//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 'A Long Night' Sec.3 'Crimson Steel' // Story: V-472 // by SimpleWriter //------------------------------// I used to wonder if there was ever a god or a creator of this earth. I used to wonder if the stories of The Bible or The Quran were true. I don't really think about it now. My grandfather was really strict with my dad, as he was a loyal Catholic. Once he was out of the house and had me, he wanted me to choose what I want to believe in. I didn't really choose, but I did ponder about the idea of a higher power. I wondered if our race serves a purpose, or if we just evolved through time. Are we the only intelligent being in the universe, or are there beings that possess technology centuries more advanced than ours? Now I have an answer, and I wish I never did. We are not alone. Not even close. There is life beyond the stars, I know it, but I never would’ve thought that we would be invaded by people from an alternate world, and alternative reality. I never expected Multiverse theory to be true, but you learn something every day. Looking on religious faiths now, I can safely say that I have come to a conclusion. I might die tonight, I might get tortured, beaten, raped. I don't know. The sky’s the limit. Whatever happens to me, it will be at the hand of life from another dimension. At this point, I don't think there is a God. I have been chased by a talking horse with wings. I've seen the aftermath of a slaughter in Time Square. I am bounded and gagged with a mouth full of blood. Men with guns and mind reading creatures have invaded New York, if not the nation. Why not the world. No, I take it back. This is my final guess. God is dead. God is dead, and therefore I am royally fucked. *click* I heard the T.V abruptly switch channels. "Without us...you have nothing." The T.V flashed to a different program. I looked up in a dazed state of confusion, completely overwhelmed. The screen showed a scene from an episode of Breaking Bad. I recognized Gus's face. He was standing in front of Walter and Jesse with a box cutter in his hand. Walter and Jesse were sitting in chairs, while Mike stood behind them. I looked away from the screen, and panned across the room, seeing if there was anybody else in the room. I don't know why I did. There was little hope of escaping this. I couldn't just roll myself away into the hall. That was when I gazed over to the kitchen. There, sitting on the counter, was a small knife rack. They were all nice and sharp. I knew this because I hardly use them that often. Ssvish... I looked back at the T.V. Gus had just slit someone's throat with the boxcutter. The victim, some Mexican guy; squirmed and grabbed at Gus's face. Blood poured from the gash in his neck, soaking his shirt in red. His gasps and wheezes grew softer and softer, as he grew weaker and weaker. Then, once he fell silent, Gus let his body fall to the floor, right at Walter and Jesse's feet. The look on his face, the lack of emotion, the lack of regret. The two of us watched the T.V in silence. Everything was quiet. And then, as the solider was about to mumble a comment about the show... "OH SHIT!!" RATATATATAT! "Some got out!" I heard a female voice bellow. "They got guns over here! I need help!" Suddenly, a blaze of gunfire erupted in the halls. Screams could be heard. Cries of pain, fear. People were screaming through whatever muffled them. "GO GO GO!!" I heard someone scream. "Free as many as you can!" "What the fuck?!" The soldier in my reclining chair jumped to his feet as his rifle made a click, ready to fire. He stormed across the room. With his rifle in hand, he peeked behind the doorway. Shards of wood were flying from the door frame, bullets were ripping through it! The grunt yelled, and jumped back into the room. I watched in total fucking confusion, my eyes darting back and forth between the grunt and the door! "GET OUT OF HERE!!" Someone from hall screamed at the top of their lungs. Ratatat! The soldier peeked his rifle into the hall, and fired multiple rounds before... "ARRGH!" He stumbled back into the room, clutching his chest. "FUUCK!!! Bleeding! I'm BLEEDING!" More soldiers were charging down the halls, firing their weapons! More and more enraged cries were coming from the hall. A screech of screams and gunfire rang in my ears. The man, still clutching his chest, collapsed to his knees, moaning in agony. Another green eyed solder stumbled into the room, tumbling to the floor. Wherever this one moved, blood streaked the carpet. Just then, a shadow emerged into my