Chapter 14: One Mistake is All it Takes

To say I was scared would have been an understatement as what must have been hundreds of rats began to open their eyes. I slowly took a few steps back hoping that they wouldn't see me and that I would be able to leave. I was confident that I could take out a dozen or so, but over a hundred? There was no way. I didn't have enough bullets and my blade would dull long before I was done. That was without the fact that I would be surrounded on all slides and more than likely torn apart if I stayed.

Unfortunately, it seemed that luck wasn't on my side as I heard the tapping of feet behind me. I glanced back and cursed as a group of rats appeared from the tunnel. They stared at me for a long moment before they opened their mouths and begin screeching.

If the rats above hadn't already been fully awake, there sure as hell were now as dozens of screeches echoed in the room, sending my ears ringing as I quickly glanced around for a way out. The tunnel I had come from was now blocked by rats, and I didn't think I could get past them before the horde got to me.

I felt my fear rising as I frantically looked around, and just as I thought I was done for, I spotted another tunnel at the other end of the room. I ran towards it as the rats begin to climb down the walls.

I didn't care that I was stepping on bones or piles of shit anymore. All I wanted was to get the hell out of here.

The first of the rats dropped onto the ground just as I was a few feet away from the tunnel, and I raised my pistol and shot twice as it charged me. I gunned another as it tried to intercept me, and then I was in the tunnel, my flashlight shining ahead as I ran and ran, the sound of screeching behind me. I was regretting the weight of my bag and I might have dropped it, but I didn't know where I was going and so the food and all the other resources would be important.

Despite running as fast as I could and far faster than the rats, the screeching didn't stop even after what must have been thirty minutes of running. It seemed these rats were damn persistent. I might have known but up until now, I had killed every rat I had come across.

I continued to run, taking random turns as I tried to think of a way out. There was the possibility that the horde would stop at some point, but I had no way of knowing when and that wasn't exactly a good idea. I had increased stats but nowhere near-unlimited stamina. I would tire eventually and then I was rat food.

I had no clue where I was going so I decided to pull the map from my bag after sheathing my sword. I could still hear the rats but I was far ahead of them, enough so that I could take a few seconds to pull the map out. I began running once it was out and the bag was on my back once again. As far as I could tell I was in the tunnels around the main area which was labeled the rat den. That's what the big room full of bones had been, the den. I cursed myself for not realizing sooner and my uncle for not putting some description down, then again it's not like he could have ever known I'd come into the dungeon.

The only way out of the tunnels was to head to the next floor or try and navigate the tunnels which didn't seem like something I would be able to do since I had no idea where I was. I knew I had gone through the tunnel opposite the one closest to the entrance of the dungeon, but I had taken many turns. Most had been right, and if I was correct then I was close to one of the entrances to the next floor or wherever it led. They couldn't all lead to the same floor, could they? If so then what was the point of the cavern boss if you could just go through one of these?

In any case, it was the only viable option unless I thought I could take on a hundred rats, which I didn't, even with my increased stats and abilities.

With a decision made I tried to take the turns which I thought were correct, and after another ten minutes, I came to a large hole in the floor which led into darkness. Pitch black darkness. The sound of screeching was growing closer so I picked up a rock and flung it down. I waited for a sound of impact but heard nothing.

I frowned and considered turning but then realized that it was too late for that. The rats were behind me, and I couldn't be sure that I would make it back to the last intersection before there entered the tunnel I was currently in.

The fear that had been rising since I had first seen the rats reached new levels as I gazed down at the hole. There was no turning back now, and what lay in front of me was a coin toss. Either I died by great fall or I somehow lived.

Falling would be better than being torn apart by giant rats, I supposed. A morbid thought, but a true one. My hands shook, and the bravado I'd had at the start of the day was all but gone.

I hadn't done anything wrong, not really, just make a single mistake, and now I was paying for it. The sound of screeching was close now, and I could hear the sound of dozens of small feet smacking against dirt.

With a silent prayer to whatever god would listen, I jumped into the hole. As I was surrounded by darkness for some reason the memory of my uncle and I watching Alice in Wonderland came to mind.

Down the rabbit hole, I went.