(Quintiles 29, 59 / 7:45PM)

  (Benn and Hope)

  (Hope) Where are we going!?

  (Benn) Outside.

  Despite being in the barely visible mist, both Benn and Hope sprinted on the wooden floor, their eyes unable to detect what was in front of them as their vision was clouded with mist. Both had their stomachs clenched as they tried to reach the door from the front entrance.

  Running through the barely visible bar, both Benn and Hope knew that stopping or bumping into anything would be a no-go, the thought of it causing Benn to shake his head repeatedly.Hope’s breath became ragged as the thought of dying soon dawned upon her mind.

  (Benn’s thoughts) Let’s just hope we don’t run into a wall—

  Both Benn and Hope crashed into something, their faces making contact with a hard substance that managed to block their entry. Their cheeks reddened from the impact, and their faces started to convulse into anger as their teeth ground against one another.

  Benn used his hands to feel the hard wooden surface in front of them, his eyes widening as he turned towards the barely visible Hope. Still having his hands against the wooden surface, Benn gulped down as his throat started to quiver.

  (Benn) Guess we’re not that lucky…

  (Zompire #1) Save us!

  (Hope) Benn! They're getting near!

  The group of zompires were heard several feet in back of them, their footsteps causing the floor beneath them to shake. Scratching his nose, he closed his eyes, as Hope clung to his arm with her left hand, her right hand wielding her combat pistol as she pointed it toward the direction of the incoming horde.

  The more Benn closed his eyes, the more he could see in the mist, the moisture from it causing him to sense his surroundings more than he should. Not only did the mist heighten his instinct, but it also allowed his memory to open up quickly and vividly.

  (Benn’s thoughts) There were a bunch of electrical cords that were wide open for electrocution, so…

  (Hope) B-B-Benn!

  Turning his direction to the horde of zompires coming in close, Benn wielded his heavy machine gun towards the zompire horde just barely a couple of feet in their direction. With his finger on the trigger, he steadied his aim as the horde was now starting to get visible in the dense mist.

  Hope, noticing that Benn was aiming towards the horde the same as her, put her finger on the trigger as she waited for the chance that Benn struck first. Keeping an eye on his finger, Hope began to hyperventite as the horde of zompires were getting more visible in the mist.

  (Benn’s thoughts) I just hope I don’t die from this…

  His muscles expanded as his rge forearms were pulsating with an enormous amount of strength. Using his left arm, he pushed Hope to the left so that she would be out of the horde’s way, the zompires now right in front of him.

  Jumping to his right, he narrowly avoided the incoming horde that charged at him, turning their bodies to the sudden change in movement. Seeing this, Benn looked at the zompire horde in a split second, with the horde being around 8 to 10 boys with their heads back on to their bodies.

  (Benn’s thoughts) They’re all piled together, so I could probably get a chain reaction.

  Aiming his gun not at the zompire horde, but where Benn st saw a hanging electrical cord when he first entered in, Benn pced his trigger steady at the target by memory. Even if it seemed far-fetched, as the mist allowed Benn to not even see where his target was, Benn’s face was rexed as his chest heaved normally.

  With a simple push of a trigger, Benn fired two small bursts of bullets coming from the barrel, smoke gently rising from the iron as the hot metal…

  Instead, the hot metal reached the outer yers of the mist, into the unknown.

  But this unknown wasn’t an unknown.

  (Benn’s thoughts) No way!

  A bolt of sparks flew onto the zompire horde, with a couple of zompires near the electrical cord beginning to emit sparks of electricity and electrical charge. Luckily for Benn, a chain reaction did spark out, the bits of electricity and electrical charge causing the entire horde to begin spasming out in under three seconds.

  Their eyes bck eyes started to melt the tar from within their eye sockets, their hands convulsing and their feet kicking up with the bones cracking under their inflexibility. Lastly, the zompires colpsed as their bodies twitched from the overload of electricity running through their extremely conductive bodies, the white pigments of their skin turning them into mini generators.

