Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine. Kind reviews are always appreciated!

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Chapter Four: The Echo of Laughter

"I don't believe you."

"What is there not to believe? It was only a matter of time before modern medicine found a cure for Polio." Riku pointed out.

Sora shook his head, "No, no, I believe that. I'm not that stupid. Shut up." He snapped before Riku could make a smart comment. "What I don't believe is how they're administering it. Isn't that like a privacy violation or something?"

Kairi laughed, "How can protecting your health be a privacy violation?"

"Yeah, you could be breathing it right now." Riku chuckled.

Sora clamped his mouth shut and held his breath.

Kairi looked at him sideways, "Sora, it's a good thing."

"Nah, let's see how long he can hold his breath." Riku said.

Sora lasted about a minute before coughing and inhaling sharply, "Ah, fine. I just don't like the idea of people pumping this stuff into the air."

"It's the fastest and most effective way to reach everyone." Kairi stated, "Right at this very moment, everyone on Destiny Islands is breathing in the cure for Polio. No needles, no shots, no pain, and no side effects."

Sora still didn't like it. "Well at least with a shot, you know exactly what's going on and when."

Riku narrowed his eyes, "Well not everyone can afford shots."

Sora bit his tongue and Kairi sat forward, "That's not a problem anymore, though. Clara can just sit on the front porch and breathe it in like everybody else."

Riku's grandmother, Clara, had suffered from Polio for a few years now. She didn't have the money to afford regular treatments, and she refused any financial aid from the rest of Riku's family. This latest medical breakthrough was especially helping Riku's family.

Riku's hard stare softened at Kairi's words, "Yeah." He murmured.

Kairi nodded, "Just think, in a matter of weeks that whole disease will be a thing of the past! Things are going to be much better from now on."

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Kairi's laughter bubbled through Sora's head, as clear and crystalline as if she was standing beside him. But she wasn't. Sora hadn't heard Kairi's laughter or her voice in three years. He had no idea why he was remembering it now. Here he was, standing in the door frame of the wooden hut, listening to something moving around upstairs, and he was remembering Kairi's laugh.

Shaking his head slightly, Sora reached back and pulled out a hunting knife, holding it ready near his collar as he stepped into the shadow of the hut. The creature upstairs wasn't making the normal sounds he'd come to associate with infected humans. It was a burrowing, scratching noise, like little claws trying to escape a dirt mound.

He crept slowly up the stairs and paused at the top corner. Slowing his breathing to offset the pounding of his heart, Sora picked up the plank of wood he'd tossed and threw it onto the floor of the second level of the hut. There was a quick scurrying as the creature was startled, and then silence. Sora exhaled in a loud pant. An infected creature, whether human or not, would have attacked that plank in an instant, seeing it as a threat and thus triggering aggression.

Sora relaxed and peeked around the corner. A big black badger was nestled in the corner, scratching at a hole in the wall. Sora frowned in relief and went back down to the first floor. All that took space inside the small room were two writing desks propped together. On top of them housed a long rectangular box machine, with a few buttons and levers and two slowly rotating wheels.

Even had recorded the message just after the outbreak and had instructed Sora how to set up the contraption. It had been playing and repeating the same message, the same words, for over a thousand days. No one had ever replied. They had never even received a hint that there was anyone else immune or alive besides themselves and the infected. Sora was sure Even had never expected a reply either, but that was back when it was still nice to hope. Now it was just painful.

Sora reached over and hit the button to switch off the broadcast. Instead of stopping the wheels' rotation, a soft crackling noise emitted from the speakers, and Even's voice drifted out.

"If you are hearing this, please respond. My name is Even and I am one of two survivors living outside the village of Destiny Islands. Please make contact. We are—"

Sora stopped listening. All too well could he remember the panicking tones Even was fighting to keep out of his voice as he recorded this. He started searching for the off switch, or any button that would make that message stop. He didn't want to listen to this anymore.

No one was out there. No one was listening. No one was going to make contact. They were all gone, either dead or infected, which was as good as dead because they were never going to find a cure. This was it, the end of the road, the bottom line. They were alone, and it was going to stay that way.

Sora stopped fighting the frustration that had been building for years and just let go. He smacked the radio once. Even's voice wavered, but kept speaking. Sora made a fist and hit it harder a few times. When that didn't work, Sora gripped the edges and lifted the box, throwing against the wall. The machine shattered, splintering roughly in half and falling to the floor in a heap of metal, wires, and springs. Even's voice died in the heated air.

The silence fell thick and heavy.

Sora flattened his palms against the sun-warmed wood and groaned audibly. He just didn't know how much longer he could do this. He moaned again, louder this time, and dropped his forehead against the wood now. He wanted more than anything to just stop. He wanted to stop living in the fantasy that one day he and Even would find a cure. He wanted to stop hearing his friends and family and neighbors late at night, roaming around like animals. He wanted to just destroy something, to tear something down and to demolish it beyond recognition. He wanted to fall on his knees and cry. He wanted to sob long and hard and feel no shame for it. He deserved that much, right?

