Razor Longshot has survived an epidemic which has wiped more than 90% of the human population. Razor has managed to retain his sanity with a My Little Pony plush named Affinity. But he knows she's more than a plush, and maybe his salvation.
They're coming Razor, run, hide, don't lose hope, never lose hope... I'm here, never lose hope. The portal is in Alaska, get there before you turn, you'll be safe there. Get there, and we'll be together.
"Budding flower full of love, against the decay which assaults it daily,"
She saw him running, sprinting hard to reach her, to avoid them.
"What is a flower without its soil, Affinity? All hope for it is gone, everything it bloomed for worthless,"
Fatigue was enveloping him, he was slowing, and they were gaining.
"Ahh, but you have soil, don't you, Affinity, you need water, well then, rise... rise, and smell the blood you drink, his blood that sustains you,"
He could run no more, and collapsed, devoured alive by them. She could only watch and scream, scream for the world to hear, "NOOOOOOO!!!"
She gasped aloud, awakened from her nightmare. This startled the human she was next to, causing him to roll over and check on her.
"What's wrong?" he asked groggily, "you alright, Affinity?"
The pony called Affinity had a very light yellow fur coat, with a flowing mane radiating a deep red, and a cutie mark of a seemingly endless void of white light.
"Yeah, just... just another nightmare," she said.
"Oh?" the human said, rising out of the bed, "Same one?"
Affinity didn't look at him, "Yeah, same one,"
The human sighed, having walked over and taken a Dr. Pepper from a mini fridge nearby and opening it up, "Affinity, I'm right here, I'll always be right here, they have no way of getting in here," he sipped the soda appreciatively.
"I know, it's just-"
"Affinity," the human said, now holding up her chin, "there's no way of me dying any time soon,"
Affinity sighed, "Can you get me one?"
"What? Dr. Pepper?"
"Yeah,"
"Uh, no, we're out,"
"Any Sprite?"
"Nope,"
"Pepsi?"
"Nope, this is the last one, for... forever," he said, pointing at his can of soda.
"W-What? Razor, couldn't you go out to search for food?" Affinity gasped.
"I've already picked the place dry, there's nothing left,"
"Then we'll have to go farther,"
Razor walked around for a bit, pondering the idea.
"Affinity, we'll be so far from home, any supplies we find probably won't be enough to actually extend life in the bunker, we might as well just pack up and leave,"
Affinity's mouth hung agape, unsure what to say. Razor, seeing little else to do, continued drinking the soda, and taking from his dwindling supplies.
"If there's anyplace else we could go, we'll go, but first we need to find that place," Razor said.
"U-Uh, Razor, I... I don't know, where could we go?" Affinity stuttered.
Razor went to her side and knelt by her, setting down his drink and caressing her face, "It'll be okay, there's probably someplace I missed, a basement or nearby abandoned supermarket," he kissed her forehead gently.
"Razor, you said you picked the place dry,"
"Yeah, but I also said I would always hate My Little Pony,"
Affinity chuckled slightly, "You were eight years old, Razor, you're much smarter today than you were-"
Razor clamped her mouth, listening intently. Affinity was used to this, and she began to listen too.
Euuurrraaaaagghhh! Ough, ough, ough!
"Hear that?" Razor asked, "shamblers, faceless bastards waiting for a bullet to the skull,"
Affinity used her hoof to push Razor's hand off her muzzle, "Razor, be careful, how much ammo do you have?"
Razor quietly laughed, "The real question, is which gun do I use," he ambled to a stack of crates, covered with a old dusty blanket. He pulled the blanket off to reveal an M4 custom with numerous attachments beneath it. He seized the weapon, aiming down the reflex sight, checking the masterkey, fumbling with the flashlight, and testing the laser pointer.
"Perfect," he whispered.
"Razor, please," Affinity squeaked.
Razor approached a flight of stairs, hidden around the corner of where his bed was, and peaked up it cautiously. He felt a hoof tap on his shoulder, and was being promptly offered a surgical mask to wear. Accepting it, he pulled it over his face and began to creep upstairs. He could hear very heavy breathing of a nightmarish monster. He continued up to see an old iron door, rusted slightly from age. He checked the hinges, still untouched by age, then slowly pushed the door open. Like a phantom, he slipped out, finding a thin, yet ghastly looking entity feasting on some rotting flesh. Razor was totally silent, hidden from the predator in front of him. He made a silent grunt of discontent, finding no reason to waste valuable ammo on a single one. He slipped a knife out of his pocket and crept up on the beast. He got right up onto it, hovering inches from it's body, not daring to breathe. Holding the knife in both hands, he plunged it inside the creature's skull with a single breath. He caught the body, a lump of decaying brown flesh with red veins distinguishable throughout it's body.
"There's worse in the darkness than you," Razor whispered.
He yanked the knife from it's head, letting liquid crimson leak all over the floor of an abandoned hallway. With his work finished, he retreated silently back into his bunker. He closed the rusting door and placed a heavy latch on it, ensuring his security from future invaders. Upon entering his living space, Affinity rushed to him, nearly tackling him in a sudden embrace.
"Razor! Are you hurt? What happened? Is everything going to be okay?" she rambled.
"Affinity, I'm fine, I'm not as rusty as that door over there," Razor said.
The two continued to embrace each other, a tender, soothing moment for the two. Razor was trying to relax her, stroking her mane comfortingly, and continuously reassuring her that he was fine was his best tactic.
It took some time, but Razor eventually got the touchy mare off of him.
"Razor," she said quietly.
The human, nearing his bed, turned to face the pony.
