Chapter Seven: Running

Chapter Seven: Running

Nicoli

Anger ran through my veins, a harsh stabbing emotion, boiling like flames in my stomach, a sickening feeling that made me clench my fists and bite my lip. I watched as Evon conversed with his friends. How his demeanor lifted at the sound of their voices. Sally and Victor stood, staring in awe, happily joining in the conversation while I...I stayed alone. Il reietto. I remained on the outside. I was the odd man out. I didn't have a place here. It was just a harsh reminder of how much I did not in fact belong. Evon had made me feel wanted. Vivo. He was one of the few people to show me any kindness in years. It hadn't had a place to live in Victoria's camp. I'd forgotten how good it had felt. I'd forgotten how much I'd craved for it, how it would lighten my mood even if I resisted. But now, now I saw it for what it was. A curse. A weakness. Una palla al piede. A thing to be scorned, not embraced. It only led to more heartache.

I remembered why I distanced myself from others. I never belonged and I never would. Trying to be something I wasn't would be just like a wolf trying on sheeps clothing. Sooner or later the world would find out what it truly was and there would be nothing left for it. For me. Per me. Loneliness was the only option for those who could only kill. Whose only memories were those of death. Humanity had long since escaped me.

I felt my face darken, my expression contorting into one of disgust. I felt sick to my stomach. Who'd I been kidding? Myself? Thinking I could have actually made a friend? It was impossible for me. I'd long since lost the capacity. I was unapproachable. I was better off alone. That way I couldn't be hurt. I only had to deal with my own ghosts, not the ghosts of people that others had thrown on me. 

Alle armi per la morte alla vita eterna.

The com link ended. The glow left behind on Evon's face made my skin crawl. Why could a few simple words from them make him smile? Why couldn't I do that? What was this gut wrenching feeling? I'd never felt anything so strong before. It was almost worse than the need to seek revenge. Was I jealous? Was that where this dirty feeling stemmed from? Why? Why had I fallen so quickly for a stranger? Why did I want this dorky brunette to like me? Why did I want him to be a friend? Was I that desperate for human interaction? My face scrunched further. It couldn't be. That was ridiculous. I didn't need anyone. I didn't need friends or others. I'd done just fine without anyone watching my back for the better part of two years. I didn't need anyone. I could watch out for myself. The emptiness I felt in my heart was a sensation I'd grown to love. To expect. Per amare.

"Come on, let's go." I said, probably a tad more harshly than I'd intended, but it didn't matter, why would it? I turned quickly, my expression slipping. I couldn't control it, and I didn't want them to see. The sooner I got Evon to his camp the faster I could be on my way, finding my own answers. Living in my own hell. Dying in peace.

I walked quickly, down the lightening streets full of debris and dust, crushing fallen shards of glass, watching papers fly by; the cars of old overturned and brutalized; the world around me slowly crumbling away to nothing. A reflection of myself. A physical manifestation of my own internal battles. Every step brought about another fall, a building reduced to oblivion, the ground being eaten away by itself. No two moments looked the same. The earth had become a river, you could never step in the same one twice. I could hear Sally calling for me to slow down, I knew she'd probably try talking to me, but I didn't want to listen; I just wanted to be left alone. What more could she say to me? What more could she do to even try to persuade me? I knew my place, and it wasn't with others.

Less than an hour we'd be there, we'd lay eyes on the camp and my burden would be lifted. I didn't know where I would go next but did it really matter? As long as I got food I wouldn't have to worry about dying, no man made weapon could hurt me, only Adamantium could lessen the power of the virus in my veins and even that only made it so I didn't hear the voices, it left me invulnerable. And that meant I wasn't normal. 

Of course a big question would be: Do I really want to be like everyone else? 

Was it even possible?

I feared that it was too late, that I had fallen too far into darkness, the shadows, the killer. L'assassino. I didn't think I could really fully re-assimilate into a "normal" human society. Not when the memories of my parents were just hazy images and faint touches; secret scents that no one else could replicate. Not when the most prominent memory of my sister was of a flame eyed maniac bent on burning the world to the ground. Razing it to nothing. Distruzione assoluta. Not when all I had left to drive me forward was fear and hate. Fear of what lay ahead of me. Hate for what the world had done to me.

