit in my stomach.

I pushed it down, and looked for another path. I saw two. One that sloped sharply down right in front of me, and one that seemed to curve upward, right next to the creatures in their slumbering mass. I took a deep breath, and started making my way toward the path next to them.