  Even for Benn.

  (Benn’s thoughts) Aah! It hurts! It hurts!

  With the current running around Benn’s body, his bluish skin emitted shockwaves of electricity across the outer yers of his body, his unique muscles not allowing the current to travel inside of his body. Having an electrical field raining down on him, Benn colpsed on his knees as he put both of his hands down on the wooden ground.

  His vocals started to push themselves to the limit as he continued to scream under the immense cataclysm of pain his body was in. The skin that formed an electrical field around him felt as if a thousand tiny needles continued to stab him repeatedly, the shocks causing his nerves to fry up as the tiny hair strands on his arms spiked up.

  Shutting his eyes, he tightened his fists to where his knuckles started to creak, his joints begging for the sweet release of death.

  Amid the despair, amid death.

  In the barely visible mist that clouded his being.

  (Benn) AAAAAAHH!!

  His bluish skin started to darken, the light pigment underneath his arms and forearms creating a foul burn that enraged all his nerves to revolt. Clutching his head, clutching his temples, his fingertips digging deep into the softest areas of his head, his vocals started to tear as the raging pain consumed his entire soul and being.

  Until…

  (Hope) Heal.

  Hope pced her smooth hands upon Benn’s electrical force field skin, her palms touching his big back as she felt the contents of the frictionful leather bck jacket. With the volts tching onto her hands and going through her body, Hope gritted her teeth as she poured a bright yellowish light.

  Her palms started to redden, followed by her breathing hitching in her throat as the electrical current passed into her body. Shutting her eyes as her back arched from the excruciating pain, she continued to unch the saintly yellow light.

  (Hope’s thoughts) Aah! This is all I can do…

  Her legs shook as she started to lose all feeling in her feet, her knees buckling as she not only was in pain but in utter exhaustion. Having her knees on the ground, her eyes fluttered as her breath started to decrease, leading to her head bobbing down, her core strength diminishing in front of her own eyes.

  As the yellow light banished the electrical force field surrounding Benn’s body, Benn stopped his shrieking cries. Putting one knee on the ground, he pced both of his hands on the ground as his body began to return to normal.

  Breathing in, he looked around the room to take in the dreaded mist that continued to block his view. Feeling the chilliness of the mist caressing his body, Benn put his left hand to his gun, holding onto the grip unwaveringly.

  (Benn’s thoughts) pants … Gemma is still alive.

  Putting his right hand on his chest, he turned towards the direction of Hope lying on the wooden floor, her whole body coated with cold sweat as her breath started to dim. His eyes focused on the blonde beauty, Benn wiped away a drop of blood coming from his mouth, his lips accidentally biting into one another.

  (Benn’s thoughts) But Hope is barely…

  Crouching down, he put his left hand on Hope’s chest, noticing the slow pumps coming from her heart. His left hand trembling, he gulped down whatever saliva that tried to moisten his dried mouth.

  With a time limit being summoned upon him, Benn turned his head towards his left, the mist around him slowly becoming more visible. Seeing what’s left of the zompires, their bck ashes on the floor that can be barely seen with the naked eye, Benn gave off a quiet sigh as the ashes soon moved in the mist.

  (Benn) I guess it’s just me then.

  In the mist, a tall woman was walking through it, kicking the ashes away like it was nothing.

  Putting his left hand back towards his body, Benn stood up as he straightened his back, his eyes looking at the burnt-out woman breathing irregurly. Having his gun in his left hand, he looked towards it as he focused on the grip and chamber of the machine gun.

  (Benn’s thoughts) And I guess I have to fight like a man.

  Benn holstered his gun back into the back of his leather jacket, a click resonating around the two-story bar. Tightening his fists, his rge hands sprung up to create a fighting stance, his legs spread out as a bead of sweat rolled down onto the wooden floor.

