Messengers of Mankind

Separation (5)

The world around them was mute, despite the howling wind and the needlelike snow.

It was too silent. Deafeningly silent.

Those crimson-stained wounds bore into Dream's eyes like that of a falcon's claws, forcefully engraving the imagery into his mind. Sounds of nature filtered through his senses, slowly fading into a dull hum that drummed weakly against the back of his head. As if on cue, his mind was wiped of all thoughts, all emotions - as he blankly stared down at his companion's hands.

What happened?

Dream found the question tumble out of his mouth, a mere shout swirling amidst the raging storm. The brief dam on his mind faded as the tidal wave of speculations crashed back into place, swirling deafeningly. He found his gloved hands latch onto Sapnap's shoulders, shaking the raven haired soldier almost too violently. Hidden emerald eyes met frozen onyx ones, tearing into its depths of shock and fear, searching for an answer.

"Where's George, Sapnap? What the hell happened?" Dream's angered voice overrode the raging storm and pierced through Sapnap's fogged mind, a frustrated scream amidst the chaos.

Yeah, what had happened? The gears in Sapnap's mind turned painfully, its imaginary teeth scraping against one another weakly. The pain from his blood-slicked hands was the only thing he could feel, and even that was ebbing away silently. Wind whipped at his face, sending sheets of sleet and snow into his eyes. Part of his vision was slightly blurred white as snow clung to his lashes. Last thing he remembered was the faraway scream, and how his own body had landed painfully somewhere far away from his companion. He remembers his gloved hands clutching his weapon, hanging on for dear life as his trembling fingers continually remained on the trigger. Only blankness plagued his mind as he watched the trickles of life-giving liquid slowly run down the side of his wrist and into his sleeve. Why was he so afraid? What was he so afraid of?

"Answer me, Sapnap!" Dream's growling once again pierced his dulling mind. A small part of his brain screamed at him to stand, edge away, scream back, anything. But all he could do was stand there, frozen.

His silhouette engulfed in the neverending wall of cold, Dream could heard spitting a string of incomprehensible words under his breath, before he strode off into the distant and cloudy grey.

....

Merely half an hour ago...

His vision blurred, the world ahead of him fading in and out of focus. The only thing registering in his mind was the ear-piercing screeching of mechanized monsters that he realized a second too late.

He had remembered abruptly cutting his sentence off, craning his head. To his utter dismay and terror, he had come almost eye-to-eye to an elegantly horrifying monster, its body a smooth, inky black with not even a scratch present.

The second he realized, he had grabbed the younger soldier's arm. Ignoring his protests, he had set off and dashed wildly forward, not even knowing where they were heading. Red flags were rising exponentially at the back of his head, prompting him to get away as fast as possible.

Yet Lady Luck had abandoned him at that very second.

Tripping over some kind of cement that stuck out, he landed on the jagged ground not yet softened by the snow. His hand slid out of Sapnap's as his body slid downwards, tumbling down a small slope of broken cement and glass. In his uncontrolled slide down, his foot had gotten caught between something and held firmly there. A muffled scream of agony erupted from his lips as a sickening crack sounded, prompting the breaking of his left ankle. He laid sprawled on the ground, his bow having slid out of view amidst his fall.