I always knew this job would kill me. Part of me wanted that. I stopped thinking that I'm saving the world from the Salmonids. I gave up living for something. I gave up my friends. I gave up hope. I gave up on life. This job is an excuse to live. But what's the point of living if your life is crap? Why bother keep going? I ask this everyday. That was until I met her. A reason to live. Cora came by and made it all at least bearable. Hell, she made me happy to be alive. Thinking about Cora brought something out of me. Something I thought long dead. The will to live. I didn't want to die. I want to live. I want to live and see Cora's face again. I swore to her that I wouldn't die. I won't die. I will not die! I get back up at point at the Saijus.
"C'mon you bastards! I'm not gonna die! I promised her damn it! I promised!" I yell with determination. I'm going to survive this. I will live. I take out my Sting Ray and take aim at the group of five Saiju in front of me. I shoot at two of them and their eyes pop. They start thrashing around in anger. One accidently scratches the one I didn't shoot. The now injured Saiju got angry and attacked the other. The other Saiju I shot did the same to another. One Saiju without eyes sinks its teeth into another and rips out a massive chunk of flesh. One Saiju grabs another's armored chest and rips it off. Four Saijus begin fighting in each other in a fit of rage and brutal combat. The one uninjured in the group of five continued walking like nothing happened. It shoots its beam at me but I dodge it. I throw Splat Bombs to get closer. I get closer and closer to the last Saiju. Until a beam hits my thigh from behind. I trip and fall on my face. My face is covered in ink and sand. I look up at the Saiju. I try to get up quickly, but the Saiju kicks me. Not sure if it was on purpose or winding up to stomp on me, but it hurt. Really badly. I bounce on the sand near the Saijus on the opposite side near three other Saijus. I try to get up, but I plop back down. Hopelessness crept through me like playing Turf War with a bunch of lazy jackasses on your team. I try to get up, but I only fall over. I feel the adrenaline leaving me. I can't do this. All I can think about is how sorry I am to everyone. Especially Cora. I begin crying as I think about her. Cora. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I love you so much. The Saiju raises its foot. Suddenly, it's eyes pop.
Ride rails stretch themselves all around the area. Three guys in black leather tights with kevlar vests and wearing gas masks ride on the rails. Their gas masks are like real gas masks, not like the ones you can buy from Flow. Heads are covered in black with the masks covering them. All three were equipped with Grizzco weapons and harpoon guns, inking the entire area. They're Salmon Runners. They have to be. One guy jumps in the air and fires a harpoon straight into the eyeless Saiju's socket. The Saiju falls over and stays down. The other two have Sting Rays and fire at the other three Saiju. Their eyes bulge and pop as they go into a feral rage. Two of these gas masked Salmon Runners backflip off the rails at fire their harpoon guns straight through two Saijus' skulls. The third guy who killed the first Saiju jumps off the ride rail and lands on top of the last Saiju. He stabs his knife in the Saiju's skull. It continues to thrash about, but the Runner hangs on. The other two load their harpoon guns at the exact same pace and the same aim and fire their harpoons straight through the last Saiju's skull. The last Saiju came crashing down into the ocean. The Runner jumps off the Saiju and rolls into the sand. I get up while using my weapon as a crutch. I stare at the crew who saved my life. I walk up to them. What's weird is they didn't even look at me as I approach.
"Hey. Don't know who you guys are, but thanks. I really appreciate it." I said extending my hand to one of them. He still didn't look at me.
"Uhhh. Hello?" I said. Still no response. I poke at him. No response. I wave my hand in front of his face. He grabs my hand, then he throws` me down and twists my arm behind my back.
"ACK! What the heck!" I shout. "Get off me!"
The guy didn't let go. He kept me pinned down as I struggled.
"Get off me or else I'm kicking your ass!" I shout. Clearly he doesn't care.
"Fine! If Grizzo gets involved, you started this!" I spin around and kick this jackass straight in the gut.
I didn't hear much a grunt coming from him. He takes a swing at me. His fist connects straight into my eye. I kick his leg and he falls over. My thigh is messed up, but the rest of me ain't. I then put him in a headlock. This guy's tough. Without struggling, he slowly gets up despite my headlock. He grabs me and does an over the shoulder throw on me. I get up to tackle him until I heard the crackle on the radio.
"Kid! Stop!" it was Grizzo. I stop, but not because he wants me to.
