I stood, circling the corpse with the dim moss ball in hand, its greenish glow casting eerie shadows along the cave walls. The monster's frame leaned more toward humanoid, with broad shoulders and a muscled build, though its proportions were far from human.
Judging by the structure of its limbs, especially the joints and muscles, this thing was clearly bipedal. It probably moved with a hunched posture, balancing its weight between those ridiculously long arms and its short, bulky legs.
I snorted, shaking my head at the absurd proportions.
"Never skipped leg day, huh?" I muttered under my breath, the dry humor easing the knot of tension in my chest for just a second.
Its legs were too short to match the oversized torso, but the bulk of its upper body left no doubt—it was built for brute strength, not speed. I could imagine the heavy, deliberate movements it must have made, each step crushing the ground beneath it. The realization sent a chill down my spine. This thing wasn't fast, but it wouldn't have needed to be. It could've ripped me apart without breaking a sweat.
With a resigned sigh, I clambered onto the beast's chest, planting my full weight on it. The leathery hide was taut, stretched over an unnervingly solid frame. I half-expected the ribcage to groan or shift under the pressure, but it didn't budge.
I tapped my knuckles against its chest, the sound dull and heavy, like striking wood or stone.
"This thing's built like a damn fortress," I muttered, shaking my head in disbelief.
The thought made me uneasy. If this was the kind of opponent I was up against, I needed to learn everything I could. Survival meant understanding how these things worked—how to kill them quickly and efficiently.
I pulled one of the bone blades from my pile of materials and gripped it tightly, its sharp edge catching the faint green light. With one decisive motion, I plunged the blade into the creature's sternum.
The blade sank in with sickening ease, the leathery hide splitting open with a wet, tearing sound. I dragged the blade downward, carving a jagged line from its chest to its abdomen. As the incision widened, the stench of rotting flesh and bile hit me like a battering ram.
"Ugh, hell," I grimaced, pulling my tattered shirt up over my nose in a weak attempt to block out the foul odor. It barely helped.
I tore the wound wider, slicing through the dense layers of muscle and tissue. The air grew thick with the putrid stench, each breath an effort. Forcing myself to push through, I leaned in, holding the moss ball closer to inspect the creature's insides.
Its rib cage was massive, the curved bones thick and reinforced like steel girders. Each rib was unnaturally shaped, forming an almost impenetrable cage around the creature's vital organs.
I could see where the heart should've been, nestled deep between layers of muscle. It was positioned lower in the chest, closer to the diaphragm, and far more protected than a human's heart.
It wasn't a traditional heart either; instead, it was more reptilian in design—an elongated organ, almost like two hearts fused together. The muscle tissue around it was dense, probably pumping blood through this massive thing's body with immense force, another clear indication of mutation in this monster, hope it's just this fucker.
"Built like a fuucking tank" I thought grimly, leaning closer.
Stretching my neck and shoulders, I cracked my stiff joints, forcing myself to focus.
The stink still clung to the air, thick and suffocating. I leaned back, wiping the sweat from my forehead, my mind racing with the possibilities. I needed to understand what I was up against.
Studying this thing wasn't just a morbid curiosity, it was survival. I needed to understand what I was up against and worst of all is the next part I need to check what this ugly fuck eats.
"Not gonna be fun", I muttered under my breath, my voice muffled beneath the shirt I had stretched over my nose again.
Leaning back into the chest cavity, I searched for the stomach. My fingers moved carefully, tracing the slick interior until I found the bloated organ. It was swollen, heavy, and covered in a slimy membrane.
Before I went any further, I tore the remnants of my shirt into strips, wrapping them around my wrists and hands as makeshift gloves. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.
Steeling myself, I plunged my hands back into the cavity, gripping the stomach. It squelched beneath my touch, the texture slimy and unnerving. With a quick slice from the bone blade, I severed it free and pulled it out. The wet, squelching sound made my stomach churn.
"Disgusting," I muttered, setting the organ carefully on the ground.
With one swift motion, I sliced the stomach open.
The putrid stench that spilled out was overwhelming, worse than anything I'd smelled before. Even with the rag over my face, I gagged, bile rising in my throat as the half-digested contents spilled onto the cave floor.
Chunks of flesh, bones, and indistinguishable remains oozed from the opening, mixing with the dark, acrid fluid. I squatted down, holding the moss ball closer to the mess, trying to make sense of what this thing had been eating.
I squatted down, my moss ball casting a faint greenish light over the heap of gore, trying to make sense of what this thing had been eating.
Fish bones, long and needle-like, poked through the pile, along with bits of scales and fins.
"At least I might have something to eat," I muttered. "All I need is confirmation of a water source."
But then something else tumbled out—which made my blood run cold.
Among the mess of flesh and bones, an eyeball rolled out, perfectly intact. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at it. It was too large to be from any ordinary prey, its surface covered in a thin layer of mucus. But it wasn't the size that unsettled me, it was the shape.
A slit pupil. The same shape as the monster's own.
I after some hesitation picked it up, holding it closer to the moss ball to get a better look. The eyeball was too familiar. The same reptilian iris, the same dull, sickly yellow. This thing, this monster was eating its own kind.
