Unseen Colors, Act Four
Act Four: Lost
I stared at her, wishing I could do something, but my body wouldn't let me... I couldn't hurt her, even if it wasn't her anymore...
Weakness... the voice in the back of my mind said.
It was right... it was always right, and that's what I hated the most. Whenever it spoke to me, it told me the very thing that I try my hardest not too. Weakness. The very reason I joined the military in the first place; to be the strong person when other are weak, now, I'm the very thing I swore to protect. Maybe it would be best for her to pull the trigger?
Just then, a loud bang echoed through the room, drowning out the noise from outside. For a moment, I thought that she actually did it, pulled the trigger, before I saw her eyes grow wide with shock and fell lifelessly to the ground. Behind where she was standing stood Jar, a good friend of mine that I met when I joined the army, with a smoking gun in his hand. The look on his face matched mine; horrified at what he had just done.
Forcing us to kill one of our own... I really hate the Ra, more now than ever. Oh how much I wish for them to burn for this.
I collapsed next to Pixels body, afraid to touch her, as if I might wake her from her sleep. Sleep. I knew she wasn't sleeping, but maybe if I keep telling myself that she is, it'll get me through this...
I stayed there for what seemed to be forever before I felt the hand of the smaller fox grab my shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said, but his words were barely audible through the thoughts that ran through my head.
Jar tried to shake me out of it, but I wouldn't listen to him... I didn't want to listen to him. The voices in my head were too loud, telling me that I should kill them, every single one of those Ra scum. "Leave none alive!" the voice shouted at me, drowning out my thoughts of confusion and rage. I wanted to agree, I wanted to agree so badly when a firm strike came down across my muzzle.
"Snap out of it, Saxon!" Jar was practically screaming at me as he shook my shoulders. I looked up at him, as if just realizing that he was there. "I need you to stay with me if we're going to get out of this, okay?"
I nodded, though dazed and didn't realize I was nodding until he pulled me to my feet and practically dragged me to the door. I looked back, getting one last painful glimpse of Pixel's body. I will get them for this. I swear.
Suddenly, I lost control of my body as I shoved Jar away from my and grabbed his gun. I walked with full, powerful strides as I made my way down a hall and turned. I could hear Jar yelling at me to go the other way, but I didn't listen, at least, my body didn't. I found myself at a door and trying to pull it open, but it was locked. Not realizing I was doing it, I pointed the gun at the door handle and shot, kicking the door open and getting a couple screams from the residence inside, but I ignored them.
I kept walking until I came to their window and opened it. I wonder what I was doing. I hopped out onto the iron stairs that ran across the building and slid down them, stopping right before I got to the end and let go. I dropped a few feet until my feet came in hard contact with the ground, but even that didn't slow me down as I got right back up and started walking.
As I walked, I randomly pointed my gun at people coming my way, or people in my way. I shot them down without a second though and without looking, my eyes were fixed on one thing in particular; a tank, and I was walking straight for it. I tried to regain some control over my legs, screaming in my head to turn back, but my body wouldn't listen, not even my lips.
I pointed and shot the tank several times, as if trying to get its attention. It worked. The tanks barrel turned to face me directly. I didn't slow my pace. In fact, I walked faster. Faster. Faster, until I was in a dead sprint, running full speed for the center. I could hear Jar's voice (He must have followed me), screaming at me to turn back in union with my own thoughts, but I didn't stop, I couldn't stop.
As I drew nearer, I could see the tank readying its fire, but I didn't slow. I shot a few more shots around the open window, hitting someone once and barely missing someone else. Slowing down that shot, that's what I was doing, but I didn't know why I'd be running straight at the tank in the first place.
Clank!I heard the missile slide into the barrel and I was still a good few yards away. They were going to fire...
Saxon opened his eyes as the sound of a firing tank woke him from his dream, but whether or not it was real remained unanswered. He propped himself on his elbows as he scanned the area, noticing he was in a backyard in between a small house and the edge of the woods. The grass surrounding him was burned black or dead yellow with only small patches of green peeking through here and there.
The sound of heavy breathing directed his attention to Kat, sleeping peacefully next to him. She curled herself tighter around his waist when she felt him move, as if afraid he might leave her. Interesting, he thought. The only time she shows true fear, is when she's asleep...
Saxon smiled, happy to be in her presents and embracing her warmly. He laid back down, happy that they were alone. He wondered what his comrades would think if they saw him willingly lay with a different species and be comfortable with it. Disgust, probably. Shame, and disownment would follow soon after, depending on who it was. If Jar knew, Saxon doubted he'd mind at all, in fact, he'd probably encourage it. But if people like Bullet or Saw knew...
Saxon wasn't quite sure he wanted to think of their reactions. He sighed and looked up to the sky. It was still pretty dark out, the sun has yet to rise and the stars and moon still held their place in the sky, telling him that he must have only slept for a few hours. The fire still burned somewhat a few feet away from them, giving him a small radius of light. If only they had met under different conditions, he couldn't help but think of how they might have turned out, he and Kat.
