Ying woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. He hadn't dreamt that night, only tossed and turned while half-asleep. His left shoulder was in agonizing pain. He groggily sat up and held his aching arm. What was going on? He pulled his hand away. A bright splotch of red came with it.
"Awww… I just got these sheets…" Was Ying's first thought.
His second thought was "Wait. Blood? Oh shit! I must've reopened my shoulder wounds when I was working!"
Ying's eyes widened in realization and concern. He needed medical supplies, and fast. He teleported downstairs and began rummaging through the supplies he had. He could do a quick tourniquet, maybe some tape, but he didn't have any proper medical equipment. He also was lacking a crucial ingredient of all serious injury healing: pain meds. He didn't like it, but he needed to go into town. This injury could be fatal if left improperly treated.
He knew there was a hospital, but it had mostly collapsed. He didnt wanna risk going to a condemned- and possibly infested- building, with no promise of success. He knew that there was another hospital about 2-3 hours away in another city. This sister city was quaint and homely, with no giant skyscrapers to speak of besides a few large office buildings. The whole city was seated on a slanted hill, next to a massive river that led to the ocean.
He could probably make it there and back within a day. He got everything prepped, including extra ammo and a large backpack for carrying supplies back with him. He made sure to pack his distraction devices and guns, he couldn't risk going unarmed. also temporarily patched up his arm using some old fabric and tape, and prayed it wouldn't get infected.
He went into the garden before he left and gave Sunflower her breakfast. The little bird joyfully greeted Ying by landing in his palm and tilting her head with a few coy chirps. Ying scratched her head and sighed.
"I see you're doing well, Sunflower, I got some food for-" Ying was cut short by a strange sound from behind Sunflower. It was faint, and Ying had to listen closer to hear it.
"Thats odd…" Thought Ying. "It almost sounds like- chirping?"
It took him a few seconds to put two and two together. And then…
"OH MY GOD!" Yelled Ying, bringing Sunflower up to his face. "YOU'RE A MOTHER! CONGRATULATIONS!"
The little bird jumped in surprise at the sudden sounds and flapped back to her nest. Ying ran over to see. Sure enough, 3 newly hatched babies lay in their nest, fresh out of the shell. They were crying for food… He had a fix for that. He gave Sunflower her daily granola and a giddy smile spread across his face. Those little birds were gonna be so cute to have around.
"Now I have to come back." Ying said to himself sternly.
He left Sunflower and her babies to their business, and headed off on his journey. The weather was cloudy and the sky was completely gray, apart from a few rays of hopeful blue that shined through rarely. Ying began blinking over and over, covering miles of distance within minutes. Again, and again he warped himself closer to his goal. After the 10th or 11th blink, Ying froze dead in his tracks. He had just teleported about half a mile from one section of freeway to another, when he felt a tremor shake the ground. He couldn't hear anything, but he could feel it in his gut. Boom, boom, boom… he knew what it was, but he was scared to look. He braced himself, and raised his head.
Towering over him stood a behemoth, not 50 feet away. The freeway was elevated, sure, but this beast still towered over all of Ying's surroundings. It was bent over, its mouth agape, tongues writhing about in furious hunger. Its head was directly above Ying, and it almost appeared to be staring at him, despite its lack of eyes. Ying stood perfectly still. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and he nervously gulped down his anxiety. He had to play his cards right, or he was dead meat.
He couldn't risk blinking right now, he only had a few left for the moment. He was already feeling pretty worn-out, injured as he was. The behemoth's gill-like ears rattled and shook as they flapped about, trying to sense where Ying was. Its arms reached out and began feeling about for Ying, trying to impale him with their mass of needles. It made a high-pitched whine as it grew impatient. Ying remembered his distraction devices. Now might be a fine time to test out his new addition.
He grabbed a device out of his bag slowly and carefully. The behemoth twitched slightly as it noticed the small movement. As Ying was going to activate his device, his fingers suddenly slipped. He gasped as the device fell towards the floor. Ying teleported himself under the device and caught it just in time. Without thinking, he groaned a sigh of relief. Just as he remembered what he was doing, he clapped a hand over his mouth. Shit, too late.
