"Who the fuck are you." I said to the wizard man.
"Yah see, it's not me who yur should be worried about missy." He smiled. All of his teeth showing. Yellow and brown. No whites. "Something's gone happen to yah. And all I'll say… is don't let it take you."
I shook my head, "what do you mean by that?".
He slapped the belly of the dead stonewalker. "Oh! JUST YOU WAIT!" he shouted cackling. The man formed a dark purple portal and entered inside disappearing In front of me.
I got up and started running away from the scene and towards the Bliptic City ruins. Whatever that was spooked me up real good and I'm sure the questions in my head won't stop anytime soon.
Upon heading towards a desolate area. Buildings and architecture with slimy black mold on the edges and corners hugging the structures loosely and dripping onto the sides. Vegetation was alive, surprisingly, but was slowly dying. At the rate of a year or so, nothing in this area would survive. Trees started to slant into the empty buildings and create new pathways as a staircase into higher areas. White flakes were roaming everywhere in the air.
I then wore my mask and continued further.
I eventually found myself in a building that was empty and seemed somewhat safer. My fractal metre was low. I took a deep breath looking at the once an office building now a shelter for people who were ghostly figures probably resigned now.
I made my way through the double doors, and onto the stairs towards the second floor. There was around 30 floors and I would not want to occupy the top floor incase there were blips nearby who would be ready for a fight with me. In that scenario I wouldn't have much room ot escape.
I surveyed the surroundings, making sure all the rooms were empty and nothing was hiding around. Nothing here and nothing there. The air was a little bit warmer but was still not warm enough for a human to survive long term. I looked for the one room with a window that wasn't shattered and didn't have growing toxic chemical spill around them.
I soon found one. Once inside I went to the corner and put my backpack onto the ground.
"Gosh dammit." I sighed to myself. I walked to the door to close it protect myself. Suddenly as if trouble couldn't stop following me, i heard a sound. This sound was of a soft sniffle somewhere. Very closeby. I was a hundred percent sure that I checked all the rooms if there were any entities nearby. I furrowed my eyebrows in a slight frustration and slowly exited the room and into the hallway.
I held my torch tight in my hands and ready to swing at whoever might show up. I paused in my step every now and then to hear where the sound was coming from. Not here…not there, im close. A big sniffle inside one of the rooms reverberated making me realise which one it was coming from.
I snuck up near the door, my light in my hand and peaked through to see a room that i hadnt checked closely. Inside the room was a girl. This girl looked no older than 16. She was crying in her hands while in front of the window. The rain was hitting hard against the window, some of the water was seeping through.
I opened the door slowly and she shot up a glance and looked at me with her red eyes. She clutched her hands around her gun without a second thought. I held up my hands in fear that she might shoot.
"Woah, woah, woah. It's okay! It's okay!" I told the girl. "Don't shoot, dont…shoot." Her gun was definitely aiming at my head. If i made any sudden moves i am for certain sure that she'd put a hole in me. "I- I am not here to hurt you."
I was unsure whether or not she would shoot until she slowly lowered the gun. Her angry face faded away into a face of embarrassment and regret. She wiped her tears with her dark blue hoodie. "I-im s-so sorry." She spoke. My hands reached an awkward position downwards unsure what to do. She could still kill me if she wanted to but from the change of emotions, I assumed she wouldn't. "I-I thought you were a ranger." She chuckled nervously.
"No. I am not a ranger…" I spoke. I looked around at the empty office space. There was nothing here, just stone walls and stone floors. No life to anything. "What brings you here?"
"I-i was running from a-a ranger and…gosh. It's a long story." She said, "And he tried to shoot me because he thought I was infected and a danger to anyone who was in the capital." If only she knew what I was dealing with. "You get it right?"
I was perplexed, why would a ranger think she'd be an issue? "Totally. Rangers are annoying." I replied back.
"Im glad someone else can understand, it's so tough with those fucking bastards trying to breathe down my throat all the time." The tears were coming again. I was unsure of what to do and so i approached closer.
"Hey, hey. Don't cry. It's okay, you're safe." I spoke in a calm and gentle tone trying not to potentially set her off. "What's your name sweetie?"
She looked at me. "I-...Isabella." She sniffled. I cocked my head.
"Isabella, i'm Marie." She stayed silent and kept looking out of the window as if paranoid. I looked around nervously again. "Isabella, would it be okay if–" A large alarm rang outside. The sounds of police sirens from outside. The lights of yellow and red flashed around the corners of the room. Me and Isabella ducked from sight and closed the room door. "How mant rangers are after you?"
"Theres this one guy." She sighed "He's tried doing terrible stuff to me while he knew me for sometime and now he thinks he has a relationship with me,"
"Can't we just talk it out with him, im sure he'll understand right?" I asked without hesitation. She turned to me with eyes that showed destain.
"No, he's too obsessed with me, and is willing to do anything. He's made his superiors believe that I have a virus so that he can contain me in some sort of prison." Isabella said.
I felt sorry for this girl. I had to think of a way both of us would be able to escape this situation unscathed. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that," I responded.
Outside a loud burst of gunfire sounded out. Whoever this guy was, he was on a desperate hunt. "How long has he been chasing you for?"
"3 years."