"Urg..." Fuschia clapped a hand to her forehead, feeling dizzy and weak. She tried to get up but found there was something on her legs. Something heavy. Opening her eyes for the first time, she was blinded by a bright light. She snapped her eyes shut again and tilted her head down, using her hair to block out some of the light. (It seemed that her usually tied back hair had been released from its rubber band.) Then she opened them again, this time slower. It took her a couple minutes before she could open her eyes fully, and another couple to be able to open them fully without her hair as protection from the light. When she finally got around to looking down at her legs, she saw a dead dragon-like creature.
After a moment, she realized that it was the creature she had been looking at before she closed her eyes and before...
"Christy!" she cried out, shoving the creature off her legs and standing up. Her vision went funny and she titter tottered on her feet for a bit until her vision went back to normal.
She found the still unconcious Christy underneath the lion-like creature that had had Christy on the ground before. Kicking the creature off Christy, she knelt and put two fingers to her neck.
Boom. Boom, boom. There was a pulse, and Fuschia sighed in relief.
"Christy. Please wake up. Please." she begged the quiet form of Christy. Fuschia knew that Christy wasn't dead, but she wanted to confirm that Christy was indeed alive. She wiped the stray tears that had formed away from her face and then really looked around for the first time. The top of the house was gone and sunlight was pouring in from where the house had been. All around her, she heard voices and the sound of footsteps. There were other survivors. It wasn't just them! Then the tears really started to pour from her eyes.
"What's wrong, Fuschia?" She looked down with tear filled eyes to see Christy's beautiful concerned face looking up at her. Christy only had time to sit up before Fuschia pulled her into a hug, sobbing onto her shoulder.
"N-nothing wrong at all, Chr-risty. I'm j-just so ha-happy." A warmth spread across her back as Christy rubbed Fuschia's back and slowly, she stopped crying.
"What happened?" Fuschia took her head away from Christy's shoulder, but their hands remained around each other.
"I don't know. But something did. Look!" Christy looked all around, and there were people walking around, looking at the remains of the monsters in amazement. All around them, there were people crying, people hugging, people kissing.
"We're not the only ones."
"No, we aren't." Both girls' faces broke into giant smiles. And then Christy leaned forward and gently kissed Fuschia. Then she turned away, face red all the way up to her ears. Fuschia put her hand to her mouth, eyes wide in shock.
"I..I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry about that, Fuschia. I just-"
"Oh shush." Fuschia grinned before letting her lips caress Christy's soft gentle lips. For them, it seemed like an eternity yet at the same time, only a couple seconds when they parted.
"Oh Fuschia, I love you."
"I love you too, Christy. Words can't describe how much I love you." They kissed again, and then stood up together, hand in hand. As they walked off towards the water tank, their hearts were full of happiness to the brim.
~*~
"So where did all those creatures come from?" Fuschia stared into Christy's gorgeous chocolate eyes as they held each other close to their hearts in the center of the water tank. Christy looked into Fuschia's green eyes and there was a moment of silence before Fuschia answered.
"I don't know, I guess through the portal."
"But where?"
"I don't know. The other side?" They laughed, and slowly, they fell asleep in each other's arms.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Part V
Fuschia froze. She knew that voice. But it wasn't quite right. There was something different about it. Something more...deadly.
"Selena." It was the blond haired girl, the one who was constantly hyper and talked at super speed. But it wasn't the same person as before. Her blue eyes were now bright yellow and slitted, the dangerous eyes of the creatures.
"You seemed so pleased to meet me. Don't you remember your good friend Selena?" She laughed, tossing her head up, golden hair shaking behind her. Fuschia shuddered. It was no longer the Selena they once knew. This...thing had Selena's appearance, but it had some slight...differences. Instead of ocean blue eyes, there were glowing yellow eyes, and the human teeth were now pointed and deadly sharp. And, Fuschia noted, the hands had turned clawed as well.
Christy had not said anything yet, only looked at Sele -no,- it in shock. Fuschia felt as if her heart has stopped, but she didn't let that stop her from talking and moving.
"You aren't Selena." She kept her voice cold and unfeeling, her expression emotionless.
"Oh I am. But I was always different inside. You believed that was a human survivor. Well I'm not. I'm here to help my people feed." It smiled amiably at Fuschia as if nothing was wrong, as if they were just two normal humans having a pleasant conversation.
"Your people!" Fuschia spat, clenching her hands into fists. Her face twisted into an expression of pure rage.
"Yes, my people. They're hungry. So I'm doing what every good leader does. I'm feeding them." The creature that had been called Selena began to walk down the stairs, forcing Fuschia and Christy further into the -for lack of better words- cellar.
"And I'm guessing you're Big JJ?" Fuschia glared at it as she backed up.
"That's one name for me. But you can call me Selena."
"Over my dead body." Feeling she didn't put enough emphasis on her reply, she took a moment to hold up her middle finger to the creature. It ignored it and continued to walk forward.
The others did not attack, giving Fuschia and Christy space around them as they continued to move backwards.
"Unfortunately, you know my little secret now. So I'm going to have to kill you." It gave a dramatic sigh. "We could have been friends." It shook it's head, showing mock sadness.
Then it's whole body began to change. Its face turned into the shape of a reptilian wolf with a mane of golden tentacles. The main body turned sickly green with dark green stripes. It dropped to all fours and began to get bigger; its teeth lengthened and its claws grew longer. The clothes burst into shreds as its body grew too big to fit.
When the transformation was done, it looked like a scaled wolf with a green zebra pattern and a head of golden tendrils. Its head rested easily at the height of Christy's head, and Christy was taller than Fuschia by at least a half a foot. Had it stood on its hind legs, it could have been at least 20, even 30 feet tall.
"Prepare to die!" screeched the creature that had been Selena. It flicked it's tail lazily towards the general direction of the two girls, and the creatures surrounding them began to circle and leap at them. Fuschia shrieked, once, twice, three times. But it didn't work; not anymore.
"That used to work, but I made sure that they became immune to that. It took much longer than I would have liked, but it worked out in the end." said the wolf-like creature in the girly voice that wasn't quite Selena's. Fuschia didn't look up to find the source of the voice as she carefully watched the circling creatures.
Standing back to back, the girls turned in slowly so they could see all around them. As soon as a creature moved forward into Christy's range, she slashed at it with her whip. If it made it past her attacks, Fuschia killed it with her katana once it came into her range. Occasionally, she would shoot out a kunai or shurriken at an unexpecting beast. They managed to kill 20 or more of them in this manner before they began to tire. Their breath came in ragged gasps and their limbs felt like lead. Fuschia had a cut on her leg from an unexpected attack and Christy had a jagged wound down her left side. Besides those wounds, they had several minor injuries.
And still they came. There were at least 30 more and there were reinforcements pouring in from the orange portal every second.
Desperately, Christy shot her dagger at the portal and it hit the metal ring, causing the orange portal to disappear. A creature in the middle of coming through screeched in pain, half of it where it had come from and half of it in the cellar. It soon died.
The rest of the creatures gave screams of anger, the creature who used to be Selena emitting the loudest shriek of fury.
They pushed in, their slitted eyes filled with rage. Christy stumbled over a scaly tail as she struggled to defend herself, and a large lion-like creature pinned her her down with one giant paw. Fuschia found her arms trapped by a large clawed hand, and looking into the jaws of a dragon-like mouth, she feared that it was the end. They both closed their eyes, preparing to die.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light that turned their visions red behind their closed eyes. They didn't see, but the destroyed portal had somehow exploded to create the intense light. The creatures screeched in agony as the blinding light burned them into ashes.
The last thing that Fuschia remembered was the screams of agony that sounded too much like Selena before she floated away into unconciousness.
"Selena." It was the blond haired girl, the one who was constantly hyper and talked at super speed. But it wasn't the same person as before. Her blue eyes were now bright yellow and slitted, the dangerous eyes of the creatures.
"You seemed so pleased to meet me. Don't you remember your good friend Selena?" She laughed, tossing her head up, golden hair shaking behind her. Fuschia shuddered. It was no longer the Selena they once knew. This...thing had Selena's appearance, but it had some slight...differences. Instead of ocean blue eyes, there were glowing yellow eyes, and the human teeth were now pointed and deadly sharp. And, Fuschia noted, the hands had turned clawed as well.
Christy had not said anything yet, only looked at Sele -no,- it in shock. Fuschia felt as if her heart has stopped, but she didn't let that stop her from talking and moving.
"You aren't Selena." She kept her voice cold and unfeeling, her expression emotionless.
"Oh I am. But I was always different inside. You believed that was a human survivor. Well I'm not. I'm here to help my people feed." It smiled amiably at Fuschia as if nothing was wrong, as if they were just two normal humans having a pleasant conversation.
"Your people!" Fuschia spat, clenching her hands into fists. Her face twisted into an expression of pure rage.
"Yes, my people. They're hungry. So I'm doing what every good leader does. I'm feeding them." The creature that had been called Selena began to walk down the stairs, forcing Fuschia and Christy further into the -for lack of better words- cellar.
"And I'm guessing you're Big JJ?" Fuschia glared at it as she backed up.
"That's one name for me. But you can call me Selena."
"Over my dead body." Feeling she didn't put enough emphasis on her reply, she took a moment to hold up her middle finger to the creature. It ignored it and continued to walk forward.
The others did not attack, giving Fuschia and Christy space around them as they continued to move backwards.
"Unfortunately, you know my little secret now. So I'm going to have to kill you." It gave a dramatic sigh. "We could have been friends." It shook it's head, showing mock sadness.
Then it's whole body began to change. Its face turned into the shape of a reptilian wolf with a mane of golden tentacles. The main body turned sickly green with dark green stripes. It dropped to all fours and began to get bigger; its teeth lengthened and its claws grew longer. The clothes burst into shreds as its body grew too big to fit.