Wind blew in sporadic bursts, forcing my bangs into my eyes. I grimaced and brushed them from my face, mouth set in a thin line, dark brown eyes focused ahead, lost in my own thoughts. I hadn't talked to anyone in the past thirty minutes and no one tried to talk to me, Sally had given up swiftly after it was obvious that nothing she said would get me to open up to her. I only made sure I stayed in their line of sight so they wouldn't get lost.

I glanced up at the overcast sky, the wind growing more and more powerful, wilder, angrier; unpredictable, the temperature dropped dramatically. The clouds darkened, large nimbus's speckled black and gray, swirling around in the heavens, the poor, measly excuse for  light that had been able to filter through slowly finding itself leeched away. Swallowed by the dark. A storm. Una tempesta. How fast the weather could change. One moment full of light the next utterly and completely untouchable.

Just like the human spirit.

Just like me.

Tell me do you fear the night?

I looked at the street, taking in the fork in the road; two routes remained open, the third blocked by a fallen building, overturned and broken, floors and levels stacked haphazardly over one another. I took in the name of the boulevard, its sign hanging lopsidedly on its post, words almost unreadable from rust and weather. I made a  face, the image of the map in my head; it overlapped perfectly with the scene in front of me. Thanks to the fallen skyscraper we couldn't take the most direct route towards the camp, making what would have been just a two and a half mile walk into an almost four. Meraviglioso.

I gazed up at the sky again, it was almost black, then back to the scene in front of me, biting my lip. I shook my head and released my lip from the clutches of my teeth; I needed to stop doing that, it was becoming an unhealthy habit, one that I thought I had gotten rid of years ago but had resurfaced in the past months. I sighed, at least that was the only habit to resurface.

"What are you waiting for?" Sally placed a hand on my shoulder and I jumped. "You've been standing here for almost five minutes."

"Sì, Mi hai spaventato. N-nothing, I-I'm just-" I took a breath and ran a hand down my face. "Just wondering if we should stop or not, storms are dangerous to travel in."

Sally tapped her chin with her finger and glanced up at the sky, murmuring her agreement. "Well..." She began. The first drops began to fall.

I blew a strand of hair from in front of my eyes, feeling the drops fall against my scalp and flesh, a cold touch that threatened to grow more powerful, my face hardening into that unreadable expression that brokered no argument that was always associated with me. "There's our answer." I began to walk away. "Come on."

"R-right." Sally waved Victor over and the four of us made our way down the now wet streets, everything dyed a shade darker, our steps now against black. 

Truly a road to hell.

Strada per l'inferno.

Within seconds the rain was pouring down, lightning streaking through the sky, thunder clapping above with a reverberating crack. Una forza universale. A force so strong I could see glass quiver in its wake. Our backs hunched against the onslaught, our clothing plastered to our skin, my hair welded to my forehead, my eyes squinted against the gusting winds. It felt like we were in a monsoon, a hurricane, a typhoon. My senses were disoriented, my body was freezing, my screams for the others eaten by the air that howled around me, a demon in the sky. 

I couldn't see in front of me, I couldn't see behind me, I could only feel the cold, the sharp ping of water slamming against my flesh, strong as bullets, large drops of agony from the sky. I felt it laugh, thunder reverberating again, a feeling that shook me to my very core, and it tossed  a gust at us, slamming into us from the side, flinging objects in our wake.

Glass tried to cut me, chunks of cement knocked me off balance, the wind taking that opportunity to fling me against a wall. The storm was toying with us, knocking us along like ping pong balls, smiling manically down at us, watching the four ants drown in its play pen. E 'stato il diavolo. I had never felt a stronger hate for nature than in that moment.

"SALLY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I had to find the others, Sally wasn't like me, none of them were, if they got hit by any of those projectiles they'd be pulverized. I had to find them, I had to get us somewhere safe. I could not lose another life entrusted to me. I failed with my sister. I failed with my father, my mother; I wouldn't fail again.

"NICOLI!" I heard her shout, high and frantic, the storm had come on so suddenly, we hadn't had time to prepare. 

"DON'T STOP TALKING!" I screamed back. I had to find her, I had to find her before the storm swallowed her whole. I had to find her and not let go. I had to find her and take her somewhere safe, I wouldn't live through the guilt of yet another innocent life stained on my bloody fingers.

