AN: Sorry for yet another short chapter, but I'm going to be even more busy this week than I have been recently. To be honest, this chapter isn't complete but I'll be sure to make up for that next time. My goal is to give small clues about the story along each chapter and tie it all in the end. But you may all just figure it out sooner, but I guess just enjoy. Until next time, mah d00ds and gals.
Chapter 15: From Bad to Worse
Ding dong!
"Hm?"
The self-proclaimed mad scientist called Okabe looked up from his desk, a pathetic excuse for what he called an 'organized' work station.
"Mayuri," he called while turning back to his desk, "status report."
The young girl, Mayuri, sitting on the couch just to his left turned her attention away from the TV. "Someone's at the door."
Okabe rubbed his temples in slight annoyance. "I meant, who's at the door?"
"Oh!" Mayuri bounced to her feet and walked to the front door of the apartment's room. She looked through the peephole and found a woman with two men standing on either side of her. The woman was beautiful, adoring a set of clothing that made it clear she was here for business. What worried Mayuri, however, were the two men that were dressed in black suits while wearing dark sunglasses that shielded their eyes.
The woman reached forward and began knocking on the door, making Mayuri retreat away from it and jump to Okabe's side.
"Okabe, there are scary people at the front door with a lady," Mayuri said quietly.
"What?" Okabe set down the screwdriver he held. He made his way to the front door and took a quick look through the peephole before throwing his back against it aggressively. "Damn it," he said under his breath.
"Who is it?" Mayuri asked, fear setting into her once calm demeanor.
"The Organization, of course." Okabe reached across and grabbed a homemade tool from a shelf, a toy gun looking contraction that shot bolts of electricity that would immediately paralyze any human within a second. "Damn. How did they found out where we did our experiments? I must be getting careless!" He then looked at the peephole and edged away from it as if it were dangerous.
Okabe frantically looked around the room until they landed on Mayuri. "Mayuri, we must enact Operation G.S.A.B.H.A!"
The girl blushed in embarrassment. She touched her index fingers together while asking, "W-what was that operation again?"
"Are you serious? We just went over this last month!"
Outside the door the woman raised an eyebrow, hearing the conversation that was just on the other side of the door.
Running out of options, Okabe looked over at the window of that led outside, but he highly doubted he should take that risk seeing as he was up a flight of stairs. "Blast it! Stand back, Mayuri."
Mayuri didn't have to be told twice, quickly retreating to safety by hiding behind Okabe and clinging to his coat.
The woman outside said clear enough to be heard, "Mr. Rintarou, my name is Satella. I'm with the United States Government. May I come in? I mean to have an urgent talk with you."
"What?!" Okabe said to himself. "What in Newton's name are American officials doing at my door?" He put a finger to his mouth, a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmm. Perhaps The Organization sent these fakes, thinking I would fall for something so childish."
He snickered, "How insulting. As if I'd ever fall for that kind of child's play."
"Mr. Rintarou, I know of your Phone Wave."
Okabe was silent. No one but lab members knew about it, his world-changing invention. "I'm sorry," he began, "but I'm not taking any visitors right now!"
Satella put her hands behind her back, saying quietly, "Leave us."
The two men on either side of her immediately walked back down to the ground floor to wait for her return.
"Mr. Rintarou, I'm not here to take away your great achievement as you may possibly think. I wish to recruit you."
After some hesitation, Okabe slid the security bolt of the door into place and opened the door as far as the chain allowed. He asked hastily, "Recruit me? And what if I told you I didn't have what you were looking for?"
Smiling, Satella said through tired breaths, "Please, Mr. Rintarou, it's been a very long year. And I wish not to repeat it."
Okabe looked suspiciously over in the direction he other men had left then looked back towards Satella. Frowning, he asked, "How? How do you know of it? Who told you?"
Satella stared down the hall, choosing what to say next. "A friend of mine. Mutual friend of ours."
Okabe stared at Satella for a second. Neither said anything before he slammed the door closed.
There was the sound of metal on metal and then the door fully opened. Satella was then greeted to the sight of Okabe, the man that would help her change the world for better or for worse.