When the transformation was done, it looked like a scaled wolf with a green zebra pattern and a head of golden tendrils. Its head rested easily at the height of Christy's head, and Christy was taller than Fuschia by at least a half a foot. Had it stood on its hind legs, it could have been at least 20, even 30 feet tall.
"Prepare to die!" screeched the creature that had been Selena. It flicked it's tail lazily towards the general direction of the two girls, and the creatures surrounding them began to circle and leap at them. Fuschia shrieked, once, twice, three times. But it didn't work; not anymore.
"That used to work, but I made sure that they became immune to that. It took much longer than I would have liked, but it worked out in the end." said the wolf-like creature in the girly voice that wasn't quite Selena's. Fuschia didn't look up to find the source of the voice as she carefully watched the circling creatures.
Standing back to back, the girls turned in slowly so they could see all around them. As soon as a creature moved forward into Christy's range, she slashed at it with her whip. If it made it past her attacks, Fuschia killed it with her katana once it came into her range. Occasionally, she would shoot out a kunai or shurriken at an unexpecting beast. They managed to kill 20 or more of them in this manner before they began to tire. Their breath came in ragged gasps and their limbs felt like lead. Fuschia had a cut on her leg from an unexpected attack and Christy had a jagged wound down her left side. Besides those wounds, they had several minor injuries.
And still they came. There were at least 30 more and there were reinforcements pouring in from the orange portal every second.
Desperately, Christy shot her dagger at the portal and it hit the metal ring, causing the orange portal to disappear. A creature in the middle of coming through screeched in pain, half of it where it had come from and half of it in the cellar. It soon died.
The rest of the creatures gave screams of anger, the creature who used to be Selena emitting the loudest shriek of fury.
They pushed in, their slitted eyes filled with rage. Christy stumbled over a scaly tail as she struggled to defend herself, and a large lion-like creature pinned her her down with one giant paw. Fuschia found her arms trapped by a large clawed hand, and looking into the jaws of a dragon-like mouth, she feared that it was the end. They both closed their eyes, preparing to die.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light that turned their visions red behind their closed eyes. They didn't see, but the destroyed portal had somehow exploded to create the intense light. The creatures screeched in agony as the blinding light burned them into ashes.
The last thing that Fuschia remembered was the screams of agony that sounded too much like Selena before she floated away into unconciousness.
Part IV
"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Fuschia felt the same as Christy. She had always wanted to end all of this, but never really gotten this far. A little shiver ran down her spine as she looked at the house again.
"Youreallysureweshouldbe-" Just then, a creature leapt out from one of the broken windows. It gave a bark that sounded almost like nails running down a chalkboard as it walked towards them. Fuschia winced, but stepped back a little to give Selena a little room to maneuver in case she needed to attack. Plus, she had been blocking Selena and it blocking her from view did nothing to help the group.
As soon as she moved though, the creature stopped short, it's small black claws scratching against the ground as it stopped abruptly. Fuschia was confused as she looked at the dog-like creature. (It was dog-like, but...it was dark purple and scaled. And in place of ears, it had...almost tentacles, without the suckers and spikes instead. Also, it had three tails.)
Why did it stop? Her mouth dropped open as it bowed. It had BOWED to them! And then it spoke!
"Forgive me for my rudeness, Mistress." Its voice was deep and gravelly, but completely in submission. Fuschia tried to stop her face from twitching as she gaped at the bowing creature. She looked at Christy out of the corner of her eye, who in turn shot her a confused look. The two of them had no idea what was going on.
Fuschia would have turned around to look at Selena if it didn't involve her exposing her back. But she didn't get a chance anyways, for the creature loped off, its claws clicking on the ground as it disappeared into the piles of rubble.
"What the hell was that?" Fuschia had never heard Christy swear before, and it was a first. She didn't let it stop her from replying though.
"I have absolutely no idea what the hell it was."
"Thatwassuperweird." The two turned to look at Selena who looked panicked.
"There's no need to worry now, the creature's gone." Fuschia nodded at Christy's words and put her hand on Selena's shoulder reassuringly.
"Everything's going to be fine. We're going to go in, destroy the source, and then everything will be better. I promise." Selena didn't look any better, but she nodded and tried to smile anyways.
"Let's go." She closed her eyes and then took a deep breath. Then she smiled at the tall Asian girl.
"Alright. I'm ready."
~*~
Wincing as the stairs creaked under her feet on the way to the door, Fuschia led the way into the house. She didn't feel any more confident than any of the others, but she assumed leadership as she always did. Things felt better when she felt that she had at least some control. Usually anyways. Having leadership now comforted her a little, but she still was scared. If she had been asked, she wouldn't admit that she was frightened, but she was.
As soon as all three of them were past the door, it slammed shut. Selena gave a frightened shriek while Christy pulled at the door, trying to open it.
"It's stuck." Christy's voice was barely a whisper as her fingers trembled around the handle of the door. Fuschia had to pry the girl's quivering fingers from the door before facing her friends.
"We all need to calm down and get this over with. Face it, we're stuck inside unless you want to jump out a window." There was silence for a couple seconds as Christy and Selena took deep breaths in.
"Okay. We can do this." Selena nodded at Christy's words but still looked scared.
Fuschia moved forward, barely able to see in front of her. The broken windows provided light, but not enough to see well. It was almost as if the house sucked away all the light, for even when Christy and Selena both turned on their lanterns, it was still incredibly dark.
They had only gone into the second room when there was a scream behind her. Spinning around on her heels, she whipped a kunai at the source of the scream. The kunai made a dull thump as it hit the wooden floor. Christy had also turned around and was staring at the place where Selena had been.
"She's gone." Shaking her head, Christy refused to believe it.
"She can't be gone. She can't!" Fuschia sighed and motioned for Christy to be silent. They were in a dangerous situation, and they couldn't afford to be noisy or mourn. There would be time later, but now they had to protect themselves. She picked up her kunai and began to head to the third room.
Even though they told themselves not to cry, Fuschia and Christy both had tears falling from their eyes as they went through the other rooms.
The first floor proved to be unsuccessful and they moved towards the second floor, only to have a cockroach-like creature jump at Fuschia right before she took the first step up the stairs. She ducked as it jumped for her head and ripped open its soft underbelly with a kunai, spilling green bug guts on both of them.
Christy made a disgusted noise from the back of her throat as the two of them wiped the green liquid from their faces. Then they continued up the stairs.
The second floor was filled with small insect-like monsters that leapt out at them from everywhere. They had to be on their guard constantly. By the time they were almost done with the floor, Fuschia guessed that they had killed at least 30 creatures. She had lost a kunai and a shurriken from the attacks, and she was a little concerned even though she still had plenty left. Christy hadn't lost her whip at all but now was extremely jumpy, twitching at every creak of a floorboard. Fuschia had thought that Christy was strong mentally, especially after watching her dart around creatures without a care on raids, but all the attacks proved that Christy wasn't quite as strong as she thought.
She had the urge to hug the wide-eyed girl, but she didn't dare take her eyes away from in front of her. They hadn't talked since the door had slammed on them but now she felt that words were needed.
"Christy?" Fuschia tried to talk as quietly as she could so as not to frighten the other girl. Still, she jumped a little at Fuschia's voice.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Christy sounded panicked in Fuschia's opinion so she turned around so that they could look face to face.
"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"I-I'm okay."
"Are you sure? You're shaking."
"Yes, I'm..okay no, I'm not okay. I'm so scared. I feel like we're walking through black soup in this house." Fuschia felt the same about the air in the house. It seemed...thicker here, harder to move in, almost as if they were trying to walk in a pool.
"I feel the same too, but we have to be strong. We've gotten this far and-" She paused for a moment to throw at a kunai at a dragonfly creature behind Christy. "-it's no good to back down now."
"I know, but..." Christy hesitated, looking down at her feet.
"It's going to be okay. I promise." She tried to smile, but failed, the corners of her lips merely twitching.
"How can you promise that when you don't know for sure?" Wide brown eyes pierced through Fuschia, filled with questions and doubt.
"I just..." Fuschia bit chewed her lower lip for a moment before continuing "...have a gut feeling. Will you trust me?"
"I...I will." Christy gave Fuschia a grateful smile before flicking her wrist to slice something beside Fuschia's head. Fuschia couldn't figure out what it had been, for now it was just shell and guts, but she gave a sigh of relief that it hadn't gotten her.
She slipped behind Christy to scoop up her kunai before they continued to the last room on the second floor. It was empty except for a lonely window desk and a small wooden chair. Fuschia gave a growl of frustration before she turned around again to head back down the stairs.
It seemed when they had been upstairs, the first floor had filled with creatures, and bigger ones at that. There were large spider creatures, like the one that had killed Zinc. And there were waist-high reptilian monsters of all kinds.
Where ever they hadn't been covered in bug-creature guts, they were now covered in red reptile blood. Fuschia felt disgusting and guessed that Christy probably felt the same. If she could have, she would have completely stripped and cleaned herself until her skin turned pink. Of course, it wasn't the best time to do that kind of thing...
They had been going in circles on the first floor until Christy tripped. Fuschia spun around, dark brown hair swirling in the air, and cut off the head of the snake-like thing about to eat Christy and then held out a hand to help her friend up. She didn't dare kneel, for she'd be too vulnerable in that position.
"Does anything hurt?" Fuschia flickered her eyes around as she spoke, making sure there were no creatures ready to attack them.
"No, but... I think there's something under this carpet."
"What?" She thought about the possibilities of this discovery.
"I said-" Fuschia cut her off.
"No, I heard you. Is there really?" Could it just be something stuck underneath the carpet, or was there something more important?
"I'm pretty sure." Fuschia stood guard as Christy peeled up the moldy old carpet from the ground, sending up clouds of dust and the smell of mold. Sure enough, there was a trapdoor with a small circular handle, which was what Christy had probably tripped on. The door opened after a couple tugs and a foul, indescribable smell rose from the opening.
"That is disgusting." Fuschia nodded, wrinkling her nose and turning her face partially away from the entrance.
