Graveyard

"These are delicious!" The girl in her hospital bed smiled brightly.

Wardell couldn't hold back a smile of his own as he watched his sister finally enjoying life outside of a locked-in state.

"I'm glad you love it! I've brought enough for everybody to try, so eat!"

Jasper's mom began handing out her homemade brownies. One for Jasper, one for Wardell, one for her husband, and five for Lesley.

"The distribution's looking a little… uneven," Jasper's dad laughed. The rest laughed along with him.

The two families had just met for the first time and were already beginning to enjoy themselves. Wardell formally introduced himself to Jasper's family, who happily congratulated him on his success as a Virtue alongside Jasper.

"He's the greatest leader anyone could ask for," he told them. "He looks out for everyone at all times. I'd say his only flaw is that he doesn't look after himself enough!"

Jasper laughed at this. "I told you already, it's my responsibility as the leader to keep my priorities on the rest of you. It's important you all stay safe so you can live out moments just like these."

Wardell nodded. He watched the scene before him; a time of joy and rejuvenation with Lesley, his very beloved sister. For once in his life, Wardell finally felt like his hard work had paid off. The time and effort he'd put into his life as a soldier for the Cardinal Nexus had finally brought him something worth the while. Even just a few minutes to smile happily with Lesley was worth a decade of gruesome work in his eyes.

Lesley meant everything to him. Now that both his parents were gone, Wardell had all his protective sights set on his sister. He decided he wouldn't let anything happen to her this time. "I don't plan on losing anymore of my family ever again. So Lesley, I'm going to keep you safe."

She smiled back tearily. "Okay…"

In the background, Jasper's mother shed a tear. "J-Jasper honey… Please stay safe for your father and I… A-And look after Axel too! You two must guarantee your lives for us, otherwise it would be a life not worth living…"

"Mom," Jasper pulled her in for a hug. "I've gone through life and death to get to where I am now. I won't die on you, I promise. I won't let Axel go either. Please believe me when I say that Axel and I will always come back home to you two no matter what. Believe in us like you always have been. It's the hope and faith that you and dad have for us that we ride on to stay safe."

"O-Okay…" His mother hugged him back. From behind, Jasper's father joined the group hug. Over and over again today, emotion was filled to everyone's brim. But nobody anticipated the emotion that'd overflowed in a boy from a little house just a walk away.

The light in the room suddenly flickered.

"Huh?" Everyone was run with confusion. The light flickered again, this time with specks of dust that fell from the floor above. Before anyone could question further, the floor beneath them shook.

"W-Woah!" Jasper's father swayed. He'd nearly knocked into Lesley's IV pole before steadying himself.

"What was that?"

In response, the floor shook again. This time, violently. The shaking brought the room's lights to flicker faster, and for more dust to fall from the ceiling. It fell upon the families, bringing them to cough.

"What's happening? An earthquake?"

The idea brought worry to Jasper. They were far from the hospital's ground floor. Before anyone could begin to ease the panic that began to settle, the ground's shaking grew heavier and heavier, now causing things to fall off shelves.

Suddenly, a siren could be heard playing down the hall. A voice spoke through the hospital's intercom; "This is Code RED. I repeat, this is Code RED. Everyone, please remain calm. We seem to be experiencing an earthquake of at least magnitude 6 or higher. Within the next few minutes, we will be sending security to evacuate each one of you patients to our ground level as soon as possible. Please remain calm in the meantime."

"What?!" Wardell began to catch his breath. "Why is this happening? Jenzaya's never had an earthquake in all of my life living here! Why now?!"

"Wardell, just stay calm. They have a protocol here. We'll get your sister to safety as soon as possible, okay?"

He nodded to Jasper. "O-Okay. Okay." Wardell now rushed to Lesley's side. "You okay Lesley? Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

She nodded, fearfully. "O-Okay… B-But what's happening Wardell? I-I don't want to get hurt again…" The shaking beneath her bed reminded her of the shaking in the plane when it'd first been struck. The initial panic that'd set in, only to spiral into uncontrollable fear and pain. She didn't want to experience it again.

"You won't," Wardell told her. "You won't get hurt again, or any further. I promise Lesley. I promise." He clutched the side of her bed tightly, keeping it within his control as the ground continued to shake.

