The first victim was a poor kid with the flu. A virus never seen before, it sprung out of nowhere. I didn't pay much mind to it at first, I had bigger things to worry about. I didn't so much as spare a glance at it until quarantine hit, it was only then I began to notice what was happening around me. Online schooling and wearing masks was the new normal, and it was only then where things truly went bad. It never let up, and soon they had to start blockades along the capital cities to ensure it wouldn't spread further. They were somewhat reasonable precautions, but it was never enough.
Panic was widespread, the news and hysteria took over. People started to riot, some bought out the stores, others just stayed the same. The virus had a high death rate, and was spreading faster than any disease known to man. It was nicknamed "The Reaper Virus", as it took lives just as fast as the grim reaper.. The militia soon issued evacuation out of the cities, trying their best to keep the death toll down from those monsters.
They never got very far though. The evacuation had only worked somewhat in the first place, so a good majority of civilians were still inside those city walls, so the militia were called back to the cities to rescue any civilians and terminate the infected. The infected weren't like the movies, they weren't slow, groaning people . They were fast- loud, monstrous. Their skin was bald and a greyish color, the mutations causing their fingers to become long, sharp claws. Their lips deteriorated to show shark-like teeth, eyes glazed over like a blind man. They were such polar opposites of what we expected. They were the true monsters of the apocalypse, they were the "Reapers". They themselves were harbingers of death.
Two weeks before the evacuation, my town was hit. We were a small town on the outskirts of the countryside, nobody even knew we existed. I felt so cooped up inside the house with my dad and cousin, it felt suffocating. My cousin, Haruka wasn't the root of my strangled state, it was my father who I didn't like. He was an angry man, turning to the bottle rather than the bible after my mother's death. His once kind and loving demeanor was replaced with an angry and cruel man. Living in quarantine with him was worse than any disease, or at least, that was what I had thought.
One night, I decided to sneak out of the house in order to just get some fresh air. I needed something, anything. I was desperate to get out of the house, and that made me stupid. And bring stupid was how it almost got me killed, and how it killed my family.
I carefully slid on my boots as I approached the back door. I was going to go out for a while, but if I told Haruka or even my father... then that was not happening. I pulled out my phone and looked at it. The time said it was 12:34 AM, and I took a peek at the weather forecast.
"Good. Shouldn't be too cold tonight." I whispered to nobody but myself. As soon as my hand was on the doorknob I heard shuffling footsteps and froze on the spot. Dad's footsteps were heavier, so that was the good news. Bad news? It was Haruka, the most overprotective cousin in all of the history of overprotective cousins.
"Yui, where are you going?" She sternly asked with no hesitation, making me flinch. I had told her- no- promised her beforehand, I'd stay put.
"I'm just checking on the cats outside, the neighborhood ones. They haven't really been fed lately since nobody is allowed to go out..." I lied, nervousness embedded within my voice. I was always a bad liar, especially to Haru. Her eyes narrowed in reasonable suspicion.
"No, you will not. I fed those guys at dinner." the redheaded girl firmly objected, her emerald eyes glaring into my pink ones.
"Can I just go out for a little bit? Please Haru?" lying didn't work, so I resorted to my final tactic. Begging and crying until she let me, because I was that freaking desperate. She ruffled her short red hair as she sighed in agitation. Hope sprung within me, whenever Haru did that she was about to give in. Among that hope came suspicion. It seemed like she was giving in too soon.
"Only on one condition." ah, that's why she was so lenient.
"What is it?"
"You take me with you." She pulled back her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail and tossed her red varsity jacket to me. I felt uneasy leaving my father alone, and glanced towards the hallway. Haru followed my gaze and hushed her voice a little.
"He isn't going to notice unless we make noise, we'll be fine Yui." Her reassurances only made me feel more tense. With a sigh she grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door (albeit quietly), and we snuck through the back yard.
It wasn't long before we made our way to the small, and only, park nearby. As we walked, I took notice of Haruka's clothes. She was still in her pajamas, consisting of black sweat pants and a dark green tank-top. She needed the jacket more than me honestly.
"Haru aren't you cold?" I asked her with worry in my voice. It was almost December now, so snow was going to start falling soon. It was cold enough for me to see my own breath.
"Not really." She responded flatly, Haru wasn't the type to put up a facade, if she was cold she'd just say yes. At least most of the time she did. A long moment of silence befell us, I was about to open my mouth until I saw a glimpse of red in the corner of my eye.
