Dark Earth (Male Reader)

5: Steps

You have no memory of the world before, but you're pretty sure you've never seen anything like this. The ground beneath your bare feet is broken and dusty. Craters as big as houses litter the area. Burn marks and gashes make the ground look like Swiss cheese. Dim stumbles through the wasteland, making her way passed the old trees and strange constructions made of stone and mud. In the distance, there was nothing to see but old mountains and towering pillars of smoke.

"This is insane... it's all..."

"dead..."

"How? How did this happen?"

Dim only shrugs, continuing to move through the barren wasteland.

"... it was... like this... before I was born..."

You frown and follow, avoiding all the strange puddles and bones that cover the ground. You try to get your mind off of the subject of death.

"So how far away exactly is the tower?"

"... far... going to a town first... for map and provisions..."

"Okay... That makes sense. What's it called?"

"it is town with no name... no one gave it one..."

"Um... alright... how-"

Before you can finish your next question, a loud noise comes from behind you. From underneath a pile of rocks and broken metal, something starts to shift around. Before you know what's happening, Dim is grabbing your arm and pulling you quickly to the side, ducking behind a large rock. She has a terrified look on her face.

"What's wrong? What is it?" you whisper.

"... monster..."

You look back over your cover just in time to see a large arm rise up from the dirt. However, instead of a hand, it has a human head. It's sunken eyes look around as it's teeth bite at the air. Another arm with a head for a hand pops out of the ground. They howl as the rest of the body rises up. It's round and pale. Four thin legs come up, but the feet have been replaced with mangled up hands. Where the creatures head should be is another large blistered hand. Six eyes sit in it, five on the fingers and one in the center of its palm.

"What the?...," you say in horror.

"... mutant monster... from underground... it felt us... it's going to... find..."

Dim curls up into a ball, breathing heavily. The deformed creature uses its two head to sniff at the air as it spider walks around, searching for you. It's several eyes look everywhere at once. It's gross skin is covered in mucus and odd bugs. The hellish sounds it's making shake you to your core. You look back at Dim. She's still in her ball, hiding inside her cloak.

"Hey... come on... we need to go."

She doesn't respond. You move in closer and look at her face. It's one of pure terror. Her eyes are glazed over and she's panting heavily. It's like she's in some kind of trace.

"Dim... snap out of it!" you hiss.

From over the rock, you can hear the beast drawing closer. It sounds soggy and smells even worse. You don't know why Dim won't respond, but you don't have time to find out. Taking her arm, you pull her out from the hiding spot and run from the monster. It turns its heads and sees you, giving chase.

"Come on! Wake up."

"... i... i...," she stammers. "it's going to... eat me..."

"It won't if you run!"

The beast closes in on you two. Turning back to face it, the fire appears in your arm. You wave it to the left and the monster is suddenly thrown off its feet by an invisible force, flying back several feet from you as you keep running.

"Dim! We have to go! What's wrong with you!?"

"It killed my parents! Those things ate my family and my arm!"

She falls to her knees, crying. Her tears roll down her dirty face and onto the ground. You stop and kneel beside her, trying to comfort her.

"I'm afraid... that they'll get me... That they'll... take the rest of me!..."

She buries her face into her remaining hand. The monster rises up, shaking itself and wondering what had happened to it. Looking back, it saw that the little figure wasn't moving. The perfect meal.

"Dim, you don't need to be afraid. I'm here. I'll protect you. I'm strong, remember?"

She looked up, her eyes red and puffy. She had a scared look on her face, but less so than before. Glancing up, you see the mutated beast rushing at you. Fire builds up in your body. You stand up and walk forward a bit, feeling the heat build up in the back of your head. The monster roared from its two misshapen mouths. Dim screams in horror as it comes closer to you. You scream too as a massive energy wave explodes from your eyes, vaporizing everything in sight.

The laser vanished after a moment, letting you see the carnage. All that's left of the monster are the leftovers from its legs. In the distance, you can see the mountain. There's a small burn mark where you'd been staring. Sighing and rubbing your eyes, you look back at Dim.

"You... killed it," she stutters.

"Of course... I said I'd protect you," you pant.

She looks at you blankly for a moment before standing up and staggering over to you. Before you know it, she wraps her arm around you, hugging you close as more tears fall from her face. Only now, they aren't tears of fear. They're of gratitude.

"Thank you... so much... I don't know what to call you..."

"I can't remember my name..."

"May I give you one?"

You smile at her as she steps back.

"Sure. What'd you have in mind?"

"How about... (Y/N)? It's was... my brothers name."

"(Y/N)... I like it."

You take her hand and continue on, walking away from the piles of discarded and burnt limbs. She smiles as you both walk to the unnamed down, happy to be traveling with each other.

It can get pretty lonely in the wasteland.