If there's one thing Nash realized that day, it is that life is like a tightrope. Constantly on the verge of breaking.
Pant...
There was no way to know what would happen in the minutes that would follow. He could continue working his part-time job in the supermarket, scanning one tuna can after another, the prices flashing on the electronic counter, taking debit cards or cash, handing over the receipts and the change... The constant beeping of the smoke detectors out of battery would keep on ringing up until the next day as the owner refused to replace the electric cells to spend less money, similar to how he wouldn't fix the ventilation or the broken handle on the toilet's door.
Or, life could be like how it currently was, with a ten-foot blue-skinned giant armed with a comparatively small stop sign crouching inside the small supermarket. It was wearing a loincloth barely able to cover his disproportionate genitals, with a belly protruding and a monstrous face with four eyes and a gigantic jaw similar to a white shark... The monster was occupied eating the Beer man, ripping an arm off with a clean bite, the flesh, and bones crunching under the might of the teeth that could probably crush steel like dry biscuits. Suddenly, its head snapped to the side, staring at the electronic counter with two pairs of dark, mean eyes. After searching for a few seconds, it went back to enjoying its snack, fitting the whole body in its mouth. It had been a long while since Beer Man had stopped screaming in pain, a capacity that had been taken away from him when the giant blue monster chewed his head off.
Nash was crouching behind the counter, both of his hands on his mouth, trying to regulate his breathing to make it as slow and silent as possible. Cold sweat was dripping down his spine as his heart beat loudly in his ears, making him deaf to his surroundings. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins madly, making his fingers shake and lack precision. Nash looked at his phone that had slid out of his reach, out of the safety of the counter.
'What is going on?' he thought, his mind struggling to understand the chaos that had broken into his monotonous life. One second, this asshole with an ugly mullet, an unkempt beard, and his perpetual pack of beers under the arm was trying to negotiate to get half the price over his groceries, like he would every Wednesday, and the following second, this blue, terrifying giant broke through the supermarket. It came from the glassed walls, breaking through them as if they were made of paper, before swooping Beer Man from under his feet, as Nash liked to call him, and biting a chunk off him.
The nice girl who always came after her classes, around 6:30 p.m., and always thanked him with a sweet smile, had screamed in terror at the sight, before being thrown against the wall with a simple wave of the giant's hand. Her pitiful amount of groceries had rolled down on the ground, dropped by the now unattached hand, the only remains of the gentle smile being a mixture of flesh, blood, and bones stuck onto the wall right next to Nash.
The alarm of the store suddenly began ringing loudly, coming from every part of the store. If Nash had calculated well, it would have been a dozen minutes late, probably because it was another cheap installation his boss had done in this supermarket. The young man couldn't say whether it was lucky or not that the alarm rang so late, but hopefully, it would disturb the giant and take him away from his current spot, letting Nash a window to escape.
'This is insane,' A thought crossed his mind as he looked at a small discreet drawer locked loosely under the cash register. He knew that there was a ridiculously old revolver in it, with six bullets lying next to it, but there was no way the small handgun would be enough to slay the giant. And what if it wasn't a monster, but a human in disguise? Could he even try and kill this creature?
The sound of someone slipping on broken glasses took Nash out of his thoughts, and he peeked out of the counter just in time to witness Beer Man's twelve-year-old kid, an annoying little piece of shit, get swooped away by the giant's hand and end up in the creature's mouth, swallowed in a matter of seconds. The young man slowly returned to his hiding place, both his hands tightly clasping his head. His eyes were darting around madly, trying to find a way out of this hell, going back and forth between the cell phone on the ground and the drawer with the revolver.
"RARGHHH!!!" Someone suddenly roared from the other side of the store, running loudly. The giant groaned and turned his head over to the side, his attention pulled away for an instant. Nash used the occasion to seize the phone, his hands scrambling to hold it firmly. He glanced in time to see Sport-Suit man running with the store's broom broken shaft, holding it firmly in front of him like a spear. Sports-Suit man was never very talkative, but he always came to shop for his pre-workout here.
