Peeking out over the corner of the entrance, he was unable to see any suspicious activities or movements. Looking back at the monster encased in the egg container once more, he shuddered with disgust. He did not understand how the pervert was able to defile a human body like this. Their psychotic mind was too far gone for him to understand. Once again, he glanced back at the impaled fat man. Already the fat man's body looked like it was bloated from ingesting too much water. His fat abdomen was similar in appearance to the girl strapped to the table.
"Let him rot with his own creation," Zero snarled as he left the room. Everyone followed behind Zero in a single file line. Whenever he stopped they stopped. If he raised his hands, they followed. Zero knew that saving everyone was unrealistic. There were more chances of failure due to their injuries, low stamina, and weak bodies. If he was to leave by himself, it was more likely for him to survive than them, but he did not want too. He was going to make sure majority of them survived to see another day.
As he walked through the rows of dead bodies in the tubes, he thought he saw glimpses of shadowy apparitions standing next to each of the containers. The light was dimming in and out; a couple of times from the corner of his eyes he saw shadows that looked like men darting around in the dark.
Zero tried to clear his mind. It's all in my mind, thought Zero as he tried to shake out the disturbing feeling he was getting. It felt like he was being watched, but there was no one around him except his small group. He tried his best to ignore these odd shadows.
We need to get out of here. He increased his pace. I feel like I am in a room full of people, but there is no one here.
"Did you see that?" Clay asked as he tugged on Zero's fur and inched closer. His hands were lightly shaking and his eyes were darting around as if he saw something ominous.
"What?" Zero's fur stood on end, and he was getting goosebumps.
"The shadows are alive," Clay whispered.
"You're just imagining it, it's all in your head," Zero replied as he tried to blow it off. This was not a topic he wanted to discuss while trying to make a dangerous escape. Clay grunted and nodded. Ignoring the dismissal, he stayed close to Zero.
Pat came up and rustled Zero's hair, trying to comfort him. A warm sensation spread as the gesture reminded him of his mother.
As he got to the top of the stairs, he instinctively began sniffing the air for any strong scents. Twitching his ears, he strained to hear any possible guards. He noticed a sharp difference in the air, and his vision changed into smell vision.
"What? I don't remember calling upon the skill," pondered Zero. Usually one needed to call upon a skill to activate it, but for some reason it was not necessary anymore. Zero thought for a moment and remembered the Growth's Announcement.
"I'm guessing this is the skill known as assimilation?" Zero tilted his head as his ears lopped to the side. This game continued to surprise him. Allowing the players the ability to call upon their skills without yelling them out would be extremely beneficially in player versus player as well as while fighting monsters—screaming out loud for skills during monster battles would result in alerting nearby monsters.
"Hey, pup. Why did you stop?" asked Tino as he stood next to Zero.
"Sorry. I was just thinking about something." Zero started to move forward again. His paws scraped across the cold mossy floor. The damp cold air made the air smell stale.
"Pup. Thanks for getting us out of that hell hole. If we all stayed a couple days more, none of us would have survived," Tino said.
"Save your thanks till we succeed in getting out of here." His heart tightened at the thought of failure and loss. It would truly be a miracle if they all survived. Each step he took had the weight of their lives bearing down upon him. Regardless, he kept moving while thinking of ways to save the survivors. Why did he harbor such loyalty towards them when they were nothing more than data? He couldn't fully comprehend, but they felt real. NPCs and players were almost identical to each other. Only miniscule differences told them apart.
The small group silently navigated the hallways of the mansion. He knew where he had to go. There were only three routes of escape. The closest one was the one that he had found yesterday located in the pantry. Getting there was not a problem, but avoiding the guards was. Zero's sense of hearing and smell helped them bypass many dangers that were lurking around every corner. There were not many traps, so it was easier to move around.
In the distance, Zero heard heavy footsteps of metallic armor grinding against the stone ground and walking quickly towards them.
"Quickly go back," Zero called out as he sharply turned around. After backtracking a few steps, he halted. He could hear even more footsteps coming from the opposite direction. They were boxed in with nowhere to run. His gut tightened as tried to determine which side would discover them first.
"Damn it. We're trapped. Get ready to fight for your lives," Zero said with worry in his voice. None of them had any weapons or knew how to fight. He scanned for any usable weapons or items but found none.
Clay whimpered with fear, tears streaming down his face. He held tightly to his pants with a balled up fist. He was shaking as he inched closer to Pat. Pat cast his gaze down on Clay and ruffled his hair just like he'd done to Zero. He straightened up and pulled on Clay's hand towards Brook.
"Watch him for me," Pat softly murmured. His smile was heavy with sadness but filled with determination.
"Be strong." With one last ruffle of Clay's golden hair, Pat bolted off in the direction of the first group of guards.
"What? Wait!" yelled Zero. He dug his legs into the floor, about to bolt after Pat to stop him from doing something irrational, but he was suddenly blocked by Tino.
"Move!" Zero shouted as he tried his best to get around Tino, but he was snatched up from the ground by his scruff before he had the chance to get away.
"Shh! Do you want them to find us?" Tino said.
"Let me go!" Zero spat angrily at Tino. He was ready to lash out towards Tino, but restrained himself. Tino was his mission. Zero would fail if he died. This time, he really wanted to punch him, but Tino's weak body might not be able to handle it.
Tino shook his head with sadness. "Don't, Zero. He gave us a chance. We need to go. His death must not be in vain."
He had not expected Pat to sacrifice himself by drawing away the guards. Pat's decision gave the small group an opportunity to slip away. But it left a bad taste in Zero's mouth.
"You are saying sacrifice one to save many," rebuked Zero with disgust. He disliked that ideology. However, because of Pat's actions, he had been given another chance to succeed in his mission. He could not throw his life away so easily. Tino gently placed Zero onto the ground.
"Fine. Let's move," Zero growled as he looked up towards Tino. He began to move and picked up his pace. Luckily, they were close to the hidden passageway that he had found.
"Catch that escaped slave!" yelled a guard. Loud clanking sounds of footsteps could be heard running after Pat. Before long, the sounds of their footsteps faded off in the distance.
With silent tears, Eli, Tino, and Brook grieved. Clay looked upon Tino with a childlike expression, unable to understand what was happening. Everyone except Clay kept silent at this precious moment they were given.
"He is going to come back, right?" whispered Clay as he looked hopefully at Zero. Zero couldn't face him to give him a direct answer. Instead he silently prayed for Pat to succeed in escaping a horrendous death. If Pat was caught, beating was not the worst part. He would accept death more than being defiled and experimented upon.
"He's coming back, right?" Clay asked again as he pulled on Brook's arms. He continued to ask again and again, like a broken record.
"I don't know, Clay." Brook held him in closer; worry broke his face.
Once again they sped up their pace and arrived at a small library that was next to the pantry he had found awhile back. There was warm air flowing from the fireplace, and it warmed their nearly frozen bodies. There were small comfortable chairs and stacks of books on the writing desk. It seemed like it had been recently used.
"Tino, I need you to push that bookshelf to the left side," directed Zero. "Brook, at the same time, push the bookshelf next to it the opposite way."
Both Tino and Brook got in position and strained to push the shelves aside. Zero tried to help push the bookshelf on Brook's end. Beads of sweat soon began to fall from their faces. The shelves held fast onto the ground as if they didn't want to move.
Creeeak.
Both the bookshelves moved in unison, and an old, rickety door was revealed behind it. It was the hidden passageway that Zero had found while doing surveillance. Brook opened the door, and they stepped through in single file. It was only wide enough for one adult human to walk through.