《At the Top of the Food-Chain》


 And so it begins

    All over the world monsters blinked into existence. A new age of Earth began. One that had no room for the weak. The human population had no time to prepare themselves. Within the first 24hrs, humanity fell. The few who managed to survive, lived like mice scurrying around and scavenging the scraps left over from the old world.


    The new creatures and races of sentient beings who now ruled over Earth did not come from a previously existing world. Their lives began just as the new world began. They came into being already fully matured and with the knowledge they would need to survive in this new world. Many also came into being with unquenchable urges or predispositions for certain lifestyles. They themselves had no idea what had created them, though some individuals of the more intelligible races made it their life''s goal to find out.


    Regardless of their goals, all of the new creatures and the old inhabitants struggled toward the top of the food-chain and safety and security it represented.


    *********


    (10 hours into the start of a new world)


    The rain is black, falling from a black sky. It pours over my face and drips from my clothes. It washes the blood from my hands and the runs down to the red pool at my feet. All around are screams, pleas for help and prayers to various gods. My attention is caught by a flickering streetlight. I stare until it finally goes dark, never to work again. I look down at my hands and flex my fingers. I look down to my bare feet and wiggle my toes, splashing the red tinted water. A smile splits my face. The cool water feels good.


    I look over to the woman laying beside me in a pool of her own watered down blood. My smile turns to a frown and my eyebrows knot together. It is difficult to see clearly in the dark. I focus on my eyes and adjust them until I can see more clearly. I allow myself a smug smile. Changing my body is such a simple task. I refocus on the woman. Her brown hair plastered to her lifeless face. I can vaguely remember that face having an anguished, fear-filled expression mere minutes ago. There had also been words.


    I opened my mouth and mimicked her so that I could better remember. ¡°Sweety... Sweety, Please stop. If you don''t stop you''ll hurt Mommy. You don''t want to hurt Mommy do you? ...Stoaaaaaahhulp...huuugg!¡±


    I frowned again. There was something wrong with the words she used. I wonder what it could be. Oh! It must be that! Sweety and Mommy weren''t names. Also, those sounds at the end were not words. I looked down at my hands. It seems I had killed this woman. I wonder why I did that...


    The sounds of footsteps quickly approaching cut through my thoughts. The ones making the commotion are a man and woman. The woman''s arm is bleeding. They have panicked looks on their faces. Following close behind them is an older man. I can tell that he is not the same as them. He is like me, and yet he seems different too. I continue watching as the old man, who is somehow like me and at the same time is completely different, grabs the arm of the injured woman and pulls her down to the ground. She screams. In the moment it takes for her companion to turn around, the old man has already shoved his hand down into the woman''s back. The man makes a panicked noise. The woman makes no noise. She is already dead. The old man puts his foot on her back and pulls his arm up with one sharp motion, a cruel grin on his face. In his clenched fist is the woman''s bloody spine which still has chunks of muscle stuck to it. The woman''s companion is already running again. Within moments he passes by where I stand. Following close behind is the smiling old man, spine still in hand.


    As the old man was about to pass by me I yelled out to him. ¡°Stop!¡±


    He pauses for a moment looking at me. The smile never leaving his face. Then he is gone again, chasing the desperately running man. I watch as he quickly catches up to the now pleading man, smashing him in the head with the bloody spine. The man falls and the smiling old man stomps his throat a few times before running off into the darkness.


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    The screams and other noises come from farther and farther away, until the only noise that I can hear is the sound of the rain. It is a very soothing sound. I feel disappointed as the raindrops slow and finally come to a stop. The absence of sound is deafening. ''The Humans are all dead.'' The thought crosses my mind as if out of nowhere. I wonder how I know these things. I know that the dead woman on the ground is a Human, and that the body I reside was once her human child. However, I do not know what I am, nor do I know why I had been killing Humans, or even why I had stopped. All I know, is that when it started raining and I had looked up at the sky, at that moment, the me that I currently am began. I do not know if I have a name, but from now on I will call myself Rain. I feel much closer to those drops of water that fall from the sky then these dead humans or whatever that old man was.


    My eyes move toward a house across the street from me. Conflicting feelings well up in my mind. What do I do now. Should I search the buildings around me? What would I be looking for? I instinctively know that I do not need to eat nor drink. I enjoy the feeling of my bare feet on the ground. There is no reason to gather anything, and there is nothing I need to do to continue existing....


    I stood still not knowing what I should do. My gaze focuses back up toward the sky. The clouds are parting, showing a sliver of the moon. I sigh. There will be no more rain for the moment. Maybe I can find some place where it always rains...


    I look toward the house behind me. A very human thought crosses my mind. There are toys in that house. Things to curb ones boredom. I smile and let out a slight giggle. With quick steps I make my way toward the house. I reach the partially open door. Pushing it further open, I pop my head inside. The hallway is dark. I silently step inside. Where should I begin my search?


    Not knowing where my precious treasures will be hidden, I systematically search the first floor. Nothing. Disappointed, I silently wish that the corpses in the living room could tell me where the things I desired were. I am sure the little girl who was clutching a stuffed bunny would know. Frustration colors my face. I head toward the second floor. After searching a few of the rooms, I finally find what I an looking for. The floor in front of me is littered with toys of all sorts. My face cracks into a smile. I have found the treasure room!


    After enjoying my new toys for a wile, sunlight starts to peek out from between the curtains. I stand up and look around the room. At the foot of the bed is a large chest. One by one I move the toys into the chest. Wile playing I had decided on my new course of action. I would travel and find new and interesting things to entertain me. Although the toys are fun to play with, I know that I will eventually get tired of them. And so with all the toys now tucked away into the chest I lift it up and take a few steps toward the door.


    ...this isn''t going to work. The chest is nearly twice my size. I can''t see around it at all. Sighing, I set the toy chest back at the foot of the bed. As I ponder this newfound problem, I look around the room. I notice a small backpack. I will have to make a few sacrifices, but with nothing else useful in the immediate vicinity I decide to transfer my favorite toys from the chest to the bag.


    After hours of deliberation, I am once again ready to go. Inside the backpack, which was now securely on my back, were the toys I had painstakingly decided on. I had two small wooden tops, a bag of marbles, a brown stuffed bear with button eyes, a small box of Legos, a small xylophone, five metal cars, a dozen green plastic soldiers, and a small squishy rubber ball. I set off with determination and no set goal in mind.

 Chapter 2- Silent Streets

    I step out of the front door into the morning sunlight. My new backpack is securely strapped over my shoulders. It is time to start my adventure. I stop at the edge of the street to look both ways. Witch way should I go? To my right is the end of the cul-de-sac. I can see rows upon rows of houses in the distance. I look to the left and see more houses, but off in the distance I see taller buildings. Most of the buildings are on fire or have large holes in their sides. I''m sure there are more of the stores in that direction. That should be where the humans kept all there newest toys and entertaining things.


    I step into the street and start off toward the burning buildings in the distance. I carefully step over and around the corpses laying everywhere. It is deathly silent. No birds sing. No dogs bark. Not a single bug can be heard buzzing nor scurrying along the roadway. Nothing has come to feast on the dead.


    Among the human bodies, there are other dead spread about as well. There are corpses of dogs, cats, birds, bats, and bugs. Nothing was spared during the night. I wonder how many like the smiling old man there were? How many would it take to kill all these creatures? How many in these streets had been killed by my own hand?


    I observe the dead as I walk, trying my best not to step on even a single fly. They had all been torn apart in one way or another. Many are missing limbs, heads, and other body parts. I can see that most had been killed as they were running away. I wonder why they were killed? I wonder why the smiling old man didn''t kill me?


    As I continue walking the bodies become fewer and fewer. They begin showing signs of being torn into and eaten. There are bloody drag marks leading off the road into alleys and buildings. However it is still silent. I continue forward.


    I turn a corner and stop. In front of me is yet again a scene of death, but it has a distinct difference. The street I had started on had been strewn with dead of all sorts, but the buildings, yards and every other non living thing had been left virtually untouched. Even the plants had been left alone. But here. It was utter chaos. There were huge holes in the walls ad roofs of every building. All the streetlights, fences, signs, and electrical poles had been broken, bent or torn from the ground. The cars are scattered about. One is folded in half. The back of another sticks out from the roof of a nearby building. I look at some of the bodies. Or rather what''s left of the bodies. They have been smashed to unrecognizable states. The only way I can tell they were once human is the few scraps of colored cloth that have not been died red from blood.


    It is still silent.


    ¡°...*cough*¡±


    Good. I can still hear.


    Why is it so quite? Where are the creatures that caused this chaos? I look back and forth at the broken buildings. The sound of falling rubble catches my attention. I walk toward the collapsed building making the noise. The wet grass and mud slosh beneath my feet. As I step closer to the rubble, I start to hear the sound of shallow breathing. The toppled walls and roof move up and down ever so slightly. I sneak closer. Trying my best to make as little noise as possible.


    I can not see what is making the breathing noise, so I move my way around the broken building. The fence to the side of the building is broken and bent, blocking my path. I decide to climb over. Being careful of where I step, I make my way over to the back yard. Then I see it. A giant gray body sticking halfway out of the rubble. Bloody holes riddle its protruding belly. Its chest moves up and down shakily. Although it has a humanoid appearance, there are no ears on the sides of its head, large tusks jut out in odd directions from both bottom and top jaws, and its gray body has no hair.


    What a strange creature. I feel a bit excited. This is the first living thing I have come across since last night. It doesn''t look very alive though. I want a closer look. I go to jump from the broken fence onto the grass. My foot slips.


    ¡°ooof!¡±


    I fall face first into the muddy grass. I slowly sit up and spit the mud from my mouth. Then I spit again. I use my hand to wipe my tongue, but my hands are muddy too. I wipe my hands on my shirt but since it is also muddy it doesn''t help. I sit in the mud for a moment, looking down at my muddy hands and clothes. A strange sensation tickles my throat. My face strains until I can''t hold it back anymore. A strange noise escapes my lips. My body shakes uncontrollably and tears start streaming down my muddy cheeks. I laugh. I laugh so hard my sides begin to hurt. I laugh so loud, it makes the gray creature grunt and scrunch its face. I laugh and roll my self on the ground getting even muddier.


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    I lie in the mud until the laughter subsides. Then I stand up and take a deep breath. I wipe the mud from my hands and clothes the bet I can. Then I look over to the gray creature. It is moving more then before. Its face is scrunched into a snarl and twitching wildly. I walk up close to its head to get a closer look.


    The creatures is lying on its back facing the sky. The tip of it''s squashed nose is as high as my shoulders. Its meaty fingers are as big around as my thighs. As I lean over to look closely at its face, its eyes suddenly snap open. They are pitch black. The creature lets out a shattering screech, and bolts straight up, knocking me back. I find my self in the mud once again. However, this time my hands are clasped tightly around my ears and there is a pained grimace on my face.


    The gray monster continues screeching as it desperately tares at the wrecked house holding its legs. It manages to free itself, and quickly gets to its feet. Without a second thought it sprints away, barreling through the buildings and fences in its way as if they are nothing but cardboard.


    What... was that? Why did it suddenly wake up and run off? This entire situation is strange. I get up and look toward the direction the gray creature ran off to. Maybe it needed to do something important and remembered just now... No...I''m not sure why, but I''m certain that''s not what it was. Well, nothing I can do about it now. The creature is heading in a different direction then me.


    Leaving thoughts of the screaming gray monster behind, I continue on my adventure.


    I pass more deathly quiet streets. Occasionally there will be a variation to the way the people were killed and the way the buildings and streets are broken. It is all too quiet and boring. The buildings I pass by shift from being mostly residences, to small businesses and apartment buildings. The streets become more congested with abandoned vehicles. I sigh. So boring.