apartment. It wore no armor, and its eyes didn't glow any color. Just then I noticed it was carrying something in its hand, BANG! BANG! Pain exploded in my ears. Every sound that I could hear, was immediately drowned out by the high pitched ring. Everything became blurry, but I could still somewhat see. The soldier grabbing his chest, slumped to the floor. The pistol that the shadow carried fell to its side. Its head turned to look at me across the room, and it charged. All I could do was let out a muffled plea. MMFF! "Easy! Easy!" A male voice yelled. I could see a human face with the light from the T.V. An actual human, not one of these sick freaks. It was a man, maybe in his thirties. He was dressed in blue pajamas that were sprinkled with red. His face was fucked up, with a gash in his lip and a swollen right eye. He held me still. His ears were smeared with blood, and it dripped onto the floor. His voice was awkwardly loud and slurred. Every few seconds he would clinch in pain. "I'mmm setting youuu free! Ittsa gonnna be ok!" He spoke like a man who couldn't even hear his own words. He searched frantically through my kitchen to look for something to cut my restraints. Silverware, tongs, spatulas, they all fell to the floor with metallic clangs. He raced over to me, with a large steak knife. Kneeling before down to me, he looked back towards the door. Gunfire was still erupting from the hallway. He placed the blade on the tape covering my ankles; and he began to saw back and forth. "Hoolld stiell!" My feet moved with the motions as he cut through the tape. With a snap, the last of the tape was broken from my legs. Letting out frantic muffled cries, I rolled onto my stomach. The man brought the blade, slipped it underneath my wrists and he began cutting. "Come on, come on, come on...there!" The tape came loose, the man backed away and I ripped the tape away from my arms and feet. Next, I grabbed a corner of the tape covering my mouth, and I yanked it clean off. It stung like hell as hair was ripped strait from my skin, but I couldn’t give two shits. Once the tape was gone, I hurled out the enormous amount of blood that was building up in my mouth. I spat out wads of spit that were colored a sickening shade of red. At my feet was a puddle of blood that was about the same size as my fist. "Fuck!" I gagged in disgust. "Thank you! Thank GOD!" I stumbled, over to the fire escape and I crawled through, trying not to cut myself on the glass. "Warre the helll are eu going?!" I turned back to the man who freed me. He stood there in my living room, pointing the tip of the knife at me. "I'm free!" I snapped. "You're free! We need to get the fuck out here! We need to the the FUCK out of the city!!" "There are innocent peeple in there!" He screamed, pointing the gun towards the door. "Youuu need to com wit me right now! NOW!" I looked at the door out in the hall. The blast of guns, and bloodcurdling screams sent a sickening pain in my stomach. I looked back at the man and I sighed in reluctance, and I began to decend the stairs. "Get back here! Get bac- God damn it!" I could hear his shout and I raced downward. The cold metal against my bare feet stung like fire. The crisp air of winter made my bare chest shudder. The smoke of burning buildings invaded my lungs and I coughed every step of the way. One floor down, two floors down. I am so close. My heart was pounding against the walls of my chest! It was racing so hard, I could've sworn I was gonna break a rib! Just below me, more people were frantically scurrying down the steps, screaming and crying. A man, wearing a grey shirt and jeans was flying down the steps, he was screaming... "Come on! Come on! This way, hurry! Let's go!" More and more people were scattering once they reached the streets below. I'm so close now, I just need to come down one more floor! "Hurry! Hurry! Come o-" RATATATAT!!! A swarm of bullets ripped right through the man below me. I screamed as I slipped and fell back. I gazed on in disbelief. The man was struggling to stay on his feet. Blotches of red were spreading across his torso. Behind the corner of the building, a soldier with glowing green eyes trudged over to him, and he kicked the dying man to the pavement. The grunt could hear my cries and his head turned to look up at me. Giving him no time to raise his rifle, I literally dove through the open window to my right! My shoulder crashed into a chair. It's legs creaked and it fell over. RATAT! Bullets bounced from the steps, ripping right through the glass window! Bits and shards of glass rained down on me