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Chapter 13 - The Belly of the Beast

In a dream, the setting of a house near the lake, Jake is resting in bed, before his wife, Keera calls him.

Keera: Hey, baby...you were asleep for a while....

Jake: Was I?

Keera: Mm-hmm...

Jake: so, you and I, we have the whole place to ourselves for a few hours....

Keera: so, what do you think we should do?

Jake: Well...part of me wants to stay here in bed with you all day.

Keera: Well, that's no fun for me.

Jake suddenly begins to drift back to sleep.

Keera: Jake, c'mon! What are we going to do today?! Jake? Jake!

In reality, inside the belly of the Leviathan Monster, Jake is being shook awake by Kyle.

Kyle: Jake! Jake, wake up!

Jake wakes up.

Jake: Huh? Huh? What?

Kyle helps Jake up on his feet, before Shawn hands a Zeus Corps Assault rifle to him.

Kyle: Jake, you good?

Jake examines the inside of the Leviathan Creature.

Jake: Oh, hell no....please...PLEASE tell me we are not where I think we are.

Kyle: I'd be lying if I said no.

Jake: If you loved me, you would've said no.

Barnes: Well, if we're lucky, we'll be sneezed out like Pinocchio.

Shawn: Like who?

Jake: Dude....even I know Pinocchio....the whale? When Pinocchio was swallowed by a whale-

Kyle: Jake, now's not the time.

James: Oh, man! This is just fuckin perfect! We're inside a giant ass monster! Now what in Jesus' name are we going to do?!

Shawn: Dude, calm down! We just gotta hack our way out of the damn thing!

Kyle: No. First, we kill it then we cut our way out.

James: Huh?

Kyle: This thing is destroying the cities. Us being in this thing alive is our perfect opportunity to kill it.

James: Kyle, this thing is very huge... you called this thing the "Leviathan" and in Greek times, Zeus's son, Perseus, uses the Gorgon, Medusa's head to kill the another big ass monster like this called the Kraken....cept one problem in this similar scenario; this is 2033! We don't have a fuckin gorgon head! And we're in the inside of the beast! How the hell are we going to kill it?!

Kyle: You're a smart guy, James. How else do you kill something alive from the inside?

Shawn: Rip its heart motherfucking heart out.

Kyle: Exactly. Let's move.

Suddenly, the inside shakes, causing the survivors to fall on their faces or backs.

Barnes: Ugh! Fuckin A!

Shawn: Ah, man! This is seriously nasty in here! This is fucked up!

Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes continue traveling through the throat, eventually reaching chomping digestive teeth that crushes objects.

James: Well, shit....

Jake: It just keeps getting better and better....

Kyle: Alright, everyone stay behind me! Don't stray!

Kyle leads Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes through the digestive teeth as they chomp down. While traveling through the last set of teeth, James trips and is nearly crushed until Kyle and Shawn pull him out.

James: Damn it! That was too close. 

James turns to Kyle and Shawn.

James: Thanks for that, fellas.

Shawn: No one's perfect, little brother.

James: Kyle, for all we know this thing's heart is like two or three miles down its stomach. How the fuck are we supposed to find it?

Kyle: If we keep traveling down, there's a chance we might find the heart.....also, keep an eye out for Cameron. If we made it, he might have too.

Barnes scoffs.

Barnes: The trigger-happy rook probably broke his neck with a fall like that and if he ain't dead, he sure as shit is probably pissin his pants right about now.

A short pause.

Kyle: Barnes.....shut up.

Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes continue travelling down the inside of the Kraken, eventually reaching the stomach.

Jake: Is this the heart?

James: I don't see any veins or arteries....no, this has to be the stomach....see the acid pools and rugaes?

Kyle: I see something!

Suddenly, a parasitic creature emerges from the floor bed and attempts to attack the group, who quickly shoot and destroy the parasitic creature. The group continues moving through the stomach, before they suddenly hear gunshots up ahead. Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes run up ahead to notice Cameron opening fire on a pack of parasitic creatures.