I looked around blindly, searching for her form, her words hadn't lasted long enough for me to get an idea of where they came from. Above? Below? Left? Right? Beside me? In front? Behind? The wind only grew stronger, any figure that I might have been able to make out was now obscured beyond recognition.

"SALLY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" My head whipped left, then right, I didn't trust my eyes, I had to rely on my ears. I felt blind, and it was scary.

"OVER HERE!" My face turned towards the sound of her voice; so fast that if I was still normal I'd have gotten whiplash.

I took a step forward in the direction of her voice. "IS VICTOR WITH YOU?!"

A pause. "YEAH! HE'S BLOCKING EVON AND ME FROM THE WORSE OF THE STUFF FLYING AROUND."

"Merda!" I took another few steps, back hunched against the wind, I felt glass cut into my jeans, rocks slam into my sides but I kept walking towards the sound of Sally's voice. "IS HE OKAY?"

Another pause. This one longer, I began to panic. "I'm fine ya' peepsqueak! I can handle a few lil' rocks kid!" Victor's deep bass voice called out to me, almost drowned out by the call of thunder from above; I let out a sigh of relief. If he could talk he couldn't be in too bad shape. I risked a confident breath.

Their voices were getting louder. Almost there. Almost there. Almost there. I could feel my chest tightening in anticipation and my breathing picked up. I reached out with my hands, fingers clammy and wet, pale as ivory, reaching out, hoping to grab onto flesh, onto something solid. I was close. I was close. I was close. I was close. I know I was close. My fingers trembled. I chewed on my lip frantically, with abandon, I didn't care about habits right now. I just had to find them. I could feel my nerves frying. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come o-

A pair of slender arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me against their chest. I cried out and elbowed the figure in the gut; I heard the air rush from their lungs with a slight whumph, and their grip loosened.

"Nicoli!" I turned. "God d****t! It's just me, Sally! Calm down!"

I stopped struggling. "Oh dio! Sorry. Reflex."

She scoffed and rubbed her stomach. "Some reflex, damn you got an arm on you."

I shrugged and she sighed. "Come on, Victor knocked a door down for us, we're all drying off now."

I nodded and let her drag me back the way she came. I noticed she had a piece of rope wrapped around her waist, one she was now reeling in and following. Clever. Il mito del labirinto. The wisdom of the Greeks saved the day again.

Sally pulled me into the building and finally let me go, slamming the door up against the frame, pushing some old desks and cabinets against it to keep it locked in place. The building must have been an office of some sort at one time or another. Light flickered in the distance and Sally took my hand, leading me towards it. Voices drifted from the room as we approached, laughter, robust and full.

"-and then, well, she screamed and slapped me across da' face, Bam! I dun' think I'd ever been more embarrassed in mah life. Girl can take care o' herself." More laughter traveled towards my ears, though now that I was closer I could hear the faint wheeze and cough behind it. 

Sally and I rounded the corner and stood in the door frame. Sally cleared her throat. "Good to see you two getting along." I was almost sure she was being sarcastic but if she was it was just barely. "Anyway I found the bloody kid, the b******s got himself an arm."

"I said I was sorry," I mumbled, pulling my hair in front of my eyes and covering the worse of my blush.

"What happened?" Victor asked, I could feel the threat laying just underneath those words.

Sally shrugged. "He thought I was some crazy stalker and elbowed me in the gut." Victor opened his mouth to say something but Sally put up a hand cutting him off. "I'm fine big guy, remember? 'Girl can take care o' herself''" The tall man mumbled something and shot me a look but said nothing else. "Well then, time to get cozy." She turned her attention to me, her hair plastered against her head just like all of ours. "Nicoli. Strip."

My jaw dropped. "W-what?"

Sally began pulling her shirt over her head. "We all need to dry ourselves off and it's not like we have a change of clothes." The shirt fell to the floor and she began unclipping her bra. "So we decided to just go nude, not like anything is gonna happen in here."

I averted my gaze. "What are you doing!"

"Nicky, Nicky, Nicky, there's nothing to be ashamed of. If anyone should be embarrased it should be me, it's not like I have a wanker."

"She's right ya' know. Ya' gonna catch a cold in those wet clothes o' yours." I shot Victor a glare but quickly looked away, I felt my blush deepen. They. Were. All. Naked.