    Sudden inspiration hits me. If I can''t hear anything, I simply need to improve my hearing. I smile and shake my head. I should of thought of this earlier. I jump to the top of a nearby car and focus on my hearing. At first there is nothing. Then I begin to hear it. Off in the distance in all directions, what sounds like creatures of all sizes moving farther and farther away. I focus harder. Not everything is moving away. There are small creatures scurrying around a few blocks away in every direction. There are sounds of something sniffing and whimpering in a nearby apartment building. I wonder what... A loud sound far away catches my attention. It''s coming from my behind me and to the right, the opposite direction of my goal. I jump down from the car. It sounds interesting. A little detour won''t hurt.


    As I walk, I think about how odd it is that everything is moving away from where I am. Does it have something to do with my presence? Or is there something here to be afraid of? I can''t think of any logical explanations, so I leave off thinking about it until later. I have something else to do right now.


    The noise I heard earlier is moving. There is a screeching noise and a humming-rattling noise. There also quieter noises that sound like voices. Is that the sound of a moving vehicle? Then those voices, are they humans? There is another noise coming from slightly farther back as well. It is a scraping and huffing noise. Occasionally there is what sounds like a roar.


    I think something big is chasing some humans in a vehicle. The only way to know for sure is to go have a look myself.


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    Author''s note: I will post a chapter every week, but I do not have a set day. I may sometimes decide to post more then one chapter per week. It all depends on the feedback I get. The more people who reply, the more motivation I will have to write more. Thanks for reading my work! :)

 Chapter 3- Humans

    Following these noises is kind of fun. I listen closely and try my best to guess what is happening. The screeching tires probably means they are going really fast around corners. The Roaring and scraping noises from behind them is most likely a large animal with claws. I can''t think of anything that is that large with claws. I need to be able to see them. I start running, trying to get closer to my moving targets. They are too fast. I go faster.


    My backpack full of toys makes clanging noises every time my foot lands on the ground. I begin making uneven steps. Clank. CLANG. clink clink. Clank. *giggle * I continue my musical run, getting closer and closer to the screeching vehicle and it''s roaring companion.


    When I get within two buildings from them, something odd happens. The screeching vehicle turns another corner, this time heading away from my direction. But just as the roaring creature is about to turn, it suddenly stops roaring and slams into the corner of the building. Cheers erupt from the occupants of the screeching vehicle. The creature gets up and continues running in the same direction as the vehicle. The sound of its running has changed. It is much faster, but it also sounds uneven, as if it is limping. It quickly catches up and begins to pass the vehicle it had previously been chasing. Then loud banging noises start.


    I quickly make my way to the street they are on, for a better look. They are now almost five buildings away from me. There is a large white, boxy truck with what appear to be humans holding a variety of guns. Beside them to the left, is the creature. Its muscular reddish tan body is as large as the truck. Its side that faces the truck is streaming red blood. The gunmen shoot it again and it stumbles. I speed up so I can get a better look. The creature lets out defiant roar and increases it''s speed again. This time it manages to get half its length ahead of the truck. The white truck swerves and slams into its back leg, crushing it. The creatures body bounces off the front of the truck, caving it in. The white truck spins out of control and flips once before landing on it''s side. This is all very exciting. It''s making my heart beat really fast.


    I move closer at a slower pace now. The creature and truck are now less then three buildings away. The creature is lying on its side. Now that I am closer, I can get a better look at it. It has two large twisted horns. They are a dark reddish brown. Its face, shoulders and the front of its legs and chest are all plated with the same material as its horns. It''s back legs are thicker then its front pair. Its four clawed feet look like they could probably grab and crush things the size of my body. Its claws are slightly darker then its horns, and are longer then my arm.


    The horned creature whimpers and weakly growls. It tries to stand, but both of the legs on the right side of its body are crippled. I look toward the crashed truck. All for of the human men have made it out of the crash. One is holding is right arm and leaning against one of his companions. They all hobble off toward a side street as fast as they can.


    A little less then a minute later, I make it to the creature. It is breathing heavily, lying in a very large puddle of its own blood. Its orange, slit eyes look around wildly. As I step closer, it lets out a desperate cry and tries to claw its way along the ground. Its breathing becomes even more haggard and its body shakes violently. It makes one last whimper and goes silent. It stops moving. It is dead.


    For some reason, its reaction made it seam like it was running away from me. That makes no sense. I''m smaller then its forearm. Putting thoughts of the monster aside, I listen for the humans. They haven''t made it very far. I can hear them whispering and shuffling their feat just around the corner to my right. I make my way to the corner building and peak around it.


    The humans are at a gas station one is cleaning the font seat of a black truck with a crew cab. The injured one is sitting in it''s back seat. One of them is inside the little gas station store making a huge ruckus. The last is standing out closer to the road with his gun at the ready.


    The man holding the gun looks back toward the others. ¡°Hurry the hell up!¡±


    The cleaning man doesn''t even look up. ¡°I''m not sitting on a bloody seat.¡±


    Deciding it''s as good a time as any, I step out from the corner into view, a friendly smile on my face. ¡°Hello.¡±


    The men whip around, both pointing their guns at me. The man standing guard is the first to speak. ¡°What the hell? Is that a kid?¡± He relaxes his weapon but keeps it pointed at me.


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    The wounded man yells out from the back of the truck, ¡°There''s no way a kid that young could have survived by himself! It''s got to be one of those monsters that look human! Look at it! It''s covered in mud and smiling! It''s creepy as Fuck!¡±


    The man by the road looks unsure. The cleaner man speaks his doubts as well, ¡°We haven''t seen whatever creature killed everything around here. For all we know it was this kid.¡±


    The man by the road doesn''t look convened. He looks back at me. ¡°Kid can you prove you''re human?¡±


    I give at him with a confused look. Why do I need to be human? I mean I look human, but what difference does being human make?


    Just then the man who was in the store comes out with a stack of boxes and puts them in the back of the truck. He looks over toward me, and takes out his gun. ¡°What the hell are you guys doing? Shoot it.¡±


    The guy in the front lifts his hand. ¡°Wait! He spoke when he first appeared. It might just be a kid.¡± He lowers his gun. ¡°Kid, what''s your name?¡±


    I smile at him. ¡°I am Rain.¡±


    He lets out a sigh of relief. The box man comes up behind the man by the road, still pointing his gun at me. ¡°Jim, I''m telling you that thing ain''t human.¡±


    The man named Jim gives him a dirty look. ¡°It''s just a scared kid.¡± He turns toward me. ¡°Tell this idiot you are human.¡± he points his finger at the idiot.


    The idiot and I speak at almost the same time. ¡°That won''t prove...¡± ¡°I''m not human.¡±


    They both look at me eyes wide and faces paling. The man by the road looks scared ¡°Wha...¡±


    BANGBANGBANG! The Idiot shot me it the chest, and I fall back from the impact.


    I could hear them yelling and doors of the truck slamming, but it was hard to focus. It HURTS!!! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! My hands are on my chest I roll on the ground. More shots come, followed by more pain. The weals of the truck screech as they pull out onto the road and speed down the street.


    Tears flow down my cheeks and warm blood flows over my hands. Stop! Stop the pain!Slowly the pain starts to go away, until I can''t feel anything at all. I sit up. The pain is gone, but I can''t feel anything else either. I look down at my chest where the blood is still flowing out. I stop the bleeding with a thought. Then I fix the holes that went all the way through my body. Then carefully, slowly, I allow myself to feel again. I sigh. The pain is gone.


    I look down at my clothes. They are caked in mud and blood. They also have holes in both the front and back. I stand up and something falls to the ground. I look down at the small metal car that landed just behind me. It looks just like one of the ones I have in my backpack... Fear. Fear and panic are the only way to describe what I feel right now.


    I quickly take off my backpack and examine it. It has holes in it. Five holes. Three are bloody. Those are the ones from the bullets that went through my chest. There are two larger holes. One is in the bottom, probably the one my toy car fell out of. The other is at the top where a bullet exited.


    I unzip my bag and carefully take out my toys. Three of the toy soldiers are in pieces and the squishy ball has a hole through it. Most of the other toys seem fine, however the xylophone has tree bullets stuck in its keys. I remove the bullets and put everything back into the backpack. I put the teddy on the bottom so that the smaller toys don''t fall out of the hole. I will keep an eye out for a new backpack.


    I make my way back along the quiet streets. When I make it back to where I had started my chase, I stop and listen to the silence around me. Nothing. I was about to continue on my way, but I stop. I hear whimpering and sniffing coming from the same apartment building I had heard it in before. I feel hesitant. The noise I had followed before had led to pain. I focus my hearing outward again. The silence makes me wonder if there is something wrong with my hearing.


    I decide it would be best to follow the noise again. Although last time had been painful, it had also been fun. I will just be careful not to get to close to humans or try to talk to them. I make my way toward the apartment building and the sound of something crying. Maybe I will find a new Backpack in there.

 Chapter 4 - Apartment 1592

    AN: Sorry, meant to post this yesterday. I have been working on the art for the characters and creatures section I am planning on adding.


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    I step up to a white door marked 1592. I reach out my hand and turn the door handle. It''s locked. The whimpering from inside went quiet not long ago, but I can still hear uneven breathing. With my hand still on the handle, I push the door, trying to force it open. There is a small cracking sound. I put my other hand over the one on the handle and push harder. More cracking sounds, this time from both the frame by the handle and by the hinges. I push harder in one aggressive burst. I fall forward as the door frame gives and smack my face on the part of the door that''s still standing.


    I drop the door handle and the chunk of door attached to it. My face hurts. There is blood trickling from my forehead. I heal my face, but don''t bother trying to clean it. I am already covered in mud and blood. It''s actually quite uncomfortable. While I''m here I should clean up and look for new clothes.


    I pull on the edge of the door and it swings outward. It probably would have been easier to pull it open instead of pushing it. I step into the apartment. It''s dark inside. I turn to my right and look at the open kitchen. I can hear muffled breathing and a racing heartbeat. As I walk toward it, the heartbeat speeds up and the breathing becomes more haggard. I walk around the island and stop in front of the sink.


    Whatever creature is in the cupboards, it is now holding it''s breath. I lean down and grab a hold of the cupboard''s handles. I hesitate. Whatever is in there, it might try to hurt me. I sigh. I''ve already come this far. I might as well figure out what this noisemaker is. I quickly fling the cupboard doors open.


    ¡°eep!¡± The creature tries to shrink it self farther back into the already cramped space. My face scrunches in annoyance. It''s a human.


    I sigh dejectedly and sit back against the island. I was hoping that I would find something more interesting here. I look over at the noisemaker. It is a little girl. She is wearing a pink dress and has her curly brown hair up in pigtails. There are rainbow colored hair ties holding her hair in poofy shapes. She is shaking.


    Well, she probably can''t hurt me. I doubt she has a gun. ¡°Hey, Noisemaker, come out here.¡±


    She flinches and peaks out at me. Her eyes are so puffy they look bruised. She looks at me surprised and snaps her head up, hitting it on the top of the cupboard. It looks like it hurt a lot, but she starts to smile. Then she starts to cry as she quickly crawls out from under the sink toward me. I have no time to react before she grabs a hold of me and starts trying to squeeze me to death.


    I quickly push the noisemaker off of me. A look of fear crosses her face. I glare at her and put my arms in front of my body to protect myself. We sit like that for a moment.


    A look of confusion crosses the noisemaker''s face. Then she looks surprised. She finally speaks, her high pitched voice full of emotion. ¡°D..don''t worry... I.. I won''t... won''t hurt you.¡± She smiles and reaches out her hand. ¡°H..Hi. My name is Daisy. What''s yours?¡±


    I look at her hand suspiciously. ¡°Rain.¡±


    Her smile brightens. ¡°My Mom says you''re supposed to shake someones hand when you meet them.¡± Noisemaker Daisy moves her hand closer to my own hand.


    I put my hand next to hers. She grabs it and shakes it up and down a few times before letting it go.


    Daisy looks at me for a long time before speaking again. ¡°How old are you, Rain?¡±


    I don''t know what she means by that. ¡°I don''t know. How old are you?¡±


    Daisy gives me a funny look. ¡°How do you not know how old you are?


    I feel a bit insulted by the way she asked that. I just shrug at her.


