Chapter 3: The Hunger and the Hunt.
"Well, there's no use in whining over spilled milk," Jacob sighed, his voice barely a whisper as he leaned back against the headboard of his bed.
He knew that dwelling on the absurdity of the "game" wouldn't fill his stomach or give him safety, so he forced himself to focus on the immediate reality of his situation. "What I should do right now is think of a way to solve my most pressing problem," he said aloud, his eyes drifting back toward the silent, dark refrigerator in the corner of the room.
"I need food," he stated firmly, his gaze hardening with a newfound sense of resolve that pushed aside his lingering fear.
He pushed himself up from the mattress and headed toward the small kitchen area, where he began to gather what few tools of defense he had at his disposal.
He grabbed several of his sharpest kitchen knives, testing the weight of each one before heading over to his wardrobe to find a durable piece of cloth.
With methodical, slightly trembling hands, he used the fabric to fashion a makeshift belt, securely tying the handles of the knives to his waist so he could reach them in an instant.
It wasn't exactly professional gear, but the weight of the steel against his hip gave him a small, much-needed boost of confidence.
******
Jacob's front door creaked open just a fraction of an inch, and he squinted through the gap to scan the horrific scene that had become of his hallway.
After ensuring that nothing was lunging at him from the immediate darkness, he stepped outside and carefully eased the door shut, the click of the lock causing him to feel a bit nervous.
He took a step forward, but his facial features immediately contorted in a mask of pure disgust when he felt the squelch of blood and various bits of sinew beneath his shoes, realizing he had accidentally stepped into the remains of a struggle.
He even noticed a stray eyeball resting on the carpet not too far away, staring blankly at the ceiling, and he had to squeeze his eyes shut for a moment to hold back the sudden, violent urge to throw up.
Steeling his nerves, he first headed into the studio apartments closest to his own, checking the units immediately to his left and right with his hand hovering over one of his knives.
However, after a tense and silent search of the first two rooms, he came up with absolutely nothing but overturned furniture and empty pantries.
This led him to wonder whether his neighbors had all decided to leave on their own volition after running out of provisions, only to be slaughtered in the halls, or if they simply hadn't kept a stockpile of food to begin with.
Jacob knew his parents had always been meticulous about making sure his kitchen was stocked, so it wasn't entirely surprising that his supplies had lasted a full week while theirs had apparently vanished in days.
Nevertheless, he refused to let the disappointment stop him and continued down the corridor to check a few more apartments, one after the other.
But the more doors he pushed open and the more empty cupboards he found, the more displeased and desperate his expression became.
'How can there be nothing here either!' he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, but he caught himself and held the frustration behind his teeth.
This lack of resources was a terrifying development, and he began to wonder if he would be forced to descend to the lower floors in search of a decent meal.
He knew that heading downstairs would be exponentially more dangerous since it would take him farther from the relative safety of his reinforced room, but the alternative was simply staying put and waiting to starve to death.
While these conflicting thoughts were racing through his mind, Jacob's blood suddenly ran cold as the sound of a loud, chaotic ruckus echoed from further down the hall.
'Did whatever killed all these people finally come back?' he thought to himself, his eyes turning sharp and vigilant as he pressed his back against the wall.
The instinctive thought of finding a place to hide and bolt the door crossed his mind, but against his better judgment, a deep-seated curiosity won him over.
For one, he had been eager to know exactly what kind of creature was capable of such a massacre, and he believed that if he could just get a glimpse of the enemy, he would be much better equipped to deal with them in the future.
Since the system itself said that this was all a game. Since it was a game, there was no harm in gathering info on potential enemies.
Jacob crept toward the nearest door and glanced through the peephole, but the fish-eye lens showed him nothing but the empty, shadowed stretch of the hallway directly in front of him.
'Is it farther away then?' he wondered, stepping back out and quietly making his way toward the direction of the strange scratching and guttural sounds he was hearing.
On arriving at the corner of the hallway, he slowly leaned his head forward for a fleeting glance, only to quickly retract it as his heart hammered against his ribs.
'Goblins?' he thought, his mind racing to categorize what he had just seen.
He wasn't at all new to such creatures since they were a staple of the gaming community and every fantasy novel he had ever read, but actually seeing them in the flesh was a completely different and far more terrifying feeling.
Taking another cautious glance, he confirmed that there were in fact two of them, and from what he could tell, they seemed to be engaged in a heated, snarling argument over something.
'Are those two really responsible for all of this?' he wondered, but he quickly shook the thought away as he looked at the sheer amount of carnage in the hall.
There had to be more of them lurking somewhere nearby, because there was simply no way those two small things would have been capable of this much destruction on their own, regardless of how dangerous they appeared.
The chilling idea that the entire building might be crawling with a green-skinned horde surfaced in his mind, making his grip on his kitchen knife tighten until his knuckles turned white.
"Kee?" One of the goblins let out a sharp, inquisitive croak as the sound of something being dropped echoed from the corner of the hallway. Both of the creatures stopped their bickering instantly, their long, pointy ears twitching as they picked up the unnatural noise.
Both of their heads snapped toward the source of the sound, their yellow eyes narrowed in suspicion. However, they didn't go rushing off to investigate immediately; instead, they began eyeing each other warily with bared teeth.
It appeared that they were both deeply reluctant to leave their spot, fearing tha
t if one turned their back, the other would quickly claim the prize they had been arguing about just moments before.