Pandemonium

  Jeff ran he loved running. Well loved was a strong word, liked running. Weeeeell if Jeff was honest, which he mostly was, he didn’t like running, he liked what running meant. Being alive and still willing to live. Not giving up, not rolling over like a whatyoucall it, a puppy? Kitty? Ah Dog, yeah that’s their name, these furry things his mother had told him about, not that he had seen any like ever.

  So yeah running felt good, not great or particularly fun, but good like eating a meal that fills your aching stomach after having starved for a few days, even if it tasted awful. It mean he hadn’t given up, sure there would someday be something that somehow he couldn’t outrun or surprised him and it would all be over, but Jeff was practical, as long as he ran there was still a chance. Some folk said sometimes you had to stand and fight, but that was crazy talk, like proper crazy talk. Who was whupps. That was a near miss.

  Focusing again on where the fuck he was running Jeff decided to stop thinking useless thought and run. He still heard the crashing of whatever these things were, behind him as the giant hardthing was running after him. Jeff surely knew the creature’s name, but running was more important than thinking about stories his mother told him, that and he didn’t want to get distracted by sad thoughts that happened sometimes. Instead, Jeff thought about that one song he recently heard in one of the camps, it was wild and fast and gave him the urge to move. Yeah, that was good, it was also good Jeff had a good memory, so he remembered the melody at least pretty well.

  The effect was immediate, he was running better, maybe because of the music in his head or because he actually focused on running. Still the thing came closer, unlike Jeff it didn’t need to run around the things in his way, it just crushed them. It was hopeless but Jeff didn’t even entertain the thought of giving up, giving up meant dying, dying meant the end, he liked living all things considered. And then his, from his point of view, famous, luck happened yet again. Some people might claim he had good intuition, but Jeff knew he was lucky, it had nothing to do that he had seen this cave on his way here and a part of his mind guided him here, not, at, all.

  He suddenly made a harsh turn to the right, aiming straight for the cave entrance, one moment, two moments, three moments, the crashing grew louder and louder, now he could feel the stumping of the beasts’ stumpy legs. Well stumpy when one looked at the body. He crashed into the cave still holding, the now remembered sack of fruits? Whatever they were they were delicious, in his hands. As he came to a stop, a bit too close, some would use a fancy word like collisation? Collision? Ah yes colliding, with the wall, Jeff would proudly state, neither his nose nor his cargo hit the wall so it wasn’t a C-U-LL-I-S-I-O-N, yeah that’s the right word, mom would be proud, probably, she was always weird with fancy words.

  Anyway, back to the important thing, the caves in this zone were all connected and Jeff had heard some nasty rumors about what was living in them, and even nastier what build them. Rumors being rumors, they were full of crap especially by scardy pants who lived in a camp, never had seen a real Pandemodium in their lives. Sure, Jeff had also never really seen one, they were hard to see, but he had been in at least one he knew off. If there were others, they had to be pretty tame, or it was just his great luck that saved him.

  A jolt to the cavern made Jeff shudder, damn good he was so lucky, for any other person this cave surely would’ve caved in. he looked back to the entrance and even though he knew what had chased him his breath still came ragged as he beheld the beast in its full glory.

  Red hard skin, caraplice, caranclice? Carapace, yeah that one, covering it, glistening red in the pink glow of the sun. Pink was the weirdest sun yet, or was it lilac? Who cared honestly, well Candy might care, she was always on about colors, though she probably wouldn’t talk to Jeff again since the last time the met. Oh yeah the beast there was that. Jeff saw one of its great pincers trying to get on missing him by at least two steps. Lucky again.

  Then its maw screeched, like grinding rocks, like metal on metal, like the time Mitchel dragged his knive over a metal pan. Truly a horrid tone. Made the ears blead, not really but people use that sort of phrase even now, even as there were sounds to make your ears bleed.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Shaking out of his reverence, Jeff stood up. Ah yeah crap, that was the name, the beast was a giant crap. Wait no, crab. Crab that was it. Jeff didn’t know how crabs should look like, the day the world twisted he hadn’t been born yet.