"You can't be serious, Father."
With a furious look, Ram questioned Quark on why they had to leave again.
Quark shrugged, "Sorry, sweetie. It's like Sol and Bashur said, the only chance we have right now is if we get to New York."
Ram followed her father into the kitchen, a heavy weight in her feet, "That's the stupidest plan I've ever heard of. Do you realize just how far we are from there?!"
Currently in Nevada, it was safe to say they were quite far from their destination. Everyone knew this all too well, and nobody liked it. Subaru didn't want to leave, but came to terms that it was for the best if they wanted guaranteed safety. Emilia agreed with it almost immediately, wanting to be as safe as possible. Rem and Ram took it differently. Ram had first assumed it was a stupid idea that had came from none other than Subaru, but then she found out that wasn't the case. Rem decided to follow her sister, knowing that the move would be very scary.
Atbash definitely didn't like the idea, but knew what it meant if it worked. The downside to this was that driving would attract attention to themselves, the attention of both walkers and people like the Cultists.
"I don't need reminding, but we have to. We're at our best right now and we can't wait until we get desperate." Quark grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and placed it into the backpack. "If we wait too long here then it may be too late when we actually need to leave. This way we have a greater chance. It's harder nowadays to trust people, but we're safer in numbers. Especially with the people we have."
"We don't even have a car," Ram said.
"I know. Then I suggest we leave as soon as possible. I don't know about you, but I'd rather find another place to sleep than sleep out in the open at night." Quark handed the bag to Ram. "So I suggest you start packing as much as you can carry."
Outside, Subaru began to take inventory of what he was carrying. He counted a few cans of vegetables, a couple bottles of water, and miscellaneous supplies he thought would come in handy.
It wasn't much at all. With all of them, their entire food supply would probably last only a week. And that was if they ate the bare minimum each day. It didn't seem good, but Sol assured them they were within a day away from the next city. However, Atbash didn't see that as a good thing.
"That's suicide nowadays," Atbash commented. "We can't risk going through big cities. Who knows just how many of those things are out in those buildings."
Sol crossed his arms, "Then what do you suggest we do? We have to head east and that's the only way."
"We cross the river. The only way we'll be able to ensure our survival for just today would be to travel away from the crowd."
"What about supplies? We can't survive just with what we've got on our backs."
"We'll deal with that problem when it comes up. For now, we have to deal with the matter at hand and get as far away from here as possible."
Sol sighed. "Understood." He then spoke softly to make sure no one else but themselves heard, "And what about the other five?"
Atbash made no effort to lower his voice. Instead, he spoke clearly as if expecting everyone to hear. "What of them?"
The action made Sol cringe. "They seem like an okay bunch. You think we can trust them?"
"I mainly trust him to keep us alive. As for the rest of them… let's just hope they won't be dead weight."
"Hehe. It's funny because that's what you used to call Charlotte and I." Sol smiled, remembering when Atbash would call him that very name the first few days they traveled together.
"Pffft." Atbash shouldered his backpack and walked towards the road, saying, "That hasn't changed one bit."
Sol called out to Atbash, "One day it will!"
"Perhaps in another life!"
Sol smiled and turned around. "Hopefully, that life won't be as bad as this one."
Quark groaned as he stretched. "You guys ready?" He asked the group.
"No, not really," Subaru said, finishing up his calisthenics, "But I feel forced to say yes since I probably don't have a choice.
"Right you are, Subaru."
As Quark and Subaru walked out the front door with Rem close behind, Ram lagged behind. With a sour look on her face, she turned back to take in the house. An empty shell, coated with forgotten and abandoned memories. Familiarity to her.
"Nee-sama!"
"Coming!" Ram gave one last look at her reflection in a broken mirror on the floor, hints of blood staining the jagged edges of the once beautiful work of craftsmanship.
The sun was starting to make its descent when everyone reached the river. They walked along the side of the bank, the large city ahead being visible. Surprisingly, the river wasn't too deep, allowing them to walk through it with their backpacks held above their heads.
"Never. Again." Ram growled as she waddled from the river, soaked like a sponge just outta water.