Nash almost snorted at the attempt, until the sharp piece of wood pierced through the giant, getting a painful cry out of it. The Sport-Suit man dashed back through the store, instantly choosing to give up his weapon. The giant roared, making the whole store shake, the remaining windows not broken exploding into small glass shards. The giant chased after the Sport-Suit man, knocking over shelves and destroying the suspended ceiling.
Forcing himself to ignore the chaos, Nash opened his cell phone with trembling fingers, the thumbprint recognition function lagging as always. The young man almost threw the phone away in frustration after failing to unlock it, before finally managing to get in. He quickly went into the telephone application, typing the police's number hurriedly. He lowered the sound to the minimum and glanced above the counter, witnessing the Sport-Suit man slide under a shelf and run away out of the store, screaming at the same time. The giant ran behind him, breaking everything in its path, roaring painfully while agitating his stop sign into the air.
Nash watched the scene anxiously for a few seconds until he realized that the phone wasn't ringing. A glance informed him that, somehow, no networks were available. Nash threw away the phone with his teeth clenched, before steeling himself. He stood up and grabbed a packaged screwdriver hanging on the wall behind him, proceeding to angrily rip the tool out of its box. After succeeding in this endeavor, he forced open the drawer, the lock breaking loudly. Inside, a revolver adorned with the letters Smith & Wesson was lying next to six brass bullets.
'Alright, I'll be fine, I'll be fine... You've seen it in these movies, right?' Nash thought, trying his best to keep his cold as he grabbed the revolver. It took him a few very long seconds to open up the cylinder since smacking it on the side simply wasn't the way to do it. It seemed like movies weren't exactly the best instruction guides concerning firearms. Instead, he had to press the cylinder release latch on the left side of the frame near the cylinder and only then smack the cylinder out.
Nash picked a bullet and fitted it into the empty cylinder with trembling fingers, breathing in and out loudly. He repeated the operation until he finished fitting each bullet inside the six-shot revolver. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any safety on the gun. He had seen enough movies of stupid characters being unable to shoot guns because they forgot the safety. Anyway, it seemed like the most important thing to check out. Nash pushed the cylinder back in place, drawing a deep breath to fill his lungs.
The young man aimed the gun upward, willing to avoid any misfire toward any of his fellow humans, and walked out of the market with hushed steps. People began to come out of their hiding places with fearful gazes, some even crying silently. But strangely, no one made a single noise.
'It's not that strange when I think back to it. After all, one wrong movement and you might get killed,' Nash quickly understood, trying to see if the blue giant and Sport-Suit man were nearby. Thankfully, it seemed like the latter had managed to bring the monster away from the market. The young man mentally thanked the stranger's heroic efforts and gazed at the market's exterior. It was a scene of complete chaos that made him feel like the end of the world had come. The asphalt roads were cracked open with huge rifts opening into the depths of the Earth, while cars were burning, some exploding from time to time. But the sky was the most noticeable, and certainly the most deranging.
There were countless circles filled with black, surrounded by different colored lines. It looked like a wall of moon-sized eyes were staring down at the planet, observing wickedly the mess going on. Nash froze and looked at the circles in the sky, seeing them moving, as if they were following a movement. No, they didn't look like eyes, they were eyes. Eyes of star-sized monstrosities that could probably make Earth disappear with a flick of their eyelids.
"Hey, he got a gun!" A man suddenly screamed, before running toward Nash. The young man reflexively turned on his feet and aimed the weapon toward the running man, a well-dressed businessman who came down to get food for his lunch break.
'I probably hate this one the most...' Nash couldn't help but think, looking at the detestable face. The Businessman always made jokes about Nash's working conditions while flaunting his new watch or a new car, mocking the young man's poverty. Nash cocked the revolver without a second of hesitation, making the Business Man freeze in his steps, holding his hands up in a sign of peace.
