Chapter 10
There was no light. Engulfed in absolute, perfect darkness, there was not even the slightest hint of light to see by. And yet, it moved without hesitation, making its way through the deepest levels of the underground, able to detect its surroundings with new senses.
Down this far, there was nothing but remains and decay, the leftovers from the world above. The bottom of the pit was a mountain of slime and filth fifty feet deep, enough to soften its landing after its long fall. It climbed from the disgusting pile of rotting garbage and sewage and made its way down a long, dark, cavern deep below the city. It was a natural cavern, not something they built.
It was a place that no human had ever visited. But the creature was no longer human.
The darkness extended for miles, a vast network of caverns and caves beneath the surface, much deeper than the lowest levels of the sewer system. Animals lurked here that never saw the light of day, and they scurried away as the creature approached, its feet splashing through stagnant water and a layer of decay decades old. It stormed through completely undisturbed areas, stomping ancient remains, its wide shoulders scraping plant growths from the narrow rock walls. In the darkness, it could only hear its own heartbeat and the pounding desire running through its brain.
The true prey had been very close. The other human was nothing but an obstacle to be killed and discarded. Now, the true prey was much farther away, but it would be found soon enough.
It crawled through narrower passages, the sharp rock edges and stalactites scraping and cutting into its skin. But it did not stop, did not slow. It moved into another wide-open cavern that dripped with fresh water, and looked upward to see that the cavern stretched upward in a vertical chasm that reached far above. The creature launched into the air and climbed the jagged walls, ascending into the crack and sliding its body upward. Its massive, warped hands grabbed the rocks and pulled upward, and its bare feet scratched for purchase. Fresh water splashed down the chasm, cleaning the filth and sewage from its body, but it did not notice or care.
It would find the prey again and deliver the embryo growing in its body. The prey would then grow into a new creature, something the world had never seen. A powerful evolutionary urge drove the creature up, a single-minded obsession to implant the embryo and pass on its new DNA into the host that shared its old DNA. The young human, the female.
There was no goal other than that, no intentions beyond the implanting of its mutated genetic material. It was like a salmon, seeking only to pass on its genes before it died.
It reached the top of the chasm, a hundred feet above the bottom of the cavern, and clawed at an opening in the rock that poured water. It forced its way into the opening and pulled itself through the rushing water until it reached another cave that went straight upward. Again, it climbed up, slowly making its way closer to its prey.
The other humans were of no concern. They would die. The prey would survive and would become something new. And then they would reproduce, and become a brand new species.
And then, all the humans would die.