Chapter Text
“Put down your fucking weapon!”
“Not until you drop yours, dipshit!”
A stalemate.
Two sides stood, staring each other down with weapons bearing down each other. I stood next to Natsuki, half-hiding behind her, half not. In her hands was my shotgun, which she snatched with a surprising speed as the other party approached. A few meters away was a man who seemed to be around our age, maybe slightly older. His long hair was a dark brownish, or maybe it was black, I couldn’t tell. He looked to be just as tall as Yuri, if not more, with baggy pants and a torn brown hoodie. In his hands was some form of rifle, an AR? I don’t know, even through all of this, I still can’t tell most guns apart.
“Put it down.”
He held it up as his eyes angrily bore us down, but for some reason I saw something else. It must’ve been fear.
“There’s no way I’m trusting a shit-face like you.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll shoot!”
“Natsuki-”
“I’ll fucking shoot you back!”
“Natsuki!”
Natsuki finally growled a response back to me, signifying that I had her attention. My heart pounded painfully in my chest as I kept her gaze on the other man, only for mine to rip towards her. I knew there was only one option right now, only one thing we could do to end the stalemate. It was risky, and my lungs- straining and crying out- knew it. “Put down the gun.”
The shorter girl’s anger visibly flared, disbelief shining in her eyes. “What?! Are you fucking serious?! Absolutely no-”
I put my hand on top of the shotgun, holding everything I have in together to put the most serious look on my face despite the overwhelmed feeling that is bubbling within my skin. It must’ve worked as her own fury seemed to slowly dissipate to that of a justifiable wariness as she lowered the end of the shotgun down to the ground. I held my breath as I stared at the man, hoping and pleading that he did the same. With a moment’s hesitation, he did. I let out a sigh of relief.
A bout of silence wafted over us as I tried my best to control the panic that was previously causing my hands to shake. The man was the first to speak. “I-I’m sorry, the last few people I’ve met didn’t have any good intentions with others.” An apologetic look took over his eyes, quickly shooing off the anger that was once in them. I was right, it was just a mask. Natsuki responded with a huff.
“W-Well, no need to apologize,” I started, knowing that if Natsuki spoke, it wouldn’t be anything less of a snide remark or complete sarcasm. “My name’s Sayori, and this is Natsuki.” I try my best to put on a friendly smile, meaning every intention behind it. Maybe we could make a friend, or maybe even exchange some supplies!
The man seemed to appreciate the gesture. “My’s Davis.” He smiled back to me, a tired but trying smile. “You can.. You can just call me Dave. I was just on my way to the next town over, I’ve been looking for someone. A little uh, a little down south.”
“Oh really?” I responded, finding it easier to hold my smile. “We’re on our way west, just wandering. Well I hope you-”
“Excuse me, who is this..?”
A new voice sounded from just behind me. Well, not new. I turn to look at Yuri, her violet eyes staring down at the man across the ways as she walked up. Behind her was Monika, her eyes downcast before following the other’s eyes as well.
“Hey Y-”
“Holy fucking shit look out!”
“Fucking hell-!”
It all happened too quickly. I barely had enough time to turn back around to see Davis with his weapon back up at the ready, Natsuki just slightly too slow to pick up hers.
BANG
A shot pierced through the air as I cried out something along the lines of “NO!” and something else incomprehensible. My eyes shut tightly out of pure instinct as my ears ring, my heart stopping in preparation to feel the burning hole in my flesh where a bullet tore through.
It did not.
My eyes opened back up as my breathing resumed. There was no entry wound, no blood, no nothing. An odd feeling of relief struck at me, but the shock still held high. Almost as soon as I figured it must’ve been a miracle, I heard a name being called behind me. I couldn’t hear it well as the ringing in my ears muffled everyone’s voices- but slowly it was coming back to me just enough that I heard a weight being brought down to the ground out of my vision. A feeling that I hadn’t experienced in a long time returned as I turned around, my eyes widening in complete and utter horror as the scene quickly unfolded.