"Oh god." I groaned, running a hand down my face, "I'm not stripping, I'm not gonna catch a cold, aren't you worried about any of them staring?" I tossed her a quick look out of the corner of my eye, she was just in her panties now, I guess she was going to keep those on at least. 

"No." She shrugged and grinned. "You aren't interested, Evon's pretty out of it thanks to that fever, and well...Victor...he can stare all he wants." She walked over to me and placed her hands on my shoulders; I could feel her breast press against my back. My back stiffened and I grew if possible even redder. "Now then..." Her hold tightened. "TIME TO GET YOU OUT OF THOSE CLOTHES!" 

She yanked my jacket off and I growled pulling it back up before turning to glare at her. "Sally! Stop it! I told you I'm not going to str-" My words caught in my throat and I felt my eyes widen, drawn to the flickering in the center of the room. I finally saw what was giving us light. Hell's ambassador. The devil's friend. My greatest fear.

Fire.

Sally stopped, her smile dropping and she lifted my face. "Hey, Nicky, are you okay? What's wrong?"

I gulped. "Fire." I whispered. Her brow scrunched with worry and I felt my knees giving out.

Fire.

Oh god fire.

My eyes were locked on the flickering light. Red. Orange. Yellow. White. Repeat. Fire. Flames. Unpredictable, uncontrollable, just like my sister had been. I stared into it. I heard her laugh. I saw her eyes. The flickering. The evil glee. The last moments. I felt sick. I felt a low moan reach my lips. The ground had somehow come up to catch me. Shivering. I shook. Air wasn't flowing properly into my lungs.

Fire.

  Not again. Not again. Not again.

It grew brighter. It grew bigger. I closed my eyes. It wasn't real. Make it go away. Make it go away. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It didn't matter though. It followed. I felt its heat. Its scorching touch. It wanted me. It wanted to devour me. It wanted to eat me. It didn't care that I hated it. It was evil. No. No. No. No. No. Clammy hands. Pale flesh. Trembling lips. Whimpers of fear. I pushed myself against the wall.

The heat follwed. The laughing grew louder. I felt its touch. I screamed.

Fire.

Bodies flew through the air, landing with bone shattering thumps. Mangled limbs, broken off and twisted, some burned, others ripped, blood arching in the sky, painting the ground crimson. Fire erupted in sporadic bursts everywhere. A manic laughter filled the sky as screams, young and old, masculine and feminine, were wrenched from their victims mouths. A lone figure stood amongst the chaos, drinking in the pain and suffering of those around her. Conducting the hell storm she had created, a sadistic symphony of human bodies.

A young boy sat in the corner crying, covering his ears, a dagger laying in his lap and squeezing his eyes shut. He didn't understand why this was happening. One moment his sister was smiling happily, the next they were being attacked and she had become...become a monster. 

Nicoli pulled farther into himself, wincing as the high psychotic wailing his sister now called a laugh pierced through his ears. He cried harder, scared for the ones that attacked them thinking they could get food, scared for what had happened to his sister, and scared for his own safety. What if his sister turned on him next?

She wouldn't do that would she?

She promised she would always look out for him.

He was only twelve, he wasn't ready to be all on his own yet.

Suddenly, Nicoli's dagger fell off his lap, clattering to the floor, sliding about a yard away. Nicoli gasped and opened his eyes crawling forward to retrieve the object. It was a gift. It was a weapon. It was the only thing that let him remember his sister's smile. He felt safe when he held it. Protected.

The young Italian grabbed the blade and held it close to his chest, instantly feeling better. Calmer. Slipping it back in its sheath he began making his way back to where he'd been hiding,behind a pile of barrels. But that's when it happened.

Fire erupted around him.

It all happened in the span of a few seconds. He felt the heat first, the molten feeling of being burned alive. His arm hair singed off, his flesh began to dry out and crack. For a moment he didn't know what was happening. The pain had come on so suddenly, he didn't know what to make of it. But then the fire came. The inferno engulfed him in a sudden whoosh. His body screamed in agony. His mouth echoed the feeling. No. No. No he was dying? His sister was hurting him? It couldn't be happening.

"ANGIE!" He screamed.

Fire engulfed his throat.

