To Kiss A Corpse Goodbye

16 - 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒

Forrest still had nothing to say. The briefcase had become nothing more than needless weight, but Adelaide kept holding onto it. The hope was getting thinner with each passing day, but she couldn't hide that a part of her was desperate to believe that there would be so much luck. That he would simply come back one day. Despite her behaviour, despite her words, despite her need to die. That he would just accept that was how it was, and that it was okay. That he could just come back to speaking with her, as though the fight had never happened. The goal was entirely unrealistic, of course, but she was eager for it to somehow be achieved.

Despite her hopes, of course, no response ever came. The briefcase never sparked back to life. She never managed to totally fix it. The stupid thing just made her back hurt, and made her fingers more sore. Having to carry the damn thing, which weighed her down for basically nothing more than the vague hope he might come back. At some point, Adelaide began treating carrying the weight as like wearing penance chains. Though it was a lot more bizarre.

At least, the one similarity was that whether you wore penance chains or carried a penance briefcase, you were still just waiting for some response from a higher power. Adelaide used that thought to entertain herself as she kept walking. Walking had turned into a surprisingly mind numbing activity, even in the apocalypse. At some point, she realized she had simply come to terms with the idea this was her reality.

That was almost frightening in and of itself: that she could just accept this as the new normal. But by this point, nothing should've been surprising anymore. She lowered her head, continuing on– and ignoring the flashes of Jisako she thought she saw looming over her or hanging near corners. She knew it was like chasing the rabbit– but she was not Alice, and there was no Wonderland waiting for her. It had been bombed away. And she was too old to fit in the rabbit hole now anyway.

Adelaide was pulled out of her rather gloomy mind by the sound of footsteps– practiced, human footsteps. Not those of a human puppet being pushed around by the whims of some irritated demon. Adelaide whipped around to find who the steps belonged to with a violent excitement and fervour.

She was all too relieved when she finally saw Rainmaker, a human face, and, beyond that, a familiar one. Adelaide smiled at him when she saw it. Her teeth had become weak, and one piece chipped away from the small motion of peeling her lips back into a smile. Rainmaker nodded to her in acknowledgement. "Adelaide," he called, in a voice no louder than a whisper.

Adelaide smiled at him regardless. They couldn't be too loud now– there were most certainly too many demons everywhere. "It's so nice to see you again."

He didn't look entirely like he'd understood what she'd said, and for a moment, Adelaide wondered if she'd perhaps just made a mistake and spoken to a demon with his features. She was thankfully mistaken about that, because the recognition eventually came over his face. The radiation had given Rainmaker a bit of a foggy mind– and he was stuck perpetually wondering whether he was awake or not. In her estimation, there was no more waking. Nightmares and dreams had merged with the irradiated world, given form into demons and waking dreams alike.

It was quite often that Rainmaker was not 'present' anymore, because lethargy required rest and he'd slept at least several times along the road in the vain hopes he'd get his mind in sorts, though it hadn't done anything for him. Beyond that, his fight with Solko had left him taking several rather violent hits to a head that wasn't attached very well to begin with.

Rainmaker nodded slowly. The woman in front of him, he was fairly sure he recognized to some extent. Though it took several minutes for him to finally place down that the features weren't of the fifth grade maths teacher who'd been caught sneaking dogs in and out of the building. Or was it drugs? Possibly, most probably, it was actually drugs.