I made my way out back into the village where the sky seemingly opened up again. The clouds separated and the air felt lighter.
I carried everything that I seemingly needed. My gear, my backpack, my armour and my weapons if I ever encountered anything hostile while traversing the landscape.
It was around thirteen miles away from my house. I understood the danger that I would be putting myself into by accepting this mission.
Before I left I had some fruits and drank some o3 water. O3 was an advancement from O2 and allowed it to be a food supplement rather than just water which was great if people couldn't get food and only survive on water. But since it was my last bucket of water left, I had to be weary of how much I would be consuming.
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Within a few minutes I made it to the edge of the village. There was a metal sign that said: "Do not leave this village. You are safe with us." I took a deep breath as I looked at the rocky and grassy lands that I had to walk through to make it to the barrier allowing me entry into the supply camp.
I looked up and the clouds closed in, and rain began to pour. Heavily. I looked back once more and noticed no one. A brief cloud of sadness washed over me. No one was stopping me from going. And in that moment I remembered. No one stopped Cecelia from going either.
I brushed that moment off trying to stay mentally stable and ready for my expedition across the Bliptic City. There were no cities. But it was full of blips. Monsters that were not dead nor alive. People who were unable to move on into the afterlife but instead stuck in limbo. It was horrific.
I had seen my fair share of blips in the past but I had no choice but to kill them. Destroying their souls forcing them to no longer go to the afterlife. Rangers wouldn't allow this since it wasn't ethical to allow destruction of souls. But I had to.
I stood onto the wet grass patch and started forward. The Bliptic City wouldn't be until I was around 7 to 8 miles but blips still roamed far and wide. I held my Y-Bracket gun that eliminated targets in an instant while I walked. The weather never behaved this badly before.
Thunderclouds and purple lightning flashed way into the distance where I assumed would be the proximity of the Bliptic city. I held my breath for a moment and began my journey.
Upon reaching a nearby bunker that sold arsenal and other weaponry it was closed today. It sat on the edge of the bliptic city for anyone who dared to venture further. In the distance I could see perhaps around 4 people walking towards the city all individuals that did not share the same group. I would eventually join them. My hairs had spiked up as I walked into the bunker.
When i looked around, no one was there. I was very confused and held my Y bracket in my hand ready to shoot at any moment a Blip could show up. I looked around the desk at front. There was no one there nor was there anyone in the armory below. All the weapons sat in place like it was untouched.
I then shouted to try and find for any sort of life that might be here. "Jake!...Hello?!" I received only silence. By the looks of it, nothing could have entered in here right? That was when i saw a shadow nearby the entry of the bunker.
I raised my eyebrow "Jake?..." I held my gaze trying to look at the details beyond the shape infront of me. And then, i caught it. I raised my Y bracket towards the figure. "Jake! What the fuck is going on?" My heartbeat started to race as I was holding my weapon at it, trying to see if it was the Jake i knew well.
"I'm…i'm sorry." The figure spoke with broken words that were gurgled noises as if he was choking. "I'm-i'm so-so-so-sorrruh…" It stood there and my Y Bracket slowly moved downwards. A bead of sweat dripped from the top of my head to the bottom of my chin. Heat began to rise creating a sweating sensation in my hands loosening the grip of my weapons.
"Jake…? Wha-t the fuck… is happening?" I choked out in a faint breath.
"Please! Please- Please- Let me go!" It screamed desperately. A blip. Jake had turned into a blip. A friend of mine who i cared near a dearly to my heart was no longer there. I moved slowly away from him. The light in the bunker reflected off the walls and onto him. I screamed so loudly at what i was looking at. He wasn't a blip at all. He was an alternate.
His body was supposed to become ghostly and transparent with the shape of ones soul but Jake was still with skin and frail but broken pieces. Like a cat with rabies, dying unaware it was about to die but still moving. A world that is so far from life but no where near the painful strip of limbo.
I stepped backwards and towards the staircase and down into the armory section where it carried weapons that could eliminate creatures like alternates or blips. I looked around and noticed that there wasnt any sort of juice or energy supplier I could use so everything on the walls were no longer useful. All I had was a gun that could kill. I can't do it. I looked behind me as I stood trapped in the corner of armory.
Jake looked hungry but tired. He didnt have any control. His face was grey and pale, his hair was bright orange while his eyes were white with cracks showing the expansion that caused them to bulge. They looked like they would pop out at any moment and squirt his juices everywhere which were acidic.
I shrunk in the corner of the room while holding my gun. Alternates could possibly kill you if they sprayed you with their toxic acid within their bodies. They can explode and release gasses and they burn your skin off instantly making them so dangerous. Possibly more dangerous than Blips. Blips cannot process what is happening, but alternates can feel everything, but they do not have control.
"Jake! Jake!...Can you hear me out there Jake?" I screamed out towards the mangled human creature walking towards me.
"Mar…Mar-" It gurgled out once more and I felt my hands shake even harder. I don't want to do it. I don't want to kill him. My heart was thumping in and out. But I didn't want to die either.
He was blocking the exit of the armoury now. I could try and shove him back but alternates had superhuman strength. They had adrenaline from the impending doom fueling up their energy. I had heard stories that if you approached one without a plan they could crush your skull with their pointer finger. Fuck.
As I raised my gun at the head of Jake, I closed my eyes as he approached. If he came to close I would die from all the liquid he would carry bursting all over my face and body burning me alive. I held my breath for a moment and held the trigger until something stopped me. I remembered that i had an antidote for alternates that Cecelia's sister had given me years before. A wave of relief washed over me as i tried and scrambled for it.
Two loud bangs cut the sound of the gurgles from Jake in an instant. I shuddered, worrying that the alternate had burst open. Yet I couldn't feel any sort of burning sensation anywhere.
I slowly opened my eyes to see that Jake was falling to the ground. A sharp impact onto the floor tiles as orange blood leaked out everywhere. Steam rised from the blood. It boiled, bubbles forming. I stood up quickly as it all had happened. My senses were at an all high and I couldn't stop looking at what was in front of me. Jake's mangled and transformed body leaked out all over the armoury's floor.
There were two bullets on the ground that I could see next to his body. I looked up at the staircase and saw a dark figure emerge within.
"I suggest you get a move on before anyone else tries to trouble you." Leo spoke. He wore the same gear as I was preparing for my mission towards the border. "The storm isn't getting any better, i'm sure there will be more out there."
I couldn't say anything. My mouth hung open for a while trying to understand what was going on. Leo? Here?
"I-uh.." I spoke, "Thank you."
He nodded and then said "I'll clean all of this up. Don't worry."
"I knew this person." My eyebrows knitted together.
"Hmm?"
"It was just a friend."
His eyes looked at me with a hint of disdain. I couldn't properly read him. "Alright." He waved me off as I made my way up the staircase and out of the bunker.
As I made my way through the fields towards the Bliptic city.