A single bead of sweat emerged from within her forehead and coalesced with the slick surface of her skin. Scenes of the future played in her mind, and in them she witnessed the murder of the mother and child. She watched as it appeared as though the man were a piece of old machinery, slowly raising his arm and extending his projectile device within the gaze of the two. Heather focused on the weapon that would soon work in destructive harmony with the rest of its components. She wished that she could do something for them. She could not charge him, she would die along with them.
She felt a swirl of emotion from within her stomach. Fear, desperation, despair, anguish. They were the feelings that the haze reeked inside of the people that experienced metamorphosis. She felt as though she could count the droplets of water from the sky that slowly fell in front of her face. She looked at the weapon…and the man turned it upon himself. He lowered it underneath his chin, and crumbled to a heap. He was not a shell of a mere caterpillar, but a soulless puppet. Heather’s eyes widened at the sight, she wondered if she was affiliated with the lifeless heap in some way.
The woman was shaking, trying to rise as she reached for her weapon that Heather hadn’t noticed earlier. Without so much as a second thought, she rushed to the aid of the woman and small child, unbeknownst of what may come of the three of them. The woman wore a white jacket similar to that of Heather’s, but had sleeves and a hood with brown fur laced around the edges. She wore dark blue jeans and the child with her was donned in a single white dress. She was obviously a small girl. Heather ran as fast as she could to help the woman up, when she had reached them she asked.
“Are you okay?” To the both of them. The woman had finally risen and held the child close to her hip. She raised her weapon at Heather and shouted. Heather jumped back startled and bewildered at her response.
“Who the hell are you!” the woman shouted. The girl hugged at her side as it appeared her mother’s threats frighten her.
“Whoa! Calm down!” She cried out at her over the sounds around her. She glanced down at the child as though she might have the answer to her problem, she did not.
“Why are you here?!” Heather looked at her blankly and afraid, as she still did not even have the slightest thought as to why she came. She could have said because she wanted to die, but inside of her she knew that she would grant the request.
“I-I saw what was going on and – “, before she could finish, the woman turned her head and she grabbed Heather and ran toward one of the few remaining buildings. She led the small girl by the arm and yanked her off balance as the woman had been in a massive rush. Heather was pulled by her now grey jacket by the woman who was caked in dirt, most likely from the lawlessness around her. She looked back and noticed from afar an evanescent being performing a throwing motion and the small sounds of metallic pings emanating from the ground beneath their feet. Then an explosion occurred from behind her and the woman. They stumbled forward, almost returning to their defenseless state. They arrived at their temporary sanctuary by a small structure, most likely a barracks for their street soldiers. The woman threw the both of them in and slammed the door shut.
“Now why are you here?!” the woman asked more zealously and outraged. The little girl alongside Heather had fallen to her hands and bare knees and scrambled to return to her feet. Heather leered about the room as the side of the walls were adorned with bunk beds where the sheets still lay a mess. Personal items lay hidden underneath the bunks, it was depressing, and Heather guessed for a moment that they would be eventually destroyed, along with their masters. The woman stormed over the girl and nudged her with the butt of her two handed weapon. “Answer me!” She scolded as she pointed her weapon at her once more.
“I’m trying to help!” Heather lashed out in a fury as she swung her head around at her with exhausted blue eyes. The woman lowered her weapon in surprise but raised it once more after she had regained her composure. The little girl naively nodded at Heather almost thanking her for her assistance in advance.
“Get real kid! You can already see bodies in the streets and you want to join them?!” the sounds of gunfire protruded the once silent living quarters of the rest of the relatives. Heather had known exactly as to what she had spoken of and paused for a moment. She remembered the dead face of the shell that lay before her mere seconds ago. She remembered the lifeless and pleading eyes, all the while, crimson drained from his lips and nostrils, as well as from whatever ailed him.
“I don’t have anything to lose! It looks like you could use someone like that right now!” The woman knew that to be true, and so did Heather. The woman stared down at the girl for a moment for approval. The girl gave imploring eyes as her response. The woman then reached into the back of her muck riddled jeans and drew a small pistol. She tossed it to the girl and left her with a final reply.
“Try anything and I will kill you.” Heather was shocked at the heartless threat, but proceeded as though it had never been decipherable. “I already have psychos to deal with out there.” After this the woman opened the door and the volume of the chaos grew generously.
“I’m Heather,” Heather informed.
“If you survive I might bother learning it,” The woman said coldly and before she could take a step back out and find new cover, a loud scream could be heard. The scream had been so sharp as to force Heather to shield her ears in pain, even the woman and child. The sound resembled a high pitched wail of rage, combined with the retched sounds of cut-glass in a household garbage disposal sink. The sound ceased and in surprise and dread, the trio rushed out of their sanctuary. Heather, not having the slightest idea as to what kind of animal could produce such a painful call, followed them out of morbid curiosity, throwing caution to the wind for that brief moment of mental instability and natural fear of the unknown. The sound emitted as though someone had been shredded by glass shards, the combination of resonances were harsh to the ear and mind. They ran out back into the haze…and saw the things of nightmares.
