After an extensive search that lasted almost a full day it was time to call it quits. The chances that anyone would be found alive at this point was too small to risk bringing danger to the search teams.
Hanging his head in defeat, the captain of the rescue forces slumped down into the driver’s seat of his 4WD and brought his hands up to his face, wiping his eyes and sighing with disgust.
Just a day ago he was helping to fight off one of the largest bushfires he had ever seen and now he could only curse whoever it was that brought such extensive damage and chaos to the town of Remlin.
Over eighty percent of the housing and infrastructure of the town had been damaged beyond repair and many charred and broken corpses laid strewn about the entire town. The big complex owned by Regent had suffered an even worse fate, parts of its building having melted and fused together and puddles of ooze that must have once been metal and cement scattered around the area. The smell of charred bodies and burning sewage was almost too overbearing for most of the rescue teams, causing many to empty the contents of their stomachs and break down into tears at the sad sight that had greeted them.
“Captain… You know there’s nothing more we can really do. I find it hard to believe that anyone else could have survived from this. At least we managed to rescue a few hundred people.” An aged man in his early fifties placed his hand on the captain’s shoulder and tried to reassure him. His greying hair was filled with black soot and his face was suffering the same fate, obscuring any distinct features from the thickness of it.
“I understand that much! It’s just…” The captain lashed out, swinging his arm up and flinging the older man’s hand off before scrunching up his face and turning to face outside the window.
“…”
“…”
“Sorry Graham… I just… Hate feeling this powerless to help those who need it, you know?” The captain sighed once before placing his keys in the ignition and starting up the car, the soft rumbling and vibrations causing him to relax slightly.
“!? Captain! Look at that!” A sudden yell from right next his ear caused the captain to flinch a little before he turned to the side in haste and looked to where Graham was pointing to.
“…?” He was perplexed by what he was looking at, the scene was just too strange to be able to comprehend what it was he was seeing. But the one thing he did know was that he had finally found the culprit for the destruction that occurred here and he immediately put the car in drive, pushing his foot down as far as it could go on the gas.
A short distance away was young boy in a hooded robe standing in the middle of a clearing, his short silver hair fluttering in the air as small tiny flames danced around him. The air around him seemed to pulsate with a life of its own as he fixed his gaze on the 4WD that began to pick up speed as it headed towards him.
“…” The boy’s eyes seemed to lack any light or emotion in them, the purple hue of his irises clouded over and dull in tone. Small scars could be seen around his eyes and along his forehead, the jagged lines showing that his skull had been removed many, many times throughout his life.
“He’s not even trying to get out of the way! What’s wrong with that kid?” Graham was beginning to feel a slight fear as he got closer and closer to the young boy in front of him.
“Shit!” He slammed his foot onto the break and turned the steering wheel to the left, the 4WD skidding along the dirt and turning with such force that it almost tipped on its side as it came to a stop a mere meter away from the boy.
The boy shook a little before the strength in his legs gave way and he fell to the ground, his body crumpling up and the flames disappearing as he laid on the ground.
"------" A strange high pitched scream suddenly echoed throughout the area, the air giving off sparks as the sound pierced through the wind. The sound was definitely not human and the sound itself caused shivers to run down the spines of all present. Whatever had made that sound was not happy in the slightest.
Graham looked at the boy on the ground and only hesitated for a moment before slamming open the door and rushing out of the car to grab the boy before whatever it was that made that sound, decided to venture this way.
A mere instant before he was able to place a hand on the boy's shoulder to check his condition, a surge of heat and light exploded from the boy's body, throwing Graham several feet backwards onto the ground, his head slamming into the dirt and rocks with a terrible crunch.
"Fuck..." He moaned quietly as pain assaulted him and his vision blurred. It took a moment before his sight had stabilized enough to not cause him to feel dizzy and he forced himself to sit up.
Drip. A small droplet of dirty blood leaked down his cheek and dropped onto his now tattered fluoro green shirt, dying it a mottled reddish brown.
With his vision still a little fuzzy from the onset of a concussion, he tried his hardest to focus on his surroundings and look for the spot he had just been a moment ago.
"..." His mouth fell open as his eyesight fell onto a deep gash in the ground wide enough to fit an entire bus inside with room to spare. "Well fuck me." He could only let loose an expletive as he stared wide eyed at the unnatural scene before him.
He put his hands onto the ground and pushed himself to his legs shakily as a sudden wave of nausea overtook him, the world feeling as though it was dancing with joy beneath him.
