//------------------------------// // Him... // Story: Survival of the Fallen Race // by Immortan Joe //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Him... I honestly had no idea what happened after I was dragged away, everything was dark. I couldn’t see anything, all I could hear was the sounds of crying people and growls and shrieks coming from our kidnappers. Where are they taking us? Why are they taking us? And the question that plagued me the most, why haven’t they killed us? I remember being lifted up off the ground by something and carried down somewhere, into a place where the foul stench of waste filled the too-moist air. I still couldn’t see where we are, I remember them placing something on my head and tying it. The metallic scent of blood caught in my nose as I could hear the pleas of soldiers and other men and women around me. I heard the sound of a sobbing man, his whimpers being punctuated by the a dull thud every few moments and a groan of pain from the man. I felt myself get dropped onto the ground, I gasped in pain and let out a moan. “Quiet!” said a deep, rasping voice of a Surgeling. A sharp pain erupted from my gut, as the leg of some creature collided into me. “Go to Hell!” I snarled through clenched teeth, trying to catch my breath, “I said quiet!” the creature snarled. This time my back exploded as a heavy object slammed into me, I clenched my teeth trying to stop myself from crying out. “Enough!” another of the creatures shouted to my captor, and the flurry of painful blows stopped. Something grabbed hold of the back of my neck hoisting me off the ground and forcing me to my feet. Whatever it was took a hold of both my arms and forced them to my back. I felt what I assume to be wires wrap around my arms as they bounded them to my back, “Now,” the voice whispered to me, its hot and stinking breath bombarding my senses. “I need you to listen carefully, when Commander Kuntchra asks you a question, I expect you to answer it. Do we have a deal?” I could feel his smug grin through the fabric of my mask looking down on me. I tilted my head towards the voice. “And what do I get out of this if I answer all questions?” I asked. I heard the creature let out a chuckling snort, the chilling laugh coming from between pointed teeth. “That is for the Commander to decide.” It ended with a hiss and a chuckle, as if it expected this interview to be my bitter last. I felt its paws clutch the back of my neck as it violently shoved me forward, I stumbled over my feet and fell over landing on a metal object. I let out a cry of pain, behind me I heard the snarl of the creatures as they hauled me back to my feet. “Look at the little demon,” one of them said to its fellows. “So caught in its own pride that it cannot even walk without us to pick it up.” Feeling humiliated, I slowly attempted to climb back onto my feet. “I think this would be easier if I could see...” I growled. “Keep your mouth shut and keep on walking,” my snarling captor commanded, I felt the paws of something grab a hold of my back and guide me forward into the darkness. :[-]: The mask was ripped off my head violently and I was blinded by the bright lights that surrounded me. The sounds of voices of various creatures and animals filed in around me, as my eyes slowly adjusted. I found myself in a large room that looked to me like the sewer water treatment they have in the subways scattered around New York. Yet this one seemed to be edited, the ground was covered in wooden boards and grass. Candles and torches left a flickering luminescence that feebly illuminated the room, and what was in that room left me as stunned as ever. Animals of all kinds, most of them being ponies, stood on the catwalks above, looking down at me with a mixture of fear and scorn. Lions, tigers and other felines prowled in the shadows that lay mostly untouched by the incomplete lighting. But three stood out. Facing me, mere feet away from my bound and beaten body, stood three creatures. A large silverback gorilla, wearing whatever could be scavenged from cars and buildings as armor stood as the centerpoint, and to his right stood a simple pony, one with a green pelt and eyes that looked at me with more curiosity than anything else. My eyes widened in horror when I recognized her, she was the same pony that plagued all my nightmares! I quickly looked away from the pony, not wanting to provoke any of the creatures by looking them in the eye. Peeking over, I saw the third of their number; a large grey wolf. The three creatures stood in front of me, two of them stared at me with pure hatred except for the pony. Instead she looked at me with pity, and I could see something in her eyes, something that seemed closest to recognition than anything else. With a huff, the gorilla dropped down to his knuckles, ambling closer to me. He stayed back at arm’s reach, turning up his nose and scowling as my heart pounded in my chest. A thick finger pushed against my forehead, forcing my head up to look the ape leader in the eyes. He pressed my head to the left, and I knew that if I fought against him, he could snap my neck with little more than the single finger he had pressed against my head. He turned my head again, seeming to inspect me. And when his inspection was finished, the powerful gorilla shoved me back. “Weaklings,” he snarled under his breath. “An entire race of