Chapter 6

Jay got the news about what happened. before he was inspecting the rift , while Daniel inspected the destruction.

Then He heard Daniels yells . He has never seen Daniel loose composure . Even when his like was threatened by a giant bug , Even when the Homeroom teacher tried to kill him.

Daniel had this coolness about him that just didn't make sense to Jay . But now he understood why.

Daniel had left his heart somewhere else . He never carried his heart on him , so nothing really affected him. He made his family his core , and looked at the world with cold logic.

Seeing Daniel broken finally made Jay see him as what he was , a human with a heart . But he couldn't dwell on it . Unlike Daniel his first action was to check . Jay went round , all over the place and searched for his parents . He wouldn't believe it until he sees it.

He thought that in this instance he was being more rational than Daniel .

But what he didn't realize was that Daniel knew his parents where dead the moment he arrived.

Daniel was dark skinned, his parents were dark skinned. And in their state , dark skinned people were rare, but even rarer in their town . Not a single civilian was dark skinned here and from observations he could tell the underground shelter was connected to the rift meaning people wouldn't enter. So the civilians above ground were the only ones left.

Daniel maintain composure with the hope that civilians had been shipped out by the military, and even then that was a 0.001% chance, because by tracing the tracks of the military vehicles he didn't see any big enough like a bus that went out of the vicinity.

But he couldn't hope anymore . He had no string to latch on to , so he exploded.

Jay found no one . He stood quietly for a good long while. To become orphaned out of the blue like this was not in his bingo card .

The nail in the coffin was when his neighbor came Abt passed on his father's pocket watch , his father's most valuable keepsake to him and offered her condolences.

The pain he felt could not overshadow the rage that built up within him. He now understood why Daniel abandoned rationality .but his situation was ten times worse by his account. He had the ability to protect them he was literally a walking dome .

He was angry with himself, he was angry with these alien monsters , he was angry with the military, and he was absolutely enraged with Eric !

He wanted to explode like Daniel, but he didn't keep his heart with his parents like Daniel did . So while Daniel had no opinion that to explode, he was still fully cognizant of the effects he would have.

His thoughts went a million miles a second, but he could come up with nothing that could quench his rage.

He had once told Eric that they should get to the shelter as fast as possible. But after having killed one , he had thoroughly underestimated their threat level toward humans.

So while he found them to be whetstones to train his abilities, they were a danger to humans weaker than him . A serious threat.

He had no one to blame but himself. Daniel might end up loothing him precisely because of this, and he was literally the only other person he was close to that had witnessed his history. Jay didn't know what it'd be like to loose the last connection he had to his parents.

He clutched the pocket watch close to his chest and looked onto the devastation caused by these alien monsters.

He wasn't one of chivalry, but these extraterrestrial beings had just poked up the wrong beehive, and they were about to feel that sting.

----

Daniel woke up hours later with a clear headedness others couldn't wrap their head around . Did he not punch a disgusting beast till his fists bleed , and yell at a military officer?.

But the next day he woke up ate the food offered , cleaned after himself and took a stroll around the small military encampments recently put up.

Eric had gone hunting down stray alien monsters for their gems , and Jay sat at a table attempting to fix his fathers broken pocket watch .

" Let me " Daniel sat down beside him.

Jay looked at him blank faced only got Daniel to again repeat himself .

"Here you go"

Jay knew as a physics club member Daniel should be better at this than he was.

" I thought you would...."

" Be grieving?"

"Yh "

" Are you ?"

"....yh"

" It's not your fault." Daniel said , causing Jay to look at him from the side , after all he didn't expect Daniel not to blame him.

" Your being here wouldn't have changed the outcome "

" How do you know that ! My powers, they protect __"

Daniel cut him of .

" The only reason you can think this way is because Eric trained you " Daniel said.

Jay looked at him like that was the last thing he thought Daniel would say.

" What do you mean by that."

" From the beginning, he introduced you to the bugs one at a time to adjust you to their grotesque apearance, and remove the stunning effect . The second thing he did was give you the urge to prove urself, thereby leading you to develop your attack technique, had you had a dedicated attack based superpowered assistant , your inginuity would never had lead to attacking techniques at least not for a good long while. And lastly you like him have begun to view them as a resource rather than a acute threat to the continuity of our human civilization."

" Are you saying I could accomplish nothing had he not been there?"

" No but the time it would take to get there would have at least been a week." Jay hadn't realized when Daniel started , but received a fixed pocket watch as confirmation of his work.

" I have been ignoring the signs because it seemed too nonsensical to even believe."

" What? What is?" Jay asked

" I believe Eric must have regressed "

" Is your head damaged now? Regression is a recently overused genre tag . This is the real world . "

" Believe what you will . I have shared my theory with you . Him preventing us from coming earlier than we intended to speaks volumes of how chaotic the situation was." Daniel knew that Jay believed him from the get go, but they always played this charade of unexpected and doubtful.

Before the apocalypse, Daniel had once given Jay an instruction on what to do when he meets a regressor

* Do not let them know you are aware

* Do not let go of their thigh.

* if they say something is off do not argue , listen and make informed decisions.

