Chapter 6- Doom (Part 4)
The group consisted of men and women, all looking ragged, tired, and in shock. They had these desperate, traumatized looks on their faces from the horrible stuff they saw.
Akio gave them a side glance, not bothering to remember their faces as he could see they were other survivors that ended up hiding inside this house.
However, when he was about to look away, he caught sight of one particular man out of all of them. He was someone Akio was very familiar with as it was no other than his own father. His face looked pale and his eyes were fidgeting as if he was scared of something. Well, considering the situation they were in, Akio wasn't surprised he would act like that.
Those who use the Drug of Dreams excessively usually are the most to be scared of Nightmare monsters. As much as it may sound ironic as they are people who met such creatures in their hallucinating dreams so they should have the least reaction when meeting an actual Nightmare monster in real life.
But, because of the huge damage Holem Mist had done to their brains because of the addiction, their brains would kick into panic mode the moment they saw monsters as it automatically thinks that that person entered another dream.
Akio's eyes flashed with a hint of weird emotions before he quickly looked away, not doing or saying anything. He had seen how that man had basically thrown him to his death just to create some time for his escape. As much as Akio didn't really like to take revenge, he wasn't going to shut up about what that scum did.
'I won't do anything right now. It's not the right time nor the right place.'
On the other hand, Tin rubbed the back of his head under the intense glares coming from the other survivors.
"What's up with all of those looks, gentlemen?" He asked with a clearly sarcastic tone that only riled them up even more than they were.
"Tin, you old bastard!! Do you want to kill all of us?!" One of them stepped forward and hurled insults at Tin.
"Was I that obvious?" The old man replied with a sneer.
"You fucking trash!" Grabbing him by the collar, he pulled him closer and glared at him.
"Do you know what could've happened if one of those creatures noticed that the door is open and barged in? We all will end up as a fucking dinner for them!!"
"Relax, they aren't that smart. I would bet that they would've kept banging on the door."
"That doesn't give you the fucking right to put us in such a situation!" He roared as spit flew out of his mouth.
"Let him go, Citu… Killing him won't do us any good." A woman approached him and tapped on his shoulder.
"But…"
"We need everyone here if we want to survive! Let's not start a fucking bloody massacre between us, ok?!" She raised her voice.
"Ugh… Fuck! Fine!"
Then, Citu pushed Tin away and walked back as he kept grumbling to himself.
"So, Tin… You left just to get that child?" The woman asked with a noticeably calmer tone.
"None of your business!"
"Answer, old man. I think it's in your best interest that you don't make us throw both of you outside."
"Is it? Look at us, we don't even work as appetizers for those fuckers!" Tin scoffed with a small smile.
The woman could only look at the old man speechlessly. She already knew Tin for a long time so she was aware of how stubborn he was when he put his mind to something. Even if she dangled him from his legs in front of a bunch of nightmare creatures, he won't utter a single word if he decided.
"Tsk!" Without adding more fuel to the flames of her rage, she also left. The others merely walked after her with the same hopeless look, never leaving their faces.
The only one that didn't leave was Akio's father who kept staring at his son and Tin. He seemed to have something to say albeit he found it hard to open his mouth.
But, when he found that neither of them was acknowledging his presence, a wide smile appeared on his face before he ran toward Akio and said with a gentle tone.
"I can't believe it, son! I thought those abominations ate you!! Oh, thank the gods for their benevolence in keeping you alive and returning you to me. Oh! This is a magnificent day!" Even the most mentally incapable individual can tell the fake attitude the man had. He didn't even seem to be trying too hard doing his role.
Akio eyed him up and down and didn't utter a word. He wasn't worth the talk. Akio had hated his father all his life and considered him an enemy that he sadly had to live with. But, after what happened, he was now classified in his short 'To-Be dealt with' list.
Tin saw that interaction from the sidelines but didn't interrupt or do anything. He could tell that this wasn't something he should barge into.
"E-Ehem! Anyway, it seems that you are injured, son. Take rest and then we can talk after that."
Leaving those words behind, the man left the room.
"That was the first time you called me 'son'," Akio murmured as he tapped on the floor beneath him.
To be the offspring of such a scum, Akio could only shake his head, close his eyes and forget about all of that. Even though he was dirty with mud and blood, he somehow felt even dirtier now.
His blood was tarnished.
"You have it tough, brat." Tin suddenly said out of nowhere making Akio look at him.
"I already knew that shitty father of yours wasn't giving you an easier time. But, I couldn't really do anything about it. Life is already tough as it is." Sighing, he stopped speaking as if he just said what he wanted to say.
Then, he stood up and walked toward Akio before handing him a water flask. Because of the cold weather and the rain, the water flask was very chill and tasted good to an extent if Akio ignored the fact that this water didn't come from the cleanest source.
"Drink. You look like a slice of dried meat jerky."
Looking at the bottle, Akio didn't immediately take it from him.
"Can I ask a question, old man?"
"Mhm…"
"Why are you going out of your way to help me?" Squinting his eyes, he tried to discern any change in the old man's expression. This small skill of his was something he honed through countless encounters with drunkards, thieves, Misty Holem junkies, and all kinds of abominations. Now, he was instinctively using that to see what the old man will say.
"Should there be a reason?"
"Yes…" Akio responded without hesitation.
"Everyone does things for a reason." He added.
If there is anything Akio firmly believed in, it's that nothing in this world is done out of goodwill. There is no 'free breakfast' in this world, everyone is doing good things because they have something they want from the other person. It can be as big as a materialistic benefit or even as small as self-satisfaction.
But, in this case, Akio was skeptical about Tin's weird goodwill toward him.
"That is true. But, I ask nothing of you. You can either accept it or refuse it." A hint of complex emotions flashed across Tin's eyes as he said those words. Then, he rested his back on the wall and closed his eyes, intending to sleep.
Akio didn't pursue the matter any further either and gulped down the water greedily. It tasted like the most delicious gulp of water he ever had. His body was too exhausted to even think properly and his eyelids were in conflict with his mind, trying to get him to fall asleep.
As soon as he stopped resisting, he found himself already drifting to slumber. He knew that he should stay alert to any possible threats that can come from the outside or the inside but his ragged body and his waned mental prowess were all incapable of responding to his wishes.
An unknown amount of time passed, and Akio's closed eyes eventually opened again. As soon as he woke up, a strong headache assaulted him like a raging bull. He closed his eyes and held his face for a moment to regain his composure. But, instead of feeling better, his numb senses started noticing other abnormalities. Akio's body was sweating profusely and he felt his face extremely hot as if it had been recently boiled in hot water.
'I am not feeling fine…' He thought dazedly.
Because of his leg injury and the infection, he potentially got from the lack of medical care, his body fell ill and he was suffering the consequences of that.
'Am I going to die from mere fever?' He clicked his tongue as he forced himself to stand up. The reason for that was the voices he heard from another room that caught his attention and also the fact that Tin wasn't present in the room.
Whether it was just a hallucination created by his mind or not, he didn't know. But, he could swear he heard his name being called.
"We can't keep letting people inside this place. We are going to die."