  Grabbing his bag and trying to ignore the screeching clawing scutteling crab Jeff started down the tunnel, they were made out of some rock and some sort of plant grew on them that made light. Jeff had once known the name for such Plants but like most of the lessons his mother had taught him, he didn’t use that part of his brain much and thinking back to these lessons hurt, so he left that knowledge untapped, it wasn’t useful right now.

  The caves were wide enough for three people to walk side by side comfortably, but the ceiling was just high enough for jeff not to hit his head. Sure, he was still ducking a bit to make sure, but he didn’t need to duck really, just you know made him feel better about it all. Some of the other smoochy big plants grew here too, like oh yes sponges, that’s what they are called. The camps here harvested some when they had people who weren’t so scared by the outside, they died in the camps rather than try to find a way to survive. Jeff knew people like him were rare, but it had taken him 5 long years, while he was mostly on his own, to figure out how rare people like him were, especially his age. Most wanderers were in what their thirties? Most were in small groups, no larger than five, unless the zone was particularly safe. Jeff was alone since he had been … Well, it doesn’t matter remembering now, focus on the good things. Like the fact these fruits will sell pretty well, and he can buy some new stuff.

  But what stuff to buy? He remembered thinking he should start a list this time, last time he had some points he spend them all on stupid shit until he remembered he needed a new second shirt, not that he cared much about smelling but he had started to have a people and non-people clothing set since an incident a while back.

  It really was a shame that people don’t use something more useful for trading instead most camps just give you points to get stuff if you gave it to the people in charge, at least in the small once. The only large camp in this zone with something akin to money from the old tales, was Brindgap and Jeff was not really welcome there anymore. Well Candy didn’t welcome him anymore and if she didn’t want him there, he had no reason to be there anymore. He still had some money from there, the thin metal sheets had some sort of lettering pressed into them, so he had kept it can always trade it somewhere for something else.

  What was he thinking about again? Oh yeah, he wanted to try some of that famous chicken he heard so much about, a trader had brought some to the camp apparently, dead as far as Jeff knew but surely these fruits would buy a piece? And then he would … ah yes, the list! He needed a list this time. Nothing he didn’t really need to get back to zone 23 as the people there called it. That place was safe, well safer, well not really but Jeff knew it better, no giant crab that had a concept of ownership of some fruit tree. Really why had this zone so many smart crabs. No wait, not all were crabs, but they were all like crabs. Thinking, Jeff gave quickly up. No sense in wasting time and risking hurtful memories when you didn’t need the word right now.

  Rather focus on getting back to camp with these fruits the crap liked so much. As Jeff followed the cavern further and further, he stopped suddenly. How long was he now walking? Surely it had to be a few whatya call it? Minutes? Sure, let’s say minutes, and there was still no end in sight. This was bad, probably. Caves were meant to be short unless they went down and down was bad, like really bad. Even if Jeff didn’t trust some scared camper with their stories, their stories had an origin, he had learned that after kenny died, poor kenny got eaten by what was apparently an anglersheep nasty little buggers, though he had been kind of a whatya call it? Ah yes Dick, though why people used a word referring to their genitals as an insult Jeff never quite understood. But yeah, not so sad that thing with kenny, plus it gave Jeff the lesson that stories are told by scared people and they have an origin. This time the story that had Jeff worries was about how no one survived entering the glow caves, so Jeff didn’t want to risk it. As he was about to turn away and try his luck waiting out the crab or maybe it was already gone, he heard it. A rumbling, fuck. That probably was the entrance. Jeff still went to check but yes sure as the twist, the damn crab was an asshole, now that insult Jeff understood at least. Proper insult or not, there was no way to get out of here. At least not until he starved to death. Again, why the fuck were these crabs so smart? If some camper told him they could hold onto their anger he wouldn’t believe them but now? Well shit. Jeff looked back down the tunnel. He was lucky so he probably would be fine. With a shrug someone his age probably shouldn’t manage, so full of tired acceptance of his fate and all it would encompass, he decided to just start walking. How bad could it really get down here? Sure no one came back out but they didn’t have Jeff’s damn luck.