Chapter 47: The Otyugh
1148 Words
The bloody handprints were only the size of a baby's palm. The sight brought fear to the faces of the group.
A small black shadow rushed past the three-meter-high wall on the side. The shadow looked particularly strange and scary in this light.
The three people behind Luther got nervous. Elena held back a scream and asked anxiously, “Lu... Luther. Did something just run up that wall?”
"Was it a mouse?" Oliver asked tentatively.
However, even Oliver knew it wasn’t something as harmless as that. He asked in the hopes that it wasn’t the shadow of another terrifying creature.
Luther frowned. He knew there was a monster here. He just wasn’t sure what it was. He only saw its shadow, so he couldn’t tell if it was a very powerful and agile creature, or if it was invisible.
Luther preferred the latter, fearing that he might be overtaken.
But what exactly was this thing? Did the handprints belong to it? Was it alone, or were there more?
So far, Luther was familiar with every creature and mutant he had run into. But there were some he didn’t know. There were tens of thousands of monsters that came from doomsday. There had to be some monsters he had never seen.
Today, he might face a new one.
"Everyone be careful. I don’t know what that thing is."
They watched their surroundings carefully.
Oliver moved a few steps to the side, hoping to see further past the dim light. In doing so, he accidentally touched one of the infected corpses Luther had killed.
Suddenly, the corpse shuddered. A fuzzy figure that looked like an enlarged lizard nimbly jumped out of the zombie’s dead body. He opened his mouth to be even wider than its face and shot out a purple tongue like a snake.
"Oliver, look out!”
Luther grabbed Oliver, attempting to pull him away.
But Luther was late. The tongue made contact with Oliver’s back.
They could hear a sizzling sound as if sulfuric acid had been spilled.
Luther looked back where the monster was, but it disappeared.
"It's fine. Your backpack saved your life."
Oliver sighed in relief. He didn’t feel the tongue or the acidic burn. He turned the backpack over and found a small hole where the monster’s tongue poked it.
"That was so close." Oliver took a breath. He looked around alertly and asked, "Luther, where did it go?"
"It's gone." Luther looked at the wall. He felt as if the lizard was invisible, watching him from only a few feet away.
Was there such a mutant that looked like a furry lizard that was the size of a baby that can turn invisible?
Luther remembered a drug developed by some branches of Al Qaeda in the past. It was said that the main component of this drug was a liquid extracted from a small monster with the power of invisibility. With the addition of other special chemicals, they were able to harness that power.
Luther felt that the monster he encountered was the kind of monster used in their research and development for this drug.
Luther didn’t have much knowledge about drugs like those. He only remembered what monsters like these were called.
The Otyugh was a mutant monster that looked like a lizard with the size of a baby. It ate rotten meat and usually didn't attack humans.
He knew this, but he also was very aware that just because humans weren’t their prey didn’t make them any less of a danger. They would still attack when they felt threatened.
Looking at the zombie corpse on the ground, Luther came up with an idea. He reached down and lifted the zombie up. Right away, a black shadow jumped down from the wall, opened his mouth, and lashed at Luther with its tongue.
So, it attacks when it's threatened and when their food is taken from them.
Luther smirked. He already had his hand on his sword. He unsheathed it immediately.
From right next to him, Elena didn’t even see what happened next. When she saw Luther lifted the corpse of the zombie, the shadow appeared, and the glint of Luther’s sword flashed.
Both halves of the Otyugh body fell to the ground.
This monster seemed very easy to kill. The truth was it was only easy for someone like Luther.
The invisible monsters were horrible for inexperienced survivors. Only someone with a past in fighting these creatures, like an erazer, was fast enough to kill them. It took a long time for erazers to learn proper instincts for battle.
Even people like Luther who have been fighting their way through doomsday for ten years couldn’t always accurately foretell invisible creatures' next move.
It was not easy for anyone to kill invisible monsters unless you were an erazer with well exercised mental ability.
Fortunately, this little monster wasn’t very strong or smart. If they encountered an invisible monster that was much stronger, they would have a problem.
After killing the Otyugh, Luther kept his guard up. He rid his hands of the corpse. He took a sigh of relief and wiped his hands off.
"It’s okay."
When Luther said this, the others let out a breath. They asked Luther what the monster was, and Luther answered their questions.
Oliver couldn't help but exclaim, "Invisibility! That sounds so made up, I’d never think it could be real."
"But Luther, you were so smart in killing that thing." Oliver patted his shoulder.
Elena also nodded with approval.
But Eric was downcast. He thought: Amazing guy with amazing powers. If he can kill something he can’t even see, how am I going to kill him?
Luther didn’t return his sword to his hip yet. He kept walking down the corridor. Elena followed close behind him.
The rooftop was on the other side of a large metal door. There were iron bolts on it and a lock hung from the handle. They were lucky to find the lock was open.
A cool breeze whistled through the crack in the door. They could tell it was raining from the puddle of water that was collected on the floor.
Luther took a deep breath of fresh air once he was outside. They were stuck fighting in this building for hours. This was the first time he got to breathe air that wasn’t contaminated by the odor of rotting corpses.
Luther stepped forward to pull the iron handle on the door and pushed it open. They heard a cracking sound. After the door was opened, rain began to pour inside.
Luther didn’t step out on the roof right away. He narrowed his eyes and peered outward.
Even though it was still in the afternoon, it was very difficult to see past the clouds and rain.
Fortunately, Luther’s headlight still had power, and it held a strong beam of light. It was also waterproof. The light still worked although it was dimmed by the droplets hitting the lens of the light.
Like most rooftops, there was not much to find up there besides air vents, solar panels, and cable dishes. On their other side was a large satellite dish for receiving signals and a water tank.
- Writer
