Another chapter this fast? Well, I have some free time now so here I am.
We've all noticed that Erica seemed to have suicidal tendencies and it is shown at some parts in Rise out of the Ashes and in Dissonance, so I decided to expand further on that. Like I mentioned before, none of this stuff is canon to WAR's story, so keep that in mind.
No song for this one though.
As usual, I don't own anything.
Enjoy!
Erica Riley stepped over the bones of what used to be a person. A human. She couldn't tell the gender since the hip bone was barely showing from the dirt where it was half buried. The rest of the bones were scattered but still close. The femur was next to the rib cage while the skull was adjacent to the spinal cord. Whoever this person was died a long time ago for the flesh to be completely removed from the skeleton.
Out of habit, Erica lifted the skull with her mind. She always did this when she came across a skeleton, whether it be a human or an animal. The skull hovered right in front of her face. Turning it over, she observed every little detail about it. Maybe it would show how the person died. Head trauma? It wouldn't hurt to guess.
Turns out, she was right. On the back of the skull, she found several cracks. At least she knew what he died from. But the skull didn't say if the human was killed by another human, an animal, or if it was an accident. It didn't really matter. This person was just another casualty.
Erica didn't have to put much pressure to the skull. With all the training she did, she found it easier to crush things without using too much of her power and her concentration. The skull shattered into pieces, all falling to the ground. This was another habit she did with the skulls of animals or humans. It did look crazy. It made her look insane. But she didn't really care. When Markata rescued her from the bomb, she recalled she was smiling while covered in blood. No one wanted to be near her for fear they would end up as one of her victims. She did have a habit of… not being pleasant. One look from her and the person on the receiving end would end up dead.
Stepping over the remains, Erica continued her destination. Earlier, Markata had decided to give her some time to explore the ruined city. There wasn't really much to look at. Everything was grey. Grey clouds, grey buildings, grey everything. Not a single color popping out. In a way, it made the city more presentable. After all, it is abandoned. From where she stood, she could make out the husks of the buildings. Skyscrapers with gaping holes and brick building just waiting to crumble down. Some of the other buildings stood since they were metal and had more support. But even from her vantage point, they were covered in rust. It used to be a metropolitan. Markata had said a brief history of the city. How it was flourishing. But like many other cities, it was soon abandoned. The animals must have done something to cause the humans to leave. No doubt, if she went into the city, she would fine more human skeletons. Good thing she wasn't going to the city.
After walking, she finally reached her destination. She stepped into a small industrial area. A power plant to be specific. Like the other buildings, the power plant was abandoned. Nature was taking over it. Patches of ivy grew along the exterior. She could see grass almost as tall as her inside the building from a broken window. She wouldn't be surprised if a tree was growing inside of it somewhere. But the power plant wasn't was she was looking for, it was behind it.
Instead of going around the building, she decided to go inside. Taking the first few steps up, Erica noticed there were no doors. It looked like they were ripped off their hinges. For a second, she wondered if animals were inside. Markata had assured her that no animal was here. Brushing off the hesitation, she went into the building.
She had to brush away the tall grass. When she realized she could get lost, she decided to get rid of them. Closing her eyes, she pushed the grass down. When she opened her eyes, she saw the tall grass were bent down at the stem, making it easier to see. The first thing she noticed was the graffiti. The walls were covered in what looked like paint and spray paint.
"We will never survive." "Why is this happening?" "Fight for us, fight for humans." "We will rise." "Death to those animals!" "Save us. Help us." "Kill all animals!" "Find me." "Remember me." "Run"
It was like looking at a mural. She may have been exaggerating about it, but all the writings and colors blended in together to create a beautiful collage of pain. She went to the nearest wall and ran her fingers through the wall. There was one piece of graffiti that caught her eyes.
"Love"
A word like that somehow stood out than all the other ones. Strange. Ignoring the work, she walked past the front desk into a hallway with even more graffiti. Taking a left down the hallway, she saw a little map of the first floor encased in acrylic glass. Once she memorized the layout, she found herself at the other side of the power plant. The back door, much like the front, was gone. Just a dozen yards away from her were train tracks. She was finally here.
Markata didn't go into specific details about this city, but he did mention the city was known for its trains. Passenger and cargo trains. The passenger trains have long since been dismantled, but the cargo trains were still running. They delivered supplies to all the troops stationed across different parts of the city. Not only that, but the train is on auto pilot. No one driving it.
Which meant no one would stop if she stood in front of it.
In the distance, she could hear the horn. She estimated it would take about ten minutes to get here. Without wasting time, she walked over to the tracks and stood in the center of it.
Finally after ten minutes, she could see the train coming her way. With the speed it was traveling in, it would be enough to do it. Just stand there and wait.
Erica closed her eyes.
The train didn't hit her. Instead, it veered to the left. Erica was not standing in the middle of the tracks. Rather, she was in the center of two sets of train tracks that went in opposite directions. The rush of the train and the sound of it deafened her. She reached out and attempted to touch the passing steel but let her arm drop. Once the train was gone, she left.
Time to go to the city, she thought.
Erica didn't really venture into the city. Rather, when she was on the outskirts of it, she found a building that could almost pass for a skyscraper. Maybe it was. She really didn't pay much attention to the architecture of it. She just wanted to know how tall it is. Counting the windows, the building was about seventy stories tall.
Perfect.
As like any other building, the elevators didn't work. No surprise there. It took her a while, but she was able to find the stairwell. Looking up, it would take her a long time to reach the top. So instead of walking up, she focused all of her energy on herself and began to float up. When she finally reached the top, she lowered herself to the floor and opened the door to the roof. She was greeted by a cold breeze. Taking a few steps forward, she stared out at the city.
Before, she might have thought of this view as dull. If all the buildings were not broken, if the sun was shining, if the trees that dotted the sidewalk were in full bloom, it would have bored her. But now, the view was more captivating to look at. Several buildings were on the verge of crumbling down. One building had a crescent shape hole on the side. She could see what looked like to be office furniture. They were now empty skeletons, husks of what life had been like before.
It was a perfect ruin. It was beautiful.
As carefully as she could, she stood at the edge of the building. She had enough room to turn around, her back facing the city.
Just do it.
3…2…1.
Erica leaned back and was falling. She wasn't screaming at her demise. She wasn't crying. Oddly enough, as she was falling, her mind went back to a conversation she had overheard. She couldn't remember who was talking, but the people were talking about these weird facts that seemed impossible. One of them mentioned that if a person was falling from a great height, they die before they even reached the ground. At first, she thought it was stupid. But now, it could happen.
For now, she waited until she hit the ground.
…then, she opened her hands and mentally pushed down. Her fall was beginning to slow down. Finally, she was hanging in the air. Feeling she wasn't in any danger, Erica released her hold on herself. She landed with a soft thud on the ground. She was only a few inches away from the bottom.
Why was she doing this? Stopping before the act was done? Did she want to die? Did she want to live? She really didn't know. And she'll probably never find out soon.
Erica pushed herself back up. Dusting off some dirt from her uniform, she began her long walk back to the outpost where no doubt Markata will be waiting. But for now, she let herself enjoy the view of the beautiful, perfect ruin of a city.