Christy was the first to go down the stone stairs with Fuschia following, though not before slaying yet another snake-creature. As they carefully stepped down the steps, their lantern grew dimmer and dimmer.
"It can't be dying out on me now! I just put in new batteries!" muttered Christy who was starting to hyperventilate. She fiddled with her long black hair with her left hand; a nervous habit that she had developed when the door had slammed shut by itself.
"Christy, you need to calm down. Use your senses and instincts." In reality, Fuschia's heart was ready to jump out of her throat too, but she kept her voice and body steady.
The lantern gave out as they reached the last step, but they weren't in total darkness. There was a glowing orange circle in the middle of a metal circle. And there were creatures pouring through it, making the orange circle wobble. It wasn't a solid color of orange, more like different shades of orange constantly shifting in its protective metal guard.
Both girls watched in horror as the number of monsters grew larger and larger. But they made no attempt to attack them. Instead, they milled around, talking to one another.
"Big JJ is coming."
"The great one is coming."
"We will be able to feed as we please."
"No more creatures attacking us." At this, Fuschia resisted the urge to scoff even though she was trembling now. So they thought that humans were creatures? Those monsters needed to get a reality check and take a look at themselves.
Suddenly, all the talking stopped. Every single eye turned towards Fuschia and Christys' direction. But they weren't looking at them. They were looking behind them.
"Hello Fuschia. Hello Christy."
"Youreallysureweshouldbe-" Just then, a creature leapt out from one of the broken windows. It gave a bark that sounded almost like nails running down a chalkboard as it walked towards them. Fuschia winced, but stepped back a little to give Selena a little room to maneuver in case she needed to attack. Plus, she had been blocking Selena and it blocking her from view did nothing to help the group.
As soon as she moved though, the creature stopped short, it's small black claws scratching against the ground as it stopped abruptly. Fuschia was confused as she looked at the dog-like creature. (It was dog-like, but...it was dark purple and scaled. And in place of ears, it had...almost tentacles, without the suckers and spikes instead. Also, it had three tails.)
Why did it stop? Her mouth dropped open as it bowed. It had BOWED to them! And then it spoke!
"Forgive me for my rudeness, Mistress." Its voice was deep and gravelly, but completely in submission. Fuschia tried to stop her face from twitching as she gaped at the bowing creature. She looked at Christy out of the corner of her eye, who in turn shot her a confused look. The two of them had no idea what was going on.
Fuschia would have turned around to look at Selena if it didn't involve her exposing her back. But she didn't get a chance anyways, for the creature loped off, its claws clicking on the ground as it disappeared into the piles of rubble.
"What the hell was that?" Fuschia had never heard Christy swear before, and it was a first. She didn't let it stop her from replying though.
"I have absolutely no idea what the hell it was."
"Thatwassuperweird." The two turned to look at Selena who looked panicked.
"There's no need to worry now, the creature's gone." Fuschia nodded at Christy's words and put her hand on Selena's shoulder reassuringly.
"Everything's going to be fine. We're going to go in, destroy the source, and then everything will be better. I promise." Selena didn't look any better, but she nodded and tried to smile anyways.
"Let's go." She closed her eyes and then took a deep breath. Then she smiled at the tall Asian girl.
"Alright. I'm ready."
~*~
Wincing as the stairs creaked under her feet on the way to the door, Fuschia led the way into the house. She didn't feel any more confident than any of the others, but she assumed leadership as she always did. Things felt better when she felt that she had at least some control. Usually anyways. Having leadership now comforted her a little, but she still was scared. If she had been asked, she wouldn't admit that she was frightened, but she was.
As soon as all three of them were past the door, it slammed shut. Selena gave a frightened shriek while Christy pulled at the door, trying to open it.
"It's stuck." Christy's voice was barely a whisper as her fingers trembled around the handle of the door. Fuschia had to pry the girl's quivering fingers from the door before facing her friends.
"We all need to calm down and get this over with. Face it, we're stuck inside unless you want to jump out a window." There was silence for a couple seconds as Christy and Selena took deep breaths in.
"Okay. We can do this." Selena nodded at Christy's words but still looked scared.
Fuschia moved forward, barely able to see in front of her. The broken windows provided light, but not enough to see well. It was almost as if the house sucked away all the light, for even when Christy and Selena both turned on their lanterns, it was still incredibly dark.
They had only gone into the second room when there was a scream behind her. Spinning around on her heels, she whipped a kunai at the source of the scream. The kunai made a dull thump as it hit the wooden floor. Christy had also turned around and was staring at the place where Selena had been.
"She's gone." Shaking her head, Christy refused to believe it.
"She can't be gone. She can't!" Fuschia sighed and motioned for Christy to be silent. They were in a dangerous situation, and they couldn't afford to be noisy or mourn. There would be time later, but now they had to protect themselves. She picked up her kunai and began to head to the third room.
Even though they told themselves not to cry, Fuschia and Christy both had tears falling from their eyes as they went through the other rooms.
The first floor proved to be unsuccessful and they moved towards the second floor, only to have a cockroach-like creature jump at Fuschia right before she took the first step up the stairs. She ducked as it jumped for her head and ripped open its soft underbelly with a kunai, spilling green bug guts on both of them.
Christy made a disgusted noise from the back of her throat as the two of them wiped the green liquid from their faces. Then they continued up the stairs.
The second floor was filled with small insect-like monsters that leapt out at them from everywhere. They had to be on their guard constantly. By the time they were almost done with the floor, Fuschia guessed that they had killed at least 30 creatures. She had lost a kunai and a shurriken from the attacks, and she was a little concerned even though she still had plenty left. Christy hadn't lost her whip at all but now was extremely jumpy, twitching at every creak of a floorboard. Fuschia had thought that Christy was strong mentally, especially after watching her dart around creatures without a care on raids, but all the attacks proved that Christy wasn't quite as strong as she thought.
She had the urge to hug the wide-eyed girl, but she didn't dare take her eyes away from in front of her. They hadn't talked since the door had slammed on them but now she felt that words were needed.
"Christy?" Fuschia tried to talk as quietly as she could so as not to frighten the other girl. Still, she jumped a little at Fuschia's voice.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Christy sounded panicked in Fuschia's opinion so she turned around so that they could look face to face.
"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"I-I'm okay."
"Are you sure? You're shaking."
"Yes, I'm..okay no, I'm not okay. I'm so scared. I feel like we're walking through black soup in this house." Fuschia felt the same about the air in the house. It seemed...thicker here, harder to move in, almost as if they were trying to walk in a pool.
"I feel the same too, but we have to be strong. We've gotten this far and-" She paused for a moment to throw at a kunai at a dragonfly creature behind Christy. "-it's no good to back down now."
"I know, but..." Christy hesitated, looking down at her feet.
"It's going to be okay. I promise." She tried to smile, but failed, the corners of her lips merely twitching.
"How can you promise that when you don't know for sure?" Wide brown eyes pierced through Fuschia, filled with questions and doubt.
"I just..." Fuschia bit chewed her lower lip for a moment before continuing "...have a gut feeling. Will you trust me?"
"I...I will." Christy gave Fuschia a grateful smile before flicking her wrist to slice something beside Fuschia's head. Fuschia couldn't figure out what it had been, for now it was just shell and guts, but she gave a sigh of relief that it hadn't gotten her.
She slipped behind Christy to scoop up her kunai before they continued to the last room on the second floor. It was empty except for a lonely window desk and a small wooden chair. Fuschia gave a growl of frustration before she turned around again to head back down the stairs.
It seemed when they had been upstairs, the first floor had filled with creatures, and bigger ones at that. There were large spider creatures, like the one that had killed Zinc. And there were waist-high reptilian monsters of all kinds.
Where ever they hadn't been covered in bug-creature guts, they were now covered in red reptile blood. Fuschia felt disgusting and guessed that Christy probably felt the same. If she could have, she would have completely stripped and cleaned herself until her skin turned pink. Of course, it wasn't the best time to do that kind of thing...
They had been going in circles on the first floor until Christy tripped. Fuschia spun around, dark brown hair swirling in the air, and cut off the head of the snake-like thing about to eat Christy and then held out a hand to help her friend up. She didn't dare kneel, for she'd be too vulnerable in that position.
"Does anything hurt?" Fuschia flickered her eyes around as she spoke, making sure there were no creatures ready to attack them.
"No, but... I think there's something under this carpet."
"What?" She thought about the possibilities of this discovery.
"I said-" Fuschia cut her off.
"No, I heard you. Is there really?" Could it just be something stuck underneath the carpet, or was there something more important?
"I'm pretty sure." Fuschia stood guard as Christy peeled up the moldy old carpet from the ground, sending up clouds of dust and the smell of mold. Sure enough, there was a trapdoor with a small circular handle, which was what Christy had probably tripped on. The door opened after a couple tugs and a foul, indescribable smell rose from the opening.
"That is disgusting." Fuschia nodded, wrinkling her nose and turning her face partially away from the entrance.
Christy was the first to go down the stone stairs with Fuschia following, though not before slaying yet another snake-creature. As they carefully stepped down the steps, their lantern grew dimmer and dimmer.
"It can't be dying out on me now! I just put in new batteries!" muttered Christy who was starting to hyperventilate. She fiddled with her long black hair with her left hand; a nervous habit that she had developed when the door had slammed shut by itself.
"Christy, you need to calm down. Use your senses and instincts." In reality, Fuschia's heart was ready to jump out of her throat too, but she kept her voice and body steady.
The lantern gave out as they reached the last step, but they weren't in total darkness. There was a glowing orange circle in the middle of a metal circle. And there were creatures pouring through it, making the orange circle wobble. It wasn't a solid color of orange, more like different shades of orange constantly shifting in its protective metal guard.
Both girls watched in horror as the number of monsters grew larger and larger. But they made no attempt to attack them. Instead, they milled around, talking to one another.
"Big JJ is coming."
