Semi-important AN at the end of this chapter, so read that if you want an idea of where this story is now going. I know the last chapter was a bit underwhelming, but this one will heat things up a bit. This chapter really didn't want to be written but I made it there in the end. Took a bloody long time though. I do try and write as often as I can, but it really isn't as much as I could be. Anyway, just a little monologue before the chapter starts. Enjoy!
Don't own Dying Light. Even though I can dream. The song in the first scene is ''Wanderer's Lullaby" by Adriana Figueroa (adrisaurus on YouTube) and I have no intentions of passing it off as my own.
I couldn't remember a thing through the pain, there was no memory of how I got the injury or where I was. All I knew was pain. I felt something get injected into my arm, and a few minutes later, the pain lessened to a bearable level. Seconds later, I was asleep.
When I woke next, the pain was still there, but now just a dull throb in the background. Nothing like the pure fire it had been. I groggily opened my eyes, only to find that I could only see out of one. Bringing up a hand, I expected to find something holding it shut. What I didn't expect to find, was a line of scar tissue, running up the length of my face, and straight over my eye. The supermarket flashed back to me.
I spun, reaching for the long knife on the side of my thigh, and sliced straight across his throat, splattering blood across my face.
I grabbed his wrist moments away from impact, and rolled him over my shoulder. I stabbed down with my machete, blood sprayed over my legs.
I rolled forwards under their attacks, my blades plunged deep into their stomachs, covering my chest with even more blood.
The end of the sword cut straight up my chest, an inch deep. It sliced up my neck and face. I felt it cut straight through my eye, and it continued up my forehead.
I sighed and ran a finger along the scar. The gash was at least half an inch deep, and ran all the way from my hairline, right down to the top of my breast. My hand drifted back to my eye, feeling the ridges of the wound. I looked around, I was in the hospital back in the Tower. Half a city from where I was attacked. How did I get back here? And how long was I out for? I sat up slowly, and looked around for an answer to both questions. I was the only person in the wing, Lena wasn't even in the room. There was a calendar hanging in the wall just to my left.
September 16th. Four weeks. I'd been unconscious for a month. So much could have changed since then, so many more people could have been infected. The door opened and Lena walked in, notebook held in her arms. She was obviously not expecting me to be awake because she faltered a step when she saw me looking at her.
"Holy shit A, you shouldn't even be fucking alive right now. That sword cut so close to you heart you couldn't even measure it." She buzzed around, gathering every piece of medical equipment she could find. "You're lucky Valerija brought you back. Gods know what would have happened if she didn't." The name caused me to pause.
"I'm sorry, what did you say her name was?"
"Valerija. You know her?"
"She…" I hadn't heard that name in years. "I thought she was..." There was no way it could be her. "She's my sister." Lena stared at me in disbelief.
"Your… your sister? I thought she..."
"I had two. You know what happened to… to Ilyana." Lena nodded slowly. "A few years before the virus, Val went missing, she just ran away. No note, nothing. She left everything behind. Il and I looked for her for weeks. We found nothing. I'd given up hope. I thought… I thought she was dead! And then this happens? Fuck!" I dropped back onto the pillow. "When did she leave?" Lena raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
"I said, when did she leave?"
"She's still here. She should be up on the roof. It's where she spends all her time now." I started to get up, but Lena shoved me back down. "No you don't, you need to rest. Stay, I'll go and get her." And with that she left. I heard the door lock behind her.
I couldn't believe, in any way, that the girl who saved me was my sister. She had been gone for years, no trace she ever existed. I sighed heavily, how did my life get to this point? The lock on the door clicked. Lena walked in, followed by a girl. The hood on her jumper was up, obscuring her face, but I could clearly see the golden hair beneath. It was too much of a coincidence.
"Here she is A, I'll leave you too alone." It was just me and her. I was silent, I had no idea what to say.
"Thank you." I finally whispered. She nodded her head but didn't say anything. Finally, she broke her silence.
"Why?" I cocked my head to the side.
"What do you mean?"
"Why do you look so much like her? Your eyes, the same green. Hair the same blonde. You even sound the same. Why do you have to remind me of her in every way?"
"What... what are you talking about?" She was silent again for a long time.
"My mother. Why do you have to look like her? Why do you have to remind me that I couldn't save her? Every time I look at you, I see her there, smiling. Why? It's not fair." She let out a choked sob. "Why did she have to be taken from us? I should have been there, I should have known." Her eyes snapped up, a hateful glare on them. "But you! You were there, you could have helped her! Why? Why was it you?" She collapsed onto the bed, crying heavily. I stroked her hair softly, and sang.
"Wandering child of the earth,
Do you know just how much you're worth?
You have walked this path since your birth,
You were destined for more.