"We can't live like this, you can't live like this, we need to do something,"
Razor took a long breath, "There's nothing to do about it," he said, "we might as well go to sleep, too much excitement for one day,"
"No,"
Razor turned, surprised by her sudden outburst.
"What do you want me to do?" Razor asked.
Affinity took some deep breaths, then said, "There has to be someplace we can go, someplace untouched by these monsters,"
Razor raised an eyebrow. The odds of success with such a trip are near zero, he reasoned, and then shook his head at the idea.
"Razor, please," Affinity said, "have hope, never lose hope,"
Razor's expression immediately softened, remembering the thing Affinity was born for, spreading hope. Razor checked his smartphone, a fat Android phone-tablet, then checked his other smartphone, a comparatively small iPhone 5c.
"We'll move by night, but we've already wasted too much time tonight, we'll try tomorrow night, get the bags packed ahead of time for that, cause when we leave, we're not coming back," Razor said.
A smile spread across Affinity's muzzle, a smile of newborn hope, "That's my Razor, got a plan yet?"
"Let me sleep on it first, Ms. Anxiety,"
Affinity, still smiling, nodded to the human. She knew from there, they were in for a long adventure.
Affinity awoke that next day hoping to feel her beloved Razor beside her. Eyes still closed, she moved her head forward, intending to nuzzle into Razor's neck. She found nothing. Confused, she began feeling around the bed for him. Finally she opened her eyes and lifted her head from the covers. There stood Razor, geared and ready.
"Glad to see you're up, Sleeping Beauty," He said.
Affinity rubbed the sleep from her eyes, gazing at the battle ready Razor before her. He was dressed in a buttoned white shirt and khakis, with the pockets stuffed full of batteries, fire crackers, and granola. All around it were straps holding knives to be held and thrown. Over his buttoned shirt was a big military vest, holding magazines of ammunition, supplies, more knives, and even smoke grenades. On top of it all he wore a long black trench coat, stuffed full of munitions, fire crackers, molotovs, and even an mp5k could be seen hidden there.
"You never told me you had all this," Affinity said timidly.
"Uh-huh, well, that's not all, I got two saddlebags filled to the brim with supplies for you," Razor said, pointing at two bags, connected by a thick, wide strap with canteens, first-aid kits, and extra smaller bags hooked onto the outside.
Affinity was dumbstruck, "What is this? The Great Migration?" she asked sarcastically.
"Uh, yeah actually, I said we weren't coming back, and it's already late in the evening," Razor quickly held up a hand to stop Affinity's sudden outburst, "yes, you did sleep that long, and good thing too, we've got some ground to cover, gotta get out of town and into the forest,"
Razor reached down to grab several larger weapons, such things included a Saiga 12 shotgun, DSR-1, and a mighty M82A2 Rifle. He strapped the shotgun and M82 to his back, while he fitted the DSR-1 to a backpack to be worn over the two guns.
"What's in the backpack?" Affinity asked.
"C-4, an AA-12, ammo, a crossbow, some frag grenades, food, blankets, lighters, flashlights, batteries, that sorta thing," Razor replied.
"Where did you get all this? You said you had been in a gun fight before, but you never gave me details," Affinity said.
"Uh, what?" Razor said nervously, "this is just something I... inherited, my dad was a soldier,"
"You said he worked at Costco,"
"That was after he retired from the military," Razor claimed, continuing to fidget with the backpack.
Affinity stepped up, pressing a hoof on the backpack, and getting Razor's attention.
"No more secrets Razor," she said, "I want to know,"
Razor looked at her with question, "Now's not the time to tell, Affinity," he said, finishing up with the backpack and grabbing an assortment of handguns.
"Were you a crime lord?" Affinity asked.
"What the hell makes you think that?"
"I found a hidden stash of drugs five months ago, in a crate labeled to go to North Korea,"
"I told you five months ago, I don't know where they came from,"
"Razor, how long have you kept this a secret?"
"Stop, this is going too far,"
"Razor, tell me!"
"IT IS OVER, AFFINITY!"
She backed up in fear, having never seen such an outrage from Razor.
"I was a hit man," Razor confessed, "I was with a mafia, quickly rose in the ranks, then I made a fortune selling drugs and weapons to other countries, retired early, kept a few for myself, and now here we are. Happy?"
Affinity was aghast, so many things were happening all at once for her, they were low on food, they've decided to relocate, and now Razor was revealing his dark past to her.
"Razor," she whispered, "why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Razor turned around, an eyebrow raised at her, "What? You afraid of me now?" Razor asked venomously.
Affinity approached him and hugged him.
"Never, I love you too much," she whispered in his ear.
Razor was shocked, not only at the response but his own actions toward her. He hugged her tightly, despite the bulky gear protecting his body.
"I'm sorry," he said, "I shouldn't have blown up on you like that,"
"I'm sorry too," Affinity said, "I shouldn't have pressured you, and I know that if you're the Razor I know, you regret every wrong choice you made, and I forgive you for them,"
Razor caught a glimpse of a digital clock on his bedside table. It was nearing 8:45, and he intended on leaving by 9:00 to stay in the shadows for as long as possible.
"We've got to get ready, it's almost time," Razor said.
Affinity took the saddle bags and placed them on her back, which she found to be surprisingly light for her. Razor slipped on a surgical mask then an Aiden Pearce scarf over that. On his head he gently placed his favorite fedora, which had an extra magazine for his operator hidden inside.
"I'm ready, you?" Affinity asked.
"Yeah, just need to put a couple more things on the saddlebags," Razor replied.
Razor dug out an M60E4 and tied it to one of the saddlebags, then he took an RPG-7 and strapped it to the other saddlebag.
