Part 8: Massacre in Texas

Because of our hasty exit, we all staggered and crashed to the ground.

The door we came through disappeared and there was nothing but a wall there. While this was strange, it wasn’t the strangest thing I had seen today, and I almost immediately forgot it. I glanced around at the rest of the team, and we were a bloody mess. Eli, Amber, and Hulk seemed to be doing the best as they only had minor lacerations and bruises. Ryu had several broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and shattered leg. Every few minutes he would cough up blood. Maximus was barely coherent due to dehydration, and because of his virulent living conditions, he was dying of sepsis. Lawrence was bleeding badly from the gaping wounds in his leg and shoulder. Hulk rushed to his side to try and quell the bleeding as the blood began to soak the floor.

Eli managed to stitch the jagged wounds on my back together; however, they were badly infected. He looked at me and whispered, “You don’t have a lot of time before the infection spreads to your spinal cord and then your brain.” He looked at the others, “They have less time than you do.”

I whispered back, “So that’s it? We die here?”

Eli shook his head and tried to speak. He couldn’t form words. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry. I… I… I don’t know.”

I hit the wall with both of my hands and yelled, “NO!” I turned to look at Eli and said, “There has to be a way.”

Suddenly, I remembered the gash I received from the stump in the forest. I looked back at Eli and said, “We’ve got to hurry.”

“What is it?” Eli asked.

“I just have to hurry. I have to kill the guardian.”

“Mark… Mar… Marcus.” I looked over to Ryu, and he was motioning for me to come near. He continued, “Take this.”

Ryu handed me his satchel and windmill shuriken. I was shocked that Ryu trusted me. I thanked him with my eyes and said, “How do I use it?”

“Throw it where you want it and think of the path you want it to travel.”

“Ryu, that doesn’t make sense.”

Ryu coughed up more blood and said, “Trust me.”

I placed my right hand on Ryu’s shoulder and said, “Thank you.”

Ryu gripped my shoulder, closed his eyes, and laid his head back on the floor. I stared at Ryu and said, “I’m going to fix this. I will. You had better give me that chance.”

I stood back up and said, “Eli. Stay here with them. Take care of them. Hulk, Amber, you’re coming with me.”

Eli walked over to me and whispered, “No. Marcus, you need me. You need all the help you can get in there.”

We turned our backs to the others and I said, “I need you to keep them from dying. Just give me a little time. Please, Eli. You’re the only one I can trust and that can do this.”

Eli gave me a weird look, “Marcus, what do you know?”

I shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I just hope I’m right.” I paused and continued, “If not, we’re all dead.”

Eli nodded and said, “Okay, be quick. Lawrence doesn’t have much time.”

I had noticed that the lock on the door that looked like it led to a warehouse had fallen off. I told Eli to use whatever he could find in my pack to try and sew and cleanse their wounds. He also started tearing down the wooden desk, chairs, and floor to start a fire. Hulk and I readied our weapons, and we, along with Amber, hurriedly entered the door.

Like before, after we entered, the door disappeared behind us, and we were staring at an old warehouse. The outward appearance was rusty and weathered, and the several of the green painted windows had pieces busted out or cracked. Through the windows, we could see a thick, dark red light flicker inconsistently, and it was obvious that the light was originating from a fire or a furnace.

The moon caused the warehouse to have a dull glow in the darkness. The air was warm and humid, and our feet sank a few inches in the mud with each footstep. We heard noise inside the warehouse that sounded like someone pounding and tinkering with something mechanical along with the familiar sound of sharpening metal.

The door to the warehouse was slightly cracked open, and the light danced past the doorframe. Trying to be as quiet as possible, I nudged the door open. The hinges squeaked, and I winced at their sound and hoped my attempt at subtlety was not in vain. I peered inside; however, sheet metal walls and hanging gardening and mechanical equipment hindered most of my vision. I told Amber to flank the warehouse and see if she could find another way in. She understood me and silently dashed around the corner.

I waved Hulk to follow me, and we crept inside. Crawling along the wall, we noticed that it opened into a garage-like area. We heard someone chopping meat, and as I peered over the rickety wall, I saw a large, burly man hacking something. The cleaver in his right hand was slinging blood around the garage and on the wall with each chop. I looked more closely, and I saw a variety of bloody knives and tools. I was finally able to get a clear glimpse of what the man was chopping, and after seeing a hand, I realized that it was human remains.

