Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
Ringing ears. Rusty air. Hoarse throat.
Cough— Cough—
Every limb felt heavy. Pinned down by the weight of… what happened exactly?
Leo opened his eyes. Blinding light stabbed through his eyelids. He rolled over, coughing whatever was in his mouth and nose.
"What… hap…pened…" Words barely came out, most of them were caught by the pain in his throat. He tried to sit up, but every muscle he tried to move like needles of fire. As time passed, the pain subsided slowly. He pushed himself up, and looked around.
Nothing.
The city was gone. Not as destroyed, but gone. Erased. What was left were small buildings that somehow survived—
"Ah!" Leo clutched his head as it burned. Memories rushed in; Betty, love, Felix, grandfather, then nothingness.
He fell to his knees. "What happened? Did I do all of this?"
Of you did. Who else has the power to destroy the world? You did it.
"No! No… it… was…"
It was you. You did it.
"Why is my mind fighting against me?! I…"
Because you are a horrible person. Look around you. You probably killed them all.
Killed…
"Oh, no… Betty!" Leo screamed. He stood up fast, forgetting the pain. "Betty! Yuki! Alex!"
No one answered. No one was here.
He ran until his lungs gave out. He walked until his legs gave out. He crawled whenever he heard the psithurism of wind. Nothing. He found no one.
Not a single person.
This is the twelfth time he passed by his house, hoping that maybe someone was still here. But the only thing he found was dust and rust.
"They… they must alive." He laughed nervously. "I'm alive so they must be too. They have to be. They should be. They are alive."
But when his stomach growled, he remembered his pain. He had been searching for sixteen hours now, and the sun had already set. He had to find food and shelter. Fast.
…
Fire crackled as he chew on cold beans he found in a grocery store — or what was left of it.
You look pathetic. You can't even find your own family.
"Who are you and why are you in my head?!" Leo shouted into the silence.
I am you. But I was set free to talk inside your head after what have you done.
"I didn't do anything. It was just—"
A mistake? Oh poor child. Can't even control his anger. Reality is, you did this. All of it. Wonder how many people have you killed?
"I didn't kill anyone!"
We'll see, hehehehe.
"I said I didn't kill anyone!!"
…
"Hello? Are you still in my head?"
…
"Great. Now I have to deal with me too." Leo said as he took the last spoonful. Then he went to sleep.
The next morning, Leo woke up to the sound of rustling in nearby bushes. He stood up fast, his hand was on an old crowbar he found somewhere. The name 'Alan' was engraved into it, but Leo scratched it to erase it.
Out of the bush came a rat, but it was…
"What in the world is that?" Leo whispered. The 'rat' had six limbs, no tail, and eyes that glowed in bright daylight.
See. These are the consequences of your mistakes. Or I must say, your decisions?
"Shut up!!" He screamed loudly, making the rat flinch, but it didn't run away. Instead, it exploded, splashing blue liquid all over.
Luckily the liquid missed Leo, because when it touched the ground, it melted a hole through it. He had to run. Anywhere. What he encountered wasn't normal. It was mutated.
You know that it's like that because of you, right? I mean, you destroyed an entire city, what else could you have done?
Leo didn't answer. Not because he was mad, but because he was slowly believing that everything was his fault, and that scared him. Because if it was, he has to take full responsibility of anyone what could have died.
You know you family could also—
"No! They aren't. I can feel it."
Yeah. Believe whatever you want. You and your useless bracelet.
The Bracelet. Since Leo had woken, he had been trying to use it. But it didn't respond. Not a single glow. Not a single hint of power. It was dead. Dead circuits under his pale skin. He felt useless so many times, but he never wanted to believe that he was at fault, that he had probably done that to his family.
Right now. He had to survive first. The world is almost dead, and he didn't want to be dead with it.