The Industrialist

Chapter 89: Sidetrack: Cannibals

Damian.

Two miles away from Gerald’s View. Axe Central Outskirt Borders.

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Damian did not know if he would praise Jefferson for being brave enough to drive even with his condition. His fall was high, three meters, and could have at least attained major contusions or minor fractures on his rib, pelvis, or limbs.

Jefferson was physically hardened by the fact that he was a soldier. The training they had was excruciating. As Damian remembered, he had to sprint and run for hours, as a simulation to escape pursuing Abominants.

The road was easy, with occasional soft turns and an unobstructed highway. The strong winds persisted still. It was a gamble, to Damian, that their decision was right. Probably in their bunch, he had the most immersion battle with the Abominants, and he knew and studied about their behavior. Such as the Blind Ungoliant would hunt again back at the house.

’Hell, it’s still hunting us. Above the dark clouds, camouflaging,’ Damian had occasional squints to the skies.

Being on the run, relying on the speed of their jeeps presented more probability of survival than staying in one location. One thing he also remembered was that his unconscious comrades, with the venom inside of them, had strong scents connected to the creature. Hence, wherever they would go, it can follow.

Level 3 Abominants had special abilities compared to the lower levels. Not only these Abominants were categorized into levels by their sizes, but these creatures were also based on their special abilities. The Level 3 Abominants had high instincts of survival, such as the Obsidian’s Scorpion shell, which automatically curled itself to cover from destructive attacks, protecting its soft flesh.

And its hunting skills also include heightened smell, and quick reflexes, moreover, the intelligence to outmaneuver its prey, like what it did with Fatso’s jeep.

He recently knew about the Blind Ungolian’s characteristics – even though it was smaller than the Obsidian Scorpion, one special ability was the capability to fly. Secondly, the ability to inject paralysis into victims by the use of its venom. Thirdly, the Blind Ungolian had heightened hearing and lastly, its hiding ability by the use of sound deceptions.

’Impressive skills,’ Damian thought. It explained that the Blind Ungolian, even though its size equivalent to the level 2 Abominants, was categorized as level 3 because of its varied skills.

In the Jeep, he had two comrades and the unconscious George at the back of the passenger seat. Damian had instructed Joe to accompany Jefferson because of Jefferson’s possible injuries.

Damian unceasingly worried about the condition of their jeeps. The Caretaker said that these units were still for preventive maintenance. What if the radiator would blow up? Or the unrefined oil could damage the engine? There were a lot of possibilities. The rebel members chose to leave these vehicles behind for an obvious reason.

Luckily, the risk of breakdown had not stopped them since their escape.

A few more miles and they would arrive to the prison.

"Kris, scout above us. The Blind Ungolian could be hovering, waiting for us to decelerate." Damian said to his comrade in the right passenger seat.

"Is it still alive? I thought the poison bombs could kill them instantly."

"No. Poison bombs can kill instantly if the blue mist enters their system. The Ungolian managed to escape knowing about the harmful traits of the mist." Damian responded.

Frantically, Kris aimed his rifle above them, toward the dark skies.

"C’mon, men. It’s no time for kidding. I am on the edge here," Kris said with a shaking voice.

"What is that?" Kris asked again, his vision had fixed to one position where the birds flocked in the air.

"I told you these are birds," Damian said while he focused on the road ahead as the road was dark and blurried.

"No. That one!" Kris said as the birds were noisier, and the nozzle of his rifle pointed to much thicker swarming birds.

Damian squinted and a large shadow of another Abominant was being devoured by the swarm. A familiar shriek loomed.

"Cannibalism?" Damian asked. Then of what had transpired, it gave him chills once again, like how they faced the Ungolian creature back at Gerald’s view. "Shit Feck!"

"What’s wrong Damian? We should be happy!"

"Happy? That the birds devoured the Ungolian Spider?"

"Yes, we will not be worried about the level 3 Abominant much longer."

"No. What I am worried about is the idea of cannibalism among Abominants. They don’t do that unless a desperate need for food. I witnessed a lot of this happenings when we battled against the creatures in the Oroz borders. And if the birds were experiencing extreme hunger, then all Abominants would be behaving the same. And secondly, I feared about the Prison.

The flock is heading there." Damian explained.

"So? You told me that these birds won’t attack the ground." Kris lowered his weapon as the chunk of large flesh had disappeared mid-air.

"No, they won’t. But the groundlings do. If birds appeared above, the groundlings would follow them because the groundlings are hungry too. And what’s worse, the level 2 Abominants. They will follow us to prison."

"Level 2? What are those?" Kris asked.

"You haven’t attended the Abominant Orientations? What kind of neophyte are you? Or you aren’t just listening to the lectures." Damian said, he swerved the jeep to a deep curve and Jefferson followed from behind.

Damian increased the acceleration fearing for the groundlings to appear,

Damian sighed in utter frustration.

"Ok, here’s a quick lesson for you about the level 2 Abominants. They are not like the groundlings, they are much bigger. Usually, there are a few level twos that we encountered during our hunting days. They could be in the form of a lion, a tiger, a wolf, or even boa constrictors. Usually, the level twos are much bigger than their dog counterparts.

They are much stronger than the groundlings, sometimes much faster, and much meaner. They don’t have special survival instincts like the level threes and have no special abilities, but what they have is a heightened hunger for meat. For human meat."

Damian continued disclosing details about the level two Abominants and even reminisced stories when he was deployed.

After a few hours, Damian turned the steering wheel to a sharp left and went inside a metallic interlink gate.

"We are here," Damian said. However, his fear never left him. The birds were still hovering above them.