Black and White

by Dakilladj

Chapter 3

Artyom’s POV

Memories, dreams, choices, responsibilities, expectations, failures, and successes. I had a chance to re-experience my life once again as my consciousness wavered. The Dream-like state I was in allowed me to experience all kinds of emotions I never wanted to feel again. My station being overrun, Bourban bleeding out, and the bodies of those who failed in their mission. The memories only left me with a depressing sadness. I could do nothing to have stopped what had happened to the fallen.

Bourban. That man was the definition of suspicious. He had asked me to accompany him through some “haunted tunnels.” He must have heard that the paranormal didn’t affect me as much as other people. He was going to give me his AK after the trip, which was probably why I agreed to go on it. After some detours consisting of bandits, mutants, and other paranormal shit, he was shot. I could not help him.

This could only inspired me to do more for the living. Their fate was still undecided, and I could be the only one to decide it for them. I will try my hardest to keep my comrades safe, and if this proved to be too much... They would speak of me to all of the Metro. I will not be forgotten easily.

That is if I am still alive. I might be dead already, or I might just be in a coma somewhere on the surface. It is a wonder that I haven’t been eaten yet, if that is indeed the case. I don’t want to die nameless and alone, but with my current state, it may not be my call.

I just stopped. Put my mind on hold, and relaxed. I couldn’t feel my body, and I could see nothing but a void in my vision, yet I could’ve sworn I was moving. It felt like I was being moved somewhere else by something. Perhaps a survivor? Or a demon is bringing me to their nest?

Demons, The bane of all Metro dwellers. Hideous, vicious, and damn near unkillable. I have never heard of anyone being able to kill or injure one without dying themselves. These winged monsters were not beings you should mess with. Their mouths looked like those of the extinct hippopotamus, and their noses were like two rows honeycombs, They were grey and deformed with wrinkles and holes in their skin.

This was getting boring. Going through my life over and over again. I wondered if this was what the afterlife consisted of. If this was it, I am very disapp-

“Ow! What the fuck just hit me?!” My mind screamed as my eyes opened.

No one greeted them as I tried to recover from the pain. My entire body hurt as I lay on a surface. “Whoever did this, is going to go through a torture worse than death.” I told myself as I let my body recover. Bringing my hands to my head, I rubbed my temple. I tried to, but my gasmask wouldn’t let me do it. Not wanting to take it off incase I was on the surface, I kept it on and put my hands behind my head.

Once enough of the pain was gone, I slowly sat up. Opening my eyes I saw some grass by my boots and pants. A bullet fell from one of my belts strapped to my chest. Grabbing my AK from my back, and my revolver from my belt, I checked them over for damage. They both sustained little damage from the impact.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I focused my vision on the foliage in the distance. shrubs, grass, and trees were all I coul-

What? Trees? Bushes? Grass? Are you hallucinating?! Did you land on another planet or something?! Every single being on Earth knows that none of these object exist. Looking down at my feet, green grass surrounded me. Taking off my wool glove, I put my hand on the “Imaginary” grass. Sure enough, I could feel it. Clenching my hand, and bringing it to my nose, I could smell it as well.

What kind of drugs am I on? This can’t be real. Yet as I looked around, all I could see was green. A sea of green assaulted my vision, giving me a headache just looking at it all, absorbing it all.

Where am I? Definitely not Earth, nor in my mind. I had never seen grass or anything else like this in the past. The only logical explanation was that I was somewhere else, somewhere that wasn’t Earth. Where could I be? The planets I had heard about were said to be barren of life, let alone forestry!

Slowly taking in my surroundings, I had to accept the fact that I was in the unknown. Slowly getting to my feet was hard considering the pain that came from my head and body. Soldiering on, I looked for any kinds of buildings anywhere. Roofs, silos, houses, anything man-made.

To my relief in the distance, there was indeed a roof. It was purple...pink? It didn’t matter. It was something that someone had to have built. I’m going to have to go through a lot of trees with red fruit on them, in order to get there.

Before I got started, Something else caught my eye. A hole appeared? What the hell was that thing? I was smaller than the roof, but it looked out of place. In this land of colour, a white hole appearing out of nowhere struck me as strange. What really worried me though, was the demon that flew right out of it! Accompanied by some nosalises, it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Get your ass in gear! I ran towards the building that was going to come under siege by the mutants. My body protested against my actions, and I politely told myself to deal with it.The trees were not as much an obstacle as their roots were. I could not run five feet before having to jump over a root. It was more annoying than actually distracting, and not being accustomed to it, I soon found myself short of breath.

I was relieved when I finally made it to the house. It was painted pink and purple, no clue why. Looking above it, the hole hadn’t reappeared. Walking towards the house, I could spot the blood stains from even this distance. The blood was on the porch of the building and it lead into the actual house itself.

As I got closer, my suspicions were correct. The mutants had attacked someone here, and since they are not screaming in pain, they were probably dead. I could see tracks on the floor and in the blood. The nosalises tracks were the first I noticed. They were the only tracks I noticed as well. Strange, why didn’t the person attacked put up a fight? Or did they notice the creatures after it was too late?

My question would never be answered as I heard screams in the distance. Sure enough, on the building’s right from the back, a town could be seen. While the view was obstructed by trees, there were definitely a lot more roofs.

So what is it going to be? Go to the town? or stay here and check the house? Checking the house was a whole lot safer, yet the inhabitants were probably already dead. Another scream sounded from the town before I made my choice. Running away from the farmhouse, I muttered a quick prayer for the inhabitants, and one for myself. I was going to need it.

Comments

[mordecaitheguy]

It will be interesting how the ponies react to the sudden, merciless, violence of the mutants and how Artyom will inevitably have to kill them.
Damm, fluttershy is gonna be piiiiiiiiiiiiiiissed off if that happens

Please write more!