Liam

Monday, April 25th, 2022 (34 days after the Shutdown)

Silhouettes in the dark reached out towards him, grabbing at his clothes as he traveled through the shadows. Their bodies had gained substance, becoming more visible than they had been in the Tower.

Now three more had joined the collection.

The cell guard and the two he’d killed in the hall blankly stared at him, the hatred brimming from them palpable despite their mute expressions.

As he continued to move through the shadows, he felt a hand tighten around his wrist. Fearing that one of them had materialized, he tried to shake them off but their grip tightened.

‘If you are intent on bringing the female, tell her to close her eyes. This truly will be the last time we speak till the coming changes. Stay well, young monarch.’

That gave him pause.

Looking down, he didn’t realize that he’d dragged the girl along. Tightening his grip so that she wouldn’t disappear into the abyss, he yelled at her to close her eyes but the words were ripped out of his mouth. Given no alternative as she continued to struggle, Liam squeezed her hand until he could feel the bones grind together.

Finally getting her attention, he motioned for her to cover her eyes. Feeling the tension uncoil from her hand, seconds later he gasped as nails dug as hard as humanly possible—

— Because they materialized dozens of feet above a lone skyscraper.

Suspended in mid-air, he scarcely had time to admire the moon hanging serenely over the city before he started plummeting head first. Screaming as they tumbled through the air like ragdolls, his lungs were paralyzed when he realized that wasn’t the worst of it.

Their best-case scenario would be if they hit the roof instead of their current collision course with the street.

Reaching out as they fell past the roof, he could feel his arm pop out of its socket as managed to hold on to something. The relief was momentary. The pain caught up with him faster than he expected.

It was like a sharp intake of cold air, leaving him trembling as needles raced across his chest.

“Fuck,” he groaned, looking down at the girl.

Her hand was starting to slip. In a few seconds, he would have to decide what was more important to him. Saving some random girl he’d known for the entirety of 20 minutes, or himself. However obvious the choice was, he couldn’t move himself to do it.

He couldn’t kill an innocent and become a monster.

“Hey!” he screamed at her. She was too much in shock to pay attention.

“I’m going to throw you!”

Pale-faced and terrified, she tried to protest but no words left her busted lips.

“Hey, hey,” he said as the building’s concrete started to scrape off his skin. “I’m going to throw you onto the roof, alright? Then I need you to help me get up, okay? Lady, are you listening?”

Her eyes widened in response to his plan, but she gestured that she understood. With his left arm unresponsive and barely hanging on, there wasn’t enough time to wait and plan. Slowly swinging her to gain momentum, with a grunt, he launched her over the top. Thankfully, being emaciated from days of being starved left her as heavy as a sack of potatoes. Her head barely cleared the edge. Landing on the roof, Liam could hear her groaning in pain.

His hand slipped.

Reflexively catching himself with his right hand, the sweat from holding the girl made it difficult to maintain his grip.

T-This is what happens when y-you help others… he thought regretfully as he grit his teeth.

Hundreds of feet below him, he could see the ghostly monsters absently patrolling the street, their wails audible even from this height.

“H-Hand,” a voice pleaded above him.

Two scrawny arms extended over the edge, clasping onto his forearm. Her grip was brittle and it was a feeble attempt but it gave him the time needed to swing his other arm up. Uselessly hanging by his side, he launched like it was a hook and managed to hold onto the edge.

Sweat poured down, stinging his eyes already blurred with tears of exhaustion. Each movement felt like he was dragging leaden weights. Micro-tears left his hyper-sensitive body reeling like he was slowly being ripped apart.

He only had one attempt at this.

Screaming as he pulled himself up, veins in his head pushed against his skin, muscle fibers tore as elbows locked up. Unable to push himself further, he used his legs as springboards and kicked himself off the side, using his scraped-up hands to tether himself to the building.

Teetering on the edge, the girl rushed to pull him forward. Struggling as Liam began to fall backward, with a final tug, they both tumbled onto the roof.

