The metal clang from the pipe that Adriana dropped echoed through the entire place, as the wind revealed the incredible amount of people aimlessly wandering around the place. They all turned their attention to the source of the noise, snarling sounds began filling the area as their growls intensified on their approach to them.
One of these figures breaks out on a wild sprint, stepping out of the thick smoke he reveals himself to be completely naked. His appearance only remotely resembled a human: the fungus they found on Thomas completely covered their bodies, changing their bodies drastically. Their skin being completely white, as gaping little holes covered their body where the fungus seemed to fall off, pointed stems and peaks broke out throughout them, elongating their limbs to the point of almost being equally close to the ground forcing them into a slouch. Part of their bones were displaced and sticking out of their flesh also making them have large misshapen claws. Their eyes being completely blank, the terrifying sight only complimented by the fact of their skulls being cracked, all of the smashed bones making a shape of a protuberant crown emerging from their head, combined with their long drawn out jaws with their teeth being having grown way out of proportions and being filed to a razor sharp edge.
“W-what are those things?” Lindbergh mumbled in an almost inaudible tone.
“Those are the things we saw before! We gotta run to the boat!” Titus desperately yelled.
Managing to break through the shock from the sight of those horrifying abominations, they manage to begin running towards the landing when Cornelia turns back she sees that Adriana is still frozen in place.
“Coño, Adri c’mon! Snap out of it!” said Cornelia as she pulled on Adriana’s arm making her run.
Finally coming to her senses Adriana still seems confused at the situation, to her dismay one of the abominations caught up to her, ready to rip her to shreds. Trembling fear overtakes her senses as she thinks her death is inevitable, until sees a shadow get in the way of the attacker: Lindbergh stopped it by parrying it with the rusty metal pipe.
The sense of victory was short lived as another three of the aberrations broke off from the main group, beginning their charge toward everyone, meanwhile the rest of the creatures attentively watched from the distance, slowly following the events as they went further into the docks.
In a swift movement, Lindbergh tackled the creature, bringing it to the ground. Being left to its mercy, the creature manages to turn things around getting on top of Lindbergh as it tries gnawing at him with its vicious jaw, the only thing standing between them being the pipe that he managed to use to keep some distance from certain death.
Lindbergh desperately yelled to Adriana as he wrestled with the violent being:
“Get to the boat! Turn it on, Adri! Hurry!”
Adriana still lost in her thoughts, kept running holding Cornelia’s hand, when all of a sudden something fell out of the high ground, splattering itself all over the wooden jetty.
Turning to see what it was, they see that a smaller yet similar creature had aggressively taken out Lindbergh’s attacker. Managing to catch up with the rest of the group. being seated in the old speedboat, they all desperately look to Adriana as she fumbles around looking for keys.
“C’mon, Adri! What’re you waiting for?” Cornelia anxiously said.
Out of nowhere a bloodied body dropped on the front of the boat, on top of it was a familiar yet unsettling sight: Thomas held the ripped throat of one of the other creatures. His skin was now completely white, covered in fungus like the others, his limbs being longer, and his vicious jaw beginning to dislocate the original position of his mouth. His bloodshot eyes still had a bit of his pupils left, though they were completely contracted due to his blinded rage. The abominations began jumping on the docks, displacing the other boats, some jumping into the water to never rise back up, the aberrations began fighting this new menace as everyone witnessed their savagery ripping each other to shreds as they yelped in their drowned screams of pain and anger.
Fed up with the situation, Titus yells out in frustration:
“ADRIANA! THE ARE NO KEYS FOR THE BOAT! IT STARTS UP WITH A BUTTON!”
“Oh, true.” Adriana replied as she immediately turned on the engine, skillfully backing out of the jetty in a rush, dropping any clinging attackers into the water never to be seen again.
Finally being free of threats, everyone lets out a sigh of relief, except Cornelia as she complained to Adriana:
“Coño de la madre, Adri! You almost killed us all back there! What’s going on with you?”
“Relax, Cornie… Everything is gonna be alright when you’re in the hands of The Lord.” she replied as she looked at her with a tender smile.