It took a few minutes to realise that the hole extended far enough forward that the 4WD had been swallowed by the event as well. His shoulders drooped a little and he felt the onset of irritation as he thought of how he would have to walk now. He cared less that one of his best men had just died then the fact he had to contemplate whether he should just kill himself now and be done with it.
Goddamnit why does nothing make sense today? Sigh... Better start walking I guess. Just hope this head injury isn't too bad. Don't really feel like dying today.
*
A slightly sweet scent began to fill his nose as the young boy slowly fluttered open his eyes, a strangely shaped fan the first thing that entered his eyesight. The sweet scent was still filling his nose as he slowly turned his head to the side and saw a small side table placed next to the couch he was currently lying down on, a small plate of freshly baked cookies occupying the majority of its surface.
A dull ache was pounding steadily inside his head as he pushed himself up to sit up on the couch and reach out towards the plate. Just before he touched one of the cookies he heard the sound of a door being closed and he stopped his hand in mid motion.
“…” He turned his gaze behind himself towards what seemed to be a kitchen area and met his gaze with a young woman’s own unsteady gaze.
She smiled gently and slowly walked into the room and around to the front of the couch, taking a cookie with her and sitting down on a small recliner to the side of the room. After taking a small bite and chewing it carefully, her movements being made incredibly obvious, she swallowed and then gestured towards the young boy to do the same.
“…” He placed a firm grip on one of the cookies and brought it up to his mouth in one quick motion, placing the entire cookie in his mouth and chewing furiously, small crumbs and droplets of saliva spilling out of his mouth. After finishing off the first cookie it didn’t take long for the whole plate of cookies to disappear into his greedy mouth.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“…” He silently looked at the young woman with caution and doubt as he was eating but it soon turned to slight wariness and intrigue as he wolfed down the cookies. When he finally finished off the last cookie he opened his mouth and tried to thank the woman.
“Th-k –oo” But his voice barely leaked any sounds before he winced and closed mouth with disdain at his inability to even say his thanks.
The woman merely smiled gently and nodded her head before clasping her hands in front of her and praying softly. She closed her eyes and brought her hands to her lap, her breathing becoming even and uninterrupted after a few moments.
The young boy watched her sleeping figure quietly as he took in her appearance as a whole for the first time. She looked incredibly frail, her body was deathly thin and the skin that was visible showed the shape of her bones and veins. The skin itself was almost a pale blue colour and her soft brown hair looked coarse and dull with oil shining glisteningly in the light. The dress she wore was torn in places and the original colour couldn’t even be guessed at with the many tones of grey, black and white blending into a twisted mess. She had a myriad of bruises covering her face and neck and he could see a small burn mark peeking from under the strap of her left shoulder.
“…” A small rage began to build slowly in his heart as he watched her sleep, her appearance causing him to remember pieces of memories from his time in that scary place from before.
As he watched and listened to her sleep he slowly made up his mind, forming his first ever determination in his entire life.
This woman… I’ll protect her no matter what. She took me in and even fed me despite how I look and having never met her before. And looking at her appearance, she probably doesn’t have access to much food or anything to live by. He clenched his fists and laid back down to pass the time.
Most of his life was spent inside that facility. It was either spent chained to the wall inside his cell, chained to the bed inside his cell or inside the many testing chambers. He was constantly robbed of his free will and forced to obey any orders he was given thanks to the drugs being injected into him. On the rare occasions he was able to resist the drugs, he would feel immense pain in both his mind and his body to the point he would rather allow the drug to control him again.
If he wasn't being cut open and poked and prodded then he was being made to perform a myriad of tests. From the basics like running laps and lifting weights to the extreme like walking through fire or stabbing yourself. He would undergo torture in the form of "tests" on an almost daily basis.
He didn't even remember his name anymore or if he had even had one to begin with. All he went by was his serial number, 7441B. It meant he was the 7441st test subject in the facility that was in the B group. There were three groups in total inside the facility that were made to perform tests and tasks specific to that group.
Group A was being used to try and cultivate magic in a human subject and subsequently wield that power unrestrained. This group had always suffered the most deaths out of the three groups and also had the tendency to produce the most unstable results.
Group C was focused on growing a subjects esp and further enhancing those abilities as a whole. This group rarely suffered any casualties but consequently turned out the most unstable results. Many of the subjects developing multiple personalities or dangerous tendencies. In other words, they were the "crazies".
Group B was very special in that they were being used in real "experimental theories". The many different theories that would prove troublesome to waste subjects from groups A and C were instead used on group B. You could even say that group B was made specifically to accommodate the scientists' whims.
