Dark Earth (Male Reader)

10: Bones

The sound of Dim's heavy breathing accompanies you as you walk through the wasteland. She rests in your arms, trying to fight against the pain shooting out from her head and leg. You're not sure if you know anything about medicine, but you think her leg might be broken. She winces as you try to keep her steady while moving through broken land.

"How're you holding up?"

"It hurts... but not as much..."

You nod, holding her closer. Her hand rests on your chest as she lays in your arms. You tighten up, a little nervous at her touch. The position you're in with her is stranger than you're used to. You try to shield her from the wind as you walk. In the distance, you can see something standing out from the grey and brown background.

Bones. Lots of them. Piles of them like from before, some as big as houses. Your chest tightens again, but not out of embarrassment. They serve as a reminder of your current situation. The sight of all the white jagged bones makes your stomach turn. You hate them. Dim looks up as sees the piles.

"Hey... head over that way... We can pick up something for later..."

"You planning to cook bone soup again? Alright."

You veer off to the left, making your way to the first piles of bones. You lean and let Dim down slowly to search around for the small pieces and place then into the pack. You marvel at the size of the mound.

"Where did these things come from?" you ask. "I mean... there's so much..."

"Back when everything was going to Hell, the ones in charge had to find a way to get rid of all the bodies... But since people were dying so quickly... and since they were all so busy with the new Lurkers... they didn't have enough times or resources to deal with it all... so they left them all here... in the piles..."

"So there was a government before?"

"I guess...," Dim groans. "That was several years again... my parent weren't even around then..."

You look up at the bones around you. They're bleached white after spending several years in the open sun. There's not a scrap of skin or clothing to speak of. They've been here for centuries, long enough for each body to lose its identity. Anyone who was left here is lost, nothing left but loose bones.

From behind one of the piles, you can hear a sudden rustling noise. You and Dim freeze, listening closely. A soft and squishy crunching sound echoes from behind it. Dim closes the bag and motions for you to pick her up. Quickly scooping her up, you step slowly towards the noise peeking around to see what it was. In front of you stands a lanky figure. It's hunkered down over the bloody carcass of an unlucky black bird, chewing on it slowly.

"Bone Lurker..."

"These things live in here?"

"They moved in... they used to live in forests and stuff... but once those places all died, they moved into the boneyards... they seemed right at home..."

It doesn't even look back as you two talk. It's totally entranced by its meal. You start to move in when Dim stops you.

"No... a fight will just draw more... It's not a threat when it's eating... Let's get going..."

You nod, moving away from the bones and back out into the wasteland, trying to ignore the feeling in your head. You felt it back when you first heard the Bone Lurker. Since it wasn't a threat before, you never felt it. Now that you knew it was there, it was burning in your mind, distracting you. You hate the feeling. Suddenly, it starts to feel different. It's moving, jumping from place to place in your head.

You spin around, but there's nothing. You can see the back legs of the Bone Lurker still in the white mounds. The feeling belongs to something else.

"Dim, I think there's-"

A cloud of dust and dirt burst out from the ground in front of you. You stagger back, holding Dim close as a large figure rises from the aged earth. Two pale heads cry out as a fat body stands tall on its four arm legs. You grit your teeth, thinking that you'd seen the last of the Dirt Lurkers. Apparently, they don't give up so easily.

Dim clutches your clothes as the beast moves in. You're in no mood for games this time around. The fire builds in your finger tips, staring through your soul. With one quick flick of the wrist, the Dirt Lurker is cut straight through the middle, falling to the ground in two quivering chunks. Dim exhales, slowly loosening the grip on your shirt.

"That... was quick..."

"Yeah. Good thing it was just the one..."

For the second time, the ground beneath you explodes. Another monster jumps up, roaring at you. You get ready to fight when another monster appears, followed by another, and then another. In no time, you're surrounded on all sides by very large, very angry monsters, and they don't look the the type to talk their problems out. A fight is unavoidable.