"The great one is coming."
"We will be able to feed as we please."
"No more creatures attacking us." At this, Fuschia resisted the urge to scoff even though she was trembling now. So they thought that humans were creatures? Those monsters needed to get a reality check and take a look at themselves.
Suddenly, all the talking stopped. Every single eye turned towards Fuschia and Christys' direction. But they weren't looking at them. They were looking behind them.
"Hello Fuschia. Hello Christy."
Part III
The days past quickly; Fuschia enjoyed her newfound friendship with the other girls. She'd never had may friends before, due to the fact that she kept to herself most of the time, and the few that she had had were probably dead now. She was drawn to Christy, who was so similar to herself, sometimes so much that it was scary. Zinc remained tight with Christy, but she and Selena had also become close friends. The two were both chatty and energetic, clicking together effortlessly. Selena talked faster than Zinc and was generally more hyper, but Zinc had the ability to talk fast when she wanted to, and a conversation that should have taken a half an hour took only ten minutes for them. Zinc also had the tendency to be shy, but with Selena around, she grew to be more confident and the two soon became inseparable. Of course, Christy was friends with Zinc at the same time, but in general, Selena and Zinc spent most of their time together.
Fuschia still continued to be friends with Selena, but she preferred the direct words of Christy over Selena's endless chatter. She and Christy had both engaged in heated debates on whether it was healthier to eat only the nutritious foods that they had or whether it was healthier to eat everything they had along with other such discussions. Fuschia let Christy win (and she had no idea why she had even done that), but she still felt that it was healthier to eat only the nutritious foods. She found herself wanting to be close to Christy all the time, not exactly knowing the reason why. When Christy hugged her, she always felt herself heating up though she knew she normally wouldn't. There was just something about Christy that made Fuschia so attached to the other.
Fuschia...wasn't sure about what exactly she felt for Christy. This kind of feeling... It reminded her too much of when she had had a crush on this hot goth boy in her school. The crush had faded after a while, but this feeling she had now was too much like a crush. She couldn't be crushing on Christy, could she?
She'd never even considered liking girls before, but now that these strong emotions for Christy had come up...she thought about it a lot. There were times when they were shouting in each others' faces in a debate when she wanted to just lean forward a little more so that her lips would touch Christy's. But she'd always held herself back, telling herself that it was wrong, and that Christy could never feel the same way.
As time passed, she learned that Christy was a gymastic champion of several competitions and Zinc was a math whiz. Christy used her gymnastic talents to jump over large obstacles quietly and make a quick escape in encounters with creatures. Fuschia had stared wide-eyed at the graceful tumbles and flips that Christy did and nearly gotten herself killed the first couple times on searches with Christy. It was thanks to her martial arts training reflexes that she remained alive.
Zinc denied that she was a math whiz at first, but after so many quick calculations of giant numbers, she had no way any longer to deny that she really was a math whiz. Fuschia couldn't understand how someone could calculate 75 times 123 in their head within 10 seconds. But Zinc did, and easily.
Both girls created strong feelings of admiration and surprise within Fuschia, especially Christy. Still, she had been horrified when she found they went on searches and never changed locations. After they both had returned safely 7 times, she had relaxed a bit and even joined in on occasion. Selena was the only one who never went on searching, and though the other three wondered why she never left, they didn't ask.
Everything was perfect other than the creatures. Fuschia loved her new fast paced life, full of excitement and adventure. Though she still sometimes shed silent tears for her lost friends and family at night when the others were asleep, she was beginning to let go and accept that they were gone. She would always remember them, but now she allowed herself to have fun for the first time in ages.
Unfortunately, things couldn't stay the same. Fuschia had expected something bad to happen, but it came worse than she had thought it would at the peak of her happiness.
~*~
It had been on a search that it had happened. After everything had been going so smoothly for so long, Fuschia had lost some of her reflexes and "sixth sense" (as she liked to call it). The three girls hadn't noticed the creature until it was too late.
The waist-high spider-like monster tore into Zinc's abdomen, greedily sucking up the blood with the suckers on the bottom of its ten legs. She didn't even have time to scream before she fainted from the intense pain. The sharp poisonous ridges on each the legs glistened with Zinc's life-blood. It ignored the other two, who were frozen in shock for a moment as it fed on Zinc's blood.
Fuschia let out a piercing shriek for around ten seconds, the creature screaming out mercy before its guts exploded from its body. But she had been too late.
Christy sobbed over Zinc's mutilated form, her tears falling to the ground, shining like stars. Fuschia gave her remaining companion a moment of silence as her own tears trickled down her cheeks. Still, she remained vigilant, looking out for more predators.
After closing Zinc's unseeing hazel eyes, Christy sniffled, then stood up, tears still falling from her eyes. She cut a small lock of Zinc's frizzy brown hair and slipped it into the locket that rested near her heart.
"We should go." Fuschia nodded in agreement and then looked at Zinc one last time before following Christy back to the water tank.
When they reached the tank and secured the door, Christy burst into fresh tears. Selena, confused, foolishly asked where Zinc was. Fuschia shot her a look before wrapping her arms around the crying girl, pulling her close.
"I wanna k-kill all those crea-ea-tures!" Fuschia rubbed Christy's back as she whispered into the grief-stricken girl's ear.
"Shh... I will help you, but first, let out all those tears." She tried to be as comforting as possible, though she never was very good at that.
"I'm wasting wa-water!" bawled Christy, causing her to cry even harder."
"It's okay, just cry. It'll make you feel better." Fuschia continued to hold the crying Asian girl in her arms, rubbing her shoulders until the girl fell asleep. Giving a sad smile, she tucked the sleeping girl into bed. Christy cried out in her sleep when Fuschia tried to remove her arms, and flushing slightly she slipped into the same bed as Christy, putting back her arms in their previous places.
Fuschia looked at Selena, who had only shed a few tears. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could have sworn that Selena had given a feral grin, eyes flashing yellow, before lying down on a bed. Shivering, Fuschia told herself that it was all in her head and she turned back to Christy and kissed the girl on the forehead before allowing herself to drift off into sleep.
~*~
Fuschia woke to large brown eyes gazing deeply into her own. She felt herself heating up, but managed to keep a straight face as she unwrapped her arms and began to stretch out the kinks in her shoulders.
"Mornin' Fuschia." Christy yawned, getting up and stretching out her legs.
"Marnin' Christy." Fuschia replied, scrambling to her feet and pulling out their breakfast; crackers and peanut butter. Not very nutritious, but it was food and it helped with the pangs of hunger that sometimes hit.
Food had been getting harder and harder to find, for food did expire and they had looking in most of the houses and shops in a one mile radius. Each time they went to search, they went a little farther. It now took a good hour to get the food and back to the shelter.
There was a couple minutes of silence as the girls chewed their first few bites, the sticky peanut butter sticking to the tops of their mouths and teeth. The crackers were slightly stale, but it did its job of sating their hunger.
"You said you would help me, right?" Fuschia looked up at Christy's voice, then nodded once, for her mouth was still full of crackers and peanut butter. She chewed a couple more times, swallowed, then shared what she knew.
"The source of the creatures is the house of the crazy guy. Do you know which house I'm talking about?"
"It's the rickety wooden house that looks like it's going to fall down any second."
"Yes, that's the one. Anyways, they can't tolerate loud, high-pitched noises, though they've become increasingly resistant. I don't know if you noticed when...er..." She stopped, unsure what to say. Swallowing, she began again. "The last encounter we had with a creature, I screamed at it and it exploded."
"I was wondering what that was about..."
"Well, they can't tolerate the noise. The first time I killed one like that, it only took one or two seconds. Now it takes at least ten, if not more."
"Then we should find another way against them."
"That would be highly useful, but it's dangerous to experiment. We could end up being dead the next thing we know."
"You have a good point."
"They're strictly carnivores and sometimes possess humans for easier attacking. I'm not sure how that works, but that's what they do." Behind Fuschia, Selena stiffened, which Fuschia took to be shock and horror.
"Then let's go to that house and destroy the source." Christy declared.
"Butit'sso..." For once, Selena had paused in the middle of her talking. But then she began again. "...oldanddarkandcreepy-like!" She sounded extremely nervous.
"Don't be chicken. Gather up your weapons, prepare for a fight, and then we should be off." Fuschia took leadership; it just seemed to come naturally to her. Christy followed orders automatically, her jaw set and eyes determined. Selena hesistated for a moment before getting her sword, which Fuschia had found in the old fencing building on one of the searches. It had been one of Selena's few requests, and Fuschia had gladly gotten it for her. She couldn't imagine going anywhere without her weapons.
It took them about a half an hour to prepare for the attack on the source of their horrors. Christy got her metal tipped whip that she used for attacking and her dagger.
It was a tradition in her family to teach the oldest son how to use the whip for show. They had no son, so Christy, being the oldest daughter, had learned how to use it in place of a son. Though she had learned it more for a dance form, she had adjusted her techniques to attack. Combined with her lightning-fast gymnastic moves and her whip technique, she was a formidable enemy that even Fuschia would think about before attacking. Although she found the Oriental girl's technique amazing, she felt that her family had one weird tradition.
Fuschia already had all her weapons on her, but she checked every single one for cracks and rust before taking out the defective ones and keeping the good ones. She also took the time to grab the two lanterns, giving one to Selena and the other to Christy. Selena didn't do much with her sword but practiced a few controlled lunges within the tank.
As they climbed down the ladder, they silently said goodbye to the water tank in their minds then jogged quietly to the house.
Presently, they reached the front of the building.
The door, barely staying on its hinges, opened slightly when they arrived, almost as if to invite them into the darkened rooms.
Fuschia still continued to be friends with Selena, but she preferred the direct words of Christy over Selena's endless chatter. She and Christy had both engaged in heated debates on whether it was healthier to eat only the nutritious foods that they had or whether it was healthier to eat everything they had along with other such discussions. Fuschia let Christy win (and she had no idea why she had even done that), but she still felt that it was healthier to eat only the nutritious foods. She found herself wanting to be close to Christy all the time, not exactly knowing the reason why. When Christy hugged her, she always felt herself heating up though she knew she normally wouldn't. There was just something about Christy that made Fuschia so attached to the other.
