first cope encounter

Pen illustration for chapter 2:

"I looked carefully forward as the movement of some hominid life. The creature was hunched over, it’s silhouette shacking and rocking in the fogged air. Unsure of whether my motive was desperate trust in it as something which would help me or curiosity of what I had to fear in this dark place, I slowly walked, shaking within every motion I made and preparing a stance to run or fend off if this was going to be an aggressor. As I reached a distance close enough to be under the same light that revealed this creature’s shape, I noticed more of a form familiar as human. My nerves on the other hand intensified as I saw that this creature was shaking violently as it rocked. Still too darkened, I feared that I would be put in even more of a panic, expecting to see some sort of distorted or disfigured quality as I approached.
I found it difficult to project my voice, so struck with fear. But as I saw a slivered highlight of pale, bare flesh, I readied myself.
“Please help,” I started. “I don’t know where I am.”
The creature suddenly made a vile choking noise. I stepped back in a haste in reaction when the creature leaned back to reveal itself in full light. Too paralyzed by the image, I shook violently, stunned by the shock. The creature was proportioned like a human, bones and all. It’s face had a high-relief indent carving from the top of the skull and spreading past it’s exposed, broken rib cage. The ribs moved like a collection of loose fangs, standing above a strange, undulating swollen belly. It was segmented like a maggot but matched the horrific pale, dead looking flesh besides a bright-red cap where the swell separated from the body. The creature’s legs were fused by a bag of flesh and struggled within, as if attempting to break free.
Suddenly, it’s back arched and it’s mid-section pointed at me, as if the gluttonous stomach and sharp rib cage stared me directly in the eye. I finally broke from my frozen state and began to walk backwards. Letting out a panicking moan as I looked at this monster, I tried to let my instincts carry me from this image which I could never be sensitized to. As the creature began to roll, it’s torso aligned with my position, I finally was pushed into running."
-The agris terra draft 2