"What's wrong?" Haru noticed I was walking away from her and questioned my actions. I knelt down and picked up a bright red high-heel. It was just sitting there by itself, nothing else was dropped with it.
"I found... a shoe? Think it might be from Ms. Brown?" I asked rather perplexed, our neighbor always did like her heels. Haruka narrowed her ivory green eyes and gently took the shoe from me to inspect it.
"It might be... Is there nothing else?" She asked more to herself than to me, we both warily looked around. I was about to give up until I saw a black, leather purse on the ground under the park bench. The same purse Ms. Brown liked to carry around.
"Do you think Ms. Brown was mugged?" I asked while I showed the purse to her. She motioned for me to hand it over and I complied.
"While that cocky karen deserves it, I don't think she was." Her head shook as she showed the open purse. All her things were inside, perfectly untouched. I started to feel like something was wrong, a deep pit of unease forming in my stomach. We both went quiet and I stood up, trying to see if Ms. Brown was nearby (it's not like we could've gone home and forgotten about it...).
"Haru, something doesn't feel right about this..." The red-head nodded in agreement, then took my hand. She squeezed my hand hard, as if she herself was afraid. It was then I felt it. Haru was shaking.
"We should go home, if something really did happen then we'll just hear about it tomorrow." I was shocked by her words, I knew she was apathetic sometimes but I never had seen her so literally and metaphorically shaken. I struggled out of her grasp and backed away in bewilderment.
"No! What if that woman needs help?" I shook my head and retreated even more as she tried to take my hand again. She knew I wasn't going to comply easily, and sighed.
"Yui, either go home right now or take my hand. Please." Her voice was resolute and firm, but I could see it. Her shaking hand reaching out to me, screaming at me that she knew something bad was happening, and it scared her. I took her hand hesitantly and she gripped it strongly again. Her breaths increased and were shaky, the cold puffs of air leaving in front of her telling me that she truly was afraid.
"Should we call the police?" I asked, but Haru shook her head again.
"We both know they won't even get the call until tomorrow, they're so incompetent that they still haven't hired anyone to take over for that one guy." She spat in annoyance, my anger grew even more with her statement. I knew one thing for sure, and that was if I had the chance to I was definitely making a complaint to a certain someone tomorrow morning.
Haru stopped walking the moment when we saw a long trail of scarlet blood. It dragged down the partially broken concrete and turned behind the overgrown shrubbery. I felt fear grasp my body with a strong grip, breathing felt harder to do, as did walking. I did so anyway, Haru pulling my hand. I looked over to my normally brave and unaffected cousin. She, too, looked terrified despite her best efforts to show otherwise. Just as we were about to round the corner Haru jerked back, almost shoving me over.
"Haru! Wha-" I cried out in confusion but she covered my mouth with inhuman speed, just as she did so I saw sharp, grey claws swipe where we would have been if Haru hadn't pulled back. The owner of the claws charged forwards while still gripping a... what was that? I looked at its hands, carrying something I had never seen before.
"Oh god." Haru let out a horrified whisper as she pulled me back more and more, starting to run. As we ran it hit me, I knew what that thing in its hand was now. The mere memory of it being partially eaten nearly made me vomit.
"Haru.." I gagged as we ran, she seemed to understand what I was about to ask.
"Yes Yui, that was a heart." She confirmed with disgusted and terrified eyes, that terror drove me to run faster along with Haru. Just as we grew close to our home I caught a glimpse of one of our neighbors. Old man Shuei, the man who always gave me and Haru cookies when we were kids. He was outside, looming over a body. His already balding head was dropping hair, his skin turning more grey by the minute.
"Old man Shuei!" I called out as we ran, but he paid no mind. I tried to call out again, but then I saw why he was over that body.
"H-haru..." I almost began to cry, but Haru pulled me forwards and past the deranged old man, the other monster on our toes as well.
"Cry later Yui! Focus on how to get home right now!" Haru scolded as we rushed in through the front door, slamming it closed and barricading it with the shoe rack and plants, Haru pulled her hand out of mine for a moment to push the couch from the nearby living room to the door. I moved over to help her and looked to the back door in horror as I saw old man Shuei and the monster from earlier slam through the door with a heart-wrenching BANG!
It was like she was expecting it, the man charged through the kitchen behind us with a vicious snarl. Old man Shuei wasn't there, or at least that was what I thought as I saw him jump down from the stairs next to us. Old man Shuei nearly bit me as Haru dragged me out of harm's way.