The behemoth screeched its trademark haunting scream and raised a hand to swipe at Ying. This was it. Ying activated his device and threw it as hard as he could in a random direction. It flew off into the distance and he heard it hit the ground. Sure enough, Black Betty began blasting all over the landscape. The behemoth paused just as it was about to swing and turned its massive head to look behind it. It took a minute, but the behemoth eventually took off after the distraction. It lumbered towards the sound on its hundreds of wriggling legs, a disgusting sight to be sure.
Ying took his chance and blinked away. This was gonna be his last blink for a while. He needed to save what little he had left for another emergency.
"Well, time to test of it works…" Ying sighed to himself as he took out a little red trigger. "Pleaseeeeee, I know I never tested you but I need you to pull through."
Ying crossed his fingers and pressed the trigger. BOOM. A deafening explosion went off behind him, and he heard the behemoth cry out in pain. It worked. Ying had added C-4 to his distraction devices as a little present to whatever was dumb enough to fall for it. An ingenious way to ensure maximum casualties among the enemy. Ying smiled to himself. Once again, brains overcame… monsters? He would work on the expression later. He was halfway there, and he needed to get going.
After an exhausting hike, Ying finally arrived at the edge of his destination. The town was homely compared to his regular city. He headed into town, and began looking around. It was similarly destroyed, with buildings having been knocked over or collapsed. There was a smell of rotten eggs lingering in the air, yet Ying couldn't place where it was coming from.
As Ying was reaching the inner part of town, a scream rang out from a couple blocks away. A chill went down Ying's spine and he stiffened as he began to listen closer. Another blood-curdling scream gave Ying goosebumps not 10 seconds later. It wasn't a Gremlin's scream, and it certainly wasn't a Behemoth's scream.
"A survivor?…" Said Ying, who was beginning to look around for the maker of the scream.
"Help us! Please, anyone! Heeeeelp! Please, for the love of god, anyone!"
The survivors were accompanied by the sound of hundreds of Gremlins. An overwhelming sense of guilt rushed over Ying, as well as a wave of fear. He began weighing his options.
Is it really worth it? If I did save them, what would come out of it? They probably got themselves in that situation by not being careful. Yeah, that's it… they're probably just idiots that would weigh me down. I can't afford to babysit right now. I'm the only one with any hope of stopping all this. My life is far too valuable to risk.
The feeling of guilt began to grow and spread to every corner of his mind.
"Its not selfish…" he repeated again and again, "I'm doing this for the good of the world, after all… Sorry, whoever's out there, you're on your own."
Ying blocked out his feelings of guilt with a box of fig newtons he had snagged along the way. The screams became more desperate and cries of agony swept throughout the streets. Ying winced and ate a little faster. Eventually, everything went quiet. Ying's guilt stirred inside him as he made his way to the hospital. He came to a very tall, very official looking building that was only slightly damaged. This was it. He went through the double doors, and was greeted by a fancy waiting room and a dark wood desk. He ran his hands over the desk. He might take this at some point, but he was here for more important things right now. He immediately headed upstairs and went to the storage room.
The room was incredibly large. This was the only hospital in the entire area, and it was absolutely massive, so the storage room was the size of a small grocery outlet. It looked like one, too. There were rows and rows of medical supplies, and a couple freezers here and there. The fluorescent lights were an incredibly bright blue, and gave the whole place a very frigid effect. It could've also been the fact that someone had turned the air conditioning up to 11 on this place, and a low-lying fog had formed along the ground. It was an incredibly creepy atmosphere.
What was more disturbing was the fact that Ying could hear movement in the room. He wasn't alone. Ying went on full alert, and drew his pistol. He looked around, but he couldn't see anything. As he listened closer though, he heard something moving slowly towards him. He also heard some subtle sounds being made by whatever was stalking him. Knowing his luck, it was probably a Gremlin. He went aisle by aisle, carefully combing through each section. Whatever was in the room with him was getting closer. Ying's anxiety was rising with each aisle. It was like a messed up game of russian roulette, where the punishment for losing was a hideous alien. It was close, very close. Ying knew it must be around this corner. He braced himself, held his gun tight, cocked back the trigger, and ran around to face whatever was waiting for him.
