Okay...this is what you get when Kara (aka Gatomon_1, for those of you who don't know my real name)
is sick...*curses colds in all their forms.*
And, if the layout of this thing is really screwed...then I am SO SORRY! My computer is seriously
messed up right now...and I can't even *open* Microsoft word OR Wordpad...and that means that I'm
stuck with notebook *cries* and I hate doing my documents as .txt, so, please...forgive me...also,
notebook doesn't have spellcheck...so please forgive any spelling mistakes...(I don't think there
are *too* many of them...)
Okay, you can go onto the fic in JUST ONE MINUTE! Yes, this is a sad fic, (If you're anything like
me, that is.) It DOES contain death, though not quite directly, and not necessarily to one of
the Digidestined.
~*Darkness on the face of the Earth*~
~*Takeru's point of View*~
Not even the strongest rays of sun could reach us, in the darkened cellar...not even the
faintest shimmer. The only light we did have was that from a small flashlight...and the
batteries were half dead.
It wasn't that hard to get used to, though. We had been living in darkness for what
seemed almost forever. Honestly, I doubted that we would ever see light again.
The three of us were huddled into a tight circle, drawing on the warmth from each other.
God only knew where the others where...maybe they'd already been killed.
I didn't even try to talk to Hikari or Yamato...they wouldn't have been able to hear me
over the exploding shells...they were defeaning.
World War III...the nightmares of a billion different people combined...had come alive.
Just after the shells started exploding above our heads, we had taken to the celler...I had no
idea whatsoever where any of my friends...or family, for that matter...where.
I could feel Hikari pressed closely against me. I could feel her tremble. Without a
word, I gently put one arm around her shoulders, hugging her close to me. I couldn't see her,
but I knew that terror was etched onto every inch of her face. And as for Matt...I knew that he
must be sick with worry about Mimi. And the others, for that matter.
The cellar was thick with smoke, and smogy with soot. It was in the basement under the
apartment building that we lived in. That almost everyone lived in. During the war, living
space had become smaller and smaller...right now, almost all of us Digidestined...with the
exception of Daisuke and Joe...lived in the same building as Yamato and I.
"Takeru?" Yamato's voice was soft, and sounded far away.
"What is it, oni-san?"
"I think I found a tunnel." with that, he turned on our limited supply of light, and
pointed it to a spot in the wall that was just a couple of feet from where we hid. Sure enough,
I could see a narrow tunnel, leading deeeper into the Earth. "What do you say? Should we keep
walking?"
Hikari looked up. "It could possibly be safer," she achnowledged, her voice shaky. "But
it could very well be even more dangerous."
I cleared my throat. "I think we should. Pretty soon, it may not be safe here any
longer." I laughed bitterly. "Not that it's truly safe anywhere."
Yamato nodded, and flicked off the flashlight. "May as well save the batteries," he
explained hoarsely. "Stay together, you guys."
I nodded, and, holding Hikari's hand even tighter, clasped onto my brother's hand, as
well.
Slowly, we began to move forward, inch by inch, Yamato feeling along the wall, searching
for the opening. We inched along for what seemed...well, forever.
You think you know what pure blackness is? Trust me...you've most likely never
exprerienced it. Lying awake in bed, staring at your ceiling, all the lights in the house turned
off...that's not darkness. Not even close. Standing in an open field, miles from civilization,
no moon...that's not darkness...you still have the stars. But trust me...it was *pure* blackness.
I guess that's why we didn't see them coming...it was impossible. We *heard* them coming,
though, their footsteps on the rocky ground, their slow, hesitant breathing...and their voices as
they asked who was there.
"Mimi!" Yamato moved forward instantly, enveloping his girlfriend in his arms. How he
found her, I don't know. Mimi started to cry against his shoulder.
"Hikari!" at the same instant, I knew that releif was flooding over Taichi's face, as he
heard his sister's voice.
"How did you get here? How long...?"
Taichi cut me off before I could finish my sentence. "Ever since the bombs started
falling...since earlier today. Some of the others...Sora, Koushiro, Iori...they're back there."
I couldn't see him, but I was pretty sure that he was motioning towards a spot further down the
tunnel. "I came back here to see if I could find Hikari, or anyone else." he looked towards Mimi.
"I *did* find Mimi. Come...the others are in a little room that way. We've got a few supplies
with us." With that, we started walking again. Walking and walkng and walking...
...Until we came to a rather small room, just off the right side of the
tunnel. Sora, Iori, and Koushiro sat, huddled around a small fire that was made out of dried
twigs and leaves. It threw shadows around the blackened dirt walls and dirt floor, eerie
shadows dancing everywhere.
Taichi had been right...they did have some supplies...a few food items sat in an open
bag, as well as three bottles of water. There were matches, plus Sora and Koushiro each had
flashlights. There was even a small, broken down radio. "Welcome to our home away from home...
for now. God only knows how long this is gonna hold out," Taichi said, motioning around the
room. "I've got to go...I'm trying to find as many survivors as possible...and, more hopefully,
more of us Digidestined."
He started to leave, but I stepped foward. "Wait...let me come," I said. "You shouldn't
go alone. Just in case something happens to you."
Hikari began to protest. "Please, Takeru. No." she turned to Taichi. "Taichi, please,
you stay, too!"
I gently pulled away from my girlfriend. "We have to, Hikari. We have to find as many
people as possible...though God only knows how many people could have survived that...that...
horror."
And they watched as we faded into darkness.
