At first glance, Ryder's brain tried to figure them out, like dogs? But the details screamed wrong, breaking some basic rule of life.
Legs too long, bending at joints that shouldn't be there. Fur like clumps of rusted, twisted wire, wet with something dark that dripped onto the soft ground.
Eyes glowing with the same sick green as the glow-rod light, but flat, empty, no life or smarts, just hungry sensors tracking movement. Their motion was too smooth, too flowing, like puppets pulled by wet strings, broken up by sudden, jerky bursts of impossible speed.
"Hostiles here," Ryder stated, his voice calm only because of training, hiding the rush of adrenaline and disgust.
He planted his good leg, raising the Door Shield strapped to his left arm. This felt solid, real, a piece of gear he could trust. "Not wolves. Something else."
[THREAT FOUND: BAD DOGS (x4)] [WARNING: MOVEMENT HARD TO PREDICT]
The system message flashed in his vision, plain text over a nightmare scene. Hard to predict. Great.
The closest Not-Wolf lunged. A silent blur of wire fur and snapping teeth, much faster than it looked.
Ryder met the attack head-on, acting on instinct.
He planted his feet, holding up the heavy Door Shield. Metal screamed against strange bone as the creature slammed into the truck door.
The hit shook him, sending shivers up his arm, but the shield held. He grunted, shoved forward hard with his shoulder, using his weight to push the creature back.
Then, reacting instantly, he kicked hard at its chest with his right foot. A standard close-fight move, his body just doing it.
It stumbled. Ryder didn't miss the chance.
He brought the Blade down hard, aiming for its neck. The jagged steel bit deep. No spray of blood, not like a normal animal. Instead, a thick, greenish-black goo, almost like sap, oozed out.
It sizzled and steamed where it hit the soft ground, eating into it. The creature shook once, twice, then lay still, the green light fading from its eyes like dying coals. One down.
Before Ryder could catch his breath or really think about the strange 'blood', another Not-Wolf shot past him. It ignored him completely, going straight for Rigg.
"Rigg!" Ryder yelled, turning hard on his good leg. No time for the blade. Instinct took over again. He lunged forward, hitting the creature as it ran.
He punched out with the edge of the Door Shield, catching the Not-Wolf right on the side of its head. A sick crack echoed as its jaw seemed to break sideways, hanging at a crazy angle.
It yelped. A thin, weak sound totally wrong for its size, and stumbled away, confused, shaking its broken head.
The last two creatures circled, their jerky movements becoming more planned.
Their flat green eyes fixed on Ryder. They stayed just outside his blade's reach, moving together in a creepy way. Testing him. Waiting for a chance. He felt like prey being watched.
"They're checking you out, hotshot," Betsy advised, "Looking for weakness. This place is messing with them, but the hunting instinct is still there. One more push and they'll attack together."
"Got it. Break them up," Ryder growled through clenched teeth. He wasn't fast, not with the bad leg slowing him down. But he was heavy, had the shield's protection, and years of close combat training, even if it wasn't against… whatever these were.
He crouched lower, shield held high, blade ready.
He faked moving left, getting their attention, then swept the blade low toward the creature on his right. Like he expected, it leaped back, right where he wanted it.
With a roar from adrenaline and desperation, Ryder charged forward. He slammed the flat of the Shield into its side, driving it hard against the soft tunnel wall. He pinned it there, the hit shaking his arm again. The creature snarled and snapped uselessly against the heavy steel, its claws scratching against the metal but finding no grip.
Keeping the shield pressed hard with his left arm and shoulder, Ryder brought the blade around in a tight, quick move. No room for a wide swing. He aimed for the neck showing just above where the shield pinned its shoulder.
The jagged edge tore through the wire fur and strange flesh. Again, that thick, green-black sap came out, along with a low, wet gurgle from the creature. It struggled weakly against the shield for a moment, then went limp, stopping suddenly. Another one down.
The last Not-Wolf paused, its flat green eyes flickering between Ryder and the dead creature pinned to the wall. It hesitated for a split second.
Then, it did something impossible. It turned and scrambled up the tunnel wall.
Claws found grip somehow on the slick, changing surface. It moved like some horrible, giant spider, heading for the ceiling.
"Not happening!" Ryder shouted.
He ripped the heavy Shield off his arm with a grunt, ignoring the pain shooting up his leg from the sudden, awkward move.
He lifted the slab of strong steel. It was heavier than it looked. He threw it upwards with all his strength.
The shield spun through the air, a dark shape against the green light. It hit the wall-crawling creature square in the back.
CRUNCH
The sound echoed horribly in the tight space, wet and final. The Not-Wolf peeled off the wall, falling limp to the soft floor with a final, wet rattle. It didn't move again.
Silence fell suddenly. Broken only by Ryder's harsh, ragged breathing and the faint, steady sizzle from the dead creature's goo.
He limped over and picked up the Door Shield, the metal cool against his sweaty hand, strapping it back onto his arm. The familiar weight felt good. He nudged the creature pinned to the wall with his boot; it was definitely dead.
[ALL HOSTILES KILLED]
Ryder staggered back, leaning heavily against the cold part of the wall, his chest rising and falling fast. Sweat dripped into his eyes, stinging.
His leg throbbed hard, needing attention now that the danger was gone. "Status report," he gasped, looking over at Rigg.
The kid was pale, leaning heavily on his spear, eyes wide but steady now. He nodded shakily.
"Clear," Rigg confirmed, his voice still rough from fear or effort. "For now."
Ryder didn't like the sound of that "for now." He pushed himself off the wall, pushing down the pain, scanning the area in the sick green glow-rod light.
The tunnel ahead seemed different somehow. Wider. The heavy, sticky feeling lessened a bit, like they'd passed through something. He took a step forward, favoring his leg, blade held ready.
Rigg came up beside him, holding the glow-rod higher.
The tunnel floor here wasn't soft or dusty. It was smooth. Very smooth, like polished black glass, cool and solid under his boots.
The walls curved gently, perfectly, reflecting the green light with a clean, almost sterile shine. No scratch marks. No stains. No patches of warm flesh or cold metal.
The air felt different too. Almost clean. It was like stepping from a dirty, infected wound straight into a clean operating room. The change was sudden. Complete.
This part of the tunnel felt like it didn't belong to the messed-up tunnel they'd just fought through.
Rigg let out a slow breath, his voice barely a whisper, filled with wonder and a new kind of fear.
"Nobody's ever seen this part." He took a small step back towards the bad tunnel they'd just left, like he wanted the familiar horror back. "The paths… they never existed. This… shouldn't be here."
Ryder squinted, looking over the strangely perfect surfaces. He reached out and tapped the wall with the tip of his blade. It rang, sharp and cold, the sound clear and pure in the strange stillness. No dull thud or soft give like before. Just solid, perfectly made stone or something like it.
"Yeah," Ryder muttered, a new kind of worry settling over him, colder and deeper than the fear of the Not-Wolves.
"Feels man-made." What kind of place rebuilt itself with perfectly smooth, clean hallways hidden inside fleshy, messed-up tunnels? "And I don't like what that means."