The sound was obscene, a wet, rupturing squelch that churned my stomach. Poppy's scythe-like limb speared through Rika's chest with an almost mocking elegance, pinning her like a moth in a grotesque display. My love. My everything. Her lips, moments ago trembling with joy, now hung slack, blood tracing rivulets down her chin. The smile I'd worn, so fragile and fleeting, shattered into nothing as the ring of promise slipped from my fingers, vanishing into the dirt. Above us, Poppy loomed, its grotesque, bulbous form pulsating, its kaleidoscope of eyes boring into me with cruel, alien intent. They didn't blink. I crouched, numb, my hand brushing the soil to retrieve the ring. Sliding it onto my own finger, I glanced at Rika's body, her lifeless gaze meeting mine, the light in her eyes replaced by the void. A void that seemed to echo Poppy's eternal stare.
Why me?
Get up. You've been here before
Does it always have to happen to me?
Don't ask stupid questions.
You deserve it.
I don't know why I asked it that, nor do I know why I expected an answer, but all Poppy did was scatter away, its massive long legs piercing the earth, just as it did my best friend moments ago. It disappeared into the dirt, again, just like every time before.
Will I miss her?
Of course you won't. Emotions are for the weak.
You are not weak.
Before I could rise, a sound cut through the chaos, a staccato clicking that pricked my spine. It wasn't the alien chitter of another Kaiju, but something sharper, harsher, almost clinical. Mechanical. It sounded like an imitation. Then I understood, too late. The icy kiss of a sawed-off shotgun pressed against the base of my skull, its steel barrel humming with a silent promise of violence. "Get the hell up, kid. Slowly." The voice that followed scraped like gravel dragged across bone, rough and guttural, each word weighted with years of smoke and anger. It wasn't just a command, it was the voice of a man who had seen the worst of this world, and had become part of it.
I lifted both of my hands as I stood up slowly, my breath remaining calm as I tried not to alarm the man. I couldn't hear any clattering, his finger was steady, any wrong move and my brain would be the new fertilizer for the ground around me. "Search him." The man said, I didn't even notice the footsteps of others around him, or their breathing. They moved quite quickly, and effectively, patting down my pockets, taking the 9mm from my waistband and the ammo from my left pocket.
The man retreated a couple of steps, still close enough to end me with one shot.
"No food boss." The words came from the person to my right, he sounded younger, he has smoked recently, but not a frequent smoker. 16. Maybe 17. "Face me." The old man spoke again. This isn't the first time he had done this, he had probably done the same to the boys around me. "Turning." I said before slowly facing the man, he wore a red beanie, his outfit was ready for the cold months ahead, a sweater and a bigger puffer jacket over.
"What happened to the girl?" He said as he nodded his head in the direction of Rika's body. "Kaiju." I said bluntly, finally seeing them ease up I lowered my arms, the soreness was starting to annoy me. "What happened to the beast?" His head lowered, his eyes now looking at me through the iron sight on the weapon. "Moving my hands." I said as I turned slightly and pointed towards the burrow slightly hidden by the thrashed cars in the way. "How old was she." It didn't really feel like a question but I answered him anyway. "15, older than me by a year." The two boys had a reaction to that, though I couldn't tell if it was by my age, or hers.
The man finally lowered his gun, still not releasing the tension one bit. He looked at the kid who was holding my gun, straightening his face slightly and the kid gave me my gun back. I made my movements slow as I tucked it back into my waistband, so I wouldn't alarm them. The kid who returned my gun to me reached his hand out, he wanted me to shake his hand. I stared for a little, before accepting it, grasping his hand with my own and shaking it firmly, his hand was soft, barely if ever having wielded a weapon for use. "Yaso," Strange, his name is Asian yet he looks American, and we're in America, maybe he's mixed. "Will." I responded back.
He seems like a nice kid.
The other kid was a bit more distant, older, "Kane." He said, If one of these two had to be the aggressor, it would be him, stealing, robbing, murder, I'm guessing those jobs will fall into his hands. The old man didn't say anything, only holstering his shotgun on his back and turning to walk. "You're with us now. Will." I nodded, this man is hard to read, I can't get a good understanding of him.
Why take me in?
They will use you like the rest.
We walked for quite some time, Yaso was starting to falter, his steps becoming more jagged, uneven, he started to fall behind. The old man raised his hand, we all stopped, I could hear it. I think it is a deer, no, it's bigger than that. I've begun to call the older man "Tech" until I learn his name. I could see the metal plate in his back, I guess that is how the shotgun just attaches to him so easily. Tech reached for the shotgun, raising it slowly to his eye, I retrieved my pistol from my waistband, holding it tightly with both hands, lowered towards the ground.
Crunch
I forgot how dangerous our planet already was even without the Kaiju.
It was the snapping of leaves and branches, the fall leaves would be falling around this time, but the trees have already lost their leaves. The world looked stale. It was a bear. I don't know why Tech didn't shoot, but I wish he did. He just stood there, weapon pointed. The bear charged, roaring fiercely, I rolled out of the way quickly, the bear had run right past Tech, and Kane wasn't in its path, the bear was aiming for Yaso, who was too weak to move out of the way.
Kane's eyes were wide with fear, If he could scream and cry right now, he would.
