Doki Doki: World At War Chapter 1: Reality, a doki doki literature club fanfic

Chapter 1: Reality

Shhhhink.

He moved his whetstone to the side and brought up the newly-sharpened Bowie knife, glancing over it as it gleamed back at him, its sharpness slightly intimidating. His gaze eventually refocused on the ground below him.

I didn't find fuck-all in this place, James thought to himself.

His first visit to Midfield, James was frustrated that his search for weapons had only come up with a rusty hatchet and a cartridge of .45 ACP ammunition. He was more successful in locating goods, as he had stumbled upon a whole pack of bottled water.

He looked west to see the sun setting, almost disappearing off the horizon. Dusk was arriving, and that was not a time to be out. He was almost inclined to jump in his military jeep and skedaddle. However, he felt an instinctive tugging to at least explore a bit of Highland park, the nearby public garden.

Might as well, he thought.

With that, he slung his M1 Garand over his shoulder and sheathed his bowie knife, then stood up and jogged over to the park.

As he came upon the entrance, he noticed how decrepit the place looked upon first sight. The sign tilted as its supports, damaged by the effects of war, struggled to keep it straightened. Weeds and overgrowth crept all over the concrete, a result of absent gardeners. And of course, parts of the same concrete were broken off, most likely from past confrontations involving guns.

The sight of it all saddened James. He was hoping to find some small sanctuary that was devoid of any signs of war. But of course, he should have not had such far-fetched expectations. With that somber thought in mind, he entered the derelict establishment.

Inside, he found the same likeness in the park as he did at the front entrance. As he ventured further in, however, the integrity of the park seemed to gradually get better. Eventually, James came upon a stone fountain, in which four nozzles protruded out from. There was no water spouting from them, though.

This must be the center of the park, He thought.

There was nothing to be found in the vicinity of the fountain. James sighed, walking over and taking a seat on a wooden bench. His eyes wandered the ruins of a once-respectable park, and reflected on his own past.

When he and his family had first received news of the nuclear detonation in Florida, he didn't believe it. How could something like that even occur, and in such a time of happiness? He'd been about to college, but his life was halted by the beginning of this hellish war that pitted the entire world against itself.

East versus West.

His father had been enlisted not long after the declaration of war. James had to hold down the house in his place. Only a couple years later,

Did disaster strike.

The hospital. The explosion. Everything set aflame. Troops rushing in. His family-

SLAM!

The bench shook slightly as James' fist slammed into the seat. He grunted in pain, regretting that action as his hand slightly throbbed in pain.

Why? He thought to himself. Why did this have to happen to me?

AAAAAaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaAAAAAHHHHHhhhhhHHHHHhhhhHHH!

Why did this have to happen to me? She thought.

The Screaming Void. Her indomitable hell. A constant pit of unending screeching and dreadfully bright, harsh colors. To be honest with herself, she was surprised she hadn't gone insane yet. At this point, she was sure this was some kind of punishment, but she had no idea what kind of horrible crime a person could commit to be deserving of this.

Maybe it was the heartless thing she had inflicted upon her 'friends'. Maybe it could be the willingness of committing such actions for something like interacting with sentient, real beings that kept her from escape. But regardless of what sins she had committed, it did not matter in the end. She was stuck here.

Floating in some empty pit of violent discord.

Oh, what she would give just to be free. To her, there was surely nothing worse than this. She would walk on glass. She could be burned alive. She could have her eyes gouged out, her nails pulled, her limbs dismembered, and she would consider all of that to be a paradise compared to this nothingness.

She could not even resign to this fate. There was no peace, just constant disruption of her thoughts-

G QDSV
NJY^Y BE% A

# ETRHEWSDV Q#R

#$T W$#T TEWT FW IOJT

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OP#$HKT WP# OH POIE#RH P

Silence.

…

A light shone in front of her. It was soothing, as if wrapping her up like a blanket. She felt herself being pulled towards it, and gave into it. The light encompassed her vision, until everything was white.

Gaaaaasp.

She coughed, feeling as if she couldn't control her own body. She felt herself falling off of some raised surface.

Thump.