weaklings.” The gorilla stared me right in the eye, knowing with certainty that I was afraid of him, knowing that I stood no chance against him here, while he held every advantage. “How can it be that a race with no strength, no swiftness, no fangs, no claws, can do so little, and destroy so much?” All around him the creatures snarled and nodded their agreement. The ape bared his fangs at me in a frightening grin. “They say that I am your relative, that apes and man share blood. I am no kin of yours, weakling. I have had sons and daughters, mere babes who were stronger than this pitiful creature.” The gorilla leaned down into my face, and his hot breath poured over me in angry waves. “Sons and daughters that your kind stole away, to be entertainment in your zoos! Sons and daughters that I will never know!” I trembled, waiting for him to snap my neck with one jerk of his powerful wrist, or for him to rip my still beating heart out. But the blow of death never came, and the gorilla spun around, ambling back to sit amongst the other leaders of the creature army. I gave a sigh of momentary relief, and I peeked over to the pony, who had stood silent the entire time. She wasn’t looking at me, instead she looked disapprovingly at the gorilla, who stewed in his anger for all things human. “Demon!” the gorilla snapped, “What is your name!” Quickly the voices in the room grew quiet at the gorilla’s loud booming voice. I glared up at the ape furrowing my brow. “My name is Isaac, Isaac A. Ridgewood.” Murmurs rose up in the catwalks as animals leaned over and whispered into each others ears. I glanced up at the crowds above me, out of the corner of my eye I noticed something behind me. Other humans just like me sat back on their knees bags over their heads and hands tied behind their backs. Anger began boiling in the pit of my stomach, I needed to get out of here, I need to save the others and get the fuck out of New York as fast as I can. “Human! Answer my second question!” My vision quickly snapped back to the gorilla. “Why do you humans press the attack against us? Why do you seek and destroy my people?” This question threw me over the edge. “Really?.... R-really? You’re asking me why we were attacking you? Excuse me, but I think you got the wrong idea. Why were you attacking us!? That’s the question that should be going around here!” What type of idiotic question was that! That made no fucking sense! The gorilla snorted. “Oh really now... Human, last I remember when I was freed from my prison. I was getting chased by my captors and attacked by your police force.” I raised an eyebrow. “I think I would shoot at a fucking six hundred pound gorilla that just broke out of its cage too, and began running around attacking zoo keepers,” I remarked. “Hiding behind words,” snarled the grey wolf. “I can smell your fear, human. I can hear you heart pounding, your pulse racing. Every last one of the humans I have met on the field of battle has been the same. So afraid, so pitiful. There’s not a shred of courage in your misbegotten blood.” “Really now! I had to fight fucking three wolves a week back on my own! That takes fucking courage if you don’t ask me,” I snapped, the wolf furrowed its brow and snarled. “What if I had your bonds cut, what if I even gave you a weapon, where would your courage stand then? Fight me, human, and I’ll show you what courage really is.” I glared at the wolf. "All of you enough!” ordered the pony on the right. “We brought them here for answers, not to bring the fight to the ones we are meant to leave be!” The pony snapped, “By the looks of it no one knows who started what, the reason why we're here is to figure out how to stop this God forsaken fight before it turns into a war!” The pony took a deep breath, glaring at the other leaders of the creature revolt, as if her pleas for non-violence came from a greater command. “Don’t you see, Harmony! It is too late to try for peace now! The Demons have already killed our beloved leader Greymane!” The Gorilla pounded his fist into the concrete, The pony glared at the Gorilla, “That’s not what Patrem would say! It is never too late to lay down our arms!” “You would place your trust in the word of one who is too afraid to take the field of battle? Who cares what that stone-brained fool thinks!” The wolf barked in response to the mare. I stared at the three creatures while they bickered back and forth, So much for being organized, I thought, they can’t even stop fighting amongst themselves. Oh, ho ho ho, yes. This is what I like... I jolted at the sound of the voice, it was nothing like what I heard before. This one sounded more masculine, like a man. Yet at the same time it had a deep raspy touch to it and sounded heavy, like a... What, a monster? Haha! You could say so pal. What the Hell! What, surprised that I can read your thoughts? I began looking around the room searching for the creature who supposedly could read my thoughts. Hahaha! the voice chortled, It’s going to be awhile till you can find me if you keep searching like that, boy. “NO!” I yelled finally realizing it, “Get out of my head!” I would be quiet if I were you, boy! Ha! You know what, keep talking out loud to yourself, look like a crazy fool! I quickly closed my mouth and looked up at the creatures who all stared at me as if I was insane. “Human?” said the pony named Harmony. “Who are you talking