Chapter 4 : God's Rotting Corpse

There was an emptiness, a sickening in their hearts as they moved through the torn metropolis. Only the crunch of broken glass under their feet echoed through the streets. There were no answers to be found amongst the empty cars, some as cold as ice, others warm to the touch. The empty buildings stood more like tombstones than anything else for empty graves. They would rummage through them and found technology no different from their own.

Computers, server rooms, televisions screens and ovens were found in working condition, some looked new, and others worn from use. Their designs were somewhat similar to what they had on the New Genesis. They were definitely on something humans made. A thought that put Mwene's hyperactive mind at ease.

"You think the people that made this ran away from Paradise?" Ayla asked as they walked around a bend on the road, fog began to obscure the path ahead of them. Her gun was still in her hands.

"They have to be. It's all familiar in a strange way." Mwene replied as they walked through the thick grey fog.

"Ironic, isn't it?"

"What is?" Mwene raised his eyebrow. He was alert as the fog fully engulfed him.

"Only after they left Paradise did they finally create Gan Eden. I hope they had some peace."

From the corner of her eye she spotted movement in the grey. She pointed her gun wildly, barely able to keep it steady. Static began to fill his ears. It was quiet at first but then started to get louder with every passing minute. It was the same static as the one he heard on the vessel but this one was more intense than before. His skin started to crawl, as if a million worms were underneath it, digging into him, tearing at his soul. Waves of insufferable gloom overwhelmed him. It was as if he wasn't a human anymore but more a vessel of pure dejection.

Anan shook her Mwene who came to his senses. He was on his knees and was sweating profusely. His medallion began to smoke and fog up his helmet. His sense of hearing slowly came back to him. Ayla's deep and sultry voice reeked of concern. Without thinking he twisted off his helmet and cold, refreshing air flooded his lungs

"What are you doing?"

"I…...need…...air." panted Mwene. Ayla kept her hand on Mwene's back as he gained control of his breathing.

"You know, we can turn back…."

A clang rang just ahead of them. They looked up and the fog began to clear a little. Ayla stood up and held her gun out towards the noise. Images of loss flooded Mwene's mind. A figure floated in the air with hands floated up at it, a lab where the silhouette of a man floated in, a dying mother's hands wiping the tears off her son's and daughter's cheeks. At that moment, Mwene understood. He got up and walked ahead of Anan

"Where are…..."

"Trust me." Ayla stood for a moment and nodded.

Another clang ran through the fog, and he walked towards it. Soon a car appeared and Mwene noticed a shadow of someone crouching from the other side. A small head of a boy popped up quickly from the other side of the car before quickly hiding again. His emerald, green eyes met Mwene's. Spots of dry blood were dotted across his plum skin. His nose was no more than two holes above his paper-thin lips. His ears were proportional to his circular head. His midnight blue hair was short but dense with springy coils. He wore a grey bodysuit with a thick purple glowing line that ran from the outside of his foot, along his hips to his armpit, along his inner arm until stopping at his wrist.

The fog began to clear around them, but Mwene didn't notice as he slowly crouched and extended his hand to the boy. "It's okay. I'm not an enemy."

The boy looked back quickly to an entrance of a building. Mwene knew it was his exit plan. Ayla looked around as the fog cleared and saw nothing but death around her. Bodies were littered all around the street. Buildings all around were all severely damaged as if they were bombed from above. Yet there were no bullet holes, not military vehicles, or personnel amongst the victims.

Anan looked up and saw a figure floating in the sky. He made no sound or any sudden movements. It was as still as a statue. The boy's eyes lit up as he looked beyond Mwene and Ayla, he saw it too. "Mwene." Ayla's voice was drenched in fear. The boy's eyes gradually shifted from emerald to mint. The purple on his suit glowed more vibrantly.

"Mwene!" Ayla aimed her gun at the figure. Mwene noticed the eye change and his eyes widened. Something behind the boy grabbed his attention.

"When did the fog….?"

There was a hand in the doorway. It was bloody, with black spots. Beyond that was just a pile of corpses with random body parts sticking out at the foot of a staircase. Blood was leaking out and painted the grey floor crimson.

"Mwene!"

Mwene whipped around and saw the figure floating. He whipped back to the boy who was already in the building climbing the crude grave site. He snapped around and saw a car flying at him like a speeding bullet. Ayla grabbed Mwene by the collar and jumped out of the way. The car crashed into the spot where they just were and exploded. They landed hard onto the concrete.

The heat from the burning car was overwhelming. It's toxic fumes painted the inside of his lungs. He flipped onto his back and his vision was blurry. A black dot seemed to hover over him. As his vision began to come to, he noticed the dot getting bigger.

"Shit!"

Mwene crawled away as fast as he could on his back. A car landed front end first onto where he just was kicking up dust. It stood planted for a moment before gradually tipping over to where he was. Mwene scampered away in the nick of time as the car finally landed on its side missing him by a mere couple of centimetres. He barely started to control his breath when Ayla grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pointed to the sky. Dozens of cars were hurtling towards them. Mwene jumped up and ran into the building where the boy disappeared, with Ayla right behind him. Cars crashed and exploded around them. A piece of shrapnel grazed Mwene's left cheek as they entered the crumbled structure, but he didn't notice. What's a flesh wound compared to a fiery death?

Mwene tripped into the pile of rotting carcasses. The smell of copper was overwhelming. Ayla landed next to him. Blood drenched her helmet. Mwene quickly wiped it off and lifted her up and ran up the stairs. They found themselves down a hallway where the boy was running at the other end.

"Wait!" Mwene shouted.

The figure crashed through the middle of the hallway. Ayla fell down the flight of stairs. The kid hit the wall, with his head bouncing off it. Mwene stood his ground and shielded his eyes with his arms. When the shockwave passed, he looked at it. It was a burning humanoid, white flames with a subtle black outline. There were two small black flames where his eyes should have been. There was nothing human about it. It was purely an entity of death, not the personification of it but it was it: death incarnate. Then it spoke in the voices of everyone Mwene had ever spoken to, those he remembered and those he had forgotten.

"Welcome to God's rotting corpse."

Then came that familiar sound of static. It embraced his soul in the all too familiar arms of hopelessness.