I gasped, clawing at my neck, breathing ragged, trying in vain to put out the fire I felt burning inside of me and shot off the bed, my arms propping me up against the cold hard mattress. My mouth was dry and my body shook, sweat pooling off my body in a steady flow. Oh dio. Oh god. I could still feel the flames. I could feel its horrible touch, the way it grated down my throat, burning me. 

I could still see it. I could still smell it. The taste of smoke, the acrid stench, choking me, filling my lungs with black; the scent of human flesh roasting. I winced as something sharp jabbed at my elbows and I looked down, moving a rock from underneath me. My brow scrunched in confusion. Not a bed... Then... The ground? What? I looked at the source of warmth. Not blankets.  Dried clothes, jackets and shirts and pants, all piled on top of me. What was going on? My world was spinning, and I tried to get up only then realizing that I was naked, and thanks to that cold. That's why everything felt rougher. Someone had taken off my clothes. But who? And where was I?

I groaned and rested my head in the palm of my hand. Who was I? Nicoli Dolore. What was my purpose? To survive. To find my sister. To right the wrongs I'd committed. Where was I going? To Julius's camp. Why? Because...Evon, a member of that camp, got ill while following me. Where was I? I looked up. I didn't have an answer for that. I couldn't remember. I made a face. That wasn't good. Whatever happened was blocked from my memory. A large space just blank. Empty. The last thing I remembered was elbowing Sally in the gut. 

Good. That was good. I still remembered her at least. And Victor. So whatever happened was fairly recent.

I looked around me. I couldn't hear the storm anymore and pale gray light filtered through cracks in the workings of the building; it was over. I let out a sigh of relief, that meant we could be on our way soon. I felt my eyebrows move together in confusion. But what had happened to make me black out?

I took in my surroundings, Evon sat with his back turned to me, tan shoulders sagging with an invisible weight, his brown hair just touching below the nape of his neck. I gulped, eyes roaming lower, taking in his exposed back, tone and muscular, strong even with the signs of fatigue he wore from sickness. I realized I hadn't really seen what he looked like until now, if he turned then I could see his face...

I shook my head and looked away, cheeks turning a slight red. What was I doing? Staring at someone's naked body. Their butt? I licked my lips and turned away. Davvero? I was not that guy. I wasn't that hormonal teen who oogled and drooled the moment a naked body was put in front of me. No. That wasn't me. Smettila.

I cleared my throat. "Where're my clothes?" My voice came out raspy and raw, as if I had been inhaling smoke. I shivered.

The others turned, Evon first, who wore an amiable grin on his face. I wouldn't meet his eyes, did he know that I was staring? "Over...here...by...the...uh...well..." He paused and looked at Victor and Sally for support, they all exchanged a glance. Something was up. Something happened, that they didn't want to tell me.

"By the what?" I asked darkly.

Sally cleared her throat and rolled her eyes when she noticed neither of the men would answer. "The fire." My eyes closed in on the pile of ash that lay next to my now dry clothes. I felt my throat constricting just at the thought of the flames. I gripped the edges of the jackets around me hand, balling them in my hands, trying to stop my shaking, I didn't want them to see me like this. So that's what happened. They started a fire. That's what made me black out. "Don't you remember?" Sally asked.

I shook my head slowly. "No." I rasped out. "It's not something I try to."

Sally gave me a questioning stare, but decided against whatever she was going to ask. Probably: Why? 

I'm glad she didn't.

I couldn't tell that story right now.

"Pass me my clothes," I called over to them, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group.

Evon reached them first. "Here..." He chucked them at me. "Pass....me...mine..."

I nodded and quickly threw him his giant onesie, tossing my shirt over my head. Hopefully he didn't notice the rouge on my cheeks. Hopefully I put my shirt of fast enough, of course, though, that would be wishful thinking, blush showed on me like blood. I just hoped no one would comment.

"Oh, pass me mine." Sally called next.

"An' mine." Victor echoed.

I made a face and obliged, handling Sally's bra with care. Why was she out of that anyway? Did I even want to know? Probably not.

We all commenced dressing, everyone unconsciously agreeing to turn around and give each other some semblance of privacy even though there were no dividers, I guess everyone knew I was uncomfortable with my body. Probably came up before I blacked out.