"Oh shit, hey, don't shoot me!" He pleaded, his eyes darting to the side. A woman with a broken arm also came out of the market, one Nash was unfamiliar with. She wasn't a regular. The Businessman followed his gaze and looked at the woman, before violently pulling her in front of him to use as a human shield. Nash blinked in awe, shocked. The woman didn't have a second to say anything when the Businessman took a pocket knife out of his suit, placing it under the lady's throat.
Nash aimed the gun downward, biting down on his lower lip. The Businessman grinned and held his other hand out.
"Give me the gun, or, I—I kill her!" He had crazy, bloodshot eyes, and looked ready to do anything.
"I need to get to my family, and this gun is exactly what I need!"
Nash looked at the revolver as well as the woman held hostage, her eyes filled with tears.
"We escape a monster to fall in the clasps of another..." Nash muttered, before turning and running away, uncaring. It was illogical to kill the woman if the other party didn't care about her, and since he wasn't willing to let go of the gun, this was the best choice to make. In this situation, the only choice left for the Businessman was to—
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"You–! You fucking piece of shit, come back!" The Businessman screamed, a female voice crying as she was pushed to the ground soon following. Nash ignored both of these, jumping above one of the wide rifts opened in the ground. Right now, the main priority was to get to the hospital and get to her. It seemed like the world had gone to hell, and she was one of the rare people unable to defend herself.
'I need to go get her to safety,' Nash thought as he jumped over his parked motorcycle at the furthest point of the parking lot. He quickly grabbed the key from his pants while discarding his flashy green work vest. He pushed the turned the ignition on, jumped on it, and started the motorbike. The Businessman jumped over the rift while gasping loudly, his physical state not at the same level as his looks. He rushed in front of Nash, grinning evilly with a winner's smile until a rusty blade suddenly pierced through his throat from behind.
The glint of life faded away from the Businessman's eyes as blood gushed out of the wound, his body falling to the side, letting Nash see the murderer. It was a nasty, human-sized creature with two heads a green-skinned frail body, a loincloth covering his body from waist to knee, wielding what looked like an ancient sword. Nash watched helplessly as the green monster stabbed toward him until his survival instinct kicked in and he jumped to the side, abandoning the bike. The sound of the metal crashing against the ground made him clench his teeth in pain; the motorbike was almost as precious in his heart as her.
The green creature giggled wickedly before slashing violently toward Nash, threatening to cut his foot off. The young man rolled back, noticing he had let the revolver fall on the ground next to the motorbike.
'Of course, I had to drop it. Damn it!' He cursed himself as he jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding another attack. The green monster looked eerily similar to the traditional goblin of video games, but with two heads, exploded in another mocking laughter, waving its rusty sword around like a toy. Nash stared at the revolver lying right beside the goblin, calmly observing the creature. For some reason, he didn't feel scared. His hands weren't trembling anymore, his heart was as still as a lake and his breathing regular and slow.
It felt like he had unlocked an instant of clarity amidst the blood, death, and chaos. Nash looked at the goblin lunging forward, slashing downward clumsily with his sword. The young man, instead of jumping to the side or taking a step back, chose to dash forward, charging straight into the creature's chest. The goblin, unprepared for this assault from his prey, was unable to counter and fell back, dropping his sword. Both his heads bounced against the ground, the shock confusing the creature. Nash shot to his feet and grabbed the curved sword, blocking the skinny creature under his knee. With a cold gaze and a ruthless expression, he plunged the sword into the goblin's chest, pinning him to the ground.
Red blood like a human's gushed out, splurging Nash's face, but the young man weakly walked back, the rush of adrenaline and clarity gone, replaced by overwhelming fear. The feeling of flesh cutting under his strength, the bones crackling as the sword went through the skinny, child-like body. The young man fell to his knees and gagged as he couldn't help but stare at the goblin's still-warm body.
"Bleargh!" Nash emptied his stomach to the side, coughing out everything he had eaten earlier, the remains of a sandwich and a pasta salad. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, conscientiously avoiding looking at the creature he'd killed, and stood up.
"This isn't what's important. I need to get to the hospital, damn it..." Nash clenched his teeth and walked up to the revolver, picking it up and safely strapped it to his belt. He picked his motorbike up, his muscles bulging as he forced it back on its wheels.