"Where were you!?" I shout. Hot with anger and adrenaline.
"Sorry kid. There was too much static for me to hear."
"I have enough of your bullshit!"
"Watch the language kid! And the temper! You can't keep throwin' it out at random people, especially me! And especially those kids!"
"By the way, who the Hell are these guys!?"
"They're an elite Salmon Run crew. They only come when a buncha Saijus appear at once. That's all I can tell ya."
"Wow sounds oddly specific for a crew! Almost like you knew about multiple Saijus appearing!"
"Kid, I got state of the art, and maybe the only one, Saiju huntin' equipment around! I thought it's gonna be a normal Saiju hunt!" I don't buy that for a second. Three people are dead. I felt like I was going around in circles, so there's no point asking anymore question. Not like Grizzo will give me more information or the truth.
"Okay. Sure. But where didn't these elite jerkoffs save my entire crew from getting killed?!"
"Kid. They can only mobilize so fast. I'm sor-" Even with that softened expression, I still get mad.
"Shut up! I have enough of your stupid apologies! You act all tough, but you're just a coward hiding behind a freaking statue! Whenever I needed help, you weren't there! So much death and you could've prevented it! I don't care if I'm being unfair to you, but kiss my ass!"
"...What do you want me to do Cayden?" I sigh heavily. I turn to look at the Salmon Runners in black. They're all staring at me. I feel a cold chill run down my spine.
"Just…. take me home."
"...Alright kid. You got it. Sending the boat right to ya now." Seconds later, I see the boat in eyeshot. I look at these "elite" Salmon Runners and squid jump back on the boat. They never took their eyes off me.
(An hour later)
I'm walking home with a crutch. The Saiju only grazed me, so it wasn't too bad. Grizzo gave me extra money for it, so I have no complaints. As I hobble home, I think about those elite guys. Who were they? Why did they come so late? Why was there static when we tried to call Grizzo? So many questions. So little answers. These questions are running around in my head. I try not to think about them, but then I start thinking about my dead crew. Jeez. Darya was a decent Inkling who just needed money for her family. Ted's just a kid. And Arno. Arno man. Seeing a man walk around with his brain hanging out is a first. At least he can finally see his kid again. The guilt starts piling up again, but do what I always do. Shake my head and push these thoughts down. They're dead. No feeling use guilty. Just like the rest. Dead's dead. Feeling sorry won't help.
When I open the door to my apartment, I smell something burning. I shamble inside to see Cora cooking something.
"Uhh. Hey Cayden." she said with a embarrassed smile. She shows me a pan with burnt food. Don't know what was it supposed to be. It was all black and pinkish.
"What's that?" I ask.
"Pancakes." she says."Sorry. It's my first time cooking."
"You call that a pancake?"
I turn on the fan and kiss her cheek.
"Thanks for trying." I said with a chuckle. She pouts a little.
"You jerk. I tried really, really hard."
"Haha. I know. I'm sorry."
"You are NOT forgiven."
"Come on Cora. Don't be like that."
"Hmph!" she does that anime pout thing, where her eyes are closed and sharply turns her head away.
"Aww geez. What's it gonna take?" she opens one eye to look at me.
"Well…" she looks at me and puckers up her lips.
"Your too damn cute." I said kissing her on the lips. She opens her eyes and gives me a bright smile. She looks down to see my leg.
"Omigosh! What happened!?" she says.
"Just a wound. From the job. That's all." I said as I force myself to give her a reassuring smile.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Positive." she looked unconvinced.
"...Alright….I'm going to order some pizza. Is that okay?" she said.
"Sure." I answer. "Also, can add some seaweed to it?"
"Bleh." she said as she gets the home phone. I decide to start cleaning the kitchen. I look at the substance in the pan. I stare at the pink for a minute. Suddenly, I start thinking about Arno's brain. My mind's making connections about that. I stare at the burnt stuff in it. Then I start thinking about anime where characters get vaporized by beams. I then start thinking about Darya and Ted. Seeing them getting vaporized. My chest starts feeling tight. My breathing's reduce to short gasps. My hands shake uncontrollably. I fall down and I'm back on that beach again. I see Darya turning and running. A Saiju shoots its beam at her. I hear her screaming as loud as she possibly could. I look around to see Arno. His brain's exposed.
"Upsy daisy! Hahaha!" he says raising an invisible baby. I look to my left to see Ted crawling towards me.
"Help!" he screams. "For the love of the Great Zapfish help me!"
