The ground shook, and the screeching of mutants could be heard echoing through the rumblings as splinters began falling down from the ceiling.

"Shit. Run! If these creatures catch up with us, we're dead," Alex shouted in fright, who was already running.

No one objected, and the rest of the group immediately started running behind their group leader. But the loud screams followed them even after twenty minutes of running.

"Why are they still chasing us, and how do we get rid of them?" asked one of the group members with a frightened voice, who was slowly running out of breath.

"Normally, we should have escaped them by now," Alex replied in a calm voice, although his face showed anything but calm.

Since their life was filled with misfortune, they soon encountered a dead end. In front of them was a black river around 10 meters wide. Crossing the black river was impossible because the current was quite strong, which is why the group stopped immediately in front of them. But unlike them, the monster never stopped running towards them, and their screechings grew louder as the group remained unsure how to proceed.
By now, the first mutants slowly appeared at the edges of one's view, and their number grew bigger by the second.

Alex merely gritted his teeth since he had to choose how to proceed. Some of these creatures could jump way higher than oneself.
"You know what. We're going to try to escape across the Underidian River," Alex said.
But as he was about to take his first step into the river, someone objected.

"No…. We don't even know where the river goes. No one who jumped into the river has returned yet," Jessica replied in a panic.

By now, Alex grew annoyed. "Do we have any fucking choice? Either we jump, or we will die fighting," shouted he angrily back before jumping into the river.

The rest followed him except Jessica, who refused. By now, the mutants reached them and the group was forced to shift their focus towards the river since they were at the mercy of it.

Because of her hesitation, Jessica was jumped on by mutants and thus fell into the river. Her loud screeching was bone-chilling, and one could hear her pleas for mercy even under the loud screams of the mutants who were hesitating to jump into the current.

The water tasted metallic, and Gab yelled out loudly, "When are we planning to...[ughh]...leave the river," as he tried to remain afloat.

"Hasn't been decided yet," Alex gasped as the group was dragged on by the river.

It wasn't long before Gab felt someone clawing his leg, and in trying to scream out, Gab only swallowed more water.

'Shit, I'm going to kill you,' went through Gab's head as he reached for his ax on his leg. The mutant bit him and Gab, full of adrenaline, started hammering with the handle of his ax and the blade onto the creature.

The screaming of Gab and the mutant could be heard echoing through the underground river on the walls as Gab struck the skull and the mutant's neck and back area several times with the ax.

Yet, the mutant didn't seem to be hindered by being hurt.
Even though Gab pierced his eyes with the sharp end of his ax handle a couple of times, leaving a bleeding creature behind that tried to continue eating his leg. It kept biting as well as clawing Gab's torso.
Till now, Gab couldn't take a proper look at the mutant, but the latter's skull was already cracked, and a liquified brain was leaving its head, which was already mostly separated from the rest of its body. But that still didn't stop the creature from uncontrollably trying to continue to bite his leg with even more vigor.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIEE!?" Gab screeched out loud, severing the mutant's head from the rest of its body with a swing that tired him.

'Finally…' were the last thoughts he heard as all the strength was slowly leaving his body while his surroundings turned black. In the end, he failed against his fatigue and wouldn't know if he even will survive.
***********************************************************************************************

The group was continuously dragged on by the current until they fell down a waterfall. Fortunately, they only ended up falling 10 meters deep, which the group easily survived.
A small lake awaited them at the foot of the waterfall, and rivers led away from the lake. Alex and two others were the only ones who still had strength at that point. The three pulled Gab and Jessica out of the lake before even the over two collapsed down as well.

By now, everyone was tired, except Alex. He stood silently in front of Jessica, his former partner.
A cold body with more wounds than one could count. Jessica's face got mutilated to a point beyond recognition, and even her eyes were missing. The rest of her body was covered with bites, as well as small pieces of flesh that were missing from Jessica's missing body.

Upon seeing the body of his beloved Jessica, Alex cried out loudly while pulling out the dismembered mutant that Gab had killed earlier.

Howling, he punched it in frustration and just sobbed, "Why, Jessica. Why? You promised me that we would survive this hellhole together. Why were you so hesitant, you idiot. Why did you leave me alone in such a goddamn place?"

Alex's sobbing was interrupted by a loud screech, and a mutant emerging from the water could be seen.
Instead of showing any sort of fear, the latter turned his gaze towards the mutant, and a ghastly smile could be seen on his face full of tears.

"Even if God is not on my side, he seems to give me a chance to release my frustration properly," Alex muttered to himself.
After these words left his lip, he began moving towards the waterfall in a provocative matter. Alex went so far that he even kept his sword proudly attached to his hip.

"Come here," Alex roared as he lunged at the mutant running in his direction.

The veins on his head nearly burst as he grabs the mutant by the arm and throws him to the ground. The latter merely shrieked as Alex delivered a stomp to his face, denting his visage that had lost all semblance to a human face.
The mutant screamed and clawed the former's leg in vain as Alex continued to curb stomp the motherfucker till his grips weakened. But that wasn't enough for Alex because his mood changed by now again. Instead of stomping him to death, he merely pulled him up by its neck with his grip before hitting the mutant's head against the wall while the latter slowly howled in pain. He used its head like a hammer, banging it against the wall until it caved in. But even after that, it took an hour for the group leader to come to his senses.

"It never hurt getting rid of one's frustration," Alex muttered to himself.
His gaze moved slowly to the decimated mutant head, whose neck he was still grabbing tightly. Pieces of its skull were stuck all over the wall. One could see how each of his limbs were by now, all broken and strangely bent.

By now, Gab was woken up by all the noises and the pain he felt. His left leg was full of scratches and bite marks.

"Don't move," Alex shouted while rubbing alcohol against the wounds on his leg. Gab yelped and clutched his ax in pain.
"I hope your leg doesn't get infected, or we might have to amputate it," Alex told him bluntly while wrapping a wet bandage around it.

"Thank you," Gab groaned.

After Alex finished wrapping it, he stated hesitantly, as tears began streaming down his cheeks: "These weapons and pieces of armor are yours now. Please handle them carefully."

Gab immediately realized who they belonged to and frantically replied: "Chief, I can manage it without these weapons. You should use them since they mean a lot to you."

The latter immediately cut him short. "The last thing Jessica would have wanted is to carry her weapons to the grave. It would have made her happy if her equipment were to be used by a fellow comrade to ensure his survival," Alex replied with a shaky voice.

"Thanks, Jessica," Gab mumbled and slowly reached for her equipment.

Gab's clothes were torn, which is why her equipment was in his favor.

After equipping them, Alex just nodded and said with a tense smile: "Time for us to find a resting place for her. My baby deserves the most beautiful resting place."

Gab nodded, and the two checked the whole place. The rest of the members were still sleeping. In the end, they found a nice place, behind the waterfall. The ground was soft, and the two used their shields to dig a deep grave around one meter deep before placing Jessica's body in it.

Alex just sobbed while he bent down to kiss her hand. Actually, he wanted to kiss her forehead even better her lips, but her mangled face did not allow it.

Inside the cave behind the waterfall were glowing crystals in many colors. Alex just mumbled: "I wish I could show her those crystals."

The two broke off some crystals and decorated Jessica's grave with them. A few of these crystals were even taken with them. Maybe they could use them.