SkyFall

Alive

Beth's POV~~~

Heaven's not like I thought it would be. Unless I'm in hell.... But it's cold and dark in here....

I opened my eyes slowly, but even doing that was painful. Groaning, I ran my hands over my face. I traced my hand over the rough, rock wall next to me, feeling it's jagged edges jut out under my palm. It was utterly quiet, only the sounds of my breathing denting the silence. I was calm, before my previous memories came flooding back to me. I gasped in fear recalling everything, and wondering where the hell I was. I began to sweat, despite the cold around me. Suddenly, I heard a shuffling noise among the shadows in front of me, and I expected the worst.

"Hey," Megan spoke softly. "Looks like I got here just in time."

I exhaled, suddenly feeling a huge weight lift from my shoulders. "So... I'm not dead?" My voice cracked and I frowned. Maybe Megan is dead, too.

"No, and it's all thanks to Logan. He stopped the blood flow and healed you right up."

I lifted my shirt to take a look at my stomach. It looked normal. "No scars?"

Megan shook her head. "Unbelievable, right?"

I nodded and sat up. "Who's shirt is this?" The last time I checked, I was wearing my one piece from The Base...

"Logan brought you some clothes -he made them appear out of thin air- and I put them on you."

I looked down at my calf and sighed with relief. It was as good as new. I struggled to get up, but Megan shook her head and gently pushed me down.

"You need more rest, so you're staying in this cave, okay?"

I shook my head. "Megan, I feel fine now. We need to help fight because-"

"Actually, the fighting's almost over. Logan is starting to send our remaining soldiers to the Meadow with the others. He says we should go with them."

"We can't all live in the Meadow! We have to fight for our territory!"

"We tried and we lost. Logan says that he'll expand the Meadow and that it will be everyone's new home."

"Megan. Do you have any idea how much energy that takes?? Creator or not, Logan has been working his ass off! Fighting, healing, teleporting people in and out! And he's going to use the last of his energy on the Meadow. At this rate, he's going to kill himself."

Megan sighed. "He claims that there's nothing else to do. The Meadow is only a few miles large, so people are crammed in there... I guess he's just putting everyone's comfort before his own. It's the right thing to do-"

"Not if he's going to die in the process!"

"I know, it's horrible, but it's his choice and actions. We can't do anything about it... Why do you seem to care about him all of a sudden?"

I scoffed. "I care about Dawn."

Megan grinned. "Keep telling yourself that. I know you care about your brother-in-law."

"But he's not my brother-in-law..."

"Yet."

"Hey!! How's Sleeping Beauty doing?" Ally teased, entering the long cave.

I smiled. "She's doing okay. She's ready to kick some monster-ass, too."

Ally's smile faded. "They've taken over some parts of SkyFall already. It's snowing in the village because that's the main location of all the snow monsters. The deadly flowers are inhabiting the shores, since they like the sun. The Venus flytraps are scattered throughout the forest. And the fire monsters, well, they move from place to place after they get tired of their old spot."

"I need to see this for myself," I said, making my way to the entrance of the cave. SkyFall was unrecognizable. Many of the trees in the forest were knocked over, the ones still standing were infested with Venus flytraps. Their trunks were entwined with snake-like vines and the flytraps were nestled within the branches. I shuddered. Note to Self: stay away from those...

In the eastern part of the forest, there was a large, blazing inferno. That's obviously the fire monsters' current location. The area directly in front of me had, no doubt, previously been their location, considering the fallen, burnt trees and the dying embers.

I walked further, getting a better view of the village. Debris was scattered everywhere; homes and buildings were nothing but broken concrete on the ground. The only buildings standing were the safe houses. Snow fell onto the village steadily, engulfing the atrocious aftermath left behind by all the bloodshed. The snow-monster blobs trudged around, seemingly content with their work. The village now looked like an eerie, abandoned world of snow. My eyes widened as I scanned the grounds, barley noticing the most obvious thing about the horrific view.

The bodies. Villagers and humans were scattered everywhere, their bodies slumped and lifeless. Trails of blood and claw marks were traced on the grass, as if some of them had been forcefully dragged as they struggled to escape. Some of the bodies were already decomposing, others were nothing but solid white bones. A few trees were splattered with someone's internals, as if the person had exploded from the inside out, or as if their body had been pulled apart with supernatural force. I took a shaky step backwards as the smell of death reached my nose.

What had once been the beautiful scenery of a "video game" was now nothing but the cruel after mass of the wicked person responsible for this. Malin.

"I- I guess I was so caught up in fighting and staying alive, I never noticed how this place was being torn apart..." My voice shook. I was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"There's no way we could ever defeat all of these monsters with so few of us left. That's why we need to leave," Megan said, guiding me to sit down on a rock.

"What about Dawn?"

"I- I don't know... Logan must have some sort of plan because I know he wouldn't leave her behind... Would he?"

"He can make things appear and disappear, right? Like these clothes that I'm wearing now? So why doesn't he just make these monsters disappear?"

"I'd make the whole island disappear if I could. Even Malin himself," Logan said, levitating to the ground. "But our bond as siblings does not allow me to do that, just as Malin cannot travel into my dreams. If he could, he'd make sure that I didn't sleep at all. Now, I should take you guys to the Meadow-"

"Sorry, but I'm not going."

"Beth!" Megan snapped.

"Megan, I'm not going without Dawn! Hell, even then, I still might not go. We already left our first home. I don't want to leave our second."

"Then I'm staying too."

"Then so am I!" Ally added.

Logan sighed, suppressing a smile. "Now I know why you guys are all good friends. You're all equally stubborn, Dawn included."

Ally grinned, despite our current circumstances. "I'll be sure to tell her that!"

"Looks like all of you will be staying with me and a few others. Asher, Jacob- I think you guys know him-"

"He's Megan's boyfriend," Ally grinned.

Megan coughed. "Actually we aren't official... But, were definitely more than friends..."

"Is Jake staying too?" I asked. It only makes sense- My thoughts were cut short when I saw that no one was meeting my gaze.

"What's... Going on?" I asked.

Megan shifted uneasily. "About what?"

"All of you looked away, when I mentioned Jake. Tell me what's happening."

Megan looked away again and Logan sighed.

"Beth," Ally said, all humor vanishing from her face. "Jake's dead."