~*Hikari's point of View*~
We all just kind of sat there, I guess. I suppose the reality just hadn't settled in,
yet. So we just sat there, watching the dancing, twiriling flames casting eerie shadows and tales
of war.
The war was so stupid. There wasn't even a half-good answer. But then, there's never a
good answer for war. America and Russia had had some stupid disagreement...well, not *stupid,* I
guess. I suppose that their reasons made plenty of sense to them...and in a weird way, it also
made sense to me.
But it still wasn't reason enough to go to war.
The bombs had started falling around dawn...but they had started falling on the far side
of Odaiba. Stupid...we hadn't run for cover. I guess we hadn't quite thought that they
would start dropping the shells over the part of the city that we lived in, as well. But they
had. I had been visiting Yamato and Takeru...Yamato had been staying with his mother and brother.
Anyway...when the explosions started, we had finally run for cover. And you know what happened
next.
I was so deeply wrapped in my thoughts that I almost didn't hear the sound. Footsteps...
coming closer every second. I felt my heart stop...it might be Taichi and Takeru...but what if
it wasn't?
As I heard the sound draw nearer, I began to shake...until I saw that it *was* Taichi and
Takeru. Behind them, two familiar people followed. My heart started up again, beating double
time for the beats that it had missed.
"Miyako!" Koushiro jumped, releif flooding his face.
"Mom!" I jumped up and ran to her, as she hugged me. "Is Dad okay?" She just shrugged
and shook her head, crying. Obviously, she didn't know.
Taichi threw a small backpack onto the ground. "They were in our apartment," he said,
directing that first sentance at me.
Miyako nodded, and turned to Kari. "I went to see if you were home...and just at that
moment, the shells started dropping."
Taichi turned to the others. "The building collapsed just seconds after we got out." He
began to dig through the items that he had brung. "I managed to grab a few things," he said,
explaining the obvious.
The items that he drew out seemed at first impractical...but then I realized that we
really could use them. A large sweater that had been my dad's, a scarf, a T-shirt. And a little
packet of chicken noodle soup. "It's not much, but we need everything that we can possibly get."
Takeru then lowered his bundle to the ground. It was a sleeping bag...something that I
could only hope we would find more of.
The two of them started back towards the tunnel, when Yamato called out to them.
"Wait. We should take shifts. You guys look tired."
Taichi and Takeru turned. "Whatever. Just hurry...we have to save as many people as we
can!" Taichi...always taking on the role of the leader. I felt proud of him at that moment.
Koushiro also stepped forward. "Yamato's right...the two of us should go. That way,
everyone has a chance to rest."
~*~
A little over two hours later, Yamato and Koushiro finally returned...we had been near
frantic about them...especially Miyako and Mimi.
Jim, Joe's older brother, was with them. And behind him, there was a little girl that I
had never seen before, clinging to her older brother's hand.
Thank God...at least there were some people alive...I could only hope that we would find
more survivors.
"Sorry we took so long. We got lost. The city is in ruins," Yamato said forlornly.
"There's only one or two apartment buildings still standing. We have to keep going!" with that,
he tossed a slightly-worn-out blanket onto the ground. Obviously, he had grabbed it as they fled.
The city was in ruins. I had never...not in a million, billion years...thought that this
would...*could*...happen...that our home town would be desttroyed so...so senselessly!
Yet it was happening...and, personally, I doubted if there was anything that was still
impossible, anymore.
~*~
~*Takeru's point of View*~
Several days had passed...and still, we searched for survivors...there were many that we
had rescued, already, too...well, I guess not *many.* But more than we had expected...about fifty
of us in total. Some had fled, as we did, into the basements and cellers, finding underground
tunnels that had been built for exactly that purpose. Some, we had found underneath the wreckage,
injured, but sill holding onto life. And a few...just a handful, we had found in tiny areas
where the shells hadn't directly hit, or where people had had the sense to hide.
We had found a couple of other small rooms, like the one that we had fled to after Taichi
and Mimi had found us. Like I said before...we still searched for survivors, though we no longer
found them...we also searched for supplies. Our food and water supplies were scarce, and many of
use had only the clothing we wore on our backs...but, by some miracle, we managed to scrape
together enough so that we could keep on living.
Right now...right now, we were gathered around the small, crackling radio.
And from that crackling, staticky radio, the last verse of a song played forth.
Everyone stopped to listen...it just seemed so perfect for the moment...
"The stars fell out of heaven,
And the moon could not be found
The sun was in a million pieces,
Scattered all around,
Why did you ever leave me,
You knew how it would hurt,
And now there's darkness
On the face of the Earth."
At that, Hikari hid her face in her hands, and leaned against me. I could understand why.
I just sat there, stroking her hair.
Who knew when our lives would return to normal? Who knew when the darkness that hung over
the earth...the darkness called *war*...would end?
Maybe never. I guess it kind of felt that way...as if this would never end. Who knew?
Maybe this was the end of the world. And I felt a shiver tingle it's way up my spine. I tried
to block the thought from my mind, and I pulled Hikari closer.
But that shiver never *did* make it's way back down.
THE END.
Okay...yes, I know what you want to know. Did they die? Are they alive? ...um...you decide.
And also, what happened to the other digidestined? Um...most likely, they found them, and I just
didn't get around to mentioning them. So, yeah...I hope you all liked this...and please, for the
sake of the Digidesinted, please review! (That sounded kind of weird...)
Gatomon_1