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Scarlet Code

Imagine a time without death. Perhaps it's a utopia where noone dies at all. Or perhaps it's a wasteland filled with nothing. But what if I told you you had to die for the first option to come true. Would you believe me? Let me tell you this. I am dead. Yet I couldn't be more alive.

brother_pheonix · Sci-fi
Not enough ratings
48 Chs

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"What happened?" Lily asked as she walked through the door.

I stared at the statue of Beth in sadness.

"We got caught in a fight with a Medusa. I was able to avoid her gaze. But... Beth was too late." I said as I wrung my hands.

"I couldn't keep her safe." I said as a heavy boney hand landed on my shoulder.

"It's alright. You already did amazing just getting here together." Henry said comfortingly. "It's your first time losing somebody in here. But dont worry. She'll be waiting for us outside the gate when this is over."

Hoy looked around anxiously for a couple moments before he finally said what was on his mind.

" I have a question. You said Medusa was here. But where'd she go?" He said as his hand held his sword tightly. Everyones gaze suddenly turned to me questioning obvious in their gaze.

I let out a sigh. "I killed her and her cyclopes helper. Beth got the cyclopes in the eye with acid and I finished him off. The medusa I took on alone."

Lily kept staring at me. Her face showing that she had more questions.

"You said you killed Medusa. The player with the worst possible close range match up for you. Yet how are you not even injured right now?"! She asked giving me a look over.

I rolled my eyes. "If you must know I unlocked a couple skills. But that is all I'll say till we get back to the faction house. I dont want people hearing about my abilities in the open." I grunted.

Lily's eyes took on an excited shine as Hoy let out a sigh of relief. "Medusa sucks. I hate that- Ow!" Hoy said as he was interrupted with a cuff from Lily.

"Oh come now. That can't even hurt." She said with a glare. "And dont call women names. Its rude."

I raised a depressed eyebrow in response but got no reaction. I went back to looking at Beth's petrified form. (If she's dead how come she hasn't dissipated yet?) I wondered. I went forward and tapped the statue hoping to get some form of a response but I got nothing. The stone remained unchanged.

I felt a slap on the back that almost sent me toppling. "Come on! We need to get a move on." Lily said as she looked around us.

"Move on? Move on where?" I asked confused. Before we went through the gate we had planned to get to the top of the skyscraper but nothing beyond that.

Lily grinned a bit as she placed her palms on the floor. "We have never put this part of the plan in motion before but I'm hoping it works better than I think it will." She said with a grin. "Here goes."

Suddenly plant life burst out from around her palms. Grass, weeds, vines, skeletal hands. Everything enveloped the roof and began to stretch down the building. Lily began to sweat heavily from the strain of using her ability this much. The plants had managed to reach ten floors below us. 15, 20, 30 floors were enveloped in plants before they stopped growing.

"I've hit my limit." She said as she slumped a down breathing heavily.

"What was that supposed to do?" I asked with a confused shrug waving around. "All you did was surround us with plants. How is that going to help us?"

I felt a sudden rumble from beneath us as the building shuddered. My eyes went wide as understanding hit me.

Lily had weakened the support structure of the top 30 floors of the building. So now it was liable to tip in one way or another causing mass destruction and hysteria. Lily smiled as the building began to give way tilting to the right and towards one of the other skyscrapers.

I planted my sickles around my feet waiting for the impact as debris began to fall on the people below. Massive chunks of concrete, metal, and glass rained down on the crowds below as the screwed up gravity of the dome went to work.

I felt the collision against the next skyscraper pulling me off my feet. But my sickles were held in place thanks to the grass and vines Lily had put down. Hoy was flying around with Lily in his arms while Henry just let the debris pass through him harmlessly. A chunk of concrete sailed past my head as the sound of crushing glass, clashing metal, and bounding rock filled my ears.

The two towering buildings began to crumble to the ground. Alone a tower can hold it's own weight. But when another tower crashes into it, it will generally fall. And the towers we were on were not only tall. But very worn down and weak. So needless to say it was a catastrophe for those below.

I released my sickles as I realized I was going to be crushed against the side of the building. And with great force I jumped up between already falling rubble. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Every falling piece. Every jagged glass fragment moved slowly through time like someone had hit the slow button on a movie.

And as I jumped around the rubble I found another place to latch on to. I sunk my sickle into the twelfth floor of the adjacent building and crashed through it's already cracking glass.

Sliding across the floor and out the other side I finally landed on some solid ground. The top of a hospital oddly enough. Great clouds of dust rose from the ground as screams echoed through the air. The rumble of falling Skyscrapers became a fading sound through the sky as I felt gazes land on me and the other figures landing beside me. Lily was placed down gently by Hoy as Henry drifted down in his ghostly manner.

As the dust settled I saw why I had felt so many gazes on me. The remaining guardian faction had five people with the builders being one. And that one was Vulcan. His mechanical spider had shielded him from the falling building but had taken a beating in the process. Coughing could be heard from alot of those that managed to survive among the stragglers. People not aligned with factions for the most part.