There are those who'll tell you you're wrong,
They will try to silence your song,
But right here is where you belong,
So don't search anymore.
You are the dawn of a new day that's waking,
a masterpiece still in the making,
and the blue in an ocean of grey.
You are right where you need to be,
poised to inspire and to succeed,
you'll look back and you'll realize one day.
In your eyes there is doubt,
as you try to figure it out,
but that's not what life is about,
so have faith there's a way.
Though the world may try to define you,
it can't take the light that's inside you.
So don't you dare try to hide,
Let your fears fade away?
You are the dawn of a new day that's waking,
a masterpiece still in the making,
and the blue in an ocean of grey.
You are right where you need to be,
poised to inspire and to succeed,
you'll look back and you'll realize one day.
You are the dawn of a new day that's waking,
a masterpiece still in the making,
and the blue in an ocean of grey.
You are right where you need to be,
poised to inspire and to succeed,
Soon you'll finally find your own way."
By the time I had finished, she was well and truly asleep. My mind was reeling from everything that had happened. Losing my eye, finding my sister. It was too much. I drifted off, my mind full of questions.
It had been two months since my sister came back, two months of getting to know each other again. So much had happened in the years we'd been apart. She told me how Rais' men captured her, how Tahir used her. She swore to kill him when she saw him next. It had been just as hard telling her what happened to Ilyana, as it was telling Rahim. Eventually, we were acting as if she had never run away. We went of short missions together, running supplies between Zere's trailer and the Tower. We got caught out after dark once and ended up getting chased by two Volatiles. We laughed about the rush for days afterwards.
The scar over my eye was healed, it was nothing more than a long, pale line. Running with one eye was as easy as it sounds. It had taken most of the two months to even get used to walking. After almost breaking my legs more times than I could count, I finally got the hang of it, running and climbing with the same ease that I did before.
Rahim and I got closer. We took any chance we could to go back to our rooftop, just sitting next each other's company. We held competitions, who could run to here faster, who could find the shortest route. The rooftop, that we dubbed The Nest, became the host of many late nights. The UV lamps we set up keeping us safe. It was our spot. At the end of November, my score in Go Fish was 28 games. Rahim's was 60. Everything was good.
Then the day came when everything went downhill.
While I was recovering, Brecken had run a mission to the school, apparently Rais had been stockpiling supplies. He came back a day later with a pack full of C4. I'd seen the glint in Rahim's eyes, he was planning something. And I knew from experience that I wouldn't like it. I confronted him about it while we were in The Nest.
"What are you planning to do with those explosives?" He quirked an eyebrow at me.
"What are you talking about?" I put my hands on my hips and glared at him, waiting for him to crack. "Okay, okay. I'm going to take out the nest soon. I know it sounds stupid, but I have to do this, for me, and for my father. He was the one who discovered the nest, and no one even knows it was him." I kept my pose for a few more moments before sighing. I walked overs do sat down in his lap.
"Fine, but you have to take me with you."
"Deal." We sat and watched the sun set together.
I sat in The Nest at midnight, the lamps humming behind me. My sketchbook was propped open on a cinder block. I was halfway through a sketch of Valerija, myself, and Rahim. We were smiling, our arms around each other's shoulders. My headset pinged and I set my pencil down.
"Talk to me."
"Sunflower, it's Rahim. I'm uh… on the overpass and I need your help." My heart stopped. "I went with Omar to blow the Volatile nest but things have gone wrong. I know you said that you had to come, but I just didn't want to see you hurt."
"Fuck Rahim, hide in the train yard, building 4, wait until daytime! Why would you do something so stupid?!"
"I know, I shouldn't have- Omar look out!"
"Rahim! Rahim! Fuck!" I jumped to my feet and ran. I dialled Val.
"Do you have any idea how late it is?"
"Rahim's in danger." I cut her off before she could continue. "Just… just meet me in the lobby of the Tower." I cut the channel before she could argue. I ran through the narrow streets, dodging around Biters and Virals. I could hear the screeches behind me. Not once did I slow down. It was only when I was in the lobby that I stopped running. Valerija was pacing in the centre of the room. She looked up when I cleared my throat.
"Now what the hell do you mean Rahim's in trouble?"
"He went to blow up the Volatiles." Val swore. "He got into trouble on the overpass and we need to help him. I told him to hide in the train yard but I don't know." She paled.
"Shit, shit, shit!" She ran her hands through her hair. "Okay, okay, it's fine. You told him to hide?" I nodded. "Good, that's good. He listens to you, but we need to go, there's no point in wasting time." We ran towards the highway.
