《Storm of the End》Chapter X.II: Humans
Advertisement
For a dangerous moment, I couldn't move. From where I sitting, it was hard to tell exactly what it was. Was it one of the humanoid creatures from before? Something else? Hundreds of possibilities fueled my instinctual flight or fight response. I chose to fight, reaching for Jared's gun that was sitting on the passenger seat and leaping out of the car, not wasting any time to aim it at the figure.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Though I had expected to see some sort of horrific monster attacking Jared, what I saw instead was... a man. A rough looking man with torn clothes held Jared at knife point with a crazed look in his eyes.
"Don't move! If you try to shoot me, I'll make sure he dies with me!" the man screamed wildly. Jared struggled, looking at me pleadingly.
The gun shook in my hands. I had never shot one in my life, I'm sure if our roles were reversed Jared could have succeeded in taking out the man without hurting me... but I wasn't confident in my ability to not hit Jared. And besides, I didn't think I could shoot another person. I just couldn't, not when he was looking at me like that. Though his eyes were crazed, I could also see a deep sadness in his eyes. As if he was sorry that he had to do what he was about to do, as if he already regretted it but survival necessitated it.
"Why are you doing this?!" I shouted semi-incoherently, "Just back off! Don't make me shoot you!"
The man must have sensed that I was an amateur with a gun, or that I didn't have the guts to shoot, because he yelled back, "Just give me the car and I'll let you go alive! If not, well..."
Advertisement
I didn't even know what it felt like to shoot a gun or how it even operated except for that I had to pull the trigger! Would I have to reload or something? Could I avoid hitting Jared? Crap....
"Now! Drop the gun, give me the car, now!" the man shouted again. I could tell that he didn't want to kill anyone, he just wanted to get out of the city. I thought of trying to calm him down by offering to bring him with us... anything that could have prevented the loss of a life... but the words died in my throat. He had already resolved himself, there would be no calming him down.
I looked Jared in the eyes. His eyes seemed to be practically shouting at me: "Shoot him! Take the shot!"
Alright Jared, I'll do it...
I aimed, and fired.
I had missed the man's head...
and hit his shoulder instead. He let out a cry of pain, and dropped the knife. I blinked, and within that time frame Jared had grabbed the knife before it hit the ground and stabbed the man in the throat.
Just like that, it was over.
I had... assisted in ending the life of another human being. I felt bile rise into my throat, and barely pushed back the urge to vomit. Never had I imagined that I would ever take another human's life, not ever. Especially not after this storm had started, especially after we had run into those otherworldly monsters! You'd think that now that we had a common enemy, we'd be able to fight and survive together.
"Come on, Markus," Jared said as he put an arm on my shoulder and lead me back into the car, "Don't worry too much about it. He would have killed us if we didn't kill him first. He would have killed your son... or worse. We had to do it."
Advertisement
I nodded, though my body wouldn't stop shaking.
"I didn't see! What happened?!" Aaron asked, "Dad went out... and then I heard a loud noise. What was that?"
I couldn't answer.
Jared spoke up, "This guy tried to steal our stuff, but me and your dad scared him off. It's alright now, don't worry."
"Oh..." Aaron muttered.
We had to do it... I tried to convince myself. The man's frantic eyes flashed back into my mind. More than anything, he had just looked scared and confused... What if he had been trying to find someone in this storm, too? What if he had someone he needed to protect, just like me? I shook my head. We had to do it, or else...
Advertisement
- In Serial22 Chapters
Seer Walks Out
Seer and two friends go on a quest for power - and find something completely different: a new world, a world they had never known existed, yet only a few days' journey from their tribe. They need to learn fast how to survive in this strange new world - and their friendships may have to be part of the price of survival. The book is set in a postapocalyptic South Wales All finished now - and the sequel - "Seer's Cauldron" has started! And thank you to "Mildegard" for permission to use the cover art!
8 139 - In Serial13 Chapters
[PUBLISHED] Substation Seven: Condemnation
You can get your hands on the complete novel at https://mybook.to/substation7book1 Claire Aireneth needs to write her entire thesis in one week. As a student of the prestigious Royal Academy, her work on magitech automatons needs to not only hold sway with her professors, but keep in step with her late mother, who practically wrote the book on humanity's mechanized companions. If she fails, she'll have failed in her only self-given purpose: to become as good an engineer as dear ol' ma. Focusing the other half of her energy on keeping herself from keeling over in an anxiety attack, she does her best to weigh in her options. After hours of thought, she's at the verge of giving up hope on it altogether, until she realizes she has a unique edge on her fellow peers when it comes to doing research in a unique environment; A very unique environment. Her father is the kingdom's only magitech substation rounds officer: an incredibly important job that only requires a single person. It's through him that the magic powering the city's tens of thousands of devices operate smoothly from his small weekly adjustments, for it's industrial automatons that do the rest of the work for him. It's illegal to go down there, but Clare feels as though she has no choice. Going undergound into the substation system, she finds much, much more than a few simple androids busy with their menial tasks. She finds the kingdom's true form, a secret buried so, so deep, that it will stop at nothing to remain concealed. She runs dead center into a vast conspiracy that not only brings her walled off country into question, but her very perception of reality. It just so happens that this new reality doesn't like her one bit. On hiatus until someone asks me for some more! PM or email me and I'll make it happen! Kellinkston.com
8 153 - In Serial12 Chapters
King's Throne: Snow's Story
The three children swore to be together, in grieve and happiness. They were orphaned since birth. Sharing that single fact in their life, the three grew to be closer and closer. They lived in street, where deah could always come to claim their life in a winter. But the goddess of luck smiled at them on a snowy day. The King of the land found them. Street life turned into a comfortable life. Unfortunately, life in the palace is not as easy as expected. Politics, obligations and responsibilities always exist. Everything on the surface looked just fine, without anyone knowing a calamity figure was hiding beneath.
8 200 - In Serial29 Chapters
Chinese Novels
(Ongoing) Looking for Chinese novel? These are the Chinese novel I've read so far.Romance, transmigrator, reincarnation, revenge, modern, etcDisclaimer: I do not own the original or the translated versions of these novels
8 146 - In Serial44 Chapters
Please Stay[Stray Kids × Reader]
(Y/N) tried to avoid the music industry as much as possible. However with fate, her twin brother Hyun Tae got into a car accident forcing her to disguise as him and continue the steps of her brother with the stage name of "Alex", being one of the members of STRAY KIDS, a new JYP boy group to soon have a debut. Will she be able to succeed?(Rewriting)04/19/19 - 10/05/20 [Completed]
8 135 - In Serial7 Chapters
Nephilim: New Dawn
Haru, a daydreamer outcast from a coastal village was lost in one of his journeys inland, into the ruins of the Old Ones, there he was saved by a mysterious stranger named Quetz Xolotl, little did both of them know that their fates were intertwined from that moment on. As darkness began to brew, they and the ragtag family must stick together to survive until a new dawn.
8 205