“Okay, real talk for a moment. What went on with you back there? You seemed pretty out of it” Lindbergh stated with a worried expression.
“Adriana has an issue when she’s surrounded by an excessive amount of flames like we were back there.” Titus calmly explained.
“The Lord managed to guide us out of that horrific situation. I’m happy that He made it so that we’re all still together. That is enough for me.”
“Well, she’s got a point though. We should be relieved that we’re still in one piece.” Titus pointed out.
“I guess you’re right, though… What’s that all over your arms, Lin?” Cornelia asked as she stared at the white dots that covered Lindbergh’s hands and forearms.
“Tsk… I don’t know what this is… I don’t want to end up like the squirt back there. Poor kid…”
“Come to think of it, what were those things? Whatever they were, they’re clearly not human anymore.” Cornelia said.
“Precisely what I thought. I never got to see them so up close before… So that’s the result of the Salina experiment.” Titus mumbled lost in thought.
“The Salina experiment? What’s that? How were you able to learn so much?” Cornelia wondered.
“Remember the conversation that I had a while ago with Lindbergh about OptoGenica? Well I was the only one of my litter that was chosen to be implanted with the advanced experimental neural chip that allowed me to speak, they didn’t count on it giving me the ability to learn and memorize anything I could perceive as well. They thought the experiment had failed when I refused following orders by playing dumb.” Titus explained. “Before we were decommissioned and sealed away, a lot of scientists openly discussed the other projects they were working on in the other areas of the facility. The Salina was a genetically engineered fungus they created for an unknown purpose. It takes over hosts and it’s sufficiently self-aware as to try to keep itself alive by spreading to more suitable hosts, each Salina has a sort of hive mind, being able to coordinate a large number of infected hosts at a time, making up new strategies as it goes in order to grow its influence further. It seems it doesn’t just control people robbing them of their minds and personalities, it turns them into something entirely different.”
“That’s… A lot to take it. Why didn’t you say anything before, Titus?” Adriana asked with a distressed look.
“It sounds like something out of a sci-fi book… Everything feels so unreal… This New World feels unreal.” said Cornelia trembling with disbelief. “I think we should try to avoid large commercial areas from now on, because I have a feeling these things have something to do with all of those strange disappearances we heard about.” she suggested.
“We should be fine for now cruising around the river. We do need to find a place to dock soon to get some supplies so that we can continue on this insane adventure.” Lindbergh said as he pointed out a small jetty in the distance covered with a thin layer of smoke. “What’s that? Oh damn… It’s Parque de La Costa! It seems to be half-burned but it does seem safe enough. Whaddaya say you guys?”
Everyone agrees that it seemed like the wiser choice, they begin their approach toward the small service dock that the park had below.
Having tied up their boat, Lindbergh crouched down to try and wash off the blood that was on his arms and clothes. To his surprise, the fungus suddenly started to fall off, dissolving into the chilly river water, leaving only tiny specks of the white substance floating away in the distance.
“Hey, would you look at that! No crowning for me, I guess.” Lindbergh said with a happy grin.
“I think they’re not too fond of the water, none of the ones that jumped in earlier ever came back out.” Cornelia added with a sigh of relief.
“Guys, I think there’s a small supply warehouse next to that food kiosk. Let’s check it out.” Adriana suggested as she showed them the way over to the colorful stand.
The park appeared deserted, the faint crackling of flames in the distance made the eerie mist that was settling in a bit harder to see through. Once they got into the storage area, they were welcomed by an enormous amount of canned foods, candy and condiments. Walking further in they found a row of walk-in refrigerators filled to the brim with meat and vegetables, still frozen thanks to a small working generator on the other side of the warehouse.
After gathering all they could fit into the boat, they see small shadows quickly rushing by in the distance. Stopping to get a better look at what they just saw, they feel a lot of things scurrying away from the gaze of the group.
Resuming their walk a familiar yet terrifying screech filled the entire park as they felt a multitude of aggressive, more territorial abominations charging against them. Without even stopping to look back, they managed to get as much as they could onto the boat before escaping further down the river, the disfigured beings staring at them from the edge of the park until they lost sight of them in the distance.