She smacked into the white tile floor below, along with the splashing of the liquid that had seemingly encased her. Her vision was distorted, but her hearing was just fine, and with it she heard creaking and groaning of the structure around her.

Everything felt alien to her. It was an entirely different dimension, and with it she could feel thing she never did before.

The expansion and contraction of her lungs, the dispelling and inhalation of each breath.

Her hands and knees as they pressed against the cold surface of the tile below.

Her movement, as each muscle and joint in her body moved with accordance of her brain's subconscious orders.

She felt alive. She felt real. She felt….human.

However, as the groaning and creaking around her grew louder, she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to enjoy this much longer if she didn't get moving.

She tried to move forward, as she could barely see a staircase at the far end of the hall, exiting out of the giant room she was in. The alien feeling of having a body disturbed her so much that she halted, falling back to the floor. She didn't know how to use her limbs, but she didn't have time to practice.

With great struggle and desperation, she moved towards the staircase in a most unsettling manner, jerking each of her limbs forward erratically. As she got progressively closer to the staircase, bits and pieces of the structure around her began to groan louder, and eventually some popped or cracked off. Above her, parts of the ceiling were breaking off and falling onto the floor around her. Regardless of all of this, she continued to jerk forward, eventually reaching the staircase.

She finally came upon the steps, and this time had to lift each limb up onto the the stairs, one after the other, even having to prop her head against one of the steps to gain traction. It was painstakingly awkward and slow, but she was determined to live. She felt a new surge of strength course throughout her body, and she continued up the steps.

She continued to navigate the complex, taking turns down corridors, heading up more stairs, pushing aside small obstacles such as wheelchairs and movable tray tables with her limbs.

All the while, the foundation and structure continued to break apart, as the corroded establishment was giving in due to some unknown force being the final straw for the complex.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Up the staircase.

Left.

Right.

Finally, she saw a door that looked to lead outside. She began crawling over, but a ceiling tile unhinged from above and smacked into her head. She almost fell the floor, but she stopped herself just short of it, knowing she would be buried with the place if she didn't continue moving. She kept crawling, blood slithering down her head and getting into her eyes.

Five meters left.

The rumbling of the establishment grew louder.

Four meters left.

The walls to either side splintered, spraying small fragments of metal all over the place, some of them embedding in her skin. She yelled in pain, but kept on.

Three meters left.

The floor below her caved in slightly, holes forming in it, rebar sticking out from the cracks. She could see the below floors through the holes, but kept on.

Two meters left.

She heard something explode from deep within the complex, and the rumbling sped up the degradation of the structure. In great distress, she kept on.

One meter left.

Close enough, she gathered up all of her energy and pounced at the door, slamming into it. She yelped in pain, but began pushing against it in desperation.

It was locked.

She felt her heart plummet, and began screaming in fear, bringing herself up to slam into it. Over and over, she repeated this, to no avail. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls all began caving in, and she could feel herself slowly slipping towards the middle, inevitably to a fate where she would be crushed into a pulp.

What a cruel joke.

She slanted against the door, crying in agony, her chest taut with pain. She felt rage and sorrow boil within her.

Yet, she felt hope still.

She picked herself up, and continued slamming into the metal door, yelling with irate determination.

Slam.

Slam.

The foundations behind her continued to give in, the crack in the floor slowly creeping towards her, ready to swallow her up.

SLAM.

SLAM.

Her entire body throbbed and ached with agonizing pain, the continuous slamming bruising her all over.

SLAM!

BANG!

Her ears rang as the air was shattered by an abrupt noise that ended as quickly as it had occurred. The door swung open, and she flung herself through the exit.

Time slowed down, and her eyes met with someone else's.

What beautiful brown eyes.

THUMP.

James continued watching the sunset. It was only after a couple minutes that he realized he was putting himself in more danger the longer he waited for night. He shook his head, standing up from his seat. He stretched his legs-

CRACK!

James was thrown off his feet as a lightning strike struck near him, as if the ground itself had propelled him upwards. He landed a short distance away, tumbling over himself. He shook violently as the the step voltage from the lightning strike had hit him from below. He tried to get up, but failed numerous times. His ears rang from the shattering noise of the lightning strike.

CRACK!

