Chapter 28
Days Since Incident: 77
Time: 11:41
Place: Campsite
Climate: 37°F
Grae fell to the floor; heaving heavily. She spat blood out as she began to slowly crawl to the Reaper. The sight was both truly disturbing and sad. She tried desperately to get to the Reaper before she truly died. She NEEDED to get it before it touched Andrew. It was going to kill him, and wear his skin like a meat puppet.
The Reaper began laughing; its voice was high, shrill, and scratchy. It walked towards her with much haste; its excitement was clearly evident. Once it reached her, it stepped on her back, applying so much pressure. She heard a few more bones break. She couldn’t move at this point; her eyes were fixed to the sight of the group. They were screaming something, but she could no longer hear them.
“Do you wish to welcome Death?” it asked in a low voice, that only she could hear. She couldn’t respond back; her voice was a low-pitch garbled mess.
“Then, why not give it to you then.” With that, her vision went pitch black. The Reaper flipped her body over, and grabbed her face. It stuck three of its fingers down her throat, and began to open her mouth. Her skin began to rip, until her jaw was dislocated.
It began to regurgitate a thick, black liquid into her mouth. It looked absolutely painful and revolting. The black liquid poured all over her, slowly mixing with her blood and guts. She began to convulse and contort as the Reaper continued to vomit everything into her.
It continued on for about a few minutes, before the Reaper threw Grae’s body against the wall. It returned its gaze back to the group, in particular, Andrew. Just before it said anything, Grae’s body began to move on its own again. She was long dead, but her body began to shake even worse than before. The black liquid began to move through her veins, until her pale skin radiated with a black dull color.
“What have you done to her?!” Rayn asked angrily with tears in his eyes. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?”
“I will live...FOREVER!” it said.
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“Grae!?” Mimi said again, breaking Grae from her thoughts. Grae quickly found herself being stared at by many people. Her little trip to the past gained the attention of the people around her, and unfortunately, Hector and Kayla. They had been walking to their next job site, and just happened to find Grae spacing out.
“Grace...are you ok?” Hector asked out of concern. Kayla was right behind him, inspecting Grae from top to bottom.
Once Grae recognized Hector and Kayla, her demeanor changed completely. She stood straight, her eyes fixated on both of them. Her eyes were filled with anger, resentment, and pure rage; she had to bite down to urge to jump at them. She had to remember that she was at a different point in her life, compared to years ago.
When Grae didn’t respond, Hector asked again. “Grace...please...please talk to me.”
Grae proceeded to collect herself, and walk away. “Kids, it’s time to head back.” As she walked away, the kids quickly followed her in a straight single line.
“Grace!” Hector said a little louder.
“I told you Hector...she doesn’t care…” Kayla whispered to him.
“And why should she care?” Mimi asked, silently walking up towards them. She had noticed them the second they stared at Grae. She has heard many stories from Grae about them, and Rayn’s recent encounter with them only made her hate them more.
“Is she ok?” Hector asked. He really wanted to know, especially since he last seen her faint a few days ago.
Mimi didn’t seem to mind his question. “She is fine; getting back to the swing of things. But I would be more concerned with your fate.”
“Wait, our fate? Are you threatening us?” Kayla asked angrily. “I don’t understand why everyone hates us?! I can somewhat understand Grace hating us, but we did nothing to you or Rayn.”
“Well, married couples tend to think alike. But I’m not a threat to you. Hell, you are more at risk from dying from hunger. We do not have much food to be charitable with everyone. The only thing that saved you guys was the kids. Grae and Rayn try to save as many kids as possible.”
“We are working to repay the food we’ve eaten. But the treatment we’ve received so far is horrible!” Hector exclaimed. “It’s borderline abuse of power.”
Mimi turned and pointed to the front of the campsite. “No one is holding you hostage here. You are always free to leave and never come back. We do not have time to coddle civilians that are only good for complaining. Let’s see how long you last.”
Kayla had had it with everyone there. She didn’t bother staying behind to get lectured by an older woman who didn’t know her. She marched past Hector and Mimi (who were still arguing) and went straight to Grae.