"Phew, alright..." He muttered, before getting on the bike and shifting up a gear. It seemed like his precious baby had only been lightly scratched by the fall, thank the gods... He made the engine roar and swiftly escaped the parking, avoiding the cracks in the ground. The road was in a disastrous state but the mobility of his bike allowed him to avoid all of the obstacles. His eyes teared up due to the wind, forcing him to squint. He concentrated on the road, ignoring everything on his way. Rolled over cars, blue giants, and green goblins... All of that didn't matter.
Police sirens were ringing through the whole city, barely hearable under the constant cacophony of cries of pain, monstrous roars, alarm cars blaring, or even explosions.
"The world truly went to shit..." Nash said through his teeth, shifting up another gear and accelerating. The path to the hospital was crowded, but it wouldn't stop him from going even faster. He had to hurry. What if she was hurt? What if there were monsters over there as well? A cold, emotionless robot voice rang through his head, making him instinctively clench the brakes and stop the bike.
[Notice: Primitive Planet E-777’s debt has reached a critical point. Termination is due. Analyzing… 7 547 341 124 intelligent life forms found… Issuing the Evacuation System… Non-intelligent life forms are automatically transported in suitable environments…]
'What was that?' Nash scratched his ears, shaking his head in confusion. Perhaps the mess was making him hallucinate? The young man cursed and sped up again, determined to reach the hospital. There were fewer and fewer civilian vehicles on the road, with destroyed transport trucks burning on the sides or even a tank. Had it been a normal situation, Nash might have stopped to check the tank over, but this was no normal situation, was it?
After another turn at a crossroads, Nash finally arrived at the hospital. Dead bodies of strange creatures were lying on the ground, riddled with bleeding holes, some with limbs blown off. Nash clenched his teeth and drove over them, the spinning wheel crushing flesh and bones alike.
The thick metal gate of the hospital was closed off, with soldiers posted at each side of it, heavy machine guns pointed at Nash. They screamed something behind them, and the gate opened, pulled open by a few soldiers. Nash used the occasion and pushed his motor to the maximum, entering the hospital's vicinity. This place was a historical landmark of the city, as it had been used first as a school a few centuries ago, then as a military base during the war. Finally, it ended up as a hospital for the current days. Due to its particular past, there were walls surrounding the historical hospital, protecting it from threats.
'When I think this idiot of a mayor had planned to take them down in a few months... What luck,' Nash thought, his wheels screeching against the ground as he parked it nearby. He realized there had indeed been something broken during the bike's fall, the kickstand nowhere to be seen. Nash clenched his teeth and dropped the bike to the ground, his hand tightly clenched around the revolver's handle at his belt.
The soldiers ran toward him, their expressions bright.
"Thank god, another survivor! Oh, and he has a gun! Are you from a nearby deployment, kid?" One of them asked Nash, his rifle hanging from his shoulder. The young man nodded wordlessly, his lips pinched. The soldiers traded glances before one of them stepped forward and brought the young man inside the hospital, passing his arm over his shoulder.
"Don't worry, we'll let you have a break. We were lucky enough to be near the hospital's vicinity when all hell broke loose..." The soldier's words entered Nash's ear but exited from the other, his mind occupied by a single thought. They passed the electronic doors, the weapon detectors beeping loudly, but no one seemed to care. The main hall was filled with people lying on the ground on makeshift beds, bleeding or screaming in pain.
It was all a blur in Nash's eyes until he caught a sign near a door with "ICU - 1 - 211". He knew this sign by heart since he visited this damned hospital every fucking week, and its sight woke him up from his stupor. He slipped from the friendly soldier's hug and ran toward the door, pushing it open. Maids were running with blood-stained uniforms, their light-pink clothes now entirely crimson, tainted by the blood of their patients.
Nash ran past them, following the numbers above the door of each room.
