The Underbelly

[Aerial-Rave]

Now silent, ducking low with a window just above, Kim was anticipating the monster’s next move. She could hear the heavy breathing and spongy sounds of its overstuffed belly wobbling with each step. The officer knew she didn’t have many means of defeating it and the only solution was a few yards away. Checking her ammo and supplies, Kim quickly came to a decision. She rose up, seeing the creature pass the looking glass and shot a bullet through. It pierced the monster in the side of the head, stunning it and Kim ran out the door, down the corridor toward the green slime room.

The belly beast laid a palm on its inflicted skull after coming from a daze. The monster’s hearing was impaired and vision a bit blurry and red. Part of its eye was now filled with blood, accompanied by a small hole in its skull. Sniffing around it sensed the panicked Kim and roared in anger. By then the female cop was some distance down the corridor. Even so, the steps of the two mawed monster was enough to tremor the tiled floors. Each wide step left a cracked tile in its wake. Soon, it started picking up speed, the wrecking ball belly swaying while the curved, keg thick legs heaved every pound.

“Damn it, this thing!” Kim cursed, slightly turning. In an effort to slow it down, the dark skinned woman fired a few well aimed shots at the creature’s legs. She tried to generally shoot in the same area in hopes of accumulating more damage, fast.

Most of her shots hit their mark but the belly beast was not one to give up. Angry, it punched the ground, letting out a seismic shock wave that knocked Kim back. A bit peeved as she got up and dusted herself off, the chubby woman approached the monster with a few more courtesy shots to the chest and face before becoming within inches of it.

“You damn PIG!” Kim yelled, delivering a swift kick to the monster’s chest. It wobbled and howled, even rearing back but in a surprise counter measure, swung its arms forward, grabbing Kim and hoisting her above its second belly. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Kim gasped, kicking her legs as she was set above the opening jaw. “Oh no you don’t!” She denied, firing more pistol shots to the belly mouth and then to its main face.

As expected, the beast roared in pain and tossed the officer into a nearby wall, collapsing forward while Kim slid down the cracked panel.

“S-Serves...you right…” The short haired woman coughed, now holding her injured shoulder. Feeling around her hip, Kim hesitantly looked at the pink ooze which was now half full. She remembered how addicting it was, since even at this moment she was considering ingesting the whole thing. But instead, she measured a cap’s worth and gulped it down. Kim then winced, feeling the contents meld her bones back into place and store tissue...as well as add more to her thighs and stomach.

The cop let out a small burp while placing a hand on her now fuller stomach. ‘I can’t keep getting injured like this...pretty soon I’ll be too big to move...’ Kim noted, now concerned with conserving this miracle slime.

---

By now, the officer had left the injured belly beast to its own devices as she entered the green slime room again. She smiled at the face there was another capsule she could fill as well as more syringes.

Almost on cue, the roar of the belly beast echoed through the halls and Kim grabbed her supplies in preparation for the battle. She raced out the hall just in time to receive a clawed smack that sent her spiraling down the hallway. The officer landed with a hard thud as her ears were then stung with the angered scream of the monster. She covered her ears and curled up, rolling into another corridor to escape the sonic scream.

Heavy footsteps indicated the monster approaching while Kim prepared for the confrontation. She switched to the assault shotgun, loading and cocked it. But once again, the belly beast came in with a clawing swipe but she was ready. Though she hadn’t healed from the first hit, Kim was well enough to avoid it. She let loose a scatter shot from the larger firearm, straight in the face of the belly beast. The force made them both recoil though officer Ghutt then charged forward, hitting the monster with the back of the gun across the face. She saw the belly beast waned and equipped one of her filled needles.

When she went for the stab however, she was again knocked away by the pillow arm of the two mawed monster. Kim mistakenly dropped both her shotgun and syringe. Groggy as she tried to peel herself off the ground, the dark skinned cop was just able to recover just before getting squashed by the now towering belly beast that leaped to body press her. Kim acted quickly and dodged rolled but the impact launched her face first into a wall.

The woman crashed to the ground, writhing in agony. “Damn it!” She cursed. Gritting her teeth, she quickly collected her lost shotgun and unloaded on the grounded beast. Blood and flesh spouted with the bullets tearing through the expanse. Kim’s crazed look and shouting obscenities were a clear sign she had enough of this thing. Once she emptied her shells, it appeared the belly beast was nonresponsive and the officer’s adrenaline rush was now subsiding.