The lightning strikes continued, though thankfully farther away from the park. James finally managed to quell the shaking in his limbs, and stood up, his mind having accelerated from the adrenaline that was now pumping in his blood.

…He…

…Elp…

Among all of the chain-strikes, James could faintly hear someone yelling. He looked around wildly, not sure where it was coming from.

….Help….

He turned his head, having traced the source of it to the 'Employees Only' maintenance door built into the concrete wall behind the fountain. He ran over, keeping his head low so as to not incur a strike to the head, which would surely send him into cardiac arrest.

Help!

He was sure of it now. Someone was on the other end of that door.

He went to open the door, but found that it was locked, jittering the handle constantly.

HELP!

He felt a sense of urgency to help whoever was stuck behind there. He took a couple steps backwards, then ran into the door with his shoulder. He grunted loudly in pain as the door shook from the impact. As he did so, he heard the door shaking from impacts by the other side.

He quickly realized how counterproductive it was to ram into the door from both sides. He could hear rumbling from behind the door, and so decided to-

CRACK!

Another lightning strike, this time alarmingly close. James felt another shock hit him from below, and he was thrown a couple meters across the yard, into the door. His head smacked against the surface, and he almost fell unconscious. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep…

SLAM!

James shook his head.

I cannot let this person die.

Placing the butt of his rifle on the floor, he gained purchase on his feet as he used it to stand up, and steadied himself against it. He looked at the handle once more, and an idea lit up in his mind. He remembered an instance, when he was young, where he had sat on his father's lap, his dad recounting war stories from World War II. He recalled his dad once telling him how they breached buildings.

With that idea, James picked up his rifle and pointed it at the handle. He pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The gunshot rang out in the park, and James almost dropped the gun in surprise. He had never heard the rifle go off before, and it was extremely loud.

Nevertheless, the door swung open, and a woman came sailing through the door, having locked eyes with James for a moment. Her eyes were emerald green.

THUMP.

She landed on the patch of grass below, unmoving as she lay there. James had many questions race through his mind, like why she was unclothed, but he was dissuaded from any further conversation by the very ground he was standing on beginning to sag and cave in towards the door. He quickly stumbled to his feet, picking up the woman in a bridal carry, and raced out of the park towards his jeep. He noticed the lightning strikes becoming more frequent, as if they were wary of his escape and were trying their hardest to stop him from doing so.

CRACK!

His ears rang continually as he ducked and dodged, feeling as if mother nature herself was vying for him. The ground was still caving in, and cracks slithered towards him rapidly. The jeep was within sight, sitting a couple dozen meters down the dilapidated street.

As he cut through the entrance, he felt a sharp whistle in his ear, and turned his head to see the sign had swung horizontally as its supports gave out. He turned white at the thought of almost being decapitated by it, but swallowed his fear and continued running a beeline towards the jeep.

Finally, he arrived, and without a second thought, he tossed the woman in the passenger's seat, hopped in the driver's, and turned on the ignition with the keys. As the engine came alive, he took one last look at the horrifying sight that was Highland Park.

"Fuck this place."

He floored the pedal, screeching off.

The girl's eyes fluttered open, and she looked around groggily to see landscape passing by. She turned her head left, and saw someone in the seat next to hers, driving the vehicle they were in. He was seemingly relaxed, looking out at the passing houses and trees. 'More Than A Feeling' was playing at half-volume on the radio of the jeep, though the girl was not aware of the name of the song. She was allured by the melody, as it was heavenly to hear music that wasn't the same incessant tune she had heard from the other world. As she moved around, she noticed a blanket covering her torso. She worked her arms around it, bringing them up to her face, which still felt alien to her, and looked at what she could only assume were her hands.

This was a feeling unlike anything she had ever experienced. The only things she could do before were think and code. Now, she could do so much more. She could see things, hear things, feel things. It was unexplainable, how this all felt to her, but all she knew truly was that she loved every moment of it. She tried to flex her fingers, and it worked, her hand closing into a fist. She weakly gasped in awe.

The boy driving heard her, and looked over in surprise, almost releasing the wheel. A lone garbage bin on the road brought his attention back, and he swerved slightly to avoid collision. He sighed in relief, and decided to switch his gaze between the road and the girl in 3-second intervals.

