Daybreak Oneshots

Shards of Plastic

Dakari sprinted across Roanoke Woods, breathing heavily as his feet pattered against the wet grass beneath him. He found a toppled tree broken in half, with a piece of cloth draped over one of the halves. He quickly ran and hid among the pine needles, covering his mouth to stifle his breathing.

He heard footsteps behind him, presumably on the other side of the tree. A red light shone on the ground in front of him. It was the killer. He stiffened, hearing the grass crunch under the unknown being's feet.

He looked out of the corner of his eye, seeing someone walking closer to him. He shut his eyes tightly, hoping he wouldn't be noticed.

"Where are you? Come out," the... thing drawled. It continued walking around the tree, inspecting it. A bead of sweat slowly cascaded down Dakari's nape as he sat as still as he could. He could feel and hear his heartbeat pounding through his chest. He hoped the killer couldn't hear him.

After what felt like hours, Dakari heard the footsteps grow quiet and the red light faded away. Finally, the killer is gone. He let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the protection and camouflage the pine needles provided.

Big mistake.

Before Dakari could process what happened, he was suddenly grabbed by the front of his wetsuit and lifted into the air, left at the mercy of whoever happened to be the killer that round.

He was going to protest, to beg for mercy, but after he opened his eyes any words he could've said died in his throat.

The one holding him up was the very fish man who wanted him dead. The Polluted.

His eyes widened out of terror, images of what would happen next flashing through his mind. The man in front of him only stared back, oil dripping down from his mouth into the grass as he clenched his spear in his other hand.

"Please don't..." Dakari pleaded, grabbing The Polluted's arm, who only narrowed his eyes.

"And let you go free? I think not, especially with that device of yours."

"I told you, I help animals, not hurt them."

"You prevent nature from taking its course with that toy of yours!" The Polluted spat back. "When will you ever learn?!"

"You think anything about the situation we're in is natural?!" Dakari retorted.

"Shut UP!" Dakari was thrown onto his side roughly, resulting in a loud yelp of pain as his body met the ground below. The Polluted pierced Dakari with his spear, inflicting unbearable pain upon him.

DAKARI HAS BEEN DOWNED!

Everything seemed to spin as a pool of blood formed beneath Dakari. Orange eyes watched him twitch in pain, and a pale green hand reached down and pulled his heal gun out of its holster. The Polluted then threw the gun onto the floor and crushed it beneath his foot, twisting his foot sideways to make sure it was completely unusable and unrepairable.

"Let this be a lesson for you. The next time you decide to even bring out this... cursed object, remember this moment." The Polluted then turned around and left, footsteps growing quieter the farther away he got.

Dakari could only stare blankly at the remains of his gun. All of his hard work, gone just like that. He heard someone rush over to help him up, but he didn't bother moving to see who arrived. Even while his wound was cleaned and bandaged he couldn't take his eyes off of the shards of plastic and metal resting on the ground.

He slowly moved towards his gun and picked up the remains of the gun. He didn't care that some of the pieces scratched his hand, or the survivor behind him who was urging him to get up and get a move on.

All his life he wanted to help animals, harboring a deep appreciation for the creatures that roamed the Earth. He even went as far as to create a healing gun that functions underwater. He never once stopped to consider that maybe, just maybe, they didn't want his help.

He felt completely and utterly useless, like a plastic bag floating through the depths of the ocean. And he hated it.