*
Why exactly do we make excuses or find reasoning? Is it to sate our curiosity? To demonstrate courage? Or to expand our wisdom? Why did humans go so far as to develop when we could be satisfied with natural resources. The garden of Eden was a garden, plentiful fruits and livestock to manage and reap. But I know the answer, or at least I could make a guess. It was to ignore the pain of living.
"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! , EYEEEE My EYEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"
I screamed until my breath hoarse and dry, a deep crimson stained my sleeping bag as destruction ravaged the shelter. It was inexplicable, it was magic. Not only the magical girls, but now also the monsters. The very existence of these creatures were vile, demonic. They ravaged and plunder and the first victims were usually magical girls that could not defeat them in battle. Without the magical girls, humanity may disappear from the chaos borne from these creatures.
At least that was what I gathered from my limited impression, a stare and intense pain had assaulted my right eye and left flank, a deep bloody chunk gouged out. No one was suppose to experience this much pain, myself included. Clutching my side and face, I was bent over on the ground. The gradual gushing of blood formed a puddle near my legs slowly crawled forward, intruding my line of sight.
The magical girl guarding was too lacking of sleep, she got smacked across the shelter from the impact outside and fell unconscious. A writhing mass of black stood 5 meters tall with a large crocodile like snout with the body of a gorilla. It's hard leathery skin with fur and scales in some areas emitted a pitch black fog that derails the senses. What penetrated my right eye and waist was a tentacle that extended from its back. Not only that, numerous more tentacles extended forth at countless directions. Destruction rained onto the ceiling as if gravity had reversed and black snow could penetrate steel.
After what seemed like ages, the sky got dark and my feet was losing strength entirely. Not good... I'm losing too much blood... What is this... Horrible situation... I've just recovered my mental health from this apocalyptic scenario, why now of all times... Someone save me.. The pain.. It claws at the conscious and prevents me boils my soul from falling into slumber. This eternal hell which felt like it laster forever only seemed to span less than a minute.
What could be a warm patch slammed into my back as I fell to the ground. A pull, an intense pull stretched my consciousness, leaking what remains of my resistance towards fainting. A faint second before I blacked out, I could distinctly pick up the sound of meat slapping the ground intensely. Ah, it was my body. I wonder... If I'll wake up again...
*******
" hrnnnggghhhh"
Like a blot out sun, everything in my vision seemed to swirl as my eyelids struggled to pull themselves apart. A blur, tears clogging the tiny remnants of vision left. My bones creak under the pressure of my will, my muscle shriek over the pain.
"ggghhhhhh"
What the hell was going on? My body is way too weak, I must have slept for more than a couple days. It feel like my muscles are tearing into each other, falling over in its attempts to make movement. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurtsssss way too much! What is this pain?!? What is this damn pain!! I can barely think!!! Is there a block of steel over my head?! How can a migraine get this bad, urghhhhhhh!!!!
Moments passed, my sense of time completely messed with, my curiosity begging to see the sky. Perhaps there were no more clocks after that disaster. Having a phone survive would be extremely rare, even then they would lose their charge after a few days if used a lot. I don't think anyone will have a charger or charging method anyway. All the belongings have been crushed or lost in the disaster, the powerlines would naturally suffer more damage. The magical girls intended to only save people after all. Civilisation is gone. So how is there a bed under my bag?
I've been feeling indescribable pain for quite a while, but strangely my back was heated up to the max like a blazing summer. Could they have found a mattress while I was stuck in a somewhat small coma? Or could it be... No.. Way I could be comatose for years... The ivy drips and hospital equipment should have been destroyed... Ah. So that was why it was so painful. Perhaps magic was used to keep me alive instead of hospital equipment. Magic may not be able to cure comas, so I was still in a half-dead state huh... And I've just been rotting the whole time...
It felt like a terrible sore that permeated every corner of my flesh, leaking boiling hot water into every pore on my skin, meat and bones. As more time went by, the pain slowly faded. Time passed by, and more time passed by. I had slowly grown more and more disoriented of time, it didn't help that the coma confused my mental state. It was obvious even to myself that I was confused, but I couldn't cure it. My mind inches with curiosity, yet my body was in no state to move. After around an hour passed, most of the pain was gone, only resurfacing when joints were bent.
Relief seeped into my soul as a noticeable change in the light level was observed. It had turned dimmer through the closed translucent windows. Did they pick these frames off of somewhere? Or did they survive destruction? For all I know, one magical girl could have the ability to build windows. I couldn't let my guard down, magic didn't need to make sense after all.