"Yui, run!" My cousin ordered as we ran for the back door, weaving around the man from the park and old man Shuei. Just as I thought we reached outside Haru was harshly pulled back by old man Shuei.
"Haru!" I screamed-
I awoke with a start. Sweat and tears ran down my face, my breaths were rough and ragged. I began to do my normal exercises for when I had such nightmares. Breathe in, rub circles over my heart, breathe out, repeat. It wasn't the best method, but it worked for me.
I recovered soon enough and looked out the window of the beat up shed. Cold air prickled at my skin from the early morning. Birds chirped outside, making it seem like the world was perfectly normal. I sighed softly, my breath visible by the small action. It felt eerily similar to that day that happened so long ago.
I sat up, a sting reaching up my arm. I looked down at my wound I got a few days prior, embarrassment and concern growing as I looked. I ran out of food last week, and figured the suburbs would have at least something to loot. To my displeasure there was nothing, and to top it all off I had stumbled upon a stray reaper. He chased me so much that my arm got snagged on the side of a house, and in the struggle I got myself a bad gash.
The bandages were already dirty, red stains bleeding through them. It wasn't like I didn't have the option to sew it manually, I just didn't want to. I was hoping that putting a band aid on it would just make it go away, but life didn't work like that- at least that was something Haruka said a lot. I could tell an infection was going to happen sooner or later, so I needed to stitch it. Upon my conclusion I grimaced bitterly, it was definitely going to be painful.
My thoughts were ripped away as a loud BANG erupted from the door to the shed. With a sharp inhale I backed away and grabbed my handy pair of... scissors. Okay, maybe handy wasn't the word for it, but at least it made me feel like I actually had a good weapon.
At the same time I was ambushed in the suburbs I dropped my stuff. So not only did I get hurt, I lost everything I had while I was at it. The only things I got left are the things that were in my fanny pack. It wasn't much...
Metal scissors, bandages, and a granola bar. I groaned in defeat, how was I supposed to fight with this? Snip the thing to death? I sighed and moved to the wall next to the door. I could feel my heart beating rapidly in fear, my palms sweaty with what I had to do. Metal scissors in hand, I opened the door and tackled the Reaper before it got a chance to see me. It howled and scrambled, nearly scratching me. I almost had to pull back, and struggled to pin the reaper down. I hastily plunged the scissors into its eye, it screamed and flailed more, I had to repeat the action again and again. Black reaper blood streamed out with each guttural stab, releasing the sick sound of skin and muscle tearing. I flinched, utter disgust came over me when I got up from its dead body. Blood was all over my arms and face, all I wanted was to jump in a river to get it off. I moved off of the reaper and wiped the sweat from my brow, black blood dripped from my arm. I felt sick...
Wait... blood... arms...
"Oh no!" I cried out as I unwrapped the bandages hurriedly. The blood could've gotten into my wound, it was such a careless move! What if I was infected? Would I have to kill myself like-
I stopped myself before I even thought of the name of them. All my dread disappeared upon finding that the bandages protected me from the blood. Not a spec of the black blood that reapers had was found on my wound. A flood of relief washed over me and I moved away from the dead body.
"Oh thank god." I breathed out before getting up and grabbing my few belongings. It would be dangerous to use the same bandages, and I didn't have time to re-wrap it. I hesitated before moving my red varsity jacket over it. If anything that'd keep it safe- I hoped.
I cautiously walked out of the wooden shed, glancing around the pure white back yard. Truth be told, I was still in the suburbs, just not as close to the hotspot. I was a long way from home, so the whole area felt somewhat foreign to me. With a soul-crushing, loud crunch I stepped towards the back porch of the house. Snow was really pretty and fun and all, but perhaps could it shut up for one minute?
I finally reached the back steps and proceeded carefully through the back door. The house was in shambles. It looked like it was one of the houses that were invaded, chairs and lamps piled against the front door. Blood both red and black splattered around the walls.
I took a turn from the dining room and lightly walked up the stairs. Now was the hard part. I instinctively looked for a window, it was second nature by then. I opened the window and climbed out, but unlike all the usual times I had done it, I had to keep a hand on the window seal. Ice covered the roof, causing my escape to be extra dangerous.
Climbing through a window and travelling roof-to-roof sounds insane right? Sadly, it was the only way to stay unnoticed by the reapers below. Walking on the ground was a death sentence in the new world, underground or up above were the only viable ways to get around. Jumping from roof to roof was terrifying, but far better than being chased by five or six reapers. Maybe Batman was onto something.
