AN: So I'm sure by now the people who follow this story realize how horrible I am at keeping a consistent release scheduled. I would just like to say that I am really sorry about that. I will try my best to over come my arch enemy, Laziness , and her sidekick Procrastination. If all goes well, I will have another chapter out by the end of this week.
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After a few moments of frantic searching, I find my backpack in the rubble near where I first fell. My toys are all still intact. The straps on the bag came loose when I was falling and it slipped off my back.
When I am done inspecting my toy bag, I look over to see Daisy and Collin staring at the corpse of the dog-bird. I walk over to them. “I want to go find some new clothes.”
Collin agrees, and we search the surrounding buildings until we find clothes for ourselves. Collin smells much better now. He is now wearing dark jeans, a white t-shit, and a black blazer. I traded my black shirt for a white one and my pink shorts for black ones.
Collin fixes the collar of his new coat, and slicks back his freshly washed, dirty blonde hair. “I'm glad the water it still working.” Daisy snickers at him, and his face goes beat red. “We should keep what happened here today a secret. All of it. We don't want the others to be afraid of Rain. Right?”
Daisy snickers again. “Suuurree, Collin. We can do that. No one needs to know about... *Hehe* ...what happened today. Right Rain?” She looks over at me with a mischievous smile. I feel like I am missing some sort of joke here.
Collin looks at me expectantly. I look back and forth between the two of them. “I don't want people to be afraid of me. No one needs to know what happened here.”
Collin lets out a sigh of relief. Daisy's smile widens. “Isn't that good Collin. Now everything that happened here is our little secret.”
Collin gives her a disproving look. “Why did you drop the 'Mr.' from my name?”
Daisy gives him a big toothy grin. “No reason. Why wouldn't I drop it? Rain calls you just Collin too.” Collin looks down at her suspiciously but doesn't say anything else.
We start walking back to the other humans. Daisy, as always, seems to fill the silence with endless chatter about superheros.
“Rain, now that we aren't about to be eaten, I've thought about it and I think you should find another giant creature and have it as you're animal sidekick. The dog-bird was cute, but obviously not very strong, and it didn't seem to have any special powers. We should find a stronger and cooler one!” Daisy raises her fists in determination.
Collin looks shocked by what she said. “You want him to get a giant monster as a pet?”
I answer before Daisy has a chance. “Yes. I want one. From what I know about pets, they seem to be fun.”
Collin thinks it's a bad idea, especially the part about finding one stronger then the dog-bird. Daisy is super excited and continues thinking up a bunch of powers my new pet should have.
We finally arrive back to the spot we left the others, only to find an empty street. I search and quickly find them hiding out in a nearby building.
We approach the building. I hear chattering voices. I smell the dirty humans. And I feel Andy moving around. If he attacks me this time, I'll kill him.
Andy whispers “Quiet.”
We reach the door. Collin tries to open it but it's locked. “Hey open up! It's us. We're back!” There is no answer.
What the hell is there problem? “Open the door.” Maybe we should just leave them. I don't particularly like any of them anyway.
I hear shuffling feet and harsh whispers. “What are you doing?” “It's that little monster out there!”
Something is lifted away from the door and it opens outward, revealing Andy. He has his fists clinched by his sides and his head down. Slowly he lifts his head to glare at me. I step back in anticipation of an attack, and raise my hands to defend myself.
Collin notices his posture and frowns. “Andy, why are you being so hostile?”
Andy doesn't take his eyes off of me. “Collin. I hear you've become friendly with this little monster. Aren't you worried it will kill you when your back is turned?”
Collin coughs. “Regardless of what he may or may not do when my back is turned, I think it's best if we all try to get along. The world has gone to shit. We need Rain's abilities to survive. Besides, Rain won't be killing any of us. Right?” He looks over to me.
I glare toward Andy. “I won't kill you, if you don't attack me.” Or unless you annoy me too much.