"Too heavy?" Razor asked.
"Far from, I've dragged clouds filled with heavy rain ready to pour over long hauls, Razor," Affinity bragged.
"Good, if that's all, let's go," Razor said.
Razor grabbed his M4 and lead Affinity up the stairs to the outside world. The two were silent in their ascent, careful not to attract any monsters that lurked above. Razor pushed the rusting door open and stepped outside, scanning the dark hallway carefully. When he was sure they were alone, he gestured for Affinity to come, who thankfully had her hooves silenced by special horse shoes wrapped in cloth. They stalked through the dark hallway until they met another stairwell, this time carpeted and adorning finer, yet long ruined decor around it. Upon reaching the top, they saw the remains of a huge, high-ceiling house, nearly torn to shreds.
"So this is what's left of our home," Affinity said.
"Yeah," Razor said, who stood soaking in the amount of damage done to his old home.
"Razor, I'm sorry, I'm sorry about this, I know you loved your home," Affinity said.
"I got this home with the blood of people I killed, some of which were innocent... I guess this was bound to happen," Razor said, "let's keep going, we've only just gotten out of the bunker,"
"Where are we going?" Affinity asked.
"We need to get into the forests, but until then, we should probably try and find someplace closer, a basement or, if we're lucky, a resistance camp," Razor answered.
"There's a resistance?"
"Yeah, a coalition of survivors using gear obtained from the government, supply drops, militia help, or just straight up soldiers who hand deliver the stuff,"
"If we have these, why is the outbreak so bad?"
"Well, you've got 500,000 people on Earth fighting for survival, against six point five billion infected, not very promising odds,"
"Okay, so stepping out here was probably a bad idea,"
"No turning back now, Affinity,"
Razor led the way everywhere, with Affinity following close behind, with either wing or hoof. They were moving towards a crushed wall to the left of their exit in the home. Razor ran to it, stepping very quietly and, having tied his gear very tight to his body, made no sound at all when moving.
Uuuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhhh!
Razor pinned himself to what remained of the wall, watching another thin, faceless figure mindlessly shamble across.
"Damn, another one of these?" Razor whispered, "Let's keep him quiet, for good,"
Razor slipped from his hiding spot, his knife once again out and ready. He stalked closer, before grabbing it by the head and stabbing its throat, expertly clipping the vocal cords in the process.
He caught the body and gently laid it down, making the kill utterly silent, a skill Razor had seasoned and honed over his years. He checked what lay beyond, a deep fog that made it difficult to make anything out. Razor took his Backpack and rummaged through it, finally pulling out a military tactical compound bow. He fixed a makeshift arrow to it, a simple stick carved out for the bow and sharpened at one end, and stood waiting. After a futile attempt to make out what was in the fog, he began rummaging again, and found infrared goggles. Placing them over his eyes, Razor saw the fog light up with several figures of humanoid creatures, some thin, others morbidly large and grotesque. Razor found one point of interest, blocked by a thin, shambling imbecile. He drew back the arrow and caught the beast through the skull, downing it as quietly as the last.
"Man, I forgot how stupid shamblers are," Razor muttered.
He slipped through the fog, across the gang of undead nightmares, and into the point of interest, a window to a basement Razor hadn't noticed before. He remembered the house, he plundered it several times, but always found the basement unaccessible, until now.He threw his entire backpack in, grabbed a fire cracker and lighter, then lit the fire cracker. With the bomb ready to blow, he threw it opposite his location, sending the monsters into a frenzy as soon as the pop became audible. The entire mob rushed over there, anxious to find what had made the noise. With the creatures distracted, he gestured Affinity to follow him into the small basement window, which she slipped through effortlessly. Razor shut the window and began to tour the basement.
"Razor, we hardly made it four feet from the bunker," Affinity whined.
"Yeah, so?"
Razor lit a flood lamp he fished from his backpack and looked at his surroundings. The walls were covered with shelves, and the shelves were chalk full of medical supplies and food.
"Ho, ho, jackpot!" Razor laughed.
Affinity, thoroughly impressed, said, "Okay, I'll give ya this one, well done,"
"God, please don't hurt us,"
"What was that, Razor?" Affinity asked.
Razor looked at her with confusion, "I... didn't say anything,"
"Then... what was that?" Affinity asked, panic beginning to strike her.
"I thought it was you," Razor said.
"God help us, please,"
Razor turned his head in alarm, and unhooked the M4 strapped on top of his vest. Fingering the masterkey, he looked around the corners of the room, finally crossing a set of shelves which split the room into two sections. He inched forward, then peeked around quickly, aiming his barrel at two young children cowering on a dirty mattress.
"Who're you? Where're your parents?" Razor asked.
"My dad got sick, so my mom started to look after him in a separate room, y'know, to contain the disease, she locked the door and I haven't heard since," the older one said.
Razor looked at the younger one, trembling in fear, "What? You too pant-shitted scared to help out your sister?"
"Please, he's only six," the sister begged.
"Yeah, sure, do you know what symptoms your dad had?" Razor asked.
"What do you need the symptoms for?" Affinity asked.
"I need to know if he's infected, and shouldn't you be hiding?" Razor whispered severely.
"Special magic makes it so only you can see me,"
"Uh-huh, so, do you know the symptoms?"
"Umm," began the sister, "he had a really bad cough, like the rattly sort, he seemed to be in pain for no reason, doesn't want to eat food, and then, he began saying really weird things,"
"What kind of weird things?"