to?” she asked. My eyes quickly snapped towards her. She stepped forward cautiously, and I could see it in the light behind her eyes that something was wrong. Go ahead, tell her, chuckled the voice. Tell her you’re talking to a voice in your head, come on. Tell her just like you told your poor brother. And look at what happened there, you ran away like a pitiful coward, and left him there by himself. He’s probably dead now, all because you wanted to talk about the voices in your head. Please, I spoke to the voice through my thoughts, just shut up. Oh come on now, don’t be a downer. You know what? Let’s start over! Hello, I’m- God dammit please just shut the fuck up! Don’t you see I’m in a life or death situation! The voice went silent for a few moments, looking back over the creatures I saw that the gorilla and the wolf were having what seemed to me like a pretty humorous chat. The pony though, she just stood there, looking at me with a concerned yet intrigued look. Ahem, hellllo! Earth to Isaac! Damn it’s like talking to a brick wall. I rolled my eyes at the voice. Fine, what do you want!? Whoa! Don’t take that attitude up with me mister, the voice scolded. Well anyways as I was saying, I think I can help you... I frowned. Okay, I’m listening. How exactly can you help me? Instantly I felt a pleased feeling at the back of my mind, as if the voice was smiling. Right as we speak a group of soldiers are making their way down here to get you out. But the thing is, they’re in a bit of trouble and you’re the only one that can help them. How the Hell do you know all of this? I asked, the voice chuckled. Trust me when I tell you this, Isaac, I know many things. Well, how can I help these soldiers, as you can see I have my hands tied behind my back! Well that’s easy.... FIGHT! the voice roared. H-how!? I can’t fight with my hands behind my back! Of course you can! Use your legs, stupid! the voice snapped. I would be crushed, beaten and brutally murdered if I try and fight them! I retorted. “Human!” shouted the gorilla, “Stop ignoring us and answer our questions or we’ll have you killed!” Just warning you here pal, they ain’t joking about the killing part. “S-sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” I stammered, and the wolf snorted in derision. “Typical.” I shot the wolf an irritated glare. Alright pal, you’re going to need to listen to me here. If you want to get out alive you see. Of course, there’s no guarantee that you’ll leave here whole. Alright I’m listening, I said ignoring the Gorilla’s third question anyways. Over on your right is a guard that’s not paying attention, in fact he is lost in his dreams. Glancing to my right I saw a nasty looking rodent guard glancing up at the ceiling daydreaming. Right below him is a gun that one of the human soldiers had, before Commander Cunt-Face ordered his guards to take him away. How the Hell do you know all this?, I asked. The voice groaned in frustration. Like I said before kid, “I know a lot of things.” Now in a few seconds before the dumb ape orders for you to put to death, I need you to make a dive for the gun. And with that the voice left. Wait! How the Hell am I supposed to know when they’re going to K- “Human! Forget it, this one’s mind is lost! Guards!” Shouted Kuntchra. “The demon isn’t cooperating! Take him away!” My heart skipped a beat, my eyes snapped to my right. Acting on instinct I lunged at the guard, the rodent guard who sat there daydreaming finally snapped back into reality. With me ramming my shoulder into him, the guard stumbled and fell back on his ass. “The human is resisting! Kill him, kill him now before he escapes!” Shouted a pony on one of the upper balconies. I fell to my knees quickly climbing back up I looked around every animal in my vicinity was now coming at me. Sweat began to pour down my face, my heart racing faster than ever. Why the fuck am I standing here doing nothing! I turned back around the guard I knocked over began climbing back onto his paws. I then hopped over the guard kicking him in the gut in the process which sent him tumbling over. You idiot! I told you to grab the gun that was right by him! shouted the voice, “I’m sorry but there isn’t enough time!” I shouted over the riled up surgelings, I swiftly maneuvered my way passed a few guards and kicked open a door that was already partially opened. I quickly slammed the door behind, loud clangs of metal could be heard off the doors surface. And just an inch away from my face, the tip of a sharp blade punched through the thick metal of the door. I yelped in fear and stumbled away from the door. The animals rammed at the door forming large indents, looking back at the blade tip I grinned. turning my back towards it I raised my arms as high as I could. Gently positioning my bonds over it, once I felt the thin wire touch the blade tip. I began sawing through my bonds, seconds later a large dent formed in the door a few inches to my right. You better hurry up pal, that door won’t save you for long. “Would you just shut up and let me work!” I snarled. After a few more tugs I felt the bonds give way and my hands swing back to my sides. “Ah, finally!” I said excitedly, “Alright how the Hell do I-” A large spear punctured through one of the indents on the door, just barely grazing my side. “Oh, Shit!” I swore, clutching at the slight flesh wound. I stumbled back away