    She sighs. ¡°Well I''m ten, so I''m sure I am older then you. Normal it would be my job to look after you, but... you seem really strong Rain.¡± She puts her hand on her chin. ¡°Are you a superhero?¡±


    The noisemaker apparently wants an answer. ¡°What''s a superhero?¡±


    Daisy looks really shocked. ¡°You don''t know what a superhero is?!¡±


    I shake my head no.


    ¡°How can you not know what a superhero is! Don''t you know Superman?¡± I shake my head no. She looks even more shocked. ¡°What about Batman and Robin? Spiderman? Hulk? Wonder Woman? Ironman? Static? The X-men? Ms. Marvel? Thor?¡± I shake my head at all of the names.


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    Daisy jumps to her feet and runs out of the kitchen. I get up to follow her, but she is back before I can even make around the island. She shoves a plastic figure toward my face, and yells super loud in her shrill voice. ¡°Do you know who this is?! Do you know Aquaman?¡±


    I twist my head and look around the toy at her determined face. ¡°No.¡±


    She looks even more shocked and frustrated then before. ¡°Have you been hiding under a rock? How can you not know any superheros?!¡±


    She is clearly upset. ¡°Are these people that all humans know?¡± I ask.


    She looks at me with blank stare, opening and closing her moth a few times. Heh. Fish.


    Daisy puts on a serious face. ¡°Rain. You are human right?¡±


    ¡°No. Do I need to be?¡±


    Daisy looks away. She seems to be thinking. She turns back toward me. ¡°No. Superman isn''t human. Neither is Martian Manhunter. Thor is a god, and Aquaman is only half human. All you need to be a superhero is powers, and to defeat the bad guys.¡± She seems happy now.


    A piece of dirt falls into my eye. I go to wipe it, but since my hands are still dirty is doesn''t help.


    ¡°Ah! Don''t rub your eyes! Your hands are all dirty.¡± Daisy grabs my arm and pulls me to the sink. She turns on the water and starts washing my hands and face. After a while the sink looks just as muddy as me, and Daisy looks concerned.


    ¡°Rain, you need a bath... actually a shower would be better. Come with me!¡± She pulls me down the hall into the bathroom. Its pitch black. She pulls me back to the living room. ¡°Wait here for a second.¡±


    After rummaging through the kitchen drawers for a wile, she comes back with a flashlight in her hand. She turns it on and slowly pulls me back down the hall, making sure to light every dark corner as we go. Once we are inside the bathroom, she turns on the shower. She takes off my backpack and shirt. Then pushes me under the running water. The cold water feels good.


    I clean myself with the soap like Daisy instructs, and discover that soap can be used as a weapon to blind people. When I am done, Daisy gives me a towel to put on and tells me to throw away my pants. We then go and search for new clothes for me. Apparently hers are the only clothes that fit me. Her Daddy''s and Brother Dominic''s clothes would be too big. After a while of searching, she hands me a plain black T-shit that is too big, bright pink cargo shorts that come down to my knees and a sparkly bejeweled white belt. She also tries to give me shoes and socks, but I refuse because I like having bare feet.


    I tell Daisy that my bag has a whole in it and she lets me have one of hers. The woman on it is apparently Wonder Woman. While I pack my bag, she packs her own. She already changed into jeans with pink flowers and white T-shirt with a cat head on it. Her backpack also has this ¡°Hello Kitty¡± on it.


    I don''t know how I feel about her coming with me, but she seems useful. She has been to many of the toy stores in town, and has been telling me about a lot of other entertaining things. Unfortunately, a lot of those things require something called electricity, which we need special adult humans to fix. I hope we can find some of these type of humans, but for now we will focus on things that don''t need electricity.


    Daisy says that I am defiantly a superhero. She asked me to go save her dad and brother. At first I didn''t want to, but she said they might know more stuff that will entertain me, and probably know how to get the electricity back on. So right now we are preparing to go to her older brother''s school. Daisy says he is a high schooler.


    I ask daisy what school is and she explains it to me as a place where you learn stuff and play with friends. It sounds interesting. Daisy says the reason she wasn''t in school is because of some sort of teachers meeting, whatever that is.


    I stand at the broken front door and look out to the silent streets. I am glad I met this noisemaker. I turn and look back at Daisy.


    She smiles at me. ¡°Lets go!¡±


    I give her a half smile. I shake my head and grunt it reply. We set off toward her brother''s school.

 [NOT A CHAPTER]- Characters and Monsters Art

    Rain with dirty clothes and with Daisy''s clean clothes.


    Screaming Gray Monster. AKA Gray Troll


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    There will be more to come! Right now I am working on the horned creature and Daisy.

 Chapter 5- She says I am a hero

    AN: Sorry this is so late. I will post another chapter in a day or 2 to make up for it.


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    I step out the broken front door. Behind me, Daisy hesitates. I look back at her. She is peaking out the door looking around in every direction. She looks scared.


    ¡°What are you doing, Daisy?¡± I look around, stretching my senses outward looking for anything nearby. There is nothing. Wait what is that feeling?... No, there is nothing.


    Daisy steps out of the apartment, still looking around. ¡°Where did all the monsters go?¡±


    ¡°Monsters?¡± I look around. There is no sign that there were monsters around. Every place I saw monsters had been today looked completely destroyed, with blood and bodies strewn across the landscape. But here, there was no sign of any struggle. There were no bodies and nothing was destroyed. Empty cars lined the street. Piles of bags lined the sidewalks. I look back to Daisy''s worried face. ¡°I don''t sense any monsters around.¡±


    She looks surprised and excited at my words. ¡°SPIDEY SENSES! That''s good. Now I can feel safe around you and know that no monsters will attack us when we are unprepared. Alright!¡± She points her arm off to our right. ¡°Lets go save my brother!¡±


    We head off in the direction of her brother''s school. As we walk, Daisy talks about superheros.


    ¡°...and then Superman swooped down just in time to save him. It was awesome.¡± Daisy cheerfully smiled as she walked beside me.¡±


    ¡°Daisy, why do you keep telling me only stuff about Superman?¡±


    She gives me a bright smile. ¡°That''s because you are just like him! You aren''t human, but you look like one and your super strong!¡±


    ¡°But I don''t think I can fly or shoot lasers from my eyes.¡± I look at her doubtfully.


    ¡°Well what can you do?¡± She looks at me expectantly. *gurgle gurgle* Daisy''s face starts to give off heat and turn red.


    I look at her surprised. ¡°What was that noise?¡±


    Daisy gives a light cough. ¡°That was my stomach grumbling. Mom says it is the tummy monsters yelling for food.¡±


    I look at her shocked and concerned. ¡°You have monsters inside you?¡±


    Daisy puts her hand over her mouth and giggles. ¡°Of course not silly. They aren''t real monsters. That''s just something moms say to be fun. Didn''t your mom ever tell you anything like that?¡±


    I look at her curious. ¡°I don''t think I have a mom.¡±


    She looks at me with wide eyes. ¡°Oh, I''m sorry.¡±


    I don''t understand. ¡°Is it bad that I don''t have a mom?¡±


    Daisy becomes super animated and starts swinging her arms and shaking her hands in front of my face. ¡°No no no. I didn''t mean it like that. It just that most people have moms. Or at least most people I know have moms. But you don''t have to. My mom was raised only by her daddy.¡±


    ¡°I wasn''t raised by anyone.¡±


    She looks at me even more concerned. ¡°Rain, what are you? You said you aren''t human, but you never said what you are.¡±


    ¡°Well I...¡± *GURGLE GURGLE* Daisy''s tummy monsters yell at us.


    Daisy looks embarrassed again. ¡°Can we find something to eat first?¡± I shake my head yes.


    We find a small store on the corner of the street. Daisy stuffs a bunch of candy, snacks, and juice into her bag. She keeps looking over toward the counter. ¡°It''s bad to take stuff that doesn''t belong to you.¡± She looks at me concerned. ¡°But I don''t think the person who owned these will be coming back.¡± She looks at the counter with a sad look, but then turns to me with a smile. ¡°Time to eat.¡±


    We exit the store. Daisy pulls out a bag of chips. She sits on the sidewalk and pats the spot beside her. I walk over and stand at the spot she patted.


    ¡°Si..*Coughcoughcough * Sit down.¡± she says while coughing on her snack.


    I do as she says and we sit in silence while she finishes a the chips and half a bottle of apple juice. When she''s done she takes out a candy bar.


    Daisy looks at me. ¡°So what are you, Rain?¡±


    I look her in the eyes. ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    She looks at me a bit annoyed. ¡°Tell me what you know about yourself.¡±


    I proceed to tell her about all that I have experienced sense I awakened in the rain last night. She looks sick when I am finished. We sit in silence. Daisy looks off into the distance making funny faces.


    After what seems like a really long time, Daisy looks at me with a confident smile. ¡°I think you are like Goku.¡±


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Who is Goku? Another superhero?¡± I am beginning to think superheros are the only thing Daisy thinks about.


    She smiles mischievously. ¡°Goku was sent to Earth too kill everyone, but when he was still a little boy he fell from a cliff and hit his head. When he grew up he protected the Earth from a bunch of bad guys. He is super strong like you are.¡±


    ¡°But I didn''t hit my head...¡±


    Daisy ways her hand in the air dismissively. ¡°That''s not what I mean. The reason you are the same is because you were bad and now you are good. You are also super strong.¡± She unwraps another candy bar. She looks over at me and the back at her candy. ¡°Do you want some?¡±


    ¡°I don''t need to eat.¡±


    ¡°But it tastes good. You should try it.¡± She puts the candy in my hand. ¡°It''s called chocolate.¡±


    I take a bite of what she gave me. It is sweet.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± she looks at me expectantly.


    ¡°It''s sweet.¡± I hand it back to her.


    ¡°Don''t you want the rest?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Do you not like it?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    Daisy sighs. ¡°What do you mean you don''t know. You either like something or you don''t.¡±


    I think about what she said for a moment. ¡°Then I don''t like it.¡±


    ¡°What!? You don''t like chocolate?¡± Daisy throws her hands up as she yells at me.


    I scoot away from her. ¡°Is that bad?¡±


    Daisy stares at me ¡°...¡± I stare back. ¡°No. I guess that''s fine. It''s just weird. I''ve just never met anyone who didn''t like chocolate before.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±


    Daisy stands up and dusts off her butt. I do the same.


    Daisy puts one had on her hip and points down the road with the other. ¡°Onward!¡±


    We walk a while with out saying anything.


    ¡°Daisy, what does it mean if something is weird?¡±


    ¡°Mom says being weird just means you aren''t like other people. But it''s okay to be weird, in fact most of the best people are weird.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±


    We continue in silence. Every once in a while we pass by a place that has been wrecked by monsters. Daisy looks queasy when we pass corpses or tails of blood, and holds on to the sleeve of my shirt. We don''t see any monsters. All around us is silence and abandoned streets.


    Daisy is the one to break up the silence. Her voice is strangely serious. ¡°Rain?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What do you think is happening to the world right now? Why are monsters appearing all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°We should find out. After we save my brother and Daddy, of course. But after we should definitely find out why this all happened.¡± she looks at me with serious eyes.


    I look back at her. ¡°Okay.¡±


    She smiles and skips forward. I quicken my pace to keep up with her. She turns back toward me and grabs my hand. ¡°Hurry up! We are almost to Dominic''s school.¡± She laughs and pulls me forward. I let her pull me along.


    We round a corner and find ourselves looking at the school. It is a very long building. It can probably hold a lot of people inside it. Though half of it is up in flames. Buildings seem to be very flammable. I don''t think I want to live in a house like a human. If it were to burn down while I am still inside it, it would probably hurt a lot. Or at least I assume it would. I have never been burnt before.


    Daisy looks scared. ¡°Dominic.¡± she lets go of my hand. Tears threaten to fall from her eyes. She looks over at me. ¡°Rain. Check and see if there is anyone in there.¡±


    Looking at the building I expand my senses. I shake my head yes and Daisy''s body visibly relaxes. There are definitely people alive in there, and there are monsters running off in all directions except toward the direction we came from. I look back the way we came and open my eyes wide in surprise. There is something there.


