Episode-25: Somewhere I Belong

Date: November 26, 3008
Time: 00:00
Location: Lith Harbor

~Nova~

Somewhere out there, the Lith Harbor Tower struck twelve times, signaling the beginning of a new day. Somewhere, the date turned into the twenty-sixth of November, another day closer to winter. Somewhere, everything was perfect, with everyone going about their daily lives without a care in the world. Here, it remained the same day, for time does not change in hell.

F***! F***! F***!

The voices tearing at my skull were deafening as they pushed all other thoughts aside. My mind simply caved in to the cacophony of screams and inhuman shrieks that filled the street. As the rain continued to pour down, crying tears of misery and despair, I found myself amidst it all, firing my S-36X2 Seraph Long Range Assault Rifle into the incoming horde of the undead. Sh**!!!

As the curses streamed through my mind, I squeezed the trigger again, making the frozen lump in my hand that was my weapon roar to life. In a shower of yellow light, another one’s head snapped back sickly, spraying its companions with black blood and internal fluids. But they kept coming, feeling no sympathy for any of the lost. Their lust for blood numbed everything else, including the pain and suffering that I was going through.

“Damiver to the right!” I screamed over the horde’s ghoulish moans. He lifted a newly acquired S-16 Scarab Assault Rifle to his shoulder and fired a short burst. Three zombies to my right twisted backwards, their faces distorted with steel bullets. They pushed forwards nonetheless, stumbling over the fallen without any regard.

The threat of death bore down upon me, pressing heavily upon my shoulders. Through my scope, I saw the face of the devil himself as my fingers worked tirelessly to impede the mass swarming towards us. He mocked me with the decaying fangs of the zombies, stared me down with their dilated yellow eyes. A chill crept down my spine, and I realized we might all die today.

But then, a metallic ringing brought an inexplicable joy into my heart as Mikhail’s FF-20 Fair Frozen Heavy Duty Machine Gun’s six rotating barrels roared to life. Taking the time to retreat back towards the docks, I glanced behind me and saw the first line of zombies get mowed down by a stream of bullets. Mikhail had a wicked grin etched upon his rough face.

“Naz, Lily, Russ!” Mikhail roared into the communicator. I could hardly hear him over the chatter of his weapon, “Retreat back to the docks! I repeat, the docks!”

A black blur brushed past me, carrying a figure which looked like the medic. However, I noticed the absence of the white woman. As we crossed the street onto the wooden planks, I could see the Silver Talon bob up and down in the voracious sea, eager to eat us all up. But still, no Lily.

“Lily!” Mikhail shouted again, and as I turned around to face the horde, I finally saw that white flash. But it was moving away from us. “LILY NO!”

She was a shark in an ocean full of blood. I could feel her mind evaporate, and before she pushed me out all together, I felt the chilling inhuman sensation that possessed her soul. Lily dashed into the fray, both katanas drawn and held at ready.

Looking down my scope, I could see her dash hastily through the ranks of the undead, slicing and dicing at will. Their black blood mingled with the rain and covered the entire street with a thick layer of evil. Lily rebounded off of the walls, jumping from one to another, and decapitating anyone and anything in the way.

And then, she turned around, and for a split second, I saw her own silver eyes dilated in a frenzy to kill. Lily slashed downwards, cleaving one zombie almost in two. She stepped onto the fallen body and launched herself up. In midair, she whirled around in a spiral and aimed her blows downwards, sending heads literally flying.

Lily’s feet met the drowned concrete for only a fraction of a second before she sprang back up. As she became airborne, she thrust out her sword, impaling one zombie under the chin and through his skull. The body went up with her, and she whipped around, sending it downwards into the crowd. The corpse smashed into the undead with unimaginable force, and its body was literally blown into pieces.

Her power made me gape in awe. Now I knew how the other Shadows felt back in The Academy when they watched me train, and I felt a part of me rise up to hate it. Yet Lily continued on in her feeding frenzy. Each savage bow seemed to deepen her lust for blood, each fallen body another ounce of ecstasy in her blood.

Then, without warning, she stumbled. In an instant, her eyes lost the veil of blood and returned to her own silvery irises. Lily’s pupils retracted, leaving her in a shocked state of standing amidst a field of bodies soaking in blood and rain water. She froze, not moving an inch, as if petrified by an unknown force. Behind her, they were already reforming, the undead shuffling over the broken bodies of their own towards her.

Run Lily…

And with that, she bolted towards us, past Mikhail, and onto the docks. Mikhail’s FF-20 roared to life once more, mowing the first row down again, but with each felled undead, two more sprang up to retake its place. I knew he sensed a losing battle, and as he whipped around, I instantly knew what he was going to say.

We jumped back into the Silver Talon just as the legions of undead reached the docks. Mikhail engaged the engines and as the mana flowed into the feeders, I could hear their bloody hands pound against the side of the hull, trying futilely to get at the flesh inside. Then, the main boosters ignited, and instantly fried the closest zombies into ashes. With a lurch, we jolted into the air, away from the infested city of Lith Harbor.

Sh**… I heard Maldran think to himself as he plopped himself down on a seat. His Spas-12XPL was lying across his lap, looking awkward as his hands shook furiously.

Brushing past Russ who was going to check up on Maldran, I sat down in the back next to the control panel for the drop doors. Wiping away wet stray hairs, I was just about to recheck my rifle when the intercom bleeped on.