  (Gemma) No matter what, I’ll make sure all your limbs fit inside of my stomach.

  Benn then looked down onto Gemma’s stomach, his eyes pushed down as he let out a pyful smirk.

  (Benn) You’re going to need a bigger stomach.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  The wooden floor creaked as the spttering of tar could be heard, her right leg pushing off the ground as Gemma barreled her way toward the shark-human. In breakneck speed, Gemma managed to create little air shockwaves from her lunge, her eyes tarshot bck as she extended her hands outwards to showcase her sharp fingernails.

  Seeing a completely new different way of attacking, Benn took a step back as he pced both his feet steady on the ground, rubbing the wood gently as he continued to keep his fists still.

  (Gemma) Too easy.

  With her left foot, she lunged herself to the right, angling her body so that she had a clear opening for Benn’s right stomach. Seeing his body wide open for an attack, Gemma thrust her hand with her sharp fingernails, coming ever closer towards Benn’s body.

  His eyes followed Gemma’s movements, Benn didn’t have time to block Gemma’s attack, his body barely turning itself towards Gemma’s side thrust.

  (Benn’s thoughts) Please forgive me, Hope.

  Benn pushed out his right hand in the direction of where Gemma was showcasing her sharp nails. Coming in contact with his hand, Gemma did not let her opportunity go to waste.

  Benn yelped as her nails dug in his hand. Cold sweat starting to take form upon his forehead and neck, Benn started to grunt as a river of blood started to escape from his right hand, leading to him feeling light-headed.

  Gemma wrenched her fingernails back as she exerted enough strength to twist the bones and joints. Her twisting caused Benn to open his mouth wide.

  (Gemma) Don’t you think you trapped me just yet!

  Gemma pushed her other hand, her eyes targeting Benn’s body yet again. The fingernails were less sharper than the one lodged in Benn’s hand, yet had no dullness upon it, causing Benn to turn his attention onto the incoming hand.

  (Benn’s thoughts) She’s starting to get desperate.

  So he decided to let Gemma shoot her shot, her other hand already making contact as her fingernails were on the very edge of digging themselves deep into Benn’s liver. With a sharp thrust—

  Benn grabbed her wrist with his free hand, tightly gripping it as he looked into her widened eyes.

  (Benn) You’re predictable.

  Tightening the hold on Gemma’s wrist, Benn used his fingertips to grip her frail bones into pce, causing her to clench her teeth.

  (Benn) And you shouldn’t have exerted that much strength in the first pce.

  Slowly bending her forearm, the tips of her fingernails were now facing the direction of her own body, her arm about to break as she continued to exert what little strength she had. The more she struggled, the more Benn’s arms pulsated with raw unbridled adrenaline, leading to him making her arm creek.

  And then Gemma’s arm snapped in two, her forearm being separated from her main arm.

  (Gemma) Damn you…!

  With her arm bending unrealistically towards her chest, Benn used his bulging arm to push her hand into the area where Benn was targeting. Making sure Gemma’s wrist had her arm pointed towards her chest, Benn twisted her wrist slightly so that she wouldn’t move or fight back.

  Benn had a steady hold on her weapon, getting closer and closer to the target area that was on her chest.

  Her fingernails scraped herself as Benn slowly thrust his arm, her nails digging deep into her chest. Despite the pain barely noticeable, Gemma started to grind against her teeth as her fingernails dug deeper, with Benn managing to reach the area where her heart…

  (Benn’s thoughts) And then one st thrust—

  Gemma moved her body forward, allowing Benn to lodge her fingernails to her chest.

  But it also allowed her nails to wedge itself into her target area, both him and her having their targets on standby.

  (Benn’s thoughts) W-what…

  Gncing down at his liver, he noticed that the hand he used to trap Gemma’s fingernails was now halfway through into his body, his eyes flickering open as an abundance of cold sweat ran down his forehead. As the hand was right on his liver, Benn froze..

