Tainted (Cryaotic x Reader)

~Chapter 1 {Part 1}~

(Alex's pov)

I walked across the wide highway, sun beating down against the black surface. I pretty much have a death wish, out in the open like this, in a maze of destroyed cars and with a high possibility of tainted, but I couldn't find it in me to care. "Great idea to just waltz around during the apocolypse Alex" I muttered quietly to myself but did nothing to hide myself more, all the while glaring at the blasted sun. I sighed as I continued my trek in the heat, eyes scanning the area for any signs or a map or just anything that could tell me where I actually was. I silently cursed the fact I had never ventured far from my hometown, but back then Faunus were still unknown to the world, and my parents wanted to keep it that way. I absent mindedly lifted a hand to tug a little at the bow hiding my ears, grateful for the quick relief I felt when they shifted in the tight containment. Bored, I decided to search a nearby car. After trying and failing to glimpse the connects of the car, I set down my bags and heaved at the door. "C'mon, you stupid car," I huffed, getting more and more worked up as time went on. Giving one more mighty pull, the green car door broke clean away from its hinges, and I idly thought about using it as a shield. Yeah, no. I threw the offending item over my shoulder, wincing slightly at the loud crash it made. My worries were soon forgotten as I spied the loot; a couple cans of assorted vegetables, and was that..? Yes! Canned Peaches and pears as well! "Oh, I love you car!" I exclaimed, a grin plastered on my face. Still feeling rather more exuberant than I had in the past while, I searched through a few more cars before I eventually got bored of it. Spying a hill up ahead, you let out the wheels from your black boots that were a godsend (seriously, they could be used for anything). With a few strong pumps of my legs, I was soon flying down the hill, yelling and whooping in joy for all the world, human or not, to hear. It may have been childish, but you took your happiness where you could.

I got to the bottom of the hill quickly, the initial buzz of free falling leaving me just as fast. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. I peered up at the sky to see it was still early enough in the day to do some more exploring, so I clicked in my rollerblades and began making my way towards the closest building. The sun had not got any less ferocious in the past couple of hours, and the heat was a constant annoyance I took note of in the back of my head. To be fair, the weather didn't really influence me that much, but I still preferred less extreme heat. That being said, I always wore some sort of jacket or hoodie over the rest of my clothing, so that could be a factor in the unyielding warmth. Shaking myself out of my idle musings, I reached out and ran my hand along the concrete wall of the crumbling building. The entry way didn't have any doors left, and I crouched down and made my way inside silently. Pausing just inside, i waited cautiously for the sound of gunshots or screams, but upon hearing only the silence that was all around in these times- not even the buzz of electricity or the far away sounds of laughter that would have used to fill the empt streets.
I shimmied down to the ground and began crawling across the floor towards the stairwell, (you never could be to careful,), and slowly stood up. The building seemed to have been a fancy hotel at one point, but now it was just a bunch of empty rooms and creaky floorboards. Seriously, what was it with the floorboards. Nothing like hiding from a tainted only to have the floor under you make an ungodly loud sound. After surveying the area, I tried the elevator, but of course it didn't work, then I walked a little to the stairway. I looked at the sign on the wall of the archway, and saw that there were 22 levels. "I guess it's time to make my way up and see if there's anything that hasn't already been looted... It's probably been picked clean." I muttered under my breath, giving a little glare upwards at the mountain of stairs I had to climb.

I made my trek to the first floor, and crept into the entryway. On this floor there was a pool, bar, cafe and the by looks of a kids game room. Next to the pool there was a door with a hospital cross on the window, and I tried the handle, wincing at the large click it made, unfortunately locked. "I really must have used up all my luck in the cars back there," I murmured bitterly, spinning around and heading towards what looked like a row of lockers. After scavenging through them I came up with a small fire axe and a bottle of... Well, something. I have no idea what. Anyways, the axe would do perfectly to open the door. I turned to walk back, and immediately saw a tainted by the pool. I froze, hoping it wouldn't notice me, but due to not taking as much care to be silent as I had before, it's head snapped up in a very inhuman way and it's glazed over eyes bored into my own golden ones. I threw my axe to the side for the meantime and saw it's head follow the movement, and I equipped my mini Uzis, ready for the fight that was soon to follow. It was time for a little fun.
I knew it was a terrifying experience for most fighting these creatures, and it's wrong to enjoy it, but when I'm battling them I can envision the monsters who created them in the first place instead of the actual beast, and it felt so good just being able to take that small revenge. The tainted began it's stumbling gait towards me, surprisingly fast, but I jumped to the side in a dodge, my knees bent and ready to jump out of harms way. After it charged again, I jumped on top of a small pillar in the centre of the room, and it ran into it, trying fitfully to climb the slippery smooth surface. I leapt over it, loading my guns and twisting around so I could face it, and after a split second I aimed then fired, my bulletin going strait into its eye. It reared back with a shriek of pain, and it's clawed hands came up to try and somehow get rid of the damage that had blinded it. I studied it for a moment, staying completely still, seeing it thrash over

to the wrong side of the room in no futile attempt to find me, but it ended up at the side of the pool, and with a slip fell in and tainted the already murky water with a deep, unnatural red. When it stopped moving as much, I grabbed the discarded axe and made my way over to the door, staying clear of the puddle of blood where the beast had been shot. I swung down on the lock a few times, and with a satisfying crack it gave way. I tossed the axe into the pool, it was too heavy to take with me, and cringed at the wet sound it made when it embedded itself in the tainted's body, stilling it completely. Pushing those feelings aside, I entered the medical supply room, which was clean and fairly untouched, save for the rotting corpse in the corner. I opened the cabinet, only to find it cleared out. "Huh?" Casting my eyes around the room, they spotted the bulging bag next to the corpse, and I hesitantly made my way over. Dealing with dead things were worse than doing the killing, I decided, after having to reach around the decomposing body to get the bag filled to the brim with medical goodies. 'The poor sap must have been trying to save himself' I thought a frown upon my face when I spotted the fairly obvious claw marks that would have been given by a stray tainted early in the outbreak. I guess I didn't feel nearly as bad for killing the one in the pool after all. A slip of plastic caught my eye, and I reached down to grab the I.d. For the guy, the name Mr. Henry K. Phillips proudly displayed on the card. Must have been a guest. Saddened by the mans untimely demise, I went about dragging him out to the garden and digging him a grave and marking it with several stones scattered about, even if it did cost me precious time in the daylight.