"Uh, he'd always just say he's happy, and that he loves the smell of rotten meat, speaking of, I kinda know where he's coming from, but not in his crazy point of view,"
Razor's eyes went wide as he muttered to Affinity, "Shit, this entire family has been infected,"
"What will you do?" she asked.
Razor looked at the girl, now smiling creepily at him, "Only one thing to do,"
Razor looked back at the girl sitting on the mattress, debating his method of elimination.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked.
Razor was caught off guard by this, "Why do you ask?"
"You know I'm infected," she said, "I can see the fear in your eyes,"
"You are one crazy, crazy bitch," Razor said.
The girl shrugged, "Not much I can do, but I've learned that eating helps keep me sane, and I don't really see death as an option,"
"Hmm," Razor grunted, slowly reaching for his operator.
With inhuman speed, the girl leaped from her place, dropping her brother. Razor easily sidestepped this, allowing her to crash headfirst into shelves of food. With a careless posture, Razor kicked the rising girl back into the mess of cans.
"Agh! Stop! Please! I don't know what else to do!" she shouted.
Razor simply responded by drawing his pistol and firing straight into her skull, splattering gore all over the floor. He turned to the younger brother, frozen in shock, and stormed over to him. Kicking him to the ground, he stomped savagely on the boy's head, an audible crack and crunch could be heard from the boy's snapped neck and shattered skull.
"Razor," gasped Affinity, "you...-"
A door hidden behind the wall near the mattress crashed open. Stumbling out of it, was another faceless shambler, groaning and screaming mindlessly. Razor lifted his operator, firing a round without hesitation. Chaos began to unfold outside, and there was pounding on the home's walls and windows.
"Come on, Affinity, our time's up," Razor said, looking into the recently revealed room. He took a peek inside, seeing white walls stained with blood.
"Not this way," he said, leaving and closing the door quickly.
He searched around, finding the door to the upstairs, barred. Realizing how he couldn't open the door before, he ran over to remove the bar and open up the door. After lifting the heavy bar of wood, he pressed his ear to the door and listened carefully.
Aaaarrrgghh! Aaaarrrgghh!
Razor smiled, then opened the door and at the same time, stepped off to the side, allowing another shambler to fall to the ground. Before it could get up, Razor stomped on it's head, silencing it with another chilling crunch. Razor slipped through, gliding in between the slow paced infected he encountered. He rushed out the door, grabbing anything that came in hand, bottles, chairs, and dog toys to repel the mindless horde.
"There's an apartment complex nearby, we should try getting to the top of that," Razor said.
"Right, oh, and take this," Affinity replied, throwing Razor and baseball bat.
"Ah," began Razor, catching the bat, "the classic zombie apocalypse weapon,"
He caught a shambler in the head violently, laying it down for good. With his path cleared, he ran as fast as his equipment would allow. Behind him, he heard gun shots echo through the sky, along with shouting from sane humans.
"We're not the only ones," Razor muttered.
Wrecking those in front of him, Razor continued to the apartment complex. Reaching a high fence leading to the complex, he threw the bat over the fence and began to climb up.
"Up, watch the trench coat, and over," he muttered, going over the fence to the other side.
He stopped and unhooked the M4 on his chest, then checked the mag for ammo.
"Razor! There're shamblers in almost every room of that building, how do we get in?" Affinity asked, landing by the human.
"Simple, we go in," he replied.
"You make it sound sooooo easy," Affinity said.
"That's because it is," Razor said, "we have the equipment to do this, we just need to use it, stay close, this is the farthest I've ever gone without seeing the worse infected,"
"Worse infected?" Affinity muttered.
Razor simply moved towards the complex, his weapon raised and ready for action. He ascended the stairs, stepping as lightly as his gear would allow. There was further moaning and groaning from infected trudging outside the apartments. Bursting out of some doors were other survivors of the conflict.
"Hey, bro! Over here!" one said gesturing up the steps.
Razor continued following, the steps, accepting the other survivors' help in escaping. He was pointed to a zip line which connected the rooftops of the nearby apartment buildings. Others were using their weapons to get across.
"This way, man, we gotta get to the others," the same survivor said.
Razor slid across the zip line using his M4, reaching a larger group of survivors.
"Careful! Roof hoppers are coming!" one shouted.
"Roof hoppers?" Affinity said.
There was a chilling screech, followed by the appearance of a morbidly morphed infected. It's skin and several organs were molted off its body, and it bore elongated limbs with hooked claws at the ends. It awkwardly charged forward, leaping the gap between its building and the survivors'. It was stopped mid-flight by a heavy blow to its front. Affinity looked back, seeing Razor fit a shotgun shell into his M4's masterkey.
"I guess those are roof hoppers," Razor said.
He turned to the survivors, "You have a camp nearby?" Razor asked.
"Behind you!" they shouted.
Razor scored a backwards headshot on the mobile undead, striking surprise in the crowd.
Eeeeuuuuuuuurrrrrrraaaaaggghhhhh!
Razor, turned, finding more of them leaping across rooftops and skittering through the streets below.
"They're coming! Come on, we won't have long to escape!" they shouted.
Razor hurried alongside the rushing militia, with Affinity soaring nearby. The undead swarmed them, slashing some of the militia clean in two! Razor was ready and fierce. He seized a machete strapped inside his trench coat, countering the hoppers' wild slashing. He swung for the throat, and was often successful, severing the major artery and in some cases, beheading the thin-necked monsters. Their numbers were near impossible, and the militia was getting thinner. Razor returned his machete, grabbing his M4 once again and releasing volleys of lead.
"To the next zip line! Now!" he heard.
Razor did as he was bid, sprinting to the next zip line. Affinity saw a hopper flanking Razor, ready to impale him.
