Beyond the jagged mountains the abyss lies therein.

Many have attempted to explore its depths but all have perished within.

We stand there at the entrance peering into the belly of the beast.

Long, crooked stalactites hang like fearsome teeth.

The wind sweeps in like music through the crevices and cracks.

I fear that once we're in, we may not make it back.

We come upon the drop off as deep as the mouth of Hell.

I stare down into it, entranced as if in a spell.

The descent is slow and steady and we finally touch the ground.

Far off in the distance I hear the strangest sound.

A loud scampering along the surface of the rocks.

Chattering and scraping like a thousand broken clocks.

We venture further in and the sound follows us still.

"It sounds like rats," one of my companions say and over me creeps a chill.

Walking further on we come upon a ledge.

Peering down below, I step up to the edge.

From the bottom comes the most horrendous smell.

A smell of rotten flesh as far as I can tell.

Checking our rigging and securing our ropes, we begin the perilous descent.

All around us the air is filled with that atrocious scent.

And then at last we touch the ground.

Once more and louder comes the sound.

Then a rush of grey whizzes by,

In the shadows I see a red eye.

My companions don't pay me any mind.

For they are staring at an amazing find,

An enormous building below the ground.

But that smell is far worse now.

The building has an eerie green glow,

Though its marble walls are white as snow.

That rotten smell permeates the air.

I wonder what's inside there.

As I'm about to walk inside,

One of my companions lets out a cry.

His piercing scream fills my ears.

I can only stare in fear.

Biting his neck is a large grey rat,

With glowing red eyes and as big as a cat.

My last two companions turn and flee.

Their agonized screams echo at me.

And as the scampering drowns their screams,

I'm clutching at sanity by a seam.

Into the building I run inside,

But from the rats I cannot hide.

And on the ground I see what remains,

Of all the cavers that were slain.

And now I know what this must be,

A government base with mutations running free.

Then they come in a swarm,

Thousands of rats with gigantic forms.

I feel them crawling all over me,

Biting my skin and making me bleed.

I feel them tearing at my flesh,

Lapping my blood, warm and fresh.

And as the darkness weighs me down,

The rats, the rats, are all around.

And the more I struggle and try to fight,

Harder and harder the rats start to bite.

The sound of their hisses and the feel of their tails,

Is like snakes with slimy scales.

And all I can see is their eyes of blood,

As my senses become as thick as mud.

And when my flesh is cold as ice,

What's left of me is eaten by mice.

Until there is nothing left of me,

Except some bones in a bloody sea.

And no one will ever find my remains,

I am just another caver slain.

Left to rot in this den,

Food for what never should've been.