    I only saw it for a moment before it was gone. Where it was, is now just empty sky. It looked like a shadow floating above the buildings. I wonder what it is. It reminds me of what I felt when we left Daisy''s house. I wonder if I would have noticed it if I had waited just a bit longer? It will be dark soon and even with my enhanced eyes, I might have trouble seeing whatever that is in the dark.


    Daisy pulls on my shirt. ¡°Rain, come on. Lets go find my brother.¡±


    I give one last glance behind us before I follow Daisy toward the school.

 Chapter 6- Why Do They Call Me a Monster

    AN: And I''m late to post this again... Sorry about that. I will post another one this weekend.


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    We head toward Dominic''s school. A flag with stars and stripes hangs from a large metal pole that is bent at it''s base. Parts of the wide cement steps leading to the front doors are rubble. The front doors are broken inward. By the way they look, they were probably smashed by something big.


    Daisy walks up the steps and into the buildings. She turns toward me. ¡°Rain. Are there any monsters in here?¡±


    I shake my head no. They are running away like always. Maybe it is because of that thing that''s following us. Or maybe it is because of me... but I don''t think so. I haven''t done anything to make them afraid of me.


    We walk through the silent halls. The tiles lining the floor are broken. Some of the walls have gaping holes. I wonder what caused all of this destruction.


    I lead Daisy through the halls toward the sounds of humans. She still freaks out every time we pass a dead body, but I can tell it affects her less then it used to. There are actually a lot of bodies here. Daisy says the smell is making her feel sick. I really doesn''t bother me at all. As we get closer to the humans, the hallway gets more cluttered with doors, lockers and stacked desks.


    Beside me Daisy trips over something and falls into a pile of desks. *CRASH* They fall to the floor.


    ¡°Ow owow!¡± Daisy is sitting on the floor rubbing her arm. ¡°Rain! I can''t see anything. It''s too dark in here.¡±


    I can see everything perfectly fine, but I guess her eyes are bad in the dark. ¡°Don''t you have a flashlight?¡±


    ¡°Ah! That''s right!¡± Daisy pulls off her bag and starts rummaging through it.


    I turn my attention to the people who are just down the hall. They seem to be doing something and trying to be quiet about it. They probably heard the desks that Daisy pushed over.


    Daisy gets out her flashlight and we continue into narrowing space between the things stacked against the walls. As we get closer to the end of the hall I can here people whispering.


    ¡°I think they have a flashlight. Could someone else have survived?¡± (Adult male 1)


    ¡°No way. We can barely hold those monsters back. Everyone else in the school is dead.¡± (Adult male 2)


    ¡°You mean ''Andy could barely hold the minotaurs back''. I didn''t see you fighting them.¡± (Teen male?)


    ¡°Shut up Brian. We all survived together. My point is, if they are people, they may be survivors from the outside. Or maybe a rescue team.¡± (Adult male 1)


    ¡°Andy said there wouldn''t be any one coming to rescue us.¡± (Brian)


    ¡°Sshhh, they''re here.¡± (Adult male #1)


    At this point me and Daisy are just feet away from them. I stop and Daisy does the same. In front of us is a huge pile of desks and tables. They are strapped together with belts, rope, shoe strings, tape and all kinds of things. On the other side, I can hear racing heartbeats and shuffling feat. There is also someone walking in our direction. None of them speak.


    I look at Daisy. She is looking back at me, and seems hesitant. I just smile and shrug.


    Daisy looks back at the barricade and clears her throat. ¡°He...hello?¡±


    The people behind the barricade start mumbling and whispering. They all seemed surprised and a bit scared.


    ¡°Is that a kid?¡± ¡°No way. It''s not a rescue team?¡± ¡°What''s going on?¡±


    They go silent as Daisy starts to talk again. ¡°I''m looking for my big brother. His name is Dominic. He goes to school here. I''m Daisy, his sister.¡± No one responds. She tries again. ¡°Hello? Is anyone in there?¡± She looks at me for answers when no one responds. I nod my head. There are definitely people in there.


    Daisy looks back at the barricade annoyed. ¡°I know you''re in there! Just tell me if you know where my brother is.¡± They people behind the barricade start to move around.


    The voice of man #1 breaks the silence. ¡°What did you say your brothers name was? And could you stop pointing that light in our eyes.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Daisy points the light at her feet. ¡°My brother''s name is Dominic! Dominic Streiner!¡±


    The man sounded a bit panicked this time. ¡°OK. We''ll see if anyone knows him. Just quiet down. You''ll attract the monsters.¡±


    Daisy''s eyes go wide and she clamps her hand on her mouth. She looks over toward me. *Pff* She looks silly.


    ¡°Don''t worry, Daisy. There aren''t any monsters around here.¡± I smile up at her and she relaxes.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    There is a commotion behind the barricade. A voice I don''t recognize whispers to #1. ¡°Ask him how he knows that, and who they are.¡±


    I answer before #1 can ask the question. ¡°I can hear the monsters. They are all moving away from here. And my name is Rain. Daisy already told you her name.¡±


    There are more mumbling and worried whispers. Someone starts climbing the barricade. I''m not sure, but for some reason I think it''s the unknown voice who asked who we are. I look up to the top of the barricade just as messy black hair appears above it. The person who climbed over jumps to the ground. He is tall with pail skin and silvery blue eyes that shine even in the poorly lit hallway. His black hair sticks out in every direction and he has dark circles under his eyes. He briefly looks over Daisy before fixing his eyes on me. I step back from the pressure of his stare.


    One side of his mouth turns up into a smirk. He huffs and then starts laughing. His laugh is loud and he keeps his mouth wide open and one hand covering his face.


    After he is done laughing, he walks closer and looks down at me menacingly. ¡°How can you hear those monsters, little boy?¡± His voice is deep and filled with venom. I don''t like it. I don''t like how he is looking at me either.


    Before I could speak, Daisy moves in front of me. ¡°Stop being mean to Rain!¡± She shines the light in his face, but he only squints his eyes and smiles.


    He cocks his head to the side. ¡°I was only asking him a question. What''s so mean about that?¡± Daisy doesn''t respond.


    There is something odd about this human. I feel like he is not safe to be around. ¡°Daisy...¡± I pull her to the side and look up into his menacing blue eyes. ¡°If you want me to answer questions, you have to answer ours first.¡±


    The smile leaves his face. His hand flashes out and he grabs my hair. He pulls on it and it hurts. ¡°Andy, stop!¡± I hear #1 yell and jump down to our side of the barricade. ¡°He''s just a little kid.¡±


    Andy pulls half a pair of scissors out of his pocket and points it at #1. ¡°Shut it, Teach.¡± He looks down at me and uses my hair to pull my face upward. My eyes start to water. Daisy starts to cry. ¡°This thing ain''t human.¡± As he says that he points the scissors toward me. ¡°Now, answer my question you little monster.¡±


    Daisy grabs his arm and tries to pull his hand away from my hair. ¡°Get off me you little bitch.¡± He kicks her in the gut and sends her flying into a table.


    ¡°Daisy!¡± I push Andy away from me toward the barricade. He pulls out a large chunk of my hair as he goes. I hear a big crash but don''t pay attention to it. I need to see if Daisy is ok.


    Daisy is laying on the ground vomiting and coughing. ¡°Daisy! Are you ok?¡± I don''t know what to do to help. My eyes start to tear up. This is so frustrating!


    Daisy stops coughing. I hear yells from behind me, and then I am flying down the hall. I only stop when I slam into a pile of desks.


    My whole body hurts. I look up to see Andy standing where I just was. He is shaking violently and blood is streaming down his face. ¡°You little bastard! I''m going to kill you!¡± He starts running toward me. I quickly heal myself and get out of the way just in time. The kick that was meant for me, smashes into a desk and sends it flying.


    Andy spins to face me. He is breathing really hard and I can hear his heart beating super fast. His eyes are wide and he is staring at me with anger... and... fear.


    Teach #1''s yells in our direction. ¡°Andy stop this!¡± Andy lunges toward me. This time he slashes at me with his scissors. He has one in each hand. I avoid all of his attacks pretty easily. It''s as if I can see where he is swinging before he gets there.


    I don''t want to fight him. I wish he would just go away. I wonder if Daisy is alright? I continue dodging.


    Andy gets slower and slower. Beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead, and his breathing is becoming even more unsteady. His fear is showing more and more on his face, along with desperation. Tears start to show in his eyes. He throws his weapons at me. He stops attacking. He just stands there shaking with tears flowing down his cheeks. On his face is a look of absolute disrepair.


    I let out a sigh. It''s finally over. Andy falls to his knees and curls into a ball whimpering and choking on his own tears. I look over to Daisy and see her standing by Teach #1. She looks worried. I smile. I am glad she doesn''t seem to be hurting as much as before.

 Chapter 7- Human Stench

    AN: This chapter has no action in it. It also feels short to me, so from now on the chapters will be longer. The chapters are usually around 1500 words (don''t know what I was thinking). Starting next chapter they will be around 2500 words.


    *************************************************************************************


    Andy continues to cry, curled up on the floor. Daisy and Teach #1 walk over to where we are. #1 is scared.


    Daisy looks down at the crying Andy, then toward me. ¡°Are you ok, Rain? He kicked you really far.¡±


    ¡°It''s ok. I can heal myself. Are you alright?¡±


    She nods her head yes. ¡°It only hurts a little now.¡±


    I smile at Daisy and then look over to #1. ¡°What''s your name?¡± I can''t keep calling him #1.


    He looks frighted by my question and jumped when I asked it. He is sweating a lot. ¡°My name is Collin Lee Blacker.¡± He stands up really strait when he says that. What a funny man.


    ¡°Ok, Collin Lee Blacker, why did he attack me?¡± I point down at the now silent Andy.


    Collin Lee Blacker''s face twists into a grimace. ¡°He... he thinks you are a...I mean he noticed you were a... um. You aren''t human so...¡± That''s less than helpful. I already knew he thought I was a monster but...isn''t that going too far? Why is everything breaking stuff and fighting?


    ¡°Why do humans attack people who aren''t human? Will you try to attack me too, Collin Lee Blacker?¡± His name is too long. Maybe I should go back to calling him #1. It''s no wonder Andy called him Teach.


    ¡°I would never attack you!¡± He frantically waves his hands back and forth. ¡°Uh..um you don''t have too use my full name...¡± I cock my head, what does he mean? ¡°Hiiiih! Unless you want to, of course!¡±


    Daisy giggles. ¡°What''s so funny Daisy?¡±


    She puts her hand to her mouth an coughs. ¡°You means you can just call him Collin or Mr. Blacker.¡± She smiles at me.


    I look back at... Collin. ¡°I will call you Collin because it''s shorter.¡±


    ¡°Um thats fine...¡± He looks down at Andy, who is now lying flat on the floor with his eyes staring off into space. ¡°What are you going to do with him?¡±


    I am really confused and it shows on my face. ¡°Why would I need to do anything with him? What do you mean?¡±


    Collin is the one who looks confused now. ¡°I mean. I thought... he attacked you so...¡±


    I''m still confused, so I look to Daisy for answers. I give her a questioning look.


    She laughs and turns to Collin. ¡°Mr. Collin, I think you have the wrong idea. Rain''s not a villain. He''s a Superhero!¡±


    Collin looks down at me. He still looks unsure, but he also doesn''t look as afraid as before. He opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, a voice calls from behind the barricade. ¡°Mr. Blacker! Andy! What''s going on out there?¡±


    Collin says he will be right back and goes to talk to the people behind the barricade.


    Daisy cautiously walks over to Andy. She crouches down and shines her flashlight at him. ¡°What did ya do to him?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t do anything. He did that to himself.¡±


    Daisy looks up at me. ¡°You didn''t beat him up?¡± She asks that like she''s disappointed.


    I shake my head no.


    Daisy starts poking Andy''s cheek. He doesn''t respond. ¡°Heelloo~ Mr. Meany Head.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Daisy sighs. ¡°I think he''s broken.¡±


    I think back to my broken toy soldiers. ¡°He doesn''t look broken.¡±


    Daisy puts her hand on her chin, thinking. She does that a lot. I wonder if it helps her think better. I copy her...