"So, uh-is this 332? Yeah it is- Uh, anyways, might I be bothered to ask why I found you at an abandoned park?"

The girl did not respond, instead staring in disbelief at the boy.

"Eh, did….did ya hear me?"

The girl had no idea how to talk. She had only been able to communicate through text. She tried to move her mouth, but found it to be a difficult task. The movement felt foreign (imagine a normal person gaining an extra limb and getting used to using it), and as she tried to speak, it sounded like she was having a stroke.

Needless to say, the boy was perplexed by this. As the radio switched to the next song, 'Sweet Dreams Are Made of This', he continued to eye the girl in confusion. His eyes then took on a fearful light as a thought came to mind.

"Are you….a Russian spy?"

The girl tilted her head in confusion. James looked over her with suspicion, then focused back on the road, mumbling,

"I mean, you don't look like one." (Regardless that James had never actually seen a Russian that didn't have their face covered)

Silence ensued, with the girl figuring out how to use her limbs and James bobbing his head to the music on the radio whilst driving, occasionally glancing over at her.

Internally, James was nervous about the whole ordeal. He had never encountered a situation like this.

"Egh-eugh-ooohhh-He-hegg-hell...hello. Hello. Hello."

The girl had finally been able to get hold of speaking, but she still felt as if she was in some sort of surreal paradise. As she gazed around, everything was so...colorful. Not harsh or bright, but...colorful. Everything melded together to form an actual picture in her eyes. The entirety of her vision was beyond what she could have imagined to be heavenly. It was all so much to take in, compared to where she came from.

"So, uh, what's your name….bro?" James shook his head in regret.

Did you actually just call this girl 'bro'?, He thought to himself.

The girl looked over, still out of it.

"Wha...what?"

James looked over at her, struggling for an answer. Before he could come up with something, the girl asked:

"Are you...real?"

This put James off even more than he was already. He didn't want to have to deal with a druggie as he was driving.

"Uh, yeah, pretty sure i'm, well, here, last time I checked."

The girl continued stared at him, a mixture of shock and awe at his answer.

"Did-did you just answer...me? You're talking...to me, right?"

James took a look around his jeep, then looked back at the girl.

"What-who...who else would I be talking to? The car?"

The girl had no answer. The feeling of otherworldliness was still affecting her mentally, but the reality of it all began to sink in as she slowly confirmed that this was not some hallucination.

"So, uh...name?"

"...Monika."

"Ah. Name's James."

Silence ensued once again.

…

"So, that's with a 'c', right?"

"A 'k'."
"That's….weird."

Over the course of the trip, Monika's state of mind swelled from awe and disbelief to an almost euphoric sense of relief and jubilancy.

She was free.

James jerked to the sound of delighted squealing from the seat to his right. He turned in slight annoyance.

"Hey, i'm tryna drive here, why are ya-"

He stopped as he saw Monika immediately begin sobbing. He was extremely perplexed by her erratic changes in behavior, but he felt obliged to help.

"What's wrong?"

Monika looked up at him, a joyful smile contrasting her teary eyes.

"I'm just...happy."

An hour later, the jeep slowed down, coasting past a sign that said:

Galveston, Texas

Population: HOME OF THE BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS

Monika read the sign, and was curious as to the point of the message.

As they coasted through the neighborhood, Monika noted the sorry state of many of the houses in the area. Half of them had busted-up windows, broken-in doors, and other signs of damage or lack of maintenance, whilst other houses were boarded up, with the occasional set of eyes looking out the window, then disappearing out of sight. She was unsettled by this, and was about to turn and ask James when he began to answer.

"I'm going to assume by the way you're looking about that you, somehow, don't know the state of things in this country. Currently, we're being invaded by a foreign enemy…"

And so James went on to explain how, in the early months of 1982, the Eastern countries, mainly Russia, China, Korea, and the 'New Ottoman Empire' (the Middle East united under a ruler) had been causing trouble for the other civilizations with their displays of a desire to expand. Many events led up to what was eventually a declaration of war on every Western Civilization by the four great Eastern powers. They formed what was referred to as the Second Eastern Bloc, or SEB, and began expanding on a worldwide takeover.

