//------------------------------// // Among the Darkness // Story: Affinity // by Havelock //------------------------------// "I hate you, daddy! I hate you!" Razor heard. "What the... who are you?" he asked. "I hate you, daddy! Go away and never come back!" 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.