Lane jolted awake as the train jostled slightly in the tunnel. He glanced around, at first he didn't recognize his surroundings. He didn't understand how he could've got here but the sound of children laughing drew him out of his thoughts. Two small kids were playing together in the middle of the train, trying two stand on each others feet as their mothers watched on with small smiles on their face.
"The youth sure are energetic." A gravelly voice said from next to him. Lane glanced to the elderly man next to him, his worn skin curving up in a nostalgic smile. Lane's lips curved up slightly. "They sure are sir." The man looked to him, the smile on his face practically shining through his eyes, something else caught Lane's eye, the man's cane. It was made of a long dark wood with a pointy tip and some kind of diamond shaped ornament on the top with a dark purple hue. Lane chuckled slightly, the man's cane seemed to e a complete contrast to his demeaner. "Your still young, boy." He said. "A strapping young man like you is sure to have a lot of energy." Lane chuckled slightly and as he went to respond the train suddenly stopped. Causing some of the passengers to fall while Lane helped the man to stay upright.
The lights in the carriage flickered off and the two children screamed, darting back to the safety of their mothers. The only light came from the dim green emergency lights that pulsed on and off. Passengers started murmuring amongst themselves with theories of why the train stopped while some others moved up the train to go find the conductor. The carriage seemed to be in a state of controlled panic with people quietly discussing their worries. Until a loud thud rang out through the entire train from the back of it. Then another, and another until it sounded as though something was crawling its way across the top of the train. The thuds got louder as they got closer and Lane tracked its movements with his eyes before all the noise suddenly stopped.
The passengers were quiet, to the point where only the faint cries of the children could be heard. Everyone was waiting for something to happen, for someone to come in and tell them everything was okay but unfortunately that isn't what happened. One of the windows close to the end of the cart blew inwards as something bulldozed its way inside, immediately tackling down a person and snapping their neck with its jaw. People around shrieked and slowly backed away from the creature, keeping their eyes on it as they watched it enjoy its meal. What is that? Lane himself was stunned, unsure of what to do. If he stayed here he could be targeted by the thing next but if he ran it would notice him quicker.
As he was weighing his options someone had already come to a decision, choosing to bolt up from their seat and trying to run in the opposite direction. The creature immediately snapped its head up, showing off its pale eyeless face and bloody mouth. It darted after him, leaping through the air with its strong hind legs and climbing on him to bite into the man's throat. Blood splattered throughout the cart, spraying people sitting and standing nearby. They shook with fear, their eyes wide as they realized what they were covered in before they screamed and tried to run. This set off the entire cart as people ran for the exits trying to get into the next cart over, trampling over each other and shoving others out of the way as they went.
This attempt was worthless, the doors wouldn't open after power was turned off to the train. Once the frenzied people realized they couldn't escape, they turned on one another trying to push others towards the monster to prevent them from being the one eaten next. Lane watched this scene from his seat, dumbfounded. He even saw the elderly man who had smiled so kindly earlier push one of the children towards the monster, his eyes glazed over with fear. The girl landed on her knees in front of the monster seeming to be the next one to be eaten. She stared up at it, her eyes welling up with tears as she clutched the doll in her hands, hugging it tightly. It's jaw widened as it leaned down to swallow the girl, who was trembling and had squeezed her eyes shut.
Lane couldn't even tell when he moved, he darted forward and delt a flying knee to the creature's head before scooping up the girl and trying to run, Before he could get away an arm flew out and collided with his back sending him flying into some of the seats nearby and knocking him out.
When he could open his eyes again, the carriages seemed to stink of blood. He cracked his eyes open, his gaze meeting the lifeless gaze of the old man who had half of his arm removed, his cane strewn out in front of him. Lane's chest felt wet and he was trembling slightly, the girl from earlier was still clinging to his chest, making her the second person left alive in the cart. Lane could hear the girl quietly sobbing into his shirt. With shaky hands, Lane reached out and hugged the girl to comfort her. He started to hush her quietly, thinking the monster was gone.