  Gemma only just smirked with the crevices of her lips reaching to where her nose level was, her eyes affectionately looking upon the shark-human’s pale face. Covering her mouth with her face, Gemma squinted her eyes as her nostrils fred up.

  (Gemma) Turns out I just won.

  Benn then pulled his hand that was covered with blood, noticing the many open holes that Gemma created as chunks of bone and meat were radiating out of his palms. Not only did Benn pull out his hand, but he glided his body back, the nails that dug halfway into his liver showcased a light stream of blood.

  Benn pced the hand that was normal onto his right stomach, feeling the warm liquid substance coming out from within him. From a different limb, the river of blood reached down towards his elbow, the hand that blocked Gemma not wanting to move as by merely a gust of wind…

  (Benn’s thoughts) Oh no … oh no … shit! Shit! Shit!

  He tried to move his hand, but the pain fred with an utmost roar of intensity that caused Benn to activate his gag reflex again. Now focusing on the smell, Benn slowly walked backward as his vision became blurry, followed by his head feeling as if it might explode at any moment.

  Bending over onto the ground, Benn pced his safe hand onto his chest, opening his mouth wide yet again as he tried to let out any content from his stomach.

  (Benn’s thoughts) I can’t lose like this! I still haven’t told Gwen yet…

  Coughing-out fluids weren’t there, to begin with, Benn still used his safe arm to wipe away a drop of saliva or two, drool dripping down from the corners of his left lip. Turning his head towards the door, he noticed that the mist was starting to become more visible, seeing some of the outlines of the humid room.

  Noticing that Hope was still lying down on the ground, or rather the outline of her body, Benn tried to steady his breathing by closing his eyes and exhaling in and out.

  (Benn’s thoughts) I need to get out of here. I need to go. I need to—

  (Gemma) Yeah no can do, my sushi. You know I have an appointment starting right now~

  Towering over him, Gemma folded her arms as she looked down upon the rge nose shark-human, her eyes gleaming with joy despite them being all bck. Sucking her lips into her mouth, she licked them inside as she popped them back out.

  Slowly extending her right hand towards the shark-human, Gemma’s nails hit the tips of his dark hair, gently caressing the features of his rge head. Leaning closer to Benn’s face, Gemma pced her other hand on his right cheek, the nails making microscopic cuts as Gemma was bashed with a load of ecstasy.

  (Gemma) I think I’m just hitting the tip of the oasis with this…

  (Hope) Gemma … let him go…

  Both Gemma and Benn turned in the direction of a blond-haired woman on the floor lying on her stomach, her silhouette noticeable as the mist started to lose its sense of eeriness. Hope looked towards Gemma, her eyes on the verge of closing as she slothfully crawled on the ground.

  Gemma’s legs started to quake, and the nails that were having a grip on Benn’s head started to tremble violently as she continued to make eye contact with the girl who was barely breathing. Looking upon Hope, her face let out a warm smile as the crevices of her eyes snted sideways.

  (Gemma) Hmm? How’re you still here?

  Letting go of Benn’s face, her fingernails managed to create paper-thin cuts all along Benn’s right side of his face. Putting her hand behind her back, Gemma walked towards the barely alive Hope, her eyes now sharpening at the blonde-haired girl.

  Benn then colpsed onto the ground, hitting the wooden floor with his hard-knuckled knees. His arms remained motionless, he took note of the hands that were pced behind Gemma’s back, her fingernails continuing to twitch uncontrolbly.

  (Benn’s thoughts) I … got to let Hope know…

  Turning her head back to the shark-human that had colpsed onto his knees, Gemma put her pale finger up to her lips. Still smiling as the white pigment of her skin started to redden, Gemma made a shooing sound as the air that came out of her was nothing but a cold putrid mist.

  (Gemma) You’re too worn out Benn. I guess your guy’s hope is running thin.