It all happened in a flash. One moment Ying was safe, crouched behind the wall. The next moment, he was in a stand-off with a gun pointed directly at his temple. Ying looked up and met his foe's eyes, and what he saw terrified him to his very core.
A tall, overpowering presence, bright, fiery red hair in a fluffy mod cut, a maniacal smile that would spook even the bravest of men, a sleek, muscular body that could intimidate professional athletes, a black leather trench coat with a burning rose embroidered on the chest, light blue eyes that almost glowed with radiance, gray jeans that were battered and worn with holes, a pair of black leather boots, and a menacing pistol with fiery stickers lining the barrel. This was the last person Ying wanted to meet, a person he hoped he'd never see again. Another mistake he wished he'd never have to face. The one man that Ying truly feared.
"Adrian." Ying spat.
Adrian paused for a moment in surprise. After a few seconds, his look of shock changed back to his signature grin.
"Well well well… lookie what I caught!" Adrian laughed. "A walking, talking, superiority complex! And here I thought you would've died the first day cause you were too busy sucking yourself off to your 'amazing' invention! Hahaha!"
Adrian's cackle sent chills down Ying's spine, and his words cut Ying deep.
"Fuck you." Was all Ying managed to say through gritted teeth."The fuck're you doing here? How are you alive?"
Adrian leaned in close and giggled slightly. "Excellent fuckin question ya short sack of shit! Francis, check out what I found! The very source of the apocalypse that has so thoroughly screwed us!"
A young man poked his head around the corner of the aisle. "But you said to…-"
"Get the fuck out here!" Adrian shouted impatiently.
The boy came out of hiding. He was probably around 18. He was average height, around 5'8. He had short, straight blond hair in a curtain cut, and hazel eyes that were obscured by a pair of cracked glasses. He was wearing a dirty purple sweater with a diamond pattern, and a pair of blue jeans that were clearly a few sizes too big. He was fiddling around with a pocket knife that he was just starting to put away, and finally saw the situation at hand.
"Wait- what's going on? Why are you guys pointing guns at each other?" The boy said
Adrian groaned. "This is the guy I told you about, remember? Caused the end of the world, kind of an unbearable asshole?"
Ying scoffed at the asshole comment.
"Anyway, back to you Ying. Congratulations on pulling your head out of your own ass long enough to stay alive! Francis, tell him what hes won!"
Adrian cocked the hammer of the gun and began to laugh. Ying was feeling really uneasy. He knew Adrian well, and he wasn't one to bluff. Then again, he did like pulling insane practical jokes much like this one. Ying couldn't tell what the right answer was, but he couldn't take any chances. He still had the element of surprise with his blinks, and he had to use that to his advantage.
"Stop!" Francis said, "You're not gonna kill each other, are you!? This escalated so quickly!"
Francis tried to get between the two, but Adrian grabbed Francis with his free hand and threw him into the left row of shelves. Ying couldn't bother to look away, but he heard glass breaking and items clattering to the floor. Francis yelled in protest and pain and he backed off behind the aisle again.
"Say goodnight, bitch." Adrian sneared.
BOOM! A gunshot rang out throughout the hospital. It echoed down the halls and through the corridors. Smoke billowed out from the tip of Adrian's gun. Adrian had pulled the trigger, but one thing was missing. Ying had somehow disappeared… Where could he have gone? There should at least be a body, right? Adrian knew he had shot point blank, Ying should be laying there before his feet. How did he- THWACK!
A heavy blow to the back of Adrian's head sent him crashing to the floor.
Adrian cried out in pain. "AGH, FUCK! WHAT THE!-"
His anger turned into confusion as he saw Ying standing over him with a bedpan in one hand.
Adrian stammered a bit. "How did you-"
"Portal stuff." Ying said coldly.
Ying pulled out his pistol again and aimed it directly at Adrian's head.
"You just tried to kill me. Give me one good reason I shouldn't send you to meet your deranged maker."