from the door, looking around for any kind of escape route. Just like the rest of the sewer way, the little service room was darkened, and I had trouble seeing anything at all. Right behind me I heard another loud bang erupt from behind the door as a large axe like object tore a large hole in the door. Seconds later the axe retreated back, causing small amounts of light to seep through the open hole. Following the light I saw that it landed on something peculiar, a small metal ventilation shaft. This might be my only chance of escape, I thought. Making a dash towards the the shaft, I grasped my fingers around the metal counterparts. Using all my strength I tugged on it, to no luck nothing happened. Another bang followed by the sound of screeching metal roared behind me, glancing back I saw the door was about to give way. “God dammit!” I shouted, pushing myself away from the wall I raised my leg and began kicking it. Upon impact the thin metal caved in on itself, allowing me access to the vents, getting back onto my knees I began trying to push myself through. It was a tight squeeze, but after a few pushes I was able to get in. Inside I was greeted by intense heat and a terrible smell. Ignoring the uncomfortable feelings I made my way through, crawling through the vents. Behind me I heard the roar of frustrated creatures, inside the vents was like a maze, countless lefts and rights turned, guided me to my unknown location. After what felt like an hour, I came across another opening that led down into a barely lit room. Taking a deep breath I began kicking the vent trying to get out. :[-]: I landed onto the hard pavement with a thud, gasping in pain I slowly made myself climb to my feet. Looking around my barely lit environment, I realized where I was. The New York City subways, I remember all the countless tales back in Hooverville about how dangerous it was down here. Not wanting to stay around for too long I began to make my move. The farther I began to head down the tunnel, the sounds of gunshots could be heard. Instantly I remember the voice telling me about a group of soldiers who were in danger and needed my assistance. While walking through the almost pitch blackness I felt my right foot catch something causing me to stumble forward. Looking back I found a dead Marine, my stomach cringed at the sight of his wounds. The whole right side of his face seemed to have been eaten away, large gash marks outlined his body. But he seemed to have been clutching something close to his chest, bending down I found he was clutching onto a handheld radio and a Carbine. Bending down I snatched the soldiers carbine and his radio. Examining the weapon, the man only had half a magazine left. Taking the carbine I strapped it to my back. Next I moved onto the radio, after a few seconds I found the power turning it on I was startled by the sounds of gunshots and soldier yelling into the radio. “This Captain Steward from Giant Squad. I repeat this is Captain Steward from Giant Squad. We’re by 5 Av/59 St. I repeat we’re by 5 Av/59 St and we are in a need of some back up! This area is crawling with Surgeling activity and we need an immediate Valkyrie strike!” After that gunshots took over followed by static, “Roger that Captain Steward, I’m afraid we cannot do that.” Came another voice, “What! Why! I’ve already lost two Marines to the goddamn bastards!” Steward shouted. Quickly I began heading in the direction, while listening to the two men argue. “With the amount of civilian refugees in the area we cannot risk harming them.” “What are you talking about there’s no goddamn civilians!” Another round of gunfire filled in drawing out the other speaker, “You can’t just leave us here to die like this!” He shouted, no response came from the other end, “Goddammit!” With that there was silence, save for the distant sound of gunfire coming from further down the metro tunnel. Turning the radio off I stuffed it in the pocket of my jacket and decided to push further, towards the sound of gunfire. :[-]: The sounds of gunfire gradually grew louder and louder as I traversed my way through the tunnel. The cries of the soldiers growing louder with every second, my heart pounding in my chest. How am I possibly going to overcome these creatures and save these men!? Behind me I heard a growl of a creature, spinning around in the darkness, I couldn’t see anything. Except for a dark tunnel that stretched on for miles and miles upon end, I slowly began to step back. “Where’s a flashlight when you really need one?” I asked myself, I gasped while stumbling over one of the rails. “Shit!” I panicked, a loud screech echoed off the walls. Looking up I saw a dark mass tackle me to the ground. I screamed out in terror, landing on the ground with a grunt. I raised my new gun up trying to defend myself from my mysterious attacker. The creature swung at me with sharp nasty claws, barely scratching my face, it tried leaning forward trying to bite at my face. Its foul breath making me want to puke, the strength of this hideous monster was almost unbelievable. Every second it slowly began to overpower me, getting closer with every push. The sound it made every time it got closer taunted me, as if it was laughing at me. Finally the creature broke through my defense, its right paw lashed out at me . Slicing through my jacket, it dug it’s nasty sharp claws into my