On the ground was Monika, her own emerald eyes circular in fear. Blood began to pour out from her entry wound on the right side under her collarbone, staining her top red where she was hit. Yuri had dove down to where she now laid, her hand holding the other’s as she desperately called her name in hopes that Monika would be responsive. I didn’t need to look back to see that Natsuki had once more raised her gun and was aiming it towards the stranger, who stood in shock and utter disbelief. The shorter girl was screaming profanities towards him, threatening the man in every vulgar way she could. I ignored it. I couldn’t do anything if I even tried, my hands shaking as my breathing became irregular. I’m frozen as Yuri looked up to me with tears in her eyes.
“S-Sayori, we need to stop the bleeding, now! Hurry!”
Without thinking any further, I quickly get down to where they are. I’ve had experience handling blood and other stuff before with the help of Yuri, so I rip off a part of my sleeve and begin pressing the cloth against Monika’s wound. I use as much weight as I can to keep the blood from pouring out any more, but I can quickly feel the cloth dampening under my hands. Yuri keeps her hand wrapped tightly around Monika’s, whos in turn is struggling to keep a grip. If she even is, I couldn’t tell. Tears stream down Yuri’s face as she keep repeating Monika’s name. The other’s emerald eyes stayed staring up at the sky as her breathing became short and irregular, similar to mine but in a state much worse. The light in her eyes seemed to flicker as if it were a straining lightbulb, and eventually she was able to move her sight to look at Yuri.
“Monika?! Monika, please, please look at me- Monika say something, can you hear me??”
Her eyesight, glazed with confusion and lack of life, only stared at the other. Horror seemed to be the only constant within me, getting worse as Monika slowly turned her head to meet my eyes. As her vision began to ease back in through a visible struggle, confusion and recognition seeped into her gems. Recognition then quickly turned into an ever-growing fear as she began to shake, her entire body trembling in response.
What happened next I wouldn’t have ever prepared for.
Monika began looking to and fro me and Yuri, panic mixing in with the uncontrollable wave of fear that managed to send a strike of equal panic into myself. She began to flail her arms, one of her hands grabbing a hold of my shoulder and pushing me off with a surprising amount of strength.
“Monika, stop!” Yuri cried out, grabbing a hold of her arms in attempts to hold her down. Yuri’s words were only met with growls, snarls, and sounds of pain. Monika’s eyes glowered as she let out more growls through clenched teeth, her breathing labored and mixed with a physical struggle. Tears stung in her eyes as well as my own, I grabbed the cloth that I dropped and proceeded to hold it down against her wound. The more she fought against us the worse she bled, every movement she was making was a threat to her own life.
I wasn’t even sure if she could be saved.
Her eyes met mine as she continued to struggle against us, writhing in a way that told us it wasn’t entirely her choice. She yelled out, bringing her head up before pushing it back down against the ground. I looked into her eyes, recognizing nothing more than the struggle she was currently in. Behind her emerald pools was a fearful animal, a creature on its deathbed. It was only acting purely on its survival instincts, a mixture of flight or fight in its jaws. Monika had been brought to this stage.
She looked at me, the panic and desperation in her eyes shining in the light. It wasn’t until then had I seen the face of pure fear, of anguish and agony. She bled the same as all of us, but inside she was losing the battle she had been fighting for so long.
“Natsuki! We need to put her out!”
Monika seemed to recognize Yuri’s voice and words, as a bloodcurdling scream came from her mouth, louder than I have ever heard her yell, and a sound that definitely attracted some unwanted attention- but does that really matter now? The poor girl fought more, the craze visibly taking over inside her head. Natsuki was quickly by our side, Monika’s bat in her hand. We all looked up at her, each of our expressions the same yet vastly different.
And right before Natsuki brought down the weapon, I could hear Monika’s voice.
“S-Sayori-!”
But there was nothing else left.
A corpse, abandoned.