"RAZOR! NO!" she screamed. Without thinking, she swooped in, delivering a heavy kick to the creature's skull and sending it off the roof.
Razor looked back, "Thanks, Affinity,"
He hopped onto the zip line, reaching another rooftop and escaping the wild hoppers. He hooked his M4 again, drawing his machete for the manageable battle at hand. Wielding it expertly, he slashed and severed their limbs, fighting madly with it.
"Look at him!" shouted a militant, "he's like a demon!"
Affinity was watching Razor, fighting gallantly for his survival. No, he fought to win, he fought for his freedom to live.
"No, not like a demon," she said, "like an archangel,"
Razor noticed the last zip line, how it led to the lower ground and into the untamed forestry nearby. He dashed for it, using his machete to glide down the cord. Affinity followed, watching the other militants follow Razor down the line. Razor switched back to his M4, exchanging the clip for a new one and holding the numerous undead at bay for the rest of the militia to get down. Their numbers were very low now, counting only seven total from the score that once existed. Razor slowly backed up into the forest, gradually vanishing in the vegetation.
"Razor?" Affinity said, losing sight of him slowly. She carefully watched him get engulfed in the forest's shadowy embrace. He was a little more than a phantom now, only visible by the flashes from every shot of his M4.
"Razor!" Affinity steered her way down to the forest, finding Razor backing up more and more. The militia was being overwhelmed, and eventually Razor simply disappeared into the forest, cloaked by the fog which hung among the branches. Affinity was disoriented, she had no idea where she was going and if she was actually following Razor. She bumped into something hard and bulky.
"Razor?" she said.
The face that greeted her was a white mask, with a red mark tracing downward on the left eye, which was squinted and closed. The right eye was open, and showed a human eye peeking through. Across the mask stretched a blood red smile, resembling that of a jester. Affinity screamed at the sight of this, and tried to run away.
Affinity was breathing heavily, having the daylights scared out of her.
"What're you doing with that?" she asked.
"Long story, I'll tell you when camp is set up, for now, let's dig up the hidden stash,"
Affinity watched with wide eyes as Razor dug through a bush, pulling out a large duffle bag.
"You have a hidden stash out here?" she asked.
"Yeah, now help me out," Razor said.
They were quick at work, with Razor gathering firewood and Affinity pawing at the ground to soften the dirt for a bed. Within tens of minutes, there was a small roaring fire and a soft bed of dirt for them to lay upon. Razor took off his backpack, trench coat and vest, then removed his pants to reveal pajamas underneath. They laid down by the fire, Affinity snuggling close to him. She struggled for a comfortable position, distracted by the events of today.
"Razor," she said, "why did you kill those children? Why did they have to die?"
Razor was silent for a moment, "Don't think I have no remorse for that, but they were already dead, Affinity,"
"And what about the militia? They weren't infected,"
"No..." said Razor, "they were arrogant, they could've escaped with us, but chose to fight, they could've stayed in their apartments, but stepped out,"
"You could've fought with them,"
"Affinity," Razor said, a tear running down his face, "I can only save so much, please, losing you would kill me,"
Affinity's eyes began to water slightly, "Razor, don't cry, I'm here, I'll always be here," she said, wiping away his tear.
They held each other close, eventually being wrapped in the dark's sleepy embrace. Razor waited for Affinity to fall asleep, then began drifting off himself.
Razor was in the dark hallway of a hospital. He saw a little girl standing there in the center of the hallway, shouting at him.
"Go away, daddy! I don't want you here!" she continued.
"Who are you?"
The few, spaced lights in the hallway began to flicker, and the girl's eyes turned red, tears of blood leaking down from them. She vanished from sight in a wisp of smoke.
"What...?"
Her bloodied face flashed before Razor's eyes, and an ear-piercing scream assaulted his ears mercilessly.
Razor gasped, awake on the dirt with Affinity on top of him.
"Razor, are you all right? You're sweating," Affinity said, stirred awake.
Razor rubbed his eyes, "Yeah, I'm fine, just a meaningless nightmare,"
Affinity looked at him questioningly, "Okay," she said, lying back down on Razor's muscular stature.
He pushed her off, rising and pulling his gear back on.
"We've got ground to cover, now that we're here, we've got some cover and protection from the infected. What we do now is try to find a way to get to Spain, I have a house there with a boat hitched to a truck. There should also be some more supplies for us there," Razor explained.
"Um, Razor, how do we get to Spain?"
"We walk, we're in England after all,"
Affinity was wide eyed in shock, "I've been in that bunker for too long..." she said.
"Suck it up, princess, World War III broke out and here's the consequence, can't change it," Razor said, turning to continue their journey.
Affinity rolled her eyes at his antics, following him through the forest. A bitter wind blew through the branches, chilling the two.
"Brr, why's it so cold?" Affinity said.
Razor looked up to the sky, "See that? Those clouds blocking the sun are why it's so cold, the bombs blew so much debris in the air the sun got blocked off,"
Affinity cowered slightly, seeing the severity of the world's situation, "That's horrible, what caused this war?"
Razor stopped for a moment, "Couldn't tell ya," he replied.
They continued through the thin forestry, Razor's operator nearby in case of any wandering infected. They walked without trouble from infected, but Affinity was disheartened by the forest's appearance.
"Look at this... does the infection spread to even the plants?" Affinity asked.
"Afraid so, almost nothing is safe from the infection, it adapts to every living thing it touches," Razor said.