Stop it, he told himself firmly, tightening his body when he felt Kat's arms absently move up to his chest. He cursed himself and the planets atmosphere. The whole world seemed to be pushing him towards her, no matter how much he tried to fight it.
A twig snap directed his attention in the direction of the sound, off to the left near the edge of the woods. His ears stood straight up and eyes stared unblinkingly, looking for anything that might present itself in the darkness. He sniffed a couple times, trying to pick up any sent...
Nothing... Nothing that didn't smell like woods or a passing dog. Saxon was about to regard it as his imagination when two bright yellow eyes opened and blinked at him. The eyes were hollow and seemed to reflect the dim light of the campfire, but something about them seemed familiar to Saxon. He began to sit upright when three more eyes popped open to stare at him. "Kat," he said, nudging her. All four of the eyes seemed to widen and ready themselves at Saxon's voice. "Kat," he said a little quieter, barely a whisper. She groaned and opened her eyes.
"What?" she said in a tired voice. She sat up next to him and seemed to just notice that her arms were wrapped around him when she jumped up and away from him. She must not have noticed the eyes yet. "What the-" she began, but Saxon jumped up and put himself in front of her as the eyes began to advance quickly.
He grabbed the gun in his pants and readied himself to fight. Kat gasped when she saw the eyes getting closer and closer, but remained just outside the campfire's light. Saxon took aim and was about to fire at the nearest pair of eyes when four more showed up. He began to back up. "Run," he told Kat, feeling her hands on his back as he nearly backed into her. "Run!" he said again, grabbing her arm and running full speed back towards the city.
They could hear the creatures now, loud scratches and dry screams illuminated behind them, getting louder and closer. Kat could run fast, but Saxon could feel her slowing behind him and she began to pant frantically. She was most likely still tired from yesterday and Saxon could feel his own legs growing heavier with each stride.
He ventured a quick peak behind his shoulder and immediately regretted it, twenty or more eyes now followed them, bouncing up and down in pursue. Gun still in hand, Saxon threw his arm behind him and fired a few shots. He could hear a few cries of pain, but didn't seem to slow them down in the least. Kat was panting heavier and slowing down at an alarming rate when Saxon could just begin to see the city's first few buildings.
They now ran in the middle of the street, Saxon's grip not loosening one bit on Kat's arm. Houses were lined up on either side of them, Saxon guessed that they had made it to the nearest neighborhood, but it would still be a while before they made it to the city's main streets.
Saxon scanned the houses. Most of them could barely be called "houses" anymore as they were torn apart; holes and recently burned covered most of the houses. They ran a bit further until a particular house caught his eye. It was still intact, a few scorch marks dotted the side of the walls, but looked sturdy otherwise.
He turned abruptly, nearly pulling Kat off her feet and ran straight for the house. As they reached the front door of the house, the sun began to rise, giving Saxon the light to see their pursuers. Brown, leather skinned creature with a nearly human figure ran on all fours after them. Their eyes (in the light) were dead and white, pupils becoming none existent. Sharp broken teeth littered their black mouths in seemingly random places and long pointed nails on their hands and feet covered with dirt and dried blood clanked on the cement street.
Saxon and Kat dove through the door into a fairly clean living room, but neither one of them were concerned with details as Kat kicked the door shut. Saxon slammed his body onto the door as it began to open from the creatures outside. "Quick," Saxon grunted as the creatures rammed into the door on the opposite side, nearly sending him off his feet. "Get something to brace the door!"
Kat looked around the room. There weren't many objects in the room that looked to be too impressive in weight except for the couch, television stand and china cabinet next to the door. The china cabinet! Kat dashed over to the cabinet and braced herself between the wall and the cabinet, pushing hard with her feet until she could start to feel it tip. "Move!" Kat wheezed and Saxon just barely got out of the way as the whole thing came down hard with an extremely loud crash.
The door rattled and shook as broken and ugly fingers tried to scratch their way through what small bit the door would open. "Go block the back door and all of the windows down here, I'll go check upstairs!"
Blam! The sound of the firing tank was ear piercingly loud at such a short distance. My body still moved on its own accord as I dodged the missile (just barely). The missile whizzing past my head was enough to daze me, popping my ears and making my eyes roll in dizziness, but that didn't even faze me as I kept a steady pace for the tank. I was no more than ten feet away when a bullet crashing at my feet stopped me in my tracks. I snapped my attention at a Ra host and barred my teeth angrily as I sent a good eight or nine bullets into the Ra's head and chest. Overkill.
I shot the few Ra hosts that popped out of the tanks hatch as I climbed up onto the tanks top. I fired a few more shots down the hatch before jumping down into the cockpit. There was one Ra left, a solder (formally) that operated the tank. Before he could even turn around, I shot him in the back of the head. He fell limp but the tank continued to move forward. I bent over and started searching the corps, though for what was beyond me. I stopped when my hand clasped around something hard and round, just a little bigger than my fist. I pulled it out to see a grenade. Feeling a smile creep upon my face, I climbed out of the tank and pulled the pin, dropping the bomb before hopping off and walking away.