Adrian began to laugh. "You'd kill me with the same skills you learned from me? How ironic!"
Ying cocked the hammer back and prepared himself. He had never shot anyone before, and it was harder than he thought. His hand was shaking on the trigger as he contemplated.
"He's dangerous. I should take him out of the picture right now. But what if he could be helpful? Maybe I can use him as bait or something. Do I really have to shoot him? I should, he just tried to shoot me! What about that guy over there? What's his deal anyway. What should I do? This is a lot of pressure. I don't wanna kill him, but he's left me little options."
Ying's inner monologue continued for about 5-6 seconds before Adrian suddenly threw his hand in front of him. The air in front of his hand suddenly got much hotter, and a little mirage effect formed in his palm. Ying's eyes went wide and he instantly knew what was about to happen. He acted fast and threw himself out of the way just in time. Right past Ying's face came a jet of bright orange fire. It singed a bit of Ying's nose, and he winced a little bit. Ying landed on his feet and reassessed the situation.
Adrian was something special. He had the unique ability to create fire from several places on his body, and ironically it was all thanks to Ying. Back when they were both younger, about 2 and a half years ago, Ying was just starting to explore his interest in science, but more importantly, his interest in biology. He was doing incredibly elaborate experiments that were often dangerous or uncertain, but he persisted with pure childish stubbornness. Adrian and Ying were still good friends at the time, and Adrian was obsessed with being a part of Ying's newfound interest. Eventually Adrian offered himself up as a test subject for Ying's crazy experiments. It started off small with vaccines, medicines, then it got crazier. Ying made Adrian do all sorts of things, from drinking mysterious liquids to exposing him to large amounts of radiation. Despite Adrian getting injured or endangered during many of these, his dedication to his friend was greater than his self preservation. But to be honest, he didn't really have any self preservation to begin with.
One day, Ying got too confident in his work, and tried to play god. Unfortunately, they were completely unsupervised on that day. It was late after school, and the teachers were all gone. They had snuck back into the science lab through a door they had rigged to stay open after closing hours, and were about to perform the biggest experiment of their lives up until that point.
"Here it is!" Whispered Ying excitedly.
Adrian was pacing with anticipation. "Show me goddamnit, you got me all hyped up!"
Ying opened a large box they had taken with them. Inside was a small silver machine of some sort. It looked like a mango, with a large amount of wires and tubes running out of it.
"I'm so freaking nervous!" Adrian said, fiddling his hands together.
"Don't be, we have more than enough laughing gas bud. You'll be out like a light." Ying reassured him.
"So once this goes in me, I'll be able to make fire? Without a lighter!?" Adrian whispered.
Ying grinned. "That's the idea. Now you can do all the pyromaniac shit you want without needing fuel. Just don't do it around me."
"Fuck yeah! Hook me up!" Adrian yelled.
The device was quite complex. It would rest in Adrian's ribcage and act as an extra organ. It would generate heat up to 1,000 degrees fahrenheit, and that heat would combine with the natural gas produced by the body to create flame. There were 4 main areas that Ying selected to produce fire. Both hands and both feet. However, there were several smaller areas that could produce precise, smaller flames. The fingers, the heels, the calves, and the elbows. The mouth functioned as an exhaust valve for extra heat, which would blow out of Adrian's mouth like smoke. In spite of all Ying's near superhuman mental prowess and preparation however, he wasn't exactly sure if it would work. There were a hundred different things that could go wrong with the installation alone, who knows what would happen if his device malfunctioned inside of Adrian.
Ying didn't want to admit it, but he felt like he was working on a war machine. It was quite exhilarating. To the young boys, it was loads of fun. To any sane adult (or teen for that matter), it was quite alarming. Neither of them acknowledged the risks. Ying because of his hubris, and Adrian because he simply did not care. The boys were having so much fun in fact that Adrian was finally able to talk Ying into trying some alcohol. Normally, Ying wouldn't be one for substances, but he was feeling extra adventurous today. Adrian handed Ying a bottle of some kind of clear liquid, Ying took a sip, and, well… that's the last thing he remembered from that day.
