I woke up gasping and looked around the room. I guess my new starting point is here, but the only way to find my sister is to get stronger—strong enough that no one can get in my way. 'V… I will kill him.'
As I thought that, I grabbed Shiori and began to head downstairs, but a sudden voice entered my ears. "LOUIS… HOW… I SEEN YOU HOLDING MY DEAD BODY… WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Shiori began freaking out. "Wait… YOU… YOU REMEMBER?!" I asked, shocked.
"Louis, you know what's going on?" Shiori asked me, concern and curiosity in her voice. "Yea… yea I do. If you want to think of it as a power, you can—but ultimately it's a curse. I can go back in time when I die…" After I said this, the silence was loud.
"Why can I remember? Is it because I'm connected to your soul now? Then maybe you travel to a similar universe when you die and my soul follows?" Shiori asked herself, thinking aloud.
"Whatever the case may be, you're too weak to fight that V guy. We should leave. Most of the people out there aren't even human… just puppets meant to keep us here." As Shiori said this, a loud static noise came from the TV.
'There's electricity in this place too? But how?' I thought as it flashed to the news channel.
"So can you tell us, Mr. Vixen, how did you come to be the hero of this town?" the news anchor asked, sweat pouring down her face.
"Well, really it was because of one emotion… fear. The first time I felt fear I told myself I could never feel so weak and powerless… so I killed everyone I feared… so that I'll never feel that weak again," Vixen said, staring coldly at the camera.
My skin crawled watching him, so I turned it off. What a monster—killing his father because he was scared. After seeing that, I made up my mind.
Three hours later.
I scaled the large gate, and as I did I saw a couple of zombies banging on the walls. Seeing that, I pulled out the katana on my back.
"This may hurt a little, Shiori. Forgive me if it does," I said as I ran toward the edge of the gate. I leapt, falling at fast speeds, but I stuck Shiori into the brick wall, slowing my fall—eventually stopping—and then I pulled it out, kicking my feet off the wall and flipping over the zombies.
"See? That wasn't so bad."
"ARE YOU TRYING TO BREAK ME?!" Shiori yelled as I ran into the darkness.
After a couple minutes of running, I came across a few zombies. I managed to kill them. 'I think I'm getting better. I seem less tired after killing five,' I thought.
I suddenly came across a decent-looking mechanic shop. "Woah, this place looks like it's still running… that's weird," I said curiously. "Yeah, that is weird. There may be something in there—let's go see."
I approached the building, opening the front door slowly, calling out if anyone was there. Before I could get any words out a red laser pointed at me and then gunshots went off.
TAT-TAT-TAT—
"FUCK I GOT HIT!" I yelled as I hid behind a metal counter. "Why the fuck is there a machine gun shooting at me?"
"Oh don't be a baby. It was only your shoulder," Shiori said as I crawled to a different spot.
But suddenly they stopped. "Why were my babies going off? Is anyone here?" the feminine voice called.
"Your 'babies' shot the fuck out of me," I said as I stood up holding my shoulder. "IT WAS MY GOOD ARM TOO."
The woman apologized and patched me up. "So what's the deal with that wrench you're holding? Are you a mechanic?" I asked, curious.
"Yep. My dad taught me when I was younger. This is his shop, and this wrench… it was his before he died. It turned into an artifact, and now I've been relying on it ever since," the girl said.
"That's… I'm pretty sure your dad is proud of you and the person you became," I said, trying to lighten the mood. 'Fuck, I suck at this kind of stuff,' I thought.
"Anyway, enough of that. I take it you left 'paradise' because you found out it wasn't exactly paradise?" she asked.
"How… how did you know?" I asked as she wrapped the bandage around my shoulder. If she wasn't Shiori would be in my hand after she said that.
"Because everyone who comes this way is either from that place or just a random survivor, but you look too well-fed, so it was pretty easy to guess," the girl said.
"Then what about you? How have you been surviving?" As I asked this, a small robot walked into the room holding a plate with eggs and pancakes on it.
"This… this is so freaking unfair," I said as I stuffed my face with the pancakes.
"Yeah. They go out, get ingredients, cook it, and bring it to me. I also get new gadgets because I gave that little town you left electricity," the girl said.
An hour or two later I packed my stuff to leave, but I heard a low huffing noise coming from the other side of the door.
"The hell is that noise?" I said, peeking out the door a little. I saw the same monster-like creature I'd seen in the hospital, other zombies hanging off of him as he walked with his two arms on the ground.
But he was faster than me. I closed the door and tried to get out of the way, but he punched through it, sending me flying into the wall.
The automatic guns began firing but the bullets bounced off him as the monster protected its head and moved closer to destroy the turrets.
"SHIT, IT'S BULLET PROOF?!" the girl yelled as she ran toward me. She grabbed my arm and lifted me up, helping me walk through the door, but the beast went on a rampage, destroying all of her creations. At that point the whole building might come down.
"Wait, no—stop. Your shop—everything's being destroyed…" I tried to talk her out of leaving, but she insisted on saving me.
