Chapter 15: One Remains
Exiting Deiya's Home you start to walk around, looking as the People living here struggle by the day.
"Hey Daemon, is that water plant infested ?" you ask your Ally.
"Greetings Milord, I regret to inform you that it is indeed infested." he says,
" *sigh* They are going to tie me down and keep me as a Pet if I tell them that." you say, knowing your Foxes will keep you still if they hear this.
Continuing to stroll through the town, looking at the Houses they seem to be in different stages of completion. Some have isolation while others don't even have completed Roofs.
You see one of the Guards patrolling the town, you walk over to him.
"Listen, why does everyone here endure these conditions?" you ask him with a straight face.
"You see Comrade, our Children were born here we don't just move out of here because one or two Houses have it rougher than the others." he answers with a smile.
You two continue to talk until you notice that despite the worsening conditions everyone always has a smile on their faces. Even Children, some have toys while others just sit and watch as their Families work.
"You will not survive for long in this state, you have to do something." you tell the Guard with a serious tone
"Chief, I will always be grateful for the number of times you brought us supplies. But this is our Home." the Guard says, his face darkening.
You can hear a Bell ringing, it's alarmingly loud.
That must be the Outpost's alarm for danger.
You were right, every Mother grabs their Child and runs inside, locking the Door's and being silent.
Deira rushes outside, her being the Outposts Leader it is quite normal to see.
"Dan! Where are you ?!" Deira yells desperately.
You dash towards her, hoping to understand the ringing of the Bell.
"I'm here! *panting* What's with the Bell ?" you say, gasping for air in a panic.
"Dan, I forgot to tell you about the--" Deiya starts to explain but is brutally cut off by the voice yelling from the Outside of the Gate.
The Guards are awaiting Deiya's Word, some even panicking.
After a few yells from the unknown Voice, you can understand what it is trying to say.
"Who are they? What Wares are they talking about? Deiya !" you try to pressure Deiya into answering.
"Dan I messed up again! The wares I lost some of it was also meant for the Raiders." she answers, sending down a shock down your Spine.
Raiders - neither Scavs nor are they allied with anyone. The only thing they care about is money and Material Gain, be that Weapons, Slaves and others. They represent the Spineless Scum of the Apocalypse.
"You made a deal with them ?! Have you lost your Senses ?! What did you promise them ?!" you become extremely aggressive towards Deiya, not without reason.
She starts to cry uncontrollably as if her worst nightmare came to life.
"Dan please! I Beg you! Keep them out of this town, I'll do anything~!" Deiya breaks out in tears, clinching onto your Clothes.
Telling the present Guards to spread out and keep high alert, you start to pet Deiya, luckily she is a Fox, therefore it is quite easier to calm her down compared to a Human Female.
"It's okay Deiya, I'll keep everyone safe here. You go inside and take care of everyone there." you say, with a soft and calming voice. She starts to calm down, gradually until she gives you a big and tight hug, expressing her gratitude and trust in you.
"You ready for a massacre ?" you ask your friend in battle.
"Always Milord, there is not one that will leave alive." the Daemon says, his voice has lowered and even darkened to an unrecognizable level.
The Folklore of the Region talks about a very strong bond with a Daemon, once the Spirit has kneeled its Powers to its Host. Only then, will the Host have Powers unmatched by any Weapon or Army ever created.
"Master! Who are they !?" Kate says rushing outside towards you.
"Kate? Stay inside, there's nothing to worry about." you say, just as a bullet is fired into the air.
Kate screams out of fear, with the recent events there is no surprise she would react this way.
You quickly tell her to get inside and lock the Doors and to let no one inside.
"Master what are you going to do? We can help you!" Kate says, trying to convince you.
"I'm going to make a massacre-- That was..not me...I. Please do as I said." you say, putting your Mask ready to fight.
Kate quickly returns inside, glancing at you one last time before closing and locking the door.
"What do you want Raiders?!" you yell to the Raider outside the Gate.
"That Fox...Ugh...Deiya promised us some Stuff, she didn't deliver. Thus we came to get it ourselves." one of the Raiders answers.
"She got ambushed and couldn't even deliver my Stuff. Come again at a later point and she might have what you want." you tell the Raiders.
"Nah...that ain't gonna' happen. She either gives us the Stuff or we take that stuff and we level this town." the Raider says, you can hear whispers and Guns being racked.
Your smell suddenly enhances drastically, you can smell fear, anger and even happiness. Though you are unable to determine the exact source of these feelings, it definitely has to do with the Daemon.
You give hand signals to the Guards to open the Gate and step back.
"I can already smell the blood...I can hear the screams...as they whimper away, hoping to be safe. But they only prolong their Suffering." you say to yourself, standing at the ready.
The Gate slowly opens, revealing a group of Raiders standing in the middle of the road, together with a truck behind them. It might be a means of transport for Loot.
