Chereads / The Habitat / Chapter 16 - The Turtle Monster

Chapter 16 - The Turtle Monster

Their screams were deafening as they watch the turtle-headed man walk towards the entrance of the cabin. With a bloody bludgeon in hand, he whacked the wooden door and its broken pieces revealed the terrified faces of his victims, isolated in the corner of the cabin, trying to protect themselves from the terror of the killer. The seven-foot-tall killer had never shown any weak spot for them to attack. There are seven of them inside, it's logical to win against one. A strong impact to its turtle mask could've prevented them to be in such position. "kill" spoken by the killer with a hoarse sound showing its utmost desire. Not intimidated by the number of its victims, he swung his weapon in the air. The six students immediately ducked. With the killer's large body and them being smaller, its movements were slower therefore, easier to dodge.

They immediately hurried to the sides where they scattered after the attack and ran towards the exit. "Help!" said Maeje crawling its way towards her friends when she slipped and accidentally impaled her feet from a broken wooden piece when she was trying to avoid the attack. A dreadful sight to the six of them who were just ready to run as fast as they could to avoid getting bludgeoned by the terrifying psychopath. Without getting any second thoughts, and collecting all the braveness that he could ponder, Alex immediately hastened towards his helpless friend. Maeje extended her arms, reaching the aid that could get herself out from a dreadful situation. Alex grabbed his friend's hands and hurriedly pulled Maeje out. Maeje's blood were dripping along the wooden floor as her wound from the impalement was making her writhe in an agonizing pain. But the pain that she felt is nothing compared to what could happen if her friends didn't help her. Her skull could've been into pieces scattering inside the cabin's area.

The other friends immediately responded to Alex's act of bravery and helped him carry the wounded companion. "Run! Fast!" shouted Angel, who is in the last position, pushing his friends to move out immediately towards the broken exit. The killer slowly moved its body trying to make pursuit to his victims' sudden escape. Convinced of his lack of swiftness, he rose his weapon and threw it along the group of friends who are carrying their wounded friend. The bloody bludgeon, with a whooshing sound, accelerated in the air with a possible killing impact that would immediately result its target to immediate death. Then goes Ivan who thought of the possible action that the slow killer would do when he saw the turtle-faced psychopath rose his weapon preparing for an attack. He grabbed the broken door that was the biggest in size along with the wooden table that they used to barricade the door that could become a shield for the possible strike. Knowing the strength of the killer, the impact could result to him being thrown from its direct hit. But, making his friends safe is the best solution to survive this dire situation.

He saw the bloody bludgeon accelerated into the air where he predicted its position of impact and shielded its way to their deaths. He braced the wooden shield's sturdiness with his body along with the small broken pieces of the wooden door layering himself with an armor of woods. He felt the impact form its body where the bloody bludgeon hit. The wooden shield was broken into pieces despite it's thick layering and delightfully stopped at the last wooden layer. Ivan was thrown into the ground but thankful of his sudden action. He immediately stood up as he watched the killer slowly moved its way towards them. He shouted "run!" where they immediately responded after they made sure that Ivan was okay. Ivan tried to pick the bloody bludgeon who is now lying on the ground but, was shocked of its heaviness for he's sure. That the weapon that the killer used will never be possible to be in the hands of ordinary humans. How could that shit carry it? He thought to himself.

But surviving is the best course of the action. They should surely think of the way to get out from this dreadful situation. The most important thing now, is they're now temporarily safe. With the killer's slow movement, we could have a head start.

Ivan, Still feeling the pain from his body, saw the killer walked towards him and he immediately ran towards his friends, to safety.

"That's the one who captured Christian!" Darline exclaimed, while trying to assist the wounded Maeje.

"I did'nt notice that there's a swamp at the back side of the cabin. There wasn't anything like that when we got here last night." Gloyd said.

"Let's run for now. We couldn't win with that monster. Noel was useless against it. how can we even fight that one? we're powerless humans!" Angel exclaimed.

They looked at the back and the turtle monster has now grabbed his bludgeon from the ground.

"He made the swamp." Alex said confidently. The others looked at him. "The turtle can manipulate the ground; he must have barricaded the back route with a swamp to prevent us from escaping."