"Is the surgical mask enough for you?" Affinity asked, "I want to be sure that you'll be okay,"
Razor slowed for a bit, then continued at his normal pace, "Yeah, the mask should be enough, but I have a gas mask in case the infection is highly concentrated,"
Another chilling wind blew by, causing Affinity to shiver violently.
"It's so cold..." she said.
Razor hurried to her side, hugging her to keep her warm, "Affinity, hold on, I'll get a blanket from the duffle bag,"
Razor rummaged through the huge duffle bag, pulling out a fuzzy, warm blanket for Affinity. He removed her saddlebags, then wrapped her in the blanket affectionately, replacing the saddlebags over the blanket.
"There, better?" Razor asked.
Affinity nodded, nuzzling in Razor's neck lovingly, "I love you, Razor,"
He held her close to him, remembering his words last night, Losing you would kill me. With every sore fiber in his heart it was true, Affinity was the only one who accepted him after all he'd done.
"Razor, let's keep going," she said, breaking their hug.
"Right," he replied, his voice faltering slightly, "then we'll unpack something to eat,"
They continued on, Razor looking back every so often to keep track of Affinity. Patches of dull light peeked through the clouds, illuminating the withering forest with a depressing light.
"Take to the dirt path..."
"What was that, Affinity?" Razor asked.
"I didn't say anything," Affinity replied.
Razor scratched his head, trying to contemplate what was going on, Why do I hear voices? he asked himself.
He looked off to his left, seeing the mentioned dirt path, worn out and covered with dead grass. Obeying the otherworldly influence, he followed it, eventually hearing voices out in the distance. Razor crouched down, inching into the nearby trees. Silently, he gestured Affinity to do the same, as he set down his backpack and the weapons strapped to his back, then crept closer to the source of the voices. Much to his expectations, it was a duo of survivors, holed up in a cabin hidden among the forest.
"We haven't gotten any shamblers for a month now, and roof hoppers rarely come out here, something's up, you think their planning to overwhelm us?" Razor heard.
"No, Joel, they aren't smart enough to do that,"
"Then why the hell don't we have any trespassers? It's gone from weekly encounters to almost bi-monthly,"
Razor crept a little closer, seeing the two speakers talking near an open window.
"That's because we're thorough, Joel, we keep this up, we'll survive this whole infectious fiasco,"
Razor leaned in, examining his targets, "Caucasian male, middle aged, armed with semi-automatic rifle," Razor muttered, "Asian male, probably 30, obviously in his physical prime, armed with handgun, has a shotgun nearby, both have no armor, but they definitely know how to use a gun,"
"Do you always talk to yourself like this?" Affinity asked, hiding behind him.
"Shut up, it's reconnaissance, helps me plan an attack," Razor replied.
"Attack? Why not just join forces?"
"Not all survivors think like that," Razor said, pulling his operator.
He crept an inch forward before being stopped by Affinity.
"Razor, we don't want to kill people who'll help us," she said, "please, at least try to make them allies,"
Razor looked at her for a long time, "Fine," he finally said.
He stowed his handgun, then emerged from the bushes with his hands raised, leaving himself utterly exposed to a gunshot. Almost immediately, the two survivors noticed Razor and pointed their arms at him.
"Hold on," Razor said calmly, "I only want to make an alliance with you,"
"Yeah, bullshit, Longshot," one said.
"They know you?" Affinity asked.
"Stay out of this, Affinity," Razor said.
"Shuttup, Razor! You killed people close to me! Now I'm gonna get them the revenge they deserve!"
"Joel, wait!" Razor shouted, "We both want to walk away from this undead plague, let me redeem myself,"
"How do we know that you're not infected, asswipe?" the other shouted.
"Listen you goddamn dumbass, I don't have time to sit here and argue, I'm losing daylight and I need to know if you jackshits are with me or not," Razor shouted in agitation
"After what you did? Hell no, I'm going to kill you, right here, right now," Joel said.
Razor raised an eyebrow, then leaped out of the way to dodge Joel's bullet. Swift as lightning, Razor drew his operator and shot for Joel's head.
"GAAAAHHHH!" he screamed, "My eye!"
He released another round, catching Joel's friend directly in his temple, allowing the bullet to gush through his head and into the wall of the cabin. Razor rose, brushing dust off his coat, then ambled into the cabin, telling Affinity to stay put and finding Joel on the ground with his hand over his eye, trying to staunch the bleeding. Razor grabbed him and threw him into a chair, leaving him there as he began to take supplies from the cabin.
"How many of your friends did I kill?" Razor asked.
Joel, panting heavily from pain, replied, "Seven,"
"Oohh... Seven? That's a lot," Razor said, his face taking an expression of mock shame, "But, let's stray from that,"
He pulled his machete and began to circle Joel, "Did you know, that the Japanese had a... rather peculiar method of suicide?" he asked, "They'd take their blade and cut their stomachs open, said to be so painful that they couldn't even move, but, after that, someone just cut their head off,"
"Burn in hell," Joel said.
"I've already been there, and even Satan doesn't want me," Razor replied.
He stood in front of Joel, then slipped out a mask from inside his cloak, the same white mask he wore before, and slipped it onto his face. He seemed to bow to Joel, his hand in front of him in a theater style bow, when he suddenly raised the machete and jammed it inside Joel's stomach. He gasped aloud, twitching slightly, then jerked backwards into his chair as Razor dragged the blade across his stomach and yanked it out, wrenching out a sickly knot of innards with it.
Razor leaned in, whispering in Joel's ear, "A little secret before you go..." then whispered something that was so evil, so vile, that Joel wanted to rip Razor apart, piece by piece.
"Razor, what's going on in there?" Affinity asked, entering the cabin.
Razor whipped around, "Close your eyes!" he shouted.