That was the last thing I remembered before I woke up in the hospital.
Saxon and Kat sat on the floor with their backs against the wall, Kat sweating a river and Saxon panting heavily, drooling down his chin and onto his chest. The creatures had been long gone after the sun came out, leaving Saxon and Kat alone for the time being, but there was no doubt that they'd be waiting for the two in the denseness of the woods.
"What were those things?" Kat asked after a while.
"Remember the other races I was speaking to you about the other day?" Saxon said between pants as his tongue lolled out of one side of his muzzle. "One, of the savage races? Those were the Ethee."
Kat sat upright. "What are they doing here? How did they even get here?"
"That's' what I'm trying to figure out. They're not an inelegant race; they can't even swim, let alone travel to a whole different arm of the galaxy." Saxon rubbed the still sour spot behind his ear as he thought things over. "The Ra must have brought them... but 'why' is my question. Last I knew, even the Ra didn't like the Ethee or the Jesafule, something about their minds being unable to inhabit or possess."
"So we're not getting out of here without going through them, are we?"
Saxon shook his head. "The Ethee hunt in groups and don't stop until either their targets are dead or the sun comes out. The Ra probably put them there to stop anyone from trying to get in (or out, in our case) of the dome, which means that the edge is probably near."
"So how do we get out?"
"I don't know."
Kat sighed and thumped her head on the wall behind her. She swore under her breath as she closed her eyes. Saxon could tell that she was exhausted (as was he, but he was used to it) and it was probably taking a whole lot to keep from drifting off. "You should sleep," Saxon said. "I'll watch out for any danger."
Kat was quiet and for a moment, Saxon thought that she might have fallen asleep until she spoke again. "You sure?" she asked, barely audible.
"Yes."
Kat nodded. "Okay." She said as she scooted closer and closer until she could lean against his shoulder. "Don't get the wrong idea, wolf. It just makes me feel safer, okay?" she said, pulling his arm around her and burrowing her nose into his chest.
Saxon remained still, somewhat happy at Kat's willingness to be so close to him and let him touch her. He let himself wander about Kat (as he found himself doing most often) and how they might have been if this war wasn't going on. He wondered for a while until a single thought penetrated his fantasies; what if she already had someone to love? She's never mentioned anything about another man, thought he couldn't think of a reason on why she would bring the subject up. Romance wasn't exactly a common choice of conversation between the two.
Saxon's heart sank at the thought of Kat belonging to someone else. It also made him jealous and somewhat angry, the thought of someone else touching her made his blood boil until he realized what he was feeling. Saxon cursed himself. He really hated this planet...
I woke with a jolt, thinking I heard an explosion in the distance but realized it was just my imagination. I bolted upright as memory struck me hard. Images and sounds came flooding back to me. "Whoa whoa, slow down buddy." Jar's reassuring voice said next to me. I looked over to the white fox as he gave me a smile. "Good to see that you still live. Had me worried there for a while."
I looked around. I was in a hospital bed with tubes attached to my arms, chest and head. "Where are we?" I asked, not recognizing the room.
"We're on board the Pollen, on our way to earth." He said, leaning back in his chair that sat next to my bed and sighing. "You've been out for the better of two weeks."
My ears perked as more of my memory came back. My eyes began to tear before I could register it. "Where is she?" I asked, searching the room. "Where's Pixel?"
The fox leaned back forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. "I'm sorry, Sax, she's gone... She got possessed, there was no saving her."
Tears rolled down my face as I let out of a cry of agony and sadness, Jar's head bowing in sympathy. I cursed and clenched my fists so tight, I could feel the blood from my nails piercing the pads in my hands Ii tucked my knees into my chest and covered my face with my hands as I wept openly, not caring how stupid I looked. It hurts, it hurts so bad to know that there was nothing I could do to save her, even as she was right there, no more than an arm's length away. To feel so helpless when someone needed me the most broke my heart.
I wanted to punch her, I wanted to hug her, I wanted to hate her for making me fall in love with her, I wanted to kiss her for making me fall in love with her. I hated everything, but blamed only myself for not being able to do anything, even if I could have done something, I doubt I would have. I felt Jar climb into my bed and huddle close to me. I thanked him, in the back of my mind, he didn't care that we were both males and were sitting so close together, he was there for me and that's what I needed the most.
He probably felt a lot of my sorrow, as Pixel wasn't just close to me, but him as well. I could feel him sob next to me, but was too distracted with my own tears as the never ending pain rattled my shattering heart. So this is what it felt like. I have seen many people loose someone who was dear to them, but I've never experienced the feeling until now. It was horrifying. All I wanted to do was die, I didn't care about anything else, nothing seemed to matter. I wish I could have just died to make the pain stop, at least for a little bit.