Chapter 2: Disruption of Peace

1

So here I was, in my dull, uneventful and happy life. Started going to university at the start of this year and tried to earn my business-degree. Well, I was confident I was going to get it, too, it wasn't all that hard and really, it was also the blandest major I could have gone for. It would pay the bills, that was for sure and wasn't that all that mattered really? At least when it came to choosing a career path, it certainly motivated me enough to keep going, despite my lacking interest into the actual topic.

Life went well, to sum it all up in a single sentence, I had a girlfriend, a stable living situation far away from my parents. Or at least, as far as you could get while still being forced to stay in the same city and I had a bunch of shallow friends. They were the reason that I was still out at this time, while the sky turned to a deep shade of night blue. It was a casual hangout, enjoying a few beers together. Lara was there too, my beautiful angel, and after I walked her home, here I was at the subway-station surrounded by a sea of people, looking to get home. It wasn't even that late after all, but we were in the middle of winter, so the dark set in rather quickly. Despite that, not everyone was wearing fifteen layers of clothing, the winters of our planet were fairly mild, something about the surface heating up, I never paid much attention to this kind of stuff. I just enjoyed that I could walk around in a shirt , only sometimes though and this evening I was wearing a dark jacket instead. I just realized that I never introduced myself, despite talking so in-depth about my embarrassing teenage years. Let me catch up on that.

My Name is Mark Paxton, but people used to call me Pax. Since I cut my ties with all my high school acquaintances I rarely heard this cringy nickname again, my little sister was basically the only one who still used it. And she knew I hated it, sigh.

Back to the matter at hand, that being me! There is not much to say about me, if we are being honest. I've got an average build, bland, brownish hair that always seemed to be in a mess. Basically, whenever people passed me they probably forgot about me the second I was out of their field of view.

The only thing that really stood out were my eyes, pale and icy blue, they seemed to chill some people right down to the bone. Which of course was all wrong, there was nothing creepy about me, even my girlfriend could probably kick my ass.

I'm joking, okay?!

I looked the crowd over, bored and unfocused, headphones on my ears, listening to some light music. Not too loud of course, I didn't want to disturb people. Just as a great part came up, I closed my eyes to fully enjoy the music as I suddenly felt something, someone bumping into me. I was a very mellow person, so instead of shouting at the rude interruption I just kinda exhaled, looking for the person who just kinda overlooked me, I guess. It happened, it was rather crowded and I instantly forgave her anyway as soon as laid my eyes on her. She already darted pass me, not even giving me a second glance and the first thing that catches my eye was her long, flowing red hair, growing down to the small of her back. It was more of a hot pink, then a scarlet shade, there was no way this was her natural color, unless I missed some genetic development. It was possible, giving the state of our atmosphere and who would go to such length and color all this hair.

There was just so many of it, very pretty to look at though, yes, rather easy on the eyes.

Ah, who am I kidding, she was drop dead gorgeous, easily the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, in her short plaid skirt, that only revealed a little area of her thighs until it went over in high, black socks. Maybe her face was really ugly then, that was a possibility, right? I heavily doubted it. Damn, I even loved the cute beret she wore on her head, enough to forgot that she shoved me rather rudely aside, I almost stumbled even. Didn't matter, she was that cute...

Maybe I should ask her out.

Wait, you're a taken man, compose yourself. I clenched my fist, my teeth, what a tough decision! Then again, if I waited any longer she'd vanish into the crowd, never to be seen again. What could possibly be the harm in asking her, she'd turn me down anyway, being all out of my league and stuff.

Screw it, I'm doing this!

So I took a step forward and the world exploded in blood and gunfire.

2

Now here is something you might have heard before, most certainly a great number of times, but let me clarify this again: watching people die right in front of your eyes is nothing like the movies. You may watch the most gruesome slasher-horror, the worst torture porn, flicks that are downright illegal and it will still not prepare you for the ugly reality of the situation.

That said, I' m sure everyone reacts differently, so I can only tell you of my personal experience. I heard the gunfire, this numbing noise, before I could even comprehend what was happening and then it felt like my soul left my body, like I was just watching from above, while the bullet-hail raged around my helpless form.

And the storm around me could only be described as a glimpse of hell. The station was crowded to begin with and then all the living and breathing people surrounding me were turned into a screaming mass of terror and blood. They all had their own feelings, thoughts, their own daily little troubles, but all of that vanished as the projectiles teared through their fragile, soft bodies and left them only screaming in agony, one thought remaining in their shocked brains, going absolutely haywire: I don't want to die!

