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THE MAD BARRON
                                                                        ​NO ESCAPE

I stood inside of the house that I would live in, if you could call it living. I was ahead of the group going to be staying here as well. I knew I had to find me a room and claim it as my own. It would be my only solace during my stay here.
As I explored the large building, with rooms tucked away around every corner, I could hear the others approaching from outside. The first room I found was hidden under the stairs but it was small so I decided to keep searching. Finally, I stumbled across a room in the corner of the house. There were two doorways leading into the room from either side, which would make it harder to keep others out. However, it did have its own bathroom so the hardship would make it worth it. Anything to keep me away from all of the others.

I closed and locked both doors and slowly began unpacking my things. As the others shuffled in, I listened to their conversations. None of them were bad kids from the sound of it. It didn't matter through, I couldn't let any of them get close. I had to keep my solitude.
After a few days of staying here, I found comfort with a young woman. She was a beautiful brunette, very intelligent and bright. I invited her to stay with me while we waited out the next few days. These would be the best days while I was here, I knew this already. It was always the same.

Then, after only two days, she was gone, as well as some of the others. I did not weep for her or feel remorse, I had done that too many times to no avail. I was left now with only the waiting.

Then, a voice echoed through the building, giving us instructions. I never questioned it, not anymore. I just complied. At the edge of my room, beneath the other door, we found a large whole. As told, we each tossed in a hand full of sand, each of ours being different from the other. Once this was complete, the voice told us to meet outside. I knew what lay in wait, and I steeled myself. Not from what I would see, but for what the others had not seen before.
Exterior...it was a complete flip from the house. Interior, it was safe, warm, cozy, and relaxing. I could be alone. Outside, it was gray concrete with rusted steel, hidden inside a labyrinth of walls which loomed under a gray sky. The denizens that dwelled here were the most disturbing of creatures. The two that lead us to the vehicle I not seen before. The one on my right was once hefty woman but now here torso down was replaced with steel contraptions that served as legs. She was topless and her large, sagging breasts jutted out over her large stomach, her human face scowling at the newcomers. She poked and prodded many with her arms, which were now replaced with some kind of weaponized cannons.The one on my left had a similar lower torso but her upper half remained human. She barked most of the orders for us to keep moving.We entered the truck, the others unsure of what was about to happen. The two large half humans rode with us in the back, both defending and threatening us. Smoke bellowed out of the rough sounding vehicle as we headed into the metal maze.

We drove a slow pace, winding between buildings, everything looming the same with no real color differentiating one place from another. I heard the noise that had sealed so many others fates but my own. Lunging out from behind the shadow of a building, a massive beast raced out towards our location. The beast was all maw, a huge, round body encompassing the rest. Two, hungry eyes peering over that large, serrated mouth. It had a deep orange fur that coated it, a mixture of blood and rust giving it the only really color distinction in the place.
The humanoid with the cannons fired its way but missed intentionally. I knew why. We weren't here to hunt the monster, we were here to feed it. Our two large captors were only there to make sure it was fed and that we were all dead. I knew the score.

In a blink, the beast was upon us, it's swirling mouth engulfing our wretched transport. As bone, blood, and steel flew around me, I dove out the back, into the teeth of the beast. To my surprise, I fell clean through a pause in its mouth, landing on the wet concrete below. Quickly, I sprinted away, with no real direction in mind, just anywhere but here. I was glad I did not know anyone on that truck, I had just left them to die with no warning or inkling of what was to come. If I had known what I was going to face, I would've stayed on the truck as well.
I darted between buildings, never inside of one, unsure of what they housed. I knew only where the walls were, and that was where I wanted to go. But, as I drew nearer to the outskirts of this place, I began to see other manner of creatures, the likes of which I had not seen before.

The theme was always the same, some twisted soul, disfigured and mangled, a shell of what they were. They would either be half machine torturing some half human creature, or half of a human body being dissected by a soulless metal construct. Each one I slipped by would always look at me with either murderous eyes or a pleading gaze. I was running on fear and adrenaline now, trying to find my way to the walls, which would lead me to freedom.
I found what I sought, divided by a chasm to which the ends were unknown. A pit of smoke and blackness, a place of unlight. It was the only thing keeping me from the outer walls, and my escape.

I maneuvered down a ramp, whirling blades jutting from the ground and slicing people into unrecognizable parts, a growing pile of what once was at the bottom. All of this seemed mad, with no real purpose. I had to leave here before I became either a victim or a violator.The space between my salvation and my damnation was wide but not impossible. I did not want to die but at least dying in the pursuit of freedom was better than the other things I had seen. I wasted no time, I moved back and readied my legs. With power, I raced and leaped off of the side that held countless horrors, and over to the side of hope.