Andy flinches and his face goes pale. He steps back farther into the dark building. When he speaks it is barely a whisper. “That thing is evil. It will definitely kill us the moment we look away.”
“If he wanted to kill us, we would already be dead!” Collin growls.
Daisy steps in front of me. “Stop talking about Rain like he isn't here! And he's not a monster!” She puts her hands on her hips. “Mom says not to talk bad about people you don't know anything about. Besides, you attacked Rain first. Your the only bad guy here.”
Andy just keeps glaring at me. The people who had been huddling quietly in the building, are now standing in the shadows behind Andy. This is getting annoying.
“If they don't like me, we should just leave them here and go on to the safe house by ourselves.” The people behind Andy start whispering worriedly. It seems like they don't want to be left here.
“That won't be necessary.” Collin steps forward confidently. “We will all be heading to the safe house! Andy stop this nonsense. You should know better than anyone you can't beat Rain.” Collin stares Andy down daring him to protest.
Someone steps forward into the light of the doorway.“It doesn't matter how much stronger the monster is. Andy always wins!” The boy who stepped forward has light brown hair and a freckled face. I vaguely remember him being called Brian.
I glare intently at Andy and he glares back at me. If this human attacks me, I will tear off his head.
Andy's face starts to pale and beads of sweat form on his forehead. His breathing becomes labored. Brian notices. “Hey, Andy? What's wrong?'
Daisy shifts beside me. “It's just like last time. Rain, what are you doing to him?”
I blink, breaking my glare toward Andy, and look at Daisy. “I'm not doing anything. He's doing it to himself.”
Collin looks concerned. Andy's face is twisted in pain and hatred. Collin puts his hand on Andy's shoulder. “Andy stop whatever you are doing. You'll pass out again.”
Andy looks away from me for the first time, and glares at Collin instead. “You're all idiots! Why can't you feel it? That thing...” He trusts his finger in my direction. “That thing is more dangerous then a million minotaur! It smells like death. It may look human, but it is a creature of evil! Even with your stupid numb little brains, you should be able to feel it! That monster is the enemy of all living things!”
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The people behind Andy mumble to each other. Brian looks like he is in shock. Collin opens and closes his mouth a few times before scrunching his eyebrows together and tightening his jaw.
“Your right...” We all look over to the person who had spoken up. “You may be right, but... Rain has no reason to hurt us. As long as we are friends, Rain will protect us. He's a Superhero now! He won't hurt us!” Daisy's hands are balled into fists at her sides. Her eyes are determined.
Collin stands up straight. He looks down at Daisy and then back to the group of people huddled in the entrance of the building. “Daisy's right. We are safe with Rain.”
Although they both vouched for me, I somehow feel that I have been insulted. I would also prefer to leave these people behind, so convincing them to like me isn't high on my to-do list.
After a bit more complaining and arguing, Collin convinces Andy and the group that it would be safer to stick with me. We continue on our way. Andy stays quite a ways behind the group. The group are also keeping quite a distance behind me. I like this arrangement just fine. Collin is up front with Daisy leading the way, and keeping her from talking about superheros. Or at least he is trying his best to keep her from talking about them. She always finds some way to slip them into a conversation.
Soon we get to an area that Daisy recognizes. We are really far in the opposite direction I originally intended to go. The safe house is in what appears to be a warehouse district.
As we weave are way between buildings, I suddenly get the urge to check the surrounding area for any creatures.
“Stop!” Everyone turns to look at me. I can hear and feel a two large groups of people in different directions.
“What's going on.” Collin looks back at me worried.
“There are two groups up ahead. One is humans, and the other one...might be... They sound like humans but I feel like they aren't.”
Daisy speaks up “We should go to the group that is definitely humans. That's probably my Dad's group.”
Collin nods his head. “I agree.”
We move forward. Everyone tries to be as quiet as they can. The group moves in closer. I wish we had thought to have them wash up and get new clothes. They stink.