To stop this threat, the U.S. and its numerous allies formed the International Western Alliance, or IWA (including Australia). With these two powers clashing, millions died in the meager three years that passed, outnumbering the deaths of both WWI and WWII combined. Oddly enough, as well, on September 22nd of every year during that war, a horrible, global natural disaster occurred, adding to the body count in the millions.

Eventually, after a disastrous incident in the Indian Sea involving more than 6 million killed or injured U.S. troops, U.S. citizens decided to form the United Front of Armed Americans, or UFAA, with over 30 million immediately joining the organization, taking up arms against the invading enemy. Canada, Mexico, Central and South America soon joined, and the organization spanned over 100 million members within the two months it formed.

James also explained how, as a result of this very real invasion, most UFAA members had packed up and headed to big cities like Houston, New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. to organize themselves as a military, hence the reason why so many towns like Galveston were sparse in population. However, some people stayed behind, whether it be to hold the front line against the invaders, or just because they couldn't leave home.

With that, small detachments of SEB troops were moving around the country, though mostly on the edges, as they had not been able to move further into U.S. territory as a result of vigilant armed citizens keeping watch. Thus, the forefront of conflict happened at coastline cities, or towns close to borders or the seafront.

Monika soaked up this information as she listened, both intrigued and disturbed by the current state of the new world she had been brought into.

James stared at her, unsure of what else to say.

Eventually, he stopped at his house on 29th Street. He pulled up on the driveway, turning the ignition off and hopping out, moving around back to grab his gear, which was packed against the mounted machine gun that came along with the military jeep. He was still awed by the intimidating sight of it, but had not gotten around to using it. He was half thankful he didn't have to.

James then went around to the passenger side and, shouldering his gear, opened the car door and brought out Monika. He noticed she was in no condition to be moving by herself. He had treated her head wound, but she still had metal splinters embedded in various parts of her skin.

I might have to call Doctor Jenkins to deal with this, he thought to himself. Doctor Jenkins was one of the people who stayed behind to defend his home on the forefront, along with a couple other doctors, which was lucky for the entirety of any remaining Galveston residents.

As he picked Monika up, she flinched in pain from the movement of the splinters in her skin. She gritted her teeth, willing to bare it, but James had noticed.

"Sorry." He muttered softly.

He walked up the porch steps, sidled the door handle, and opened the door, taking her inside. The house was simple, not too extravagant nor impoverished-looking. A set of stairs led up to the second floor, and as James turned right, she noted they were in the living room, evident by the small TV and the couch, along with a couple other pieces of furniture that defined a living room. James set her down slowly on the couch, ensuring to keep the splintered skin on her away from contact on the couch. Once she had settled in, James ran out of sight.

Meanwhile, Monika surveyed the room. She noticed a drawer on the far end of the room, with a couple pictures of what she could only assume were family photos. Two windows on either side of the TV shone the sunlight through, which made Monika feel like she was being wrapped up in a warm cocoon. Monika heard a sizzling coming from another room in the house.

After a few moments, James hurried back with a glass of water and a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate, placing them on the lamp table next to her. He then turned around and sat down on the chair adjacent to the couch, panting from all of his physical exertion.

Monika looked over at the meal she had been served, then to James, who sat there, catching his breath.

"Is that...for me?"

James looked up, still panting. He half-smiled and gesture awkwardly to the meal.

"Uh, yeah. I assumed you were probably hungry, with whatever you've been through. So, um, eat up, if ya like."

Monika looked back over at the meal, then down at her hands, flexing them. She moved her left hand to pick up the water, managing to grab it successfully. She took a couple sips, feeling it quench her dry throat. She then reached for the sandwich with her right, bringing it to her mouth and biting down. It was amazing to her. Being able to actually eat and drink.

She felt something course down her cheek, and rubbed her finger against it, pulling it away to find it wet.

James was once again discomforted by her crying.

"You know, I didn't think my sandwiches were that good."

She laughed. For the first time in her existence, Monika was truly laughing.

BANG!

Upcoming: Chapter 2 - A New Menace