I barely made the jump, hitting my chest on the flat surface as I landed. Winded and pained, I lay there for some time, staring up at that gray sky. It was not so bad, when not being able to see the rest of the landscape. I realized now that I had rarely looked up, anytime I had been outside. Yet, a shifting object in the sky made me uneasy, a stray tentacle larger than the landscape pierced the clouds, only briefly but enough to snap me out of my false safety.

Up on my feet, I navigated the wall, searching for a way out. I searched, and searched, my mind growing dull as I did so. On occasion, I came across rogue creatures, one such being a skull with spikes adorning its surface, biting at the air, chained to the wall with a plug type latch system. When I removed the pin, it chomped vigorously at the air before falling into the chasm.

I had to get out, I could no longer suffer this place. The walls yielded no hope though, and as I felt my way I noticed the path narrowing. To my surprise, it was not narrowing, the walls were pushing inward, slowly but surely, stealing my footing little by little. I began to race against the impending disaster, grabbing at any surface I could to climb up. As I leapt up, I feel down. There was no more footing, only wall. Helpless, I fell, down into the nothing below.
​
I awoke, safe and sound, in my room. Alone, I fumbled around for the light and turned it on. As soon as I did, the door opened and a face I had not seen in years. I knew him to bed dead, killed in a previous outside excursion. I was numb, unsure of what happened. As the days unfolded, I tried to grasp what had happened. Images of the pit, shrills of horror and bone, a biting darkness consuming all of me. I had died but I was not freed.
We were summoned once more outside, lining up to be driven into the maw of the beast. The man I had recalled from before turned to me and talked of escaping. I laughed momentarily, startling the others and even the grotesque handlers. "There is no escape," I said with a smile, realizing that I had fooled myself into thinking I had survived or been alive thorough any of the previous encounters. 
​
We were all damned. We were all trapped. Even death was no escape.

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Copyright All Original Works © 2015 - 2020
  • Blog
  • The Immortal Crew
    • I: Dark Waters
  • The Edge
    • Officer Night
    • Masked Murder >
      • Part One: The Tape
      • Part Two: Viewer Discretion Advised
      • So Many Ways
    • Faith and Fire
    • Strangers
    • Strangers PT. II
    • The Gatekeepers
    • MADNESS >
      • Perhaps
      • I Feel It
      • Strangeness
      • Wounded
      • Angry
      • My Mind
      • Unable To Sleep
      • Another Night
      • Not Well
      • Stay Busy
    • The Revolver
    • The Hornet's Nest (TALON)
    • The Pilgrim >
      • Volcanic Ruins
      • Shadows
    • The Chained Gargoyle
    • No Escape
  • Audio Madness
    • Metal Dreams
  • Poems
    • Grab The Blade
    • A Dark Shape Slips Away
    • GIANTS
    • The Starless
    • The Monster
    • We Beasts
    • Betrayed
    • Let Play That Rotten Song
    • Burn Forever
    • Wander & Wonder
    • Bones Of The Wolf
    • Siren's Call
    • From Below To Bear
    • Waking Curse
    • The Path
    • Why Must I Be
    • Worn
    • Big Game
    • Who Owns The Elements
    • Sea Hunter
    • Wrecker of Realms
    • Barbarian Series >
      • Barbarian Son
      • White Island of Fire
      • Vengeance
      • The Coastal Lord
      • From The Throes Of Ancient Dwellings
      • The Warden
  • Rambling
    • The First Trek (Part One)
    • The First Trek (Part Two)
    • Breakfast At A Waterfall
    • Deep Fork Boardwalk
    • Redbud Valley
    • Keystone Ancient Forest
    • Robber's Cave
  • The Shooting Gallery
    • Photos: Still Carnage
    • Videos: First Wave
    • Videos: Second Assault
    • Videos: Third Operation
    • Operation Austin
    • Operation Handsome Maniacs
  • Dark Conspiracies
    • Strange Happenings >
      • Fading Light
      • Exodus
      • Thy Name
      • Bargaining
    • Agents >
      • Some Thing Between
      • Black Flames
      • Vendors
      • Wolves
      • Toxic Illusions
      • Missing
      • The Man In The Chair
  • Baleful
    • Behind The Face Of An Angel
    • Sunken Sorrow
    • A Legend In The Flesh
    • Altars & Acolytes
    • Signs On The Wall
    • Risen
  • Deathwatch
    • The Kill-Team
    • Mission I: Watch Station Belissar
    • Mission II: Tooth For A Tooth
    • Mission III: The Spire
    • Mission IV: Rescue
    • Mission V: Infestation
    • Mission VI: Heresy
    • Mission VII: Changes
    • Mission VIII: Hidden
  • DC Universe
    • The Test
    • Fear & Hatred
    • Chasing The Reaper
    • Blood
    • The Shrine of the Falling Star
  • Robot Chronicles
    • Vessels >
      • Awaken
    • The Hero
    • Reflections
    • Red
  • Soul Journeys
    • Restless
    • Temple
    • Shelter
    • Hunger
  • Long Tracks for Long Treks