The young boy himself was one of three unfortunate children that were put through a special testing regime that incorporated the tests and experiments from both Group A and group C. In other words they were a part of the very special "superhuman" project that was being developed. Out of almost two thousand initial subjects of the program, only three had remained to this day.
The young boy shivered a little as he thought back on his life before curling up into the foetal position and cradling his head in his hands. It wasn't too long before even he himself began to drift off to sleep.
*
Slam
The sound of a door slamming reverberated within the room like a gunshot, causing the boy to awake in fright. He looked up and over to where the frail woman had been sleeping earlier and saw that the chair was now empty.
"-op!"
"Le- -r- . .. -scape!"
"-e ... -ease!"
He could barely make out the sounds of a man and woman screaming from somewhere outside and felt his blood run cold.
He quickly got to his feet as the sound of glass smashing came from behind him in the direction of the kitchen.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" A pained voice burst into the room as the young woman stumbled backwards and fell onto her back, her head colliding with the ground.
"..!" He noticed a small amount of blood trickling out of her mouth and a large gash was now apparent on her left cheek that was also likewise oozing blood. She was losing a lot of blood too quickly and it wouldn't be long before she would enter a dangerous state.
Just when the boy was going to rush to her side, a large and burly man stepped into the room and looked down upon the girl, lust , madness and fury were apparent in his gaze.
"You should have just kept quiet and let me do you like you promised bitch. You couldn't scrape together enough money and you have nothing of value in this crapshack. But what's this? You actually tried to lock me out of the house? What's gotten into you? Have you finally gone mad?" The man began to snicker as he slowly walked towards the girl while grabbing the waistband of his pants.
The young boy narrowed his eyes as he began to take a step forward towards the two before he felt a heavy blow to the back of his head.
"..!" He let out a wordless growl as he stumbled forward and fell face first into the ground. He felt his nose crunch and a warmth began to trickle down into his open mouth.
"Little shit! You thought I'd come here alone? Bwahaha. I already knew that this bitch had taken a boy in with her a few days ago so I brought my little brother here with me in case something happened. I'm glad I did." The man sneered before completely pulling down his pants and exposing his pulsating member.
He licked his lips before slamming the toe of his boot into the woman's gut and sending her flying into the back of the couch.
"Guh.." She crumpled into the couch's frame and coughed up a large amount of blood before weakly reaching out her hand to try and stop the approaching man from violating her.
Another boot slammed into her outreached hand, the sound of bones snapping echoing dully in the room as the man laughed once again.
She couldn't even manage to utter a cry as her arm fell limply to the side and the man reached down to rip off her dress, exposing the bruised and mottled skin beneath.
She tried to curl up to stop him looking at her but he pushed his kneed down onto her chest and forcefully tore open her legs.
The young boy's vision began to grow red and hazy as he felt an incredibly powerful urge to rip the man's throat out and tear his genitals to shreds.
Crackle Crackle The air began to pulse with energy and sparks of lightning began to dance in the air as the man pushed down on the woman's stomach with one of his hands and began to guide his member towards her lower body.
"!!!" The young boy released a soundless roar as he felt his reasoning snap and his body fly towards the man like a bolt of lightning.
"What the fuck!?" Just as the man's member had began to poke her entrance he felt something slam into his side causing him to go flying into the wall. He could feel the bones in his chest creak and something began to poke out from the side of his chest.
One of the man's ribs had snapped out of position and tore open his chest, the pointy bone glistening with blood and a part of one of his lungs. He began to feel an in intense burning in his genitals before a sudden icy cold feeling spread across his throat and neck.
A moment later the man was looking at his shredded body from afar and realised, during his final moments of life, that his head had been torn from his body.
The young boy began to feel his rage subsiding once the bloody tattered mess that had been the man just moments before, now lay before him.
"Hah... Hah..." The young boy began to pant heavily before his body dropped to the floor without any strength left to keep it standing. With one final burst of energy, he felt the presence of the other man fade away with a gushing sound.
The young woman had lost consciousness and her breathing was getting more and more faint as she began to near her end.
"....." The young boy reached out his hand and tried to will some of his strength into the woman's body to try and keep her alive somehow. The boy leaked a surprised voice as he saw a stream of white light slowly fill the woman's body through her wounds and begin to close them. The light gradually lost its intensity and the woman's breathing began to even out again and even her bruises and scars began to fade away.
The last thing the boy saw before sleep took him in its embrace was a calm and kind smile form on the woman's face as she began to shine with a pale light.