It took me a while to notice that the bottom half of his body is gone. His intestines hung out and spread blood everywhere. I back myself to a wall. I look up at it and I cover my eyes.
"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real! It's not real! IT'S NOT REAL!" I keep screaming to myself. My hands were shaking as I cry.
"Cayden! I can't see! I can't see!" I look through my fingers to see Leo writhing on the ground. His eyes are cut. One of them is staring right at me. I see Sarah. Half her head is still flat. Her body's limbs sprawl over her coffin as it bobs up and down. My chests tightens until it starts hurting. I also see Seymore. His chest gaped open. On my right I see Mack being stabbed by Nadine. Her laughter bursting through the fishy air.
"Caaaaayyyddeeen!" she says. Her neck twists backwards. A twisted smile spread from ear to ear.
"Your fault!" she screams. "It's all your fault Cayden!"
"I have only one eye, because of you!" Leo screams looking at me.
"I'm s-s-sorry." I said.
"I'm dead cuze of you!" Sarah screams staring at me with her flattened eye.
"So am I! You crap excuse of a leader!" Seymore screams. One eye is rolled back. He gets up for me to see his exposed torso.
"Why are you alive Cayden?" said Sarah. "WHY?! YOU!?"
"I'm so sorry." I sob.
"Why are you perfectly fine!?" shout Nadine.
"I'm so sorry."
"Why do you get to be happy!?" shouts Leo.
I sob uncontrollably. Apologising. Over and over again. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
"Don't worry Cayden." said Nadine. "I made sure you'll never be happy again."
Nadine holds up Cora's head. Her eyes are lifeless. Blood drips down from her lips.
"No! CORA! CORAAAAA!"
"You hurt everyone you ever care about Cayden." said Leo. "Everyone's either screwed or dead because of you!"
"CORA!" I screech on top of my lungs. I felt a gentle touch on my head and shoulder. I snap back into reality. I'm sitting on my floor with my back on the fridge. Cora is kneeling next to me. Her hand on my head and another on my shoulder. A look of fear and sadness is all across her face.
"Cora." I sob. I then hug her. And she hugs me back.
"Cayden. It's okay. I'm right here." she says stroking my hair. I calm down slowly.
"Cora. I...I need help." I say to her.
"I know. I know." she said.
"Cayden, did... someone die on you again?" she asks hesitantly. I just nod. She embraces me tighter. After a good long five minutes of crying, I finally let her go and she does it too. With a stressed out sigh, she looks at me straight in the eyes.
"Cayden." she said in a serious, but caring tone. "You need to quit this job."
I start thinking about it. Who knows how many times I considered that. But I tell her what I always come to the conclusion to.
"Cora. I can't. If I do that, I lose the apartment. WE lose the apartment."
"Is this place really worth your sanity and night terrors?"
"Night terrors? I still have them?"
"You have them almost every night. Sometimes I spend hours comforting you."
"Geez. No wonder you sleep til 12."
"That's not important. What's important is answering the question. Is it worth it Cayden?"
"I….don't know. Where can we go? Where can I work? Turf Wars gives us pocket change compared to a real job. We both aren't good enough to go pro. I doubt any job would take a high school dropout with no work record. Grizzco doesn't acknowledge the existence Off Day Crew. I'm stuck."
"We'll think of something Cayden. But please. You need to quit. Promise me you'll quit."
"...I'll think about it. Okay?" she then gave me a dissatisfied look.
"No. I can't accept that. I need you to promise me." she looks at me with concern. I bite my lower lip. I think about all that death. All that suffering. I think about it'll all be for nothing if I quit now. Then I think about how much will Cora put up with me? This job is the source of all my problems, but it covers everything. I take a deep breath and give her my final answer.
"After one more Salmon Run. After my leg heals. Grizzo put me on paid leave. When I do one more Run, I quit. No acceptions. No questions. No ifs, ands, or buts." Nadine holds her arm. She closes her eyes and deeply sighs.
"Okay. One more time." I smile at her and she smiles back. "Y'think we should start auctioning off some of your stuff? We can't carry all that stuff to a new place."
"Heh heh. Yeah. True. Might as well sell all my weapons first. Maybe some T-shirts and hats." We laugh a little bit. We stop when my doorbell rings.
"Pizza first. Talk later." Cora says with a grin. I smile back at her. Pizza. The problem solver of all life's problems.