Pain pulsed through every fiber of their being, each heartbeat a relentless reminder of their fragile mortality but he was alive.

Feeling someone tremble underneath him, he awkwardly realized where his face was nestled into. Immediately pushing himself off the girl, he rolled till he was a distance away.

As his body trembled with the aftershocks of the ordeal, he whispered to the wind, “Wake me up when I’m dead.”

Tuesday, April 26th, 2022 (35 days after the Shutdown)

It wasn’t death that woke him up. It was his arm.

As night turned to dawn, torn tendons and ligaments from his dislocated shoulder began to bother him. Because of the onslaught of adrenaline and fear, he didn’t notice it earlier but an unattended injury like this would heal incorrectly and cause issues down the road.

Finding a wall to prop his shoulder against, he slammed his shoulder into it until with a pop, it settled back into his socket. A wave of relief flooded him.

Liam considered trying to turn his senses inward and check the damage, though the moment he tried, he was met with resistance. His journey in the shadows had taken everything he’d gained from the mall and only left enough energy for him to move.

“... last time we speak till the coming changes. Stay well, young monarch.”

Those were the last words the eldritch creature had spoken to him before it forcibly severed their connection.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

What does that mean for my powers? he mused, watching the first rays of sunlight start to warm up the city after its long night.

It wasn’t his to own or control, yet the idea of having powers despite its unsavory origin was the greatest insurance anyone could have.

Starving and out of energy? Take it from others.

Stuck in a situation where you need to escape? Shadows.

On his own, how long would he honestly last? Plus, he just learned he wasn’t the only one out there with powers. Did Rameriez have something inside him too?

Looking back at the girl, it would be another issue was dealing with her. Back at his base, there were still the chocolate bars but he’d planned to ration them for himself until he was comfortably settled.

Walking over to her, he grimaced, noting that she was shivering in the brisk morning air. Her blanket had fallen off and all that was left to cover her were soiled undergarments. Even as she slept, a haunted expression was etched onto her face, and her arms were instinctively covering herself.

Sighing, he took off his shirt and laid it on her.

“....”

He walked away not knowing what to say.

***

Liam managed to get a few hours of sleep before sunlight forcibly roused him awake.

The girl was already up, standing on the edge of the roof, studying the city below. Noticing Liam watching her, she climbed down and stared back.

“... I-I see you kept the shirt,” he croaked, trying to see if there was any rainwater on the roof.

Startled at his words, she tugged at the white cotton shirt he’d given her.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

Her eyes hardened at his question. Looking out over the city, she paused before replying.

“Nina.”

“Well hello, Nina. I’m—”

“I know. I heard your whole speech. Your name is Liam and you ended up in the cell because you killed a bunch of people. You didn’t kill the right people though. Most of them were Scavengers, labor workers who were probably exposed to the outside for the first time before you killed them. The assholes in charge are still kicking and alive.”

Raising an eyebrow at her sudden outburst, he scoffed. “I’ll take that as a thank you then.”

“... I-I didn’t mean to… sorry,” she apologized, covering her mouth.

Using his good arm to get up, she flinched as he walked past her to look at the city. Smoke rose in the direction of the mall, far to the north of the skyscraper.

That must be over 10 kilometers away. We traveled that far… and now I’m back at the Tower. Meaning, it's another 10 kilometers to get back to the K-Mart. We still have some time before the mall bikers come after us.

On the street below, the monsters’ behavior was unchanged, howling without paying any heed to the humans above them.

There’s a range to how far they can sense us.

Picking up a nearby piece of rubble, he whipped it toward them. Ignoring Nina’s yelp, Liam watched as they continued absentmindedly floating down the street.

“I’m going down. You can come along if you want, or I guess… well the roof seems like a nice place to live.”

Open the roof door, he started picking his way down. After a few seconds, he heard Nina follow after him. It was quiet, with only the sound of their breathing and footsteps to keep them company.

Three floors down, Liam stopped.

Bumping into Liam, Nina opened her mouth to speak but Liam whispered to be as quiet as possible.