Fuschia...wasn't sure about what exactly she felt for Christy. This kind of feeling... It reminded her too much of when she had had a crush on this hot goth boy in her school. The crush had faded after a while, but this feeling she had now was too much like a crush. She couldn't be crushing on Christy, could she?
She'd never even considered liking girls before, but now that these strong emotions for Christy had come up...she thought about it a lot. There were times when they were shouting in each others' faces in a debate when she wanted to just lean forward a little more so that her lips would touch Christy's. But she'd always held herself back, telling herself that it was wrong, and that Christy could never feel the same way.
As time passed, she learned that Christy was a gymastic champion of several competitions and Zinc was a math whiz. Christy used her gymnastic talents to jump over large obstacles quietly and make a quick escape in encounters with creatures. Fuschia had stared wide-eyed at the graceful tumbles and flips that Christy did and nearly gotten herself killed the first couple times on searches with Christy. It was thanks to her martial arts training reflexes that she remained alive.
Zinc denied that she was a math whiz at first, but after so many quick calculations of giant numbers, she had no way any longer to deny that she really was a math whiz. Fuschia couldn't understand how someone could calculate 75 times 123 in their head within 10 seconds. But Zinc did, and easily.
Both girls created strong feelings of admiration and surprise within Fuschia, especially Christy. Still, she had been horrified when she found they went on searches and never changed locations. After they both had returned safely 7 times, she had relaxed a bit and even joined in on occasion. Selena was the only one who never went on searching, and though the other three wondered why she never left, they didn't ask.
Everything was perfect other than the creatures. Fuschia loved her new fast paced life, full of excitement and adventure. Though she still sometimes shed silent tears for her lost friends and family at night when the others were asleep, she was beginning to let go and accept that they were gone. She would always remember them, but now she allowed herself to have fun for the first time in ages.
Unfortunately, things couldn't stay the same. Fuschia had expected something bad to happen, but it came worse than she had thought it would at the peak of her happiness.
~*~
It had been on a search that it had happened. After everything had been going so smoothly for so long, Fuschia had lost some of her reflexes and "sixth sense" (as she liked to call it). The three girls hadn't noticed the creature until it was too late.
The waist-high spider-like monster tore into Zinc's abdomen, greedily sucking up the blood with the suckers on the bottom of its ten legs. She didn't even have time to scream before she fainted from the intense pain. The sharp poisonous ridges on each the legs glistened with Zinc's life-blood. It ignored the other two, who were frozen in shock for a moment as it fed on Zinc's blood.
Fuschia let out a piercing shriek for around ten seconds, the creature screaming out mercy before its guts exploded from its body. But she had been too late.
Christy sobbed over Zinc's mutilated form, her tears falling to the ground, shining like stars. Fuschia gave her remaining companion a moment of silence as her own tears trickled down her cheeks. Still, she remained vigilant, looking out for more predators.
After closing Zinc's unseeing hazel eyes, Christy sniffled, then stood up, tears still falling from her eyes. She cut a small lock of Zinc's frizzy brown hair and slipped it into the locket that rested near her heart.
"We should go." Fuschia nodded in agreement and then looked at Zinc one last time before following Christy back to the water tank.
When they reached the tank and secured the door, Christy burst into fresh tears. Selena, confused, foolishly asked where Zinc was. Fuschia shot her a look before wrapping her arms around the crying girl, pulling her close.
"I wanna k-kill all those crea-ea-tures!" Fuschia rubbed Christy's back as she whispered into the grief-stricken girl's ear.
"Shh... I will help you, but first, let out all those tears." She tried to be as comforting as possible, though she never was very good at that.
"I'm wasting wa-water!" bawled Christy, causing her to cry even harder."
"It's okay, just cry. It'll make you feel better." Fuschia continued to hold the crying Asian girl in her arms, rubbing her shoulders until the girl fell asleep. Giving a sad smile, she tucked the sleeping girl into bed. Christy cried out in her sleep when Fuschia tried to remove her arms, and flushing slightly she slipped into the same bed as Christy, putting back her arms in their previous places.
Fuschia looked at Selena, who had only shed a few tears. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could have sworn that Selena had given a feral grin, eyes flashing yellow, before lying down on a bed. Shivering, Fuschia told herself that it was all in her head and she turned back to Christy and kissed the girl on the forehead before allowing herself to drift off into sleep.
~*~
Fuschia woke to large brown eyes gazing deeply into her own. She felt herself heating up, but managed to keep a straight face as she unwrapped her arms and began to stretch out the kinks in her shoulders.
"Mornin' Fuschia." Christy yawned, getting up and stretching out her legs.
"Marnin' Christy." Fuschia replied, scrambling to her feet and pulling out their breakfast; crackers and peanut butter. Not very nutritious, but it was food and it helped with the pangs of hunger that sometimes hit.
Food had been getting harder and harder to find, for food did expire and they had looking in most of the houses and shops in a one mile radius. Each time they went to search, they went a little farther. It now took a good hour to get the food and back to the shelter.
There was a couple minutes of silence as the girls chewed their first few bites, the sticky peanut butter sticking to the tops of their mouths and teeth. The crackers were slightly stale, but it did its job of sating their hunger.
"You said you would help me, right?" Fuschia looked up at Christy's voice, then nodded once, for her mouth was still full of crackers and peanut butter. She chewed a couple more times, swallowed, then shared what she knew.
"The source of the creatures is the house of the crazy guy. Do you know which house I'm talking about?"
"It's the rickety wooden house that looks like it's going to fall down any second."
"Yes, that's the one. Anyways, they can't tolerate loud, high-pitched noises, though they've become increasingly resistant. I don't know if you noticed when...er..." She stopped, unsure what to say. Swallowing, she began again. "The last encounter we had with a creature, I screamed at it and it exploded."
"I was wondering what that was about..."
"Well, they can't tolerate the noise. The first time I killed one like that, it only took one or two seconds. Now it takes at least ten, if not more."
"Then we should find another way against them."
"That would be highly useful, but it's dangerous to experiment. We could end up being dead the next thing we know."
"You have a good point."
"They're strictly carnivores and sometimes possess humans for easier attacking. I'm not sure how that works, but that's what they do." Behind Fuschia, Selena stiffened, which Fuschia took to be shock and horror.
"Then let's go to that house and destroy the source." Christy declared.
"Butit'sso..." For once, Selena had paused in the middle of her talking. But then she began again. "...oldanddarkandcreepy-like!" She sounded extremely nervous.
"Don't be chicken. Gather up your weapons, prepare for a fight, and then we should be off." Fuschia took leadership; it just seemed to come naturally to her. Christy followed orders automatically, her jaw set and eyes determined. Selena hesistated for a moment before getting her sword, which Fuschia had found in the old fencing building on one of the searches. It had been one of Selena's few requests, and Fuschia had gladly gotten it for her. She couldn't imagine going anywhere without her weapons.
It took them about a half an hour to prepare for the attack on the source of their horrors. Christy got her metal tipped whip that she used for attacking and her dagger.
It was a tradition in her family to teach the oldest son how to use the whip for show. They had no son, so Christy, being the oldest daughter, had learned how to use it in place of a son. Though she had learned it more for a dance form, she had adjusted her techniques to attack. Combined with her lightning-fast gymnastic moves and her whip technique, she was a formidable enemy that even Fuschia would think about before attacking. Although she found the Oriental girl's technique amazing, she felt that her family had one weird tradition.
Fuschia already had all her weapons on her, but she checked every single one for cracks and rust before taking out the defective ones and keeping the good ones. She also took the time to grab the two lanterns, giving one to Selena and the other to Christy. Selena didn't do much with her sword but practiced a few controlled lunges within the tank.
As they climbed down the ladder, they silently said goodbye to the water tank in their minds then jogged quietly to the house.
Presently, they reached the front of the building.
The door, barely staying on its hinges, opened slightly when they arrived, almost as if to invite them into the darkened rooms.
Part II
There was now silence between the dark-haired older girl and the fair-haired younger girl. The older one led as the other followed, the younger clearly making an effort to remain silent.
Fuschia wondered how long Selena could have survived for so long with her giant mouth. Sure, the girl had a squeaky high-pitched voice that might help her if she screamed, but she didn't look like much. She was so skinny that Fuschia swore a gust of wind could blow her over. Not only that, her innocent face showed that she didn't understand the severity of the current events.
The two slipped into a building with a basement that led to the outside. The doors to the outside were locked with a heavy-duty lock and chair. If a creature did break through all that, they could escape from the house that led to the inside of the house. Fuschia had been given the keys by her parents for safe keeping before they had been killed. She would be able to unlock the door to the outside if they needed to get out from there.
Her parents had chosen a good spot. The walls were made of cement and had no windows to break through. There was a small lantern that ran on batteries for light.
There wasn't enough food for the two of them for more than a month though. Fuschia had planned to stay for two months if possible now that her parents were gone, but only one month was possible now. A search would allow her to stay longer, but it meant given away her location more times than she wanted. Her parents had made one trip only, but they had been tracked down and slaughtered. And now, Fuschia was an orphan. Then again, Selena was probably one as well.
Closing the door they had entered through and locking it, Fuschia prayed that they had not left anything that could lead the monsters to them. Selena collapsed on one of the make-shift beds (blankets on the ground) and closed her eyes. Fuschia stayed on her feet, looking over the supplies and making mental notes on how much food and water they could have each day.
After hooking on two kunai to her boots, a katana (a type of sword) on her belt, and a couple shurriken (throwing stars) and more kunai into her pouch, she gave Selena her share in a bag and a couple containers. Then she stuck her own share into the backpack that rarely came off her back. It made her a little slower sometimes, but it was better than not having supplies with her just in case she needed to flee.