Out of shock, she did so, thankfully not seeing the horrors of what had become of Joel. Razor ripped a curtain from a window and threw it over Joel, his face frozen in sheer pain. Razor guided the blind Affinity out of the cabin, leading her towards a newly found path.
"I don't understand, what were they talking about? What happened in there?" Affinity asked. finally opening her eyes.
"They're crazy people, Affinity," Razor answered, "I had to kill them, I had no choice,"
Affinity canted her head to the side questioningly, "Okay," she said.
Without any further conversation they continued on towards Spain, covering some miles in the remaining day. All throughout it however, Razor continued hearing voices, all of them praising him for his work.
"Wonderfully executed! Such a powerful hatred pouring through your veins! What skill and prowess you have!"
Razor was trying to ignore it, but the words he was given made him feel good, it made him want to kill again, not just for his own pleasure, but for this otherworldly audience and the praise it gave him. He wanted more, he needed more, to kill, to fuel his raging bloodlust. He wanted to see the ground overflowing with blood, huge trenches filled to the brim with bodies, he couldn't begin to describe how badly he wanted such a thing. He-
"Razor?" said a voice.
Razor was snapped back into reality, seeing a roaring campfire next to him with his gear laid out near him.
"Wha...?" he said.
"I was keeping watch while you slept, or... were supposed to sleep, you've just been staring into space for the last half-hour or so, are you okay?" Affinity asked.
Razor looked around, finding himself in the middle of a dark field, with some cans of food opened and emptied, then finally articulated his response,"Uh, yeah... yeah, I'd probably do well with some sleep, long day today," he replied, laying down to get some rest.
Affinity nodded, then continued keeping watch for any invaders in the night.
Razor's dreams yielded the same thing, a hospital hall with a girl screaming at him.
"I hate you, daddy!" she shouted.
"You..." Razor said, pulling his gun. He shot her right in the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain.
"It hurts, daddy! Don't hurt me anymore!" she sobbed.
"So. Much. Hatred!"
Razor went alert, immediately turning around to face the source of the voice, finding a black, somewhat malformed skeleton wrapped in a cloak and wearing a jester's mask.
"I take it you're my secret admirer," Razor said.
The figure nodded, hunching over slightly and moving towards Razor.
"So hateful..." it rasped, caressing Razor's face, "You've accomplished great things, child of darkness, and will accomplish more to come..."
"Who are you?"
"Hm? Yes... I am... Esther!"
"Why are you here, Esther?"
"Why, to clarify,"
"Okay, why am I seeing Alma from F.E.A.R. in my dreams?"
Esther laughed aloud heartily, obviously amused by Razor's analogy.
"Alma, that is not, only someone more dear, you need only look forward to understand," he said.
Razor thought a moment on this, "Why are you so interested in me?" he asked.
Esther moved closer, placing his hand, flayed of all flesh, to Razor's heart, "You're heart... It makes me cry... The hatred you harbor, it is intoxicating for a being such as me, it has gone beyond the boundaries of sadism, exceeding that of even inhuman feelings... The pain it gives... I relish it..."
Razor was surprisingly calm at this response, reacting with almost nothing.
"I take it you know my secrets too?" he asked.
"Every last one, Razor Longshot, including the evil you whispered in his ear..." Esther replied.
Razor's eyes narrowed, "Get lost, I don't want to see you for a while,"
Esther recoiled slightly, injured by Razor's sharp words, "As you request... Friend," he said, vanishing in a wisp of black smoke, "Just promise that I may come back... Friend,"
Razor clenched his fist slightly, "Later," he said, "I just need some time,"
He turned back around, finding that same girl, her, still on the floor sobbing, bloody tears leaking from her eyes and shoulder and spreading across the floor of the hall. Drawing his weapon once more, he closed in on her, throwing her onto her back, pointing the gun straight at her face.
"Stop hurting me, daddy!" she shouted.
Razor simply replied, "Get out of my head, you crazy bitch," and pulled the trigger.
Razor awoke from his dream, a deep frown etched on his face. He felt horrible, and he didn't know why. He looked over to Affinity, asleep on the soft grass beneath her.
"Dozed off I see," he muttered.
He took a rag from his bag and wiped his face, getting sweat off his brow and cheeks, thoughts racing through his head.
"You're a madman, Erik, you took pleasure in killing those guys, your sadism from the tenth grade is coming back, you're part of why this place is in hell," he looked at his gun, only inches from his hand and loaded, "might as well kill yourself..."
He grabbed the weapon, pointing it at his temple, struggling to muster the will to pull the trigger. Then he heard Affinity whimper in her sleep, rolling over slightly and shivering.
"But I can't leave her..." he muttered, "You've already made a commitment..."
His finger was twitching, pressing on the trigger by a hair.
"Dammit..." he pointed the gun upwards, shooting three rounds in the air. Affinity woke up in shock from the loud noise, looking around in sudden panic.
Razor rose from the ground, taking his belongings and moving into the still young night.
"Razor, what're you-"
"-We're gonna keep moving, find a plane and get to Spain, besides, we won't be seen so easily at night,"
"I thought you said we'd walk,"
"Yeah, well walking is taking too damn long,"
"Razor, is there a problem?"
"No, now let's go,"
"Razor, tell me if there's a problem, please, I have to know if you're okay,"
He didn't stop, "Somethings even you won't understand, Affinity,"
"Then help me understand, Razor, help me see what's wrong,"
"Nothing. Is. Wrong,"
"Razor, wait,"
"No,"
"Wait, just listen-"
"No, Affinity!" Razor stopped, then sighed, "No," he said softly, "these are rough times for us all, and... this is something I need to deal with alone,"
She went to her beloved, "You don't have to do anything alone, Razor, I will do everything I can to help you in any struggle,"
Razor pulled his scarf up to his face, looking away from Affinity.