like rain, pricking at my skin! I protected my eyes with my hand, and I used the stump to drag myself away! Rising to my feet, I began to bolt for the door to this apartment, but I stopped dead in my tracks. Two bodies, a man and a woman, completely naked were laid up against the door. One, a man, was leaning face first against the door, his head was angled so he was looking up. They didn't move. They didn't speak. They didn't blink. "FUCK! FUCK!" My head snapped over to the window, where I could see a large hand grab ahold of the window frame. Panicking and desperate, I bolted over to a hall on my left. Two rooms were on my left, one on the right. On the right was a bedroom. I entered the bedroom and slammed the door behind me, locking it shut! Heaving and wheezing, I looked for a way to hide or defend myself in any way! I couldn't see shit in the dark! I had to hide! I needed to hide! I fell to the floor and rolled under the bed, trying to be as quiet as possible. Panting heavily, I laid on my stomach, barely watching the door to the hall through a drooped blanket hanging over the side. I held my breath and tried to be as still as possible. My heart was pounding in my chest and my ears. I hoped and prayed that I would get out alive. My mind thought that I was going to die. I couldn't help myself. Memories flashed before my eyes, both the good and the bad. I reflected on the choices I've made, things I've done, how I've changed. I never thought I was a good person in this life. I tried to change who I was, I really did! There was so much more to do! So much to do in order to redeem myself for being the dangerous punk that I was! Now...it might be too late for that. This is it, isn't it? It's over...it's really over. Something metal and cold bumped my knuckle, I looked at my side. My hand had grazed what seemed to be a metal bat. I felt the rubber like grip of the handle. I gasped as I heard the jingling of a door knob. I stared up at the door in horror. RATATATAT!!! I yelped as I clamped onto my ears! My hand covered one ear, I was was pressing my stump against the other as hard as I could! It was loud. So loud. When the gunfire ceased, there was a loud crack of wood and a snapping of hinges. I poked my head up and opened my eyes. The door was still intact and whole. I heard loud footsteps emerging from the wall to my left. Looking at the bat, I grabbed it, and held it tight to my chest. The soldier was checking a different room. If I could just run towards the window, I’d be home free! With this knowledge, I pulled the bat out with me as I crawled. I need to get the fuck out of here, and this was my chance! Once out, I tucked the bat under my right armpit. Quietly as I could, I made my way for the door. Reaching for the handle, I knew that once I opened this door, there was no going back. The door handle shook and juggled before I could grasp it. For several moments, I watched the handle shake and I panicked. He was gonna shoot the door down, wasn't he?! There was a loud thump of boot on wood and I jumped back. It happened again and again, thump after thump! I was desperate! I had to do something! He was going to find me one way or another if I hid! "STOP!!!" There was one final thump...and everything fell silent. I was about to piss myself with shaking legs. Trying to sound as fearless as I could with my trembling voice, I shouted at the door... "Stop! Back the FUCK up!!" I screamed as I hugged my back against the wall by the door. There was no sound coming from the door. There was only darkness around me. Darkness, and the buzzing in my ears. "You need...you need to back off! I swear to god!!! I've got a gun in here!" There was a mocking snort from the other side. I could hear wheezy laughter. "I'm for real!!" I gripped then at tighter. "I will use it! If I hear another sound, I will blow you the fuck way! Do you want to test me!? Do you want...to FUCKING test me!?" No responce. I needed to enforce my message. With a loud WHAM, I swung the bat up against the door hard, with everything I had! "DO YOU WANT TO TEST ME!!?" I panted hard, my lip quivered from the sheer intensity of the standoff. *cha-chick* "Oh fuck..." RATATATATAT!!!! Shards of wood flew everywhere. Flashes of light just kept getting brighter and brighter as bits of the door were blown away. It was so loud. I could've sworn my eardrums had burst from the intensity of each round as they went off. I fell to the floor, curling into a ball while covering my ears. RATATATA-*chik-chik* The sound of metallic clicks made my head pop up from my shell. The door was