Chapter 34: Escape

  Holly's arm was inside the badger's mouth.

  The badger had bitten down right above her elbow. Its teeth pierced down right on her bare, unprotected arm. Blood shot out between the creature's teeth. It was Holly's blood.

  This creature saw how they had killed its children. It knew the trick, and it was ready for them. Well, it was as ready as it could be. It had not been fully prepared for Holly's speed. It underestimated her and it misjudged. Not by a whole lot, but enough to matter in the end.

  New blood quickly began to leak from the den mother's mouth. Not Holly's blood this time. The spearhead in its throat didn't pierce through its throat outright like it had its child. It had nicked an artery though, it would die, it was only a matter of time. That was time it could spend killing every single one of them.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. Alex's mind raced. Holly wouldn't be able to get freed from that thing's mouth. She was going to die. She put in the most work for all these kills, and she was going to die for it. No, no, she won't. I can't let that happen.

  "RUN!" Alex shouted as loud as he could.

  He brought up his status screen, ignoring the system notifications from the bodyguard fights. He barely glanced at his total experience to know that he had enough, more than enough. He didn't think about the risks, the stupidity of it, the fact that Celeste even warned him about exactly this. He ignored all that and began to mentally spend his experience points.

  As the tingle of his stats rising began to fill his body, Alex ran forward. He felt his leg protest in his mind. It was a shooting, clawing kind of agony that attacked his consciousness. He ignored that, it was about to get much worse than a blown out knee, he would have to take it. Devon shot past Alex, running away from the den mother while Alex ran toward it. He saw Devon pulling Allie with him. Good, that’s good . Lance followed close behind.

  He reached Holly in the next second. She was slumped against the badger's head, her arm still in its mouth. Tears streamed down her face. The tingle in Alex’s body had grown by this time, filling his muscles even further. He grabbed the top of the den mother's mouth with his left hand and stepped on its lower jaw with his right foot, then he strained.

  It didn't move at first. The den mother felt him trying to separate its mouth and growled. It was dying, but it wouldn't give up. Alex felt his muscles bulge as his experience points continued to be spent. He nudged the badger's mouth open just a centimeter. It growled some more and Alex growled back at it. The tingle in his body broke through a barrier, and his strength surged. He pulled apart the jaws a few inches, Holly cried out, and Alex grabbed her collar with his right hand and pulled her free.

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  Alex turned and puked black sludge onto the den mother's face. His body exploded in pain. His leg gave out. His right arm cried in agony. His muscles screamed, or was it his voice? He felt the bones crack in his body, and he knew he had pushed his strength up to five, the refinement had started.

  The badger mother began to stand up, still growling, still alive. They had to leave before it started attacking again. Holly was still laying on the ground. Her arm was mangled and she was in shock. She wasn't running.

  FUCK! Alex yelled in his mind. His body couldn't handle this. It was refining itself to adapt to his new strength stat and it was crumbling in the process. What could he do to survive? What if he increased his vitality? Would that let him endure it and survive?

  He mentally slammed the stat on his status screen, spending even more experience like a madman. The warm tingle of the spending experience mixed with the pain of his body being broken and rebuilt. He was crazy, but he had to do something or she would die along with him.

  Alex picked Holly up and began running. His legs supported him despite the pain. They were rebuilt stronger as quickly as they broke apart. Black liquid drained from his ears and nose. His vision swam as the abyssal liquid leaked from his eyes. He didn't know how fast he was going or even if the den mother was chasing him, he only knew pain.

  He ran and he felt pain.

  I'll die. I'll die from this and it will be a release . He couldn't quite feel his body now. He wasn't sure what was him or the ground, or Holly whom he carried in his arms. All the sensations began to blur together with the pain. This is enough right? It's been hours surely. I've carried her far enough.

  No. It's been mere seconds. He corrected himself. You have to keep going.

  He brought up his status screen again, which surprisingly he could see with clarity despite what was going on with his body and mental state. He still had experience points left. He wasn't even sure if his idea would work or if it was the crazed thoughts of a dying brain. He spent more points. His body cried, his mind screamed, and he ran some more.

  The inky darkness swallowed the rest of his body. He couldn't move. He didn't know if he was still carrying Holly or not. He saw the trees and leaves of the canopy above him. The silhouette of a figure. It came closer to him, getting bigger. Then the darkness consumed Alex's vision. Everything went dark.

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