Subaru came next, his situation just as bad. "Hey, it could be worse."
"I'd rather you NOT talk to me right now, Barusu."
"Like that statement means anything to me."
Sol threw his backpack onto the dry dirt just before stepping out of the river. "You two sure do get along quite well," he said sarcastically.
Rem came next, being carried on Quark's shoulders while she held two backpacks in her arms. "Subaru-kun and Nee-sama do get along quite often. You just have to be there to believe it."
"Huh. Usually, when a girl is being mean but also friendly it's like a way of flirting for a girl like her."
Subaru facepalmed then held a hand towards Ram as she said furiously, "As if! I wouldn't be caught dead dating Barusu even if he were the last man on Earth!"
Ram looked over at Sol and caught sight of her father and Rem. She threw her hands up, sending a small stream of water flying. "You didn't offer to carry me, father!"
Quark looked guilty, but overshadowed it with a smile. "Well, you know how much your sister doesn't like being in wet clothes. Plus, she asked and I couldn't just say no."
"Hmpf."
Atbash shook as much water as he could from his clothes. "Darn. I guess it would've been a good idea to pack towels."
"Ay, stop that," Sol said, shielding himself from Atbash's spray of water.
"Oof, sorry." Atbash took off a shoe and emptied it of water and a few pebbles. "So...um, I guess we just follow the river. Disclaimer: from here on out I have absolutely no idea where we're going."
"Well then let's hurry up. It won't be long until night comes and it starts getting cold."
"Open up, Rintarou!"
Satella knocked harder on the door, a mad look in her eyes. They were different, as if they were broken, the cracks of insanity stretching across the smooth surface.
On the other side of the door, Okabe set down the blueprints that had been in his hand. Without a word, he signaled for Mayuri to hide. Quietly, Mayuri shuffled under the dining room table, using the chairs as cover.
Okabe nodded at this, relaxing since she had understood. Fearing the worst, Okabe had a feeling he knew just who was at his door. To kill speculation, he checked the peephole. It was just as he had expected.
"Okabe!" Satella said loudly.
"No!" Okabe screamed back. "I've seen your World Line in my sleep! I've had nightmares of it and I REFUSE to take any part of whatever you have planned!" The sleepless night he'd been having frequently all had the same thing; blood, death, fire, along with it came the same voice that now spoke to him telling him what they did was beautiful.
Suddenly the door swung open, bits of the wooden frame snapping off from where the lock had been. One of the men standing with Satella had kicked it with one powerful hit.
A shout came from the base of the stairs, "What the hell?!"
A muscular man by the name of Yuugo Tennouji climbed the stairs quickly, only to be greeted with a gun to his face. The short smile crossed his face, "Damn it, Okabe," he said bitterly, "You didn't tell me you were having visitors."
"Well, it's not like they were invited anywho."
In an instant, Yuugo disarmed the man that held the gun and punched him across the face, an instant knockout. This triumph was short lived when the other man pulled out a taser and quickly subdued him.
"Mr. Braun!" Okabe cried out in panic when Yuugo fell in a heap.
Mayuri tucked her legs closer to her face, trying her best not to make a sound. Fear set in deeper, causing her to take rapid breaths.
Satella remained calm throughout this, knowing she would get what she wanted. Nothing would stop this already derailed train. She's worked for so many years just to be here, so nothing would stop her from getting what she needed.
Okabe took a step back. He feared not for himself, but for what his nightmares had shown him; a shattered reality, devoid of life.
"W-what is it you want?"
Satella stepped into the room, looking around its familiar interior decor with an amused smile. She picked up an empty pudding cup that was left on top of a table. "I only require your cooperation. With or without your consent." She then dropped the cup onto the floor, crushing it under her foot.
Okabe then took another step back. He considered running, but knew there was no way he could escape the situation.
"Now, Okabe, tell me about the Phone Wave you plan on creating?"
"Albert Einstein once compared mankind to mice. Saying a mouse would never create a mouse trap just as how we never should've created the atomic bomb…. We created it to end a war, not caring that it may someday be the weapon used to end the world."
"Then history just repeats itself, I suppose."