O.W. #44

Chapter 1: O.W. Project Page 12

He says in a quick whisper, "Goodbye, Forty-Four. The person who I was is gone now. You are me, so please save anyone you can." I jolt awake as soon as he says, "And if you were wondering, my name was Noah." I sit up in a bed with an I.V. hooked up to me. I look around, noticing Zero-Zero sitting next to the bed asleep.

Zach walks into the room, then smiles at me warmly while asking, "Are you feeling better?" I nod as Zero-Zero wakes up, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

She looks at me with a dazed look, then smiles, saying, "You're awake." She hugs me. I feel tears running down my face. She pulls back from the hug as I realize I wasn't the only one crying. She had tears running down her face with a smile. Zach is still smiling in the back of the room and his smile went from a warm, reassuring smile to one of a demented creature who is just about to catch its prey. Zach realizes I am looking at him and adjusts his smile back to the warm, friendly one.

Zach walks up to me, then asks, "Did you see who attacked you?"

I shake my head, saying, "No, not at all." I stand up, then fall down, feeling lightheaded.

Zero-Zero crouches down, asking in a worried tone, "Do you want some help?" I nod as she helps me stand up. I look at her with a smile, then I lay down as Zero-Zero says, "You need to rest before you get up and walk around."

I nod as I close my eyes, slowly falling asleep. The room is so silent a melody can be heard from a room down the hall. I listen to the melody as I fall into a deep sleep. I hear a woman scream as I open my eyes. I look around the dark room while thinking, "Where's Zero-Zero and Zach?" I see a little girl and the petrified look on her face. When she notices me, she points to the door, saying, "Mama and Papa are out there fighting off intruders." I look at her, confused, then sneak to the door, slowly peeking out, and see ten masked people holding swords and guns. Across the room is a middle-aged man holding a sword and a woman on the ground breathing heavily with a sword next to her.

A person with a gun shoots the guy in the leg then says, "Hey demon, you know what this is, it's a weapon made by humans, and can kill you so our queen can rise." The guy looks at the masked person as he pulls the bullet out of his leg, groaning a little, but a cocky smile creeps across his face.

Another one of the masked people points their sword at the man as they say, "Stop acting all cocky or you will watch that woman die." The guy's smile fades and the person with the gun says to the rest, "Go fetch the kids, then we'll deal with these two." Eight of the people walk my way then I run to the girl then try to say "You'll be ok I'll protect you miss" but what comes out of my mouth is "S-Sis, I'll protect you."

I hear crying behind me. As I watch the door bust open, I hear the guy in the other room yell, "Don't resist! If you do, you'll get badly hurt. Just do as they say."