"That means…" Darline said with complete disbelief.

Alex nodded, "Yes, we're trapped."

Everyone looked around where they noticed the humid ground to be in complete mud, encircling the cabin along with its perimeters, trapping the six students with it.

"Find a safe spot for Maeje to lie on. We must face the turtle no matter what." Alex said.

Gloyd, together with Ivan put the wounded Maeje at the farthest point behind a tree near the swamp barricade.

Maeje bit her lips, experiencing extreme pain from the impalement, "I'm sorry I couldn't be of use."

"Just stay there." Ivan said calmly. "We're going to get out of this." Ivan patted Maeje's back and immediately went back to the group.

Alex continues to bit his lip, the lip-biting thinking gesture that was infamous in their classroom when Alex think of something. "Let's move to the side, away from Maeje." He commanded. The others immediately followed. Hiding from trees and grasses that was very common to find in the marshes. They looked at the turtle monster who was now trying to pursuit them towards the trees where they hid.

Holding each other's weapons, they attacked simultaneously, but keeping a great distance from the monster. "He's enormous!" Gloyd shouted, trying to pierce the impenetrable body. "But slow!" Ivan shouted in a distance. "Don't let it hit you, or you'll be torn to pieces!" Alex warned.

"Kill." The turtle monster muttered; his hoarse voice was penetrating the flesh of the students who were busy fighting it. the monster swung his bludgeon around him and the students immediately dodged it. The air let out a whooshing sound as it swung in front of them, giving them the convincing possibility that they will immediately die if they get even just a hit by it.

No matter how agile they think they were, they're stamina could no longer continue as they dodge attacks after attacks from the restless monster. The ragged clothes of the turtle monster seem to be made of steel even with its appearance, giving their logics unreasonable. "Even Noel's claws weren't effective to this. I thought you had a plan!" Gloyd shouted at Alex who's still busy attacking and dodging the monster's attacks.

Alex moved away from the monster, "I do, but without Kent, I can't do it."

"So much for a planner! Do you have something else?!" Gloyd exclaimed. Without a plan, this battle would not be winnable. Gloyd tried to attack the back of the monster when he suddenly slipped from the wet grass below his feet. "Oh N--." He muttered. Gloyd saw the turtle monster faced him where it swung its weapon in the air, trying to give Gloyd a direct hit from above.

Everyone looked at their helpless classmate who fell on the ground, they knew he was going to be hit. But Darline threw her spear towards the head of the turtle, trying to distract it by hitting its head, but the spear flew behind the monster, missing the head. Darline's eyes bulged, stood there in silent as she watches the monster lay a big direct hit from the Gloyd which would not give his classmate an even 1% of survival. Everyone shouted, "No!!!!!!!"

Suddenly, the turtle monster stopped in the middle of its attack. Leaving the others in confusion, but extreme gratefulness that Gloyd should be able to escape now.

Gloyd knew his situation and took immediate action towards it, by rolling around the ground, away from the monster. "How?!" Darline shouted, who was standing helpless earlier when she noticed her attacked missed the head. She looked at the spear she threw and it pierced the wooden cabin's wall.

"The wall!" She shouted.

Alex ran swiftly towards the cabin where she destroyed its wall by slicing it with his spear, the wooden walls were broken into pieces as they followed Alex doing the same. They kicked, punched, smashed the walls and they saw the turtle monster writhe in pain. "That's right!" Gloyd exclaimed. "What?" Darline asked. Gloyd stopped for a moment, "the poem's line, my house isn't worth to carry. This must be it! this house is the reason why the turtle's skin was impenetrable! This is his shell!" he shouted, cheering.

Everyone smiled. Now they have a chance of defeating this monster. A turtle who do not have a shell seem illogical in their past world, but these species of monsters evolved in different ways. If Darline hadn't had the guts to throw a spear towards the monster, they wouldn't have been able to decode the last line of the poem.

"I guess missing was part of the plan." Darline joked.

Alex thought that they could never get out of this situation earlier, but now, they seem to have a chance to defeat the monster who Noel was helpless when he battled it. And by defeating it, they could see Christian again.