章節 5: The Silent Forest
A glint of light winked at me through the blanket of shadow. I lifted my lantern and found a ransacked cottage sitting amongst the tapestry of trees. I paused momentarily, but the sensation of a thousand peering eyes ran up my spine. I shuddered and then moved towards the building's only visible door. The air stank of rot. An old generator sat to the right of the decaying door. To my surprise, and relief, it croaked to life at my touch. With a soft sigh, the engine's hum awakened the lights within the building. Yet, before i could mutter a cry of gratitude, the rustle of movement echoed from a nearby window. I froze.
I gripped my weapon firmly. I backed into the door without severing my gaze from the window. Blindly, I felt across the surface of the door until the rough door handle found its way into my hand. Deftly, I pushed back into the room and spun on my heel. I nearly vomited at the sight spread out before me. The entire room was caked in fetid mounds of dead earth and what appeared to be leathery skin. The skin-like substance quivered with life, as thousands upon thousands of segmented insects seeped and crawled into innumerable holes that peppered the surface.
Was I in hell? No, I eventually concluded. With the horror I had seen thus far, my belief in such things had begun to diminish. No god could devise something so vile; this was a product of chaos, of meaningless death and putrescence.
Perhaps, we were alone after all. The thought chilled me to my bones as I moved into the room. Gradually, the light revealed a mass of gargantuan worms that writhed across the floor. There was no way to pass through the far door without avoiding them. I reached into my satchel and retrieved a molotov cocktail.
Without hesitating, I shattered the glass across the foul creatures and watched as they burned to ashes. My path finally made clear, I advanced, searching for anything I could use. I killed a mindless savage in the final room. He came at me with a large branch, but in his mania, he swung clumsily, hitting naught but air.
I felt nothing as I watched the blood seep from his skull. I noticed a shred of paper beside a long-dead corpse, upon which held a combination. It was for a lock to the exterior of the house. Without further consideration, I searched what little was left, and unlocked the door. As I left the house, a body, which at first glance I thought was dead, spoke to me. It told me of a hidden passageway beneath the floor of the last hideout. "Impossible," I said to it. I had searched my last hideout from top to bottom. There was no basement, no hidden access way.
The body made no reply. It merely chuckled, before falling silent forever. I shrugged, and continued without a second thought.
It was not long before I found a large, abandoned house. It would serve me well as a hideout in this new region. After I explored a bit, I decided that the bathroom was the most secure location for enduring the deadly nights of Darkwood. With the bathtub barricaded against the doorway, there were few creatures I had yet encountered that could bypass such an obstacle.
I then discovered an odd trinket: a bike bell. I felt a curious inclination to ring it, and after doing so, I heard a similar chime from outside the nearby window. As I moved to look through it, I saw a strange man on a bicycle. He waved at me and grinned a toothless smile.
He offered his services to me in exchange for alcohol. Fortunately, I had a few bottles saved. At one point in my life, I might have thought twice; the comfort of liquor could have helped any other man in that situation. However, my thirst had long since left me. I gave him what he requested, and before nightfall that very same day, my supplies arrived, wrapped in parcel paper.
The nights had proved themselves no less harsh. Each new dawn, it seemed I was drawing closer and closer to surviving by sheer luck. Creatures howled incessantly in the darkness, savages would tear down my barricades, and unspeakable things would manifest whenever my guard would drop, even for the briefest of moments.
My resolve was unshakable, however. Once I felt prepared enough to meet the Wolf, I loaded up and departed for the location he had marked on my map. When at last I found him, he was overjoyed. He promised he would help me find the Doctor, but first, I would have to help him. He told me to bring him a key from a hag that "reeked of chickens." I said nothing to him, yet he did not acknowledge me.
He knew I had no choice but to help him, however obvious it was that I detested him. Before I could turn to leave, however, he offered to reward me further, if I was willing to see to another matter. He indicated with his snout to a large barn in the distance. He asked if I could hear the squealing. He said that if could silence that awful sound, I would benefit. I nodded indifferently.
I found no joy in following the Wolf's requests. Something inside me told me he would seize advantage whenever it suited him, even if my life were the cost. Nevertheless, I had no other options.
I did not travel long before I stumbled across a mesmerizing heap of scrap metal in the yard of a burnt shack. I ventured inside and found a man, called Piotrek, adorned with all manner of odd jewelry: mostly pieces of salvaged electronics. He was kind enough, which I found surprising, and he traded a few things with me, most notable of which was a map of another section of Darkwood, the Old Woods, as well as a length of electrical wire.
My business concluded, I bid the strange man farewell, and continued towards the large barn. I began to hear the squealing that the Wolf had spoke of. At that moment, I understood his request.
It was a sound that I shall never forget.
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