The realization made my stomach churn. Cannibalism.
"Fuck," I muttered, dropping the eyeball and wiping my hands on the rags wrapped around my wrists.
If this thing was feeding on its own species, it meant two things. First, these creatures were desperate enough—or ruthless enough—to turn on their own. And second, there were more of them out there.
I clenched my fists, forcing the nausea down. I had to be prepared. If there were more of these things, I couldn't afford to hesitate.
My mind raced with questions, but I pushed them aside for now. Now all that remains is to butcher the corpse for anything that may be useful to me.
First things first: the meat.
I eyed the flesh, mottled and discolored with what looked like rot creeping along its torso and limbs. The smell of decay was overwhelming, thick, and almost tangible. The idea of eating it was quickly dismissed.
"Yeah, no way I'm risking that,"
I continued inspecting the creature. Its skin, while burned and rotted in several places, still had patches of tough, leathery hide. Running my fingers over one of the unburned parts, I knocked it with my knuckles again, like I had before. The skin was hard, like natural armor, but there were some sections that seemed intact enough to harvest.
"Leather…" I muttered, considering my options. "Could definitely get some from the chest, back, arms, and legs. It won't be full-size pieces, but enough for smaller things. Grips, bandages, maybe a patch job for whatever clothes I can find."
I pulled out the bone blade I had harvested earlier, testing its edge again by lightly running it over my palm as sharp as ever. This would be my tool. I pressed the blade against one of the less decayed sections of the creature's chest, and with a few firm slices, managed to cut away several strips of the leathery hide.
The pieces were irregular, but they'd serve a purpose. I worked steadily, moving to the arms and legs, harvesting whatever I could. The skin was thick, but beneath that, the flesh was softer, and I grimaced as each slice of the blade sent small waves of that rancid stench into the air.
Once I had enough, I set the strips aside and turned my attention to the creature's limbs, specifically its claws. At first glance, I'd assumed they were just oversized, jagged nails, but now that I was looking closer, I realized they were more like bones extending out of the fingers – long, sharp, and deadly. They varied in size, but even the smaller ones were pretty sharp.
"These things aren't made for fine work with their hands," I thought. "More like weapons than tools."
The claws could prove useful. The larger ones could easily be fashioned into knives, and the smaller ones into needles, awls, or even throwing weapons. Kunai, perhaps. I chuckled softly at the thought.
"I'll take them all," I decided.
I began methodically cutting each claw from the creature's bony fingers, laying them aside one by one. Some of them broke off easily, but others required a bit more effort to dislodge. I kept going, working through the tedium with the determination of someone who knew that every second mattered. The bigger claws, I decided, would make good knives once I had the means to sharpen them, and the smaller ones well, I'd figure that out later.
When the last of the claws had been harvested, I stood up, stretching my aching back. The process had taken longer than I expected, but it was worth it. I now had a small arsenal of potential tools and weapons at my disposal, and I hadn't even gotten to the bones yet.
I surveyed the creature's limbs, my eyes lingering on the thick femur and humerus bones. They were large, hollow in some places, and surprisingly sturdy. With a little work, they could serve as simple containers, or even as supports for other makeshift tools.
"Hollow bones… should be good for holding things. Maybe even storing water if I seal them right."
My mind was already working through the logistics as I set to work extracting the bones. The femur came free with a series of gruesome cracks as I cut through the tendons and muscle. I pulled it out and hefted it in my hands. It was light but strong. After repeating the process with the humerus, I laid the bones beside the rest of my harvested materials, already considering how to put them to use.
The next thought was less pleasant but necessary. I grimaced at the idea of grinding the bones down for powder, but I knew it was an option. Bone powder could be useful for a number of things: calcium supplements, fire starters, eand ven as a rudimentary abrasive if I needed to sharpen something.
"Fire," I muttered, rubbing my chin. "I could definitely use some bone powder for that."
As for the bone marrow itself, I wasn't going to risk it. There was no telling what kind of mutations or toxins this monster might carry. But fat, fat could be useful for starting fires, and it might be safe enough if I was careful. I knelt down beside the corpse again, beginning the slow, methodical process of extracting whatever I could.
I worked in silence, occasionally glancing at the mess around me. The blood and organs were of no use to me, and I had no desire to test their properties. The less I dealt with the creature's insides, the better. Still, as disgusting as the process was, I'm learning something important, something vital about these monsters.
Finally, when I was done, I stood up and surveyed the pile of harvested materials. Leather, claws, bones, and a few other bits and pieces that might prove useful down the line. It wasn't much, but it was more than I'd had before.
"This'll do," I said softly, my voice the only sound in the cavernous space. I felt a strange sense of satisfaction, despite the grotesque nature of the task I'd just completed. It was as though every step I took, every part I harvested, brought me a little closer to surviving. A little closer to answers.
I took a deep breath, the foul air burning my lungs, and let it out slowly. My mind wandered to my family—Mom, Aunt Nora, Ari. I would find them. I would get stronger. But right now I need to set inventory right and make the blades usable in a fight.
The better prepared I am, the faster I will be able to get out and reach back to my family.