Chapter 136: Fresh, New Start
Chapter 136: Fresh, New Start
Foreword: The real onset of Arc 2! Target Chapters of this Arc: 75 – 100 chapters. There will be switches between the third and first-person POV to make the story and spectrum a lot more immersive. Hope you enjoy it!
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I opened my eyes to a benighted world, in which I fell victim to the heinousness of the dark creatures who were besieging my best friend, Dobby. I contemplated the reminiscence and the subtle familiarity of this scene as I noticed that my feet were running. Running away from Dobby. I looked over my shoulder again only to see and hear Dobby screaming. I cowardly fawned at the whispers of the dark shadows that took him over.
I remembered being followed by those monsters while in the car Dobby and I stole. Having only a measly few years under-belt as a driver, Dobby had crashed the car into a wall. The creatures were so near, and Dobby claimed to be stuck in his seat, and he insisted that I ran away and leave him behind. So … I ran away and left him behind.
Tears dripped from my sorrowful eyes and trickled down my cheeks. My glasses were on my face, somehow making me feel thrice as pathetic. In the distance, there was a massive dome, where we were headed. However, I was alone. There was no ‘we’. I was the lone survivor of the invasion. But this didn’t feel like an invasion. It felt like an apocalypse.
I sobbed loudly as I cried endless rounds of tears. The drill sirens were perpetually sounding, alarming the entirety of the city. This was an evacuation. But it didn’t feel like that either. I felt like concealment, like hide-and-seek. And we were certainly the hiders.
A strange old man … no he was too fast to be called an old man. Or perhaps, I was just too slow. Whatever he was, he fell in beside on my run. Still crying, I looked at him. Strangely, he skinned his teeth at me, almost showing the entire upper and lower rows. Which was more impossible? His smile or his speed.
Why did it matter anyway? I was depressed. How did the world get so dark so quickly? What happened? The old man, no less than eighty years old, and I, a heartbroken teenager, neared the entrance to the dome.
There were walls. And on these walls, armed men stood. They had the high ground, whereas, the other men in black suits stood in the road in front of us, in the road, unarmed. They obviously possessed abilities. We were getting closer.
Suddenly, one of the men raised his hand and shot fireballs in my direction. I flinched, closing my eyes, and slowing down. I felt heat passing near my body. But it didn’t burn. I opened my eyes, looked at the man, and then over my shoulder. There was a monster engulfed in flames, screaming. One of them was behind us all along.
“Don’t slow down, kid,” the old man said, edging away from me given that I slowed my pace, “they’re not shooting at us.”
They weren’t shooting at us. Oh, thank the lord!
I quickened my pace again, catching up to the old man. It was obvious that he wasn’t running at max speed. But my heart was!
The suited men stepped aside as he drew closer.
“We got a whole army coming! Stay on high alert!”
I looked over my shoulder again. My eyes widened. Thousands of dark shadows were coming our way. And I was able to spot the bigger ones. The ones who seemed stronger than Jin. Having seen this, I ran the fastest my skinny legs amounted to.
I ran past the old man.
“Damn, I was my internet was as fast as you, kiddo!” his voice got softer the further away I got from him.
I had no idea I was this fast. I was quite a fair distance away from the old man. I looked ahead, furrowing my brows. I was going to allow Dobby’s self-less sacrification all but vain. The entrance was bright. The infrastructure was futuristic. I darted into the gate. I stumbled on my feet and fell to my face.
Unfortunately, my face didn’t hit the floor. It crashed into a pool of blood, landing atop something soft. The metallic stench of blood entered my nostrils, acting like magic. A magic trigger. One that forced my eyes to immediately open. I raised to my knees, widening the same eyes I’ve only just opened.
I fell atop a human corpse. I gasped, gaping my mouth. Then suddenly, vomit came gushing out of it. I covered my mouth, but vomit sprayed from my nostrils.
“He collapsed as soon as he got here, and died,” said someone.
I looked up, panting loudly. The person possessed incredibly curly hair and interesting bangs. He looked Spanish. What’s more, he seemed somewhere around my sixteen pathetic years of age. He walked over to me.
“I’d offer a hand in assistance but …” he looked at my hands, faintly cringing.
I looked down at my puke-filled hands. Blushing, I stood, wiping my hands in my clothes. “Thanks for the thoughts of actually offering a hand,” I said, turning around.
The old man still hadn’t made it!?
“Close the gates. The creatures are too close!”
“The gates are now closed.” I heard a female automated voice say.
Suddenly, there was a glowing barrier around the gate. The old man was still there. He was so close. They couldn’t just leave him behind. I furrowed my brows. “You, men outside! You can’t close the gates yet! You can’t do that! He’s right there!” I cried.
The old was still running, thousands of creatures behind him … nearing him. Suddenly, he stopped, having seen that the gate was closed. He seemed to be looking right into my eyes. He smiled widely just before hundreds of creatures tore him apart at once.
“You CAN’T DOOO THAT!” I tried running through the gate. I felt a shock. It knocked me away. I went pitching away.
My body crashed into the floor. I rolled until all momentum was lost. I heard footsteps, then they stopped. The boy looked at down me. “Damn, that’s gonna hurt.”
My eyes slowly closed such that I was able to see nothing but a world in which my eyelids had benighted my sight.