blown to shreds. Multiple gaping holes stood in the wood, grey smoke emerged from within. I could smell it. A brief paused followed before the sound of metal sliding against metal caught my attention. A small thump could be heard. Now...now was my chance. I grabbed the bat and jumped to my feet. *click...ch-chick* KRACK! A giant boot broke through the door! The whole door swung to the side, allowing the grunt to stomp into the room. The door hit the wall hard enough to put a hole into it. Now he was raising his rifle. The time to strike was now. Right when he laid eyes on me, he couldn't react in time before a bat was swung right into his forehead. His entire head lurched back, before he was struck again across the face. The force of the blow caused his to lean against the door with his shoulder, allowing his head to hang low enough. THUNK! The bat was slammed right up against the back of his head, and the man collapsed to the floor. I stood above the soldier with his head at my feet. My hand was wrapped around the grip of the bat so hard, I felt my hand was getting numb. My legs were so weak and shaken, I struggled to stay on my feet. "STOP!!" I yelled. "Stop right now!!!" The rifle was on the ground a few inches from my left foot. Dropping the bat, I yanked the rifle by the stick and I hauled it across the room, smashing up against the wall before falling behind the side of the bed, out of sight. I looked back down at the man, who was now moaning in pain, mumbling incoherent words. "You stay on the floor! Stay down. If you do anything, anything at all, I will KILL you! I will fucking kill you! I will beat you over the head again and again and I will not stop! Stay DOWN!!!" Just about ready to vomit, I picked up the bat, leaped over the man, and I raced down the hall and for the window! In mid stride, vomit came spewing out from my mouth, splashing against the tile flooring in the apartment's kitchen. I paused and bent over, letting it all out. My stomach was in knots, my beard was thumping against the walls of my torso. I couldn't believe that. I can't believe I've made it this far. After a brief moment of consolidation, a puddle of vomit was at my feet, barely licking at my toes. "RAAAAHH!!!!" Darting my head back, the soldier’s eyes were the first thing that I could see in the darkness. His body emerged to reveal that he held a long, sharp, serrated knife in his hand. He was charging me. I kept to the side and rolled across the floor towards the window! The man flew right by me, and he struggled to stop. As his boots slid across the kitchen floor, he slid right into my puddle of vomit. The motions of him sliding in the bile as well as him trying to charge me once more, caused him to topple over, falling on his side. He was taking no time to waste! He was already staring to get on his hands and knees! THUNK! I screamed as I brought the bat down on his head once again. He crumpled to the floor. He twitched violently as I struck him again. THWUMP! "I...am warning you!" I shouted. The man was getting up. "This is your last-" The man glared up at me with murderous rage. "DON'T-" He prepared to swing the blade! FWHAM! He tumbled to the floor... FWHAM!! There was a loud crack that filled the room. FWHAM!!! I hit him. I struck him again...and again...and again...and again. Swing after swing after swing. I never stopped screaming. I never stopped swinging, for I knew he would kill me if I didn't. The sound of metal bashing against solid skull faded. Now it was starting to sound like I was beating a pile of slush. Each blow sent vibrations and pain up my arm, but I swung over and over. Before I knew it, I was on the floor, nearly on the verge of passing out. My chest heaved in and out as I let out little wheezes of air. I was looking up at the ceiling, everything above me shook with my racing pulse. I struggled to push myself away from the grunt, backing up until I hit a wall. I just sat there for what felt like hours. I just...stared at the soldier. His green eyes were no more, only the sockets remained. I felt sick...disgusted. I coughed as my throat burned. His blood was now begging to seep into the carpet. Details of the horrendous sight will be spared for you. Nobody should've done what I have committed. I couldn't stop staring. The two of us remained there, with snot running down my nose, and blood dripping from my lower lip. I barely even noticed that my pocket was vibrating. Never taking my eyes off of him, I reached into my pocket, answered my call, and raised the phone to my ear. "Oscar!" I heard a voice cry out from