Chapter 17

  “Wh… at,” William mumbled, feeling headache, hunger, and immense pain pouring into his body. Mainly, it slammed at his mind when he moved his right hand piercing deep until he cried out. He felt the coldness of the mud and... his own blood. It didn't change a thing for him. He felt the pain like sadness. He should've kept sleeping, dreaming of that hand.

  “P-please... calm down.” the boy in the darkness said, half whimpering and half hoping William would calm down on his own because he couldn't see him.

  “Where… is mother?” William uttered his hope before collapsing and almost nearing the darkness. His bleeding wasn't pretty, and so were his wounds that should be fatal.

  He was close to crying, but that was one of the things he hated doing. Even when his mother said it was fine, he refused to cry.

  Yet he did. That day, he cried. Not once, in fact. He wasn't proud of that but it was so long ago, that even Dann didn't joke about it.

  “Dead… Everyone is dead,” the crying boy said, wailing even more, and feeling no hope.

  “No… no cry!” William shouted in an unnatural voice of anger that came to him like a sudden storm, causing the numbness and something to snap.

  A crimson light penetrated the darkness, coming from his Emblem. It woke up after an unknown time, giving William a new sensitivity and change. Then light throbbed as if it were his second heart, and pain and buzzing switched to another level.

  William was able to move for the first time and clutched his right arm, ignoring rushing blood that winced as if frozen and burning. He saw the wounds that began from his Emblem and he wasn't burning. It was intense like flame, but without anything obvious. It was strange, yet after what happened earlier, it sounded mild in comparison.

  He wished it was feeling the same.

  A Screen mashed before him out of thin air, manifesting suddenly and giving William what he ought to respect and see.

  Shaky symbols pursued an unknown voice. Then, everything disappeared. His Emblem throbbed in a much brighter form. Lines and symbols making this Screen stirred and poured into William's flesh and blood vessels, inviting his right arm and soon the entire body. Visibly and physically, he panicked at how it changed and moved inside, but he didn't know what it meant; his mother did not say anything about it.

  The Emblem throbbed like a heart and the light was almost blinding before it flickered like a broken bulb.

  On this day, under inconsequential debris, William screamed like never and his body was slowly stitched together, changed from the inside out, and he was unable to remain silent.

  For an hour, the whimpering and panicking crying boy didn't know what to do or say. He watched a terrific sight before him, snagged in a corner of this small cave of rubble and blood. Red flashes exposed everything and he didn't want to watch William, but that light couldn’t escape his sight.

  It was no monster before him. It felt dreadful and weird due to moving blood and light, while the screams and a breaking and changing body weren't normal.

  William couldn't stop a thing.

  The insides of this space came into the view of two pairs of eyes after a couple of hours passed, in time when William was able to barely think and observe what happened.

  He looked like shit; he was drained and unable to move, let alone think straight after his body became a play to some high-level interest. The Screen played with him... but that was because of Incursion and his so-called successful escape run.

  Was it a success, if he was still trapped?

  At least the brightness of his Emblem got perfected and stable, so that was nice. No more breaking apart. William noticed broken skin and the arm around it was back together but looked stained and swelled. He kept shaking on the bloodied ground and flashes of his Emblem made this place hideous and exposed the crying boy who was the furthest he could be. That meant fairly close because he waited for William to be dead or silent.

  He looked ahead, noticing no corpse after the screaming declined. William was still bloody, and his whole body was bruised and looking moist yet dense in blood and some returned vitality. It wasn't some gift; it was more like a heightened peek at immense potential. He was still a little kid, so some matters should be close and distant for his own sake. However, something sinister and less obvious opened.

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  William should've bled out, or so the boy in front of him thought.

  “You!” the youth wearing an old shirt and trousers said, hugging his knees and looking scared. He didn't know how to approach William, see that object, wounds, but he knew what it meant and what the world was like. He was seven years old and grew up in this camp, so he knew what Walkers were like and what made them special. Apparently, that red thing in this dying kid was that.

  William didn't pay him much attention. He was lying on his stomach, half trying to get up. His right arm was close to his face, so the sight of his Emblem was intense. His mind didn't betray him, unfortunately.

  Not far from him, floating before the unknown boy, a large screen emerged out of nowhere again, looking as if made of countless buzzing bees, flickering lines, numbers, symbols, and who knew what else. They were all tiny, looking like ripples of space, water, and mist. It was akin to a broken wall that wasn't physical.

  Both boys watched something else without knowing what was before them.

  “M-my name is Dann…” Now, a slightly less crying boy said, moving closer to check the light and William out. He could see him moving, moaning, and.... well, living. This space was barely tall for a kid to be in. They were lost and likely sealed.

  William was transfixed by that Screen, seemingly lost in its beauty or memory. Had he watched it in the past, or was it the first time? He doubted many things since his memory wasn't that great. The pain and symbolism were a mess. He found it beautifully menacing and itching his eyes and hand.

  Dann was approaching, but William moved his right arm at him and touched that Screen first, changing the ripples and waves as if he touched something sensitive. It was subtle and dull when everything flickered because of his touch.