Yet dying was their only option in a life cut way too short. I, however felt disconnected, like all the suffering simply didn't concern me. In reality, I just couldn't fathom that this actually happened, it was too outrageous.

From my vantage point, looking down on the horrific slaughter, I could see my body covered in blood.

It was everywhere, staining my jacket, my pants, running through my hair down into my eyes, still remaining wide open, while the pupils showed only emptiness, a hollow shell left behind in this disgusting world. The shooting seemed to last for hours, the number of victims may have reached the ten-thousands easily and then I remembered.

My cold hate.

My burning rage.

How I despised them.

How I abhorred them!

How I had to rid the world of the plight called weaponry.

And I had to break THEM!

Suddenly, my vision returned, red, like it was tinted in blood and my body was my own again.

They had to pay, I couldn't even see the shooter, but he, they had to pay. Clenching my teeth so hard, my gums started to bleed I took a step forward and the ground crumbled beneath my anger, beneath my blood-soaked sneaker, stepping into running pools of life.

And just as a maniacal grin started to spread out over my face, my consciousness simply vanished, never to return.

3

And this is the end of my story...no, I was just being dramatic, the next minute, maybe it was even half an hour, my eyelids flapped up and I was staring into the blinding light of the subway-station, lying on my back. It took me a moment to register my environment, but the first thing I noticed was the continuous gunfire. Every time, it shook my eardrums, threatening to shatter my aching skull. It seemed much closer too, pressing my hands on my pained ears I dragged myself upright, leaning on some hard surface, the tiled wall of a corridor most likely. A staircase lead right up to the surface, into the release of this nightmare, but the person next to me distracted me from my intentions.

There she was...

Red hair, so bright it might be a shade of pink, dressed in a jacket and short plaid-skirt, a bag hung over her shoulder.

And a handgun in her hands, clutched to her body. She was hiding too, the corner of the wall providing little to no resistance to the enemies assault. Yet she showed her defiance, returning the fire whenever she saw a small window of opportunity, her ridiculously pretty face locked in determination.

But who could take such a cute girl serious?

The way she whimpered whenever a bullet came to close was kind of adorable, but this didn't change the facts.

She was carrying a gun.

She was using it too, with reckless abandon, not caring about the consequences.

It was simple, this made her an enemy of mine and as such she had to be eliminated. A simple shove should suffice, expose her right to the suppression fire and then, after the girl received her just reward, I'd figure out how to punish the other users. At least I assumed that I dealt with more than one attacker, judging by the high lead-concentration in the air, but I would find a way to dispose of them, there was nothing to worry about. My ice-blue eyes focused on the girl, cold and unflinching, I started to rise.

Then I felt a sharp pain close to these cold eyes and snapped back to my senses.

“Shit, this really burns.”, I whimpered, pressing a hand to my cheek and feeling a warm wetness clinging to my fingers.

Blood, I was bleeding, how did this happen?!

M vision blurred as reality started to sink in. I could die here, in fact, it was very probable that my life would end in the next moments. I heard the girl, how she drew a sharp breath as another bullet barely missed her, just an inch from ending her existence. Just as mine was about to vanish!

My throat felt so tight, I could hardly breathe. How was I even alive, the vivid memories returned, how I stood right in the middle of the onslaught while innocent people around me begged for their lives. All I felt in this moment, was rage, as my foolish teenage endeavors resurfaced.

I was going to break them?!

Absolutely laughable, they'd put a cap in my head without even really noticing me and then my world would end. It was too much, it was too scary, I couldn't stand it, I had to run, I had to escape, didn't even care about anything else. Breathing heavily, choking I turned away from the girl, dropping on all fours to make for the staircase. But before I could even make a move, I really was being choked, something, someone seizing the collar of my shirt and pulling me back.

“Noooo, please, let me go, don't kill me. I don't even understand, what do you want?”

I screamed, expecting some masked guy, someone in black, heavy armor behind me, his gloved hand tearing the fabric. Someone straight out of this video.

“Pull yourself together, you wimp! I can't protect you if you lose your head!” It was a girls voice instead, but her tone resembled the shouting voice of a drill sergeant, far away from the image of a college girl in a short skirt and high socks.