Her companion stared at the food for a moment before eating away.
"Just thought you should know, that's supposed to last you a month." Selena made no response to Fuschia comment.
"O-kay, it's your food." Fuschia shrugged. It wouldn't be her fault if Selena starved. After all, she did warn the girl.
As Selena ate, Fuschia pulled out her all weapons. Still sharp, the blades gleamed as if ready for blood. When she was convinced that they were in good shape, she slipped them back into her pouch and watched in amusement at the other girl.
~*~
Selena stared at Fuschia as she opened the basement door. The door had not been touched since their arrival but Fuschia knew what she was doing. With her backpack full of supplies on her back and her weapons strapped to her, she was ready to leave. It had been a month and it was time to find a new place to hide.
During the month that they had stayed there, Selena had finished her food and water before half the month had passed, and she complained until Fuschia gave her some of her's. Fuschia had lost a lot of weight, sacrificing most of her valuable food and water to Selena. She was used to not eating much, but this was to the extreme.
Selena had annoyed Fuschia, but even so, she couldn't imagine losing her new friend. Despite her attempts to not create a friendship with Selena, she had anyways, and now would probably shed tears for the girl if she was killed. They had talked about their past and what had happened it them. It turned out that Selena really was an orphan as well, but knew how to fence and so had defended herself in that manner. They braided each others' hair when they were bored and created new funky styles for fun. But Fuschia preferred her simple pony-tail to anything else. Still, she allowed the other girl to play with her wavy dark-brown hair. They had also played cards, playing the games they knew and creating new ones that...weren't so great, but still funny. Overall, they had bonded, and Fuschia would protect Selena if danger came.
The morning was eerily quiet and Fuschia suspected that the creatures had eaten the birds. Actually, they had probably consumed all the animals they could get their foul yellow teeth on.
They had only made it past 3 or 4 houses when Fuschia suddenly stopped, causing Selena to almost collide into her. Dragging the other girl, she pulled them into a rundown building. She had seen one of the creatures that had killed her parents. Shooting Selena a look and hoping that the confused girl understood, she peered carefully over the pile of rubble that they were hiding behind.
Holding her breath and hoping that they would not be found, Fuschia felt as if her heart was in her throat. The crunching footsteps came towards them and then stopped. There was the sound of sniffing, and then they began to get louder and closer.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are." The taunting screeching voice of the creature called out to the two girls.
Oh shitshitshitshitshit! Fuschia could hear and feel the pounding of her pulse in her ears. Her hand, however, was steady as she brought out her kunai in preparation.
There was the sound of a savage yell, a thud, and then a metallic screech of pain. Then it was quiet. Peeking from the rubble, Fuschia saw a tall asian girl and a bushy-haired brunette standing over the dead body of the creature. The two other girls seemed to be talking over something. Then they began to walk towards Fuschia and Selena. Fuschia, seeing no point in hiding, revealed herself, sinking into a defensive pose.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Her piercing green eyes were steely as she glared at the girls.
"We come in peace and are not possessed." The Asian girl answered for the two of them. She was carrying a bloody dagger in her hand, which she began cleaning with a rag from the pocket of her pants.
"We're just, like, looking for other survivors." the brunette answered, nervously fiddling with her sleeves.
"What's your n-" Fuschia began.
"HiI'mSelenaandthat'sFuschiawhat'reyournames?" Selena had appeared out of nowhere, nearly giving Fuschia a heart attack and causing the other two to burst into giggles. Then the Asian girl stopped.
"It's not safe here, let's get to shelter first." This girl was someone who thought like Fuschia, and she nodded, smiling in approval. The four made their way to a giant water tank.
Fuschia and Selena were a little confused, but the former did not question the other two. Selena looked as if she was about to ask, but Fuschia put her hand on Selena's shoulder and shook her head firmly. They climbed up the ladder and then the first two slipped into the door of the water tank. Looking in, Fuschia realized that the tank was devoid of water and the girls had made the tank their shelter. She smiled to herself before slipping in herself. The bushy-haired girl closed the door after Selena got in and then turned on a battery-operated lantern, much like Fuschia's. Fuschia took the opportunity to take out her own but did not light it. The one lantern would be enough, and she didn't want to waste the batteries.
"Alright then. I'm Christy and this is my friend Zinc. You are Fuschia and Selena?" The Asian girl, Christy, smiled at the two girls. Seeing Christy smile at her (and Selena) caused her to drop her eyes and fiddle with her fingers. She didn't know why she was so nervous. After all, Christy was just another girl.
"So, how did you two, like, survive? And, like, how old are you two?" Zinc looked at Fuschia and Selena curiously, hoping for a good story.
"I had my parents up until a month ago. They secured a shelter at the cost of their lives, and I managed to remain alive. Selena found me and we stayed in the shelter until supplies ran out. And I am 14."
"MyparentswerekilledintheverybeginningandIwasabletokeepawaythecreaturesandIranandhidbymyselfuntilIfoundFuschiaandwe'vebeenbestbuddiessinceandI'm11." Zinc's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she heard Selena say her story one breath. Rolling her eyes, Fuschia looked towards Christy, whose eyes twinkled with understanding.
"So you guys are, like, younger than us?" Zinc sounded surprised, but Christy's face remained unreadable.
"How old are you two then?" Fuschia was curious to know their ages, although her main focus was Christy.
"We're, like, 15, but I'm almost 16." She sounded proud, and Christy rolled her eyes, clearly showing that Zinc had expressed her pride in being almost 16 on more than one occasion.
"Zinc and I have been friends since we were 3 and we helped each other when both of our families were destroyed. We used this old water tank as a club house and it didn't take much to convert it into a shelter. It's a little hard to get used to all the curves, but it's fine after a while." Christy grinned at Fuschia before setting up two extra beds. Fuschia added her own blankets to the beds.
"All us survivors should totally, like, stick together." Zinc's words caused Selena to start blabbing again.
"OhyeahtotallyIagreewithyou100%ussurvivors..." Fuschia and Christy both gave exasperated sighs while Zinc perked up attentively. The two annoyed girls blocked out her words as best as they could and curled up into their beds.
Fuschia wondered how long Selena could have survived for so long with her giant mouth. Sure, the girl had a squeaky high-pitched voice that might help her if she screamed, but she didn't look like much. She was so skinny that Fuschia swore a gust of wind could blow her over. Not only that, her innocent face showed that she didn't understand the severity of the current events.
The two slipped into a building with a basement that led to the outside. The doors to the outside were locked with a heavy-duty lock and chair. If a creature did break through all that, they could escape from the house that led to the inside of the house. Fuschia had been given the keys by her parents for safe keeping before they had been killed. She would be able to unlock the door to the outside if they needed to get out from there.
Her parents had chosen a good spot. The walls were made of cement and had no windows to break through. There was a small lantern that ran on batteries for light.
There wasn't enough food for the two of them for more than a month though. Fuschia had planned to stay for two months if possible now that her parents were gone, but only one month was possible now. A search would allow her to stay longer, but it meant given away her location more times than she wanted. Her parents had made one trip only, but they had been tracked down and slaughtered. And now, Fuschia was an orphan. Then again, Selena was probably one as well.
Closing the door they had entered through and locking it, Fuschia prayed that they had not left anything that could lead the monsters to them. Selena collapsed on one of the make-shift beds (blankets on the ground) and closed her eyes. Fuschia stayed on her feet, looking over the supplies and making mental notes on how much food and water they could have each day.
After hooking on two kunai to her boots, a katana (a type of sword) on her belt, and a couple shurriken (throwing stars) and more kunai into her pouch, she gave Selena her share in a bag and a couple containers. Then she stuck her own share into the backpack that rarely came off her back. It made her a little slower sometimes, but it was better than not having supplies with her just in case she needed to flee.
Her companion stared at the food for a moment before eating away.
"Just thought you should know, that's supposed to last you a month." Selena made no response to Fuschia comment.
"O-kay, it's your food." Fuschia shrugged. It wouldn't be her fault if Selena starved. After all, she did warn the girl.
As Selena ate, Fuschia pulled out her all weapons. Still sharp, the blades gleamed as if ready for blood. When she was convinced that they were in good shape, she slipped them back into her pouch and watched in amusement at the other girl.
~*~
Selena stared at Fuschia as she opened the basement door. The door had not been touched since their arrival but Fuschia knew what she was doing. With her backpack full of supplies on her back and her weapons strapped to her, she was ready to leave. It had been a month and it was time to find a new place to hide.
During the month that they had stayed there, Selena had finished her food and water before half the month had passed, and she complained until Fuschia gave her some of her's. Fuschia had lost a lot of weight, sacrificing most of her valuable food and water to Selena. She was used to not eating much, but this was to the extreme.
Selena had annoyed Fuschia, but even so, she couldn't imagine losing her new friend. Despite her attempts to not create a friendship with Selena, she had anyways, and now would probably shed tears for the girl if she was killed. They had talked about their past and what had happened it them. It turned out that Selena really was an orphan as well, but knew how to fence and so had defended herself in that manner. They braided each others' hair when they were bored and created new funky styles for fun. But Fuschia preferred her simple pony-tail to anything else. Still, she allowed the other girl to play with her wavy dark-brown hair. They had also played cards, playing the games they knew and creating new ones that...weren't so great, but still funny. Overall, they had bonded, and Fuschia would protect Selena if danger came.
The morning was eerily quiet and Fuschia suspected that the creatures had eaten the birds. Actually, they had probably consumed all the animals they could get their foul yellow teeth on.
They had only made it past 3 or 4 houses when Fuschia suddenly stopped, causing Selena to almost collide into her. Dragging the other girl, she pulled them into a rundown building. She had seen one of the creatures that had killed her parents. Shooting Selena a look and hoping that the confused girl understood, she peered carefully over the pile of rubble that they were hiding behind.