"I can tell that you had a very harsh childhood," She said.
He suddenly looked back at her, a fire blazing in his eyes.
"Every chapter is written in the scars on your body..."
He kneeled down to her, feeling her gentle hoof brush the side of his face through the scarf.
"I can see how painful it is, I know what you went through as your mother passed, you told me what troubled you,"
Razor's eyes widened, he remembered those days vividly. His mother was sick, stricken with cancer. He was next to her death bed, and held her hand the whole time, feeling it slowly go limp as she passed away in front of him. He remembered how he pleaded and screamed, begging for his mother to come back to him. A tear rolled down his cheek, his heart speared with an agonizing pain, a rip in the fragile flesh that couldn't be healed.
"I'm here, Razor, I know you've lost something important to you, and I know I could never be a replacement, just be strong for me,"
Be strong... he thought, How strong?
"Affinity," Razor began, "I want you to go out and search for a secluded spot, someplace we can make camp for the next time. Wait for me there, I'll be able to find you through GPS, got it?"
Affinity shook her head, "I'm with you to the end, Razor,"
Razor found no point in arguing, and continued on with the journey.
"We'll need to get to a new place to sleep for the day, keep traveling by night, and avoid being seen by any possible threats, I need you to scout it out, and wait for me, there should be plenty of provisions with you,"
"Got it," she said, "and Razor, please be careful,"
"I will, Affinity, no need to worry about me anymore,"
Affinity flew off to find a suitable resting place, while Razor continued on foot. He needed time to think, to sift through all his violent, blood stained memories and thoughts. Again and again, he was mentally tormented by Esther, the strange entity that had grown to him and his hatred.
"What are you going to do? Kill what's left of humanity?"
"Get out of my head," Razor said, clutching his brow, "I don't want to be like that, I don't want to be angry, I'm not angry!"
"Never lie to yourself,"
"Shut up, I'm not angry, I'm just... just..."
"Enraged"
"No! I'm not angry, I'm scared! I'm confused! My mind is..."
"Contaminated"
"Get out of my head!"
"I seek to be your aid, let me protect you,"
"Affinity protects me,"
"She knows not of how deep your scars go, how charged with punishments hell is, how distorted and perverse reality has become for you,"
"Am I going insane?"
"Child, you already are..."
Razor fell to his knees, clutching his head aggressively, tearing hair from his head. He banged on the grassy ground hard, bruising his hands and was nearly crying.
"Stop! Stop!" He screamed, "STOOOOOOP!"
Razor bolted upright, hearing noise coming form behind him, three men, having found him.
"Hey, buddy, are you alright?" one asked.
"You're not real," Razor said, "None of you are real, get away from me!"
"Hey, listen, we're here to help," another said getting closer.
"Stay away from me!" Razor lashed out with a knife, cutting deep into the man's stomach.
"Gaaaah! Jesus Christ!"
Razor finished it with a stab in the throat, with the same skill he had before. He lunged onto the second one, slicing the throat madly. The third tackled him, tumbling with him onto the ground. Razor easily wrestled his way on top, flailing out and striking painfully.
"You're. Not. Fucking. Real." Razor said. holding the gore stained knife close to his victim's head.
"Wait! Stop!"
Razor thrust in, a sickening crack of collapsing bone echoing in his clouded ears. He stabbed over and over again savagely, mutilating the man mercilessly. Blood splattered all over his clothes, mask, and hands, bits of gore getting tossed in several directions. He brutally murdered those who wanted to help him.
"Do you see all those who are distorted into horrors, let me help you, I want you to be happy,"
Panting, Razor said, "I'm cold, bring me something warm,"
"Of course, my friend," Esther said, "I wrap you in my finest cloak, now, please be happy,"
Esther was beside him, having form and everything he carried with him. Razor was indeed wrapped in his cloak, being warmly wrapped in the shadowy, ethereal silk.
Esther traveled with Razor the whole time, stroking his back fondly and fastening the cloak tighter as it loosened. Razor was content, he was warm, and free from any horrors that stalked him. In a way, Razor seemed to remember Esther, though not entirely. He couldn't tell where he's seen him before, and he constantly searched his mind for any memories of him.
"Are you warm enough?"
"I'm fine, thank you, but I am getting hungry,"
"I will find you some food,"
Esther left without another word, searching for suitable food presumably. Razor knew he had some food in his reserves, but getting more food was never a problem, and was greatly appreciated by Razor. With this, he continued, keeping his weapons drawn and in a rested position. Razor was constantly in thought though, always thinking of someone Esther reminded him of. He brushed the thoughts aside, walking along the misery towards a building.
"I remember him from somewhere," Razor muttered, "I just can't place my finger on it,"
Razor couldn't help but think of this, it intrigued him so much.
"Is he from a dream? Has he visited me before? What is he?" Razor asked.
He only drew more questions, and no answers. He finally put the thoughts aside and focused on a building in the distance. Based on the GPS, Affinity had nestled herself at the top floor of the building.
"Now why did you choose to go way up there?" Razor muttered, not looking forward to climbing the skyscraper.
Razor looked around, seeing mindless infected amble through the streets near the building. Razor crouched low, hiding in the tall grass around him. He moved forward carefully, stepping lightly to avoid sudden crunching sounds from the grass. Peering through the blades, Razor saw something unthinkable. He examined it closer, making out a bipedal creature