  A large number 0 appeared, surrounded by the waves and countless symbols and words of no English. There was a countdown in years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds around that number. Many digits kept flickering.

  No voice came beside Dann and his shifting steps.

  The ticking time of eight digits shattered soon afterward, flying into William's hovering arm like bees, ripples of water, and snakes thinner than hair. He panicked, feeling as if something foreign was coming and invading his body again. This time, he felt he should prevent it, but that was impossible. Noises spread and returned, compelling loud pain and sharp discomfort that made his mind hurt and aware.

  Dann hesitated to come closer when William panicked and lowered his hand.

  This time, Dann was close, so he clutched William's convulsing body and head and no longer escaped. He was unable to see that Screen, though he was aware of what physically changed over the past few hours. It shouldn't be for his eyes to see.

  “D-don't... no pain. No... Calm down. There is nothing here. Nothing to hurt you.” Dann tried to speak to him, unaware of the pain or noises William was enduring.

  It took more than an hour of constant battering for William to realize it wasn't going away. His arm twitched, but it was considerably calmer than before, while Dann kept him from convulsing too much. His head seemed reasonably calm if it meant half wishing for death and sleep, thanks to the buzzing noise that felt way too close.

  Something about his Emblem was different. It was more glossy, thicker, and much deeper in crimson waves and storms. Rank 0 has done its duty, creating a new kind of prison. William’s skin was still trembling, and many traces of wounds were slowly leaving. Blood dried and he finally regarded this boy.

  “William.” He said to Dann who awkwardly smiled. He lessened his grip on William and realized this menacing episode was over. William was alive, yet unaware of changes.

  “I thought you were gone... That was scary. Very scary. Not as some monsters, but you know... I....” Dann stopped smiling and realized the gravity of this situation. Everyone was dead so his smile froze and tears spread.

  “W-what is that noise?” William asked, taking Dann's help to crawl and sit up. Physical pain felt joyful like soreness that made him alive. Bruises were sharp and hot, similar to cuts, but he was no longer bleeding too much. Broken bones were definitely among his worst injuries right now, but what was deeper, or worse? He was surprisingly less broken than expected.

  For an immature kid, he kept his head straight. Perhaps he was unable to feel or know how to do this. His parents hadn't made their duties, or help, known. Neither of the kids in this cave knew what went on above.

  And it wasn't over yet. They were buried, but shrieks, noises, and countless trembling noises were discernible through the ground. Small gaps in rocks fidgeted and vibrated the ground and dust.

  Thuds followed like unending drops, accompanied by huffed voices, shouts, and what seemed like explosions. Everything felt so weird in this space, illuminated by crimson light coming from William's Emblem.

  “Those?” Dann said, taking the noise and trembling for bad things that should soon pass. “Nothing. They are nothing.” He lied.

  William didn't believe him; some of them were real, yet he didn't know which, so he asked for a reference. He did the same thing with his mother. Which noises were his, he considered.

  Scratching his wounds, William involuntary touched his Emblem, letting crimson light skip a beat. Emblem trembled before it dropped down, cluttering, and making sharp noises as it hit the ground, successfully ''escaping'' its prison.

  William cried out, sensing how something sharp had gone missing. It was a different kind of warm feeling. He lost that noise. The pain lessened, and he felt much lighter, but also... empty. It made him uncomfortable in a different way. He didn't like it, which was surprising.

  The Emblem clicked against the rock, resting on the ground and looking like a lost glossy coin. It was still triangular, resembling a coin no wider than a couple of thumbs. Inside were storms of crimson Arcana, looking big, yet incredibly small like endless dust. It held a majestic vision thanks to the light as well as something deep moving inside.

  It escaped from the rules of flesh. That shouldn't be a good thing, similar to a hole inside William's arm that bled and hurt. Dann believed so; he heard that when Walkers died, they would lose their Emblems.

  William was breathing and looking good, so he was confused.

  William gazed at his Emblem like Dann and looked at him. The boy ended up curling and crawling curiously. “What is it? It is... warm, but... isn't it bad?”

  William was unaware of what he meant.

  They watched the crimson particles resembling veins, mist, or even some fingers, or geometrical patterns. The light seemed everywhere, shining in mysterious luster.

  It calmed both of them down, even though it couldn't remind them of anything calm. After all, it was crimson, the color of blood.

  The sounds from outside never stopped and Dann forgot about William's question. William forgot how important it was after both boys diverted their attention. They could see it wasn't moving, changing, or... doing a thing. It kept glowing and its inner flow was hidden behind a glossy finish. There was nothing wrong with it, or so William wanted to believe but couldn’t keep his calm.

  The outside noises never stopped. It was even worse when cries and banging noises overcame the explosive fights, coming from some close distance away.

  “T-there are people… hurt or eaten by the monsters. The bunker is.... underground. They keep banging… shouting... Dying and Turning,” Dann uttered an inaudible cry, describing the demise of people.

  And he was right.

  It kept going until it stopped. Then it started again.

  William hated it, so he looked forward to the darkness that soon swallowed him like a snatching claw.

  [Good riddance.]