"How long was I out?" I asked, slipping into my jacket. I pouted, my poor jacket was in tatters, that storm had done a number on it and Victor's bullet holes had only gotten bigger. I sighed, I'd have to get rid of it. I'd really liked that jacket.

"Just a few," Victor said, "Long 'nough for da' storm ta' pass."

"We...just...finished...using...the last...of your masks...battery life...so mine could re...charge..." Evon put in.

I nodded. "Okay." I turned, everyone was just about done, I strapped my gun and blade to myself. There. "Let's go."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

We stood at the top of a large building, one that, thanks to the Earth, had now been shifted to stand below us, forming a valley that dipped down into the ground, the bowels of our planet. I wet my lips in anticipation, we were almost there. I could see it now, we were at the threshold to the camp, all we had to do was scale down this building and we'd be there, our quest would be done, Evon would be saved. I'd be rid of him.

I glanced in the direction of the boy, almost an hour had passed and he was looking worse than ever, we hadn't run into his friends, but that was understandable, they'd have had to get out of the storm too. I glanced down at the surrounding area; how'd a car even get out to start with? It didn't seem possible, I didn't see a road that upwards anywhere. 

I sighed, it was time for action, it was time to stop debating. I looked at the roof in front of me, it sloped inwards itself, dropping onto the following floor. The building was only about four or five stories tall, in various stages of disrepair, and probably our best bet to getting down into the valley in one piece.

"Come on." I said, gesturing for the others to follow.

The sound of footsteps followed me and delicately I slid down through the opening. We were lucky, their wasn't much a drop, most of the roof had caved into a slide to the floor. I glanced behind me, watching as the others followed.

"Here," Sally said, handing me a small LED pocket flashlight. It was the most advanced thing we had that we could use. A little outdated by almost two hundred years, but still proficient. I don't know how she got them.

"Thanks," I grumbled, flipping it on and scouring the area around me. "Try and find the stairs."

"Ovah' here!" Victor called a few moments later.

Sally and I turned towards the sound of his voice and the two of us pried the door open. A strange tingling began to fill my gut, almost like an invisible rope tugging me forward. It felt almost like... But no. That couldn't be. I shook my head, I must've been going crazy. I flashed my light down the staircase, they looked sturdy enough, a few were cracked or missing, but luckily they were cement and would still hold, other than that it was just dusty. It looked safe enough.

I started walking down.

The pulling only got stronger the lower we went. It started as a faint tug, but slowly it grew into something stronger, more of a yank than a pull, a weird buzzing started in my head too, like static, like voices I could hear, but were just barely out of focus, like on an old radio. What was going on with me? I stumbled as a particularly viscous pull yanked me forward and made a face, tilting my head slightly like that would clear the static in my head.

"Are you okay?" Sally asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Fine." I grunted out and kept walking, brushing her hand to the side; I heard her sigh.

We were almost down, we'd just passed the second floor marker when we heard them. The first of the Animate.

We all froze.

It was a light shuffling at first, the Animate never made noise, never groaned, or moaned in pain even if they wanted to, the only thing you could use to identify them was the sound of their shuffling; a sound like sandpaper against wood. The sound of their walking.

I felt my stomach hit the floor. "Run," I whispered, dread creeping up inside of me, the pull was getting stronger along with the noise. I shouldn't have ignored it. I shouldv'e known what that feeling meant, it never accompanied something good. Ero messaggero del diavolo. Of course hell would follow.

"What-" Sally began.

"Run!" I shouted. "Animate." I whispered.

Sally's eyes widened and she nodded, yanking Victor with her. I only had to hope they were regulated to this floor. The first of the Animate appeared and I yanked out my gun, quickly firing two rounds into their lifeless skulls. Corpses of rotting flesh and decaying limbs, some with chunks of skin missing revealing maggot infested insides. It was enough to make the weak at heart sick. But I didn't have time to think about that. I just had to get rid of them.

 

Another wave appeared in front of me and I leashed out another round of bullets, all of them hitting where I wanted them to, my marksmanship made perfect with time and practice. I had to hold them off, they couldn't hurt me, but if they got past me the others would be in trouble.

Sally screamed.

Merda!

I shot another few animate, head, knee, heart, neck, and ran down the stairs two at a time, not looking back, hearing the shuffling behind me. This wasn't good, the pull was getting even stronger, I felt it tugging from everywhere. We were surrounded.

