Kenopsia

Caught Killers

Spere walked through the snowy street silently alongside Mayhem and Stonehenge. They passed rows upon rows of abandoned and torn buildings. The grueling walk was about an hour long. The three had chatted quietly along part of the way, but mostly had remained silent. They finally came across a part of the city of which Spere had not scavenged. There were about a dozen or so half-destroyed buildings to loot, and Spere was excited by this. It had been a while since she'd wandered far enough to find intact houses, and so, she eagerly began to walk into the first house. It was a rather small building, with a mostly grey interior and exterior. An entire back wall had been knocked out somehow.

The dim light filtered into the house, casting long, cool shadows in the living area. Spere was exploring the kitchen with Mayhem, while Stonehenge checked upstairs. Spere ran her hands through drawers and broken cabinets, running her fingers across rusted silverware and dusty plates. Dust layered the countertop thickly, and Mayhem began to cough. He wheezed, and stepped outside, although it didn't help him much. Spere didn't pay too much attention; coughing fits were frequent nowadays. But, as she rummaged through empty drawers, she heard an echoing shriek, a cry for help, and froze, her stomach dropping. Nearly immediately, Stonehenge had run down the stairs.

"What happened?" He asked, worried. Spere raced out the door, and whipped her head around. There was a tall woman wearing tightly fit, dark clothes standing over Mayhem. He was curled up on the snowy ground in the road.

Spere shouted, "Hey! Who are you?!" And began to race towards the figure. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears, her hands growing warm with adrenaline, her legs going numb with anxiety. She was excited; she couldn't remember if she'd ever seen a living person that wasn't part of her group. Then again, she was terrified. Had the woman hurt Mayhem? Stonehenge raced alongside Spere, kicking up snow behind him. The woman kicked Mayhem in his side as he lay on the ground, and Spere could make out a small spurt of vibrant red. It was the only real color she'd seen in forever, as the body she'd found's blood was old and dull, and so the bright colour came as a shock to her. The woman in black unsheathed a long metallic object from a case on her back. Spere recognized it as a sword. And, Spere panicked.

She lunged at the woman, full-speed, hoarsely screaming, "No!" through her mask. This probably wasn't the best course of action. And, in fact, Spere realized this. She caught herself last-second, stumbled, and fell in an explosion of wet, freezing snow, coughing, just inches away from the woman and Mayhem. The woman held the sharp end of the blade pointed straight at Spere, mere centimeters from Spere's forehead. Spere picked herself up, the grey snow sticking to her hands and knees and seeping through her layers of clothes, chilling her to the bone. She didn't think about this. Instead, she frantically pulled her bag off of her shoulders and chucked it straight at the woman in all black. Caught off-guard, the slender woman thwacked at the bag with the flat side of her sword, and the bag fell in the snow a couple feet away. The sword wavered in the air at the impact, wibbling like a flimsy piece of metal, producing an odd sound.

This action gave Spere just enough time to reach out while she was on the ground and yank Mayhem backwards by his shirt. She alone wasn't strong enough, so thankfully, Stonehenge dropped to his knees and helped pull Mayhem close to them. There was a wound under his rib cage, spurting blood, and leaking all down his clothes, staining the snow. Spere pushed her hands on the wound, swearing beneath her breath, and turned to glare at the woman in black.

Without thinking, she yelled, "Now look at what you've done!"

The black woman sheathed her sword, raced towards the three on the ground, dropped to her knees, and then covered both Stonehenge and Spere's mouths with her gloved hands. Spere noticed something odd with the woman's boots. They had a knife in the front of them, built into the sole, one side laced with fresh blood. That must've been what made Mayhem bleed, she thought.