The surgery seemingly went off without a hitch, although Adrian would develop some breathing complications. Ying was a little concerned that he didn't remember installing the device, much less anything about the surgery, but after Ying did a few checkups on Adrian, it seemed to be fine. There were a few weird and subtle differences with the device from the version he originally made to the version after the surgery, but nothing too different on the outside. He suspected that he just modified the device a little bit in his drunken state, which was concerning, but inconsequential. After that, Adrian would go on to commit a multitude of crimes with these new abilities, and they seemed to give him a heightened sense of confidence. He was born crazy before the surgery, now he was just drunk with power. And while Adrian normally would do whatever he liked within some sense of reason, this new Adrian was far more willing to work outside of reason. Ying didn't like the new version of Adrian that he helped create, and that was the beginning of the end for their friendship.
Ying held his nose and tried to figure out what to do next. He still hadn't found the necessary supplies, and he only had 1 or 2 more blinks left. His injury could prove problematic if a full on fight were to happen. Adrian began to pick himself up and hold his head. His brain rattled from Ying's hit, and he began to recollect himself. As Ying was pondering his potential options, Francis piped up.
"Stop it!" He shouted as he ran in between Ying and Adrian. "Can't you both see that fighting is gonna hurt the situation more!? We need to get you those supplies quickly, Adrian, you're in really bad shape!"
Ying looked at Adrian carefully. He didn't seem to be injured… then Ying spied a dark red mark on Adrian's torso. There was a sizable gash along Adrian's right side, and it was poorly bandaged with some see-through tape and a napkin. Ying's heart sank momentarily seeing his old friend so gravely injured, but then he remembered that Adrian had tried to shoot him not 2 minutes ago and that feeling quickly faded.
Adrian spit in Ying's direction, and turned his attention to Francis.
"Get outta the way you!-…you… uhhhhh…"
Adrian tripped over his own words. That knock to the head had scrambled him more than he thought, this was the first time he didn't have an insult for the situation.
"Just- move! Let me deal with this emo leprechaun over here and then we can leave!"
"First of all…" Ying said as he walked over to Adrian and ripped off the tape.
"AARRG! CHRIST ALMIGHTY THAT STINGS! Warn a guy next time you're gonna rip off a bandaid, will ya, you fuckin animal!?"
"I am not that short." Ying said, sassily. "Second of all, you're terrible at patching wounds. Third of all, you just shot a gun and hundreds of gremlins will be here within minutes. Fourth of all, why should I let either of you leave after trying to kill me?"
Francis put his hands together in a prayer pose.
"Please! You gotta help us. You clearly know a lot more about medical stuff than we do. I know you don't like Adrian… but would you really condemn him like this? He's clearly bleeding out!"
Adrian was lying on the floor in a dazed state.
"Ooooooowwww…" He groaned as he held his head.
Ying pondered as he put his gun away. At the very least he wasn't going to shoot them.
Francis sighed. "If you know him at all, you know that he can be insufferable. I totally get it. I don't have much of value to offer you, but please, would you help us? We can help you in return. We can do tasks for you, help you, maybe even-" Ying interrupted him.
"Stop talking already, Jesus. You're giving me a headache now. Listen, I don't know if I can teleport people, I've never tried. But even if I could, I cant teleport much more right now anyway. I've been drained just getting here. If we're gonna do anything, we're gonna do it tomorrow. For now…"
Ying walked carefully out of the storage room and made his way to an upstairs window. He took his second out of 3 distraction devices and chucked it as hard as he could. It flew extremely far, and Ying was confident they were out of the blast radius. The song began to play and creatures began swarming from far and wide. After a few minutes of waiting, a good 300 gremlins had crowded around the machine. One click of a button, and… BOOM. The explosion was powerful, and Ying felt it a little in his bones. After making sure no gremlins would come directly to the hospital, he returned to the store room.
"Ok… now that that's taken care of…"
Ying began to bar the doors with a couple of the shelves.
Francis ran over.
"Oh my god I thought you'd left us! Thank god you're back. What was that big explosion?"
"Dont worry about it." Said Ying as he finished barring the doors. "For now, we should treat Adrian and myself."