"Sally!" I called and shot one trying to bite her in the head.

Sally screamed as blood splattered against her skin and she fell on her bottom, scooting away as fast as possible. She wasn't used to this kind of violence. 

I took in the room, it was full of Animate, I let loose the last of my bullets and dropped my gun, switching to my knife. I heard the Animate behind me, I saw the ones in front of me, all of them moving closer, closer. I glanced at my companions, Sally sobbing, Victor looking grim, Evon looking almost dead.

You can save them. The static lifted. I ignored the voice.

You know what you have to do. The voice said.

Shut up. I screamed in my head. I didn't need this, not right now, not when I needed my focus the most.

Give in. You know you have to. It's the only way.

No.

Yes.

NO!

Yes.

I gritted my teeth. Raze it, the voice whispered. RAZE IT!

I gasped and felt my knife clatter to the floor. I let out a choked sob. My body was burning. My blood was on fire. Oh god. The pain. I fell to the floor. My vision started blurring.

Raze it.

I lifted a hand. The Animate stopped in their tracks.

Raze it.

I spun it around so my palm faced the air. My body screamed in protest, I felt the Adamantium fighting against me. Fighting against the virus.

Raze it!

I squeezed.

I Animates bodies jerked, inhumanly, limbs cracking off suddenly, spines stiffening, bodies frozen in place by an invisible force, they screamed. A sound left their mouths, a horrible wailing inhuman thing. I tightened my hold, my vision started bleeding red.

RAZE IT!

"R-run." I growled out, covering half my face, refusing to look my companions in the eye. I felt a pulse running through me, unifying me with the Animate. The beat of my heart echoed around the room.

RAZE IT!

"RUN!"

A truck screeched into the building. Screaming ensued. Sally ran. Victor followed. Something went off. An explosion maybe. I felt my connection snap, the Adamantium won. I felt my body slip away.

Raze it.

Everything went black.

Author's Note

DUN DUN DUN DUN cliffhange lol

Reviews

[Writer #00]

Finished, VICTORY!!

Nicky, you're such a happy camper. I'm sure you'll get along with the other children if you just opened up and told them about your disturbing emotionally-scarring past, pyrophobia, and necromancy (one of my characters is a Necromancer...he's not quite so dramatic).

Blood arced through the air, really? You're such an オタク.

Welcome, Sally, to AWOTD (Apocalyptic World of the Dead). Seriously, though, that scene when Animate blood splattered her face...I couldn't help but imagine her in a Japanese High School uniform.

Nice chapter, revealed a lot about the enigmatic Nicoli, but not so much that the readers get an information overload. I love Nico's thoughts!! Well done.

x _ x/100

[Tsukin Archangel]

lol well hey u do know if something goes flying at a high speed at a squishy something, with enough force to blast that it'll make some of the squishy fly right? And lol CONGRATS ON FINSHING PT 1 lol, yesh u find out alot about Nicoli, but yeah NICKY CAN'T SHOW HIS FEELINGS LIKE THAT he's too emotionally scarred atm

[Writer #00]

Wait, what? Are you talking about the arcing blood?
I don't know what atm means...well, I do but I doubt your trying to say:

he's too emotionally scarred automatied teller machines...

[Tsukin Archangel]

atm= at the moment and yes le blood lol

[Writer #00]

automated teller...not automatied. Typo.

[Writer #00]

And bloods not squishy...unless you have high fat content. I don't think Sally does, but looks can be deceiving.

[Tsukin Archangel]

lol I'm talking about the PERSON is a squishy flesh container, and blood will splurt out of it...do I need to give any more dtaol?

[Writer #00]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! haha! 私はバカです。

[Tsukin Archangel]

hai sou desu.

[Anthony Q Armstrong]

I hate cliff hangers :p at least there is a next chapter button. im so into this right now, im done reviewing for this chapter, time to go on to the next to see what happens :)

[Tsukin Archangel]

LOL!!! Sheesh thou art on a roll lol gotta get that 11 chapter don lol i'm so bad i've done like....a page of it. And psssh that cliffhanger is totes necessary >;3

[Anthony Q Armstrong]

lol, well get that next chapter done :) i wont get to it til tomorrow probably, but still :p

[Tsukin Archangel]

lol ok that's good I can totes do this >:3