528: They’re Coming!

528: They’re Coming!

“Waaah get away from me, get awaayyy!!” a purple cape soldier kicked and screamed as he tried to break free from half a dozen other purple capes. Of course, in spite of his adrenaline-fueled desperate fight, he had no chance of fighting off six men that were fueled by something even more powerful.

“Beregooooold!!!” a young woman screamed in tears, reaching out to the unfortunate soldier, but she was held back by another fellow guard.

“Forget about him, Martha! He’s gone!!” he screamed, trying to break through to his emotionally distressed friend.

The other three purple capes also did nothing to help. It took all they had just to hold down a single one of the crazed guards who babbled, grunted, and moaned while slurping up the milk that already reached even this remote guard post. Although that wasn’t the true reason they hesitated to help. They knew it in their hearts—if they tried to, if they leapt into the fray, in the ensuing chaos they would too end up becoming like them. So, they resigned to simply watching their comrade get dragged away into the shadows with the pretense that they held their guard post in this unimportant hallway intersection.

Suddenly another guard ran into the intersection from the other hallway and shouted, “There’s more coming this way!!”

“We can’t hold this position any longer!” Klaus cried while trying to sweep the incoming milk away from their defensive position.

“We have to fall back!” Gerald shouted, breaking a sweat while holding down his crazed comrade.

“Oh, where’s Captain Flavna when you need her?” Vlad complained.

“They’re coming!!” Luca cried out.

And they indeed came. Dozens of them. Crazy-eyed, barely able to speak coherent, simple words, milk dripping from their chins. Once, loyal comrades. Now, simple-minded milk addicts. Some in uniform, some already in the uniform mother nature blessed them with. And they did not come alone.

“W-what’s that sound?”

“M-m-m-m-m-milk maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!”

“UAAAH, RUN FOR YOU LIVES!!”

The remaining Purple Capes dropped their weapons and abandoned their post, running in the opposite direction from the encroaching milk, the milkafied Purple Capes, and that. The sane survivors ran fast, but the milk and its worshippers were catching up to the fresh meat.

“There it is!” Gerald pointed ahead of them at the half open wooden double doors shrouded in darkness. “The library! Noone ever goes in there! We should be safe!”

“Waah! They’re catching up!!” Martha cried.

“Hurry!!” Klaus screamed.

As soon as the first two Purple Capes ran inside, they started closing the doors.

“AH!? Wait for us you bastards!!” Vlad shouted.

“Just run faster!” Gerald shouted back and continued to push the old heavy doors shut as fast as the rusty hinges would allow.

Two more guards made it in just barely and the doors shut behind them, right in the faces of the two stragglers.

“LET US IN YOU SELFISH SCUM!!” Vlad desperately banged on the door.

“Martha! Martha please!” Luca bawled as he beat on the door with his fists. “It’s me!! It’s me! How can you do this!?”

“FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT’S DESCENT OPEN THE DOOO-UAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

The banging of fists against the wood was instantly replaced with loud thuds of body upon body piled on in some unholy mosh pit. The doors creaked and the wood in the door latch bent from the pressure.

“Hold it for your lives!!” Gerald shouted as he and the others braced the door with all their might while increasingly unsavory sounds came from the other side.

Then, the pressure lessened, and it got eerily quiet.

“A-are they gone?” Klaus asked with a trembling voice.

“I, I think so,” Martha whispered.

“Why do we even have a library in this place?” Klaus looked around as far as the light from a single torch would allow. Tall bookshelves filled with parchment and books disappeared into the darkness.

“Somebody once thought it could be used to pass the time or to re-educate the criminals,” Martha explained. “But there are increasingly few who can read even at a basic level.”

“Shh!!” Gerald shushed Martha.

Martha sulked and looked down. “GHYAAAAAAAAAAAH!!” she shrieked as if she’d seen a ghost, jumped up and ran from the door.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I told you to—” then Gerald saw it too. Milk, flowing into the library from under the door. More and more, faster, faster.

“G-G-G-Gerald,” Klaus looked at his fellow comrade with despair in his eyes, tears and snot all over his face. “I, I don’t want to… To become… Like-like them…”

“Just hold the door,” Gerald said with conviction, despite the dread in his heart. “There’s no way this entire room can be filled up.”

“Uwiiiigh!?” Klaus practically squealed when he felt a warm drop on his neck. The milk seeped through the cracks between the boards and an ominous heavy breathing on the other side of the door became increasingly louder.