Octonauts

Part 9

Where am I? He thinks. Peso stands outdoors. The sky is black, fog surrounds his old home. The bullet holes in the walls, the blood splatters, they remind him of when he lost her. He steps into the dark house, fog pouring in the door. Climbing the stairs, he finds the spot where he hid. Where he watched. Where he did nothing. Peso glares at the blood trail, following it until he reaches its source.

His mother lies still on the floor, her body riddled with bullets. Her once white dress is coated in red. He looks at her pale face. Crouching to see closer. The drip of blood on the side of her mouth is shiny in the moonlight. He shivers. The unforgiving cold of his former happy home returns. He glances behind him for a moment, hearing something. He looks back down to his mother's sad corpse.

It's gone. Nothing but blood stains the floor where she used to lay. Where is she?! He blinks, and in that second, she is standing in front of him.

"Mum?" he looks at her, the holes in her dress stuck to her body with blood.

"YOU LEFT ME TO DIE!" she runs at him, screeching in agony as she melts to clumps of bloody sand before she can reach him.

"What!?" he calls, the sound echoing as the world spins, the grey fog thickening as he brings himself to his feet.

Peso is in the middle of a dark expanse of grey sand. "Mum!"

"YOU WATCHED. YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY!" Dashi drags herself towards him, her bloody limbs being torn off by some invisible force.

"Dashi! I- I wanted to! Please!" Peso stumbles backwards, sobbing as he watches Dashi melt into the sand. Blood the only thing left on the empty plain.

"Dashi!" Peso clutches his head, walking forwards.

"YOU KNEW! AND YOU DID NOTHING!" Tweak shouts in a scratchy voice, coughing blood onto his face before turning to the grey ashy sand that encircles him.

Peso begins to breathe heavily, fear pumping adrenaline through his veins. He wipes the blood from his face, the warmth of it sticking to his hand. He jolts sideways. A booming sound rumbles across the desert. He turns slowly, lifting his head to see the monstrous wreck of Barnacles' body.

"WHY DID YOU DO IT!?" he bellows, the charred mess of his face falling to the sand as he reaches towards Peso, his hand closing tightly around Peso's throat, squeezing it tight before melting.

Peso gasps, his sobs gaining volume. Nightmares don't get this real.

"What is HAPPENING to me!?" he cries.

"YOU SHOT ME!!" The voice of Shellington rips into his ears. The bloody corpse reminds him of his mother's, the bullet holes peppered across it.

"I'm SORRY!" Peso screams, tears openly flowing down his cheeks. "I wish I could've stopped myself!"

He collapses, curling up and sobbing while the sand rains down on him.

"PESO! WE WERE FRIENDS!" he claws at his ears, tearing at his skin. Professor Inkling shouts at him, the hole in the centre of his head dripping down onto Peso's face as he leans over.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" He shrieks this so loudly that the fog disappears, the sand blowing away from him. "PLEASE! Please."

The barren expanse of sand seems to go on forever. Blood sinks darkly into the soil around him, giving off the reek of salt and rust. He stares out over the plain, a furious wind starting up and pelting him with the grains of sand. Climbing to his feet, he wipes at his stinging face as the lonely emptiness of the desert begins to set in. 

"Please don't leave."

He awakens with a gasp. Blazing pain shoots through his limbs. Where is he? Why can't he see? He begins to scream. At even the slightest movement, every inch of his body burns.

He tries to lick his dry lips, but they aren't there. Bloody teeth and gums surround his gaping mouth. He wails a gurgling sound, tears flaming down his face. He swims in light-headedness. The smell of urine and blood mingles in the air. A clinking sound passes into his blocked ears. Deep growling fills his senses, a tight gripping sensation jolts up his left leg. His right leg, his arm, his side, all of them feel crushing pain over the burn that is already there. His wails intensify, cut off by sudden agony on his neck.

That's a big oof for you, Peso. Hope it gets better for ya.