“Coño… These guys are everywhere around here, aren’t they?” Cornelia sighed as she tried catching her breath.
“I’m not sure if they’re that common, those did seem more coordinated than the others, fiercely defending its territory like that, and I think it really does want to keep itself alive by any means necessary.” Lindbergh pointed out as he still looked back to the vanishing park.
“So, where to now?” Adriana asked. “We’ve got enough food and supplies to last us a good long time, thank Dios.”
“We’ve gotta find a place to organize ourselves and make a proper plan, it’s kinda frustrating running around having nowhere to go.” Cornelia stated.
“I remember one of the head scientists always bragging about a mansion he had around here or something. He bought an old museum and turned it into this fancy palace.” mentioned Titus as he thought further on the matter.
The Delta of the Luján River used to be an incredibly wealthy area. Leading down to the Atlantic Sea on the Argentina-Uruguay border. The sea transport company known as Atlantica offered ferries and private transport to locals and tourists alike, allowing them easier passage through the different waterways of the Americas.
Their ferries were built tall and wide to be like small cities on the inside, covering virtually all the needs any visitor could ever have: Clothing, entertainment, and tech stores. Opera and movie theaters, fancy and exotic restaurants with food from all over the world, equipped as well with pool and spa facilities to suit all relaxation needs.
Heading up the river, they tried to get as far away from densely populated areas as possible. They began to notice a clear lack of structures as they carried on, the densely overgrown isles and archipelagos along the way began to appear more wild and desolate.
While searching for the house of that scientist they came across a large rusted ferry that got stuck on the riverbed. It was covered with vines woven together in elaborate patterns, huge tubes were connected to the river and it was completely surrounded by a makeshift dock. Judging from its deteriorated state, everyone assumed it was abandoned, as Adriana nervously asked:
“Shall we check it out?”
“It looks abandoned…” Cornelia mumbled.
Suddenly, huge floodlights shone on the boat, followed by a voice using a damaged megaphone coming from a couple of people in the upper deck of the vessel.
“Slow down! Approach the docks, slowly and turn off your engine!”
“You gotta be kidding me… Turn back, Adri… Now!” Titus anxiously exclaimed.
Adriana slows down as she begins turning the boat toward the landing, only to expertly maneuver the vessel rapidly, in an attempt to get out of there. The same voice speaks again:
“Don’t do it! Stop!”
Before they could even react to his words, a giant net springs from the river enveloping it in no time. A couple of jury-rigged dinghies approach them with hooded, leaf-covered people onboard carrying crossbows, spears, machetes and bows. They are escorted to the docks where a crowd has gathered, as soon as they stepped off their boat an enormous man emerged from the crowd. The giant, bearded, muscular man had a wide grin on his face as he opened his arms with a joyous expression as he announced:
“Guests! Welcome to Mar-To! Bring them something to eat and drink, you must be famished from your journey.”
Intimidated by the giant man’s presence, they immediately received sandwiches and cups of water. They observed the strangely happy man walking around greeting everyone as he escorted them into the ferry.
“W-who are you?” Cornelia nervously asked.
“Me? Oh, that’s right! I never introduced myself, right? I’m Damián. Welcome to my kingdom.”
“Kingdom” they thought as they saw the scars and cuts around his arms and legs, his sweater vest barely being able to cover his muscular physique. The man seemed cheery and lighthearted despite the manner in which he received everyone.
“Phew… Well it’s a relief to meet ya, Damián. For a moment there I thought you were a tribe of cannibals or something.”
“Cannibals? Hah! Oh no! Those are further down the river.” Damián explained. “We got them outta here a few weeks back.”
“So what are you guys doing here?” Titus curiously asked.
“Would you look at that, a talking ferret! Well that’s a long story, my furry friend. I’ll tell you in a little bit but first, we gotta celebrate!”
“Celebrate what?” Adriana questioned raising an eyebrow.
“Why new friends! I have to take advantage of every chance I get to meet someone new! These guys around here are alright, but they’re a bit on the dull side, eh.”
“Well, we come in peace, chief.” said Lindbergh.
