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It had been a couple of months since the sky turned pitch black, possibly for the rest of forever. The world twisted beyond recognition, from what was once an unassuming desert, rose a world strangely exotic, and hostile to the mere idea of human civilization. The sun didn't disappear; it was still shining in the sky, just a bit dimmer than before. The world he found himself in could possibly be a paradise to live in, only if he was willing to throw away his humanity.
There was certainly a lot more greenery around. But "greenery" doesn't seem to be the proper term anymore, considering how the plants became a deep shade of purple.
Medic was out foraging for something to eat, something to feed him and scout for tonight. The repetitive noise of the satchel bag being lightly kicked over and over was louder than his footsteps against the odd, dry ground. Those were the only sounds other than his faint breathing currently present.
As he passed by abandoned outposts, built by those who were not quite as fortunate as he was, He realized something.
A faint ambience began to break the silence. It was slowly, but surely, getting louder.
Medic's heart began to race; thumping so hard in his chest he could feel it, no longer subconsciously ignoring it. He dashed for a house that was slowly falling apart, struggling against the new landscape it found itself in.
He tripped on the way in, but that may have been a good thing. Whoever was here had a fair amount of furniture here, and Medic, currently on the floor, quickly crawled under it, and held his breath.
A massive shadow suddenly casted itself over everything outside. Medic didn't see what it was, and he never wanted to. All he knew was that it strips you, strips you of many things, such as your humanity. The ambience had gotten louder at this point, beginning to hurt his ears, as if they were attempting to dig into them.
Everything shook for a solid ten seconds, an audible scream from the distance broke during that short time frame, somehow audible despite the noise, but was quickly silenced. It was hard to make a man like Medic feel ill, but his stomach churned hearing the horrible sound. Another unfortunate bastard mutilated, violated in ways he couldn't even imagine.
He then got up. Maybe another reason he felt ill was the stench of a dead body with him in the room, but he had encountered many visceral smells during his time on this earth, and it stopped bothering him a long time ago.
Scout likes these. Medic took out his trusty bonesaw and began to saw at the arm off. "He will love this," he thought to himself. Once the arm was off of the corpse, Medic exited the abandoned house and held the rotten arm close to his body. To anyone else, it was useless. To him, it was gold.
He sighed, realizing he didn't quite find something for him to eat. He sighed, beginning to walk back home. This is the 2nd day in a row that he would come back with nothing for him to eat.
Or was it?
Medic walked back, and quite slowly too. He felt the lack of sustenance taking his toll on him, whilst he looked down and stared at the odd ground below him, a mix of dry sand and soil. It was tinted an almost artificial looking periwinkle. When Medic looked up, he passed by a tree with odd looking fruits hanging down from them.
He was desperate for any kind of food, so he took the arm he was carrying and swung up at the branches. He managed to get one to fall. Medic quickly picked it up and shoved it in his satchel.
He felt somewhat better now, knowing that he won't starve tonight.
Finally, he was home. Or at least, the at closest thing he had to a home. It wasn't much, just the remnants of their old base, from when they were still mercenaries. It didn't hold up well against the earthquakes.
Medic began to climb over a pile of rubble, carefully treading over the ragged concrete chunks threating to scrape his skin. He had to do this every single time he came back, because of the fact there was no other way to enter the small hallway that managed to survive. It was difficult, especially since he had to also carry the rotting arm as well.
He found himself wiping maggots off his clothing once he hopped down from there, and into the hallway. He then proceeded to walk towards a certain room in the hallway. It was Scout's bedroom.
Medic silently opened the door, not wanting to wake up Scout. He was fast asleep on the ground.
Medic looked behind him, turning his head towards the rubble in the hallway. And he thought back to the day everything changed.
He was standing in the exact same room he was currently in now. The sand outside began to turn purple. Scout went outside to go look at it, whilst the others were indoors. Medic was watching from indoors, glancing outside the window, wondering what Scout was about to do.
A faint, ambient noise began to hum, rattling their very bones. Scout asked, "What the hell is that?"
Suddenly, a dark shadow covered the entire world surrounding them. Scout began to scream, but not because of fear. His body began to contort, twisting in ways it shouldn't be, being morphed into something else just like the world around them. He was quickly silenced too, however.
Medic was knocked off his feet by the sudden, violent shaking. As he tried to get out of the hallway, the roof to the rooms that lead to the hallway collapsed. He never found out.what actually happened to the others, as he never saw them again, but a good amount of them probably died, right then and there.
It wasn't until the sunlight came back that Medic figures what just happened, but didn't quite process it. The blue sky had not come back. It was black. Permanently.
Medic got up as soon as the shaking stopped and climbed up, then down, the fresh rubble and rushed over to Scout.
