Lost In Lucidity

Everything Hurts

In times of life-threatening danger, your brain will do everything possible to find a way out alive. This is something that I learned after so many trips outside of the wall. No matter who you are, even if you don't fear death or are attempting to openly welcome it, you can't fight that primal, rational urge in your head to keep fighting. Even people willingly asphyxiating themselves will eventually give in to their body's desire to struggle and break free for air. This is because underneath all of the emotions, and memories, and personality that make us who we are, our brain's primary function, at its core, is to keep everything going. To keep us alive. No matter the situation, no matter the odds you're up against, you can always count on the adrenaline-fueled process of your mind to quickly scramble to find a way out. The plans aren't always good, and you may not be thinking rationally, but at least it's something to hold on to.

For the first time I recall, however, as two endlessly gluttonous beasts converge from either side, I am at a loss. My brain is frozen, and I can't think of what to do. The thunderous alarm in my ears rattles my concussed head and causes my vision to blur; all the while, the overhead lights force my eyes into a squint as they dart around, looking for an exit. I turn up with nothing, however.

What I was saying about the brain's desire to survive is nothing compared to knowing you have other lives on the line. Your first thought is, 'How do I get them to safety before I can help myself?'. When you can't solve that puzzle fast enough, your brain panics. Panic is the bane of rationale. I begin doing so as I rush to think of how to get everyone out of this alive.

My conscious crunches all of the numbers frantically but only comes up with outcomes that result in someone's death. Any second, the slither behind Morgan will reach the room, and when that happens, somebody dies. There are only two options that I can see. I get Morgan away from the door, then we run from the incoming creature, or we finish the sprint to the bathroom where I can hopefully get everyone inside and lock the barrier. Option one results in Morgan living a total of maybe three seconds longer before slither one arrives, and before we can run for the other door, slither two busts in and kills Tyler, Morgan, and me. Val survives in that situation only if the slithers are full and haven't smelled her through the bathroom door.

That brings me to option two. We hide in the bathroom. The beasts enter, know we're nearby, and sniff us out until they also smash down that door. We're all cornered, and everyone dies. Maybe one or two of us could rush back out while the creature's mouths are full, but that would help for all of twenty seconds at most. It only takes three for them to devour someone whole, and a slither is fast as a horse and as long as a bus. Best case scenario, only one chases the two that get away. No matter how far ahead we are, it'd catch up. Its tongue would lash out and latch somebody, then reel them into its gullet, leaving only one alive again. If that someone was Tyler or Morgan, they'd have no way of knowing how to get to the compound. They wouldn't be able to see either if something else was coming for them. Zero alive.

My head hurts like never before, and my heart pounds viciously in my chest. I need to figure out something. I have to figure out something. The lights in the hallway behind Morgan suddenly click on, though, and I realize I have no time left. It's here.

There's no figuring this one out. There's only hoping it works out.

A fleshy, barbed tongue slaps against the door's window behind Morgan just in time for me to reach him. It cracks from the sheer force of the blow and slowly peels back off as viscous saliva strings from the glass. Without stopping, I grab Morgan and shove him toward the bathroom.

"Val! Open the door!" I yell over the blaring siren.

It's open before I even finish the sentence, and everyone rushes inside when the pounding starts behind us. Luckily it's a pull handle from the side the slither is on, but it won't take long for it to finish off the window and make its way through. I look back at the barrier to judge how long that might take when a fragment of an idea comes to me.