His screamsā¦ sick. The sound of breaking bones, the grunting of the bearā¦ Oh Godā¦ He tried to fight, punching at the bear with all his might, but it didn't do a thing. I reached for my gun, but I know it will only suffice in changing the bear's attention to me. Is this where I should say I am sorry? We ran, none of us looked back once. Kane was quite fast, almost as fast as me, yet the old man, Tech, I couldn't even catch up to him if I tried, I wonder what kind of life he lived before theā¦
Useless thoughts.
That's much better.
I honestly don't know how long we ran for, I would normally count, but I think I was distracted, by what? I don't know. We came to a stop in a clearing in the forest, Kane immediately dropped to his knees, his breath fast, Tech walked towards a tree, it had clearly been marked many times, 23 I counted. Now that I look closer, all of these trees have been marked, hundreds of times. "Get up boys. We don't have time to weep." Tech began to walk again, this time his path was more deliberate, calculated, he knew exactly where he was going this time.
Woah.
It's a camp. Many people scattered around in tents and roughly built houses, looking malnourished and disheveled. A woman walked up to Tech, seeming to be nervous, looking around at both me and Kane. I think she's looking for Yaso.
Fuck.Ā
We should've shot the bear.
"E-Endo! Where's my boy! Where's Yaso!" her voice was shaky, Yaso's mother it seems. Endo, I finally get to put an actual name to him, I may still call him Tech from time to time though.
The woman started to bawl her eyes out as Tech looked down, not looking the woman in her eyes as she pounded on his chest, screaming unintelligible nonsense into the abyss of Endo's ears. Kane started to break, shedding a tear, he's a tough guy with a warm heart. Hm. "I'm sorry miss Yano. It was a bear, it was unavoidable." Endo's words didn't console her one bit, her tears flowing more and more while snot drooled down, other residents watching the scene from their tents and huts. "I told you not to take my boy! I told you there was more than those darn Kaiju to worry about! I told you! I told you!"Ā
Tech's face was a mask of sorrow, I know that face, he doesn't feel a lick of remorse right now. Kane walked off to a tent that was separated from the others, he ducked low as he entered, I think he's going to lay down. Tech hugged the woman, tight, He was quite the large man, above 6ft, and pretty muscular. After the woman calmed down, she lowered her head and walked away in sorrow, her heart eaten by the evil of the world.
Now she feels the same pain you did, Isn't it great?
Shut up.
I followed Endo to a firepit, 8 seats around it, all carved nicely. I sat across from him. "It seems you already understand what kind of world we live in now." I nodded, he was wiping down his shotgun, he kept going over a specific spot, 'Isabelle' it was written in an elegant cursive, maybe the name of the gun, maybe the name of a woman in his life. Not my business. "Yaso was a good kid, he did no wrong, well as little wrong as you can in a world like this." He chuckled, it was eerie. "The kids called him Saint Yaso, it was strange to see children so happy, yet it was also like that around Yaso. His mother was the same."
Get on with it Old Man.
....
Will, The shotgun is empty.
I didn't know the kid, yet if I could, I would feel bad for him and his family. I stared at the ring on my finger, engraved with the birthdays of me and Rika, I twiddled with it on my finger, I didn't understand it, but it made me warm. "This is the second time today you've put that gun to my head Endo." I didn't raise my head but I could feel the coldness of the barrel on my forehead. "What the hell is that thing." He said to me, his free hand pointing at the ring, "It smells like one of them."Ā
Kill him.
Shoot him.
You've given him one too many chances.
"This is just the ring I was going to give her beforeā¦ yeah." He lowered the gun, walking back to his stump before sitting down and returning to wiping down his gun. What's wrong with my ring? Smells like one of them? The hell is he talking about? The sun had fully set now, darkness surrounding the flames and they slowly flickering out of the world of the living. Endo had returned to his own dwelling 90 minutes ago, he left me with a bag of jerky and a couple bottles of water. There's an empty tent. It used to belong to Yaso, it's mine now, I don't know how I feel about sleeping in a dead man's tent.
I packed my food and water into a small bag that was left in the tent, gripping my pistol tightly in my left hand under my blanket, my hand laying on my chest. Crickets. Foxes. Other unexplained sounds. This new environment is unique, getting used to it will take some time, hopefully I can get some good enough sleep.
Don't lose your grip.
Heighten your senses.
Be ready to kill.
I know.
Rummaging, someone is going through my bag of resources, I think I fell asleep, four hours is my guess. They halted, I think they noticed the change in my breathing pattern, too late. I rose swiftly and placed my gun to the back of their head, "State your peace." It was Kane, I already knew that, yet I have my gun to his head, interrogating him. I know the boy is hungry, yet this could be his last night.
All he did was shake, did he hear me? "Shoot me already." He sounds like he's crying, does he miss Yaso? "I have no reason to, just return whatever you took and leave." I'm trying to reason with you here, just listen to me dammit. Kane, spun fast, he knocked the gun out of my hand with his left hand, I could've shot him. He threw a punch, it looked heavy so I ducked, evading it and swinging my body to land a punch to his liver. He dropped down to his knees and I kicked him over. His abdomen was kind of tough, he's quite active. I dragged him by his shirt and put him against a tree outside of my tent.
Kill him.
I could.
I will give you no more chances, do that again and your life will be in my hands once more, and I won't be so forgiving. He didn't answer me, all he did was continue to look at the floor, silent tears rolling down his face. I think I should be sad too. I don't know.