Scout's fingernails had elongated grotesquely. He whimpered in pain as his neck began to elongate as well. Medic just froze there, knowing everything that was currently happening was wrong but watching that morbid scientific curiosity he always had.
his arms were reaching up, trying to keep his lengthening neck from growing any further. However, his arms began to grow in length as well, with audible bone crunching.
His legs, too, followed the process, shifting painfully, becoming digitigrade. Scout was flailing and crying. His spine grew spikes that shot out of his back, making him bleed. His entire body below his neck began to become furred, growing a thick brown coat.
Scout was a crying mess after this. He was trying to say something, but nothing comprehensible could get out of his throat.
Medic didn't know how to take the events that just occurred. At all. A slight nudge from the legs seemed to snap him out of it for a little bit. Medic picked up Scout, and began to carry him over the rubble.
And a little nudge on the shoulders is also what snapped him out of spacing out.
Medic looked up to see Scout, who was crouching down to look at Medic due to the ceiling being too low for Scout. He always had those big curious eyes. He always had this odd look afterwards, where his mouth in it's resting position slightly resembled a beak, even though it wasn't one.
Scout tilted his head slightly, crouching even further to get a close look at the severed arm brought home. He brought his face real close to it too.
"Can you walk without using your hands now?" Medic asked. He hid the arm behind his back.
Scout bent down even further and got on all fours just to lick a singular, squirming maggot off the floor.
"That's gross, don't do that."
Scout retreated away from Medic, giving him pleading eyes. Medic sighed and threw the arm in front of Scout.
Scout picked it up from off the floor and began eating the arm. He must've been hungry, because he tore into it like he'll never have a meal this good again. He was always hungry.
As Scout was enjoying his meal, Medic walked off to the side and sat down, taking out the odd fruit from earlier. He brushed off some dirt on the fruit and took a bite out of it. It was sour, but Medic managed to tough it out and, swallow. He continued eating.
Apparently, his stomach didn't like it. A few minutes after finishing it, he felt his body trying to reject it and make him hurl it out. Medic fought his own body hard, trying to keep it down.
He managed to fight it off, but now he felt ill. Scout noticed this and walked on over to Medic, but not without stumbling a couple of times.
"Your walking is getting better, Scout."
Scout heard what Medic said and did the thing where he would flap his arms as if they were wings, feeling overjoyed over such a mild statement. Still some concern for his dearest friend was still left. Scout got closer to Medic and crouched down, inspecting him.
And it's here that Medic realized something. He was... thinner than he was before the world changed. He was only subconsciously acknowledging it and brushed it off, telling himself he was going to be alright.
He felt himself get slightly weaker every day. He remembered when he still had something to eat every night. Eating nothing but canned food was tiring, yes, but it was food. Medic then looked at Scout and saw how healthy he looked compared to him. Scout, once weak and spindly, had been eating well and getting the nutrition his larger body needed.
With a sigh, Medic confessed "I'm hungry, Scout."
Scout froze in place for a second. Medic didn't know what was going through that boy's head. His mind didn't exactly work the way Scout's does, after all.
Scout walked up even closer to Medic and regurgitated half-digested food down his throat.
He didn't exactly know what was about to happen, so Medic didn't exactly struggle against it until it was too late. After Scout pulled his face away from Medic's, Medic was gagging. The taste was so foul, lingering in his mouth despite how much he hated it. And Scout had just eaten rotting flesh, so he was definitely getting ill from this after.
Tragic.
Scout took a few steps back, unaware of the fact that what he did was harmful. Medic couldn't stay mad at him for long, he didn't know.
"Don't do that ever again."
Scout tilted his head once more, confused.
Medic got up from where he was sitting and got to the place where the window was. The sun was shining it's almost eerie, perfectly white glow into the room. It was now lower in the sky, casting it's light at an angle
"I'll read you a book, come on."
Scout went over to Medic and plopped down right next to him, waiting patiently for Medic to open the book at where they were at last time.
Medic read to Scout for hours. It was the only pastime they had currently.
Medic finally finished the book, and put it to the side.
It was nighttime outside now. He could tell because it was far dimmer now. There were stars out, a faint testament to a time that was not so distant, but forever out of reach now, constantly getting farther.
Things will never be the way they were again and he acknowledged it with a stifled breath, putting the book to the side.
Maybe things won't be horrible, though. Sure, he was falling apart physically, but it was still because he was holding onto something from the past. The world has changed. He has no choice but to adapt.
Medic looked towards Scout again, who was sprawled out on the rug and ready to go to sleep. He used to use a blanket to keep himself warm at night, but there was no use for it after a while because of how thick the fur on his body had gotten.
Fur.
Medic had a feeling of what he had to let go of to adapt, but he wasn't quite sure if he was ready to do so.
Taking off his coat and walking to bed, he thought to himself.