I maneuvered my way to the next house, and kept that up all morning. My wound burned and started to bleed again because I didn't bandage it. I could stop and bandage it, but distant howling made me decide against it.
Just as I reached the end of the sub-division I saw something that gave me relief. A clinic. One would think that clinic's are one of the worst places to go, and they're right, but I needed some freaking painkillers and stitches.
With some difficulty I climbed down the house and crossed the road towards the white building. It was a one story clinic, seemingly really small.
"Maybe reapers won't be that big of a problem here then..." I jinxed myself with those thoughts. It was eerily quiet, too quiet. As if on cue, a group of reapers emerged from the street behind me, and upon seeing me, barreled towards me with unnatural speed.
I didn't have time to think as they closed in at alarming speeds. I whipped around and stormed into the clinic, locking the door would take too much time. I ran through the tiny clinic, searching for anything that would help me stay hidden from them.
To my luck, a storage room stood before me. Without hesitation, I went and locked myself inside, moving the shelves and boxes to block the door. Reapers couldn't smell or taste very well, deteriorated brain and all that, but they could hear and see anything within a 3 mile radius. It was freaky.
I moved to the corner and armed myself, I kept my free hand over my mouth to muffle my breathing. They had gotten inside, and were running through the halls. I looked to the walls around me, would they be enough? How long until they were ripped down and I was torn apart?
Fear started to take control, but I remembered something that Haruka told me a few years ago. "Calm down and think. Freaking out will only get you killed" I repeated it inside my mind. I closed my eyes and took in slow, quiet breaths. It was okay. I just needed to stay calm. Besides, there was no way they could break down the walls themselves.
The sounds died off and stillness spread throughout the air. They had left. For how long? I didn't know. I was too scared to open the door though, too scared to face them if they were still hiding there. My hands shook violently, and tears threatened to fall.
After 20 minutes, I started to calm down and rationalize what just happened. It wasn't unusual to be ambushed by a reaper of two, but this was strange- really, really strange. Reapers weren't stupid creatures, but they weren't the smartest either. They knew how to hunt, how to kill and track. One thing I knew for sure though, was that they didn't have the capacity to do a coordinated attack. It wasn't like they couldn't plan things out, but they'd kill and eat each other before they'd try to work together. There were at least six reapers chasing me, and usually they'd maul each other instead of chasing me all at once.
It was unnatural, those things didn't have the capacity nor the patience to work together. I shook the thoughts away as soon as I noticed my red jacket was becoming an even darker red, from blood most likely. I was bleeding so bad my sight had started to blur. I was going to die if I didn't do something soon.
I scavenged through the boxes to find what I hoped was enough. Gauze, rubbing alcohol, a needle, and black thread. I whimpered as I placed my arm on the table, my jacket discarded. I had only seen people do that stuff in movies, so I had no idea on how to actually do it.
"They cut the thread and tie it at the end.. and around the needle.. I think." I started to try and remember what the TV shows did since it was all I had to go on. With difficulty I started to cut the thread and tie it around the needle.
"Now... I need to disinfect it..." I hesitated before opening the bottle, but proceeded to as death wouldn't wait for me to stop being afraid of a little pain.
I carefully poured the alcohol on my wound, issuing a little-too-loud-for-comfort scream. For someone who felt pain often, I never could get used to it. I have the lowest tolerance to pain imaginable, I cry when I stub my toe for goodness sake. It hurt a lot. Thinking back on it, I was lucky I didn't accidentally get alcohol poisoning.
"Now... for the stitching.." I whispered in hitched breaths of pain. I couldn't cry, it'd make it too blurry to stitch, so I held it in the best I could.
The needle pricked my skin and I bit my lip to hold in the wail of pain. I ungracefully shoved the needle through to the other side, then bit on my lip more, drawing blood. I tried to do my calming exercise, but I couldn't rub circles over my heart, making it feel ineffective.
I got the needle through two more crude stitches, and only had one more to go. I jumped upon hearing the sound of footsteps outside the door. I absolutely had to keep quiet.
I looked around and grabbed a clean cloth from the open box to my right. I balled it up and bit down on it, then finally got the last stitch in.
The hard part was finally over, and I somehow didn't pass out from the pain, which was a new world record in my book honestly. I tied off the thread and wrapped my arm in the gauze.
