Markiplier x Reader | The Promised Land

Chapter 15: Resilience of an Angel

You swallowed as a sudden wave of anxiety overtook your body. The quiet was like a deafening song against your ears with only the sound of your's, Mark's, and the pets' footsteps walking down the cracked, paved road. Mark still had his sniper out, which added to your anxiety. You were both well aware the dead silence meant that something was definitely wrong.

Instinctively you pulled out your own pistol as you walked side by side with Mark, and held it at the ready. Your shoulder was well enough by now that you could use it under emergency situations. Sure it still hurt and ached, but you would use it if you needed to make a steadier shot.

You must've walked for maybe ten minutes when Mark stopped. You watched him for a brief second before asking, barely more than a breath, "What's u-"

He held up a hand aggressively to silence you. You felt a shiver run down your spine as you realized he must've heard something. Looking up over the hill to your right was a parking lot. There were various cars sitting stiller than statues against the overcast sky, and then you heard it too.

It was the very faint sound of... footsteps? Or was it ticking?

Mark saw movement, aiming his gun up at the cars, but was interrupted when an ear-splitting explosion went off, sending the cars flying up in the air in all directions. One of the cars flew forward, heading right for you both.

"Move!" Mark yelled as he grabbed a hold of you to dodge out of the way of the car, barely missing it. You both stumbled as the ground shook. Mark fell over, his right knee giving out. You fell with him as he hadn't let go of you.

The car was on fire, that only meant one thing... "It's going to blow!" you gasped, standing up and pulling Mark upright with you. You both barely got running away from the car before it exploded. The force sent you and Mark head over heels into the grass off the road, rolling over and over.

Ears ringing, you blinked trying to get a grip of your surroundings. Mark was getting up slowly, he was talking, "Are you okay?" His voice was muffled, your ears weren't working properly.

"Yeah," you replied, trying to stand up, "and you?"

Mark nodded, grabbing your hand to help you the rest of the way up. You felt your mind and ears clear a little as you looked up at the top of the road to see the silhouette of a very large figure standing in front of the burning car. You both looked for your guns, Mark's was within arm's reach of his, and yours wasn't anywhere to be seen. Mark leaned over to grab his quickly, pointing it up at the person.

"Oh ho ho, I would not do that... Angel boy." the figure said in a deep, gruff voice. You suddenly felt the tip of a gun touch the back of your head. One did the same to Mark.

You and Mark went rigid. He dropped his gun to the ground and raised his hands up in the air a little. You followed his lead. The large figure approached, revealing a very burly man easily twice the size of Mark. He was carrying a very large hammer in one hand.

"How's your knee... Angel?" the man asked, grinning to reveal surprisingly clean, white teeth.

When Mark didn't answer, the man lunged at him, his hammer up in the air as if to swing to hit one of Mark's leg. It made Mark stumble a little in surprise and fear. The guy with the hammer laughed obnoxiously loud as he looked down to see Mark was keeping the weight off of his right leg ever so slightly. The man behind him jabbed his gun harder onto the back of Mark's head, making him stumble back forward, "You better answer him kid, or I'll end you here and now."

"It's never better." Mark spat without hesitation.

The large man laughed, "Told you I'd trap you eventually didn't I? The game went on longer than I thought and it's been so much fun!" Suddenly, the guy turned to face you, "And you've got yourself a little sheep now haven't you? How quaint."

The man took a step closer to you and you shriveled in fear. You heard Mark snarl, "Leave them alone!"

Hammer guy looked over at Mark and grinned, "Ahh we have not only a fiesty Angel, but one with feelings for his sheep! Isn't that just adorable?"

Hammer guy stepped away from you and approached Mark, "Feeling tough little boy?" He got uncomfortably close, "If I wasn't so kind I'd end you here and now to stop you from killing my men from the skies but... I want to play another little game," he looked over at you with a fresh sense of amusement, "now that we have a... new contestant among us."

Mark had gone pale at this point. You were visibly trembling, very aware of every movement the person behind you made. You felt as if you breathed wrong it would be the end. You were too afraid to even speak.

You looked around with just your eyes, and realized that Chica and [P/n] had vanished. So much for protection... but it wasn't like your girl to run off like that, there had to be a reason... you just hoped it was a good one.

"What's... what's your game?" Mark asked, his voice unusually steady. You could tell he was nervous however, based on his posture. It was straighter than a board, "And what are your conditions?"

Hammer man laughed again, bellowing loudly, "See? This Angel is ever so much fun to trifle with. He may have gotten away last time, but that means we've got ourselves a challenge!" He stepped away from Mark, looking at his silvery hammer. It looked like something close to a large chunk of cement strapped to a sign pole, "I'd like to play a good old game of hide and seek tag. How's that sound?"

Mark nodded hesitantly. You just swallowed, listening. "What are your conditions?" Mark repeated.

The man looked to those standing behind you and Mark, and nodded. He approached Mark again and leaned into his face, barely touching Mark's nose with his own, "You're not allowed to take us out from the sky. Like last time, boy. So here's my condition."

Then it happened in the blink of an eye, the man standing behind Mark kicked him down, pinning him to the ground. The other from behind you, a woman, ran over and stretched out Mark's left arm, pinning that to the ground in front of him.
Mark was visibly trembling with terror as the two people held him down aggressively.

Horrified, you covered your mouth as the hammer man swung his hammer up over his head and struck down as hard as he could on top of Mark's arm, crushing it with a series of hideous, sickening snaps all the way from his wrist, to his elbow.