Of course this only applied if the regressor had a hero complex. Eric certainly didn't have one, but his future knowledge of events might be useful. If he shared them of course.

" Did you inform the military about our classmates?."

" Yes I felt bad for abandoning them like that, but smaller numbers was the safe option." Jay came back from wherever his mind was roaming.

" Will you hold a funeral?" Jay asked curious about what Daniel would do next.

" There is no body or remains to bury . Maybe if I go home I can find something.but it's too dangerous to be alone."

" I can help" Jay offered.

" I cannot ask you for more."

Daniel said , or more like whispered.

" Shut up and just accept my help . Gosh your pride is as tall as ever." To be honest Jay wanted to do anything and everything to keep Daniel by his side, as his friend. But he didn't want to come off as needy or desperate, so he masked it nicely. Unfortunately micro expressions never escaped Daniel .

" Then I'll accept it".

"Where are you going? What will you be doing from now on?"

" I'm thinking of joining the military, and serving humanity on the battle field"

" What?, what possessed you to enlist voluntarily?"

" I need a change , I need revenge , I need resources, and right now , in the entire United States, the military is the number one force that can give me all those and a cover from twisted motherfuckers. I will not rest until whoever caused this disaster perishes. "

" Smart choice."

Soon first lieutenant Madison popped out of a corner

" It's you again. Were you spying on our conversation?" Jay asked in irritation.

" Of course not ,"(A lie) " what could a couple of kids be hiding?" She said with a smile.

" You look great today " she said as she referred to Daniel ." A lot more cool headed, I like it" she gave a thumbs up . This behavior was totally different from the professionalism of the previous day. But Daniel didn't get surprised, at all rather he folded his arms and sat his butt on the table.

"First Lieutenant Madison, I want to sincerely apologize for my outburst yesterday. I realize now that it was completely unwarranted, especially considering the chaotic situation we were facing. It was unfair of me to direct my frustration at you when it wasn't the military's fault to begin with. I deeply regret my actions and I hope you can forgive me."

" Wow , you are a gentleman , to be honest we do hold some responsibility, but this was not a crises we could have been aware we would face.Thank you for your apology. I understand that tensions were high yesterday, and I appreciate your acknowledgment of the situation. Let's put it behind us and focus on moving forward together." She smiled genially .

" Thank you for accepting my apologies. And on the matter of enlistment?, would that be possible?" Daniel asked further? .

" Seeing as the world has gone to shits now , don't be surprised if every walking human is forced into enlistment. "

"First Lieutenant Madison, while the idea of enlisting walking civilians may seem like a quick solution to bolster our forces, it could actually backfire. In such a dire situation, trust and cooperation are paramount. Forcing people into service could create more resistance and chaos, making our efforts less effective. Plus, the logistical challenges and ethical implications of coercive enlistment could outweigh any potential benefits. It's crucial to consider alternative strategies that prioritize voluntary participation and community support to address the threat more effectively."

" Hahaha don't worry, it's a joke . But why are you speaking like you are already a soldier. You have no training, no special powers and you have already spoken out of turn to a superior officer."

" In any case what you heard here can not be shared with anyone. Keep it from your superiors , because if Eric doesn't kill you , I will ."

Suddenly Madison's smile disappeared. She understood about Eric killing her off for something like that, and having the capability to do so . But what gave Daniel the courage to say that right to her face .

" I never thought of sharing, but what gives you the guts to threaten me to my face.

You might be funny , but you are not that fun__"

Suddenly a leaf flew past her face and stabbed right through a wooden pole behind her .

Daniel had been practicing that trick since he woke up . He was a genius things came to him so easy it would be unnerving to anyone else.

" I'm superpowered , though I'm weaker than Eric and Jay. And I and Jay come as a package. If I'm ending you it will be a group project."

" Wow you hid yourself well " Madison plucked the soft leaf out of the wood Pilar tearing it in the process.

" Thank you"

" But you still threatened me "

" I want you to understand how far I'm willing to go to fulfill my goals ."

" You are mad ... I like you . Come under my platoon banner. "

" Wait wait wait . Why is this shit so weird . First you spy on me , then you (Daniel) threaten to end her. And you mad woman hear this and say fine I'm into this , come join me? What fucked up third rate story am I living?"

" I know right , I didn't think it would work " Daniel rubbed his stubble filled chin.

" I'm coming back to you . Ever since the start of the 'fuck the world' , you have been going on a 'I will kill you' spree , it has to end now !!"

" But isn't it effective?, look at them then and the first lieutenant now . They know I'm not joking, and I clearly stated I'm not above ending lives just because it inconveniences me . Moreso now that my family is gone ."

" Stop it , just stop it , if you are going to kill them don't announce it , keep it to yourself . I hate your pride , it ruins the friendships you could have developed . "

" But I only need one friend, and that's you , the others just get in the way."

" You fucker , why does it sound like a proposal! Shut the fuck up Aaaaahhhhh . "Jay at this point was at his breaking point. He wanted to put his hand into the cotton hair and rip it out all at once.

" Hahahahah. You two are really funny. So what do you say Jay ? Wanna join your friend ?"

" Do you have to ask? He already told you we are a package, we come two in one"