“Listen to me!” ,she shouted, while dragging me back against the wall, landing painfully on my behind, “At this point, we are totally surrounded, if you step outside, up these stairs, they will kill you before you can breath some fresh air. So. Just. Stay. The. Fuck. By. My. Side.” Following every word was a shot out of her gun, there was a fleshy sound in the distance and the red-head grinned triumphantly, hiding again.

I clutched my head, my fingers digging into the skin on my skull. This couldn't happen, how did I end up in a goddamn gunfight? Shaking all over, the urge to just retch up my dinner became overbearing.

“Please...I...I can't.” my stuttering never reached the girl anyway and that was just as well. It was futile anyway, this couldn't be real, I had to be dreaming, just a moment ago I was experiencing a mundane day like any other and now...the blood trickled down my cheek, staining my jacket. As I looked down in annoyance over such a meaningless matter, I started to scream,cause I only just noticed: I was covered in blood!

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It was completely staining, like someone pushed me into a bathtub filled with the red liquid. Desperately tearing at my clothes, the last remains of my sanity threatened to shatter.

“Oh god, it's just...everywhere.”

“Well, it's not your blood, right? Better be thankful for that.”

Y-yeah, she was right, at least I wasn't hurt. Only all the other people were hit and brutally murdered, innocent people just following their daily routines, children on their way home to their worried parents. It was no big deal, after all, I was just covered in their blood and who knows what else...the contents of my stomach finally forced themselves up my throat.

“Ugh, this is disgusting. And also, we are getting nowhere...”

“I'm...sorry...”

“No, no, don't worry about it, it's only natural. Just be grateful that you can't see what I see right now...”

“...Huh?” Did...did she mean...?

“Nothing. But I think this calls for extreme measures.”

Her slender arm slipped into her bag and produced a round item, roughly the size of a small pineapple.

“Is this...?”

“Just cover you ears or something.” she flashed a wry smile, pulled the pin, then the grenade vanished out of my sight.

I simply obeyed her instructions, covering my ears as hard as I could. At this point, thinking about the events at hand was a sure-fire way to lose my sanity, so I just obeyed. It was freeing, in a way, no matter how ironic this may sound.

The explosion still shook me to my very core, but at least I felt no pain.

As the girl gripped my arm, pulling me to my feet, I almost fainted. Blood was dripping everywhere. Staining the white tiles, as I dragged behind the girl, her slender back the only thing in my glassy vision.

Until we turned the corner at least.

I was screaming internally, only panicked breathing left my physical body as I looked over the corpses spread out over the subway-platform. I suppose it wasn't that bad before, still disturbing but in the end it was just a bunch of bodies, sprawled out and riddled with bullet holes while lying in a vast sea of blood, that's how I could imagine it at least.

Unfortunately, then the grenade happened.

And now I was looking at the ripped remains, a head lying around, burned and bloody, a single eye still staring at me, an arm, a leg, entrails, all scattered around, like a storm of blades raged among the corpses. My body, in his endless cruelty, refused to faint again at the terrible view.

There was smoke too, obscuring everything behind the stomach-turning sight. What an odd weapon the girl used, I never heard of such a contraption, but then again, I never paid much attention to military developments, nobody did.

It could get you on a list you never wanted to be on.

Weird how my mind wandered, nothing like this mattered right now, not while I was being dragged towards the smoke, while the pretty girl shot bullet after bullet into the gray mass, emitting a tearing, fleshy noise whenever she hit someone.

It was impossible for me to wrap my head around the way she killed these people, how she could shoot them so accurately despite being virtually blind. Obviously I also could not confirm whether they died or not, but I kinda just knew.

I felt it, how she extinguished these lives, merciless, but it was necessary. Of course, I never actually felt it, that would imply I possessed some kind of super-power, but...well, it was impossible to describe, like a chill in the air, whenever she launched a projectile and the following absence of human warmth.

Nobody could fault her for this, they started it, they started a shootout at a crowded station, so she had any right to fight back and she even saved my life in the process.

That said...i did fault her for it, I wanted her to stop it, to throw this ugly instrument of death away and see the error of her ways.

I needed her to and I just had to berate her.

Later though, the enemy just started to spray now, hoping to hit something they couldn't see and the projectiles came dangerously closer. I felt them rushing past us, flinching every time, but then we reached the cloud.

Out of pure instinct I held my breath, not knowing if the smoke would actually be toxic, but why would I take any chances? Still the guns roared, ringing in my ears, then suddenly I was pulled downwards, almost stumbling. I felt some hard, metal planks underneath my light shoes, obviously we were standing on the rails.