    ¡°Mom says that some people are broken on the inside. That seems to be what happened here.¡±


    Putting my hand on my chin did nothing. ¡°What do you do with broken people? Throw them away?¡±


    Daisy looks shocked but unsure. ¡°No. I think we should try to fix him... but I don''t know how.¡±


    I don''t want to. ¡°What if we fix him, and he tries to hurt us again?¡±


    Daisy looks conflicted. ¡°That''s true but...¡± she doesn''t finish her sentence.


    We stay like that in silence.


    Footstep approach. It''s Collin. ¡°Daisy, there are some people who know you''re brother, but they don''t want to come on this side of the barricade.¡± He seems a lot calmer now.


    Daisy stands up excitedly. ¡°Ok, come on Rain. Lets go.¡± She starts walking toward the the barricade, but stops and turns around. ¡°Rain, we should bring him too.¡± She points to Andy.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Ok.¡± I grab Andy by the leg and start pulling him toward the barricade. Both Daisy and Collin give me weird looks but don''t say anything. Collin climbs over the barricade with ease, but I have to help Daisy over. I also drag Andy over. Daisy tells me to be more careful with him, so I decide to carry him down the other side instead of dropping him like I wanted to.


    When we get to the other side, Daisy immediately asks about her brother. They tell her that he left not long after the monsters appeared. He and some of his friends went off to find Daisy''s family''s safe house. I think this was a good idea, because all the other houses I''d seen didn''t look too safe.


    A lot of the people over here stink. That''s ok though cause they are trying there best to stay away from me. From what I heard them saying, they are worried about me hurting them. They also seem to be worried about Andy. Some people his age took him into one of the rooms on the side of the hall. People are whispering about how they will all die if he doesn''t get better.


    Daisy want''s to go to her safe house right away, but Collin says we should spend the night here. I don''t want to because it stinks. Daisy decides we should stay til it gets light out, though. She doesn''t think she will be able to find the safe house in the dark.


    We sit by the wall and Daisy falls asleep. I don''t need to sleep so I just sit there. After most of the people are asleep, Collin comes over to talk to me.


    He sits down beside me. ¡°So, you really aren''t human, huh.¡±


    ¡°Why do you humans always act like it''s bad that I''m not human?¡±


    He shifts next to me. ¡°Well I guess it''s probably because, before all of this started, there were only humans and animals. Then everything we saw that came into our world tried to kill us. You are the first non-human I have heard of who hasn''t tried to kill humans on contact. Well, not that we have much information on the outside world right now.¡± I did kill humans when I first met them, but I won''t be anymore, probably. So I don''t need to tell him that, probably.


    I can hardly remember anything before I became Rain, so I won''t tell him about that. ¡°Is it not normal for everyone to hurt each other?¡±


    ¡°Of course not! I mean... well mostly. Only some people hurt others before all of this...¡± He barely mumbles the last part of his sentence. Daisy stirs from his outburst.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...R..Rain. What will happen when you leave. Will the monsters come back?¡± He looks off into the distance while biting his lip.


    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Why would I know that?


    ¡°Oh...¡± He goes silent for a while. When he speaks again, he sounds scared. ¡°Wil..will you... I mean...If you don''t mind could... could we...¡± This guy needs to learn how to speak properly. I don''t understand what he is saying.


    ¡°What?¡± He flinches away when I ask him that.


    ¡°Oh um...¡± Suddenly he looks determined. ¡°There used to be over 40 of us here. Now there''s only 23. We have no food or water. If we stay here, we will die.¡± He looks at me seriously. I don''t know why he''s telling me all this. ¡°Rain. Can we come with you when you leave tomorrow? Please!¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    He looks surprised by my answer. He starts talking weird again. ¡°U..um ok... thank you...¡± He looks confuse for a moment and the relieved. Then he gets up and goes around telling the people who are awake to get everything ready, because they are leaving tomorrow.


    I sit silently in boredom until the sun comes up and shines through the open doorways. People start waking up and moving around. Then Daisy wakes up and I tell her that everyone is coming with us. She thinks it''s a good idea.


    When it''s time to leave. I ask Collin if it''s alright if we take down the barricade. Everyone is taking to long to climb over it, and we will have to carry Andy because they can''t seem to wake him up. Collin agrees, and I knock it down.


    *CRASH* Part of the wall of desks falls and smashes into the stuff lining the hallway. I think I just made this more of a pain. There is no ware to walk now. After a couple hours cleaning the desks from the hall, we are on our way to the safe house. I am glad we can finally get back out into the fresh air.

 Chapter 8 - Dog-bird

    AN: Sooo.... This chapter is really late. I wish I had some great excuse, but really it was all do to laziness and procrastination. Sorry for the wait. I will post the next one at the beginning of next week. I promise.


    ***************************************************************************************************************


    Once we are out in the fresh air, Daisy starts leading us to the safe house, and quickly gets lost. She says she has only been there twice and that was by car. All the humans start panicking until Collin asks Daisy what kind of buildings we had to pass to get there and what it looked like and a whole bunch of other stuff. I am glad we brought him with us.


    I''m not so happy that we brought everyone else along though. They are all afraid of me and probably everything else. Some of them want to go back to the school building. I think they should go back too. They''re annoying. Unfortunately, Collin convinces them to stay with us.


    Soon we are moving again. This time Collin and Daisy are both leading as they talk. Collin keeps looking back ad forth as he walks


    Daisy apparently noticed as well. ¡°Mr. Collin, why do you keep looking around like that?¡±


    Collin looks down at Daisy. ¡°Aren''t you worried about monsters attacking us?¡±


    Daisy laughs. ¡°No. We have Rain with us. He''s so awesomely strong that all the monsters run away!¡±


    What? Daisy thinks the monsters are running away from me?


    Collin doesn''t seem to believe her either. ¡°Daisy... Rain is strong but I don''t think that would scare all the other monsters away.¡±


    Daisy doesn''t listen. ¡°No. They definitely run from him. Everywhere we go there are no monsters, and Rain said that they always run away from where he is.¡± That is true...but why would they run from me?


    ¡°Why would they run from him?¡± Collin looks back at me. He thinks the same as I do.


    Daisy has an answer though. ¡°Rain has supper Spidy-senses. Maybe the monsters can sense him too.¡±


    ¡°Spidy-senses... right...¡± Collin looks like he finds Daisy amusing. After not coming across monsters for a while, Collin seems to think Daisy is right about me.


    We continue forward, the people trailing behind complain and the people in front talk about superheros and monsters. I walk in between learning about humans.


    After a while I notice a presence up ahead. It surprises me because I hadn''t been trying to search for anything. When I check, there are a lot of large creatures running away, but strangely, there is also one that is not running. And even stranger, I can sense some sort of little...things all bunched up together. Since when can I do that? They aren''t making noise and I can''t see them.


    ¡°Daisy, there is a big creature up ahead.¡± Everybody stops. The people behind me start panicking. I''ve had about enough of their whining.


    Collin seems to share my annoyance with them. ¡°Everybody calm down and stay quiet. Panicking won''t help anything.¡±


    Daisy is less interested in what the other humans are doing and asks me what''s going on. ¡°What kind of monster is it? Why isn''t it running away?¡±


    ¡°How am I supposed to know? I can''t see it. I don''t have x-ray vision.¡±


    Collin finally calms the human group down. One of them is trying to wake Andy though. I hope he doesn''t succeed.


    Collin walks up close to me and whispers. ¡°How far away is it? Since it''s not moving away like they normally do, we should find a way around.¡±


    I''m curious about the little non-moving things. ¡°I want to see what it is. It''s still pretty far away. Maybe it will run away when we get closer? The other ones like it already ran away.¡±


    Collin looks surprised. ¡°There''s more than one?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I didn''t notice them at first. For some reason, I knew the one that''s not running away was there without even trying to hear stuff around me. When I did listen, I could tell that there were some of the same creatures running away.¡±


    Daisy''s looks excited. ¡°Rain, your Spidy-senses are awesome.¡±


    Collin looks confused. ¡°I wonder why this one stayed?... But I guess we don''t know why they run away in the first place...¡± He continues to mumble about how strange the situation is.


    I ignore him. ¡°Daisy, I don''t have Spidy-senses. I''m not Spiderman.¡±


    Daisy puts her hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. ¡°You''re right. From now on we''ll call them Rain-senses... No! Super-senses!¡± Daisy gives me a huge toothy grin. She is obviously proud of naming my skill. I could care less. ¡°Ok Rain. What do your super-senses say that monster is doing?¡±


    ¡°It''s standing in front of a bunch of little things and growling in our direction.¡±


    Collin, who is apparently done mumbling to himself, re-enters our conversation. ¡°What little things?¡±


    Why does everyone expect me to know everything? ¡°I don''t know. I want to go see though.¡±


    After some convincing, Daisy, Collin, and I go ahead to look at the creature. When we are close Collin suggests we climb up a building using it''s fire escape to get a better look. We climb the building and walk over to the side the creature is on.


    The creature is down below, and surprisingly it is looking up at us. All around it, there are cars and bones and other things smashed together into a nest shape. The cement road beneath the nest is torn up and scraped to its edges. The buildings closest to the nest are collapsed.


    The creature itself is huge. It''s head reaches halfway up this five story apartment building we are standing on. It''s eyes are dark brown, almost black. It has black fur covering it''s face and droopy ears. Around it''s head is a main of tan feathers with black stripes. Those feathers are also on the backs of its four legs and the tip of it''s long skinny tail. Its muscular body is covered in black fur, but it''s belly is covered in fluffy black feathers. The creature growls at us and shows us it''s huge white, pointy teeth. It''s long nails kneed the bone covered dirt beneath it.


    I look over and see both Daisy and Collin staring down at it with terrified expressions. Daisy mumbles ¡°Dog...-bird?¡± The creature gives us a viscous bark. This thing is scary. We should head back soon, but first I need to figure out what those little things that I can sense are.


    I look around the large nest. It is big enough for about ten of these dog-bird creatures to fit in. I feel for the little things. They are underneath the back legs of the dog-bird. I can''t see them from here. I move farther away from Daisy and Collin, until I am at the corner of the roof. The creature is still staring at me. It is also still in the way.


    Collin moves back from the edge of the roof and whispers over to me. ¡°Rain, we should go. It looks like it''s protecting it''s nest. It might attack us if we don''t leave.¡± He pulls Daisy with him, back to the fire escape. I still want to know what those things are.


    Daisy yells over to me. ¡°Rain, come on!¡± The dog-bird must of thought she was yelling at it, because it bounds toward the building and starts climbing it''s side. The whole building shakes as it''s paws slam down and it''s claws latch into the roof.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    AH! I can see the little things. They are tannish brown eggs with black spots.


    Daisy screams. The dog -bird lifts one of it''s paws and swings it at me, but before it reaches, part of the building beneath it collapses. The building beneath me shakes. The dog-bird roars.


    I run over to the fire escape. Collin has Daisy over his shoulder and is descending the fire escape as fast as he can. Daisy yells back up at me. ¡°Rain! I know you can win! Beat that monster down!¡± She gives me a thumbs up.


    I have no intention of fighting that thing! Daisy is crazy. There is no way I can beat that dog-bird.


    The dog-bird roars and pulls itself back up onto the building. The roof cracks and shrieks from the weight. This is bad. ¡°Collin run!¡± The roof beneath me begins to crack even more. I turn to descend the fire escape, but it''s too late.


    I scream as I fall through what''s left of the building. My arm hits something as I fall and It makes a horrible cracking noise. I try my best to curl into a ball, before slamming into the chunks of cement and metal poles of the rubble. IT HURTS! The pain is overwhelming. I can''t think straight. I hear a growl overhead. My body is getting colder. I look down and see blood streaming over the slabs of cement and into the cracks between them. I try to get up, but there are metal poles sticking though my chest and left leg.