  Benn’s throat started to jump as the words that wanted to come out wouldn’t dare to, leading to his eyes staring intensely at the blond-haired woman who continued to crawl. Crouching down near Hope, Gemma extended her arm so that her fingernails ran along the course of Hope’s cheek.

  Feeling the softness and comfort of Hope’s cheeks, Gemma started to scrap away around the area of her cheekbones, creating lines of red scrapes that bled on a smaller scale.

  (Gemma) I think it’s about time to put you out of your misery, Hope. You look like you’re about to wither off into the rising sunset…

  Grabbing a hold of Hope’s hair, Gemma slowly extended her arm up high. Hope’s body remained still and slightly reddened by the electrical current.

  Noticing Hope with small breaths, Gemma put her other hand onto her forehead, shaking her head repeatedly as she looked at both Hope and Benn.

  (Gemma) Do you think you guys would have beaten me? Both of you executed the best possible combo in the worst way. I thought I was done for when I saw a heavy being with the support of a healer.

  With her eyes gncing rapidly at each of them, Gemma put her left hand in the air with a fist, spreading her legs so that she could do a pose. As the sunlight from the outside started to dim out, it was enough so that anyone could hide…

  (Gemma) I’m strong … much stronger than any of you combined!

  Then came the Vulcan of bullets raining hell from outside the bar, opening up many new doors as windows and walls.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  (Military Guard#1) FIRE!!

  Hundreds of bullets came crashing toward the unguarded Gemma, who was too caught up in her victory. Still, in her pose, Gemma’s body then started to be riddled with the hot metals of rifle rounds, pistol rounds, shotgun rounds, and some sniper rounds.

  Gemma let go of Hope, her arm losing strength as a tsunami of tar poured out of her stomach and chest with all of her internal organs being liquified.

  As Hope y on the ground, her arms couldn’t budge to protect herself against the amount of leftover bullets gently bnketing on top of her. With the deafening noise continuing to surround her, Hope had one choice but to close her eyes as she awaited help from a miracle.

  Meanwhile, Benn leaned on a wall to avoid the Vulcan of bullets raining across the bar, nding on the side that wasn’t causing him excruciating pain. Seeing Gemma being ground against the bullets, Benn continued to stare straight at Gemma, her stance now gone as she was nothing but liquified organs and an unattached head.

  (Military Guard#1) Guns down!

  Outside the bar, an entire ptoon of military guards armed to the teeth, carrying military-grade assault rifles, handguns, and shotguns, perked their ears up as a loud voice came from the middle of them. Noticing that the leader had his hands pushed down in a gesture, all the soldiers slowly and steadily pointed their guns down, not wanting to cause any harm.

  Pointing their guns down, a middle-aged man in the middle looked at a rge squad of about six people, his face contorted with his nose wrinkling up from his voice.

  (Military Guard#1) You six, enter inside the building to check up on any survivors! Make sure the enemy is dead!

  (Group Leader#1) Yes sir! You heard the Lieutenant! Let’s move out!

  (Guard #1) Yes Sergeant!

  The squad of six looked at one another, pushed their boots off the street pavement and ran towards the front entrance of the bar. Making their way past the door, the squad of six pulled out military high-beamed fshlights from their soldier uniforms, five out of the six carrying their fshlights with their left hand while their rifles were on the right.

  The squad of six noticed the target had its chest and stomach missing, their organs completely tarred and burned as it turned her into a lump of spoiled soup. With most of the soldiers looking away, as some started to gag at the sight, they turned their attention towards another matter.

  The Sergeant noticed a young woman being covered in heavy machine gun bullets, her hair and body wrapped in a bnket of death. Looking towards his men who were looking around the destroyed room, he straightened his neck as he thumped his chest, letting more oxygen flow into his chest.

  (Sergeant) We have a survivor! Get the medic team now! She looks like she’s barely alive!

