Act 2: Screams of the Dead
As I lay on the ground covered in cold wet grass, I couldn't hear a thing. I couldn't hear Saeko shouting my name nor the hollow moans of Them. I was so stagnated from the realization that I'd had. It amazed me that I didn't realize it sooner. Then again, maybe that was just me being ignorant.
"This is it. This is hell..." I mumbled to myself as They reached for me.
Thirty-Six Hours Earlier
Saeko and I tore through the growing mass of Them. I could hear gunshots blasting from Kohta's sniper rifle on top of the Humvee. Saeko was probably in an extremely euphoric state because of her lust for battle. She was moving so quickly, she became an amorphous blur to my vision.
Ms. Shizuka and the others were still in the car. Strangely, Alice, the youngest of our group, was still radiating with delight as she handed Kohta magazine after magazine of ammunition.
I was starting to feel the strain in my muscles and shortness of breath in my lungs. Saeko must've noticed because she suddenly gave me a cold smirk. "What's wrong? Don't tell me this all you can handle Takashi."
I gave her a smirk of my own. "Are you kidding me? I could do this all day!"
Saeko's expression changed from a smirk to a cold grin. "Love the enthusiasm, now let's hurry up and get back to work! They aren't going to go down easily when they're in a group this large."
As I continued to crack in Their skulls one by one, I could only pray to whatever God existed, if there still was one, that this would be over before anybody got hurt.
"Calm down, Rei. I swear, you're going to end up giving yourself a stroke at this rate if you keep worrying about them like that." Saya had been trying to keep me from worrying about them since they did that suicide jump off of the car to kill another group of Them.
"I know they can handle Them, but what if they get hurt, or bitten!?" Once again my mind rummaged through all of the horrible possibilities that terrified me to my core. For me, it wasn't just losing a couple of people in our group. Although, I'd be lying if I said I didn't fantasize about that Saeko getting hit by a truck every now and again. She was always too honest when it came to her feelings for Takashi. For some reason, I would always get angry whenever she made some sort of advance towards him, or when she'd seemingly just went to have a small chat with him in private.
I sighed and tried to calm myself, forcing a smile onto my face. "Yeah, you're right Saya. I shouldn't worry about them." She seemed to buy it, but Saya was a smart one. She was probably just letting me be at this point.
That's when I heard the bone-chilling scream from outside. I whipped my head around to look out of the window only to have my entire being freeze up in fear at what I was looking at.
Just what the hell was this world becoming?
Saeko and I dropped our weapons and covered our ears when the scream hit our eardrums like some reggae happy drummer having a field day. "What is that!?"
"You think I know!? Your guess is as good as mine!" She clamped her eyes shut from the pain.
When the screaming finally died down, I dropped my hands to the side and looked over at what had made that scream. It took all I had not to drop right there and vomit my guts out.
It had been bitten a hundred times over, pieces of rotten flesh hanging from the holes in its body, leaving it nothing but skin and bones. The bones were something far from human. The arms were long as were the fingers, the bones puncturing through the skin of the fingers, creating a bloody claw made from bone.
"My God…" Saeko stood there, stiff as a frozen twig, then suddenly clutching her stomach as she went into a frenzy of demented laughter. "My God, this is finally getting interesting! To be honest, I was starting to get bored of these small fry."
I only stood there terrified of her confession. How could a soul so dark be born within someone who looked so beautiful and innocent?
We both picked up our weapons, preparing for whatever this thing could be capable of. It suddenly charged through the crowd of Them, killing a few of Them along the way with its claws. Even Kohta missed every shot he took at it, but Saeko charged at it head on. That's when it spun around her and slapped her ten feet away from it all in one swift motion.
"Saeko!" I ran over and knelt down by her side. She was unconscious, but still breathing. I guess there still was some sort of God out there.
This thing was a killing machine. How was something like this even created? So many questions where flipping through my mind, but I didn't even have a chance to think about them all before that thing turned around to face me.
"Well…looks like this could be it." I looked over towards the Humvee, and smiled, holding out my fingers in a peace sign before picking up Saeko's sword and turning towards the freak of nature in a cold glare. "It's either you or me, and I'm not going down without a fight!"
It released a harsh scream from its throat before we both charged at each other. It was strange. As I was running, everything went quiet. It was as if someone just pressed the mute button on everything around me.
It was one of the most calmest and peaceful moments I've ever had.