Trying to be as quiet as possible, I lead our group around a few of the warehouses. Just around the corner is the group of humans. I motion for the group to stop and peak around. Where the humans should be, stands a large building. It has no windows and is letting off a slight humming sound. On it's roof there are multiple solar panels. There are also two humans laying on the roof, hiding.
I look back to the group. Daisy and Collin are kneeling down just behind me. Daisy is looking at me expectantly. She probably wants to hurry over there, but I know from experience that most humans attack when I try to talk to them. “What should we do?” I keep my voice to a whisper.
Daisy isn't so worried about being quiet. “What do you mean? It's my dad's safe-house. We just need to go knock on the door. Right?” She turns to Collin.
Collin glances at her and then looks back at me. “Are you worried something might happen?”
“Humans tend to attack me...” I look to the back of the group where I know Andy is.
Collin coughs and clears his throat. “Right... I think... *Sigh*... I think just the three of us should go out and talk to them.” He points to Daisy and me. “If we are lucky they'll recognize Daisy. If not I can probably talk to them better then either of you two could.”
I scrunch my face in annoyance. “Why do I have to go too?”
Collin looks surprised at my question. “Well... I mean... Well if they... Um...Ah... That's right! If they can sense you like Andy can, it would be better to be up front about you being a part of our group.” He gives me an awkward smile.
I don't think I believe him, and I'm not convinced he is better at talking then me or Daisy. I look at Daisy. She is been talking less and less, the closer we've gotten to the Safe-house. “What do you think Daisy?”
“I think he wants to use you as a meat shield. That's not very nice Collin.” Daisy's face is expressionless as she talks.
Collin flinches as I look at him. He looks away with a worried look on his face. “I...I didn't... I mean you can heal...but I didn't mean it in that way...”
Daisy snorts at him. She is acting weird. She stands up. “Lets go.” She walks around the corner and makes her way toward the safe-house. I follow her. Collin quickly catches up.
The sentries on the roof start talking through walky-talkies. There is a commotion inside the building. Daisy stands quietly a few paces from the front door with her hands on her hips. I stand beside her. Collin waits a bit behind us.
There is the sound of scraping metal as a hand sized grate is opened on the side of the huge front doors. “State your name!” It's a woman's voice that yells out to us. The sentries on the roof move closer to the edge of the building.
Collin takes a breath, but before he can speak Daisy does. “Daisy Streiner, ID Number 0015. Plus 23 survivors and one humanoid asset.”
Why am I an asset? Daisy is definitely acting weird. She's usually so cheerful, talking about superheros and lecturing people. Right now she looks very serious.
The voice from inside speaks again. “Where is the rest of your group?” She sounds a lot more relaxed. I can hear a lot of people running around and yelling inside the building.
Daisy turns to Collin. “Go get the others.” Collin looks surprised but does as she says.
Someone new walks up to the grate and speaks. His voice is deep and it sounds as if he has something stuck in his throat. “We need a description of the asset!”
Daisy starts to shake and her eyes begin to water. She lets out a shaky breath. She looks like she is about to cry, but she holds herself together. She sniffles and her voice is shaky.“This is Rain.” She motions toward me.
I raise my hand and smile. “Hello.” This is usually about the time I am attacked.
Nobody attacks and Daisy keeps talking. “He has super-strength and heightened senses. He can heal from wounds that should kill him. And he scares away most monsters with his very presence. He is friendly as long as you don't attack him.” Collin and the group walk up behind us.
The voice speaks up again. “Alright, Sweety, I'm going to need to talk with the leader of your group. Which of those adults is in charge?”
Collin steps forward. “That would be me.” Some of his group mumble, but no one steps forward to argue his claim as leader.
Collin starts talking to the man behind the door about who the people in the group are, where they came from and how they had survived. They also talk about what they thought of me. Thankfully Andy only grunted when Collin said I was friendly.
I'm worried about Daisy. She keeps fidgeting and looks really upset. I'm about to ask her what's wrong, but before I get a chance, the door to the safe-house opens. Apparently they are done talking.