Just as I felt my eyelids get heavy, a loud bang forced them to open wide. It was from the door...
Three bodies slammed against the door. The clinic didn't exactly have iron-steel doors, so it wouldn't take long for them to barge in.
I gripped the metal scissors and moved the remaining boxes and shelves in front of me. I was in a vulnerable position, so I needed any and all protection I could get. Moments later, the reapers smashed through the door, earning a loud bang from the impact. The shelves and boxes tumbled over loudly, the reapers howled and my head stung. Their screams were louder than normal, but I had to defend myself. I readied to fight, but the earlier procedure took so much out of me that the reapers were no more than blurry shapes.
They howled and screamed, reaching for me with their skinny, outstretched arms. I managed to plunge the scissors through the eye of one when it pounced at me. It stopped moving, but my scissors became stuck.
"Crap!" I shouted, reaching for the needle as the two other reapers were breaking through the barricade at alarming speeds. The world looked doubled, and so I fumbled more than I should have grabbing it. They both took different routes, one diving under and the other jumping over.
I was pinned against a table behind me from the reaper above, the wind being knocked out of me from it. It snarled and snapped at my arm, I recoiled and shoved the needle into its eye with sloppy accuracy. It pulled back in a pained wail, holding its eye. I saw an opening and took it, shoving it into one of the partially leaning shelves.
My luck ran out when I was ripped down to the floor by a long, strong, boney hand. The reaper from below raised its claws to kill me while I kicked and punched at it. I looked around frantically for anything to use as a weapon... but there was nothing.
I felt tears form as the claws started to descend towards my body, dread filling my core.
"No!" I cried out, struggling, I managed to get one of my legs close enough to kick it off of me. I crawled away frantically, fear overtaking me.
The reaper snarled and turned to trap me once again, but I didn't give it the chance. I grabbed whatever was in the box next to me and shoved it into the eyes of the reaper. Turns out what I grabbed... was a popsicle stick. It snapped upon impact and a low, guttural purr resounded from the reaper, as if it were laughing at me.
It gripped my arms and shoved them to the ground while it's mouth slowly got closer to my neck. Just as I thought I was done for, it went limp. In my confusion, I shoved it off of me. I soon saw the cause of what killed it. A jet black, jagged throwing knife. The person who owned the knife standing in the broken door frame.
His hair was white as snow, eyes red as blood. He wore a thick, black jacket with fur lining the hood. A belt draped over his side with several daggers strapped onto it. His hands had black gloves on them, and to match his other clothes, black cargo pants with combat boots.
He looked whimsical, like a knight from a fairy tale. To be fair, it was one messed up fairy tale if he were to be from one, but his hair is what caught my interest the most. It reminded me of purity, that striking white hair of his.
The look of him alone nearly took my breath away. It felt as if my heart was almost instantly captured by him. Then again, I was highly hysterical from blood loss.
I was in utter confusion at what had happened. I was saved? I didn't die? I couldn't believe I had been saved, but before I could question the strange man I saw the last reaper getting up from the shelf.
"There's one more!" I warned him, which he didn't even need a warning apparently. The reaper was already dead the moment he heard it move, he had unnaturally good reflexes. Silence enveloped us, and he walked forward, retrieving his knives. I knew that if I didn't talk then, I would most likely never see that man again.
"Um-" I stumbled over my words, his gaze glancing over me with annoyance. It was so piercing that I felt I was shrinking.
"T-thank you... but," I hesitated, but his face practically screamed 'get on with it' so I continued, "why?"
"I owed a favor." I finally heard his voice. It was low, and almost made my heart beat faster. Wait, beat faster? No no no, that was ridiculous. He just saved my life for a favor, and I barely knew him! I ushered such thoughts from my mind in an instant.
He began to leave and I hurriedly grabbed my things before following him. It's not like I had any better options... at least that's what I told myself. We walked down the halls of the clinic, curiosity of the strange man overflowing. Despite my dizziness and delirious state, I willed myself to keep up with the man.
"Why are you following me?" He asked me in an annoyed tone, and so I responded.
"I'm not." my words were slurred, as if I were drunk. Why did I choose to respond?
"You are." He stopped walking, turning those ruby red eyes of his to glare at me. With his sudden stop of movement I bumped into him.
"I am not. I need to get out of here too so-"
"There are better exits." He interrupted, he was a difficult guy, that was for sure. I puffed out my cheeks in frustration at the man.
