Kano left Urick to conceal himself amidst the rubble of a neighboring building. The idea was he’d cover her once the attack was underway. It seemed like the best use of him, and this way he couldn’t get in her way. Proceeding alone, she crept toward the building in their path. She kept low and pulled herself up onto a windowsill.

The room beyond was empty, and she couldn’t hear anyone nearby, so she went in. It smelled of old sweat and rotting food—a number of people must have been living here for quite some time. But that wouldn’t last much longer, not if Kano had anything to say about it. The only light came from the moonlight streaming through the window, but it was more than enough for Kano to see by.

From what she could hear, everyone nearby was asleep, but she wasn’t planning on taking any chances. There were an awful lot of them; best to keep things simple. The more she could take out before they knew they were under attack, the better. She assumed that her enemies were only ghouls, but not having identified them yet bothered her.

Peeking around corners and listening, Kano approached the nearest sleeping person. They were a few rooms away from where she’d entered. Quiet as she was, moving through the hallways made her tense. They were clear of rubble or other debris, leaving her exposed.

When she reached the closest room where she’d detected someone sleeping, she was relieved. All that was left was to put a quick end to them. A figure wrapped in a blanket rested inside the small room. Kano approached, intending to strangle them in their sleep.

But as she reached for their neck, she saw something that gave her pause. It was a picture, set in a silver frame, of a man and a woman smiling and holding a tiny person between them. This was a ghoul? In Kano’s experience, the ones who lived outside Shorinstown were little better than animals, living from one meal to another. That one of them would keep a memento was absurd. But the proof of it was right there in front of her.

She’d been prepared to kill them a moment ago without the slightest remorse. Now the thought of it made her sick to her stomach. Was this just a result of her damaged brain, or was what she’d been about to do wrong? She wished that there was someone who could tell her what was real, but there was no one. Still standing over the sleeping figure, riddled with indecision, Kano had an idea. There was no need to kill them now; she could bring them back to the rest of the group instead. Together they could figure out if they should kill this ghoul.

She didn’t think Thirty-Six and Urick would be much help, but surely Yon would have some insight to share. Kano smiled. It was an excellent plan. The only problem was how to take her prisoner back without waking everyone else up. She considered trying to knock them out, but that was too unreliable. And there was the chance she’d kill them by accident.

She’d have to gag and bind them—it was the only way to be sure. Grabbing a shirt off the floor, she tore off a strip. She gripped the cloth and took a deep breath. If she was going to succeed, she’d have to be quick and precise. Rolling them over, she pulled their mouth open and shoved her makeshift gag inside. She tied the ends around the back of their head and wrapped them tightly in their own blanket as they woke.

They struggled as she swung the bundle onto her back, but it didn’t seem like they could cry out. Kano hurried back to the window she’d come through and ran out into the night. The captive continued to struggle, and Kano had to use both hands to keep them constrained. Wrestling with them the whole way, she made it back. She hoped they were worth keeping alive—she’d gone through an awful lot of effort to spare them. Yon and Thirty-Six were sitting in quiet conversation when she got back.

“Hey,” Kano said, tossing her burden on the ground. “I’ve brought a prisoner.”

“Err,” Yon said, walking over, “why? I thought you were going to kill the lot of them.”

“Yeah, but this one seemed strange for a ghoul. I thought I should bring them back, see if you thought I should kill them or not.”

“Strange?” Yon asked, voice bright with excitement as she peered down at the figure still rolled up in their own blanket. “How so?”

Put on the spot, Kano found it difficult to express just why she’d felt the way she had. She found she hadn’t the words to explain the half-understood cascade of emotions the picture had evoked. It had been, after all, just a picture. “They had… a picture beside them while they were sleeping. It was of a man and a woman holding a tiny person and looking excessively pleased. That’s… not something a ghoul would normally do, right?”

Yon pursed her lips. “It does seem odd. I’m not sure I’ve encountered many people who retain such sentimental mementos, let alone ghouls. As you went to the trouble of bringing them back alive, I’m assuming you wouldn’t mind if I spoke with them?”

“Go ahead.”

The captive had partially freed themselves while they were talking, so Kano sat on their back while she undid the gag. Now that she could get a closer look at them, she could see he was a clean-shaven young man.

“Wait,” Yon said while Kano was still removing the gag. “Let me speak with him first.” She kneeled down in front of the prisoner. “I’m going to need you to stay calm and answer my questions. If you cooperate, I promise no harm will come to you. Do you understand?”

He nodded, and Yon gestured for Kano to continue.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“What do you want?” the man demanded after a few deep breaths. He sounded remarkably calm to Kano, given he’d been woken up by being abducted.

Yon sighed. “Why don’t you start by telling me your name?”

“It’s Bornon,” he replied, meeting her gaze. Yon gave the names of Kano and herself.

“Well, Bornon, I’m sure you heard what Kano said, so why is it you cling to this picture of yours? It seems like strange behavior for a ghoul.”

Bornon’s lip curled. “I’m not a ghoul, I’m human.”

Kano opened her mouth to ask what a human was, but Yon raised a hand to silence her.

“A human?” Yon asked. “That… shouldn’t be possible. Humans are supposed to be extinct. Where did you come from?”

“It’s a long story. We were put into suspended animation, to wait until the world was sorted out. But at some point, the system failed, and we were brought into this… hell.” He clenched his teeth and glared at Yon. “The one brought about by you and your kind.”

“You can blame me all you want,” Yon said, examining her nails, “but what happened was your own fault. Where do you think necromancers came from in the first place? We were created by humanity.”