the speaker. "D-Da-Dan?" I mumbled. "Where are you!? You need to tell me right now! Are you at the apartment!!?" "Um...I-I-don't...I-...ye-yes..." "We need to get the FUCK out of here!! I'll be over at your complex in three minutes. If you're not out front by then, I'm gone, I'll get out of the city without you! Be there!!!" He hung up. I sat in silence and let my hand go limp, falling to the floor. The blood puddle was getting bigger. What have I done. Oh god...what did I just do?! I got to get out of here. Dan will be here soon. If I'm not out there, I'll be left behind. I need to go. There's no other possible choice. With my phone in my pocket, I forced myself off of the floor, taking the bat up with me. Just was I was about to crawl through the window, there was a bright blue light behind me. KA-CHEW! A loud piercing blast of force sent me flying forward. I would've just fallen face first into the stairs outside, but something hit me in the back hard. It collided with my back, right in the right shoulder. For a second, everything went black. Coming to reality, I groaned. My head pounded with agony. Pushing myself off the ground, I in an unstable daze. "Hey!" A voice from behind me growled. "It's you!!" Turning my head to look back, there were several green eyes staring at me. Several pairs of green...and a single pair of red. "You...stop!" It shouted. With its wings unfurled, it sprang towards me! Its rainbow hair matted against her forehead from the force of the wind! With no other choice than down, I did the only thing that I could do. I gripped the metal bar and hopped over the railing. Screaming all the way down, the sidewalk was rapidly approaching me from below! Just as I was going to land on the ground and possibly break my legs, two arms wrapped themselves under my armpits. Excruciating pain erupted in my shoulder. I kicked and screamed in utter agony, my legs were dangling a yard above the ground. "You're really banged up, ain't ya." The pain was so much. Too much. Once my feet touched the ground, I fell to a kneeling position, small heads of sweat dropped down my face. *clang* The metal bat landed right beside me from above. It bounced in the air, before coming to a stop. For the first time, I could see the bat in its appearance. The bat was a bright blue color. The handle was silver in color, while the rest was blue. However, there was a large blotch of liquid on the surface of the bat. It was crimson, a dark shade of red was dripping along the steel. "What's this?" The horse asked, pointing a hoof at the bat. "Mam? We found Ricen." The horse was silent for a moment. "Is he alright?" "I'm sorry..." Another sighed. "He's...gone. He looks like he got bludgeoned to death. There's nothing that can be done." She was quiet, eerily quiet. If it wasn't for her hooves trembling violently on my back, I would've assumed she froze into a statue. Slowly, he head cocked to look down at me. "Mother.." The horse hissed before bringing a hoof down onto my back. "Fucker!" I moaned in pain for my shoulder. I mumbled multiple pleas for mercy. "You...you killed one of my men. You're coming with me, and yo-" "MAM!!" A green eye called. "Incoming!" Down the street, I could hear the sound of a horn blaring. A white truck with its headlights rapidly flashing was heading my way. I knew that truck. "Hold your fire!" The horse barked. "Let them pass!" The truck was slowing down. The horse chuckled and pulled me in close, until her mouth was right in my ear. I could barely hear Dan's cries as he pulled up close. Her words were more deafening than anything I've heard tonight. "Run." She cooed. "Run along now. Go with them. I'm sure we'll meet sooner or later. Goodbye for now." When her touch left my back, I looked back at her, only to see that nothing was there. I was alone. I was kneeling on the sidewalk by myself. "Get in the truck! Get.in.the TRUCK! In the back!" The truck slowed down enough for me to get in. With my. At now in hand, I raced over the truck, and I practically flew into the bed, diving onto the metal surface. Looking around me, there were sever other people that I recognized as family of Christa's. They were all clinging to each other and to the walls of the truck. They were all laying down. "Everyone hold on!!" I heard Dan bark. "STAY DOWN!" The truck roared as we sped away. I watched the building over was trail away as we moved further and further from the apartment. Now, in the truck, I watched my complex as it faded away, as well as the pair of red eyes staring directly at me. I hope her promise won't come true.