A gradient of cerise to black going inward. The red crystals protruding from flesh. He was barely recognizable as human, he was more of a beast.
“Oh, God…” The woman spoke only to herself, as though what she was witnessing would be her own undoing. Heather stood stunned while the little girl buried her face in the woman’s side. She held the child deeper into her side, preventing her from being a witness. The beast was not so tall, but not so small, he towered over the denizens by only a few inches. His limbs had been riddled in the substance as though he were caught in amber. Every move he took was rigid, as though every action caused him great pain.
He had been hunched over a single soldier. The soldier screamed in agony as the bear hug had impaled him in the crimson rock. He screamed until his lungs filled with red and his body became limp. He dangled in the beasts arms until his arms threw open and the puppet fell back. Heather stared at the face of the monster and nearly vomited. The face also brought forth red rocks from the forehead and cheeks. His eyes’ sclera’s exploded with red, leaving only a black speck in the center.
The mouth had been hardened with the rock and his throat throbbed as though something sharp had been caught inside. On his chest lay a single slash mark going vertical. The top resembled a poorly drawn seven while the lower half had become increasingly scraggly. The beast raised its ugly head toward the sky and let out another agonizing shriek. The sounds pierced the trio’s ears like a million daggers of glass and shook every fiber in them. Just then, a sea of alloy struck the beast from behind. He turned unhindered by the impact to reveal to Heather the falling crystals hitting the floor and witness the birthing of new rocks growing and tearing through its skin and out the back of fabric that had remained to show its humanity. One of his arms was completely suffocated in rock and formed daggers for fingers. Heather stood frozen in fear until the monster rushed toward the sounds and disappeared into the haze. Screams followed in its wake.
A loud boom sounded not too far from the trio
’s position. It was the sound of doors slamming open. A blurred figure fell forth from them. The only illuminant was a single fiery stick that the lying figure held in his hand. Through the doors walked another man, no, a machine. The machines body had been littered in bars, almost as an exoskeleton. He too held a stick, but it glowed a vibrant and reverbing blue. Sparks flew from it while orange flares flew from the lying man.
“Danny!” The woman screamed and rushed toward the hazy shadow scene. Only the girl and Heather remained there watching. The machine raised his blue shadow weapon like an executioner down on the fiery man. The fiery man had fallen onto his back and, for one split second, saw the blade that would end him. The blade swung down and to the man’s surprise, a boned arm shaped to be a large blade converged the bath of the blue weapon.
The woman had protected the man…until a fist came from around her and knocked her to the pavement below. Her head hit the pavement forcefully, she was unconscious. The fiery man rolled sideways to his feet and took a heavy and wild swing to the machine. The machine brought his weapon to intercept, and a flurry of dancing flares and sparks dispelled the haze. Heather could see with clarity the fiery man and the machine. The man was cloaked in the remains of a leather jacket while a black skull cap sat atop his head. He was coated in dirt, contusions and scrapes adorned his body. The machine had been what Heather had expected…an Arxággelos with his large blade held high. The two fought, flares dancing around them at the collision of fire and voltage. They finally locked blades and the machine appeared to have mumbled something inaudible to Heather. Then a third shriek muted every other sound in the vicinity. Their battle had been interrupted and they both shielded their ears.
Heather, despite having heard it three times now, groaned in pain at the sound entering her thoughts. The little girl shrieked in agony and fear of the sound. The sound had ended almost as soon as it had begun. Heather’s focus returned to the man and machine. The machine propelled his grapples as soon as the sound ended. He was in quite the hurry to do so. Then, as he begun to fly away, the fiery man grasped his metal ankle and begun to fly away with him. Why was he so fixated with the machine? As soon as they flew for, at most two seconds, a pop was heard, and the man crashed down.
His body lay limp on the pavement for a moment before he painfully rose and sat staring up at the fleeting robotic figure. Heather then realized, for some reason, that she had been standing in the middle of a kill zone, and not a single shot had been taken at her or the little girl. The man rose to his feet and limped as fast as his battered body would allow. He ran past the shocked Heather and little girl and knelt to aid the woman. Heather finally decided to run and join them, the little girl following close. She ran to them over the sounds of pain from the beast and finally crouched down by them.
The man shook the woman furiously, begging her to awaken. She finally did, and her expression changed from exhausted and sleepy, to horror. She rose and sat by the man she called Danny. And stared at him.
“Thank God!” Danny praised and stared at her dreading face. “What’s wrong?” Danny asked her worried, all he received was a hesitant finger gesturing to look at his chest. The little girl standing by them and Heather both did, and the same face appeared on their own. Danny stared at them until finally he slowly looked down and touched his chest. Black substance leaked from the right side of his chest, he felt unusually warm before he looked and touched. His face contorted to that of shock and horror far worse than the three with him.
Heather could not understand why he was surprised at the black that left his body. All she saw after was him falling forward and holding himself up with his arms. The woman crawled by him and planted her hand on the wound and the black flowed around her fingers as she had tried to cut off the current. Another shriek interrupted but the woman tried to ignore the pain and assist her friend. Heather moved over and for some reason, the haze had begun to dissipate. It did not dissipate by much, but it was enough for her to see the horror.
