After Earth

Chapter 12: Monster

        I was assigned to Agitit. It was my job to lie and lure him to a safe place where Basha, Neltmat, Tores, Olman, and Backin would corner both him and Karsk and kill them. The idea of murder seemed to brush off my shoulder like it had when I killed Rentie, but it also seemed to do the same to everyone else. The other team (Orgeti, Nashi, Kagre, Nekip, and Nasekin) were going to corner and kill Kaiglanr. They had Acki with them, who by my surprise was allowing himself to be bait for the guy. I would have prayed for his safety, but the last thing I believed in was a god.
     Orgeti's team had already left about five minutes ago, scattering as if not to raise any suspicion. The rest of us sat at the table in complete silence. My arm that was stained in black and red seemed to pulse. Maybe it was a sign. Tores had already completed the task of making the snow reign down in droves, so he had come back in with a shiver to his bones. Focusing on my arm, I waited for the call.
     And my phone rang, so I picked it up and heard Agitit on the other end. "Hey, you're going to have to keep Acki over night. The snow is rough, and Arbelin would rather not try it." I nodded and told him it was fine. "We're stuck in the lab for the night."
     I stared at my allies, and they all sat up from their seats. "Be careful," I gruffly said.
     He told me goodbye cheerfully and hung up. I stood up, too, suddenly feeling a sense of accomplishment, Olman opened his mouth, but I cut him off as I already knew what he was going to say.
     "You'll know when to head in," I said. "I'll signal you somehow."
     I had an inkling that I knew how to do that already. They all left, going in separate directions that would eventually lead to the same place. The lab. With a great sigh, I stood up from the table and slunk towards the large exit. Something... was off. I turned my head back to the table and immediately felt the pain in my arm. Both arms. I dropped to my knees, biting my lip hard enough for it to bleed, and I held onto a chair that soon shattered to splinters from my grip.
     "Tayas."
     No.
     "Tayas!"
     I snapped my head to see Rentie naked. She seemed defensive as she clung to the bed sheet, covering the man she had in some other sheets. It was too late. I stood, my arms so pained I felt as if I couldn't lift them. I had to. I had to. Rentie was in bed with Sonte Onte, a man I didn't even know the name of until after I did it. Where was the knife? The knife... I pulled it from within my pocket with my pained arms that I only lifted because they needed to. Sonte had a faceless appearance, one that was born to die.
     "Tayas, let me explain," she started. Those eyes... They were looking right through me. I pounced with the knife into her eyes, and I cut one long incision from her lip all the way through her stomach. The blood stained me, and it felt real because it had gone into my skin. As she bled, I grabbed Sonte and cut his throat. I cut from his eyes to his chin, something akin to the make-up a clown might've worn. My arms hurt. My arms felt pain. His blood was sucked up into my skin the same as her's, and I could taste it. I could taste the black, too, and it tasted... good.
     "Tayas."
     I closed my eyes and collapsed as the pain was too great. Should I have screamed? I could not. If I did that, I would have been giving up now just like I did then.
     "Get up."
     I opened my eyes and saw someone there. An enemy. I could tell by the glimmer in his eyes as he picked me up from my own disgusting puss and blood that he had some sick intention behind that smile. He began dragging me upstairs.
     "The visions of the past are a sure sign you're turning into an infected," the man sighed.    "Agitit, prepare the poison."
     Agitit and Arbelin stood in the doorway, staring at me as if they had always known.
     "Kaiglanr..." I said out loud.
      The man dragged me upstairs to my room. "Agitit."
     Agitit and Arbelin both ran out of the door to find what he was asking for, and I could not fight        Kaiglanr as the pain continued to plague me. He pushed me on my bed, and he found a chair to sit in. My eyes were closing. My body was giving up.
      "I'd say you're seventy percent infected," Kaiglanr spoke. "it's only a matter of one more stressor before you're completely a monster."
     I coughed into my sheets, blood appearing onto the pillow.
     "So, what did they expect?" he chuckled. "That any of you were going to make it to Attas?      Even my subordinate was a failure, the chest of a black, black inside. But I heard... that your son-"
     "He's not here!" I spat.
     "Neither are any of your friends. Strange that no one would be to your aid in this dire moment of need. Don't worry, your death will be accidental. Sort of like Ashlit's."
     I sat up. "Leave her out of this."
     "You're pitiful." He pushed me back down with one hand. Two shadows came from behind him, Arbelin and Agitit, and Kaiglanr had a syringe he pushed to my neck whatever it was, it burned going in. "Take a good nap."

     "He's not here."
     "Well, Agitit and Arbelin are done for since Nashi is after them, and we still have Acki."
     "He's not doing too well."
     "Because he's infected or because he was poisoned?"
     I couldn't see. Not really. Everything seemed to be covered in shadows, my face feeling like static as I attempted to reach above. Whatever pain in my arms had been there was long gone, but I felt the remnants.
     I'm an idiot.
     "Tayas?"
     I hadn't opened my mouth, but there was a reply from someone. I said that in my head, did I not?
     Can you hear me?
     "Tayas, it's Nasekin," he replied. "We all can hear you."
     We?
     "Everyone's around. Nashi's going after Arbelin and Agitit right now, but the rest of us are in the house. They duped us. The guards found us instead, and we got rid of them."
     Where's Acki?
     "Dad?" I heard Acki cry. He grabbed my hand and held it tightly. "I'm fine. You... you need some rest."
     Kaiglanr... He poisoned me. Why am I not dead? Why aren't any of you afraid of me? I'm... sick, you know.
     "Aren't we all?" Olman grunted. "Besides, Nasekin makes poisons with his blood. He knows how to do this."
     "You'll see us momentarily," Nasekin shuffled. "This poison tried to shut off your senses but only got as far as most of your sight."
     Thank you.
     "No need. We're all supposed to be here for each other, and now that we're really rebelled, it's coming for us."
     We'll stop them, won't we?
     "Yes." She came into the room, startling the peace with her magnificence. "Trust us, will you?"
     Right. Sorry, Nashi.