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Radiance

Chapter 4: Papercut

First POV (Drew)

December 4, 2025

I walked over to Tyler, who was working on something. I sat down right next to him and noticed that it looked like a gun.

"What are you working on?" I curiously asked.

"I'm making a lightweight minigun." Tyler answered, not looking at me. The weapon actually looked good.

"Need any help at all?"

"No." I walked away. Tyler's changed…a lot. I remember when we would always talk and now, he just wants to be alone. I walked over to Ken, who was drinking some water.

"Are you sure that this is the Tyler we know?" I asked.

"I know for sure. It's just that he's lost everything. I did, too. I dated one of his older sisters and we lost her." Ken explained. Suddenly, I heard snarling. I looked outside the window and saw a horde of the undead. I grabbed my pistol until Tyler stopped me.

"I've got this."

He pulled out his blaster gun and walked outside. He fired as they all moved towards him. He put his gun away and pulled out a knife and tomahawk. He charged as he sliced into their heads. He was unstoppable. He impaled his tomahawk into another and pulled it over his head. More kept coming as Tyler put his weapons away. He turned into the demon as he spun around, black arcs of lightning shooting out of his hands. He took them all out in one move. The arcs sliced through the wall as we all ducked. I looked and I still had my head. Everyone else was ok. Tyler turned back to normal as he walked back in.

"What the hell, Tyler?" I was angry 'cause he could've killed us.

"I killed them, didn't I?"

"You almost took our heads off. Maybe a little warning next time would be nice."

"But I didn't kill you. I killed the zombies that would've killed us." Tyler explained. "So, why don't you just shut your damn mouth?"

"I don't give a shit. We could've killed them as a team." I said.

"If we did that, we would've chewed through all of our ammo. So, I kinda did you a favor."

"Fuck you!" Tyler tackled me to the ground and turned into a demon. I looked up to find four claws, just centimeters from my face. I looked at Tyler, who looked the same.

"Who do you think you are?"

First POV (Lauren)

Tyler stood up as his hand turned back to normal. He grabbed his keys and put on his helmet.

"Tyler, wait!" He drove away. I glared at Andrew who stood up.

"That's not Tyler. Tyler's gone." He said. I grabbed the car keys and quickly got into the car. I had to get Tyler back. I finally caught up with him on the abandoned highway and rolled down the window as he looked at me.

"Tyler, stop!"

"Leave me alone!" He yelled, but that didn't stop me.

"Please come back!"

"Just go back!" I didn't give up.

"We need you, Tyler!" I paused for a moment before finishing. "I need you." At that moment, Tyler looked at me with a confused expression. I looked ahead and back at Tyler. "Look out!" Tyler looked in front of him and said something.

"Oh, shit."

Tyler crashed into a large piece of stone which caused the motorcycle to explode and sent Tyler flying. He hit the ground and started rolling. After a few moments, he finally stopped. I immediately stopped the car and ran over to him as snow started to fall from the night sky.

"Tyler!" His body was barely burnt and his side was bleeding slowly. I picked him up and carried him to the car.

"I almost killed you and the others. Why?" He was coughing.

"No, the demon almost killed us. You're my best friend." I replied, setting him down in the passenger seat. I quickly got into the car and drove back to the train station. "You're going to be alright, Tyler." I entered the building and parked the car. I quickly got out as the others rushed over to the car.

"What happened?" Mickia asked.

"Tyler crashed and he's bleeding out. Get the wrapping bandages, now!" I yelled as Drew helped me carry Tyler over to the table. Ken cleared everything off before we set Tyler down. Mickia gave the bandages to Ken and he wrapped Tyler's wound. I put my ear to Tyler's chest and I heard nothing.

"Tyler?"

First POV (Tyler)

I watched as my life flashed before my eyes. I saw my family, friends, everyone. I saw…Abigail. I saw pictures of all of the times we spent together. It was a beautiful sight. Suddenly, I heard someone call my name.

"Tyler?"

I opened my eyes.

First POV (Lauren)

I heard a heartbeat. He was alive. I breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Lauren?" I looked at Tyler as he looked at me. "Thank you." We both smiled at each other. He sat up slowly.

"Tyler, you need your rest." I said.

"I'll be fine."

"No, you're not. You're wounded." As soon as I said that, Tyler looked at me curiously.

"What did you just say?"

"You're wounded. Why?" I curiously asked.

Flashback (Pretty Much Dead Already-Chapter 12)

"Let me carry you."

"I'm fine." Abigail tried to stand up, but she almost fell down.

"No, you're not. You have a wounded leg."

"Nothing." Tyler stood up and walked away. What I said made him remember something. I walked over to him.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You just reminded me of Abigail, Lauren. It hurts." He answered before I started walking away. "It's not you, it's me." I heard Tyler recite a lyric as he walked away.

It's like I'm paranoid looking over my back

It's like a whirlwind inside of my head

It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within

It's like the face inside is right beneath my skin

Is he paranoid?