“Just hang back here for a second.”

Opening the door, he came into a hallway at the end of which was a shattered window. Stepping across the threshold, he looked at the doors on either side of him. No one had been here in a while.

Putting a hand on his knife hilt, he crept closer to the window when he noticed a rope wrapped around the last door handle.

This high up, he knew what lay on the other end. There was no reason to look further.

Hopefully, they found peace in the end.

Calling Nina in, he pointed to the closest door.

“We’ll start sweeping this floor. We shouldn’t meet any trouble.”

Liam had planned to get back to his base before nightfall when it was impossible to discern the monsters from the shadows, but if he could find some resources along the way, why not? He was pitting time against resources and in the long run, one of these resources could save his life.

“What are you?” she asked as he was about to break down the door. “T-That darkness I saw when I held your hand…”

Sighing, he turned around to her.

How many times have I heard that question?

“I don’t fucking know, aight? And if holding my hand gives you nightmares, then don’t follow me. Now, can we please focus on getting some fucking clothes on us and then out of here before we run into more trouble?”

He could see a hundred more questions on the tip of her tongue but he didn’t bother to wait around and find out. Slamming into the door, it gave way.

***

The people who lived on the last three floors they visited had all disappeared, leaving behind their belongings in haste. Picking out fresh clothes, Liam smiled, feeling some part human for the first time in days. Filling backpacks with whatever they could, the two of them set back out into the dark stairwell.

They made it to the lobby without any other issues.

Checking if the coast was clear, he nodded and the two of them started running down the street. Monsters were immediately alerted of their position and within minutes, a crowd of the medusa-fying creatures had gathered behind them, howling as they chased the two of them throughout the city.

“I-I can’t keep going,” Nina huffed, her black hair swinging wildly behind her.

Ignoring her, Liam pointed to an alleyway.

Running through, he noticed a ladder leading to the second floor of one of the buildings but he’d experienced enough to disregard it and continue.

Nina was barely able to continue. Tears in her eyes as she limped behind him, the monsters’ wails were taking their toll on her.

Biting back a curse, he ran toward her just as her legs gave out. Sweeping her off her feet, he threw her over his shoulder and pressed on. The ten kilometers he predicated kept increasing as he continuously threw them off his trail.

Through sheer grit and determination, they arrived in one piece at the back alley of the K-Mart.

“... are those a bunch of rats?” Nina asked, suspiciously eyeing the pile of corpses adorning the back steps.

“Yep.”

“... and is that a-a cat?”

“Lady, please. Just go inside before I die of dehydration.”

Unlocking it, they stumbled in.

Home sweet home.

He felt liberated for the first time since he left this place. Nothing was out of place just like he expected it to be. Grabbing a water bottle from some of the supplies they picked up, he cracked it open.

“Hey, do you want one… what’s with that look?”

Nina was staring at him with a wounded expression, her nails cutting her palms as she furiously wiped away her tears.

“You were here that night, weren’t you?” she pressed, standing at the front of the store as she spoke.

Racking his mind, Liam tried to remember what she was talking about.

“I was trying to escape from them with my uncle and I shook this door, but it didn’t open,” she recalled, her words becoming a stream of consciousness. “He died right there, shot in the street because no one came to help us. And you were here, watching it all happen.”

Liam didn’t respond, waiting to see where this went.

“And then…” she said, her voice softening to a whisper. “And then they dragged me away.”

“I… I wasn’t here—”

“Do you know what the worst part of it was? It wasn’t what they did to me in that cell, every hour of every day. When they brought me back, they found the people who helped me escape and dragged them out in front of me... and then they shot them.”

“Nina I…”

“Please…” she muttered, refusing to make eye contact. “Please just leave me alone.”

Despite being in close quarters, she avoided him for the rest of the day.

When night fell, Liam grabbed a chocolate bar and slipped outside. Climbing up to the roof, as he tried to focus on the stars, he could hear her delicate whimpers join the chorus of wails drifting in the wind.