Well, whatever! If I stay so mopey all the time, then I wouldn't be able to enjoy life! I was covered in simple cloths stitched together for clothing, it seemed life may get harder now. Opening the door, I was met with a wooden long hallway that stretched horizontally from my position. What layed surrounding the hallway were doors to the other rooms, perhaps I was in a residential area rather than a infirmary. Though the pain had subsided somewhat, my body was still thoroughly exhausted. It was convenient that the walls were made of wood, specifically alternating blanks and logs, embedded together in a strange fashion. The logs look like they would roll off the small layer of planks immediately and vice versa, yet they stuck together like resilient statues.
Looking at it, it needed firm support and such a structure couldn't be built in the time while I was knocked out. Thinking about it, I somehow survived without any special equipment. It couldn't be any more than a week. Holding my body together, my palms grip the curved surface of the logs for assistance. It took quite a while, however I eventually staggered and limped through that long hallway.
What stood before me was yet another wooden door. Specifically, it was facing the hallway directly instead of coming from the side, it was at the end of the hallway. Hopefully this is the living space or something that has seats, but not a toilet. That would be troublesome. Locks don't exist, so I may accidentally walk into someone using the toilet. Ahh! I got it. The culmination of human ingenuity. Knocking!
Giving the door a few audible love taps, I awaited for a response. The door swung by into the inside, clearing my doubts about the nature of this place. Due to limited resources and time, residential areas would be assigned to bed rooms at most. Then where would people eat or talk? Sure a family can stay in the same bedroom, but these are specifically small bedrooms. The hallway were lined with these doors after all. There is only enough living space for 2 at most. Where would families gather then? At a community living room, equipped with wooden benches and empty tables.
Coloured expressions decorate the otherwise dull room, some had looks of shock, some had grins on their faces. It seemed that this area may have been grouped by age as a decent amount of these people could be recognised as my classmates. Some weren't at the shelter originally, they must have had taken refuge at other shelters or rescued from the debris. My skin clung to my bones like a ghoul, my arms were particularly weak and thinner than before.
It was obvious some of them would think that I was a zombie. Magical girls exist, it wouldn't be far-fetch to animate corpses with magic as an excuse, and create zombies as a result. My throat was even drier than a desert, my vocal chords unused for a long time. So it wasn't like I could communicate properly either. My groans would truly seem like a zombie. Wait, no. Even if they were working normally, I couldn't communicate properly before. I was magical girl otaku after all, looks of disgust were an everyday occurrence. So I wasn't sociable by any degree. A simple and short conversation was fine though.
Clutching my throat, I braced myself for the pain.
"Aghhhh.... Wa... Ter... Please."
My stomach was starving too, frankly I feel like I'm going to die. But I think communication takes first priority. Bringing a cup of water at a prompt speed was a guy I rarely talked to. His name was tsukishima, I don't remember the last names of my classmates unless they made any particular impressions. The only thing I could recall about this person was that he used to be shy and reserved. The disaster must have changed him. In order to survive we have to adapt after all.
I spent all my strength holding it to my lips while leaning onto the wall. Damn, when did cups get this heavy? The cool liquid drifted down my throat, a slight pain rising and feeling my body. Did I get so out of shape that my insides are half-dead too? Enduring the pain, the cool sensation slid down into the depths of my chest, the taste of water has never been so delicious and divine before.
"Ahh~... Final..ly.. Ughhh.. Kuhkuh! "
My chest spasmed as a few coughs escape my throat, clearing it seems to be more difficult than before.
"Ehem!... I haven't eaten in a while. Can someone get me some food and fill me in?"
I received a singular loaf of bread as some classmates fill me in on the situation. Some magical girls were able to easily construct buildings with their magic, in the single week while I was gone, a rather large village had been built. Enough food had also been collected from the remainings of the city to last for a month. There were some facilities built for other functionalities, like a medieval toilet, a workshop, a school and other important amenities valued in daily life.
However, electricity no longer exists as a means to power or produce anything. All the power lines had been shaken off and destroyed by the great disaster. The power generators crushed into unidentifiable bits. A single intact generator was not enough for everyone, all it could managed was the old light bulbs installed in houses. They had salvaged some incredibly ancient light bulbs that had harder and thicker layers of glass to protect the inside. Even then, it was encouraged to leave the lights off.
Metal working was still functional, other than the complete lack of relics from the information era and modern toilets, life was still going fine. Albeit barely, we wouldn't know. Of course no one would know, who would contemplate the fact that monsters would raid the bare remnants of humanity... Only the magical girls would know that, and they are undermanned as is.