The Raiders laugh at the sight of you,
"That's all this Shithole got? Gonna' be a cakewalk." the Raider says, seeming to be the Leader of the Group.
"Thinking you can come here and disturb the peace these People have left and pillage their Homes without any repercussions? You're delusional." you say, walking outside the Gates.
"Think we're afraid of you? Even if you're Russian, you're all alone, with no one to help." the Raider says, being in the wrong as expected.
You start to laugh at his answers, the Raiders look confused.
A Shadow burst out from you, almost like a blade it cuts the Head of some Raiders. Leaving the others to guess what just happened.
The Raiders are still waiting, not opening fire.
"What did you just do?!" the Raider asks.
"Nothing, just thought I'd remove some...Dirt from the Road." you say,starting to laugh again.
"It was fun while it lasted, now...let's get to business" you say, opening fire on the unprepared Raiders.
As they struggle to keep track of you vanishing into the now dark and sinister Foliage surrounding the whole Outpost.
They start to spread out, making it almost like a game for you.
Almost silently you take them out, one by one.
Only a few remain...the Hunt continues.
"Where are you hiding? There's no escaping me." you say, as you stroll between the trees and bushes.
Then you hear metal being repeatedly hit with an object.You're guessing it must be the at the Gate.
As you approach the Gate you see that the Leader of the Raiders is begging to enter the Outpost unarmed.
"Let me in! Please, I beg you! I don't want to die--" he stops at the sound of footsteps behind him get louder and louder.
As you walk towards him in the moonlight he begins to tremble, falling to his knees begging for mercy.
"You know...I always say, if you are going to talk big...back it up with actions and facts." you say as you pull your knife out.
He begins to stutter soon, all there is silence...until, a very loud and painful scream is heard. It spreads far, the Birds that once slept fly off.
Looking back at the Road, the multitude of dead bodies is anxiety-inducing.
You've had enough action for one evening, knocking on the Gate letting the Guards now is safe.
Remembering they had a truck with them, you quickly go and check it out. The Backside is packed to the brim with Crates and other types of Containers, the most notable a couple of Weapons Cases, stacked upon each other.
You check to see if the Key is in the Ignition. It is not, thinking how long it will take for you to search all the dead bodies, all for a key.
Having given up on that thought you hotwire the Vehicle. Before you even get a chance to break the aluminium-like cover of the Steering Wheel, you gaze upon the Guards looking terrified at all the dead bodies. It will take a while to get rid of all the Corpses, but it is manageable.
But then you can hear running, it is Deiya with something in her hand. She says this is her Truck, the NATO soldiers probably sold it off for a good sum of money to the Raiders.
"Well done Dan !" Deiya says, seemingly ignoring the corpses outside her town.
"Deiya, did you see the bodies even?" you say, confused.
"Of course I did, nobody forgets that smell is." Deiya says, wagging her tail.
She hands you Key, saying this is the auxiliary key for her Truck.
You ignite the Engine once more and it starts perfectly fine, judging form the sound.
"Dan, you could've asked for help..." Deiya says, having jumped on the passenger seat.
"There is no point in dragging Husbands and their Families into a blood bath." you say as you steer the truck inside the town.
"How did you manage to decapitate some of them?" Deiya asks, she doesn't seem to know of the Daemon.
"I have a...secret set of skills that accomplish that." you say, checking the engine indicators.
You get out of the Truck, and get every last Guard inside,
"If the Winds don't change, the smell of blood will attract infected in a couple of days." you tell one of the Guards.
"Can you help us move them, please ?" Deiya says.
Confused and even a little angered you ask,
"Will, any of you even ask how some of those Raiders don't have a head anymore?" you ask the Guards.
"We know that you have a friend with you Chief, some of our Wives are Foxes as well.They told us about the difference in a Person when they are a Host." one of the Guards says.
"I see how it is..." you say, taking off your Mask.
Your Foxes rush out together with Deiya's Sisters.
"Owner! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Katie asks, panicking looking at your face and neck.
"I'm fine now that you two are here." you say, comforting them.
They happily wag their tales.
"Excuse me...I didn't introduce myself before all this...my name is Miya." the youngest of Deiya's Sisters says.
"Nice to meet you, Miya." you say.
Deciding to go inside and wash your face, a shadow appears behind you in the mirror.
"What the fu...can you not do this...." you tell the shadow, continuing to wash your face.
"That was...fun, to say the least. We make a good team Milord." the Daemon says.
You smile at him and give a thumbs up. He vanishes into thin air soon after.
Going back outside it seems that the Wares have been unloaded and the truck is being prepared for transportation of the corpses to somewhere else.
After the bodies have been dispensed off after being looted for valuables together with Katie and Kate you head to bed, after being forced to take a thorough shower by your Foxes.
This time, cuddled together in one bed just as they wanted.
Together you drift into sleep like never before, exhausted by the events of today.
One problem still remains to find its solution.