The Ashes of What Remains

The Savior!

The masked figure turned around, just staring at the beetle. Then he grabbed the arm of the mint-haired person and dashed to another window, breaking it with his elbow and darting out.

Nemi just looked over at the beetle and screamed loudly, going back to hiding behind the shelves again.

"Fuck no, FUCK NO! I'm gonna die! We're all gonna die!" They covered their eyes with their sweaty palms.

The person ran over to Kanik, taking out some bandages to wrap around the wound. Afterwards, they patted on Nemi's shoulder, sort of in a comforting way, before hopping onto the beetle with a 'come on' type of hand gesture. Nemi looked up at the person, and aggressively shook their head.

"No way. NO WAY. ABSOLUTELY NOT."

"..Holy shit. He's riding a mutated beetle like a horse. THIS IS SO COOL!!!"

Kanik stood up, grabbing his gun and running over to the bug to hop on.

"No way. I'm riding a beetle like a horse. Oh my god. Best. Day. EVER!!!!! NEMI, CMON!!!"

Nemi really didn't want to go on the beetle. But they really had no choice. So they slowly picked up their bat again and walked over, slowly getting onto the beetle.

"Ew, ew, ew, ew..."

"What are you saying ew to? This is awesome! Hey, bug talker, what's your name?"

The stranger pulled their mask down, pointing to the large chunk of skin and flesh missing next to their mouth. And their mouth was stitched? Kanik started to realize this guy was... Stitched everywhere.

The stranger began to sign.

I'm Jasper.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MOM-"

"Oh my fucking god, Kanik calm down. He signed his name, his name is Jasper. Do you not know sign language?" Nemi asked, a hint of disappointment in their tone.

"...What language? No, I don't. Is it mandatory??? Hello?? I never expected to be saved by Frankenstein!"

Kanik pointed around at all of the stitching on Jasper's..well, everywhere, really. Which in turn got him a slap in the face from Nemi.

"Don't be such a prick, it's not like he can control that. Also you're a dumbass, the poor guy probably can't talk."

"Ow, damn! Yeah, okay, mom! Sorry, jeez."

Kanik crossed his arms, huffing and rubbing his slap mark, since the mask was still only halfway on.

Jasper waved his arms around, protesting their fight. He didn't want them to argue, because arguing leads to everyone turning on each other.

And he's seen enough of that already.

Either way, that got the two's attention and they stopped arguing. Jasper patted the bug a bit, causing the bug to turn around and start moving. Then he tossed both Nemi and Kanik guns. Seems he's surviving just fine..

Nemi took the gun, looking at it a bit. "Damn, you're living pretty good out here." They looked all around at the gun, making sure it wasn't secretly an explosive built to trick people.

And lucky for them, it wasn't.

Jasper only nodded and tried to smile a little bit, but it was held together by stitches. But his other eye was closed in a smiling way, so they could hopefully tell. Nemi did and smiled back. They forgot they were even on the back of a beetle for a sec. Then they remembered all over again.

"OH GOD GET ME OFF OF THIS THING-"

"Don't be such a pussy, Nemi! It's just a cool bug!"

The bug soon stopped in front of a house that looked like it's been rebuilt many, many times. But it didn't look all that bad for a house in an apocalypse. Jasper hopped down from the bug, helping the other two off. Nemi quickly got off, shaking their arms around a bit in disgust.

"I hope I never have to ride that thing ever again. Also I'm assuming this is where you live, Jasper?"

Jasper nodded, and once both were off, he located the bug into a shed to keep it safe, then coming back and opening the door for the two.

"Woaaaahhhhhh.... Your bug even has its own little house in your shed!? That's so cool...."

The house wasn't that bad. A few buckets here and there for leaks, but it really could be worse. Basically a normal house with patched up furniture. Nemi welcomed themselves inside, looking around the house a bit.

"Nice place." They kinda snooped around, they could be a bit mosey at times.

One of the rooms literally had a wall of weapons. Swords, knives, guns, everything. Sure is prepared man.... But most of the rooms were just normal. Bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen... An everyday house. Nemi found that kinda weird, but also got excited because they like weapons. At some point they went back to the room with weapons, looking around at everything there.

"Hey Jasper, how many of these can I use for myself?!" They yelled, hoping Jasper was able to hear them.

Jasper just walked in the room since.. He couldn't talk.

As many as wanted.

He signed. Those were mostly old weapons, but they stilled worked. The ones he normally uses are under his bed. So he could care less about the ones in here. Nemi squealed a little with joy, grabbing a few of the weapons for them to keep. A few guns, a knife or two, a chainsaw, all that jazz. They kept a bag with them at all times, so it'd probably be fine for them to carry around.