Cruel Reality

Adam barged into his house with a loud bang of the falling door. He looked around but there was no one there. He began to search the house frantically, starting with the living room and the kitchen but there was no message either, no note left on the fridge, nothing.

He finally sat on the sofa with a soft tired sigh. He didn't even have the strength to get angry anymore. He was just really tired. He killed and lied his way to and through the city only to find an empty house. He looked around once again, and at that moment he saw them.

Two dark figures curled up together under the kitchen table. Adam froze for a moment. They were here after all. They didn't answer because they were too scared of all the horrible things that had happened.

With newfound energy, he jumped to his feet and rushed back to the kitchen. He reached the table and began crawling under it to take them in his arms. His hands touched something wet and sticky.

Blood. A pool of half-dried blood gathered under the table, around the two curled figures. They were both sitting, Susan in the front and Carol behind her, holding her daughter in her arms. Her motionless head rested on Susie's shoulder, her hair cascading down to the ground and into the red stains.

They were deathly still and silent. Adam didn't see any wounds but the blood didn't lie. His mind shut down and with trembling lips, he touched his wife's hair. Tears streamed down his cheeks. They were here waiting for him as promised. Dead.

Adam wanted to take them in his arms but his body didn't listen to him. As his hands hit the ground listlessly he once again heard the voice of the crystal.

[Move now!]

He didn't pay it any heed though. He looked with despair as Carol slowly raised her head and looked at him with hunger. Her skin was deathly pale and her opened maw was covered in her daughter's blood.

When the Tainted that once had been his wife raised its head, it revealed a hideous wound on Susan's neck and shoulder.

[Move now or you'll die!] The voice urged him once again.

"I don't care," Adam whispered and raised his hands to embrace his wife. "There's no point struggling. Just let me die."

[You can still save your daughter! But you have to act now!]

When these words reached his mind, Adam's body moved on his own. He didn't think, his mind veiled by a shroud of despair, but his body acted on pure instinct, fueled by a rush of adrenaline. It was screaming that he had to save his child at all costs.

He jumped to his feet, overturning the table. The Tainted followed him but before it could do anything Adam grabbed it by the head and twisted it in one swift motion.

They both fell to the ground. Carol looked at him with dead eyes lying in the pool of blood while Adam took their daughter's body into his arms and yelled.

"How do I save her?! Tell me!"

[Feel her blood and the remains of her vitality still hidden in it.] The crystal began instructing Adam. Once again, the world blurred and trembled, enraged by the voice's transgression.

[Now make it concentrate! Command it to preserve what is left of her!]

Adam did as he was told. His daughter's blood came to life once again, slithering upward and forming a sphere in the air. Following his orders, it began to collapse on itself. Becoming smaller and smaller, it slowly formed into a thumb-size crimson crystal that slowly floated down, until it rested in Adam's hand.

[New skill acquired: Blood Crystallization. Status Window adjusted accordingly.] The system's message popped into Adam's mind, the neutral voice trembling slightly with anger.

"What do I do now?" he asked, ignoring the message and looking at the now desiccated corpse. Only silence answered him.

"What do I do now?!" Adam howled the question with all his power, gripping the crystal so hard it cut his hand.

The voice inside his head chuckled slightly and replied playfully. [You become powerful enough to restore her.]

Adam looked around stupefied by the answer.

"That's it?" he mumbled, strength leaving his body. His mind wandered, unable to cope with the situation, and recalled the dream he had had the night before.

"I have already seen it," Adam slowly concentrated on his surroundings. He was kneeling on the kitchen floor, the corpses of his wife and daughter lying just beside him. "They're dead."

Tears streamed down his face as he hit the ground with his fists, howling and sobbing like a wounded animal. All for nothing. His family was dead. The crystal in his hand the only ray of hope, a promise of reunion. He squeezed it again and screamed with pain and rage.

[We'll talk again when you reach the Twilight Zone.]

The crystal went silent just as Maya barged into the house, alarmed by the noise. She saw the situation and immediately reached Adam.

"We have to get out of here," she urged him. "The noise might attract more of the Tainted. We have to move Adam!" She pulled him by the arms, but Adam didn't budge even slightly. He just looked at the corpses without blinking, engraving their visage in his mind.

"Shit!" she cursed loudly and ran out of the building. She quickly backtracked to the rest of the survivors and gathered their group.

"We need to do something," she said while explaining the situation. "He clearly lost it. We have to get him out of there, without the rest noticing what happened."

The group was shaky at best and the earlier scuffle with Shaun had shown Maya that it wouldn't take much to break them apart. They had to deal with the situation fast and quietly.

Alas, that was not meant to be. Just as the group split from the rest of the survivors resting at the bank of the river, Shaun brought their departure to attention.

"Where do you think you're going?" he yelled loudly. "Abandoning us already, don't you?!"

Maya felt the survivors' attention gathering on them. Dealing with Adam quietly seemed to no longer be an option.

"No, we're not," she replied, trying to look calm and confident. "There's something we have to deal with. We'll be back before you finish resting." She immediately saw that her words didn't work as she had intended. The crowd became agitated.

Shaun approached them with a smug smirk on his face. "I say we rested enough already! They scurry around, looting most likely, while we're sitting ducks here!" He waved his arms around and the rest responded, angry murmurs going through the group.

"Just let it go, it doesn't concern you," Maya whispered, trying to reason with him.

"It doesn't concern us!?" Shaun's smile grew wider, quickly replaced by a worried look as he turned around to the crowd and spoke. "I say it concerns us what you're all doing. And where our self-proclaimed leader is!"

"That's enough!" Maya growled, her group tightening around her. The situation was becoming volatile.

"We're the majority here," Shaun responded confidently. "And I say we go where they go. Come on! Are you going to hit me again? Are you going to beat all of us if we don't comply?"

Maya looked around her dejectedly. Survivors favored Shaun right now and she didn't know what to do. She could beat him, but she couldn't beat the whole group. She had the premonition that picking a fight now wouldn't end well for anyone.

Shaun smiled at her maliciously as Maya shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't leave Adam there, so she would lead the whole group to him.

The survivors moved quickly and reached the area in just a few minutes. As they dispersed among the buildings, Maya took the core group to Adam. They saw him kneeling on the floor, embracing two bodies in his arms.

Charlotte rushed to Adam and embraced him, slowly loosening his arms and allowing the bodies to fall to the ground again. She waved at the others and together they managed to lift Adam and get him away from the kitchen.

At this moment Maya finally had the chance to look closer at the corpses. Based on Adam's reaction, she quickly understood who they were, but the state of the bodies left her unnerved. She quickly followed the group to the living room and saw Adam sitting listlessly on the couch. Charlotte was still embracing him and whispering something in his ear.

Adam didn't seem to notice any of this though. He stared at the wall absentmindedly, his lips trembling from time to time.

"How is he?" Maya approached them and stood beside the couch. The rest of the group encircled them, eager to hear anything.

"It's bad," Charlotte answered. She released Adam and look at Maya with sadness. "He's gone, completely withdrawn." She pointed at the kitchen. "This is his family, is it not?"

"Most likely," Maya answered. "He wanted to check if they're still here."

"I can understand what he's going through then," Charlotte embraced his arm again. "Most of us have lost someone dear to us in this hell already." Deep sadness reverberated in her voice and Maya recalled that her son had also died in the massacre that had ensued after the Impact.