Is it cowardly?
'I need to get up.'
Not far off, My enhanced hearing picked up the fading echoes of the roaring rats. Every moment I spent on the ground, the noises that they made became clearer and clearer.
'Damn it!'
Screaming in my mind. I exerted force into my arms. I mustered up all that I had. Shakily, I actually began to rise up.
But, before any hope could truly be lit, I felt my pained arms give out.
*Thud*
And, I fell…. Face first into the dirt.
Gritting my teeth I dug my fingers through the soil.
'Again!'
"Rahhhh!"
Releasing a grunt of effort. I pushed.
"Move It!'
...
...…....
This time though, no matter how much exertion I applied. I couldn't even bring my body to sit up. Let alone run away.
'I have to try and push through! No! I will push through!'
But no matter how much I told myself that, how much I struggled…. It was in vain.
It's only 20 minutes since I came here and I'm already out for the count? All because I pushed myself too far?
'That mysterious skill… It allowed me to escape… But now…'
Picking up a rock and smashing your own feet with it. I couldn't help but think of this saying.
'It will be my downfall. It only lasted a minute… Such a severe consequence after that small amount of time?.'
'That's... understandable I guess. Regardless, I need to quickly get out of here.'
'I can't die yet.'
I grit my teeth and tried standing up again.
*Thud*
'It just won't work….. Though maybe, Maybe I can try contacting mother again.
I had already tried sending the signal when I was first surrounded. It had failed.
'It didn't work before… But, is there anything else I can do?'
Nothing came to mind.
Briefly, I contemplated it and realized that not only was there little else I could do.. There wasn't much time left.
'I probably don't even have 2 minutes.'
'It has to work.'
Activating the skill, I concentrated as hard as I could.
[Mind Link]
'A connection!'
*Break*
'No! Damnit!'
For a moment, I felt the connection. But it broke immediately. As I suspected, we were just too far away from each other for it to go through.'
*Thump, Thump.*
'All my current options are useless.'
*Thump, Thump, Thump*
In truth, I was a bit afraid.
*Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump.'
'Will I get another chance?'
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.*
'I'll be eaten. My flesh will be stripped. My blood will be licked clean. And I will be digested..... What will come after?'
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.*
'I can feel it. Heart pumping in my chest. Trying to deliver the energy to survive… even though I knew I was going to die. My instinct…. It was trying to keep me alive. Trying to pump my blood as fast as It could to give my body the energy to run away. However,
I grunted in effort once again, Trying to lift myself up….
*Thud*
I failed, It was pointless. The only thing I achieved was rolling myself onto my back.
'Is there really nothing I can do in this situation? I can't think of any abilities I have that may have been useful. If only I had some type of stealth ability.'
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThump*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.*
'Perhaps I can play dead?'
I chuckled at the thought. It was a childish suggestion.
'In this wasteland? Dead or alive they'd still eat me regardless.'
'...…...Where did it go wrong? I wonder what I could have done differently?'
It was a strange thought process.
'Perhaps, I should've tried entering a building earlier…'
'No, barricading myself wouldn't have worked. They would flow in faster than I could have killed them. I would have eventually been overwhelmed.'
'Being trapped in a small area like that wasn't desirable. Though, I guess it ended up happening in the alleyway eventually.'
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThump*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.*
A sour feeling invaded my nose as I broke down my prior experience. What could I have done better?
'I should have stuck to the outskirts of the town, instead of venturing as deeply as I did….'
Was that my mistake? Possibly.
'But I didn't encounter anything other than Rad Roaches at the perimeter.'
I'll take note of that for later.
'Wait what am I even saying? I'm about to die.'
'I can't help but feel sorry for mother. She'll probably be lonely after I'm gone.'
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump*
'It feels like my heart is going to burst out of my chest.'
'I stared into the green sky. The color, The clouds, the sun. It was so blurry, Everything looked mixed together.'
Struggling, I weakly raised my forearm and covered my eyes.
'Ahh, that's right.... It was the characteristics.'
That was the biggest mistake.
'Even though I recognized the enemy in front of me, I failed to consider the characteristics of what I was fighting.'
Rats. They bred quickly… Even in my previous world It was common knowledge. But it never even registered in my mind.
"Hehe"
A released a chuckle.
I could hear the Rats in the distance. They were close, maybe less than a minute away.
There was nothing I could do...… I was not ready for this. I didn't wanna die either. How does one act when they know they are about to die?
"Ridiculous"
I half mumbled.
My vision grew more and more blurry as the seconds passed by. There was no way out of this situation….. It was over.
This time it truly registered in my head.
Finally I could no longer hold back my emotions. and it came out.
"Rrrrahhhh!!!"
I screamed. For the first time in this life, I shouted in desperation, and in fear.
"I need help! Motherrrrr! I need help!"
I Yelled out to myself. I didn't want to die.. I didn't want to lose.'
I bellowed out on the top of my lungs to the point it hurt. But nothing changed, I couldn't do anything, Mother was not here. And I was immobile, defenseless and weak. Soon enough my voice died down.
Then they came.
1 rat, 2 rats, then 3. They started swarming the area and in less than 10 seconds there were over 50 rats. I could barely move… So I snarled at them before averting my eyes and looking back towards the sky.
The rats didn't hesitate. When they saw their food they immediately charged. They were angry when the tiny gray thing escaped them earlier.
The first quickly approached. Its speed wasn't nearly as fast as the Elite Rat. But it wasn't really that slow either.
It pounced.
...
...
...
...…....
*Griishikkk*
Latching onto the tiny gray thing the rat tried tearing the flesh off its body. But it wasn't tearing. Its teeth could sink into the creature's flesh just fine, blood was flowing after all. but it couldn't rip the flesh from its source. The muscle was just too tough.
More and more of the feral rats began piling on top of the little Deathclaw biting and snapping at its meat. They kept coming until it was completely buried underneath.
-3 HP
-3 HP
-4 HP
-1 HP
-2 HP
-1 HP
-4 HP
-2 HP
-5 HP
-2 HP
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.ThumpThumpThumpThump.*
'It's painful. It hurts so much.'
I felt my heart beat immediately speed up.
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.ThumpThumpThumpThump.*
The damage notification kept appearing in my vision. The damage wasn't much compared to my total health pool but the pain kept getting worse and worse. After half a minute, I felt like I was on fire.. I hissed in anguish… soon a different notification popped up… It was new, one that I was seeing for the first time.
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.ThumpThumpThumpThump.ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.ThumpThumpThumpThump.*
-HP below 25%. Rest or use a recovery item to restore lost health.-
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump.ThumpThumpThumpThump.*
-HP below 10% Rest or use a recovery item to restore lost health.-
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump*
-Warning. HP has dropped to a critical level. Rest and use a recovery item or you potential death may occur.-
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump*
The world around me began dimming. My eyes. They felt so… droopy… It actually took an effort to keep them open. I could feel my body weakening as well. I was dying.
*ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump*
'This is it then?.....'
*Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump*
'It seems. In the end, I Didn't achieve much of anything...'
*Thump.....Thump...Thump.....Thump...Thump....Thump*
Slowly, My eyes began closing and the burning sensation I felt soon disappeared. It instead morphed into something like a cool embrace.
*Thump.....Thump.....Thump...Thump...Thump....Thump*
'It was so nice. My body felt so light. It was almost like my body was floating on a puffy white cloud.'
*Thump.....Thump....................
...….
.......
........
The damage indicator disappeared and darkness shrouded my vision. But just as I lost consciousness. I heard something in the distance.
"HhhhhhrrrrrraaaaaHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
End of Chapter.