“That’s good to hear! Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen to you during your stay here. We’re not fond of stealing or pillaging anything beyond Mar-To.”
He gestured to them to enter the old ferry. Passing through the small door that connected with the outside docks, they saw an unbelievable sight: Large luxurious chandeliers still hanging from the ceilings, a clean red carpet covering the entire floor, together with an incredible collection of world-renowned paintings and weapons decorating the gorgeously laminated wooden walls.
Walking past a long corridor they come to a huge open area that seemed like it would merit a vessel of its own. It was completely filled with different businesses that spanned from conventional everyday items, to tools, weapons, supplies, and even construction materials. The stalls were made of polished rocks and enameled wood, making them blend perfectly with their Old World surroundings.
As everyone waved at them with a smile when they passed, Lindbergh couldn’t help but ask Damián:
“Yo, are these people really that happy living in this rusted tub? I mean, it seems nice and all but--”
“It’s better than being out there! Haha!” Damián exclaimed with joy. “Many prefer to remain in the safety of Mar-To without having to risk exposure to the dangers of the outside world, my friend.”
“But… You’re saying that you don’t make them go out or anything? How do you keep yourselves going?”
“No one here is made to do anything they don’t want to. The only mandate here is that everyone has to stay productive somehow. Everyone pitches in however they can, be it crafting all sorts of things, making art, cooking, cleaning, fabricating weapons and tools, or scavenging.”
“They all seem kinda quiet, but everyone seems really nice!” Adriana highlighted with a small smile.
“Of course they are! Come thru, come thru! There’s a lot I would like to show you!”
Crossing over to another section of the settlement, they find a huge seal that reads: “Totalmar-Atlantica” on top of a couple of double doors that led into a more industrial area of the ship.
Behind a door with a small crossed tool symbol was a busy factory-style work area, people hastily carrying boxes, manufacturing things on makeshift conveyor lines, repairing different things, others controlling the rising vapor that came from large tubes that appeared to the same ones they saw connected to the river. The scene almost resembled one of the early industrial era back in Europe.
“Here is where most of the magic that keeps this old gal going happens! Our engineers work day and night to keep us warm and comfy around here.” Damián explained.
“How does that work? You mean to see these guys are actually engineers? Real engineers?” asked Cornelia, baffled at the scene.
“Of course we do! As you can see, we have a bit of everything around here: running hot water, a water recycling system, power generators, working A/C for both us and our supplies, and even a small manufacturing plant.” Damián enthusiastically pointed out. “Since the old gal can’t get out of here since she got stuck, we made it so that her engine doesn’t go to waste. We adapted it to power our society as it intakes the water to produce virtually unlimited power! It’s been a blessing to our growing society!”
“It’s incredible that you’ve accomplished all of this without any help…” said Adriana as she couldn’t take her eyes off the factory floor.
“We help ourselves, and we help our friends as well. You’ll have to excuse me for dragging you around the entire ship, it’s gonna be worth it. Trust me.”
Damián then opened another set of double doors that led into an area that appeared to be divided into three sections. The first had a cutlery symbol, the other had a gun etched onto the panel, the last had a skull and bones posted on one of its doors.
“This must be where all the food is. Man, I’m starving.” said Lindbergh as he savored his lips while he stood in front of the cutlery door.
“Come through here first guys. I wanna show you all that we have to offer first.” Damián said as he opened the middle gun door.
Inside was a coliseum inspired setting, people sparring with each other, gym equipment on one side, and a surprisingly well put together firing range on the far side of the room.
Seeing that they used air rifles to subdue live animals in the firing range, Adriana asked with a slight trace of anger in her voice:
“Isn’t it a bit cruel treating those animals that way?”
“Not at all. Here we give them a swift and honorable death, besides, nothing is wasted. We use every single part of the animal. The more fearsome beasts that we manage to capture we bring to this coliseum to fight our best warriors, it helps keep stress down as well as keeping our best in proper shape.”
“I see… Real interesting… Gladiators and all… By the way, is anyone else hungry or is it just me?” Lindbergh asked with a sly grin.
