All seemed perfect; I slept lightly slipping from dream to dream without a care in the world.
"GET DOWN!" I hear shouted as I climb through the levels of consciousness, only to awake to the ground shaking beneath me. "Agro we need to leave we can't stay here" Rhino yells at me as I am ripped off the mattress and drug through the store. All is a blur as I'm hauled off my feet and set down at a run. Before I realize it Rhino is running beside me and Jane to my left as we sprint out the back door of the station.
"Grineer attacked, there were to many to fend off we had to flee" Rhino breaths through his helmet as we run. We had run for neigh on ten minutes before we were called to a halt by Jane as she jumped behind an old rusted grown over car. We all sat there panting listening for movement from behind us. As I am lying against the back of the car I suddenly realized….it was all last night that I caught them. I look left slowly at Jane panting in her now brown and yellow uniform. I smile at her and sheen of red illuminates her cheeks. I turn to Rhino on my right, his big hulking form curled up to stay behind the car. Looking him up and down he turns his head in embarrassment.
"We interrupted your beauty sleep didn't we? Sorry, Boo over there got a little anxious" chided Jane with the still bright red cheeks. I couldn't help it I blushed to the high Lotus.
"I told you not to call me that" Rhino said still with his head turned away in sheepish embarrassment.. "We need to get moving. Are we all recovered?"
"Awwww Boo its ok Agro won't tell a soul will you?!But alas I am ready to…Boo" she says as she giggles and leans back in mock exhaustion.
"Ok I am ready to. But on the way back we might wanna keep it on the down low. Just to see if they are still there" I say to them as we all stand and look around. As I look around all I see on the outskirts of this once great city is over grown houses. Vines slithering up their ancient walls, grass growing up in waves to engulf the porches. It is desolate out here yet strangely alive with all the foliage around. Broken glass lay in the street as we begin to walk and it crunches under our feet. Little small talk was made as we walked slowly back toward the gas station on the edge of town. As we walked with Rhino at the head in the open as a target I took time to survey my surroundings.
It was odd I thought, how in this small town plants grew in numerous bunches and often over ran the now wasting away buildings. Yet when we were approaching the station all was desert on the way there, not a plant in sight. Besides of course what the people that used to live on earth called cacti. "Earth must hold many secrets and wonders like this" I thought to myself as I walked and admired the city on the skyline, that seemingly looked down upon us ominously as we walked. Looking over toward the city I can't help but marvel at the tall figures that loom over this little town like condescending giants. Just as I began to get lost in my own world of giants and simpletons Rhino found a body.
"Someone's been through here" Rhino says as both me and Jane jog up to see a grineer, slashed across the chest and his knees. Every last mark, and there was only two, was done with extreme precision. I could see that the slash across the chest opened his armour to expose him to the air, then the second across the back of his knees to make him lay there and suffocate.
"Well someone is killing them, let's just hope they are on our side." Rhino mutters to us. "Oh Shush Boo look at the slash marks…don't you see the small burn marks its Emmanuel." Says Jane to Rhino as he stands to survey the landscape.
Not a word was spoken at the mention of Emmanuel's name, only silent content as we decided to move on toward the station. As we walked down the road we weaved our way in and out of cars, constantly keeping watch for any sign of grineer attack. Yet all we could see of them was their bodies littering the landscape as we walked. I started counting about half of the way there it seemed. When we got there my count had added up to one hundred-twenty three. A near impossible foot for any one person. When we finally reached the station the worst of all the horrors was unveiled. Up and down along the building was green blood splashed, it seemed not a single inch of the outside was not splattered with blood. The worst part Grineer heads lay polluted all over the ground near the station. As we walked in the back door we remained on guard, not a single sound was made, even our footfalls seemed muted. What came next shocked us all, on the walls written in green blood was the words.
"You are not alone, you are safe."\
We all stood in shock, but what got me the most…was that all the writing on the wall you could visibly see was done with a finger. "Well at least we know he or she isn't afraid to get their hands dirty" I said with sarcasm toward the group. "That isn't funny" says Jane to me. "No…it isn't" said Rhino right afterward.
We decided to move forward after that, Rhino and I deemed it to dangerous to stay around, and Jane seemed mesmerized by all the carnage. As we moved forward it began to grow dark, yet not dark like the dojo is when lights are turned out. No nothing like that abyss of blackness that you feel you will go insane in. No this darkness was devoid of evil and sadness, as I looked up I could see the moon vaguely through the clouds and all around it, stars, so many I could barely count them. I could feel the group was excited with this new scene, never before had any of us witnessed such a thing.
"We should rest" says Rhino turning around toward us. I had no qualms with that statement. Finally after a long exciting day I lay down, crossed my legs and put my hands behind my head to look up at the sky. I smiled as I lay there gazing up at the speckled sky, "nothing was ever dark on earth" I thought to myself. Then as usual Jane started up her whistling for a snore, again I would not get to sleep well. With Jane snoring and the stars above caressing me with their light, I decided it would be another long night.