Dark Earth (Male Reader)

16: Mob

It looks like the town from before, but worse. Dim slowly leads you to small cluster of buildings and houses. The walls surrounding it are made of torn sheet metal and rocks. The buildings are poorly constructed, barely staying upright. The streets and alleys are all empty. There's not a single person in sight. You try not to feel creeped out as the two of you enter the little village.

"Where is everyone?" you whisper, not really sure if it's okay to talk loudly.

"Probably asleep. This place isn't like the town from before. It's a lot more... broken."

"Yeah, I can tell," you say, looking at the frail houses.

"I meant the people. There's no people in charge or laws, but there are basic rules people follow, like no killing or stealing or stuff. But this place is different. No one has any problems killing someone else. The rules don't exist here."

"Then why we come here if this place is so bad?"

"We need to restock our food supplies. You may be powerful, but you can't just make food out of thin air," Dim says. "... Can you?"

"Uh... I'm not sure."

"Well, it's best to not take any chances."

You both walk into a small brown hut made of stone and old cloth. It's similar to the store from the previous town, only it's much messier. The items sitting on the desks don't seem to have any order. They look like piles of trash to you. There's the sound of heavy breathing coming from a large doorway.

Peeking around the corner, you see that it's not one person breathing, but several. Piles of sleeping bodies line the hallway, shifting about periodically. They almost look dead to you. Dim puts up her hand, stopping.

"Let me to the talking. I want to get out of here as quickly as possible."

A woman at the front stirs in her sleep. She glances up and sees you and Dim standing in the middle of the room. A creep smile spreads across her face and she slides up to her feet, pushing off a snoring man. She hobbles up and moves in close. The smell makes you want to turn and leave.

"... visitors...," she hisses.

"We want trade," Dim says, staring her down.

The woman nods, waving her hand as she goes over to the window. A small wooden plate holding small green seeds sits there. You guess that it's her food. She picks one up and puts it in her mouth, sighing.

Dim goes and quickly picks up a few items from the tables. A few strange rocks, flowers, and roots. She puts them on the main table and reaches into the pack, pulling out a large silvery piece of ore.

"This fine?" Dim asks.

The woman looks back at her. She walks up and takes the metal piece, inspecting it before putting it back in Dim's hand, shaking her head.

"... no...," she says, not satisfied with the deal.

"What else?"

The woman thinks for a moment, and then turns to look at you. Your skin crawls as she slides in close. You try your best to remain still as she examines you. The creepy smile in her face grows wider.

"him..."

"Him?"

You get the general idea of what she's getting at. She wants you as the trade. You push her hand away as she reaches for you. Your skin is hotter than normal as you feel the fire sprout inside you slightly.

"No way," you say gruffly.

"heh... then... her..."

She points at Dim. Your girlfriend takes a step back, a little intimidated. You instinctively move between the two of them, blocking her off.

"You're not taking her."

The woman's face changes. It twists into an ugly scowl as she stance grows more ridged. It doesn't sit well with you. Suddenly, the strange feeling in your head appears. The that says danger is near.

"... give her... we need her... many uses..."

"No. You're not going to take her and that it," you respond, a little louder than maybe you should have.

The woman suddenly slams her fist down onto the table. The crash echoes through the room and out into the packed hall. The sleeping bodies start to wake up one at a time. They move and shift about, looking to see what was causing the commotion. The woman starts to yell. It's a bad yell. It hurts your ears. It unnatural. Evil.

"give her! give her to us!"

Her screams boom through the shake. You can feel more of the strange sensations appear in your mind. Danger is everywhere. All the yelling the mad woman is doing is attracting her fellow towns folk. They feel just as dangerous as her. You turn and grab Dim's hand, getting ready to leave when you suddenly see a wave of people coming through the door. Their mouths are broken and angry as they reach out with blood crusted fingers.

You two are instantly swarmed. Your immediate response is to fight back, but you can't. These people maybe be insane, but they're not the monsters from before. For some reason, you can't bring yourself to kill them. They're just people, angry and confused. However, just because you don't want to kill any of the insane monsters doesn't mean you can't fight back a little.

You struggle to keep your grip on Dim's hand as you push through the crowd. Their dirty hands start to claw at you, but you've survived much worse than this. However, they're not just attacking you. They're also going for Dim. She yells in pain as they converge on her. There's too many people for you to get out safely. You remember the town from before and hope you can pull off the same thing.

One of the rioters reaches out and bites down on Dim's arm. She screams as pain shoots through her remaining arm. Her grip on you weakens and she's pulled away. You snap back and reach out to grab her before you lose sighting of her. There's so many signals in your mind that it's hard to focus on anything. Reaching out, you grab and feel the fire explode your your body. Space around you grows wild and shifty and your instantly out of the fray. The town sits a while behind you.

"There... I think we're safe now..."

You aren't really. Your suddenly tackled to the ground by a pair of large hands. A crazed man stares down at you, wrapping his hands around your neck. You barely even feel his attempts to kill you. All you're thinking about is Dim. You'd grabbed the wrong hand. You'd left her behind.

The fire courses through your hands. You raise them and the man is suddenly lifted into the air. It hardens around him, keeping him in place. He looks around in surprise as your powers work. You stand slowly and look back at the town, growing angry. You want your girlfriend back.