flesh. My own blood gushed from my open wound, drenching my cloths with it’s crimson color. I cried out in agony, my flesh burned as if someone took a small cup of battery acid and drenched my wound in it. The surgeling roared in apparent victory, lunging back down for another attack. I raised my carbine and jammed it in it’s chest. Pulling the trigger a loud shot rang throughout the tunnel, blood sprayed all across my face. The surgeling cried out in pain before falling back on the floor it began convulsing. The recoil from the gun threw my arm back causing the gun to fly out of my hand and land on the floor. I sat there for a few seconds, trying to get the pain in my right shoulder to wear off. But it wouldn’t it only continued to scream in agony, causing waves of pain to surge through my body. I began to feel sick, I wanted to puke my vision began to blur. What the fuck is happening to me!? Why, why can’t I see straight? I flipped onto my side, climbing to my feet. I instantly felt woozy, I needed to sit down, but I couldn’t. What if those creatures came back? I needed to get somewhere safe. I couldn’t fight, whatever that creature did to me is not good. Not good at all, I need to find someplace to rest. Taking my first step I instantly collapsed, landing on the ground my right shoulder landed on one of the rails. And instantly I heard a loud crack! Pain surged through my body, “Fuuuccckkk!” I cried out, I gasped in pain. Trying with all my might to hold back the tears that were billowing up at the corners of my eyes. I sat there on the floor of the subway tunnel biting back the tears. In the distance behind me I could hear the sounds of the surgelings coming my way. Ahead of me I couldn’t hear the battle anymore. I moaned and began trying to move my body, only to be denied by a wave of excruciating pain. Well this is it, I thought, I’m going to die in a subway full of mutant rats... Heh, what a fucked up way to go isn’t it? All I need now is a- My thoughts were interrupted by sounds of footsteps, the heel of shoes clicking on the concrete caught my ears. Glancing up I saw a sight that I thought I would never see, out of the inky darkness came a figure. A man shrouded in patches of darkness, that flowed off his body like a cloud of blood underwater. He had a smug grin on his face, he wore a tuxedo and had long ragged hair and a scruffy beard. As the man got closer I gasped... It was me. :[-]: My doppelganger approached me, the look on its face was a smug grin that sent chills down my spine. You know like those kind of looks that practically slaps the “Hey I’m evil, or I’m about to do something bad” type of title on you. “Well, look at what we got here,” said my doppelganger. I glanced up at him, confused terrified, what the Hell happened to me when that damn creature scratched me!? My doppelganger came down onto one knee in front of me, stretching out his right hand. “Here, take my hand.” He says, I cried out in pain when I attempted to move my right arm, “With your left arm you moron.” He snarled, “Who are you?” I panted while taking his hand, the figure smirked. “Isn’t it obvious Isaac? I’m you. At least, I’m the darker side of you. I’m a part of everyone.” He chuckled, “Now get up, we have things to do.” “What about the soldiers?” I asked, my doppelganger snorted. “Forget about them, they were able to escape but since your slow ass took so long they lost most of their forces and had to retreat. You failed them, my dear boy.” My doppelganger pulled me to my feet, every step causing me to take a ragged breath. “So, what now then? What can I do, what can we do!?” My doppelganger’s smile grew bigger taking his hand he placed it on my left shoulder. “You’re running out of time Isaac, you must warn the human forces before it’s too late. They must rally their armies before the second wave, they need to prepare. New York Isaac cannot fall, if New York is lost, They might as well call checkmate.” I clutched my right shoulder and raised an eyebrow at myself, “What are you talking about?” I asked, “Judgement Day is coming Isaac, today when the sun is at it’s highest well you know what I’m talking about. You must warn them Isaac before it’s too late! And remember, you are not alone in this, my agents enact my will all across the world. But do not forget, so do Hers,” he hissed. “She’s been trying to convert you and thousands of other humans to their side, whispering to you in your dreams, showing Her lies. She’s the one who is behind the entire war. If she comes to you again, don’t listen,” he said before turning away from and heading back into the darkness “What do I do after I warn them?” I asked, he stopped and glanced back me “For in which the second wave Go down below to find the way Stay away from the wretched bay For deep below the Kraken lays But remember to stay within the light Or you will become prey for the dwellers of the night.” I stared at my doppelganger, “Who are you?” I asked again bewildered on how he knew that poem. My doppelganger grinned and straightened his tie. “Everybody has their own name for me. You can call me Lucifer, the Catalyst of Fear..." Authors Message Sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. I mostly had family issues and freaking writers block, but the issues have been resolved and the wall has been broken. So expect another chapter later this month or next month.