A/N: I'm sorry. It's been maybe two years since I've last updated? I promise you though, this is worth the wait. I've really been wanting to straighten up this story for a while, and I tried. This was my first story and it was very sloppy. I mean VERY. It was pretty much nonredeemable. So I revised it. It took forever to write this. I kept changing things here and there, at one point I had it all in second person. Thats all in the past now though, its finally done! I hope you all enjoy it because I've worked my little heart out on this.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the game Bioshock, nor did I create the picture. Both Belong to the real owners of Bioshock.
Why did we come here?
Such an easy question, it's a wonder how it got some many answers. Some came for a better life, others because living in underwater city with the best humanity had to offer sounded like heaven in comparison of staying above ground with a war going on, even if it was far fetched.
It was like living a vacation. Living underwater, it seemed like nothing could touch you. It was a vacation, until the happy buzz wore off and humanities bad habits started to kick in. It started off with a couple of arguments,which turned into full blown riots, then a couple of discoveries, Which turned into trauma inducing experiments, and finally people started to change. Even the kids changed.
Jealous rage inducing bodies crumpled away into a sea of scabs and scars. Some of the must intelligent minds in the world, pounded into mush giving out only one thought 'Adam'. Mother and child torn apart and replaced by mindless robotic fathers'. All this with just one stab of a syringe.
Welcome to rapture, we hope you enjoy your stay. It wasn't until it was too late that people realized to say this in sarcastic tones.
They were disgusting. One of the most vile things you'd ever see. Glowing murky yellow eyes, stringy hair shinning with grease. They wore tattered dresses drenched with dry blood, not that they seem to notice. They skipped in the halls searching for dead bodies, or 'angles' as they see it, followed by rusting metal beings that used to be common thugs. Neither had anything to live for, they did what they were told to do and that was it. Nothing else. Stuck in an endless cycle that they neither know of or see.
What was it like to be a mindless drone, just doing what you had to do nothing more and nothing less, unaware of the horrors a place like Rapture had to offer. Subconsciously picking at a scab on her left elbow Kimberly briefly wonders if little sisters and big daddies are the unlucky ones after all.
What she would give to see the world through lie feeding eyes, wanting to live ignorant rather than having to acknowledged the painful fact that yes, the world is an awful place.
The quiet sound of another's soft breath was heard from Kimberly's left. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a pale arm coming rapidly towards her. Kimberly flinched as a sharp fading pain delivered itself to her arm. Her left one to be exact.
"Stop picking at that scab, it'll scar!" An annoyed voice called out in the dimly lit room.
Kimberly blew her greasy bangs out of her face, aggravated by the demeaning voice addressing her. Turning her head to the source of her annoyance, Kimberly glared at her dingy raven haired companion, whose hand was red from slapping her. The raven woman's green eyes were focused on Kimberly's elbow which held a half peeled scab on it.
Kimberly pulled her gangly arm closer to her aware of the piercing stare. "It's not like I don't have any." Unconsciously Kimberly's fingers brushed her forehead, drawing the raven hair woman's gaze upwards.
More specifically to Kimberly's hair.
"And your hair! It is way to long!" She says pulling on a strand of the younger girls shoulder length blond hair. Pulling out a switch blade, The dingy raven haired woman moves to cut the greasy strand of blond she held.
"Do we really have time for this?" Kimberly said anxiously as she glanced around the room.
"Doesn't matter. The last thing I need is having to worry about a splicer sneaking up on you, jerking you by the hair and slitting your throat." She says as chopped away the blonde's hair.
Kimberly sighed in annoyance. It's not like she cared if the woman cut her hair, it's just-
"Mister Bubbles.."
Kimberly snapped her head over to the right so fast it almost gave her whiplash. It wasn't. It couldn't be. A sinking feeling filled her stomach, as if she swallowed a lead ball. Goosebumps spread like a wild fire all over Kimberly legs and arms and she began to tremble. Kimberly was scared. Kimberly was terrified.
"Kimberly you idiot stop moving! I almost chopped off your ear!"
"Sandra!" Kimberly jerked on the woman's arm repeatedly in panic. "I heard a little sister!"
Sandra's whole body tensed. She glanced down at Kimberly's panic filled face and immediately decided she wasn't lying. She quickly jerked Kimberly by the arm behind some piled up crates. Mushed up together, both of them waited hoping not to be noticed. Looking over at her black hair companion Kimberly couldn't help but to marvel at how good she was at hiding her fear. There were no signs of visibly shaking or watering eyes from her, just slightly clenched fist and the biting of her lower lip. Kimberly wish she could say the same for herself as she shook and held back tears. She wasn't ready to die. There was no getting back up and shaking it off after dying. Once your dead, your gone.