"I.. guess you could say I'm following you. But! It's only 'cause I want to repay you." I admitted, hiding some other reasons. I felt bad using him like I was, I just needed some protection until my arm recovered, and until I could stop seeing doubles of everything.
"Don't want it." He firmly rejected me, and so I smiled.
"Too bad, I'm giving it. I'm not awful enough to leave my debts unpaid." He didn't take kindly to my words, turning around and walking faster. I stumbled but had to run to keep up with him.
"Ahhh waiiiittt!" I cried out as I pursued him persistently. We climbed to the rooftops and I followed him as he was heading to the more infested part of the city.
"Are you trying to find someone?" I inquired softly, as usually one goes to the infested spots for only a few reasons.
"What?" He snapped his head back at me, and I shyly avoided his gaze.
"You don't seem the suicidal type, nor one who gets joy out of killing them. So, that usually leaves the option that you're hoping to put a loved one to rest." I explained, I had been observing survivors a lot while in the city, too scared to interact with them. They all went to the infested area for those reasons, but perhaps I was off the mark. Perhaps I made him angry with my theory.
"It seems like you're not brain dead at least." His comment made me giggle, looks like I didn't anger him after all. Then it occurred to me that he just insulted me, and so I felt embarrassment creep up my cheeks. I turned my attention to the next building, the next jump was a particularly far one, the gap being more than 15 feet.
"This might be too far a jump." I mumbled, more to myself than to the mystery man. He scoffed before jumping down with ease. The man was strange, he definitely had more than average ability in the physical department. I knew that he'd leave me there if I didn't jump down soon, so with shaky legs I stepped back and sprinted off the edge- a running jump. Unfortunately, I didn't land right and began to stumble backwards.
"Ah!" I shouted as I felt my body fall victim to gravity. I reached out for anything to grab, luckily grasping a windowsill in my delirious state. Even lucid I probably wouldn't last long. It was old, and my arm screamed in pain as I held onto it for dear life. I glanced below me, Reapers had heard my tumble, it wouldn't be long before they came to get their next prize.
I whipped my head around to scan for any footing, a decrepit balcony taking sight. It was only a few feet away, but I barely had the strength to think much less hold on. Before I could do anything, the windowsill broke, so I reached out for the balcony. I swear I heard my bones snap and pop from the impact with the side of the balcony, but I managed to grab it. I felt my wound was dangerously close to opening back up, so I made haste.
I heard two snarls below me. "They've found me." I grimly thought to myself, then pushed them away. Fear wouldn't help me, only hinder me.
I felt tears forming in my eyes as I started to lift myself onto the balcony, nearly slipping multiple times. Once my foot was on the outer edge of the balcony, I felt instant relief. I wasn't out of the woods yet though. I moved over the railing and began to look at the broken glass door in front of me. I picked up a stray shard of glass and stepped inside the apartment. Furniture was scattered about and blood was near the doors. It seemed like I was in the master bedroom.
I walked through the apartment, vigilant for any ambushes. Just as I reached the hallway I heard a loud THUMP! From down the hall. My head snapped towards it to see the reaper was trapped behind the partially broken door. It was such a small reaper... it was most definitely a young child. It wasn't tall enough to get through the door, so I lowered my guard slightly. I needed to get back up to the rooftops.
I finally got outside the apartment and started my ascent up the stairs. It was crowded with bodies and dropped luggage, probably from evacuation. When people panic, they don't think. They run, and they don't care who gets crushed, which is probably what happened to the poor souls around me who tripped.
With little effort I got to the top of the stairs, and then hit a roadblock. The door was locked, a few bodies leaned up against it. I sighed, exhaustion setting in despite it being the middle of the day. My first attempt was brute force. Slamming into the door multiple times until I concluded I was too weak to break it down. My second thought was lock picking, but I didn't know how to do that.
"I may as well be a fish out of water..."I whispered, defeated. Then I decided to do something very risky. Climb through the gaps in the stairwell. Some apartment buildings always had gaps in between the stairs, so it was worth a shot. I steeled my nerves, or at least I tried to, and sat myself on the gap. I worked my way up shakily, my feet on the railing. My head pounded harshly and breathing was a little harder with all the exercise I was getting.
"Oh boy..." Against better judgement, I glanced down and my palms began to sweat. Pain throbbed through my arm, and I unconsciously groaned at the discomfort. I nearly froze when I heard a grotesque snarl from under me. I looked down to see a reaper starting to climb up too.