"27...58...94..." The young man suddenly stopped in front of a door, gasping for air. The number 133 was inscribed on a metal plate above it, while a plastic nameplate with the name Dularfull on it. Nash pushed the door open, deaf to the protestations from the nearby nurses and the soldier who was running after him. The scent of medical equipment and the cold sound of a machine beeping regularly welcomed him, a single bed and a huge Vital Signals Monitor taking the whole place of the room.
On the bed was resting a red-haired girl with a thin face, a mask barely keeping her alive. Her chest was rising up and down weakly, testaments to the lung cancer that forced her into this vegetative stage.
"...Isla..." Nash heaved a sob, before forcing it back into his throat. He kneeled next to the bed, grabbing his sister's hand warmly. She was cold, and her hand felt so...brittle. Thank the gods, an experimental solution had been proposed to them to keep her alive while they waited for a cure, but it was hellishly expensive and had the detriment of forcing the little girl into sleep.
Well, she was of the same age as Nash, but to him, she would always be his little sister. People would often compare them when they were little, saying that if they were of the same gender, they'd probably share the same look as well. Red hair, fair skin, and smiles that nothing could break.
Except cancer.
The brutally cold voice echoed in Nash's head once again, forcing him out of his thoughts.
[Evacuation System successfully issued. Distribution of the [Common Survival Kit] is in progress...Beginning Evacuation of the 6 732 474 489 intelligent lifeforms...]
Nash fell on his back, shocked. A blue screen had appeared in front of his eyes, displaying the same words he just heard a little while earlier.
'Wait, it took me half an hour to come to the hospital...' Cold sweat transpired his back as he realized the truth behind the emotionless voice's words.
"...Did a billion people die already? What the hell is going on...?" He blurted out, his fists tightly clenched. The words [Common Survival Kit] were highlighted as if the window wanted him to press it. Hesitantly, Nash pressed the words, the blue window disappearing as a result. A heavy military bag appeared in the air, before falling on the floor. Nash stared in amazement, wondering how such a thing was possible, before shaking his head.
A seventh of the world's population died, from what that window said. He couldn't afford to be amazed at anything. Protecting his sister and surviving were the utmost priority.
"Focus, Nash, focus..." He hissed through his teeth, before forcing himself to check the bag out. He opened it, finding a week's worth of food and water, a sheathed machete, and a small white box wrapped carefully with a red string. Nash took the machete and tied it on his waist's left side, the other side being already occupied with the Boss's...no, his revolver.
A blue window suddenly appeared in his eyes, making him flinch in surprise. He bit down on his lower lip, suppressing the shock, and read the window's contents.
[Utility Box - Tailor-made]
"...Is this what this box is? How useful..." Nash wished the blue window to be gone, and under his surprised eyes, the window disappeared. He shook his head and opened the small white box by pulling on the thin red string. The wrapper disappeared, replaced by three revolver speed-loaders, all filled with brass bullets. That brought his ammunition total to twenty-four, counting the six already charging his revolver.
"That's what it meant by tailor-made...?" The young man sneered and stored the speed loaders in his pockets, before glancing at his sister once again. He sighed loudly, feeling exhaustion wash over him. The adrenaline stopped pumping into his veins as he finally felt like he was somehow back in control. Now that he knew that his sister was still safe and sound, he couldn't help but calm down. The blue window and the monotonous voice announcing it reappeared once again, shaking him to the core.
[Nash Dularfull - Evacuation spot: 6 127 348 157/6 127 348 157]
"What does that mean?" He mumbled, his eyebrows creased. He dismissed the window, deciding not to bother with this nonsense, just in time to witness his sister's body shine with a blue light and disappear into thin air. The shock was so great he forgot to breathe, his eyes wide opened and his heart taking a pause from beating. After a few seconds of medical death, Nash coughed in a breath, his eyes red with tears.
A second ago, she was there, and a second later, she was gone without leaving anything behind...
Nash suddenly understood what that Evacuation thing was about. Humans were getting picked up by some mysterious force one by one, saved from Earth, as his sister's disappearance proved.
And he, Nash Dularfull, was the last one on the list. A grim expression replaced his shock, his veins pumping adrenaline once more.
"Fuck me."