The beast had torn into the people it saw. Crystals protruded from the shells and puppets. One single puppet met its end stiffly. Its upper body completely crumbled into a soup of rock and bone marrow. The crystals draped down around its bare legs and implanting themselves into the concrete below. The puppet stood there, a quartz with appendages. The sight made Heather sick, so much so that she could no longer resist and she turned and disgorged off to the side, away from them. The haze dissipated from them little by little, until they could see that the moisture in the air grow weaker and soon lessened pace to the earth. What was a downpour became a formidable drizzle. Heather looked over and noticed that the faint reddish orange had shot rays through the grey then. The woman that had not been far from her had what appeared to be slackening the process of Danny’s drainage. She then brought the little girl over and hastily tried to explain to her.
“I’m going to get some medicine. I need you to hold your hand right here,” She said as she guided the little girl’s had toward the dark fluids. Her hand contacted it and she cringed in disgust. “I know. Just stay here, I’ll be right back,” She empathized with the girl. The woman ran off and Heather could see her for just a little while longer before she disappeared.
Heather crawled over to the two and ordered. “Let’s turn him on his back.” They did just that. They pushed him over and his bare chest revealed the cartography of the blackish red. It sprawled across his upper body, similar to that of the beast. Heather soon joined the small girl and pressed down on the wound and the juices flowed around their fingers. The warm sensation unsettled the two greatly. Danny’s hearing became fuzzier with every passing moment. His expression of pain grew the more life escaped him. He was careless, he allowed himself to be hurt one too many times. The sound of approaching footsteps made Danny’s eyes shoot up from the view of the two girls. The two girls looked ahead as though they had heard the same thing. Delsin then reared his head over him concerned.
“Played superman did you?” Delsin sneered.
“Shut up,” Danny replied angrily. More footsteps approached and this time it was of his dear one, Ashley. She came bearing a white wrap of fabric and begun unraveling it. “Make him sit up,” She ordered the three. They pushed him up and Ashly had begun to wrap around his chest. The thin fabric grew thick within a matter of moments. As she wrapped, another scream echoed through the air and the three covered their ears.
“How did it happen? I heard it in the factory with Huntington too,” Danny asked the group. Delsin scuttled around on his hands and knees and rubbed his head awkwardly.
“You have to understand, I didn’t have much choice in the moment.”
“What!?” Danny scorned and jerked toward Delsin. Ashley restrained him and continued to wrap him.
“A lot was happening and – “, then a sudden crash sounded thought the air, beckoning their attention.
Their heads all twisted over toward the front entrance where a gargantuan opening had been blasted in. the haze cleared and the light illuminated just enough for them to witness another shadow puppet show. A single shadow jutted with stalagmite from its figure, obviously the beast they had been referring to earlier, as though they knew something that Heather did not. The beast continued to bash what appeared to be some sort of automobile that was sitting with one of many. He slammed and bashed it as though it were made out of paper. It began to dent under the weight of the crystal.
Another silhouette appeared and grappled to a single giant that towered over them. He shot up like a bullet until he finally released and descended back into visibility. The figure’s two blades shot from his arms and reeled back, poised to strike. Blue lights ran up and down the blades as he dove into the walking quartz. He reeled back until he came within distance, and swiped hard and fast. The blades hit their mark and contacted with a loud clang and crack as if glass had shattered.
Crystals flew from the beast’s back, only to be reborn from the very same place. The dancer’s blades on the other han
d, were not as fortunate. What had been a synthetic, nearly indestructible weapon had crumbled and snapped away from their master and fell to several bright pieces. They flew away and upon contact they made let out a loud electric blast of sparks. The figure landed on both feet, breaking his fall with his exoskeleton. He raised his arms in disbelief. How could they break? What was the beast? The monsters attention grew ever more angered and with a fast and inevitable strike from behind, launched the man several yards and slamming into the feet of a giant. Cracks formed where he impacted. His bared body fell to pieces as he leaned into the crater he generated. He fell to his face, he was lost.
The four stared in disbelief at the destruction of the weapon. Although they knew that it was possible to destroy them, the fact that it had been the first time in years truly startled them. The beast resumed thrashing the vehicle, then with his new colossal strength, flung the automobile and sent it spiraling. Danny leaned his head back at Delsin and ordered him to retrieve whatever vehicle was still running as the beast began his pursuit on the remaining soldiers. The crystalized beast’s silhouette charged toward the sounds of engines and disappeared into whatever haze remained. Delsin scanned for any vehicle that could still live a moment longer for them. Heather also scanned and noticed heads from the haze appearing, they were the survivors. Many people with troubled faces emerged alongside children and other humans of many ages.
Even the children carried weapons as though they were grown. Their small arms barely able to stand the weight of the firearm, let alone the recoil of the blast. This made Heather extremely sad, her eyelids lowered sympathetically at them. She looked down on them with pity. The children had experienced terror. Not only that, but they participated in such. Their faces were caked in dirt and soot, their eyes had been red with infection. The rolling of wheels closed in on her and she returned to the present matter. Delsin had left without her noticing, and he had found a small car. Heather blinked to return from her subconscious.
Disease X Page 24
