V-00000.9 - Effigy
“Jesus Christ Viktor, that was kind of fucked up. I didn’t think you’d have me missing Alice so fast.”
“We all miss Alice.”
“Gods, we really should get you someone to talk to, because this is getting all kinds of psychotic.”
"Yeah, I get the distinct feeling therapists are going to be at a premium going forward.”
My conversation wrapped up just as I approached my destination with night having fallen whilst I was dragging my makeshift effigy for the added road burn effect. The urban Reapers factory lay just up ahead. I walked up to the gate frame and threw the apron noose end over it and heaved on it, using the end like a pulley to hang Marcus. I tied the rope off on the gatepost before walking off, stalking away into the night.
“This better fucking works.”
"Well, it should damn well give them a fright. I just have doubts a single effigy is going to be enough to make them 'despair,’ you know.”
“Plus seriously, the worlds falling apart: one guy never comes back, and a day later another guy is hung up on your porch tortured. You don’t just go about your business; you hunker down; you gotta think about how you want to play this Vik, especially since that jet this morning. It seems shits happening in the world, and you are just doing whatever you want, no questions asked. That’s probably not going to last long.”
“Mmm Fuck… You’ve got a point.” I paced slightly around the rooftop adjacent to the reapers factory, taking a drag on my cigarette. “Any suggestions?”
"Yeah, I got a couple rattling around your head. First things first, please steal a lot of cigs and stuff, cause you get really bitchy without em.”
"Mm, good point. I’ll get on that; however, I meant how to deal with these subhuman fuckers, not how to handle MY GOD DAMN MOOD.” I replied, my voice raising with each word.
"See, I told you, man, bitchy, I was getting to that anyway. You could just start killing people, like the non-gangsters. Remember what the system said after you killed Adam, right? It’s awarding you experience for this shit.” I said with a gesture out to the streets around me, giving a physical medium to the voice in my head.
“Oh Jesus, fucking Christ, it’s always the same shit with you. Listen, you murder happy Gremlin. I may not like them. Hell, I actually kind of hate these people, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to go walking around murdering people and cackling like a goddamn cartoon villain.”
"Fine, ignore me, belittle my help, but you better think of something because you’re going to need some real firepower to take that building, and we both know you’re not going to get over your dislike of firearms.”
Shit its go time; let’s do this.
Pulling the silver mask down over my face, I drop my cigarette, staring down at the factory as the door opens. Intent on capitalizing and making a lasting first impression, I step over to the edge in full view of the street and watch a young man step out of the building; his features darkened as he saw the strung-up corpse of Marcus hanging over the gates.
He stooped over and started puking, leaving the door open clearly too shocked to care. Once he finally regained his composure, he started glancing around his head, spinning left to right until finally he saw me looking down at him.
I raised my hand, dragging my thumb over his throat in a gestured threat, as another older man stepped out and looked up as well.
Believing this would be enough to put them on edge and spark some real fear in them, I began to step away from the ledge, already changing my focus to running and getting out of here before they got over the initial shock and tried to catch me, when a loud bang perforated the air and dropped me to a knee mid-stride.
What the Fuck was that?
I thought when suddenly the pain hit me, searing and screaming heat in my leg forced me to bite my back teeth, hard groaning and fighting to silence the scream in my throat as I looked down and saw the holes in my calf where a bullet had hit and tore out of my leg.
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Shit… shit got to go, can’t let them catch me like this... Fuck can’t let them know I’m hurt; it’ll ruin this whole performance.
I braced my knee and forced myself up and started limping away hobbled as I was having to jump with my good leg to keep a good stride going.
I leapt onto the fire escape and flipped myself over the railing and let go, catching myself on the next railing down to stop my freefall. sheer agony screamed up my arm as my weight recoiled into my shoulder threatening to tear it from the socket, I reached out to the ladder that led to the streets below.
With my free hand gripping the metal hard, I began sliding down fast, and when my feet touched the ground, I sank down to my knees, scraping them as I slammed into the concrete, unable to properly hold my own weight.
Shouts were ringing out in the distance from the factory as people were being told to get up there and find me. The panicked angry voices hit my ears like a death knell and forced me back into action, pushing myself up. I once again started my hobbled run, limping down the streets. I was forced to keep running for gods know how long as they continued their pursuit, my leg leaving a bloody trail that made it impossible to lose them.
Great fucking plan Viktor just stands in full view with no cover, so any asshole can take a potshot at you.