I began climbing faster and felt my hand reach the top, but just as I started to pull myself up the reaper wrapped it's hand around my ankle. I cried out in distress, but started to kick, trying to shake it off. I was halfway onto the roof when it put it's other hand on the same leg.
"Let go!" I hissed, knowing it wouldn't listen anyways. I finally turned myself over once completely on the roof and reached into my pocket and pulled out the glass shard. I desperately shoved the shard into the reaper's eye, then pushed it off of me and it pummeled down below.
I sucked in heavy breaths, fear still present from my small "expedition". I looked around, trying to find the white-haired man. To my great luck, he was nowhere to be found.
"Of course.." I sighed, brushing myself off. Maybe I could track hi-
I turned around and there he was, waiting for me. I was puzzled, I was positive he left me to die.
"Wait- you've been here the whole time?!" I called out in surprise, he scoffed.
"I just was taking a break." A lie! It was 100% a lie! There's no way he'd need to catch his breath with his level of endurance and physical capacity.
"Part of me doesn't believe that..." no, more accurately, all of me doesn't. I started to walk towards him when I felt pain burn through my leg. As if my blood loss wasn't enough, I had a feeling that the reaper did something to my leg. I looked down and pulled off my high-boots. My leg hadn't been scratched, which was my first concern. My other concern though, was now the deep bruise on my leg. It indented my leg, and probably sprained my ankle at least.
I grimaced and put my boot back on, heading towards the next building with pain following each step. I limped every now and then, but it didn't matter. It'd heal eventually.
"Good grief..." the man grumbled as he walked by me, and then did something completely unexpected. He wrapped an arm around my waist and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I was dumbfounded.
"What are you doing?" I asked him nervously, that guy was so strange!
"Helping a hurt mouse." He responded nonchalantly, making me puff my cheeks out indignantly. He was comparing me to a rodent?
"Mouse?!" I usually just smile and bear whatever is thrown at me, but something about the albino made me aggravated when he insulted me.
"You squeak a lot huh." He mused, I felt anger bubbling up. As soon as that anger came though I remembered the face of my mother, the most kind woman I ever knew. That anger and annoyance ebbed away and I simply hung my head in defeat. He saved my life, so I didn't really have the right to complain.
"If I'm a rodent at least make it a cute one..." I sighed, fighting him was unnecessary. He carried me from building to building for a while, and then two important questions popped into my mind.
"What's your name?" I asked, wanting to know who my savior was. He didn't respond at first, so I thought he didn't hear me or chose to ignore me.
"Subaru." He didn't give a surname, but I had all I wanted. I went into deep thought.
"Subaru.. huh..." I muttered, in which he scoffed. I felt embarrassment creep up my cheeks, I apparently wasn't very quiet. To recover, I quickly said, "My name is Yui Komori, it's nice to meet you Subaru."
Subaru didn't say anything but a "hmm" in acknowledgement. At least he listened to my introduction, which brought just a small amount of hope. With my first question answered, I asked the more important one.
"Why are you helping me?" I already knew where Subaru was going, and I knew his name, but I didn't know why he was going so out of his way for me. I knew I already asked earlier, but something in his response confused me more. He stopped walking, as if he was contemplating his next words. We stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity.
"I owe a favor." the albino finally broke the silence, his response the same as earlier. Could it be that he was simply trying to trick me, earn my trust? The last man I met did that. He took everything from me, even-
Even my family.
"To who?" I asked him. He didn't respond, not even after literally poking and prodding him. The only response she got for that was an annoyed sigh and being carried in an even more uncomfortable manner, under his arm, feet dragging on the ground. It wasn't that bad of a punishment to be fair.
Scarlet hues lit the sky, almost rivialing Subaru's ruby-red eyes. Worry pricked at me. We were almost to the hot spot of reapers. Those things became a lot more active at night, and trust me when I say it is terrifying to wake up and nearly get my face ripped apart by claws. You weren't allowed to sleep in this part of the city, if you did then you'd never wake up. Dozens of apartment buildings came into view.
As we drew closer to them, I began to think that following Subaru wasn't the brightest idea. He saved me, yes, but was "repaying a debt" really his motive? I couldn't help but become suspicious. The last man who I met nearly killed me, so doubt became deep-rooted within my mind.
Dark hues overtook the sky and shuffling could be heard down below. The reapers were becoming more active with the night hours closing in, which was not good. I felt paranoia creep and settle deep into me, urging unease to come forth. Thankfully, as if he sensed my tense emotions, he and I settled down for the night in a run down apartment. After securing the exits and checking the rooms, he dropped me onto the couch- albeit gently, to my surprise.
