𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝?~~ Madness Combat oc lore

·6·

That trip to Vegas was awful. At least I think it was. It was painful to walk so far, nobody gave me any help along the way either. I wouldn't ever do that again, never. Hurt too much.

About two days have passed since Alex left for Vegas. He was still walking along the same highway, approaching Nevada. The deserts around Nevada were odd, they were all bare and the skies turned red at night before it went dark. Not even animals survived out here. Not a single cactus, owl, lizard, or coyote was to be found. Nothing thrived out here, and it was odd to see such a barren of life setting.

The boy hadn't run out of his food or drinks but he was running low. He needed to stop somewhere to get more soon, but not a single building was seen for miles. It would take him a while until he could find a gas station at least. A few cars would zip past him every now and then, but for the most part he was greeted with silence. Not even the buzzing of cicadas could accompany him.

The only thing keeping him from stopping and giving up was his pure rage that bubbled up inside of him for the past few days. Thinking about seeing his parents and planning what he would do in bad situations fueled the fire that burned in his gut. He dreaded this so much it excited him. He wasn't in his right mind at all. He walked onwards.

After about a mile or two of walking after the sight of a "Nevada: 12 miles" sign, Alex took a break. He sat down on the side of the road and refreshed himself. His throat was scratchy from the constant work of walking all day, and his legs ached so much they were numb. This was hell. He stayed down for a little while, humming a song while he waited for his energy to spike up again. The boy had grown to like a certain band, Mother Mother to be exact. He was in fact humming one of their songs.

After 15 minutes or so Alex stood up and picked up his bag, walking along the highway again. He used his resentment towards his mom and dad to motivate him to step forward. Every step he took, every move he made, every thought he came up with, it was all drenched in pure abhorrent venom. He despised his parents with every bone in his body, and he let that anger seep through the cracks for now.

He kept walking on. Then eventually he saw the mildly vandalized sign on the side of the road approach. The sky was red and the setting faded into gray. The sign read this in bolded words:

Welcome to Nevada

This had acted like fodder to the hope of resolution that was starting to marinate in the boy's mind. He held his head up just a bit higher with confidence. No people were seen around, but there were what seemed to be fortified bases nearby. Figures moved and swarmed around the bases, working. They shuffled around like ants. He stared at it with wonder, what was all this?

And then a sharp pain came to him.

His neck specifically.

Alex tried to see what had bit him, only to find out a dart had been shot into his neck. He yanked it out, and stared at it. Without a moment's notice he started booking it as the panic set in. He didn't want to be harmed by anyone, hell no! He ran for a good 5 minutes, not daring to slow down. He started feeling really woozy though, and sat down. He leaned against the wall of an abandoned base and caught his breath. Due to the dart being a tranquilizer he passed out almost immediately.

His dreams were nothing but darkness. Empty visions of nothing. Void promises of anything, and they went by in an instant. He woke up still against the wall, startled. He wasn't expecting to be knocked out like that. His bag was still next to him where he left it, his arm on it. He rubbed his face in drowsiness, unable to tell if it was day or night. Everything was just crimson. When he put his hands back down he noticed something.

He stared at his hands and noticed they were gray. This was odd.. He didn't think he was seeing straight, so he tried to regain his normal vision again. He looked again after rubbing his eyes and his skin was still gray. He rolled his sleeve up to reveal his lightly scarred arm was gray. He started to panic. What the hell happened to him?!

He quickly took out a knife from his bag and looked in the reflection of it. His face was gray and he had a plus sign on it. His eyes and other facial features were still there, the cross was just visible on his skin. He looked with a horrified expression. Why was he like this? What made him turn into- into this?!

He put the knife back and panicked for a minute, collecting his thoughts quickly after. He didn't have time to worry about his health right now. He needed things to be settled. He stood up with his things and wandered in the general direction of Vegas. He treaded carefully now, pulling the turtleneck of his sweater up to cover it. He was still in pain from the dart, it was fairly large and it pierced deeper into his neck than it probably should've. Maybe the people here just have tough skin?

He quickly forgot his fear of what happened earlier fortunately. The teen kept walking and walking. He went through many towns with his face covered by his hair. He noticed how odd the people here looked. They had gray skin, and no faces. Just a cross. It terrified him at first.

How do they live? How do they eat, or speak?? He didn't want to think about it but he couldn't help but think of why they were like this. He at least tried to push the invading thoughts to the back of his mind as he wandered off towards Las Vegas. He had somewhere to be and worrying about other things would do nothing but hold him back.

Just a little further Alex. You're almost there.