I sat down against the half wall of sheet metal and whisper to Hulk, “That’s him. Go around to the other side and get behind him. I’ll get his attention. When Amber hears us, she’ll take him out.”

Hulk nodded and moved around to our left. I saw an old lawnmower blade hanging in front of me. I grabbed it and got a clear line of sight. When I stood, I got a clearer view of his appearance. Like I said, he was large and brutish. He was in a sweaty, dirty, stained white dress shirt and jeans. He had a blood soaked butcher’s apron around his chest, and when I saw his “face”, I knew who he was. His “face” wasn’t his face. It was the skin of someone he had flayed. It was sewn together and tied to his face; he was wearing it as a mask.

I yelled, “HEY! LEATHERFACE!”

The man turned around to face me. He growled at me, and I yelled, “CATCH!”

I threw the lawnmower blade at him. It spun threw the air, but my aim was off, and it nicked the top of his right shoulder. Almost immediately, Leatherface reciprocated my attack by throwing the cleaver at my head. His aim was perfect; however, I managed to move out of the way and the blade sliced the top of my right shoulder; scraping the bone. The cleaver sank into the sheet metal wall. I grabbed the top of my shoulder and felt the warmth of my blood flow through my fingers. The pain was unexplainable.

I stood back up, only to be greeted by another barrage of knives; which this time, I was able to dodge. All of them ripped through the sheet metal. I heard him pick up something and his pace quicken towards me. Before I could react, he had reached around the corner and grabbed the back of my shirt. In one motion, he picked me up and tossed me through a window. The fall was enough to knock the breath out of me when I landed, and I rolled on my back into the mud.

I heard the pull start of a small engine, and then the undeniable sound of a chainsaw revving. Sparks lit up the night as Leatherface began to cut through the sheet metal wall of the warehouse. He kicked through the cutout and came towards me with his chainsaw in the air. Hulk’s shoulder connected squarely in Leatherface’s back. The chainsaw bounced to the ground, and Hulk mounted himself Leatherface’s back.

Hulk began to punch the back of Leatherface’s head. Leatherface connected with an elbow to Hulk’s chin, gripped his arm, and then tossed Hulk to the ground. I was still lying in the mud; dazed and unable to breath. Hulk recovered quickly and brandished his maul and axe. Leatherface moved with surprising speed and drove a knife into Hulk forearm, which caused him to drop his weapons.

Amber leaped through the air, and drove her claws into Leatherface’s back and legs. He growled in pain and rage, reached up, gripped Amber by the throat, and drove her head first into the ground. She stood back up but was stunned from the throw. Leatherface smashed her in the face with the maul that was lying on the ground. Amber spun through the air and curled on the ground. Blood began to pour from her eye, nose, and mouth. Leatherface continued his assault and kicked Hulk in the mouth with his steel-toed boot. He picked up his chainsaw again and returned to Amber and Hulk to finish them. He stood over Amber and raised the chainsaw in the air. He revved it and white smoke puffed from the engine as the chainsaw growled.

I was able to stand to my feet. I threw my right arm in the air in an upward motion. The windmill shuriken ripped through the night. As Leatherface’s arms where descending with the chainsaw, the shuriken severed both his them at the elbow; causing the chainsaw to flop to the ground, away from Amber and Hulk. Blood squirted from Leatherface’s nubs as he turned his head to look at me. The shuriken’s return trip severed his legs at the knees, which caused him to fall backwards. When the shuriken returned to my arm plate, Leatherface was on his back and blood was shooting like a fountain from his arms and legs.

I walked over to the chainsaw and pried his hands from it. Somehow, Leatherface had managed to get off his back, and was standing on his leg nubs. He looked at me and moaned. I revved the chainsaw’s engine and plunged the spinning blade into his chest. Leatherface screamed and yelled as the blade cut through his body and emerged on the other side. Blood was spraying me in the face as I pulled upward on the chainsaw, and it ripped through his chest cavity, through his neck, and through his head. His lifeless body fell to the ground and the two pieces of his mangled torso flopped apart.

I ran to Hulk and Amber, and as before, everything began to grow dark and fade away. A door appeared in the darkness. I helped Hulk to his feet, and both of us helped pick up Amber. I kicked the door open, and we fell, exhausted and hurt, back into the Welcome Center’s lobby.