We actually didn't talk much, it was a lot of nonverbal communication. I did try to talk, but not only was talking dangerous, it was hard to find a proper topic. What was there to say? "It's a nice day today"? "What's your favorite color"? None of those mattered anymore, all that mattered was survival. Small talk was practically useless.
I looked down at my arm, it ached and screamed at my use of it earlier. I probably strained it, maybe opened up the wound. I thought back to the agonizing experience of sewing my own wound and felt my blood run cold at the mere thought of having to do it again. I took off my jacket and pulled up my sleeve. The bandages were stained a faint red, earning a deep frown from me. I tentatively unwrapped the gauze, and not much to my surprise, several stitches had come undone.
I let out a groan of discomfort, wrapping my arm with new gauze. I hoped that maybe it would be enough to just wrap it up and avoid using it, but part of me knew it wasn't that easy.
"You're hurt?" Subaru's low voice asked, I looked over to him and felt shame engulf my body. Shame that I was so weak, shame that I couldn't even take care of myself. The albino was sitting against the broken window, the shining moonlight lighting his face. It looked mesmerizing, and I stopped in my tracks to admire him.
"What?" He snapped upon my silence and strange staring. I shook my head.
"Nothing to worry about, I just need to avoid using it for now." I smiled, reassuringly gesturing to my arm. I pulled my jacket back on.
"Is it from a reaper?" His question was to be expected. I shook my head and opened my fanny pack.
"No, it isn't. I cut it open while running from one of them though." I explained patiently, for all I knew, the siding of the house could've had infected blood on it, or I could get infected by something else. I actually didn't know if I was infected or not, but I decided to keep quiet about my uncertainty.
He let out "hmm" in acknowledgement of my words, and silence enveloped us once more. I looked at my single granola bar, determining if I should eat it or not.
"The pros of eating it would be that I get only a little bit of energy for it and it might help in my recovery..." I mused to myself in deep thought, completely blocking out the outside world.
"On the downside though, I ate yesterday. It might be wasting food if I eat it now, especially if Subaru doesn't have any food or want to share it." I grimaced and continued, oblivious to the albino trying to talk to me.
"Hey.."
"wouldn't asking him to share be rude in the first place though? He might abandon me if I used his stuff though. No- he will abandon me." My face leaned against my hand, pushing me to further contemplation.
"The hell you thinking so hard about, little mouse?" Subaru waved a hand in front of my face and I shifted my gaze over to him in surprise.
"Oh... sorry. Were you trying to ask me something?" I asked, confused at what he wanted when he showed such disinterest towards me moments prior.
"I asked what you were doing." Subaru stated with irritation, and I looked down at the granola bar.
"Sorry.. I didn't hear you. I was just wondering if I should eat this or not." I told him with honesty, and he seemed taken aback by it.
"You were.. thinking about food?" He asked me, slightly surprised.
"Did you think I was thinking of something else?" I looked up at him and tilted my head in confusion. What did he think I was thinking about? The albino didn't respond and turned back to the window without a word. I could've sworn I heard him chuckle a bit though, I dismissed it as just my deliriousness.
"Just eat the damn thing." He grumbled, and I smiled. I decided to eat the bar, but partially because Subaru told me to. An hour passed and I had moved to the window with Subaru. The view outside was surprisingly pretty. The blue moonlight illuminating the collapsed buildings and granting a mythical shine to the overgrown nature.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked me, and I shrugged. I didn't want to tell him why, it'd only make me seem weaker than I already am. I felt that the man next to me wouldn't let me get away with silence though.
"I don't want to be abandoned again." I confessed. It wasn't unusual for survivors to help each other but then steal from each other the moment night comes. It happened to me once, but that man didn't leave like the rest...
I felt myself tremble at the thought of that vile person, but shook my head to rid the thought of him.
"...I won't." Subaru firmly assured me, and I felt relief wash over me. I didn't know why I was relieved by his words, but I looked up at him and gave him my best smile, despite the worry of something else still plaguing my mind. He didn't look like he would hurt me. I knew I was being reckless, that I probably was about to lose my life, but I needed that rest. To recover the human body requires energy, and it was screaming at me to give it some.
"Thank you..." I whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear probably. I turned to the couch and layed down, just to avoid telling him the other reason for my insomnia. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier, until I was gently lulled into sleep