A young, chubby boy allows his hand to go limp, a numbing sensation shooting throughout each finger as a small cylindrical bottle hits the ground and smashes. It is identical to the five others interlaced throughout his fingers. The tiny pieces scatter quickly, almost as if to run from the stubby hands desperately trying to pick them up.
"Another one? Seriously, Loe?" A deep, aggressive voice exhales out.
The boy is quick to pout.
"I told you I can't hold that many at a time, Papa."
The big, burly man stares down at the younger boy.
"Not if you continue without hope. Hope is all you need my boy."
He kneels down, touching the boy's face with his mud covered hands. The boy doesn't flinch. A sincere expression crosses his face as he pulls the boy's eyes to his own. They share the same color: a swirling, dark green with hints of blue poking through, almost in defiance. Yet, the boy's left eye holds a tiny, unique brown dot left to the center. It stares blankly at the man.
"Repeat after me: hope is all we got. And we ain't go a lot! But if we got some hope we can still be close for the hope is all we need! Hope is the seed~"
His grumbly voice sings heartily as he stares down at his son.
The younger boy chimes in quickly after, his voice high and dainty: "hope.. we can still be close... seeeeeed...~"
The little child snaps his fingers and squeals as his father continues to sing and laugh, his cheeks reddening.
"Hope..hope..hope~!"
12 years later
Present Day
"Just use a little hope. It'll go a long way if you let it." A young man says while wrapping the leg of an older woman with gauze. A shy smile forms at his words from the woman, almost irresistibly.
"You listen to him well, ma'am." The big burly man demands brushing past the two in the tight quarters. The young man eyes his father as he passes and then finishes up the bandages tightly. "Please keep that elevated. I'll get you some water."
"Thank you, Loelin." The old woman whispers.
He meekly nods and pushes a door open, the space widening. It's bustling with travelers and victims of the nightcrawlers. Space is limited.
Loelin moves skillfully through the crowd, having gotten used to it after so many years of work. He slides behind a bar and reaches down for a cup. As he bends slightly, a hand travels quietly around his shoulder.
He snaps back while edging a blade out his back pocket.
"Loe."
A silky voice breathes out.
"Oh hey Georgia. I'm gettin water."
He grabs a crumpled paper cup and runs it under a rusty faucet, hope lingering in his eyes. Georgia is a tall woman with rosy cheeks. Her figure is plump yet firm and her outfit consists of heavy, strappy clothing. Georgia is quick to grasp the cup from him, crumpling it even more. She pushes it under a big gallon jug holding water and it fills slowly.
"You ain't even gon' stop tryin' right?" Her voice is thick with a rich accent. Loe's voice can't even compete.
"It could turn back on.." Loe mutters.
"Yeah?"-
She's quick to shove the cup full of water into Loelin's chest before continuing.
"It's about just as fuckin' likely as yer ass getting bit and survivin', Loe. You and yer fuckin' hope I swear to God."
Georgia taps her solid black boots on the ground while huffing.
"Anyways, yer pops says we're overflowin. Says he needs you to go to the back gates and take care of one waitin out there. Yer not a server anymore, idiot. Get back to doin what really matters now."
She shoves a rough hand into Loe's chest where the cup lies. Loelin stays deadly silent as water seeps through his shirt quickly, eating away the fabric and turning it dark.
He waits for Georgia to turn and walk away before filling up the cup a second time.
Loe slowly makes his way to the outside gates, his gut twirling. His eyes scan safely from the interior before pushing the back door open and noticing a lone person leaning against the gate while holding their leg.
".. we can take you in now. But I gotta"-
The person turns slowly revealing a face full of fleshy wounds and welts. It looks like intentional tears, not like the nightcrawlers' quick, destructive rips. His leg wobbles stiffly and his bloodshot eyes strain to stay wide open. His black hair slicks down on his forehead, covered by a mixture of blood and sweat. If Loe didn't know better he would've thought the person was a nightcrawler themself.
The person shuffles towards the gate door. His breathing quick and erratic as he eyes Loelin. His gaze is toxic. Loe breathes deeply, feeling the need for more oxygen. He hadn't ever met eyes like the ones staring towards him now. They were clumsy and quick, yet reserved and delayed.
Now that Loe thought about it, the other person acted almost completely inhuman. It's legs were sprawled out, long and compact with heavy muscle. They were buckled harshly at the knee, his left leg leaning further in towards Loe. Loe reacted like normal. He'd seen worse... or at least his father had seen worse.
He opened the gate maybe too quickly.
The person dropped down into the covered area, eyes sporadic.
"I'll set you on fire if you move."
Loe was just a server from the cafe from before. But we don't speak of before. Nobody does.
But despite his inability in the past, he was now quick with words and even quicker with a gun. He traced the cold material of his handgun while examining the guy and leaning for the gate handle.
Suddenly Loe was on the ground, a sharp pain in his thigh and a soaked hand covering his eyes.
Loe assumed it was blood.
A tall male laid on top of him, kicking the gate closed from behind and eyeing the other stagnant body beside him.
His eyes were sharp and focused, displaying a rich almond color. They seemed to tear through the lifeless body beside the two with conflicting behavior. One eye appeared to be blind, a silky white layer of dead vessels covering it. His ashy hair drew over his face like a curtain, securing most of his identity. His clothes were torn with sweat pushing through the heavy fabric.
Two rounds quickly tore through the air, whipping past the almond eyes. Loe held a gun high until the man's attention directed on him.
"Get out." Loe demanded.
His tone was cold.
"Trust me." The unknown mouth insisted.
Loe quickly shot towards the silver headed man.
The man whipped his body off from Loe's and bounces back, watching the other unmoving body out of his peripherals. He quickly slices his arm, revealing a deep, dark red liquid oozing from the rupture in his skin.
Loe watches in concentration.
"What do you"-
Four shots are fired directly into the skull of the unmoving body, sprawling and gasping horrifically. It lays there, oozing a sickly, yellow liquid. The ground soaks it in through the cracks thirstily.
Loe eyes the body, feeling a small harsh hit of unwanted reality and then quickly transfers his gaze back towards the figure above. The only think he can make out clearly are the other's eyes as he whips around a large pierce of fabric around half of it. A narrowed gaze full of a light brown and complexity. It brought a pungent sense of familiarity through Loe's brain as he continued to stare cautiously towards the other male.