“This way!” She seemed used to shouting orders, sounding so natural, while she tugged on my arm, showing exactly where she intended to run.

And running we did, my breath was growing ragged and I almost stumbled over the subway-tracks, yet somehow I managed to keep up, as we entered the tunnels, dimly lit by an ominous, orange light.

Now I don't think I have to specifically mention this, but I was experiencing hell. Never could I have imagined running through a tunnel, deep underground, while being hunted by dangerous soldiers. It was a scene straight out of my nightmares and really, all I wanted was to wake the hell up!

However, there were some things that showed me just how real all of this was. For one thing, my lungs burned like I swallowed lava, I simply couldn't keep running, not at this pace. I wasn't out of shape, at least I wouldn't say so, but this was too much, how did she run so fast with her slim frame? Could such a thin body hide so much strength?

“Please, I...i need a break.”, I pleaded, coughing violently.

“Sure thing, just catch your breath. Oh, I know, why don't we take, like, half an hour, I am pretty sure some nice guys will turn up and we can actually rest forever!”

Her fake smile turned into a clicking of her tongue in my general direction:”Why do I even bother with this guy?”

So it was more running, I soldiered on, even if that meant acting like a new recruit who pooped his pants and started crying the moment he had to take his first run. I mean, this was just a metaphor I didn't actually shit myself, of course not.

While my tear-stained face glistened red in the dim light, I pondered her question.

Yes, why did she bother?

This perfect, pretty girl. I had no connection to her, never met her before and there were a lot of other people that she could have saved.

It might not be the time and place, but I decided to just ask:”Why...ugh, helping me...*cough*?”

That didn't work out as intended...

“What? Save you breath, I don't know how much longer we will have to run.”

I almost fell flat on my ass, as she stopped me in my tracks...on the tracks. Her arm stretched out, she was grabbing my shirt:”Wait, don't move, don't even make a sound.”

Her voice was a whisper, soft like silk, but I didn't understand, there was only the dark tunnel in front of us. Not a soul to be found, no actual reason to be upset. And yet even I could see the strain in her muscles, how her whole body anticipated an attack.

And then I heard the rumbling. Once. Then twice. Small pieces of debris rained down on us and my eyes followed their trail, to the ceiling hidden in shadows.

My heart was pounding or maybe that was because of the ripples spreading through the tunnel.

There is something I need you to understand: for all my adult life, I lived in the blissful ignorance of a normal life. Yes, I had my fair share of fantasies, I admired books and all kinds of TV-shows but in the end, nothing spectacular happened to me anymore. And I was content with that, I cherished it. There were no monsters, no demons or superpowers, everything could be explained rationally and became quite ordinary once you really looked into it. Basic principles of our daily life, like a safety net to prevent our descent into madness.

For me, this net ripped apart the moment the ceiling caved in, the rocks only barely missing us, while a giant figure dropped from the sky.

4

He was a hulking giant of a man, his muscles bulging while he probably stood six heads above my size.

Before I could take in the sight, before my mind could shatter beneath this reality-defying beast, I was dragged around again, behind another wall.

She was grabbing me, pressing me against the cold, hard stone wall, her small hand on my mouth, while her little body helped to keep me in place. There was no pleasure I could derive out of this, I felt way too terrified. Restraining me was pointless, though, I was frozen in fear anyways.

“They're not here...” a voice growled, like the devil himself speaking out of a deep, pitch-black pit.

I guess I could come up with some better metaphors, but you get my point, right? It wasn't a pleasant thing to listen to.

Another voice answered, a distorted one, maybe coming out of a helmet?

“We only received reports that they definitely entered this tunnel, sir.”

“Hrrrgh, spread out then! They won't be able to hide from us any longer.”

The ground seemed to be shaking, as the heavy steps rumbled through the darkness.

“Gotta find her...we have to find the giiirrrrl...”

All I could do was wait and the “girl” agreed with me, standing completely still. Minutes seem to pass until we finally moved again and I was simply proud that I never soiled my pants. This time, I was dangerously close.

“What the FUCK was that?” I exclaimed, my voice low. I still almost didn't dare to speak but I just had to vent my emotions.

She just walked away, continuing on our way while we navigated the rocks littering our path. This was dangerous, what if the subway passed through here. Up ahead, the moon shone some of its light on us.

“Hey, isn't it high-time you explain a few things to me?” I was getting annoyed, the fear made me moody.