Now almost completed exhausted, Kim took a swig of the pink slime, gasped and wiped a small smidget from her bottom lip. The woman then prepared a syringe filled with the green ooze and injected the large belly beast, thus ending the struggle. The officer sat back and watched the grotesque creature melt away into a pile of green slime. She took a moment to gather herself before finishing the cylinder flask of pink slime, putting herself back to normal and continuing on.
---

Kim stayed in the medical facility, searching all the rooms for more information. With her and the belly beast’s efforts, the two managed to clear the space, allowing the current lone survivor to roam free.

Eventually, Kim found more papers near the exit of the facility. She scanned the text for a moment, shocked to find out there was apparently more to this place…

‘March 15th, 1939...We embarked on the journey through the open rift. It is our last chance at turning this war around. Everyone, except me, has put their entire faith in Griema’s plan. With protective wear on, we are still cautious of this...person’s claims. Apparently, they had found a way to rip a hole in space and time to actually infiltrate one of the Old Gods’ realm. As a man of science, I have to investigate this myself. If I do not return...then you know who to blame…’

Kim started to piece things together. It would appear their plan to invade other realms worked...perhaps these things were from that rift but at the same time, some seemed...human. Instinctively, the female officer checked her phone and was shocked, yet glad to see a signal. Activating the camera app, she started to record the carnage at the exit of the facility as well as her own vocal message. “This is officer Kim Ghutt. I am stuck underground in the city of...shit!” Kim canceled the message, inherently forgetting what city she was currently in. ‘Great, now how are they supposed to find me...’ The cop lamented but sent the message anyway, unfiltered.

Kim continued on until her equilibrium was suddenly thrown off. A sharp, acute beeping sound caused her a sudden headache as she stumbled, latching onto to the nearest wall for something to touch. “Guh! My head...what’s...going...on?’

‘Hello? Am I in?’

“In? In what? Who’s...talking to me…?”

‘Hm, it appears you are not familiar with this place...’ The voice in Kim’s head concluded. ‘But from your thoughts, you want to escape, yes? Maybe we can help each other out...’

“Now...wait a second...how do I know you’re not a result of me going crazy? There are...monsters down here and I’m pretty much stuck down here…” Kim grunted, the apparent mental link disturbing her well being.

‘Give it a moment while we sync up. Your primitive human brain can’t possibly handle psychic energies off the bat.’

Officer Ghutt’s condition then started to clear up as she exhaled and stood up after feeling better. “Well, that was more intense than any hangover…”

‘Cute, but now is not the time for reminiscing, you want to leave this place, yes?’

“Of course I do, but listening to a voice in my head isn’t exactly noble...or sane.”

‘Believe me, your sanity is much intact, though there is a slight fear in your vitals from what I’m detecting...’

“I’ll be frank; being stuck down here because some unknown jacked the only means of escaping is pretty fearful, especially when there’s no food save for this pink stuff…”

‘Someone escaped? I see...well, I can assure you a way out as well...however...’

“Look, you’re not sounding convincing…”

‘Then allow me to be blunt this time; What other choice do you have?’

The chubby officer pouted her lip and folded her arms. “Fine.”

‘That’s what I thought. Now, you will have to rescue me from the depths of this facility in order to help both of us escape. I know who trapped you down here and that means we don’t have much time. Continue on until you see a tunnel and I will instruct you from there.’ The voice then faded, leaving Kim with a slight lead. Though, the cop trusted her intuition and nothing about this voice in her head seemed right...

At long last, Kim made it to the exit of the facility. She managed to pick up a few more bullets for her firearms as it would be assumed she had passed a security outpost on her way out. Now, she was at a cavern docking station, specifically one that would house a train since a set of railroads were below her. ‘A transport station...’ She concluded, and kicked a rock on the rails. ‘The power’s out, good…’

Officer Ghutt jumped down and used her belted flashlight to light the path ahead. With her pistol equipped, she traveled ahead. The railroad path led to moist caverns with water levels slowly rising. The officer grew cautious as the sounds of monsters started to fill the cave as well as overhead lights now illuminating her path.

All the while, a creature stalked her from the shadows, ready to pounce its new prey at the right time.