Fuck you, I didn’t think they’d get a shot off from that distance.
Yeah, that’s your problem; you don’t fucking think... You need to get out of the city and lose them in the tree line.
Following my own advice, I corrected my course-making for the outer edges of the city. I could already tell fewer people were looking for me than before; clearly, a number of them had given up the pursuit based on the fact that only a few voices haunted my footsteps.
I ran through the streets, finally making it into a clearing when I heard another gunshot ring out. The massive stretch of land between the wilds and the city’s edge had me out in the open and exposed to any asshole with a gun. Another wave of adrenaline surged into me, putting the wind at my back.
Pain licked my arm when a bullet grazed my bicep as I broke into the forest, using the trees for cover.
I took a hard right, attempting to confuse anyone who was following me, and kept running, losing myself in the tree line under a vein, hoping they couldn’t find me if I couldn’t find myself.
The voices got quieter and quieter until finally there was silence, and I allowed myself to slow down once I broke my stride and lost the momentum. I dropped hard, falling to a knee, barely catching myself on a tree to avoid face planting. A sick feeling crawled into my stomach and scrambled up my throat as I puked hard, vomiting a mixture of stomach acid and all the adrenaline that had kept me going.
I leaned back onto my knees and wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve and started crawling forward, twisting around with a groan to lean my back against a tree. Looking up into the sky, I could see the sun starting to set, bringing a wave of drowsiness as the sun closed its omniscient eye on me.
Fighting to keep my eyes open, I grabbed the edge of my pants leg and pulled it off at the torn knee. I winced while I tied off the denim strip around my leg, my breath coming heavy with each passing moment.
Fuck me… I need to... stay awake.
My thoughts were moving through molasses as my vision started dimming colors and vision faded away from me like an old TV turning off the picture slowly shrinking into the middle before eventually everything went black.
Flashes of imagery assaulted my mind, feverous dreams mixing into twisted memories, fights, and screaming matches with my father replaying in my head until their eventual conclusion somehow wrapped around to me killing Alice. My fractured mind granted me no quarter; every method I knew to hurt someone to kill was leveraged into my dreams of killing Alice.
Slowly the dreams faded into a blackness when a feeling of something cold and wet stroked my arm. The feeling moved to my hand then to my exposed leg. I awoke screaming and flailing when horrible burning pain tore into my calf. My eyes flew open as I punched forward, connecting to a furry head.
The creature recoiled from me as my fist hammered its eye, sending it skittering a few feet away from me with a whine. The beast before me stood short on four legs with long ears, sharp fangs, and predatory eyes. Locking eyes with the predatory visage wracked me with fear until my brain fully switched on and I saw how reluctant it was to approach me and how small the creature was.
"OH, Fuck me… I thought you were a wolf. YOU BASTARD COYOTEE”
My scream sent the thing a few feet back from me; however, its fear quickly faded when I tried to stand and I slipped down, the fresh chunk of meat missing from my leg combined with the bullet hole ensuring I was grounded.
I stared the wild animal down, rage, pain, and a spreading feeling of weakness and helplessness filling me. I took a deep breath, slowly reaching into my pocket to grab a knife. My heart hammered in my ears with every movement as I desperately tried to not alert the coyote to my intentions.
My eye twitched, and suddenly the coyote launched forward as I threw my hand out. The blade flew away from my hand into the coyote’s throat, digging itself deep into creature fur. The beast's eyes went wide; its momentum carried it forward into me, smashing me hard back into the tree like a hammer. I reached up and grabbed its snout, forcing its mouth shut as it scratched and lacerated my chest with its claws, trying to take me with it into death.
My mouth opened wide as I bit into it, my teeth fighting through its fur and pelt to get to the gooey fleshy throat under the natural armor of the predatory animal. My jaw ripped through the thing's neck in seconds, spilling its delicious... Heaven sent blood into my mouth; I could feel it dying faster in my hands, weakening its claws and slowing down as its blood spilled into my stomach, stitching closed the tears in my chest as fast as the wolf made them, soft white scars growing over my pectoral muscles.
Lungs screaming for air I couldn’t stop myself from drinking and draining the creature, even as my head began to ache from the loss of air. Biting down harder and twisting my neck back and forth, I ripped a chunk out of its neck, swallowing with a breath of air, and I sighed with contentment.
“Fuuck… Oh gods, fuck me, that was too close.”
Opening my status, I read through my new notifications.
[Trait Eater: New Genus Discovered:
[Coyote slain, experience acquired]