The Dreamer's Epilogue-Chapter 5: Red Spawn
Chapter 5 – Red Spawn
Emrys ran with all his strength, cursing inside his head multiple times the blonde-haired woman.
He looked over his shoulder and cursed harder as he witnessed the woman running toward him with impossible speed, shouting for all the world to hear.
"SAVE ME!!!"
"Fuck! Don’t follow me!!" Emrys bellowed, angry until veins slithered across his forehead.
He had managed to take a peek at the Red Spawn following her behind, now following him because of the woman.
It was the biggest he had seen yet.
It stood almost six feet tall, with red fur that crackled as if fire was flowing inside it.
Its red eyes were vicious, its jagged-toothed mouth opening and letting out spit that sizzled the earth like corrosive poison the moment it patted the ground.
It held in its hairy hands an enormous club adorned with spikes all over.
The simple act of seeing this almost sent Emrys into a frenzy of fear.
The only solace in all this was that the monster was slower than them.
Yet it didn’t matter that much.
’If we continue to run mindlessly like this, and this woman keeps shouting, we will attract the attention of other nearby monsters,’ Emrys thought in haste, realizing that running this way would doom them in the long term.
He looked behind once more, only to yelp in shock, seeing the woman so close to him, her eyes swollen with tears of fear.
"Please! Save me!" she sobbed.
’Fucking fast!’ Emrys cursedly praised.
He looked past her and saw the monster still keeping up with them.
He sighed wearily, then hardened his eyes.
Looking ahead of him, he spotted a big military-green car, weirdly barely broken, a couple of paces away.
This was the type of car the army would use, with enormous wheels and thick carapace.
An idea immediately flashed through Emrys’s mind. He increased his speed, shouting at the same time toward the woman behind him.
"The car!" he bellowed, sweat dripping. "Get in the car!"
The woman was puzzled at first, but that puzzlement faded when her golden eyes settled on the car.
Emrys arrived first. He grabbed the doorknob, yanked it open with a creaking snap, and dove inside the car.
Without closing the door, he moved to the driver’s side. He immediately sighed in relief upon seeing that the keys were still there.
However, Emrys froze when he saw that the steering wheel and seat were smeared with blood. Human blood.
He clenched his jaw and shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the current situation.
Seconds later, the woman hopped inside, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. The car rattled.
"FAST! FAST!"
"SHUT UP! I KNOW!"
Emrys knew shit.
He had never tried to drive before, and now he was doing it in this state? It was complete madness.
Yet, strangely, in that situation, where life and death felt so uncertain, what was happening inside Emrys’s mind was unreal.
His amygdala, deep inside his brain, was exponentially enhanced, summoning every possible reserve of energy to focus on the urgent task at hand.
All the memories he had about cars and driving flashed through his mind, as clear as the sun at midday in summer.
Time seemed to slow down, his thoughts moving so fast it was frightening.
The woman looked through the window, seeing the monster closing in on them, roaring, growling, and snarling.
Her teeth began to chatter in fear. Still, she grabbed something from behind the seats and threw it at the monster through the shattered window.
Emrys, meanwhile, acted on pure instinct. He grabbed the keys and twisted them. The vehicle rumbled a few times before turning on.
The car was fortunately automatic, lowering the difficulty of driving it.
The monster was already on them, raising its hand high above to strike, momentarily blocking the sun.
"ARGHHHHHHHH!" the woman screamed.
Without hesitation, Emrys slammed the gear lever into reverse and stomped down on the accelerator.
CREAAAAAAKKKKK!!!!
BAAAAMMM!!
The car snapped backward, causing the monster to strike the ground with far more strength than necessary.
Splintered rock, dust, and gravel burst skyward.
The Red Spawn lost its balance, its grip on the weapon weakening.
Emrys shifted the gear lever into Drive. The woman opened the glove box in front of her, frantically searching, and found a gun.
Her eyes widened, her face draining of color, but urgency quickly replaced the shock.
She grabbed it awkwardly, clenching it with determination.
At the same time, Emrys rammed the destabilized monster, sending its weapon flying and slamming its body into the wall.
The front of the car cracked.
The monster wasn’t dead yet. It grunted and growled, muscles snapping as it tried to rise.
The woman tightened her hold around the gun.
She had no idea how it worked, but she had watched enough movies to take a wild, fucking guess.
"HERE WE GO!!!!" she bellowed, leaning her upper body out as Emrys reversed again.
Strangely, her aim was fairly accurate.
"SCREEECH—!" The monster shrieked as it staggered, its face twisted with wrath.
"AGAIN!" Emrys shouted, then drove forward once more.
This time the monster was ready, but not ready for a...
Bang!
The woman pulled the trigger. She aimed for the head, but the recoil made her miss, the bullet tearing through the monster’s left eye.
"SCREEEEEEEECHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The sound was primal, causing both Emrys’s and the woman’s ears to bleed instantly.
They bit their lips, fighting back tears, and pressed on.
With one eye blinded and the beast in a frenzy, Emrys pulled out four explosive talisman balls and hurled them one after another.
Explosions thundered, crimson dust bloating the area around the Red Spawn.
The woman kept firing awkward shots. Emrys continued ramming the beast with the car, even as it burned, smoke billowing from it like a chimney.
The front of the vehicle was completely ruined, steel melting and warping.
Moments later, the Red Spawn was nothing but a smeared ruin against the wall, its body riddled with bullets.
The monster was finally dead.
And instantly,
[NEW ACHIEVEMENT! YOU—!]
Both Emrys and the woman ignored the notifications, hearing distant screeches and growls rushing toward them from afar.
They snapped their heads toward each other, faces drenched in sweat, ears bleeding, lips dry, eyes wide.
Their pounding hearts were so loud it felt like they drowned out the world itself. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
"We run?" the woman asked, her voice raspy and weak.
Emrys’s face twisted. "Yeah, no shit. Of course we do!"
He jumped out of the car, knowing it would only cause more trouble, and once again...
He ran.
But this time...
"Damn! Wait for me!"
...he was not running alone.
—End of Chapter 5—