"I haven't done anything worthy my whole life. I've lived off the power my father left me. So if I die, at least I'll die knowing I saved someone once," she said as the monster began running toward us.
I saw a tear fall from her eye. My vision went dark for a second—someone willing to sacrifice everything to save me, after everyone else left me to die, it gave me… hope.
I pushed her off me and unsheathed Shiori from my back.
"HOPE… THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE STRENGTH TO FIGHT," I said, giving one final glance toward the woman.
"ARE YOU CRAZY? DO YOU SEE THAT MONSTER? YOU'LL DIE!" she screamed, but I ignored her.
"Shiori, I might die here… but are you willing to walk the path of death with me?"
"Of course. The moment our souls connected was the moment I swore absolute loyalty."
After hearing Shiori's answer, I rushed toward the monster, feeling strength in my legs I'd never felt before. It swung its arm frantically—slow, but heavy. I knew one hit would injure me worse than I already was.
I slashed at its arms, but the cuts didn't go deep enough—its muscles were too thick. It stopped swinging and began charging at me.
I dodged in time, but it left chaos and destruction in its path. "Shiori, do it!" I commanded as I struggled to get back up.
"OK, FOLLOW ME!" she shouted. As she said this, my right eye felt like a third-person POV of Shiori, so I began following her motions—even her breathing. I copied everything.
The mechanic shop quaked, walls groaning as the monster's hulking frame smashed through a row of rusted cars. Oil spilled across the floor; flames from sparking wires crawled along in hungry streaks. The stench of blood and burning rubber thickened the air until every breath was fire in my lungs.
The beast slammed its fists down, each hit cracking the concrete like thunderclaps. Shards of broken steel and glass rained down. My ears rang; my vision swayed. Still, I raised Shiori, her polished edge already painted with black gore.
"Louis… don't flinch. Watch its rhythm." Her voice bled into my mind, calm against the chaos.
The monster lunged, swinging an arm thicker than a tree trunk. I dropped low—my boots sliding through oil—feeling the heat of its passing fist graze my hair. The strike obliterated a machine behind me, crushing it flat in an explosion of sparks and twisted metal.
I spun, slashing at its ribs. Flesh tore, black blood spraying across my cheek in a hot mist. The cut wasn't deep enough. The creature's hide was like wet iron.
It shrieked, swinging again. This time the blow connected. The impact sent me flying into a stack of tires, my ribs screaming, the wind ripped from my chest. I coughed blood, spat it out, and staggered up, hand tightening on Shiori's grip until my knuckles cracked.
"Stand on your feet! You have to fight with your very being… your soul," Shiori's voice was sharp, commanding.
The monster charged again, arms smashing everything in its path. Toolboxes exploded into the air, wrenches and bolts clattering like shrapnel. The girl in the doorway screamed as the ceiling buckled above her.
My right eye flickered. The world shifted—my vision split, part my own, part Shiori's. Her ghostly silhouette ran beside me in perfect sync.
I moved. No hesitation. No thought. Just instinct fused with her rhythm.
The beast's claw came down like a guillotine. I planted my foot against its wrist, vaulting up its arm, sparks erupting as my blade carved a jagged line across thick muscle. I landed on its shoulder, both hands gripping Shiori, and drove the blade down toward its neck.
The steel screeched as it bit bone. Black blood geysered upward, coating my face and chest. The monster howled, twisting violently, slamming me against a half-crushed car. My spine burned, but I refused to let go.
I screamed back, veins bulging, shoving with every last shred of strength. The katana carved deeper, sparks dancing as steel scraped through sinew and bone.
The monster staggered, smashing itself into the wall in desperation, trying to crush me. The entire shop shook; concrete fractured.
The beast charged blindly now, blood pouring from its wounds, each step breaking more of the collapsing building. I steadied my stance, hair hanging in my eyes, chest heaving.
"… one last strike." Her voice was fierce, resolute. "Let's end this together."
Time slowed.
The monster roared, swinging both fists down in a killing blow. I sprinted forward, sparks exploding beneath my boots. My body screamed in pain but my will surged beyond it.
I leapt. For a breathless instant, I soared through smoke and falling debris. Shiori glowed faintly in my hands—a strong energy that surrounded the entire shop.
"THAT ENERGY…" the girl muttered as she watched the whole scene unfold.
"NOW!"
I brought her down in a vicious arc. The blade split the monster's skull open, bone crunching, blood erupting in a violent spray that painted the burning shop walls black.
The beast collapsed like a landslide through counters and machines in a storm of dust and rubble. Silence followed, broken only by the hiss of fire and my ragged breathing.
I stood over its twitching corpse, drenched in blood and sweat, Shiori's steel trembling in my grip. My chest heaved, my ribs screamed, but my eyes burned with new fire.
"…We're still alive," I muttered.
Shiori's voice, softer now: "No. We won. Remember this feeling."
I collapsed on the floor, exhausted.
"HEY! DON'T DIE ON ME!" That was the last thing I heard before I blacked out, Shiori still in my hand.
END OF CHAPTER