Until the girl was violently pulled from his grip with a scream. Lane was paralyzed, he could hear the low shriek of the creature as it observed its new prey. Just as he was about to get up and try to divert its attention, he stopped. If she dies... Then maybe I can live. The girl whined and cried for help, trying to get Lane's attention but he seemed to be trapped in his own fear. "Please... help." She muttered breathlessly. This seemed to draw Lane out of his trance. If he was going to die, he wanted to die human. His eyes spotted the old man's cane in front of him. He grabbed it with shaky hands before swiftly getting up and plunging the sharp end through its jaw. It let out a sharp scream, releasing the girl before stumbling backwards clutching its face.
It roared in agony, its attention turning to Lane as it darted towards him. Lane stood strong preparing to accept his fate until the creature slipped on the blood on the floor, falling head first and driving the cane through its skull. It let out a short squeak before going completely still. Dead. Lane stared at its crumpled form, breathing heavily before running over to where the girl had been thrown. He tried to pick her up, encouraging her to get up but she slipped out of his grasp and his hands came back bloody. He was too late, the creature had driven its claws into her stomach. She was dead. Because he hesitated. A green fog started to make its way into the cart causing Lane to get light headed and start coughing but he didn't move, he clung to the girl. I deserve this. He thought before he passed out.
-
Note: The Mist - The mist is a green fog of unknown origins, it destabilizes human DNA creating walkers. Walker skills are often dependent on the skills and strength of the person consumed by the mist. There is a way to escape the mist.
A dull throbbing engulfed Lane's body as he slowly woke up. The first thing he noticed was that he was warm and instead of resting on a cold pillow of snow he was on a plush mattress in a dark room. In the corner of the room rested a small fireplace that was the only source of light in the room. Lane groaned slightly as he pried his eyes open, his body throbbed and his head ached. At first he rested in the warmth and comfort before his thoughts finally caught up to him and he bolted upright in bed. He frantically scanned the room only finding a basic wooden chair by his bed and a desk nearby the fire. "How am I alive?" He mumbled to himself in complete disbelief.
"What are you doing?!" Lane's eyes immediately darted to the source of the noise, the white haired man stood at the now opened doorway with a black cloak wrapped around him, a small wooden bowl in hand and a exasperated expression covering his face. He stood and stared at him for a few moments with the same expression before his face softened and he moved to place the bowl on the table nearby before sitting on the chair by the bed. "You can't be moving around. You are going to tear your stitches." Feigning an annoyed sigh he walked towards Lane but he couldn't hide the curious gleam in his eyes as he observed the human. Lane leaned away from him as he came closer, putting on a cautious expression. As the man reached to lift his shirt, he swatted his hand away and glowered at him. "What do you think your doing? Who the hell are you?" The white haired man frowned at him, sticking out his bottom lip slightly seemingly both out of annoyance and confusion.
"I'm the guy who saved your ass." He said matter-of-factly. "Sally hurt you so I took you home to treat your wounds." He mumbled as he rubbed his hand that had been smacked out of the way where a red mark was forming. Lane observed his demeanor and actions, staring at the man intently. He looks rather delicate, I could kill him if he tried anything funny. He looked the man over once again before his eyes landed on something peculiar. A pair of feathery grey antenna were resting atop the man's head, twitching slightly in annoyance as he watched him. Lane's curious eyes then moved to the man's back, a large, glossy, thin set of wings were sprouting from the man's back. The canvas like wings were covered in delicate pink and grey patterns which Lane had mistaken for a cloak in his state earlier. At first, Lane was entranced by his appearance before snapping out of his trance and eyeing him cautiously but with a sense of intrigue.
"Your a humanoid." Lane stated plainly.
Note: Humanoids - Humanoids are a sub-species of humans and animals. Humanoids manage to escape the fate of The Mist by stabilizing their DNA with an animal. However the humanoids don't retain the memories of their lives ashumans.
The humanoid feigns a surprised expression, staring at his wings and antenna as if he had only just noticed them, "Impressive observation, glad to know your eyes are still working. Now let me check your stitches." As the humanoid reached his hand out again it was decisively swatted away. "Don't touch me, humanoid." Lane snapped, glaring at him intensely. The humanoid met his glare with the same energy, his antenna standing straight out of his head. "Don't be stupid, human."
