Dark Earth (Male Reader)

17: Fear

In the midst of the angry crowd, Dim reaches out for your hand, struggling for you after you'd been separated from her. Her view of you is blocked by the twisted faces and dirty hands surrounding her. Just when it seems like she's gotten to you, there is a sudden feeling in the air. Everything seems to move in and out simultaneously from your position. There's a loud crack, then, in and instant, you are gone, along with one of the members of the mob.

Dim and everyone in the room blink a few times, startled by your sudden disappearance. However, even with one gone, there's still another left. Everyone converges on Dim, grabbing her and restraining her. She fights back as best she can, but their numbers overpower her. Their broken smiles and haunting laughter fill her head as they start to drag her outside where the rest of the town can get in on the action.

"Let me go!" Dim yells, struggling still.

"you are ours... ours!"

Dim knows what they want with her. This town is one of the worst, most backwards places in the wasteland. They have no problem with killing. Their bodies are thin, and their dirt-encrusted fingers start to tear at her. She falls to the ground as they pin her down, baring their teeth.

"so young... so... alive... yes..."

A shorter man gets down on all fours, holding her wrist and looking at her arm. It's soft and pale, the greatest thing he's ever seen. Gasping, he opens his mouth and places Dim's arm inside his mouth and bites down. Dim screams in pain as she feels his teeth dig into her flesh. More of the insane move in, kneeling down and biting anywhere they could. Tears well up in Dim's eyes as they rip at her. She knows that coming here was a mistake. They have no problems with killing. They have no problems with eating.

Blood trickles down into the dirt. Her vision gets blurry. It's familiar. She feels herself start to grow weak as she's eaten alive slowly. Everything starts to grow dark. She's seen it before. And she remembers what happens afterwards.

The ground suddenly shakes. The townsfolk look up for a moment but don't see anything that would cause it. They're out of Lurker territory, and there hasn't been an earthquake in centuries. They turn back to continue their cannibalistic rituals when the ground shakes again.

A portion on the old rusty walls shifts a little, breaking and landing on the ground in a puff of dust. They stop and look up at it. There's an odd noise coming from it. It's like it's being eaten by acid. They leave Dim's dying body and move in as a unit for a closer look. The wall suddenly begins to shimmer. The sheet metal and rocks melt, shifting in size and form. A large portion of the barrier corrodes away till it's nothing but a puddle, and standing just on the other side is one very angry person.

Your eyes are red. Fully red. From the pupil to the whites of your eyes, it's all blood red. Energy crackles through your vision, sparking out into the air. The air around you grows heavy. In the invisible aura, spikes of pure space jut out and retract, stabbing at the air and ground. The group before you looks at you in amazement, but there is still only one thing on their minds. They are hungry. Hungry for something warm.

You start to step forward. As you do, the place where your feet had been is burnt black. Smoldering footprints lie in your wake as you move towards the crowd. The four ring tattoos on your wrist glow slightly. The look of anger is clear on your face, but also one of apathy. The large number of people with their teeth bared and black hearts beating doesn't faze you. You aren't afraid of them in the slightest.

One of the assailants rushes at you, raising her fists and yelling, attacking out of confusion. You simply raise your hand in response, waving it to the side. The ground beneath her starts to shimmer and squirm. It suddenly reaches up, encasing her in solid rock. She looks at the earth cocoon, stunned by the whole thing. The rest of the group moves back a little, also stunned. You continue to walk forward.

You can see Dim behind them. You lift your arms and push them out. The mob members look about when they're suddenly pushed. Straight down the middle of the swarm, a path opens up to Dim. The space in between them separates them, shoving them to the sides. Their faces are mixtures of awe and frustration. You can understand their concerns.

You move up to Dim. She looks up at you slowly, breathing softly. If this were under a normal situation, you'd both be afraid. Afraid of her dying. Of course, you both also know that death isn't an issue anymore. You look at her wounds, bleeding into the dirt. Kneeling down, you put your hand on her torn arm and a surge of energy exploded out from your fingers. Her broken body is covered in the blue-green light.

The townsfolk watch as her wounds heal. The color returns to her as the blood crawls back into her. A few moments and she's back to normal. She blinks a few times and looks up at you, panting after being brought back for the second time.

"Thanks...," she mumbles.

You take her hand and pull her up. Everyone around you watches you both closely. Their expressions are all the same, and they only display one emotion. Fear. They're afraid of you.

You walk back through the crowd, followed by Dim. They make no moves towards you. They don't want to get in your way, which is a lucky break. After the huge amount of energy you've used to hold everyone at bay and bring Dim back, you can feel yourself starting to slow down. You eyes change back to their normal colors. Dim takes you hand and walks out of the town, leaving them to wonder what had happened and what you were.

"Hey... You didn't kill any of them... Why not?"

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

You can't really put it into words. They're different from the normal abominations you've fought. They're people. You can't bring yourself to kill any. They don't deserve it.

They deserve a better world.