“Oh, right! My bad, lemme show you over here, it’s sure to give you an appetite. Just don’t grab anything, yeah? We’ll be dining in another place.”
As soon as he opened the doors to the kitchen an overwhelming aroma hit them like a freight train. The sizzling and enticing aroma of grill meats, tossed vegetables in sizzling pans surrounded by intense flames of pure flavor. Going as far as to even have a dessert section, baking all sorts of cakes, sweets and treats, the fact that the kitchen was situated in the old amphitheater section of the ship made the encounter even more majestic than they’d hoped.
Stepping out of the kitchen, Cornelia curiously looks over to the last door, as she tried approaching it, Damián suddenly interrupts her advance with an excited announcement:
“Come to the grand dining room with me! We’ve already arranged accommodations for you to spend the night, don’t worry. Your belongings are being zealously guarded. So after the feast you can just take a shower and relax. I’m sure you need it.”
Sitting down at the enormous dining table, surrounded by even more tables filled to the brim with food of all kinds, people huddled closely as everyone grabbed as much as they wanted. Seeing that no one followed any sort of protocol when eating, everyone proceeded to grab what they felt was going to fill them for the night.
“The fact that they forgot their dinner table manners doesn’t mean you should too!” Adriana angrily whispered to Lindbergh as he stuffed his face with as much food as he could.
“I can’t help it! This is delicious and I’m starving!” Lindbergh replied while almost choking as he held a piece of roasted chicken on one hand and a mango on the other.
“This is very good, Damián. I didn’t think I’d ever eat like this after the war.” said Cornelia with a satisfied expression.
“Nonsense! Eat as much as you like! Hell, you can even drink if you feel like it! It’s the end of the world after all!” Damián exclaimed with a joyful tone. “Make yourselves at home everyone. I do want to ask you for a favor though.”
“What’s that?” Cornelia asked.
“I wanna have a word with you tomorrow morning, just come on up to the deck after you’re done with your morning routine.”
Agreeing to his request, everyone decided to head to their rooms as the feast ended. A couple of the locals guided them through the ship and quickly found their designated cabins. To their surprise it was two large rooms joined into one by a small corridor, the room was beautifully decorated and clean. Two double beds on each side of the joint cabin with separate fully equipped bathrooms.
Lindbergh immediately jumped on one of the beds, letting out a large sigh of relief while he began removing his boots.
“So, you’re not gonna take a shower then, Lin?” Cornelia asked.
“I’m just waiting for the furball to be done with whatever he’s doing in there.”
“Well I’m probably gonna fall straight asleep after I get out of the shower, so I hope you sleep well.”
“You too, chicuela. See ya tomorrow.”
Titus quickly left the bathroom signaling Lindbergh that it was all his. After coming out of the shower, a deafening scream came from the other room, making Lindbergh run out immediately to investigate.
What he found was the scene of Adriana laughing maniacally as she saw Titus massaging Cornelia’s breasts nonstop which made her moan and scream out frantically, both girls being completely naked except for the towel that covered their bodies. Taking revenge Cornelia manages to take her towel off, revealing that she was only wearing her black and light blue thong underneath, both girls began laughing as they teased each other until Titus saw Adriana’s naked breasts and jumped onto her, forcing her to sit on a nearby chair as he enthusiastically massaged them. As she opened her eyes, she saw Lindbergh standing in front of her, with only his towel covering his privates as she had her entire chest exposed to him.
A mutual scream from everyone followed by an inhumanly strong pillow throw telling him to get out, and that if he ever did it again he wouldn’t live to tell the tale.
“Carajo… Them boobs… I mean, them girls… Well at least they’re okay I guess.” he sighed.
The next morning Cornelia wakes up to see that Adriana is not around, she tries to call out to her and Lindbergh but is cut short as a small moan escapes her lips as she saw Titus happily sleeping between her breasts. Managing to roll him off without waking him up, she gets dressed and walks over to Lindbergh’s room.
She’s taken aback when she sees how Adriana is sound asleep holding Lindbergh’s head between her voluptuous chest, leaving him barely able to give out a coherent answer.
