Chapter four

MAKE THEM BLEED MAKE THEM SUFFER CUT THEIR THROATS SPILL THEIR BLOOD-

"You're bleeding" A soft voice snaps me out of my seemingly never-ending suffering. I open my eyes and see a girl no older than 12 looking at me, her gaze full of concern. "I'm fine kiddo, how long have I been asleep?" I ask with my warmest smile, trying my best to hide the waves of pain radiating from everywhere in my body. "Maybe a few hours?... Where are you taking us?" She replies, breaking eye contact with me, deciding the ground is a better person to hold a conversation with. "I'm taking you to a community, you'll get a roof over your head and a hot meal" I reply, biting my tongue as the pain comes back like a jealous ex. She looks over me once more, concern in her eyes creeping back with a vengeance. "....You're not okay aren't you?" She asks me, the question threatening to open a whirlwind of emotions best left locked away. Silent tears fall from my eyes as I smile once more, trying my best to stay strong for this girl and all of the others. "I'll be fine...probably" I answered her, forcing myself up and almost blacking out due to the sheer pain. "Lu lu status?" I whisper, the demon jumping off my shoulder and floating before me.

"Hm.. you have multiple cuts from debris and such, there bleeding light but blood loss is blood loss, you also have a bullet wound in your stomach that the rib cage blocked, quite a lucky fellow you are my Wahrheitsbringer. Since your power nap gave us the precious currency known as time, you should be able to limp back to Cinders…. Probably." "Charming" I murmur, looking at the little party I gathered. 10 women of various ages, clothing, and mental health lay before me, cuddling at the campfire I made. "We move in ten minutes everyone." I tell everyone, pulling a cigarette and lighting it, putting myself at least six feet away from the girls. I take a puff, raising my head high as the smoke exhales from my mouth. I fish out my phone and text Annabelle, letting her know I'm heading back with the cargo. I close my eyes and let my other hearing guide me, the whispers of the freed women, the chirps of birds, all wash over me.

I look at them once more, envy paining me at their positive reinforcements to one another as they hold each other close under their blankets. I kill that jealousy as fast as it came, reminding myself that I choose this lonely way, not for me, but to make people like them safe, safe from me.

From us.

I didn't even know I was crying until the tears hit the floor. I flick the cigarette on the floor and stomp on it, wishing it was that easy to kill the emotions inside of me. Blood from my numerous injuries mix with my tears on the floor. My will to live and bloodlust fighting it out below. I sigh as I wipe the tears out of my eyes and loudly clear my throat, gaining the attention of the newly freed women. "My name is Atlas, and I was paid by someone to free all of you and guide you to Cinders, the closest community here. Any questions?" None? Perfect, just how I like it. "I intend to move before nightfall, which means now." I limp towards the fireplace, killing its warmth and

pulling my 1911 out as I stick to a random wall for support, my blood giving it an paint over. The women behind me watch septically, unaware of my injuries healing by the minute. I wave my hand, beckoning them over. "Come on, we're wasting daylight here!" I call them, giving them a very spottable blood trail all the way to Cinders.

It only took one hour for trouble to find us. A 10 man group of Bandits appear in front of us, moving towards us with no signs of stopping. I stop everyone behind me, the group of women crowding me as if I was their Soccer coach giving a pep talk. "There's a group of bandits blocking the way, I want you lot to stay here as I take care of them" I address the group, turning to handle the sudden fucky wucky. I'm stopped in my tracks by a tug of my coat. The middle-aged woman I saved first looks at me with pleading eyes,

"Please come back.." She murmurs.

Not knowing how to respond, I nod in reply, the same look reflecting in the other 10 women crowding me. Once I'm out of view I ask Lu lu for a check-up, the demon telling me my wounds finally stopped bleeding, but any sudden movements will easily reopen them. I groan in frustration as I hobble towards the bandits, groaning again as I notice the assault rifles in their hands. "Friendly! Friendly!" I raise my arms in surrender as the nearest bandit points his rifle at me. "You're heading to Cinder?" He asks, his voice full of malice. "Yeah, I was doing a scrap run when a shit ton of Goblin ambushed me, dozens of shits!" I spat, clutching my bloody side as I wobble closer, the bandit only a few feet away. "Unlucky man, even more, unlucky now actually" He smirks, laughing like he made a hilarious joke. "You see, Cinder is a very... unprotected place, we-" He waves towards his soon to be dead friends.

First Lie, 10 seconds

"Are going to protect it! For the small price of 200 scrap an entry!"

Second Lie, 20 seconds

"I-I, I don't have that much money, can you just let me in, please? Ima bleed out at this case!" I feverishly reply, pretending that blood loss is getting to me. He looks upon me with fake pity, like a wolf looking upon a begging, bleeding rabbit. "Alright, just this one time alright? I'll let you pass" He smirks.

I smirk back.

"Kill your Friends" I order, Lügenbrecher obeying the command with a snap of his wrist and a murmur of *german. The bandit's guilty smirk turns into horror as his body turns around and aims at his friends against his will. "Please-no stop I don't want to kill them please STOP STOP!" His sobs frantically, his sobs falling on no god, after all

God's dead.

BANG BANG BANG BANG

Bullets fly as he murders his friends, his comrades, his blood brothers. They were caught by complete surprise, the bullets ripping through them like a knife through butter. Three lies equal 30 seconds of control, it only took 10 seconds for my new puppet to kill them all.

"On your knees" I behest, the crying man compiling in seconds. I walk in front of him, kneeling so I'm eye level with him. "It's okay it's okay" I whisper to the broken man, embracing him as I put my pistol to the side of his temple.

"Ruhe gut" I purr, sending him wherever the dead now go.

BANG