Cameron: Shit! Get back! Get the fuck back!

Kyle: Cameron!

Cameron turns his head.

Cameron: Kyle!

With his back turned, the parasitic creatures attack Cameron, ripping apart his abdomen.

Jake: Cameron!

Kyle: No!

The parasitic creatures drag Cameron as they are eating him, before Kyle, Jake and Shawn shoot the parasitic creatures. Kyle runs over to the partially eaten Cameron, who is dying to his wounds, and kneels, grabbing Cameron's hand.

Cameron: (dying) Kyle...

Kyle: Kid, stay with me...stay with me....I'm right here....Cameron!

Cameron: (dying) I-I'm hurt bad.....

Kyle: Nah, this....this isn't nothin, man...hey, hey...remember what we talked about.....you asked me if you were going to see the surface again, you will! Cameron! Think of your mom, kid! Think of her! Don't do this to her...

Cameron: Kyle....I-I have a note for her....in my pocket...tell her....tell her I love her.....and-and...

Cameron coughs.

Cameron: It hurts.....I want to go home....I want to go home...Mama....Mama....Ma-

Cameron dies to his wounds, leaving Kyle saddened.

Kyle: Goddamn it! He was just a goddamn kid! Fuck! He deserved better.

Shawn, Jake and James give a moment of silence for their fallen comrade.

Barnes: Poor bastard.

Kyle, Jake, Shawn and James give Barnes a look.

Barnes: No, seriously....bad way to go.

Suddenly, the stomach shakes.

Shawn: Oh! What the hell's this thing doin now?!

Shawn opens fire onto the stomach bowl, before James stops him.

James: Shawn, c'mon, dude! You're going to piss it off even more!

Shawn: How in the fucking fuck are you going to fucking to tell me what not fucking shoot in here?! Look at this, goddamn it! What's the worst that could happen?!

The Leviathan monster roars as the stomach shakes again, causing Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes to fall.

James: (sarcastically) Oh, jeez, Shawn. That's the worst that could happen!

Suddenly, the Leviathan monster prepares to vomit up debris that is coming towards the group.

Jake: It's going to puke! Run!

Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes retreat, before Kyle turns back and searches Cameron's corpse.

Jake: Kyle, c'mon, man! There's nothing else you can do! He's dead!

Kyle manages to find Cameron's' letter for his mother, before Jake runs back and grabs Kyle as the group flees from the incoming vomit ball of debris.

Shawn: Fuck me!

The group continues fleeing from the wall of debris, eventually escaping through a small hole leading into the sternum.

Jake: So, where the fuck are we now?

James: Well, see those acid nozzles...this would be the sternum....I think.

Kyle: Which means we're closer to the heart.

Shawn: Man, I'm going to need some therapy if we live through this shit.

Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes move through the sternum, reaching an area with stanching smells and intoxication.

Jake: Ugh! Shit! This place stinks like mildew and ass, man!

Barnes: Smells like my old wreck room!

Shawn: What?! No! Smells like stinky feet mixed with balls, piss, shit and ass!

James coughs.

James: Dude, fuck the smell! Wherever we are, the air is toxic!

Kyle coughs.

Kyle: Then let's keep moving!

Shawn: Yeah, I do not want to die stinking.

Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes travel through the stanching area, before reaching a thin wall of flesh.

Kyle: All right...this is gotta be thin...we can cut through this.

Kyle activates the fire feature on his Zeus Corps machete, before he gorges through the thin wall of flesh, reaching the other side. Kyle, Shawn, Jake and James step out, breathing rapidly.

Jake: Thank god....

Kyle coughs.

Kyle: Let's keep moving....

As the group moves forward, a heartbeat is heard up ahead.

Jake: Hold on, everyone else hear that? That a heartbeat?

Kyle: Yep...now, it's time for the autopsy.

Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes finally reach the heart.