“She’s...heavy… sleeper.” he muttered.
“Whatcha doin’ there, Lin? Having some mornin’ fun are we? Ya perv…” said Cornelia teasingly in a mischievous and judgmental tone.
All of a sudden Adriana opens her eyes, noticing faint breathing down her chest, relaxing for a moment thinking it’s Titus only to widen her eyes at the realization that it was Lindberg which made her immediately jump out of bed as she screamed hysterically:
“You perverted man! What were you planning to do with me? This is not what The Lord wanted… J-just forget you saw anything, okay? Ok…”
“Good morning.” Titus yawned. “What’s with all the commotion?” he said as he observed the bizarre scenario. “Oh, seems like Adri did it again, didn’t she? There’s some days when she sleepwalks, don’t worry, it’s not that serious.”
“Well I mean, it’s not like it’s my fault! I was cold, and I swear I was gonna end up cuddling Titus or Cornelia! I wasn’t expecting… This! At all!” Adriana exclaimed.
“Was it as good for you as it was for me? Joking!” Lindbergh chuckled. “Let’s just forget this and go over to see what good ol’ Damián wants in exchange for his kindness.”
After enjoying an equally hearty breakfast as the night before, everyone heads up to the upper deck terrace, where Damián stood overlooking the entire riverside horizon.
“Guys… I need to ask you for a huge favor.”
“Whatchu need, big bawss?” said Lindbergh as he placed his hand on Damián’s shoulder.
“After everything you’ve done for us, the least we can do is return the favor.” Cornelia sighed with a smile.
“I wanna train you.” Damián said. “I wanna train and teach you how to reach a place I’ve been wanting to explore for some time now. There’s something I want to secure for us here in Mar-To.”
“I mean, sure. Why can’t your hunters do it though?” Titus asked with a curious expression.
“Because after the last cannibal attack, we were taken by surprise not long after by those damned commies further down the river.” Damián explained. “I think they’re constantly watching us, waiting for us to let our guard down and finish us off. I can’t afford to leave the settlement unprotected.” Damián sighed. “I know it’s selfish for me to ask, but I need you to recover those tools. I don’t need you to kill or hurt anyone. Just watch the back of two of my men while you’re out there looking for the stuff.”
“Doesn’t sound that bad. Who’s the alleged Rambo and John MacLaine?” Lindbergh asked.
Two hooded men step forward, one was incredibly tall, with a bushy beard, covered in even more scars than Damián, the other one was shorter, not as hairy and only sporting a trimmed goatee.
“Hey, what’s up man? Name’s Lin--”
As he stretched out his hand to the tall man he grabbed his arm, twisting it as he pulled him into a deadly stranglehold as he said before releasing him:
“Pleasure. Eduardo.”
“Yo, forgive this dude. He’s always showing off like that, everyone got a little shaken up after the war. Maybe he thinks he’s the new Miyagi or somethin’ y’know?” said the smaller goatee man. “I’m Facundo, you can just call me Facu though.”
“Charmed… Just… Don’t ever touch me, okay? I happen to like my neck right where it’s at if that’s okay with you.”
“Remember, you’re watching my boy’s backs. They may seem crazy, but the real crazies are out there. Trust me.” said Damián in a serious tone.
Before they left the ship, Damián’s men handed them some basic weapons: machetes, axes, maces, and even a bow. After a brief training session they took off into the dense forest between the isles.
After trekking for a while, they came across a huge Victorian-style mansion in the middle of the woods, everything was covered in dust and overgrowth, appearing abandoned since colonial times. The elongated white framed arched windows being completely smashed, the long curated wooden doors were chipped, only their bronze door knobs remained relatively intact. The white marbled courtyard and outer tiles were overtaken by nature and its surroundings.
Surveilling the outer grounds of the mansion led them to think that there wasn’t any real threat nearby, as they approached the inside of the palace, strange erratic movements baffled the hunters while everyone else perfectly understood what was causing them. Peeking through one of the broken windows they see a makeshift altar placed with all sort of offerings, ranging from fruit to live animals, one of the abominations was gently placed in the middle of the altar by a gr