No. He couldn't stop. He couldn't cry. It was out of his capacity to do so. That didn't mean he had to like it. Dropping his arms at his sides and straightening, Sora left the ruined radio inside the hut and stepped back out onto the hot sand. The heat was doubled almost, and Sora immediately felt himself start to sweat. Another quick dip in the ocean sounded pretty good right then. Sora was seriously considering doing that until he looked forward.

His backpack had been moved. The top was unzipped and the contents were spread out on the ground. Sora lingered near the hut, eying the sand for tracks. This wasn't an animal's doing. That backpack had been unzipped and disemboweled with opposable thumbs and careful hands.

He found the tracks. There was only one set of prints, and it was only a pair making them. Two legs and opposable thumbs. Sora's heart lodged in his throat. It couldn't have been a human. There were no people living over here. And even if there were, those with the virus couldn't be out in broad sunlight without sustaining severe UV damage. They wouldn't have had the willpower to pilfer through his bag like that. They would have just ripped it to shreds. Something was screwy here.

Sora glanced over the trees, searching for any sign of movement, skin, or eyes. When he saw nothing, he crept forward, away from the hut, and towards his bag. Upon reaching it, he groaned in dismay. The bag was practically empty. His medical supplies were gone, his knives were gone, and one of his canteens was gone. The other was empty. One of his guns was gone, as were the two clips.

Movement out of the corner of his eye made Sora look up. He saw nothing, just the swaying branches in the light breeze near the secret cave by the waterfall. Sora squinted and caught sight of the low lying vines swishing back and forth, as though they had just been moved. Something was inside the cave, and seeing as it was the only other living thing here besides Sora as far as he could tell, he assumed it was the thing that had pillaged his bag.

Straightening slowly, Sora checked the knives he had tucked into his belt and started to walk toward the cave's entrance. He was smart enough not to stoop in and just start stumbling through the tunnel, so he kicked at the vines a few times.

"Hey." He barked, nudging the vines to and fro. "Come out if you're civilized."

There was no answer. He started to kneel down to get a better view of the inside without actually going in. He hadn't made it to his knees when a body flew out of the shadows. Sora was taken off guard as the heavy body slammed into his chest, tackling him to the ground with a throaty, unnatural screech.

Sora knew immediately that he was in trouble. He rolled hard to the right, kicking with his left leg to try and dislodge the human being from his midsection. The body clamped big hands around Sora's upper arms, pinning him to the ground and releasing hot breath in Sora's face.

The hilts of Sora's knives were digging into his back, but there was no way he could reach them like this. He tried not to look into the human's face, tried not to let his memory go into overdrive to recognize who was trying to kill him, but he couldn't do it. He locked eyes with his former friend Wakka and cried out as a knee was pushed into his ribs to hold him down.

Sora rolled hard again, bodily shoving Wakka off of him. Wakka kept a firm hold on Sora's arms, dragging him over with him so they both toppled into the shallow pond beside the cave. Sora scrambled to his knees quickly, drawing a knife in both hands.

Could he really do this? Could he fight Wakka like this? The Wakka he knew was long gone, but Sora didn't think he could bear to actually hurt him. Wakka felt no such reservation. He launched forward in the water to tackle Sora again. He was breathing heavily and with a raspy, strained tone. His skin was hot and fevered, but this didn't affect his strength in the least. Sora found himself overpowered by the sheer wildness Wakka possessed.

All Sora could do was fight to get to the beach. Outside the shadows, Wakka would be forced to retreat or otherwise endure a lot of pain under the sun's rays. Even that was a pipe dream as Sora could barely move under Wakka's weight. His head was smashed against the rocky wall of the pond and little spots danced through his vision.

Finally, out of instinct alone, he swung his knife around and felt it hit flesh. Wakka screamed out in that same, high pitched wail as before and fell back, blood blossoming over a shallow cut into his shoulder. Sora scrambled backwards out of the pond while Wakka was distracted and took three steps before Wakka grabbed him around the knees, taking him down to the dirt again.

Before Sora could fall victim to another row of attacks, a loud, thundering roar rippled through the air. Wakka screeched and fell back, releasing Sora and fleeing. Sora rolled onto his back and pushed himself quickly to his feet, watching Wakka escape into the darkness of the jungle. Panting heavily, Sora tentatively lifted a hand to the base of his neck and then looked at his fingers. No blood, just a bump.

Reality set in. That thundering sound had been a gun report. Sora whirled on his heels, staggering out into the hot sunlight and scouring the trees, the shore, the pier, the beach, any sign of a shooter. He turned towards the hut and stopped. A girl around his age was squatting on the roof, holding one of his guns trained on Sora's chest.

Sora's mouth fell open as he realized that she was sitting in broad daylight, with no apparent fear of the sun. He recognized his canteen hanging around her neck and his gun in her hands.

"You're not infected." He stammered, unable to grasp what he was seeing.

Her response was to pull back the hammer of the gun until it clicked.