    I move my hand up behind me to try and feel the pole coming out of my back. Suddenly my arm hurts even more then the rest of my body. The dog-bird''s teeth sink into my shoulder and it pulls and shakes it''s head. ¡°AAAAAAHHHHH!!¡± I let out a scream. With each shake of it''s head, this creature is tearing off my arm and pulling me toward it. The metal poles in my body are slowly tearing through my flesh. My whole world turns to pain. My left arm is torn off.


    I''ve had enough of this.


    This stupid creature attacked me for no reason. It is trying to kill me. I snarl and let my body go numb. There is no reason I should have to feel this pain. I reach underneath me to my chest and grasp the metal pole impaling me. *CREAK* *SNAP* I break the pole.


    I stand up, letting the pole in my leg tear all the way through. I wrench the bloody pole out of my chest and fling it to the ground. The whole it leaves behind drips crimson blood. I don''t bother to close it.


    I look over the the snarling dog-bird. It has once again placed itself between me and the eggs. My left arm has been discarded at it''s feet. I can almost taste it''s fear in the air. The stupid beast still hasn''t run away? I will give it a reason to run. I will give it a reason to fear me. No. I will kill it. I will not let it live after all the pain it has caused me.


    I launch myself forward, up towards it''s face. It has no time to react. I land crouched on its nose and slam my fist through its left eye. The beast screams and whips its head back and forth, trying to get me off it''s face. I press my arm farther into it''s eye socket. It screams again and rams its face into some rubble. I loose my grip on it''s face and fall off into the rubble. I need both arms for this.


    The dog-bird wipes its paw across it''s face before looking around for me. It spots me laying in the rubble and swings its claws down toward me. I roll to the side just as I am about to be hit. The beast growls and continues to try and catch me with it''s claws. I dodge all of it''s attacks.


    As I dodge, I regrow my arm. It regrows in lairs. First the bones grow. Then the muscles, tendons and veins wrap around them. They are followed by fat and skin and fingernails. The whole process takes seconds to complete.


    Now that I have both arms, this will be easy. I dodge another swing from the dog-bird. A grin splits my face as I launch my self forward. This time I position myself on the top of its head. I strengthen my fingers on both hands and pierce the dog-bird''s skull. It screams in defiance and starts shaking it''s head again. It''s too late. I win. I smash my arms downward into the beast''s brain. It immediately falls down limp.


    I pull my arms from it''s head and walk down it''s body. I look down at the eggs it had been protecting. I smash them. ¡°RAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!¡± I yell and and scream in anger. I stomp on them till they are mush. I stomp and stomp. I snarl at the mush, and keep stomping. The ground dents under my powerful blows. I will smash these stupid things until there''s nothing left!


    A weak voice calls out from the side of the nest. ¡°Rain...?¡±


    I snap my head toward the voice. Standing at the top of the piles of junk, Daisy and Collin look down at me with looks of absolute terror. Daisy falls to her butt and starts whimpering weakly. She stares at me with her eyes wide. Collin it standing beside her like a pillar of stone. The front of his pants are wet with piss.


    I glare at them for a moment, before realizing what I must look like to them. My face is crunched into and expression of rage. Beside me is the dead body of a huge monster. There is a gaping whole in my chest. My arms are covered in blood and brain matter. My flesh on my left leg is completely torn to the bone and hanging by a small strip of skin.


    I take a deep breath. This isn''t fun. I don''t want them to fear me. Humans make lots of fun things, but if they fear me, they will probably try to hurt me. Though I doubt either Collin or Daisy could actually hurt me.


    I take another deep breath and fix my body. I walk over toward Daisy and Collin. They both weakly move away from me. Now that I''m closer, I can tell Collin also shit himself. It stinks. When I wrinkle my nose at the smell, both of them give out weak whimpers of fear. This is getting kind of annoying.


    I smile at Daisy. ¡°Look Daisy, I beat the bad dog-bird.¡± I point to the dead beast.


    Collin falls down and starts laughing. At first its a quiet laugh. Then it turns into a loud hysterical cackling and coughing. Daisy looks at him with wide, confused eyes. Then she looks back at me. I am still smiling.


    She looks over to the dead monster. Then back at me. She she still looks a bit worried and makes smacking noises as she tries to moisten her mouth. ¡°Uh..um...¡± her breaths turn uneven. ¡° Goo...good job...¡±


    What''s wrong with her? ¡°You''re the who told me to beat up bad guys. Why are you acting so scared? You already knew I was strong.¡± My words seem to calm her down a bit. Her breathing becomes a bit more even.


    ¡°You..you''re right. I already knew you were strong. I shouldn''t be scared. We''re friends, and Rain is a superhero.¡± She seems to be talking more to herself then me. Well whatever. She seems to be getting better.


    I look over to the laughing lunatic Collin. ¡°Collin.¡± He flinches and stops laughing. ¡°You stink.¡± He sniffs and looks down at himself. He looks embarrassed now. At least he stopped his laughing. It was making me uncomfortable.


    I look down at my sticky hands. *sigh* I need to clean up and find new clothes again. I look over toward Daisy. She is still pretty clean. She even still has her backpack...


    I grab my head between my hands ¡°AAAAHHHH!!!¡± Daisy and Collin jump at my sudden scream. ¡°MY TOYS!¡±

 Chapter 9 - To the Safe-House

    AN: So I''m sure by now the people who follow this story realize how horrible I am at keeping a consistent release scheduled. I would just like to say that I am really sorry about that. I will try my best to over come my arch enemy, Laziness , and her sidekick Procrastination. If all goes well, I will have another chapter out by the end of this week.


    ******************************************************************************************************


    After a few moments of frantic searching, I find my backpack in the rubble near where I first fell. My toys are all still intact. The straps on the bag came loose when I was falling and it slipped off my back.


    When I am done inspecting my toy bag, I look over to see Daisy and Collin staring at the corpse of the dog-bird. I walk over to them. ¡°I want to go find some new clothes.¡±


    Collin agrees, and we search the surrounding buildings until we find clothes for ourselves. Collin smells much better now. He is now wearing dark jeans, a white t-shit, and a black blazer. I traded my black shirt for a white one and my pink shorts for black ones.


    Collin fixes the collar of his new coat, and slicks back his freshly washed, dirty blonde hair. ¡°I''m glad the water it still working.¡± Daisy snickers at him, and his face goes beat red. ¡°We should keep what happened here today a secret. All of it. We don''t want the others to be afraid of Rain. Right?¡±


    Daisy snickers again. ¡°Suuurree, Collin. We can do that. No one needs to know about... *Hehe* ...what happened today. Right Rain?¡± She looks over at me with a mischievous smile. I feel like I am missing some sort of joke here.


    Collin looks at me expectantly. I look back and forth between the two of them. ¡°I don''t want people to be afraid of me. No one needs to know what happened here.¡±


    Collin lets out a sigh of relief. Daisy''s smile widens. ¡°Isn''t that good Collin. Now everything that happened here is our little secret.¡±


    Collin gives her a disproving look. ¡°Why did you drop the ''Mr.'' from my name?¡±


    Daisy gives him a big toothy grin. ¡°No reason. Why wouldn''t I drop it? Rain calls you just Collin too.¡± Collin looks down at her suspiciously but doesn''t say anything else.


    We start walking back to the other humans. Daisy, as always, seems to fill the silence with endless chatter about superheros.


    ¡°Rain, now that we aren''t about to be eaten, I''ve thought about it and I think you should find another giant creature and have it as you''re animal sidekick. The dog-bird was cute, but obviously not very strong, and it didn''t seem to have any special powers. We should find a stronger and cooler one!¡± Daisy raises her fists in determination.


    Collin looks shocked by what she said. ¡°You want him to get a giant monster as a pet?¡±


    I answer before Daisy has a chance. ¡°Yes. I want one. From what I know about pets, they seem to be fun.¡±


    Collin thinks it''s a bad idea, especially the part about finding one stronger then the dog-bird. Daisy is super excited and continues thinking up a bunch of powers my new pet should have.


    We finally arrive back to the spot we left the others, only to find an empty street. I search and quickly find them hiding out in a nearby building.


    We approach the building. I hear chattering voices. I smell the dirty humans. And I feel Andy moving around. If he attacks me this time, I''ll kill him.


    Andy whispers ¡°Quiet.¡±


    We reach the door. Collin tries to open it but it''s locked. ¡°Hey open up! It''s us. We''re back!¡± There is no answer.


    What the hell is there problem? ¡°Open the door.¡± Maybe we should just leave them. I don''t particularly like any of them anyway.


    I hear shuffling feet and harsh whispers. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°It''s that little monster out there!¡±


    Something is lifted away from the door and it opens outward, revealing Andy. He has his fists clinched by his sides and his head down. Slowly he lifts his head to glare at me. I step back in anticipation of an attack, and raise my hands to defend myself.


    Collin notices his posture and frowns. ¡°Andy, why are you being so hostile?¡±


    Andy doesn''t take his eyes off of me. ¡°Collin. I hear you''ve become friendly with this little monster. Aren''t you worried it will kill you when your back is turned?¡±


    Collin coughs. ¡°Regardless of what he may or may not do when my back is turned, I think it''s best if we all try to get along. The world has gone to shit. We need Rain''s abilities to survive. Besides, Rain won''t be killing any of us. Right?¡± He looks over to me.


    I glare toward Andy. ¡°I won''t kill you, if you don''t attack me.¡± Or unless you annoy me too much.


    Andy flinches and his face goes pale. He steps back farther into the dark building. When he speaks it is barely a whisper. ¡°That thing is evil. It will definitely kill us the moment we look away.¡±


    ¡°If he wanted to kill us, we would already be dead!¡± Collin growls.


    Daisy steps in front of me. ¡°Stop talking about Rain like he isn''t here! And he''s not a monster!¡± She puts her hands on her hips. ¡°Mom says not to talk bad about people you don''t know anything about. Besides, you attacked Rain first. Your the only bad guy here.¡±


    Andy just keeps glaring at me. The people who had been huddling quietly in the building, are now standing in the shadows behind Andy. This is getting annoying.


    ¡°If they don''t like me, we should just leave them here and go on to the safe house by ourselves.¡± The people behind Andy start whispering worriedly. It seems like they don''t want to be left here.


    ¡°That won''t be necessary.¡± Collin steps forward confidently. ¡°We will all be heading to the safe house! Andy stop this nonsense. You should know better than anyone you can''t beat Rain.¡± Collin stares Andy down daring him to protest.


    Someone steps forward into the light of the doorway.¡°It doesn''t matter how much stronger the monster is. Andy always wins!¡± The boy who stepped forward has light brown hair and a freckled face. I vaguely remember him being called Brian.


    I glare intently at Andy and he glares back at me. If this human attacks me, I will tear off his head.


    Andy''s face starts to pale and beads of sweat form on his forehead. His breathing becomes labored. Brian notices. ¡°Hey, Andy? What''s wrong?''


    Daisy shifts beside me. ¡°It''s just like last time. Rain, what are you doing to him?¡±


    I blink, breaking my glare toward Andy, and look at Daisy. ¡°I''m not doing anything. He''s doing it to himself.¡±


    Collin looks concerned. Andy''s face is twisted in pain and hatred. Collin puts his hand on Andy''s shoulder. ¡°Andy stop whatever you are doing. You''ll pass out again.¡±


    Andy looks away from me for the first time, and glares at Collin instead. ¡°You''re all idiots! Why can''t you feel it? That thing...¡± He trusts his finger in my direction. ¡°That thing is more dangerous then a million minotaur! It smells like death. It may look human, but it is a creature of evil! Even with your stupid numb little brains, you should be able to feel it! That monster is the enemy of all living things!¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The people behind Andy mumble to each other. Brian looks like he is in shock. Collin opens and closes his mouth a few times before scrunching his eyebrows together and tightening his jaw.


    ¡°Your right...¡± We all look over to the person who had spoken up. ¡°You may be right, but... Rain has no reason to hurt us. As long as we are friends, Rain will protect us. He''s a Superhero now! He won''t hurt us!¡± Daisy''s hands are balled into fists at her sides. Her eyes are determined.