Over the rumbling that occurred, Wardell's ear twitched at sounds that came from outside. He peeked outside the window blinds, observing masses of people who ran and screamed across the streets. Some were even toppled over, completely lost in the flood of fear.

"What the hell…?"

The floor beneath him suddenly shifted downwards.

"Woah—!"

The floor was now on a slant, and everything on wheels rolled towards Wardell's end of the room. This included Lesley's bed. Seeing the danger, he immediately caught her bed, stabilizing her before she could topple over. "I've got you!"

On the other side, Jasper's parents held onto him as they all fell to the ground in the unexpected shift. More and more dust continued to fall from the ceiling, bringing about a thick smog in the room. Down the hall, coughs echoed and people cried of fear.

Seeing that the atmosphere began to spiral downwards, Wardell stood his ground. "We'll get help soon, Lesley. Please stay calm for me. It'll get better."

But it didn't.

The ceiling up above suddenly cracked under the pressure of the vibrations, and it collapsed. The sound of it breaking stole Wardell's attention, who looked up and saw the ceiling fall before him.

"WARDE—!"

Crash!

As Wardell's eyes slowly followed the path the ceiling had fallen, he was met with the sight of a hospital bed crushed under debris. Underneath it all, red oozed from beneath.

"L-Lesley…?"

He looked down at his hands. They were previously held onto his sister's bed. But he could now only find empty palms. He looked at the scene before him again.

"Hey, Lesley… Lesley…" Wardell took a step forward. His foot stepped into a viscous puddle. He looked down.

Red.

"Huhwhauh… Huh… HUH??!!!"

His heart began to race. In an immediate panic, Wardell began clawing at the debris that had fallen, using his burly strength to lift and throw pieces from the pile. It took him a while to realize, but his sister laid beneath the debris.

"LESLEY! LESLEY!!!"

He heaved and he heaved his way through the rugged material that separated him from his happiness. Out of nowhere, he noticed the pile beginning to lessen faster. Wardell looked to his left.

"Keep going Wardell!" It was Jasper who helped remove debris from the pile alongside him.

The two rushed as they removed piece by piece until Wardell finally saw skin.

"LESLEY!" He grabbed at it. Picking it up, he did not expect to be holding a jumbled piece of tender flesh and disheveled fat.

"Wh…" Wardell was speechless.

Plip!

Red leaked from his hands onto the floor.

Jasper removed the last piece of debris from the hospital bed, leading Wardell's eyes to lock onto the all more horrific sight.

A massive splatter of red leaked the bed. Laying ontop were the torn remains of Wardell's sister.

It was disgustingly unrecognizable.

"Le… L… L-LESLEY!!!" Wardell pounced forwards. Out of utter desperation he grabbed at what he could recognize. A once gorgeous face, completely flattened and littered with scattered brain matter. Derangely disfigured flesh that oozed out of limbs that recently used to contain it. Heavy, thick blood that now leaked through the mattress and onto the floor below.

Watching across the room, Jasper's mother couldn't help but feel herself regurgitate at the sight. She threw up on the floor as Jasper's father covered his eyes at the horror before him.

"LESLEY!!! LESLEY!!!" Wardell howled loudly. His state of mind was still in denial. He dug his hands into the mess, attempting to mend the mushy pieces back together. But all he could see was a puddle of a human who once was.

"LESLEY! NO! NO! NO!!!"

Wardell sobbed. He grabbed his head, trying to withhold the stress at the sight he saw. Doing so only painted his face with the blood of his sister. He screamed at the realization. He screamed so loudly. The emotional overload was too much to handle. Wardell couldn't believe his eyes. He pinched himself, he slapped himself, and he slammed his head against the wall. This was all to wake himself up from the horrible nightmare he lived. But he couldn't wake up. It was all real.

"LESLEY! RESPOND TO ME! RESPOND! PLEASE!!!" He yelled hopelessly at the mangled corpse.

There were no replies. Nothing but the repetitive sound of blood dripping, and people sobbing. By now, the blaring siren had been completely tuned out by Wardell. He could only hear his own heartbeat.

"W-Wardell… I'm…" Jasper tried to hold back his own tears. "I'm so sorry… I am so, so sorry. I—"

"Just don't… talk…" Wardell sniffled.