Silence. That was the first thing I noticed when we got to the bridge. It was too quiet. The crackle of fire the only sound. Bodies littered the road. There was a sinking feeling that one of them was Rahim. We moved around, looking over every body. Omar was dead, his chest torn open, ribs shattered. None of the other bodies looked like Rahim. I let out a breath.
"He's not here. Maybe he's down in the train yard, that's where you told him to go."
"He… he should be in number 4. That's where I said." She put a hand on my shoulder.
"That's where we'll look first, come on." We dropped down off the highway, rolling with the impact. We ran into the train yard, the silence oppressive. It made me uneasy. It was the middle of the night, there should have been infected everywhere. There wasn't a thing. We moved forward more cautious than before.
Storage 4 loomed, dark and imposing. If Rahim was alive, he was in there. Val and I stopped at the door, sounds of the infected echoed from inside. She pulled her hatchet from her hip.
"Ready?" I pulled my knife from my thigh.
"Ready." I opened the door slowly, the moans grew louder. I crept forward, staying in the shadows. Val shut the door behind us, sealing the building from the outside world. The infected had gathered around one of the cars, and were insistently trying to get inside. My mind went to one conclusion immediately. Rahim. Looking back at Val, I motioned with my knife towards the zombies. She nodded and we moved towards them. The first one went down to my knife through its temple. The second caught my sister's hatchet in its skull. One by one, the infected fell. None the wiser to what had happened. As the last one dropped to the ground, the silence came back, the only sound breathing from inside the carriage. Steeling myself, I grabbed the handle, and wrenched the door open.
"Stay back! Oh shit, it's just you two." Rahim was sat, leaning against the opposite side, a gun held in his hands.
"Rahim!" I pulled myself into the carriage and flew into his arms. "I thought I'd lost you." His chest shifted as he laughed.
"It'll take more than a few biters to keep me down." He glanced over my shoulder. "It's good to see you too Val." She nodded her head at him. I looked up at him, his face was pale, sweat beaded on his face.
"Are you okay?"
"Hm, yeah. I'm okay, just need to rest. Sunflower, you need to finish this for me." He put a bag in my arms. I looked up at him, begging for him to make me stay. "Go, do it. You too Val." She shook her head.
"I'll stay here, keep you company. God knows you need it." He looked ready to argue, but the look on Valerija face said that there was no way she was changing her mind. He turned his head back to me.
"There's a pipe in the back of here, u saw it when I was hiding. It should lead straight to the nest." I moved to get up, but he just pulled me straight back down. "I love you Sunflower, you know that right?"
"Of course I do. Rahim, are you sure you're alright?" I didn't believe him.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Now go, don't disappoint me." With that, he pushed me from the carriage. Val gave me a sad look as she shut the door. I walked around the back of the building to the pipe. Why did they both act like that?
The ground shook as the building crumbled to the earth. The nest was destroyed, there was nowhere for the Volatiles to breed now. Running back through the sewer pipes, I was almost bursting with joy. Rahim was okay, that was the most important thing. As I climbed the ladder up into the storage, the sound of sobbing filled my ears. Rounding the carriage, Val was sat in front of the doors. Something on the inside was trying to get out. She looked up at me, her eyes red from tears. She stumbled to her feet and fell into my arms. The worst was already at the front of my mind.
"Val, where… where's Rahim?" I already knew the answer, I just didn't want it to be right. My heart shattered when she pointed to the carriage.
"No." I couldn't believe it. "No, but… but he was fine. He couldn't… he couldn't have turned. He wasn't bitten." Val shook her head.
"On his leg. I'm… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I collapsed to the ground, dragging Val with me. "He said that… he said that he wanted you to be the one." My heart broke even more. I couldn't. I loved him, I couldn't kill him. There was a part of my brain, the section I usually listened to, that said he was already gone. This time, I chose not to listen to it.
"I… I can't. I can't do it."
"You have to, it's what he wanted. I'll go outside." She picked herself up and walked over to the door, shooting me a sad look as she left. I don't know how long I sat there. How long it took for me to open the carriage, to give Rahim peace. I only know that by the time I left the building, I was no longer the same person as before.
Son of a bitch it's done. This took me so damn long to get out I contemplated giving up a few times. But I'm committed to this now, to stop would be unfair to everyone who reads this, no matter how small that number may be. Anyway, I'll try and get the next chapter out soon after this one, but no promises. I'll still try to get it out in a reasonable time.
Also, it's going to be a little bit shorter than I last thought. Somewhere around 40-50 thousand words instead of the 100k+ I originally said. I always over shoot how much I can write of a story, it's a fatal flaw of mine. I'll try to put some more words in where I can. I might have Ardelis do some side missions or something. I can say however, that I will be doing The Following expansion. It was too good to pass up.
Thank you everyone for reading, see you next time, adieu!