"Wait, you're injured too?" Asked Francis.
Ying pointed to his shoulder, and Francis clapped a hand over his mouth. Ying nodded in agreement with Francis's worry.
"Why else would he be in a fuckin' hospital?" Adrian sputtered with laughter.
Ying began to comb through the supplies in the store room. This place was a goldmine. Ying started by shoveling supplies into his bag. Anti-bacterials, pain meds, suture supplies, this place had it all. After looting his fill, he grabbed some bandages and headed over to Adrian. Ying didn't say anything as he yanked off Adrian's coat.
"Fuuuuuuck you…" Adrian said wearily, "no one touches my coat, bitch."
While Adrian didn't have the strength to fight back with a concussion and loss of blood, Ying still restrained him.
"I know, I know. Your precious coat. Stay still. If you piss me off I'm gonna leave you here. You're lucky your new servant is a good beggar or I probably would've left already."
Francis interjected. "Hold on, I'm not a-"
"Shut up, Francis!" said Ying and Adrian in unison.
Ying began to clean Adrian's wound with rubbing alcohol and take a closer look. Adrian wriggled in protest, but Ying held him down firmly.
"Stay, still." Ying said sternly. "Francis, get over here and hold him down while I do the hard part."
Francis rushed over. "Sorry, Adrian, this is gonna probably hurt."
As Ying was inspecting Adrian's wound, he saw that multiple needles had snapped off inside of his body. They would need to be removed before Ying could stitch him up.
"Looks like I gotta remove some leftover needles… do, not, move."
"What!? There are still needles in me!?" Adrian said hysterically.
Ying did not wait another second before putting on a pair of latex gloves and ripping out the first needle. Adrian shrieked in pain. Ying had never seen Adrian this vulnerable. It was a bit satisfying to see that even he wasn't invincible. Francis looked away as he continued to restrain Adrian.
Ying sighed and counted out 2 large white pills.
"Take these for the pain." He said as he handed Adrian a bottle of water he had packed.
Adrian hesitated for a moment before taking the pills and downing the bottle.
"Cover his mouth." Ordered Ying.
Francis promptly clapped a firm hand over Adrian's mouth. Adrian gave a muffled yell of annoyance. Ying gingerly grabbed the next needle, and pulled. Adrian writhed around as hard as he could to get away while screaming as loud as he could through Francis's hand. One after another Ying pulled out the needles.
After round 6, he was finished. Adrian was panting aggressively and had lost a lot of his fight. Then Ying began to stitch up some of the larger holes. Ying hoped there were no internal injuries, he didn't have the skills or supplies for that. He began stitching up the larger needle holes, and Adrian closed his eyes tightly. After Ying was done, he had stitched up about 6 fairly large holes. The rest of the 30 other holes were smaller, and would have to heal without stitches.
Ying finished by putting some antibacterial ointment on the wounds, and bandaged it up with some goss. He made sure to tie it tight so that Adrian couldn't mess with it. After finishing up, Francis helped Ying lay Adrian down on some extra pillows.
"Thank you for helping us, from the bottom of my heart, thank you." Francis said as he got himself ready to go to sleep.
It was late in the day now, around 7 at night. Ying also prepared himself for a night in the storage room.
"You're goddamn welcome. You better help sew me up tomorrow." Ying said as he got comfortable on the many pillows. "He's still in really bad shape though. This was an initial treatment, we're gonna have to bring him back to my place so he can fully recover. He won't be moving for a while, and we're gonna have to change his bandages and care for him regularly. Or more accurately, you will."
Ying felt guilty. He shouldn't have helped Adrian. After all that man had done, there was no question that he deserved to bleed to death. Ying felt foolish and betrayed by his own sense of dignity. He made a deal with himself then and there that he would never forgive Adrian for what he had done. Ying needed to hold this grudge for his own good so he didn't get hurt again. He wouldn't let himself repeat the same mistakes. He was going to stay angry no matter what. He lay there staring at the ceiling, contemplating his rage and hatred. It boiled inside him as he tossed and turned, making it hard to fall asleep. Slowly but surely though he finally let go, and washed away into slumber.