Death is Inevitable (Higgs Monaghan X F! Reader) [UNDER EDITING]

Part 8: The Man Behind the Mask

[Name]'s POV

Explosions.

Gunfire.

That's all I hear as I slowly open my eyes, my vision blurry as I try to look around my surroundings. Something warm slips down the side of my head, and I wipe it away before looking at my glove to realize it's my blood.

"What the hell?" I murmur, tiredly sitting up and looking around.

Smoke fills the air from the trees that are on fire while explosions go off all around me. 'This looks like a war zone... how did I end up here?' I frown before creating a chiralium assault rifle and pulling the charging handle back before releasing it.

"I have a feeling I'll be needing this," I murmur while getting onto my feet and advancing farther into the war zone.

'I wonder if Sam's here, too.' I frown, picking up some hematic grenades that I find and strapping them on me.

I stay low as I shuffle forward, my eyebrows furrowing as what looks like broken holograms of soldiers fire their weapons, some of them getting killed and disappearing completely. I shake my head before keeping forward, walking along a wooden plank path, and taking cover when I need to from artillery fire.

I break out into a sprint once the gunfire halts, making my way into the burnt down woods. An airplane crashes out of the sky behind me, and I look over my shoulder at it in shock.

'Airplanes haven't existed since before the Death Stranding. Either this place is some form of a nightmare, or I've been sent back in time.' I take a few shaky breaths before running forward.

I come to a stop above a trench, frowning faintly before jumping down into it. Dead bodies lie on the floor of the passage, and I step over them while walking through a small wooden tunnel. I peek out, looking in both directions to make sure it's clear before stepping out of the cover.

I rest my finger on the trigger of my rifle while keeping my gun up at my line of sight, peering through the scope on it as I advance farther into the trench. My odradek pops up on my shoulder as I move and scans the area, revealing where weapons are lying around.

I quietly keep moving along a path before taking cover behind some stacked sandbags that are there for protection. Several footsteps come around a corner near me, and I peek out of cover and shoot what appears to be skeletal soldiers with glowing eyes. 

My bullets penetrate them, causing them to disintegrate into embers. 'I need to find a way out of here.' I frown while coming to an intersection.

I turn to my left as two skeletal soldiers run at me, firing several shots. I slide behind cover, lying on the ground and pulling my trigger, holding it down to fire a spread of bullets. The soldiers disintegrate into embers like the last ones, and I get onto my feet.

I make my way through more of the trench, taking turns that I feel like will help while killing the skeletal soldiers that appear. I walk around a corner, stopping when I find a blond man in a military uniform with an assault rifle in hand. His body has black cables with embers on the end attached to him, and he turns around and narrows his eyes.

The man lifts his gun, making my eyes widen as I do the same and fire. He shoots at me, and I dodge the bullets while shooting him multiple times before he collapses to his knees and disappears into a small pool of tar.