Part 2: Blood and Sauce

“Uhh… is this the right-”

“Yeah. Yeah, dude, it is.” Marcus looked at the half-crumpled receipt in his hand. “Dimension 44M-470λ.” The two coworkers stared at each other in silent confusion.

“Where are- where are all the luscious forests? Are they gone? Did they-”

“I don’t know. Gosh, I hope not.” It wasn’t like either of them were coming back here, or staying longer than 15 minutes, but still. The thought of it made their stomachs churn. Oliver spoke up.

“Maybe it’s just this area. This is a whole universe, after all.”

“Well, the professor did say 99% of the land was covered in dense forests. We’re probably just in the other 1%.”

“Yeah.” The two drove around the barren, industrial ruins in silence. Eventually, Marcus spoke up.

“You know, I’ve never actually seen a forest in person… I kinda had my hopes up.” Oliver couldn’t believe it. A panda who’d never seen the forest?

“There’s always time later.” Oliver had an incredulous look on his face. “You’ve never been? Even with access to all of these places at your fingertips?”

“No, man, I just… I dunno, I never got around to it. Plus, ‘infinite city’. Not really a whole lot of woods.” Oliver backed down, as Marcus’ tone got slightly defensive.

The road got bumpier as they kept driving. Empty, concrete buildings, and the shoddy beams of places that were never finished, and likely never would be passed by them. Large, imposing factories loomed in the distance. Eventually, Marcus’ phone dinged. “Looks like we’re close to the place.” He pulled the car over on the loose road as him and Oliver got out. Marcus took the pizza from Oliver, as the two headed towards a blocky, concrete maze of abandoned buildings. The liminal space was quite jarring. They were alone, surrounded by a sea of quiet, broken only by their footsteps crunching on the ground and the soft rustle of their clothes. And yet, Oliver couldn’t help but keep glancing over his shoulder. It felt like something was watching them, waiting for them.

“Marcus, was it? Who’s staying out here of all places? And… why are they ordering a pizza of all things?” Oliver asked. Marcus shook his head.

“You’d be surprised, dude. People take their pizza seriously.” They approached a cracked, stone doorway, leading to a twisted, musty passage, which dipped below the ground. Marcus rapped on the decrepit entrance with his large, black paw. A chunk of stone fell onto the ground and cracked into pieces.

“Hello?… Uh, sorry about your doorway… we’ve got your pizza…” His voice echoed down into the earth, to no response. He waited for a moment before calling out again. Marcus began to step forward into the passage. Oliver tried to stop him.

“Woah, what are you doing, mate? That’s someone’s property… I think, we can’t go in there.” Marcus turned to Oliver.

“BS, we’re getting that tip. Come on. We’ll be in and out. We’ve only got three minutes left before it’s free.” Oliver didn’t like the looks of this, but he swallowed his hesitation. “Besides,” Marcus continued, lowering his voice. “I’ve got a weird feeling about this place. Better reason to make this quick.”

The two traversed into the empty network, illuminated by cracks in the ceiling acting as faint skylights. They ventured inward, with Marcus calling out. The air got thicker the further they went, as the cobwebs intensified. Oliver felt like he was walking through molasses. Suddenly, the duo couldn’t move, as they were tangled up in the thick webbing.

“I can’t move!” Marcus shouted. Oliver began to panic, before collecting himself. “Don’t worry, I still got the pizza!” As if that had mattered right now. Oliver struggled to get free, before noticing the half-crunched bamboo spear sticking out of Marcus’ back pocket. He used his strength to inch closer and closer to the bear’s behind, as his fingers grazed the chute. Marcus half-turned around with surprise.

“Hey, what’re you-”

“Hold still.” Oliver reached as far as his little arms could, and finally managed to grab the sharp stick of bamboo. Working quickly, he sliced and scraped through the webbing, freeing himself and then Marcus, before throwing the makeshift, web-covered tool aside. Marcus looked down at the bamboo.

“Nice work, but at the same time… I was gonna eat that.” Oliver looked up at him with disbelief. “Come on.”

The two walked at a brisk pace down the corridor. Thirty seconds left. They came across a blank, concrete room that looked more like a bunker. Oliver tripped, as a loud clanging of metal echoed throughout. Good thing he wasn’t carrying the pizza. He looked down at the pile on the ground. It looked like… rusty ladles? And saucepans? Cheese graters? Empty cans? What was going on here? Marcus spotted a figure standing in the dim light.