Holding her breath and hoping that they would not be found, Fuschia felt as if her heart was in her throat. The crunching footsteps came towards them and then stopped. There was the sound of sniffing, and then they began to get louder and closer.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are." The taunting screeching voice of the creature called out to the two girls.
Oh shitshitshitshitshit! Fuschia could hear and feel the pounding of her pulse in her ears. Her hand, however, was steady as she brought out her kunai in preparation.
There was the sound of a savage yell, a thud, and then a metallic screech of pain. Then it was quiet. Peeking from the rubble, Fuschia saw a tall asian girl and a bushy-haired brunette standing over the dead body of the creature. The two other girls seemed to be talking over something. Then they began to walk towards Fuschia and Selena. Fuschia, seeing no point in hiding, revealed herself, sinking into a defensive pose.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Her piercing green eyes were steely as she glared at the girls.
"We come in peace and are not possessed." The Asian girl answered for the two of them. She was carrying a bloody dagger in her hand, which she began cleaning with a rag from the pocket of her pants.
"We're just, like, looking for other survivors." the brunette answered, nervously fiddling with her sleeves.
"What's your n-" Fuschia began.
"HiI'mSelenaandthat'sFuschiawhat'reyournames?" Selena had appeared out of nowhere, nearly giving Fuschia a heart attack and causing the other two to burst into giggles. Then the Asian girl stopped.
"It's not safe here, let's get to shelter first." This girl was someone who thought like Fuschia, and she nodded, smiling in approval. The four made their way to a giant water tank.
Fuschia and Selena were a little confused, but the former did not question the other two. Selena looked as if she was about to ask, but Fuschia put her hand on Selena's shoulder and shook her head firmly. They climbed up the ladder and then the first two slipped into the door of the water tank. Looking in, Fuschia realized that the tank was devoid of water and the girls had made the tank their shelter. She smiled to herself before slipping in herself. The bushy-haired girl closed the door after Selena got in and then turned on a battery-operated lantern, much like Fuschia's. Fuschia took the opportunity to take out her own but did not light it. The one lantern would be enough, and she didn't want to waste the batteries.
"Alright then. I'm Christy and this is my friend Zinc. You are Fuschia and Selena?" The Asian girl, Christy, smiled at the two girls. Seeing Christy smile at her (and Selena) caused her to drop her eyes and fiddle with her fingers. She didn't know why she was so nervous. After all, Christy was just another girl.
"So, how did you two, like, survive? And, like, how old are you two?" Zinc looked at Fuschia and Selena curiously, hoping for a good story.
"I had my parents up until a month ago. They secured a shelter at the cost of their lives, and I managed to remain alive. Selena found me and we stayed in the shelter until supplies ran out. And I am 14."
"MyparentswerekilledintheverybeginningandIwasabletokeepawaythecreaturesandIranandhidbymyselfuntilIfoundFuschiaandwe'vebeenbestbuddiessinceandI'm11." Zinc's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she heard Selena say her story one breath. Rolling her eyes, Fuschia looked towards Christy, whose eyes twinkled with understanding.
"So you guys are, like, younger than us?" Zinc sounded surprised, but Christy's face remained unreadable.
"How old are you two then?" Fuschia was curious to know their ages, although her main focus was Christy.
"We're, like, 15, but I'm almost 16." She sounded proud, and Christy rolled her eyes, clearly showing that Zinc had expressed her pride in being almost 16 on more than one occasion.
"Zinc and I have been friends since we were 3 and we helped each other when both of our families were destroyed. We used this old water tank as a club house and it didn't take much to convert it into a shelter. It's a little hard to get used to all the curves, but it's fine after a while." Christy grinned at Fuschia before setting up two extra beds. Fuschia added her own blankets to the beds.
"All us survivors should totally, like, stick together." Zinc's words caused Selena to start blabbing again.
"OhyeahtotallyIagreewithyou100%ussurvivors..." Fuschia and Christy both gave exasperated sighs while Zinc perked up attentively. The two annoyed girls blocked out her words as best as they could and curled up into their beds.
Part I
Fuschia stood, looking at her parents dead bodies. And then she looked up, cautiously looking at the monster that had killed her beloved parents. There would be time to cry later, but first, she had to take care of herself.
It hadn't been like this before. It had all started when the crazy old geezer had died. His last words, gasped out in the middle of the street, were "They're coming! And there's nothing anyone can do about it..."
Nobody believed him at first, for he was known for making strange claims of alien invasions and the world blowing up. No one really knew him except for himself. He had never had a wife or children and kept to himself. People saw him carrying hunks of scrap metal and spare parts, but paid no attention. The flashes of light and explosions coming from his house were worrying to some, but most people chose to ignore it and go on with their life. They just thought he was insane and left him alone.
A week or so after his death, strange creatures began to pour out of his house, ripping their victims to pieces and devouring them. The adults panicked, keeping their children inside and only going out to buy food. Fuschia had been slightly glad about the attacks at first, for it meant that she didn't need to go to school anymore. She hated school and chose to play hooky. Her parents scolded her, but that did nothing to stop her from leaving school. What they didn't know was that she left school to train herself.
She had found a retired martial arts teacher when she was 11, and she used the time that would have been spent at school learning how to kick, punch, block, and eventually even got to weapons. She was best with bladed weapons, but she wasn't too shabby with other weapons. Her sensei had told her that she was worthy of a black-belt and had surpassed him right before he was killed by a reptilian creature before her eyes. Shaking, her hands covering her face, she cowered in a corner as the monster made its way towards her. She had screamed, and the monster's head burst apart, showering her with blood. Her stomach churned and she threw up several times as the metallic scent of blood overwhelmed her. There she had stayed until the police found her. After that, her parents forced her to stay in her room and she was not allowed out of there except for the bathroom and meals.
It didn't matter to her. In the beginning, she was unresponsive to anyone, acting like a zombie. Slowly, she got over the trauma and began to train herself inside her room (never forgetting her sensei's death), though it was slightly cramped. To make more space, she dumped all the things she didn't need outside the door of her room. Her parents had been confused, but they didn't say anything. All she kept was her bed, her desk, her lamp, some assorted paper and the weapons her sensei had given to her. The weapons were kept secret from her parents at first, but when the attacks got worse, she showed her parents, who tried to confiscate them from her. She had fought the weapons from them, overpowering them quickly and taking shelter in her room. It had been good that she had a lock on her door.
As the days past, the number of creatures grew larger and larger. Not only did they feed often, they bred faster than you can say 'shit' and bred in a variety of ways. Eggs and parasitic young were common, but there were other ways for reproduction. And the smaller creatures had a nasty tendency to possess humans. Any lack of caution, however small it might be, usually resulted in a slow painful death. Although sometimes, you were lucky and got a painful, but quicker death.
After the first couple of months, there had been sirens almost constantly. During that time, her parents had stopped going out to get food and ate sparingly, saving up their food. But during the fourth month, they stopped. And then there were the sounds of buildings breaking and the screams of dying people. Her parents had taken a great risk in getting them to the storm cellar, for they had gone out several times to stock up on food, but they made it there without being attacked.
After two months in the storm cellar, her parents had decided that they needed somewhere else to hide. They were running out of food, and they knew that if they were to go out to find food, they reveal their position. Taking a great risk, they not only got food, but they found a new location and stored their belongings there. Unfortunately, they had been found on their way back, but they didn't know. Shortly after they closed the doors to the storm cellar, the creature had smashed its way through the door and ripped her parents' bodies into shreds. It was the same species as the one that had killed her sensei, and she was filled with an incredibly strong feeling of hate and anger. She wanted revenge, and even if it was only one of many, it would make her feel better. Still, she was afraid that she would be killed, for almost all of her weapons were at the other shelter and she only had her kunai (a bit like a dagger but not quite) in her weapon pouch.
It opened its great jaws, displaying rows of sharp teeth. She kept her eyes on it as slowly moved towards her. Her kunai found its way into her hand, but she knew it would be futile to just slash at it. Its teeth were much more dangerous than her little kunai.
"I-if you do-don't go aw-wa-way, I-I'll scream." she stuttered, not exactly knowing why she was even talking to it in the first place. But she did know that her scream would cause its head to blow up if she screamed long enough. Or at least, she hoped so.
Her parents hadn't believed her when she told them. After the creature that had killed her sensei had blown up, she had deduced that they couldn't handle the high-pitched noise. But her parents thought that she was just being silly and tried to convince her that she was not thinking straight. And now they were dead.
The monster looked confused for a moment, and then began to laugh. She stared at it in shock as it laughed, the sounds coming from its throat grating at her senses. It was a strange sound coming from a creature that looked like it did.
The body was something like a raptor, one of those small but vicious dinosaurs. It had long dangerous claws on all four feet, though the two that touched the ground had slightly larger claws. Its head, however, was not a dinosaur-like head, looking more like the head of the black Spiderman from Spiderman 3 but with narrow eyes. The slitted yellow eyes reminded her of a cat's eyes, but there was something about them that was more...deadly and intelligent.
"What did you say, girl?" She couldn't breathe for a moment. It had talked back to her!
"I-I said that I-I'll scream."
"And what could you possibly do with a mere, pitiful scream." It was teasing her, goading her to try. Then it took a casual bite of her one of her parent's bodies. The scent of blood became stronger in the air. She gave herself a moment to stop the shaking in her body before opening her mouth.
The monster writhed in agony as her high-pitched shriek penetrated the air.
"No. No. NO!!!!" It was half sobbing now, clutching its scaly head with clawed feet. She stopped, and waited for the creature to settle down.
"If you try to eat me, I will scream again. Now go away." It quickly turned on it's scaled heels and ran away. As it left, she could have sworn that it muttered, "Big JJ is coming. Then we can all feed all we want without any worries." If anyone was to be worried, it should have been the humans, not the creatures. She was a little confused at what it said, but she dismissed its words for nonsense and slumped down against the nearest wall.
Sobbing, her small frame shook as violent shudders ran through her spine. Why? Why did this all have to start?