James: Ladies and gentlemen...time to eat your heart out.

Shawn: Bro....seriously?

James: Oh, fuck off, Shawn.

Kyle pulls out his Zeus Corps machete and hacks into the heart, unable to penetrate the hardened skin.

Kyle: Damn!

James: Uh...Kyle....Kyle...Kyle!

Kyle: What, man?!

James: Did you not take science or biology? You know how a heart works right?

Kyle: Well, I'm just going to hack into the skin until I get through.

James: Dude, Kyle....

Kyle: What?!

James: You see these tubes connected to the heart? Those are arteries.....arteries carry blood that flows into the heart and the heart needs blood in order to beat.

A short pause.

Kyle: What the fuck are you saying?

Barnes: Jesus Christ.....Gimme that!

Barnes takes out the Zeus Corps machete, before severing an artery, causing blood to flow out. Kyle takes the machete back from Barnes.

James: That...you cut those and the heart dies.

Kyle: Oh! Why didn't you just say that in the first place?

James: I did say-oh, fuck it...just cut the goddamn arteries.

Kyle and Shawn sever the other two arteries, ceasing the heart.

Jake: Ugh...thank god that's over with.

Shawn: Now, let's cut ourselves out of here.

Kyle: Nice job, guys....and Barnes.

Barnes: The hell, man?! I'm the one who just showed you how to cut the damn-

Jake: Barnes, shut up.

Barnes: Hold on, now! I'm the one who-

Jake: Dude, seriously! Be quiet!

Another heartbeat is heard up ahead.

Shawn: Is that another heartbeat? This thing has more than one heart?!

Kyle: Goddamn it!

James: Looks like we still have to cut the heart out of the beast....you get it? Like cut? With our knives and blades? It's funny, right? No? Never mind.

Kyle: James, stop with the damn jokes.

Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes manage to reach the second heart, which is hanged on arteries above them.

Jake: C'mon, man! Why the fuck's it gotta be up there?!

Shawn: No problem! I got this!

Shawn equips an explosive arrow to the crossbow, before shooting an arrow into the heart.

James: Shawn, you still have to sever the arteries...no way is that-

The arrow explodes, destroying the heart and splattering it's remains on the group.

James: I stand corrected.

Jake coughs and spits.

Jake: Gross, man! Just gross....I'm going to need to be baptized in holy water to get rid of this smell.

Another heartbeat is heard, but faster.

Barnes: Fuckin A, man!

Jake: Son of a bitch! Another heartbeat?!

Shawn: For Christs' sake's, how many hearts are there, James?!

James: Dude, how am I supposed to know?!

Kyle: It doesn't matter! The more the merrier.

Jake: Dude, no, the less the merrier...

Kyle: It's getting faster.....it's dying.

Kyle, Jake, Shawn, James and Barnes finally reach the final and prime heart.

Jake: Of course, the main heart has to be bigger.

Barnes: Well, let's hope this is the last one.

Kyle: Barnes, with me, we're severing the arteries. Jake, Shawn, James, keep us covered!

Kyle and Barnes attempt to sever the arteries while Jake, Shawn and James hold off the parasitic creatures. Kyle is attacked by a parasitic creature and holds it off while Barnes advances onto the prime heart. Barnes uses his chainsaw to gorge the Prime Heart open as the Leviathan suddenly groans. The Kraken dies, before the colossal creature bursts from the ground and dies. After a few passing moments, Barnes gorges through the creatures skin, freeing him and everyone else as they slide out in a flow of blood and arteries.

Kyle: Oh....fuck!

James: Dude.....this is not right...I'm swallowing and coughing up blood that isn't mine...I'm going to catch an STD, man...

Shawn: Oh...there's no place like home...there's no place like home...there's no place like home.

Kyle: All right...let's just shake it off and let's get moving....we got a long way back home. (to Shawn) Shawn...

Shawn: Right.

Shawn shoots Barnes with an electric arrow that stuns him unconscious.

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