“Hey dude, nice place. I got your pizza here, that’ll be OH!!!” Marcus and Oliver yelped and jumped back at the humanoid, spider-like creature. It was completely lifeless, and had been for a while. Rigor mortis had set in, as their cloudy eyes gazed forward, a crude, spear like instrument plunged into their thorax and out of their back. The body was propped up by webs, which made it appear standing. Oliver felt sick. Was he really seeing a dead person?! Marcus’ eyes flashed with recognition, as he dropped the pizza and tried to run. Suddenly, creatures skittered in the shadows, as three more of them ambushed them from the dark. Oliver felt a set of four, carapaced arms grab onto him with immense strength, as he felt the tip of a bone knife pressed up against his neck. He screamed for help, as the creature spit warm venom onto the blade. Oliver stood, paralyzed in fear, and before Marcus could react, another rushed at him. The bear managed to stop it and was wrestling it back as it tried to cut him with its own knife. Whatever this species was, it was strong enough to hold its own against Marcus.

“Oliver!” His yells echoed down the cabin. Oliver’s heart pounded with panic, as the adrenaline began to kick in. Through a series of hisses and clicks, the arachnoids spoke to one another, as the one continued grappling with Marcus. His claws dug into the creature’s exoskeleton. Another one approached him from behind, with some sort of crude, hacking instrument.

“Marcus!” Oliver wriggled, as the spider held the knife up to his neck with a sharp hiss. “Let me go!” He felt the hard, metal blaster sticking out of his pocket. He fumbled for it, slipping briefly out of the creature’s grip, as he grabbed onto it.

KRAK!!!

A bolt of light erupted from the barrel, burning a large, smouldering hole in his pocket and hitting the ground. The creature on him jumped back in surprise, as he stumbled forward, firing into the dim light.

KRAK!!! KRAK!!! KRAK!!! KRAK!!! KRAK!!!

The one behind Marcus doubled over with a thud and let out a hellish squawk, with a smoldering wound in its abdomen. He turned around as the bug creature that had held him backed away, pointing the hot barrel at its head.

“Get back!!!” Marcus ducked down, as the two standing creatures skittered away. The two breathed heavily, the gun shaking in Oliver’s paws, as Marcus slowly got up, checking himself to make sure he wasn’t hit.

“Okay… okay… okay…”

Oliver ran over to check on his coworker, before his eyes fixated on the motionless creature in front of him. The blood drained from his little body. He couldn’t believe what was happening. They just almost died… he killed it… he’d just killed someone. He froze where he was, as his eyes slowly wandered down to its face. He quickly jolted his head away, his heart pounding.

Suddenly, the spider jolted up with a screeching hiss, as Oliver screamed and jumped back, as it bolted out of there as fast as it could. Marcus grabbed Oliver. “Run! Before they come back!” The two bolted out of there as fast as they possibly could, tripping over rocks and ladles and their own feet, stumbling into the blinding sunlight. They ran to the car as Marcus dropped the keys, before stumbling forward them and unlocking the door. The two got in as Marcus slammed the door and peeled away, not even putting on his seatbelt, as the tires squealed, echoing in the landscape. Marcus’ fat fingers clicked the locks on the doors as they sped off on the broken roads.

The pewter sedan, covered in dust and chipped from pebbles kicked up by the wheels traversing on the loose ground, pulled into a ravine. Marcus and Oliver had been driving in silence, until they were sure they were safe. The two had taken a moment to catch their breath. Marcus threw the car in park and looked behind his shoulder.

Oliver stared straight ahead, not saying a word. Marcus took his baseball cap off and buried his black-and-white face in it, out of relief and exasperation. “It always sucks when that happens. All that and we didn’t even get paid, let alone tipped.” Marcus chuckled. “Dude, that was pretty badass what you did. Pretty impressive, considering-” He stopped mid-sentence, as he looked at the koala, sat up rigid in his chair, not breathing. “You good, bud?”

Oliver’s body shut down as his mind raced. In the span of two and a half hours, he’d been handed a gun by a psychic meatball, he’d traveled through dimensions on a whim, he’d broken and entered, he shot someone, SHOT SOMEONE, with a gun, nearly shot his coworker, he’d had to run for his life… Panic gripped his little heart as he sat there in the car. He felt Marcus staring at him. He felt more of those things watching him. He could feel them crawling all over him! It was only a matter of time before they caught up to them, and even if they didn’t die that way, there was a chance they’d never return. They’d get lost. They’d get murdered by spider people. They’d run out of gas. They’d have to fight for their lives against something else, maybe something even bigger. Something horrible would happen and leave them trapped between dimensions. All the while this fat bloke could only think about getting a tip, and what he was going to eat! Screw him! Screw this job! He could feel their eyes on the back of his neck, the bristles of their hairs against his fur. He looked at its face!!! OH GOD WHY DID HE LOOK AT ITS FACE?!?! 