    Collin stands up straight. He looks down at Daisy and then back to the group of people huddled in the entrance of the building. ¡°Daisy''s right. We are safe with Rain.¡±


    Although they both vouched for me, I somehow feel that I have been insulted. I would also prefer to leave these people behind, so convincing them to like me isn''t high on my to-do list.


    After a bit more complaining and arguing, Collin convinces Andy and the group that it would be safer to stick with me. We continue on our way. Andy stays quite a ways behind the group. The group are also keeping quite a distance behind me. I like this arrangement just fine. Collin is up front with Daisy leading the way, and keeping her from talking about superheros. Or at least he is trying his best to keep her from talking about them. She always finds some way to slip them into a conversation.


    Soon we get to an area that Daisy recognizes. We are really far in the opposite direction I originally intended to go. The safe house is in what appears to be a warehouse district.


    As we weave are way between buildings, I suddenly get the urge to check the surrounding area for any creatures.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Everyone turns to look at me. I can hear and feel a two large groups of people in different directions.


    ¡°What''s going on.¡± Collin looks back at me worried.


    ¡°There are two groups up ahead. One is humans, and the other one...might be... They sound like humans but I feel like they aren''t.¡±


    Daisy speaks up ¡°We should go to the group that is definitely humans. That''s probably my Dad''s group.¡±


    Collin nods his head. ¡°I agree.¡±


    We move forward. Everyone tries to be as quiet as they can. The group moves in closer. I wish we had thought to have them wash up and get new clothes. They stink.


    Trying to be as quiet as possible, I lead our group around a few of the warehouses. Just around the corner is the group of humans. I motion for the group to stop and peak around. Where the humans should be, stands a large building. It has no windows and is letting off a slight humming sound. On it''s roof there are multiple solar panels. There are also two humans laying on the roof, hiding.


    I look back to the group. Daisy and Collin are kneeling down just behind me. Daisy is looking at me expectantly. She probably wants to hurry over there, but I know from experience that most humans attack when I try to talk to them. ¡°What should we do?¡± I keep my voice to a whisper.


    Daisy isn''t so worried about being quiet. ¡°What do you mean? It''s my dad''s safe-house. We just need to go knock on the door. Right?¡± She turns to Collin.


    Collin glances at her and then looks back at me. ¡°Are you worried something might happen?¡±


    ¡°Humans tend to attack me...¡± I look to the back of the group where I know Andy is.


    Collin coughs and clears his throat. ¡°Right... I think... *Sigh*... I think just the three of us should go out and talk to them.¡± He points to Daisy and me. ¡°If we are lucky they''ll recognize Daisy. If not I can probably talk to them better then either of you two could.¡±


    I scrunch my face in annoyance. ¡°Why do I have to go too?¡±


    Collin looks surprised at my question. ¡°Well... I mean... Well if they... Um...Ah... That''s right! If they can sense you like Andy can, it would be better to be up front about you being a part of our group.¡± He gives me an awkward smile.


    I don''t think I believe him, and I''m not convinced he is better at talking then me or Daisy. I look at Daisy. She is been talking less and less, the closer we''ve gotten to the Safe-house. ¡°What do you think Daisy?¡±


    ¡°I think he wants to use you as a meat shield. That''s not very nice Collin.¡± Daisy''s face is expressionless as she talks.


    Collin flinches as I look at him. He looks away with a worried look on his face. ¡°I...I didn''t... I mean you can heal...but I didn''t mean it in that way...¡±


    Daisy snorts at him. She is acting weird. She stands up. ¡°Lets go.¡± She walks around the corner and makes her way toward the safe-house. I follow her. Collin quickly catches up.


    The sentries on the roof start talking through walky-talkies. There is a commotion inside the building. Daisy stands quietly a few paces from the front door with her hands on her hips. I stand beside her. Collin waits a bit behind us.


    There is the sound of scraping metal as a hand sized grate is opened on the side of the huge front doors. ¡°State your name!¡± It''s a woman''s voice that yells out to us. The sentries on the roof move closer to the edge of the building.


    Collin takes a breath, but before he can speak Daisy does. ¡°Daisy Streiner, ID Number 0015. Plus 23 survivors and one humanoid asset.¡±


    Why am I an asset? Daisy is definitely acting weird. She''s usually so cheerful, talking about superheros and lecturing people. Right now she looks very serious.


    The voice from inside speaks again. ¡°Where is the rest of your group?¡± She sounds a lot more relaxed. I can hear a lot of people running around and yelling inside the building.


    Daisy turns to Collin. ¡°Go get the others.¡± Collin looks surprised but does as she says.


    Someone new walks up to the grate and speaks. His voice is deep and it sounds as if he has something stuck in his throat. ¡°We need a description of the asset!¡±


    Daisy starts to shake and her eyes begin to water. She lets out a shaky breath. She looks like she is about to cry, but she holds herself together. She sniffles and her voice is shaky.¡°This is Rain.¡± She motions toward me.


    I raise my hand and smile. ¡°Hello.¡± This is usually about the time I am attacked.


    Nobody attacks and Daisy keeps talking. ¡°He has super-strength and heightened senses. He can heal from wounds that should kill him. And he scares away most monsters with his very presence. He is friendly as long as you don''t attack him.¡± Collin and the group walk up behind us.


    The voice speaks up again. ¡°Alright, Sweety, I''m going to need to talk with the leader of your group. Which of those adults is in charge?¡±


    Collin steps forward. ¡°That would be me.¡± Some of his group mumble, but no one steps forward to argue his claim as leader.


    Collin starts talking to the man behind the door about who the people in the group are, where they came from and how they had survived. They also talk about what they thought of me. Thankfully Andy only grunted when Collin said I was friendly.


    I''m worried about Daisy. She keeps fidgeting and looks really upset. I''m about to ask her what''s wrong, but before I get a chance, the door to the safe-house opens. Apparently they are done talking.

 Chapter 10 - The HQ is Boring

    The huge metal doors of the safe-house open outward. Once they are partially open, they stop and humans with guns march out. I try to keep track of what they all doing, in case they decide to point there guns my way. They file out in two lines and surround our group. The humans in our group look uncomfortable. Collin is sweating quite a bit, and Daisy looks like she is about to run. I can''t tell if she wants to run away or into the building. I don''t like how strange she is acting.


    Once all of the humans carrying guns are done running around us, someone else steps out of the building. He is very tall and muscular. His dark brown hair is cut short and he has a tidy beard and mustache. His clothes are all dark colors and he is wearing sturdy, black military boots. Even his skin is a dark brown. I would say he looks frightening if not for the tears running down his face.


    He takes a deep wavering breath. ¡°Daisy...¡± The man walks up to Daisy, who is now shaking. Tears are running down her face as well. He kneels down, and pulls her into a hug.


    Daisy hugs him back and her hands grasp the back of his shirt tightly. ¡°Daddy!¡± That one word releases all of Daisy''s pent up emotions and she starts balling. They stay in their embrace, crying for what seems like forever. Daisy clings to him like her life depends on it. He keeps reassuring her she is safe and that everything is okay now


    Daisy sniffs and finally looks up at her Dad. ¡°Where... *hhhh*... Where''s Dominic?¡±


    ¡°Right here.¡±


    I spin around in surprise. I hadn''t noticed anyone walk up behind me, but there he was. A teenager, who looks very similar to Daisy''s Daddy without his beard, is standing an arm''s length away from me. He is smiling, but it doesn''t quite reach his eyes.


    Daisy''s father stands up, but keeps an arm around Daisy''s shoulder. He would probably have to pry Daisy''s hands off his own, if he wanted to do anything different. ¡°Dominic-¡±


    ¡°Where''s Mom.¡± Dominic doesn''t even let is Dad finish what he was about to say.


    At his words, Daisy starts to shake. Her eyes go wide, and she looks terrified. Her hands drop from her fathers and she looks down and away. In a hollow voice barely above a whisper she says. ¡°Rebecca Streiner, ID number 0008. Deceased.¡±


    Daisy''s Dad looks down at her with a complicated expression.


    Dominic face darkens ¡°What the hell it that! She''s our mother, not some damn number!¡± He walks up to Daisy and glares down down at her.


    ¡°Hey, Dominic, your sister has already been through a lot. You should...¡± Dominic punches his father in the face.


    ¡°Shut the hell up old man! It all your fault she acts like that! Like some sort of 3rd world child soldier!¡± Dominic points down to Daisy. ¡°She got bullied at school for talking about battle tactics and survival procedures! She''s 10! She should be playing make believe with her dolls not using them to reenacting historical battles! She shouldn''t have to know twenty ways to kill a man with your bare hands! You should have spent more time being a normal father while you still could. Now you will never be able to. The damn world actually ended! I hope your happy!¡± Dominic stands glaring up at his father.


    Daisy''s Daddy doesn''t say anything. He looks surprised though. After an awkward silence, everyone is ushered into the safe-house, which we are told to call the HQ. HQ stands for Headquarters, apparently.


    The inside of the HQ is lit with bright lights. It has both an upstairs and an underground shelter. Someone explains the layout to our group, but I only partial listen. I am too distracted by the realization that I now have access to electricity, and also I''m worried about Daisy. She was taken away by her brother and father.


    I am about to go look for her, when her father comes out of a room to talk with us. He has a black eye and looks tired.


    ¡°Hello everyone. My name is Byron Streiner. I am the leader of this group. You have all been through a lot and I am sure you are tired and hungry. So, I''ll get right to the point. The whole world has gone to shit. Before communications went out, we received reports of monster sightings from all over the world.¡± All the humans in our group, except Andy, start freaking out. It''s a bit chaotic and really annoying.


    The Byron''s people calm them down. ¡°Everyone please remain calm and don''t interrupt until I am finished speaking. We will do our best to answer any questions you have afterwards. Now, as I was saying, the whole world has gone to shit. That means we should not be expecting anyone to rescue us. That also means this is probably one of the safest places in the city. However, everyone here at HQ has something to contribute. We are not military, though some of us do have training. We have been building this stronghold up for the last twenty years. We will not be throwing any of you out, but we are not running a democracy here. If you want to stay here, you will have to work and be useful. You will be required to train everyday and will get an ID number and uniform.¡± Everyone is murmuring worriedly


    Someone ignoring Byron''s comment about questions asks. ¡°What about our families?¡± The humans start yelling about how they want to see their family and that Byron''s group should help. I don''t understand why everyone is so worried about other people. I look around for something interesting. I try not to go too far because Byron''s people are watching me.


    Byron calms everyone down again. ¡°We don''t have the luxury of thinking anyone else out there is alive. And even if we knew for a fact someone was out there who needed help, we still wouldn''t go. We are currently safe, but the moment we step out of those doors, we have no way of knowing what will happen to us. Also, we are currently fighting some goblin-like creatures over the surrounding warehouses. For the time being, the only time we will be leaving HQ is when our enemies get to close and we need to repel them, or to scout out where we will be acquiring future supplies...¡± He keeps talking about stuff, but I am more interested in the stuff around me.


    I noticed that one of the standing lights has a cord attached. I follow it to the wall where it is attached to some sort of plastic rectangle thing. It''s a power outlet I suppose. I wonder if I can get someone here to teach me about electricity. For what Daisy said about it, there seem to be many uses for it.


    I search around the room, but quickly get bored. I play with my toys a bit, but I want to find something new to play with. Maybe I should go search for Daisy...


    Collin walks over to where I am playing. I am using my teddy bear to attack my toy cars and soldiers. He gives me a funny look, but doesn''t say anything about it. ¡°Rain, they told us to go to the cafeteria. Everyone else is going to clean up and change. I told them I was fine with what I am wearing.¡±


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    ¡°Ok.¡± I pack up my things and follow Collin to the cafeteria.


    Collin gets his food and waits for me to do the same.


    ¡°You know I don''t eat right.¡±


    ¡°What the hell do you mean you don''t eat!?¡±


    I whip around in surprised. Standing right behind me is Daisy''s brother, Dominic. He somehow snuck up behind me again. He is looking down at me in the same way Andy does. I glare back at him. ¡°I don''t need to eat. What else is there to mean?¡±


    ¡°What the hell kind of living creature doesn''t need to eat.¡± He snorts at me and walks past us out of the cafeteria.