“Bullshit. That’s no excuse. Even if humans did make you, that’s no reason to destroy civilization.”

Yon seized him by the collar. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. The humans made us to do their dirty work for them, and we did. But what did we get? Gratitude? No, they tried to destroy us. Did you think we’d just accept our fate and allow these inferior, outdated creatures to unmake us?”

Blinking away tears, Yon got to her feet and addressed Kano. “Forget what I said. You can kill him if you want. I don’t care anymore. He’s no use to me whatsoever.”

Kano watched as Yon stomped off into the ruins.

“Uhh,” she said, still sitting on Bornon’s back, “well, you heard her. Is there some reason why I shouldn’t kill you?”

Bornon hung his head. “Not really… You may as well just do it. At least I won’t have to live in this world any longer.”

“I don’t understand,” Thirty-Six said, coming over. “Why don’t you want to live anymore?”

He looked up at the small creature cocking its head at him. “There’s nothing left of the world I used to care about. All that’s left are monsters like your friend in the black robe. What’s the point of going on?”

“Can’t you just find new things to care about? I haven’t been on the surface long, but it seems like there’s all sorts of different things up here.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“There’s… lots of different kinds of people, buildings too. People like Kano, for example. She saved me and all the others, and now we’re living in her house with her.”

Bornon laughed. “Did she now? The same person who’s on the verge of killing me?”

“I’m not on the verge,” Kano said, getting off him. Despite what Yon and the man himself had said, killing him still felt wrong. “I guess I’m… like Thirty-Six. I don’t understand you. Not one bit.”

“Of course you don’t,” Bornon said with a sneer. “You and everything else the necromancers created are just poor imitations of humanity. For all the ways that they’re ‘superior’ to us, everything they do seems to revolve around humans. It’s kind of funny, really.”

Kano didn’t much see the humor in it, but it was strange. “What exactly are humans, anyway? How are they different from ghouls?”

“You… really don’t know?” Bornon asked, shaking his head. “I suppose our era must be long past if there are people out there who don’t even know what humans are. Did you know that our civilization once stretched from one corner of the globe to the next? Obviously those days are long gone.”

Thirty-Six scratched their head. “But globes don’t have corners.”

“You’re a real smartass, kid.” He chuckled and added, “It’s just a figure of speech.”

“Wouldn’t there be signs of your people if that were the case?” Kano asked.

“Signs? What the hell are you talking about? Who do you think built all these buildings?”

“You guys built all of this?” Kano asked. Wide-eyed, Kano and Thirty-Six looked around at the ruined city around them.

“What did you build them for?” Thirty-Six asked. “If there weren’t many of you, then why did you need so many buildings?”

Bornon shook his head. “You people are unbelievable. It’s because there used to be a lot of us! Isn’t that obvious?”

“Don’t yell at Thirty-Six,” Kano said. “Just because it used to be obvious, doesn’t mean it is now. And you still haven’t explained the difference between ghouls and humans.”

Thirty-Six nodded their head in agreement.

“Fine, my bad. I guess it’s not necessarily obvious to you people. As for the difference… I don’t really understand the finer details of it, but the biggest difference is that ghouls are artificial, and humans are natural. Ghouls are made by attaching an artificial soul to a mass of biomatter, which turns into its body, or something like that. You probably know more about it than I do. Whereas humans are created from… the union of a man and a woman. The man provides his seed, and the woman gives birth to the child.”

“Okay,” Kano said, “but what’s a child?”

“A young human. They start off small, kind of like her,” he said, nodding at Thirty-Six, “but eventually they grow into adults like myself.”

“Oh,” Kano said, “that’s weird. Wait… you said Thirty-Six was a girl.” She turned to Thirty-Six. “Are you a girl?”

“Yeah. Couldn’t you tell?”

“Not really. You and the other children all kind of look the same to me.”

“Anyway,” Bornon said, “I’ve answered your questions. Does that mean I’m free to go?”

“Not yet,” Kano said. “Who are the other people you’re with? Are they also humans?”

“Yeah, they are. Why?”

“We came here looking for an old facility. Will your people let us pass?”

“That old place? What for?”

“It’s… hard to explain. There’s something wrong with me, and Yon thinks there might be something there that can help.”

“A necromancer that’s trying to help someone?” Bornon asked with an upward quirk of his lips. “Now that’s hard to believe. So long as you don’t plan on attacking us or kidnapping anyone else, you’re free to pass. Is there anything else, or can I get back to bed now?”

“No, that’s everything.”

Turning his back to them, Bornon trudged back toward his home.

“Wait,” Thirty-Six called. He stopped, and she continued, “Why don’t you come with us?”

“What?” he asked.

“Come with us. You said there was nothing left for you in this world, right? Why not go and see more of it? Maybe you’ll find something you’ll like.”

Frowning, Bornon crossed his arms. “You’re serious?”

Thirty-Six looked up at him and smiled. “Yep.”

“I’m not sure if it’s me who’s insane, or the world. Probably both.”

“So you’ll come?”

He sighed. “Fine. It’s not like I have much else to do.”

They were getting ready to leave when Kano remembered she’d left Urick behind. Excusing herself, she went to fetch him before he shot someone. He wasn’t too happy about crouching in his cramped hidey-hole for more than an hour, with no idea what was happening. He made sure she knew how he felt about it by the time they got back. It made Kano wonder if she wouldn’t have been better off leaving him there. She supposed he could at least serve as emergency rations if it came to that.