She cried for a couple more moments before wiping away her tears and standing up shakily. Then, she began to look for something to scavenge to take to the new shelter that she had decided just now to go to.
"How can you cry so few tears? And don't you have any respect for the dead?" Her head snapped up and then she spotted the owner of the voice. A small girl, looking a bit like she had when she had first started taking martial arts, made her away across the room from the entrance of the storm cellar. Fuschia wondered how the blond haired girl had not been eaten by the fleeing monster, but she didn't make a sound.
As the girl came closer, Fuschia stepped back, not trusting her. She shrieked once, making sure there were no creatures controlling the girl. Seeing as there were no explosions of flesh and blood from the abdomen of the newcomer (for that was where the creatures normally stayed when controlling humans), Fuschia relaxed a little, allowing the girl to come within 5 feet of her.
"I do not waste my time crying for the dead when I could be using that time for other things. I cried at first, but after seeing my teacher and my family slaughtered before my eyes, I have stopped most of my tears. I would bury the bodies of my parents if I didn't know that they would be dug up again and eaten anyways." The girl stared at her as she left the storm cellar.
"Wait!" Fuschia stopped at the voice.
"What?!" she snapped, impatient and wanting to get to safety soon. She did not turn around to look at the blonde.
"Could I come with you? I'm so scared?" Now that she thought about it, the girl did look pretty scared; she had large, dark circles under her eyes and was shaking like a leaf last she saw.
"There are no guarantees to survival by traveling with me. Come if you must, but I will kill you if you become a danger to me." she finally said, letting her hand pass briefly over the kunai by her side. Then she began to make her way to the shelter.
The girl scamped after her, babbling excitedly.
"Himyname'sSelenawhat'syoursohyoudon'tneedtotellmeIcantellyou'rebusythinkingamIbotheringyoubecauseifIamIcan-"
"My name is Fuschia. Now Selena, I need you to do me a favor."
"OoafavorIcanhelpwhatdoyouneedI'msureIcanhelpyouwith-"
"Shut up." Fuschia gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to smack the girl named Selena.
It hadn't been like this before. It had all started when the crazy old geezer had died. His last words, gasped out in the middle of the street, were "They're coming! And there's nothing anyone can do about it..."
Nobody believed him at first, for he was known for making strange claims of alien invasions and the world blowing up. No one really knew him except for himself. He had never had a wife or children and kept to himself. People saw him carrying hunks of scrap metal and spare parts, but paid no attention. The flashes of light and explosions coming from his house were worrying to some, but most people chose to ignore it and go on with their life. They just thought he was insane and left him alone.
A week or so after his death, strange creatures began to pour out of his house, ripping their victims to pieces and devouring them. The adults panicked, keeping their children inside and only going out to buy food. Fuschia had been slightly glad about the attacks at first, for it meant that she didn't need to go to school anymore. She hated school and chose to play hooky. Her parents scolded her, but that did nothing to stop her from leaving school. What they didn't know was that she left school to train herself.
She had found a retired martial arts teacher when she was 11, and she used the time that would have been spent at school learning how to kick, punch, block, and eventually even got to weapons. She was best with bladed weapons, but she wasn't too shabby with other weapons. Her sensei had told her that she was worthy of a black-belt and had surpassed him right before he was killed by a reptilian creature before her eyes. Shaking, her hands covering her face, she cowered in a corner as the monster made its way towards her. She had screamed, and the monster's head burst apart, showering her with blood. Her stomach churned and she threw up several times as the metallic scent of blood overwhelmed her. There she had stayed until the police found her. After that, her parents forced her to stay in her room and she was not allowed out of there except for the bathroom and meals.
It didn't matter to her. In the beginning, she was unresponsive to anyone, acting like a zombie. Slowly, she got over the trauma and began to train herself inside her room (never forgetting her sensei's death), though it was slightly cramped. To make more space, she dumped all the things she didn't need outside the door of her room. Her parents had been confused, but they didn't say anything. All she kept was her bed, her desk, her lamp, some assorted paper and the weapons her sensei had given to her. The weapons were kept secret from her parents at first, but when the attacks got worse, she showed her parents, who tried to confiscate them from her. She had fought the weapons from them, overpowering them quickly and taking shelter in her room. It had been good that she had a lock on her door.
As the days past, the number of creatures grew larger and larger. Not only did they feed often, they bred faster than you can say 'shit' and bred in a variety of ways. Eggs and parasitic young were common, but there were other ways for reproduction. And the smaller creatures had a nasty tendency to possess humans. Any lack of caution, however small it might be, usually resulted in a slow painful death. Although sometimes, you were lucky and got a painful, but quicker death.
After the first couple of months, there had been sirens almost constantly. During that time, her parents had stopped going out to get food and ate sparingly, saving up their food. But during the fourth month, they stopped. And then there were the sounds of buildings breaking and the screams of dying people. Her parents had taken a great risk in getting them to the storm cellar, for they had gone out several times to stock up on food, but they made it there without being attacked.
After two months in the storm cellar, her parents had decided that they needed somewhere else to hide. They were running out of food, and they knew that if they were to go out to find food, they reveal their position. Taking a great risk, they not only got food, but they found a new location and stored their belongings there. Unfortunately, they had been found on their way back, but they didn't know. Shortly after they closed the doors to the storm cellar, the creature had smashed its way through the door and ripped her parents' bodies into shreds. It was the same species as the one that had killed her sensei, and she was filled with an incredibly strong feeling of hate and anger. She wanted revenge, and even if it was only one of many, it would make her feel better. Still, she was afraid that she would be killed, for almost all of her weapons were at the other shelter and she only had her kunai (a bit like a dagger but not quite) in her weapon pouch.
It opened its great jaws, displaying rows of sharp teeth. She kept her eyes on it as slowly moved towards her. Her kunai found its way into her hand, but she knew it would be futile to just slash at it. Its teeth were much more dangerous than her little kunai.
"I-if you do-don't go aw-wa-way, I-I'll scream." she stuttered, not exactly knowing why she was even talking to it in the first place. But she did know that her scream would cause its head to blow up if she screamed long enough. Or at least, she hoped so.
Her parents hadn't believed her when she told them. After the creature that had killed her sensei had blown up, she had deduced that they couldn't handle the high-pitched noise. But her parents thought that she was just being silly and tried to convince her that she was not thinking straight. And now they were dead.
The monster looked confused for a moment, and then began to laugh. She stared at it in shock as it laughed, the sounds coming from its throat grating at her senses. It was a strange sound coming from a creature that looked like it did.
The body was something like a raptor, one of those small but vicious dinosaurs. It had long dangerous claws on all four feet, though the two that touched the ground had slightly larger claws. Its head, however, was not a dinosaur-like head, looking more like the head of the black Spiderman from Spiderman 3 but with narrow eyes. The slitted yellow eyes reminded her of a cat's eyes, but there was something about them that was more...deadly and intelligent.
"What did you say, girl?" She couldn't breathe for a moment. It had talked back to her!
"I-I said that I-I'll scream."
"And what could you possibly do with a mere, pitiful scream." It was teasing her, goading her to try. Then it took a casual bite of her one of her parent's bodies. The scent of blood became stronger in the air. She gave herself a moment to stop the shaking in her body before opening her mouth.
The monster writhed in agony as her high-pitched shriek penetrated the air.
"No. No. NO!!!!" It was half sobbing now, clutching its scaly head with clawed feet. She stopped, and waited for the creature to settle down.
"If you try to eat me, I will scream again. Now go away." It quickly turned on it's scaled heels and ran away. As it left, she could have sworn that it muttered, "Big JJ is coming. Then we can all feed all we want without any worries." If anyone was to be worried, it should have been the humans, not the creatures. She was a little confused at what it said, but she dismissed its words for nonsense and slumped down against the nearest wall.
Sobbing, her small frame shook as violent shudders ran through her spine. Why? Why did this all have to start?
She cried for a couple more moments before wiping away her tears and standing up shakily. Then, she began to look for something to scavenge to take to the new shelter that she had decided just now to go to.
"How can you cry so few tears? And don't you have any respect for the dead?" Her head snapped up and then she spotted the owner of the voice. A small girl, looking a bit like she had when she had first started taking martial arts, made her away across the room from the entrance of the storm cellar. Fuschia wondered how the blond haired girl had not been eaten by the fleeing monster, but she didn't make a sound.
As the girl came closer, Fuschia stepped back, not trusting her. She shrieked once, making sure there were no creatures controlling the girl. Seeing as there were no explosions of flesh and blood from the abdomen of the newcomer (for that was where the creatures normally stayed when controlling humans), Fuschia relaxed a little, allowing the girl to come within 5 feet of her.
"I do not waste my time crying for the dead when I could be using that time for other things. I cried at first, but after seeing my teacher and my family slaughtered before my eyes, I have stopped most of my tears. I would bury the bodies of my parents if I didn't know that they would be dug up again and eaten anyways." The girl stared at her as she left the storm cellar.
"Wait!" Fuschia stopped at the voice.
"What?!" she snapped, impatient and wanting to get to safety soon. She did not turn around to look at the blonde.
"Could I come with you? I'm so scared?" Now that she thought about it, the girl did look pretty scared; she had large, dark circles under her eyes and was shaking like a leaf last she saw.
"There are no guarantees to survival by traveling with me. Come if you must, but I will kill you if you become a danger to me." she finally said, letting her hand pass briefly over the kunai by her side. Then she began to make her way to the shelter.
The girl scamped after her, babbling excitedly.
"Himyname'sSelenawhat'syoursohyoudon'tneedtotellmeIcantellyou'rebusythinkingamIbotheringyoubecauseifIamIcan-"
"My name is Fuschia. Now Selena, I need you to do me a favor."
"OoafavorIcanhelpwhatdoyouneedI'msureIcanhelpyouwith-"
"Shut up." Fuschia gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to smack the girl named Selena.
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