“No. It's better if you know nothing at all.”

“You never even told me your name...”

“Good, even seeing my face puts you in danger, so be thankful I won't share anything else. I'm saving your life here...again.”

Well, she wasn't wrong, I owed her everything.

“But...how can I help you if you won't tell me anything?”

She snickered at that, it was rather mockingly.

“Help me? What, you're going to be my hero? That's funny. Simply put, you can't. Maybe if you applied yourself and after ten years of extensive training, you could distract someone long enough, so I can take him out. Heh.”

...That was just cruel.

“No, as soon as you're safe, I'm going to ditch you and you can continue your peaceful life. I'd recommend a good shrink though, witnessing such a massacre can really mess with someone's psyche.”

It was impossible to read her, I only saw her red-pinkish hair from behind so I couldn't see her expression and her voice allowed no hint to how she felt. Was she really that hard-boiled, really so cold to joke about this stuff? It had to affect her, she was a human after all. Couldn't really say the same about that giant though, the one now lurking in these tunnels. The thought made my skin crawl.

“You don't actually enjoy this life right? Why don't you just quit? Everyone should just lay down their weapons. And if they don't we'd have to force them, don't you agree?”

Shaken by my experiences, my teenage fantasies spilled out of me, but her response was clear. Finally she turned around, in her eyes lay nothing but the promise of a slow, painful death.

“...what did you say?”

She was so scary, much scarier then the hulking mass of a person. Mesmerized by her green eyes, I took a step back, only to stumble over some rock, knocking a pile of rubble down. It was a noisy affair, echoing through the tunnel and my heart stopped.

As I sat on my butt, staring up at the pretty girl in her short skirt, I swallowed deeply:”T-they didn't hear this, right?”

“Oh, they most certainly...”

She was cut short by a terrible growl shaking me to my very core.

Now this girl normally seemed very composed, but as this terrible voice rumbled through these tunnels, I thought she started shaking, ever so slightly. I couldn't just be my imagination and I also couldn't blame her. After all, I nearly passed out from the fear, my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest and every breath came ragged and hurt my throat.

If this monster would catch me...

And then we heard his footsteps, not the slow quakes we felt before, but a staccato, like hammers driven into the ground, in rapid succession and then this growl again.

“Run!”, the girl cried out, but before the word could even reach me I already entered a full-sprint. My mind was shutting off, it was a fight-or-flight situation and there was no way I could ever fight this thing, I only had one resort.

Getting the hell out of here!

I think she was by my side, when I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, but honestly I didn't care. My own survival was the only thing on my mind and I know how pathetic this might seem to anyone hearing this story. We all want to be the hero, the one who puts the life of other people before their own, but as I was running down this dark tunnel all I could think was: please don't catch up. Please, oh god, please don't do it. Never before in my life have I felt such intense dread, such raw emotion. Like a frightened animal, mere prey running away from a superior species, my natural enemy, that's how I felt. And I never felt this specific fear again for a long time.

“What do we do now?” I yelled on top of my lungs, breath I maybe should have invested into more running.

“Shut up, I'll work something out. I don't know what this guy is either.”

That surprised and I wasn't even sure why. She just seemed to be very knowledgeable of this new world I was suddenly thrust into. Well, what I actually took from this exchange was more something like: This is it. You are going to die now, brutally. Damn, I had a boring life, nothing of note happened and I left nothing behind, really. The only good part was, none of this would matter in a little while. Man, I sure hoped it wouldn't hurt, at least give me that much, goddammit.

“There you are!”

A voice yelled in front of us. By now, I could easily recognize these sounds, muffled and distorted by their helmets. More soldiers. Actually, I had yet to get a good look on these guys and once again I was dragged away before I could really see them.

“Get in here!”, the girl yelled at me, grabbed my arm and tugged me to the side. I stumbled into another corridor, hearing the angry voices behind us.

“What are they doing? Follow them, now.”

“Wait, up above!”

The rest was screams and gunfire, disorientated I staggered to my feet.

“We actually made it.” I sighed, just relieved to be alive. At this point I just said whatever popped into my head, I normally hated rambling people, but it certainly helped calm me down. So whatever, let me have this:”That was pretty scary, huh?”

She ignored me, forging ahead.

We arrived at another door and it looked heavy. The girl put her delicate hand on the handle and without looking at me, mumbled full of disdain:”Could your wipe your tears? That's disgraceful.”

As I swiped over my cheeks, I only then realized how wet my face was.