"Errm… I am Lucius." Lucius took the man's hand, and for a moment he felt like he was holding onto a mountain. He was certain, that if this man wanted to kill him, he would be dead even before realizing it.
On the other hand, Sergeant Skull could feel the firmness of Lucius's grip even with such a feeble look. Malnutrition and hardship did little to hide the innate strength he possessed after the fusion.
'Super strength? No… Lesser but close… This is a perfect trait that can support his matter absorption ability. He has the potential to become a decent guardian if groomed well. I guess I hit the jackpot this time.' He evaluated Lucius's potential with just one handshake.
"Good… This place is not a place for an American… I will take you to New York and the government will take good care of you." Sergeant Major Skull said with a polite smile, but Lucius didn't find this comforting in any way.
'Doesn't that mean powerless humans like his parents and sister are not considered citizens even though they were born here?' Lucius was disgusted by the Sergeant but maintained a calm demeanor. He still needed this ruthless man, so it was in his best interest not to show hostility.
"Before we go, I have a sister… can we go get her first?" Lucius asked, and a slight look of discomfort appeared on Sergeant Skull's face, but he did well to hide it just as fast as it came.
He let go of Lucius's hand and stood upright while wearing a contemplative look on his face.
"It's not that I don't want to help, but the thing is the horde that passed through the city slaughtered everything. The entire inhabitants of Ohio have been wiped out." Sergeant Skull did not attempt to water down his words.
As expected, his words left Lucius disorientated for a second, breaking his concentration and this made his earth armor shatter, revealing his fragile body.
"Since the request is coming from a future Guardian, I guess we can go check it out. But don't forget, you owe me one…" Sergeant Skull said as he noticed the distressed look on Lucius's face and decided to capitalize on it.
Having a young Guardian owe him a favor would come in handy sometime in the future. This will be extremely beneficial if Lucius can live up to his expectations and maybe surpass them.
Not saying anything else, he and Lucius quickly boarded his jeep and left with a convoy of two more jeeps filled to the brim with skilled men under his command. He watched in silence as Lucius gave the drivers instructions as they navigated through the lonely streets, filled with corpses of humans and beasts alike.
Remembering how peaceful it looked early this morning before heading to the facility made Lucius wonder if he was dreaming. Soon they reached a familiar dilapidated building and before anyone could say a word, Lucius jumped down and ran into the building.
"No, no, no, no…" He muttered under his haggard breath as he ran up the stairs while glancing at the corpses littered everywhere.
It was clear some beasts had made their way into this building.
A few minutes later, Lucius reached the top floor where they lived. Walking up the damaged staircase, he could see huge bloody paw prints which made his intrusive thoughts manifest a lot of bloody scenarios, but none of those images did justice to the horrifying scene he witnessed.
The floor where the corpse lay was stained with blood, with bits of organs and intestines littered around. Lia's eyes reflected the pain she experienced, her face dry and deadly pale.
"Lia!" Lucius ran over to her side, his hands trembling as he reached for her. Her stomach was torn open, and the organs fed on her, while her left hand was missing.
His hands traced the claw wounds littered all over her body and during this time, Lucius couldn't breathe. He felt like his heart was getting crushed and even with all that pain he couldn't cry. His face looked like he was forcing the emotion of pain and grief on himself, it just felt strange.
"W-whats going on?" He stuttered. "Why can't I cry for my little sister?" He asked in an unusually calm voice for someone enduring so much pain.
[You are not human anymore… Xenovians grieve, but not in the same way humans do.]
"I don't give a fuck how Xenovians do things, my sister is dead!" Lucius growled furiously, but his rage simply turned to silence as he noticed the trail of blood left behind his sister, leading to another room on the floor.
It was the same place they hid the last time the beasts attacked and at the entrance of that room was a mutated Pitbull Lucius size. It had thick three inches of bloodied claws and its lips were stained with blood, but it was drooling just by looking at him.
Its eyes were blood-red, and somehow it looked like it was smiling as if it was joyful to have found another defenseless prey.
At this moment, something snapped in his head as he remembered the bloodied paws leading up to this room.
'Was this how it smiled when it found Lia?' Lucius felt the tightening feeling on his chest vanish.
It was replaced with unexplainable rage so great it left him empty, like a void that could not be filled. Sounds of Lia screaming his name for help echoed in his head, driving Lucius down a path of madness
"It's you…" Lucius said in a voice void of emotions as his hand slowly rose to his feet.
Grrr!
The pit bull growled as its instincts detected danger from the little, defenseless boy. Its body tensed and its muscular frame crouched slightly, preparing to strike at any moment's notice, but Lucius didn't react to its actions. He just walked towards it with a blank expression while his fingertips brushed against the wall and a coating of gray-green earth spread from his hand to the rest of his body.
"I will slaughter you…"