Jasper nodded, slowly backing away and making his way to his parents.

Wardell kept his eyes peeled on his loss. He'd stared for so long he almost couldn't even recognize it anymore.

"Why… You'd finally seen the light again… Only to… To—!"

His neck tensed with sorrow. Tears continued to pour, though not of joy this time. He shook uncontrollably, wrapping his arms around himself to accompany his feeling of solitude. He couldn't bear the emotion pouring in, or pouring out. Wardell couldn't take it anymore.

"THIS LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING!" He turned around and bashed his head into the wall, denting his forehead with an excruciating gash of blood.

"STOP IT WARDELL!" Jasper ran over, pulling him away from the violence he took upon himself. But Wardell flailed his leader off of him, continuing to go at bashing his head into the solid wall. Wardell was so overtaken by his grieving emotion, he'd forgotten his body had been amplified to withstand physical injury. There was no satisfying damage sustained out of his self-deprivation.

"I SAID STOP WARDELL! IT'S NOT WORTH IT!"

"GO AWAY!" Wardell shouted back at Jasper. "THIS IS… ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU'RE THE REASON SHE'S DEAD!"

"Tsk!" Jasper faced Wardell. "I'm not going to argue with you about this! I know that what's just happened is absolutely horrible, but what's important right now is getting all of us out of here alive!"

As he spoke, the ground continued to rumble beneath them. The building's foundation was being tested.

"What's the point? What's the point in staying alive if MY REASON TO LIVE IS NOW DEAD?!"

"I'M SORRY ABOUT LESLEY, WARDELL! I AM SO SORRY!" Jasper ran over and gave him an unexpectedly tight hug. "I'm sorry about what's happened to your sister… But I can't have you waste your time mourning right now. Not when hell is breaking loose in here, and out there! We need to go!"

Outside the windows, the sounds of structures crashing and people screaming continued to be heard.

"Urgh… Just SHUT UP!" He slammed Jasper backwards. "You're just fending for yourself now! You…" Wardell saw his parents aside, who watched in fear. "You fucker… YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO SAVE YOUR OWN KIN NOW THAT YOU'VE SEEN WHAT HAPPENED TO MINE!"

"THAT'S NOT IT WARDELL! I'M TRYING TO EVACUATE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US OUT OF HERE SAFELY!"

Wardell didn't listen. Out of the rage that grew, he leapt forwards with his fists out ready to fight. He didn't care about what happened to himself or anyone anymore. His reason to fight, and his reason to live, was now nonexistent.

"WARDELL STOP—!" Jasper's face was smashed in by a punch.

Thump!

He slammed into the wall at the back of the room.

"—Guh!" Jasper heaved through the pain.

"Honey!" His mother and father rushed over to check on his injuries.

"Wardell… Please stop… It doesn't need to be this way…" Jasper coughed.

Wardell looked down at his hands. Once again, they were empty. Since the moment he'd let go of Lesley's bed, he'd also let go of reality. Nothing and everything was a blur. He was blinded by rage.

"Please… Don't bite into those evil feelings Wardell… I understand you're devastated, but you need to take control of yourself! Assess the situation around you! People everywhere are dying! I don't think this is just an earthquake anymore!"

"Stop trying to shift the blame elsewhere… Stop neglecting my feelings. Just stop… STOP! EVERYTHING JUST STOP PLEASE!"

"TAKE A HOLD OF YOURSELF WARDELL!"

"NO! NO!!! I'M DONE WITH EVERYTHING! TO HELL WITH IT ALL! LESLEY!!!" Wardell threw a massively powered punch into the wall to his right. The impact imploded, crackling the walls, and crackling the floor. The vibrations caused by the tremors shook the floor's pieces loosely apart.

Jasper looked around him. His parents realized it too.

The floor beneath them had lost all stability.

"WARDELL—!!!"

The floor fell apart below and everyone crumbled through. Thumps and yelps could be heard as everyone on their floor now fell through the cracks.

Bones breaking, flesh gushing, and the final screams and gasps of people meeting their ends, echoed into the deep chasm formed in the hospital.

It was a massive grave, for a mass of unfortunate people.

Graveyard.