And here we were standing proudly atop a hospital having destroyed two factions in one fell swoop. With exception to the toughest people. Ganesha, Cabrakan, Khepri, Athena, and Geb. I waved at Geb and he laughed. Khepri looked at Geb before looking back at me.

"Well played." Was all he said as his voice echoed through the air. He banged his claws together in a clapping fashion before he ordered his people to start looking for survivors if there were any.

The night was arriving quickly as the sun changed into a pale color. Vulcan dragged his spider from under the rubble and I could see how banged up it really was. Its legs were bent out of shape and its metallic carapace was heavily dented with some breaks showing the inner cogs whirring and turning.

I looked at Lily feeling a little sorry for the remaining people. "Should we help them?"

She shook her head. "No. They wouldn't have helped us if they had done the same thing." She said as she turned away. "But now we have to prepare for night raids. Bloody vampire nuisances will probably try something when the night comes."

And so the night wore on. We had decided to settle in a corner room of the hospital. Its 8 floors had offered a wide variety for room selection. From padded psych ward rooms to Operating rooms. We had the lot. But not a scalpel or tool in sight.

And so we decided to rest in a place we could at least escape from. The hospital directors office. The desk was made of a dark wood with little knick knacks here and there. But the nicest thing was that the couches were still in good condition.

I laid down and let out a sigh at the softness. Lily meanwhile decided to sit at the desk staring at me with excited eyes. When I caught her staring I began to feel very uncomfortable. "What? Why are you staring at me?" I asked with a worried look.

Hoy rolled his eyes as Henry just shrugged. His skull not having eyes made it hard to know whether he and Hoy had made the same expression.

"I want to know how you defeated Medusa. I want every detail." Lily said as she leaned forward.

I let out a tired sigh as I sat up from where I was laying. The couch gave a small groan from my weight.

"As I told you Medusa and Polyphemus (The cyclopes) got the drop on us. Beth blinded him when he was focused on us. Medusa used that chance to use her gaze to petrifying Beth. I noticed fast enough to avoid looking her in the eye. But because I couldn't see her and I had no way of seeing without my eyes I was cornered." I rubbed my hands in agitation.

"She stabbed me a few times with her spear. I got sick and tired of it to the point I didnt care anymore and I... I guess I just... snapped. I opened my eyes and Medusa's gaze couldn't hurt me. So I got angry and I bit her. I unlocked a skill for my teeth. Drills or something. I wasn't really paying attention at the time. And I used it on her. She couldn't fight back after that. So I just drained her of her health till she just... died." I said with a shrug.

"After she turned to bits of data I chucked Polly off the skyscraper. Being blind made him an easy target. And there's not much else to say about it. Though I didnt know what happened to Beth till after I was done dealing with Medusa."

Lily sat there staring at me with a intimidating smile on her face which made me shiver.

Hoy looked at me with raised eyebrows. "You chucked the cyclopes off the building? That was you!?!" He got more and more excited as we talked. They had made it halfway up the building when they heard Polyphemus fall. He fell past them on their way up the stairs.

"I must say. That was an epic execution if ever I saw one. Though I have to ask. Was it more like." He puffed up his chest. "This is Sparta!" He deflated. "Or was it more like." He took a stance like he was holding something heavy in his arms. "Here you go. Off with you now." He said pretending to let something roll off his arms and whistled as though something was falling before making a thudding noise.

I shook my head. "I guess more like the sparta one. I was stupidly powered up when I did it though. He was a heavy guy."

I suddenly heard a noise and one of my ears spun to catch the direction as I turned my head slowly. The door had been barricaded and I just heard something scratching at it.

"Lily and the others noticed my reaction and brought out their tools. I took out my coffin and placed it in front of me like a shield. More scratching came from the door before I saw it. A hole was scratched through the door and mewling could be heard from the other side.

Lily let out a frustrated sigh. "Great. Dreds."

I turned to her. " Dreds?"

"Viruses that vampires turn into minions that do the dirty work for them. Nasty things. Though they give you double the normal points for killing them. But the downside is that it let's the vampires know where you are when you do." Henry said quickly as The first one made it through the hole in the door.

It was a snake virus but it looked pale. Monochrome I guess would be the better word. Like the color had been completely sucked out of it. I huffed and swung a sickle at it killing it on the spot.

Lily shrugged. "We really had no other way of doing that. They are probably waiting outside for us." She said with a bored expression. As more began to pour through the hole we cut them up to bits. Points floated through the air toward all of us in droves. My previous 500 points had been increased by the falling building bringing it up to 900. If I added the 20 kills I got it would make it 1300 points. ( Indirect kills is why the points are so little. Lily would have gotten the most points for causing it.)

"Now we just have to survive till sunrise." I grunted out as I lopped another Dred in half.