  Three soldiers ran outside to rally their finest medics, holstering their guns to their chests as they sprinted in an unsoldier-like fashion. Pcing his hand onto Hope’s forehead, he felt the high fever that her body was in, his palms already sticky and sweaty.

  Noticing a slight static on her leather jacket, the sergeant rubbed her shoulder area, his thumb and pointer finger trying to identify the static. Coincidentally, it caused him to get shocked, pulling his hand back towards his body as the zap sent out a piercing shockwave through his whole body.

  (Sergeant’s thoughts) How the hell did she get electrocuted?

  The two soldiers looked around the room as they tried to find any other survivors, their eyes panning the dirtied floors. A short soldier, a soldier small and thin, looked up towards a tall soldier with blonde hair, his eyes sharpening at the tall man next to him.

  (Guard #2) I’ll look for the survivors and you look for any corpses to bring back.

  (Guard #1) sighs … alright.

  (Guard #1’s thoughts) If I don’t go along with him, he’ll throw another hissy fit.

  One of the soldiers, the short and thin one, noticed Benn lying in the dark, his face and body shrouded in the darkness as he made a cold frown upon his face. Looking down at the shark-human, he continued to stare at Benn, until the sergeant looked towards the soldier, the soldier having his body blocking Benn.

  (Sergeant) See anything?

  (Guard #2) … No sir … just a corpse.

  Looking away, the small thin soldier carried onwards as he continued scanning the other areas of the, avoiding Benn’s gre. Setting his open palm on the wooden floor, he leaned the back of his head against the wooden wall.

  But the tall soldier, when looking towards the sergeant and small soldier interaction, noticed Benn. Squinting his eyes more, his breath caught in his throat as the shark-human y in the shadows…

  (Guard #1) Wait, we got another survivor!

  The blonde-haired soldier wielded his gun as he ran towards the injured Benn, seeing the devastating state that Benn was in. Passing through the many broken wood and shards on the floor, the soldier managed to reach in front of Benn, his eyes softening as he looked towards Benn’s injured hand and liver.

  Pcing the butt of his gun on the floor while still holding onto it with his right hand, the soldier crouched down, having one knee on the ground. Ignoring the lingering scent of smoke and metal, the soldier extended his left hand towards Benn.

  (Guard #1) You’re a soldier, right? Here, take my hand, I’ll help you walk.

  Benn stared at the white-toned palm that reached out to him, the soldier's face neutral and calm. Looking downward onto the floor, his eyes noticed the little cracks of wood, a soft comparison of material to that of many years ago…

  Turning his head upward, he reached out his shaking hand towards the soldier, using his safe hand so that he could pull himself up.

  Getting Benn off of the floor, Benn noticed the youthful facial features that riddled the blonde-haired soldier, followed by the soldier’s slim figure and skinny appearance. The blonde-haired soldier wrapped an arm around Benn’s neck and shoulders, holding him up as he and he walked their way out of the smoke-filled bar.

  (Sergeant’s thoughts) Why can’t most of my soldiers be more like Private Zirardge? I just hope he doesn’t turn out the way his father is…

  (Sergeant) I’ll carry her out of here then.

  Extending his arms towards the sleeping Hope, the Sergeant pced his left hand on Hope’s head, followed by his right arm in between her thighs and calves. Carrying her bridal style, the Sergeant put one knee on the first, checking Hope’s breathing as he put his head on her chest. Hearing that she was doing fine, he carefully lifted his knee off the ground, making sure that no sudden movements dare strike his—

  (Guard #2) Sir! The lich is gone!

  Flinching his arms, the Sergeant sharpened his eyes towards one of his soldiers from the center of the bar, his throat trembling inside of his throat.

  (Sergeant) What the hell do you mean she’s gone?!

  Having Hope in his arms, one of his soldiers pointed towards the area where Gemma was supposed to be located.

  As if like the mist, she disappeared into the dead of the evening, her organs or bodily fluid nowhere to be seen as not a trace of tar was present.