His mind screamed, hurtling at millions of miles a minute, as he sat there, the skin under his fur turning beet red as he held his breath. Marcus reached out to gently put a hand on his shoulder, and Oliver quickly batted it away, out of instinct. Marcus looked at him with concern.

“Dude, breathe. It’s okay, they’re gone now. Just take a deep breath.” Oliver’s body began to shake. Marcus lowered his voice to a gentle tone.

“Oliver… you need to breathe.” Oliver opened his mouth, so as to struggle to breathe, before he began hyperventilating. His head and eyes darted in all possible directions as he pulled desperately on the car handle, trying to get out.

“Easy, easy, easy. Just breathe. With me. In…” He inhaled. Oliver’s staggered breath slowly inhaled, as though rocks were sitting on his chest. His vision narrowed, blood pounding through his veins. Did the venom get in his body somehow? Was he dying?

“Out…” His shaky breathing began to steady. “Focus on my voice. In… out…” Oliver began to calm down after about a minute or two. “Here.” Marcus opened a tin of little, yellow gummies shaped like lemons, and gave one to him.

“What’s-”

“Trust me, dude.” Oliver bit down on the sour gummy, as his face scrunched up. His nerves calmed down a little as he chewed it. “They’re all natural. I don’t quite know how it works, but the sensation of sour forces your brain into a hard reset. It’s like slapping you in the face.” Oliver took a deep breath.

“We’ve gotta get out of here! We’ve got to get out of here!”

“They’re way back there, man. Don’t worry. We’re in a good spot now.” He smiled. “We’ll just chill here for… however long we need. Alright?”

The words spewed out of Oliver’s mouth. “We nearly got killed back there! I shot someone!” He gave Marcus a horrified look. “I-I could’ve-”

“But you didn’t.”

“It was dark, I seriously could’ve-”

Marcus cut him off again. “But you didn’t.” The words began to sink in to Oliver. “In fact, I don’t know if you realize dude, but you pretty much saved my life.”

“Heh, I guess you’re right…” A small smile appeared on Oliver’s face. In the large pools of black around Marcus’ eyes shone a glimmer of realization and excitement, as he too hadn’t fully realized.

“Seriously, dude! I didn’t see or hear that other guy, and if you never showed up today, I would’ve went alone. You actually saved my life back there! I can’t thank you enough.”

“Yeah.” Oliver was still in a bit of a shaken state. He still didn’t fully comprehend it… let alone any of this. Maybe he wasn’t slowly dying from venom, but he just wanted to go home, or wake up in his bed from this whole bizarre nightmare. Marcus excitement softened.

“Let’s just hang here for a few minutes, then head back, alright?”

“Sure, mate.”

The two stayed in the car for several minutes, as Oliver decompressed, while Marcus scanned for trouble. Eventually, he pulled out, and the two began making their way back.

Once the adrenaline left his body, and a sense of calm finally began to wash over him, Oliver felt tired, and a little loopy. He began nodding off as the car reached the return coordinates.

“Mate… what was in that gummy?” Marcus chuckled.

“What can I say? The sour really does its magic.”

Oliver’s eyes drifted out the window at the barren, grey landscape. Suddenly, once they were pretty much back to the return spot, something caught his eye.

“Look! Over there!” He pointed off into the distance. Marcus stopped the car.

“Woah.” The two got out of the car to get a better look. Out on the distant horizon, red sun beams broke through the thick, dark clouds of smog, illuminating a golden-green layer of far-away woodlands. Its beauty stuck out from its surroundings, like a golden canary in a flock of pigeons.

“It’s… beautiful.” Oliver wanted so badly to explore it. So many sounds to hear, so many trees to climb onto, so much territory to mark… but he knew deep down they still had a job to do, and that the professor was waiting for them, likely with more deliveries. Besides, he was getting really groggy. A wordless glance at Marcus confirmed that he was thinking the exact same thing.

“Tell you what, man,” Marcus thought aloud. “One of these days, when we’re off the clock, we’ve totally gotta come back here and check out those woods. How about it?”

Oliver paused for a moment, pondering while taking in its beauty. He wasn’t exactly eager to return to this dimension anytime soon, and he couldn’t even think about that right now, but this… this was nice.

“Sure.”