Chapter Three: Red Sky

Red sky.
All Meryl could see for a moment was the wine-soaked sky, bleeding at the edges and fading to the center.
Then it was a fast blur and whirl of colour, then ground as she bit the dust.
She felt her teeth rattle as her chin hit the ground hard, then felt the first kick.
It caught her right in the side; she yelped out mostly in surprise than pain, which came a little later.
A thick rain of heavy boots stepped on her legs, her back, her shoulders - the boot would either kick her away or scrape against her painfully.
Kicks flew in randomly, but mostly aimed for her sides.
The pain...
The pain was terrible.
Meryl knew she was getting hurt because of... him.
He was going to do something he didn't want to do.
He was going to be forced to do it...
Forced by her?
No!
But Meryl knew what would make him do it.
I mustn't cry out.
She felt an iron tip of a boot make contact with her thigh, and felt her leggings tear.
I mustn't cry out.
Her thigh began to throb; she could feel bruises already forming, yet they were still kicking, still shoving and pushing her around.
No, I mustn't cry out.
A kick caught her in the shoulder blade, and she felt something jarr inside. A cry crept up her throat, but Meryl suddenly remembered.
If he hears me in pain, he'll do whatever they want him to.
I can't cry out - I just can't!

She bit the inside of her bottom lip, and prevented the cry rising up herself. Blood filled her mouth. Just then, someone jabbed her head roughly with a stick.
Straight after that, sticks and gun-butts started to jab her, hit her --
No! I'm not going to cry out!
Her lip cut as she was roughly kicked aside and then slapped harshly at the jaw by the end of a stick, and she felt blood trickle down her chin.
Someone kicked her in the stomach, and caught her up.
Her mouth opened, pain aching to acknowledge itself, but Meryl shut her mouth quickly, biting her lip again.
The kicks kept coming in.
Sticks and guns were still hitting her, jabbing at her jaw, her back, her legs...
They were still stepping on her...
Tears began to course down her cheeks.
No! Milly is getting hurt just as much as I am.
Then Meryl realised that Milly was letting out stifled cries of pain behind her.
Keep the effort going, Meryl. Don't give in. Don't cry.
Don't cry out.

Saltiness filled her mouth, mingling sickeningly with the coppery taste of blood.
Then, quite suddenly, someone hit her knee-cap.
It felt as though it had shattered.
Meryl bit the inside of her lip as hard as she could, but someone slapped her face aside, and the flesh inside her mouth tore.
Blood splattered from her mouth as her cry of pain was voiced.
Meryl then found that after that came another cry.
Then another.
NO!
Her tears were still flowing, her mouth still bleeding, and now she found that she couldn't stop crying out, either.
No....
She thought, opening her eyes just to look at him before someone shoved a gun-barrel into her face, forcing her down again.
His eyes were filled with confusion, pain... he looked so lost...
No....
He looked so scared.
No....
Meryl couldn't do anything to stop her cries now, but she tried to muffle it into the ground.
It didn't help.
No....
Then someone pointed a gun-barrel to her throat.
No....
Meryl looked at him, fear clouding her vision as she saw that the man's eyes were empty, and he showed no sign of mercy.
No.... no.... no!!
Meryl's eyes shut tightly, tears spilling out and over her cheeks as she did so.
Is this goodbye? Vash-san.
The sharp crack of gunfire sounded, and it felt as though time had stopped.
But it hadn't been the gun pointing at Meryl.
Meryl's eyes flew open.
She felt her bruises throb, her temples throb, her heart throb...
Then, the people suddenly fell apart and down, crumpling to the ground, sticks and guns clattering onto the ground, and revealing the scene behind like a grotesque curtain.
He was holding his silver gun.
The gun was smoking at the barrel.
And the other one was on the ground.
Blood was pooling.
No...!!
Meryl thought desperately, blackness beginning to seep into her vision.
NO!! VASH-SAN!!!
Then the blackness engulfed her entirely.