“Guys we’re heading to Henesys.” Mikhail’s voice boomed, “Chances are there are still people there. Hopefully, the army is holding them off…” As the intercom clicked off, a certain stillness shrouded the compartment. The silence had an unusual ringing to it, as if something or someone was calling for me.

The engines cut down to half throttle and the Silver Talon began its descent into the western woods of Henesys. As the storm outside continued, it shrouded everything in darkness, making it impossible to see the city’s lights. If there were any…

Once again, the familiar hiss of the hydraulic ramp filled my ears as my eyes came into contact with the blustery wind and chilling night rain. We had landed in a clearing in the western woods, not too far from the center of the town. However, the absence of any zombies seemed to lighten the mood. As we stepped out, I felt the unforgiving downpour drench my body once more. This never ending cycle always caught me by surprise. With an electric crackle, the dropship disappeared into nothingness as Mikhail activated its cloaking device.

The eight of us walked through the scattered trees, sloshing up mud and unearthed soil. Huge puddles had formed as the storm of the century continued to pound down upon the Maple world. All of the green mushrooms and axe stumps and whatnot were hidden away, trying desperately to last out Mother Nature. Then, as the woods cleared, the temporary hope was suddenly doubled tenfold.

Bright lights, shimmering lights, incandescently lit the horizon of the city on top of a hill. Henesys had never felt so warm and inviting. I could almost smile at the thought of another human being if I still remembered how.

We made our way up to the western gates of the city and found two guards inside the guard shack, smoking Florinian cigars. For a moment, my eyes paused to watch the arcing smoke trail curl up into the low ceiling of the small cabin before dissipating into the stale air.

Then, I felt the presence of two other guards, hiding in the bushes, apparently waiting for an ambush of some sort. But before they could jump out, I focused on their bodies and pulled them out with my mind.

“What the hell?” one of the guards shouted in surprise, alerting the other two in the shack. As the two dry guards scrambled out into the rain, fumbling with their weapons, Lily and Naz both magicked their rifles out of their hands into their own.

“Quiet,” Mikhail strode forwards past Naz and Lily who were kneeled down aiming the rifles at their original owners, “We’re still human!”

One of the guards decided to be brave and pulled up all of his courage, “Oh yea, well prove it.”

Mikhail’s lips played into a tiny grin, “Well if we were zombies, you would all be dead by now. Lith Harbor has fallen.”

The news hit the four guards like a brick to the face. They’re eyes became unfocused and their mouths gaped clumsily at the thought of an entire city overrun.

“What is going on?” Another guard asked timidly, as he eyed his own rifle’s muzzle cautiously.

“I’ll put it in simplest terms as possible. A thousand year old virus has started to spread again. The infected are zombies, and they roam brainlessly searching for fresh blood to feed on,” Mikhail snapped in a hurry, “Now we’ll be on our way, thank you very much.” The guards parted way and we entered the city.

The streetlights were all alit in the storm, and I could see the strands of rain stream down onto the earth. Our feet sloshed over the flooded streets, making wakes flow behind us as if we were miniature boats. We made our way into a little quaint inn, which reminded me of a certain life I had lived long before.

As we trudged in, the bell above the door chimed happily, welcoming us into the warm abode. The innkeeper yawned and took his feet off of the counter as he was dozing on his chair.

“Welcome to the… *yawn*… Wolf’s Tail Inn. How may I be of service?” He rubbed his eyes groggily and waited for our response.

“We would like seven rooms,” Mikhail stated bluntly, and the innkeeper yawned once more before shuffling into the back room for seven keys.

“Um, we have eight people,” I heard Maldran’s voice question.

“I know,” Mikhail simply replied as the innkeeper sauntered back, his hands clanging with metallic keys. He then gave each of us a set, except for me. I saw an unusual glint in his eyes, but I instantly knew what he was thinking.

Now that I thought about it, I realized that it had only been two days that Damiver and I got separated. But those two days seemed to last for weeks, months, years. As the rest retreated up the stairs to their rooms, I found myself alone with Damiver. The silence was welcoming.

“So,” he started, shifting his eyes from the ground to me, “what a night huh?”

“Yea,” I replied, striding forwards to grab the keys from his hand, but as my fingers touched the metal, his hand grabbed hold of mine.

“You know what I’ve been thinking?” Damiver whispered so only I could hear. I knew the innkeeper was already snoozing in his chair, but he continued quietly regardless, “It has felt so long since we’ve been together.”

“I know, Damiver, I know,” I felt his arms wrap around my waist.

“When I was tied up and gagged, all I could think about was you,” Damiver’s explained, “All I could think of was for you to get as far away as possible, for your safety.”

“And yet, here I am,” I finished his thoughts, “Standing right besides you. We’ve just escaped from a capsized ship and endless hordes of zombies. I’d say I’m pretty bad at obeying your thoughts.” I scoffed at the irony and looked up into his dark brown eyes. For a moment, I thought I saw a glimpse of the past, the way he looked at me when he first found me. I remembered I felt so helpless back then, as if the entire world was out to get me. But now, the entire world actually was out to get me, and I was back in the same position as before. Damiver was there to save me.

And he did with a long drawn out kiss on the mouth. I could see clearly now, every bit of laughter that we shared before, every hardship that we’ve worked past, every sin we have committed and everything in between. But most of all, he made me feel that I belonged somewhere, that somehow in all of this messed up, distorted world, I had a place to go. I saw Damiver for who he really was, and I loved it.

That fateful night, as the rain lashed down upon the tiny inn in Henesys, he made me feel beautiful.