On the Other Side of the Reeds

by Kaira Sakamoto

100 word drabbles of two Sole Survivors where if things had been different, if the other had died instead, these would be their stories. M!SS and F!SS. Alexander and Alexis Reed, alternating. Rated for future chapters. Chapter 5: Psycho.

1. Alexander: The First Day

On that first day, Alexander buried his face in his hands and sat out on what was left of his front porch until the sun set and rose and then set again. He fell back into old wartime habits easier than he used to believe he could. A chasm had opened up in those minutes that she'd died, and the cries of his stolen son still reverberated in his ears. Now that chasm was sucking down every ounce of light and color in the world faster and more eagerly than Shaun had ever sucked down a bottle.

When he blinked back at the world hours later, he had blood crusted on his face and an unfamiliar weapon against his palms that hummed vaguely laser-like. The blue sky was gone, awash with dying purples, and that all that was left for him was gunmetal grey and orange rust caked on an empty T-45a that reminded him of far, far too much.