Lane tried to climb out of bed but as soon as he twisted his torso he felt his stiches tear with a deafening pop causing Lane and the humanoid to both wince involuntarily. The humanoid glanced down, noticing the blood starting to seep through Lane's clean clothes, grimacing as his annoyance was forgotten. His demeaner shifted, he became softer and his voice became quiet. "Look. I'm trying to help you. I know humans have their reservations about humanoids but you don't have the freedom to care right now. Besides, if I turn out to be a threat, you can kill me. I know you want to."
Note: Human and Humanoid tensions - Humans consider humanoids unpredictable as they were close to becoming walkers. As such, humanoids are often hunted and have been forced into hiding if they want to live a peaceful life.
Lane glares at him suspiciously but eventually let out a huff before relaxing and moving his hands out of the way of his wounds. The humanoid reached out cautiously but when Lane did flick him away he gently lifted his shirt. He examined it for a moment before clicking his tongue in annoyance. "I knew it. You tore your stitches." He grabbed a small rag from one of his clothes pockets and started cleaning the blood away. "This is why I told you not to move. Now I'll need to sew you up again." The humanoid started to fiddle with his hands, seemingly pulling thread out of his fingers. He glanced up at Lane cautiously, "You aren't going to snap my neck if I do this, are you?" He gave him a small smirk that seemed to light up his features, his eyes crinkling at the corners a little.
Lane stares at him for a moment before averting his gaze. "No I won't. Do what you need to do." By now the humanoid had spun a sizeable thread which he brought up to his mouth to snap the end off with his teeth. He reached into his clothes and brought out a sewing needle, threading it and sterilizing it, Lane watched the entire process noticing that the faint smell of peppermint was spreading to his nose. The humanoid moved skillfully to sew up the wound, his eyes trained on what he was doing. While Lane's gaze was trained on the humanoid in facination. He could feel as the humanoids rough hands brushed against his bare skin, his expression was tense with concentration, the antenna on his head followed his eyes as he moved his eyes barely seen to Lane through his long eyelashes. "Stop squirming." He mumbled absentmindedly as he continued his task, glancing up at Lane to give him a look of warning.
"... That thread. Is that one of your humanoid abilities?" Lane asked turning his head away from the man to avoid his incoming stare. He waiting a few seconds for a response but when he didn't get one he started to regret showing his curiosity. Until, after a few moments a calm response came back. "That isn't really any of your business but yes." He leaned back to admire his work as he tied off the stitches before standing up. He turned around and walked to the table picking up the bowl left there, this gave Lane the chance to observe the humanoids slim figure and to more closely examine his wings. "You broke five ribs and that gash on your chest tore through a lot of your flesh, luckily Sally didn't hurt any of your organs and that I found you and treated you when I did." He turned back around to him, passing a bowl of soup to him before sitting down.
Lane picked at the food seemingly suspicious of it. The man sitting next to him picked at his nails as he stared into space, waiting patiently for Lane to finish eating, his soft skin flickered with the light from the fire and his antennae drooped over his face. He sure is pretty for a humanoid. Lane thought to himself before taking a cautious bite of the surprisingly delicious food. "...Where am I?" He finally asked after a few more bites. The humanoid looked up to him. "My home. It's not too far away from where I found you. There are only one or two other walkers near here, so you don't have to be worried."
"I need to leave." Lane decided as he went to stand up, pulling the blanket off of him much to the humanoids dismay. The familiar smell of peppermint filled the air in full force, confusing Lane slightly. "Hey no! You can't, you are too injured." The humanoid exclaimed, resting a hand on Lane's chest to gently push him down. "I need to return to my group." He stated plainly.
"Those humans left. They are long gone." Lane froze and stopped struggling. "They actually left me? They didn't even try to come back for my body?" His tone was quiet as he asked the question, he knew the answer but he was still stunned in disbelief. Was his service really worth nothing?
"You've been out for two days, you need to lie down." The humanoids hand gently pushed Lane down and Lane didn't stop him as his back landed on the plush bed. He noticed that the humanoid's hand was trembling as he touched him and he retracted it quickly as if Lane was hot to the touch. His entire body was shaking a little, he was pale and his breathing was a bit labored. Lane wanted to ask what was wrong but he kept his mouth shut thinking that it wasn't his business.