    Collin coughs to clear his throat. ¡°Well he''s certainly friendly. Let''s go sit down.¡± He is most certainly NOT friendly.


    Collin eats in silence while I squirm from boredom. *aaaaaaaahhhhhhh* Collin laughs at me and puts down his spoon.


    ¡°Rain, do you want to talk about anything?¡±


    Well at least that would be less boring. ¡°Do you know anything about electricity and where did they take Daisy?¡±


    ¡°Well I don''t know enough about electricity to teach you about it. I''m an English teacher. I also don''t know where they took Daisy.¡± He gives me an apologetic smile and takes another bite of food.


    Well I guess I shouldn''t have expected anything more then that from him.


    I must have shown my feelings on my face because Collin looks upset now. ¡°Rain can''t you locate Daisy yourself, with your powers?¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± That''s right. I search for Daisy and find that she is in an underground part of the HQ. It sounds like she is sleeping.


    ¡°Darn she is asleep.¡± I guess I''ll have to rely on Collin for my entertainment. I won''t set my expectations too high though.


    Collin pauses his eating again. ¡°Daisy must''ve been exhausted after all she''s gone through. Poor kid probably passed out as soon as she hit the pillow.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to fall asleep soon too?¡± I''ll be the only one left awake again.


    ¡°Well it is getting late, but I think I will be staying up for a while.¡±


    ¡°You''re not tired like Daisy? Wait. Was Daisy acting weird because she was tired?¡± Getting tired sounds inconvenient.


    Collin takes another bite before he answers. ¡°Daisy is a kid, so I can see why she would act different if she was tired, but I don''t think that''s what happened earlier. Did you notice that she was talking less and less the closer we got to the HQ?¡± I nod me head. ¡°Well I think she was excited to see her father and brother, but I think she was also afraid to see them.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Well I can''t say for sure. She might have thought they would be dead like her mother, or she could have been afraid to tell them about her mother''s death. The way she rattled off her mothers id number and said ''deceased'' was a bit haunting. Though seeing how well this place is prepared for the apocalypse, I can understand why she''s such a strange kid.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ''strange''?¡±


    ¡°Oh right. Sorry, I guess you wouldn''t know what is normal. Daisy doesn''t act like someone her age should. When we first met, I thought, because she was so young, she didn''t fully understand what was happening. That would explain why she could be so calm about everything. As I talked to her, I slowly came to realize that, not only was she fully aware of the situation, but that she was also analyzing the things around us and speculating what else might be out there and making plans for every possibility. Dispersed between her rants about superheros were real tactical plans. Though most of them required the use of superpowers. But the scariest part was when I realized everything she does and every choice she makes has some sort of underlying tactical planning behind it. Befriending you and telling you to be a superhero. Going to find her brother first instead of heading straight to the safe-house. Allowing us to come with you. Telling us so little about the safe-house. ¡°


    ¡°Wait. You think Daisy only became my friend because I''m strong?¡±


    ¡°I didn''t mean it like that.¡± Collin looks like he is unhappy with the way the conversation is going. He scoffs the rest of his food down and says he is going to go talk to the others. They are all already eating here in the cafeteria.


    I get up and wonder around the HQ, but Armed guards follow me wherever I go. They won''t let me into a lot of the rooms. When I asked them about stuff they ignore me. I eventually end up lying on the ground playing with my toys again.


    Hours later, when almost everyone else is asleep, another man in uniform walks up to me. He leads me to ¡°Conference Room¡±. When he opens the door, everyone inside turns to look at me. Both Andy and Dominic glare at me.


    Byron stands up and smiles at me. ¡°Hello, Rain. Please take a seat. We have lots of things to discuss with you.¡± He motions me to a chair at the head of a long table. I sit in it, but it is too low for me. After some smiles and giggles, the chair is raised so that I can at least place my arms on the table.


    I look around the table. They are all staring at me; Andy, Dominic, Collin, and five other men and women I don''t know. Well this is uncomfortable...


    Byron sits down at the opposite end of the table. ¡°Now Rain, we have a few problems to work out. Your presence inside HQ is making a lot of people nervous. Everyone is questioning my decision to let you in. Others have doubts about your usefulness and intentions. But, before we get to all that, let me ask you a question. Rain, do you want to stay here with us at HQ?¡±


    I try to scoot up higher in my chair. ¡°For how long? If I choose to stay here does that mean I can''t leave? If I say no, can I not come back?¡±


    Some people look surprised at me response. Byron, on the other hand, starts laughing. When he is done, he wipes a tear from his eye. ¡°You sound just like my daughter!¡± He gives me a wide smile. ¡°As long as you remain our ally, you will always be welcome back.¡±


    I nod my head. ¡°Then I will stay for a while to learn about electricity and stuff. After I get bored I will probably want to leave though.¡±


    Byron smiles again. ¡°Alright! Now that that''s out of the way. Lets get down to business.¡± He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms across his chest. I have a feeling this is going to be annoying.

 Chapter 11- What Does a Goblin Look Like?

    I shift uncomfortably in my chair as Byron stares me down. ¡°So what do you want to know?¡±


    Byron smirks. ¡°Right down to business I see. I like it. Alright, let''s start with how you sustain yourself. I hear you don''t eat. How do you get the energy for your body?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°Okay, How about your so-called ''super-senses''. How far can you sense? What can you sense?¡±


    ¡°Um, as far as I want? And probably anything moving or living and probably other stuff to. I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Byron strokes his beard. ¡°I hear you are a lot stronger then you look. How strong are you ? Could you lift a car?¡±


    I don''t think that would be too hard. ¡°Probably?¡± I shrug my shoulders.


    ¡°Alright. Could you break through this wall?¡± He points to the wall behind him.


    ¡°Maybe? Want me to try?¡±


    Byron''s eyes widen slightly. ¡°Ah, no... Rain I think we need to make some rules for while you are here.¡±


    ¡°OK¡± As long as they aren''t annoying.


    ¡°First rule.¡± He holds up his finger. ¡°Don''t break anything.¡±


    ¡°OK¡± that seems easy enough.


    ¡°Second rule.¡± he puts up a second finger. ¡°Don''t hurt anyone.¡±


    My eyes slide over to where Andy is standing by the wall with Dominic. ¡°As long as they don''t hurt me, I won''t hurt them.¡± Andy steps forward, his fists clenched and teeth showing. But before he can yell anything, Dominic puts his arm up and stops him.


    Byron looks directly at the teenagers and with a booming voice tells them. ¡°No one here at HQ will attack you.¡±


    The two boys look away. ¡°Yes sir.¡± Dominic says through clenched teeth.


    I hope Byron has the power to stop them. I don''t think they will listen for very long.


    Byron leans forward on the table and taps his fingers on the table. His eyes are really intense. ¡°Rule three: Follow all of my orders and the orders of my soldiers.¡±


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    I scrunch my face in confusion and tilt my head to the side. ¡°Why do I have to do what you say?¡±


    Byron sits back up. He sits with his back straight, and looks very powerful. ¡°The HQ belongs to me. It is my home as well as our only way of survival. As long as you are in someone else''s home you need to listen to whatever they say.¡±


    ¡°That doesn''t seem right. What if they tell me to do something I don''t want to do?¡± I sit up with my back straight and cross my arms.


    Byron puts his knuckles to his mouth to think. ¡°...¡± He sighs. ¡°You should try to do what they say unless it will cost you something. If you decide you can''t do what they say, then you should leave their house.¡±


    ¡°OK That sounds fair. I will listen to you while I am here. If you try to make me do something I don''t want to I will leave.¡±


    Byron smiles. ¡°Good. Alright. While you are here you will have the same schedule as Daisy.¡±


    The meeting lasts a few more minutes with small lesser rules that I mostly forget. And an explanation of the things that I will be doing every day, which I also don''t really listen to. Then everyone goes off to bed or to patrol. I am once again left alone, with nothing to do for the rest of the night.


    The next morning Daisy wakes up and we both go to training. We learn something called Tai Chi. It is really boring at first, but then some of the older humans do sparing. It looks pretty fun, but unfortunately they won''t let me join in.


    Then we go the cafeteria and I watch Daisy eat breakfast. Afterwards we go to the Makeshift School, witch turns out to be not as horrible as Daisy made me believe it would be. I don''t know why she doesn''t want to learn new stuff. Though I do wish the Teacher''s voice wasn''t quite so boring. The Makeshift School lasts most of the day, with a break in the middle for Daisy to eat.


    When we get done with school, we are allowed to do whatever we want until dinner time. As long as we don''t go outside, or run through the halls, or yell to loud, or do anything that gets in peoples'' way... We are allowed to quietly play in a designated room until dinner time. After dinner we have to help clean stuff. Then Daisy goes off to bed, and I am left alone with nothing to do for the rest of the night.


    I''m learning more stuff everyday. Which is good. No one has been able to teach me about electricity yet. Which is annoying. And after a few nights of the same boring nothingness, I have begun to try and find new sources of entertainment. I try talking to the guards but they ignore me, and some even seem frightened of me. Since I can''t explore the HQ, I try to figure out it''s layout by paying attention to where people''s presences move around to, but that gets boring pretty quick. I play with my toys. Then I go back to bugging the guards...


    Just when I am about to give up on staying here at HQ, something interesting finally happens. I feel a presence approaching from outside. It seems to be one of the people from the non-human group I had sensed when we first came here. Byron and other people called them Goblins. I quickly go to find one of the night guards.


    ¡°Hey James!¡± The Guard doesn''t even acknowledged me. I step in front of him and spread my arms to stop him from passing me. ¡°James, I want to go up to the roof so I can see what a goblin looks like.¡±


    He looks down at me and sighs. ¡°Get out of my way. You were told not to get in the way of our guard duties.¡±


    I move back in his way as he tries to pass by me. ¡°But I want to see the goblin, and I can''t go to the roof with out permission.¡± I look up at him with determination.


    He scoffs. ¡°You won''t be able to see a goblin from the roof.¡± He tries to go around me and I stop him again. ¡°Look Rai...¡±


    ¡°I will. There is one approaching right now. If we don''t hurry to the roof we won''t be able to see it though.¡±


    James stops, he looks at me with a shocked look. ¡°What?¡±


    I feel like I explained the situation pretty well. ¡°I said that there was a...¡±


    James quickly took out his walky-talky, a fun looking toy I''m not allowed to use. ¡°Alpha 5 to Alpha 2, do you see any movement? Over.¡±


    The walky-talky made a statistic noise. ¡°This is alpha 2. That''s a negative. I repeat, no movement spotted. Over¡±


    James looks at me suspiciously. I stare right back ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Is there really a goblin out there, or are you just lying so you can go up on the roof?¡±


    I sigh. ¡°It''s really out there. Right now it is climbing up the side of the building, over there.¡± I point to my right where the goblin is.


    James used is walky-talky again. ¡°Alpha 2 please be advised, there may be an enemy on the south wall. Over¡± He looks a bit concerned now.


    The goblin has made it almost all the way to the roof. A human, who is probably Alpha 2 heads over towards it. The goblin jumps over the top of the ledge, and is promptly shot. ¡°James it''s dead now, but can we still go see it?¡±


    Alpha 2''s voice comes over the walky-talky. ¡°This is Alpha 2, enemy has been eliminated. How the hell did you know it was there? Over.¡±


    James looks down at me. ¡°It was the kid. I''ll send someone up to remove the body. Be on guard, we don''t know if they''ll send more. Over¡±


    ¡°Roger. We''ll be careful not to let anything else get the drop on us. Ov... What the hell is that...*shfsshshshshshs*¡±


    James looks at his walky-talky. ¡°Alpha 2? Hello Alpha 2 respond! Over!¡±


    Up on the roof I can feel a strange energy. Then suddenly dozens and dozens of goblins are suddenly there. Shortly after, Alpha 2 and the other sentry are dead.


    James is still yelling for Alpha 2 to respond. I sigh. ¡°James he''s dead. There is a big group of goblins up there now.¡±