The lump in Kimberly's throat was getting tighter, and tighter til it felt like it was starting to kill her. Thats all Kimberly and Sandra did for awhile, wait.
Nothing happened.
There was no little sister, only scattered clumps of Kimberly's blond hair.
Sandra turned her head and glared at Kimberly. "Do you think this is a joke? Pretending to hear a little sister making me worry to death? You even put on a nice little act to, with your shaking and sniffling. Well I guess you humor just falls flat on me because, THAT. WASN'T. FUNNY." For the second time today the raven haired girl slapped her.
But this slap.. This slap was different. It hurt. Sandra, Kimberly's best friend, her only friend, had slapped her with the actual intention of hurting her. Kimberly looked at Sandra, actually looked her.
She had deep black bags under her eyes, her once round face that was full of life was now skin and bones, her once form fitting clothes were now bloody rags hanging of her new, bony figure. Having not seen the sun in years, her skin gave off the reflection of an albino. The beautiful raven head girl Kimberly had known since childhood was now a thin, pale, mess of scars. Kimberly couldn't help to wonder though, if maybe her appearance wasn't the only thing that had changed.
Shaking off her worrisome thoughts Kimberly suddenly feel the weight of the world on her shoulders as she open her mouth to speak, "Lets just finish what we came to do."
Sandra nods and begins to walk away. Kimberly follows like a lost puppy. Looking at the raven haired girl Kimberly suddenly felt a huge gap between them. Dimly, Kimberly noted the how tense her shoulders were. She could see her shoulder blades popping out.
The two of them ran quickly through the halls, having wasted enough time with the little sister episode, trying to be silent. Kimberly flinched at the echoing of her footsteps on the metal floor. She hated running. It wasn't like she wasn't in shape or anything, she hated the loud thumping of the footsteps on the metal floor. You never know who might hear them.
Sandra speed began to slow as she approached a metal door, too caught up in her thoughts, Kimberly plowed into her. Sandra threw back a glare at her, making Kimberly feel stupider than she already did.
"S-Sorry, I didn't see you slow down, I Didn't mea-"
"Stop fooling around Kimberly, this is serious." Sandra said sharply, cutting off the rest of her sentence.
Tear's prickled at the corner of Kimberly's eyes. It was childish, but she couldn't stand getting yelled at by Sandra. She was the closet thing to family she had left and Kimberly wanted to make her proud..But.. The black haired woman just wasn't someone she could relax around. She demand to perfection to the highest degree, not only did she have to be perfect, but the people around her had to be perfect too. Kimberly's problem was well, that she wasn't perfect and wasn't good at pretending to be perfect and fooling others that she was like Sandra was. Kimberly was full of flaws and unfortunately stood by them.
Hitting the door, Sandra growled. "Goddammit, the doors not opening, we might as well go back, I'm not risking going through all those splicers just for one first aid kit."
Kimberly opened her mouth to protest, seeing this Sandra quickly snapped, "And if you want to go in there you can go by yourself."
Losing most of her defiant emotions, Kimberly let out one weak half-hearted protest. "But..Matthew."
Sandra's eyes got hard.
"If Matthew dies from that infection, it's his fault in the first place, getting hurt like that. He should have been more careful." She snarled as she pushed Kimberly out of her way and stomped down the halls.
Shooting a hand out to the wall for balance, Kimberly almost fall onto the dirty metal floor. Quickly recovering, she ran after Sandra. It wasn't safe to roam the halls of rapture alone. Matthew was an example of this.
The thought of the mans bloodied blond hair and weak arms made Kimberly stop. He was the only one who listened to her, the only one who cared, the only who Kimberly wouldn't hesitate to say she loved. He was like a brother to her, sometimes Kimberly felt like he was somewhat of a father to her. She loved him. Was she really about to leave without the first aid kit he needed, for Sandra? Kimberly knew, she knew that following Sandra was the smart thing to do but it wasn't the right thing to do. Matthew wouldn't leave her out in the cold like that.
Sucking in a breath Kimberly ignored her brain and started to listening to her heart, a place only Matthew occupied.
She would get him that first aid kit. She would bring him back something better than stale rice cakes, something better than cheap booze and warm water. She would find them a way out of here.
Kimberly smiled. Fantasy slowly began to become reality.
She could do this.
With that final thought, the thin line separating reality and a hopeless girls dreams snapped. Kimberly picked up a pipe from the ground and took a step forward. It was a small step, intensification step, but it was also a step influenced by a decision. A big decision.
