What Are We? (1)

Getting up from the ground, the pain intensified with each passing moment. Jin felt lightheaded, struggling to remain standing as he staggered toward his discarded weapons.

Surrounded by onlookers, he felt their stares bore into him, his previously clean white coat was stained with blood, both his own and the dead Cyphers.

Glancing down at his hand, Jin's eyes widened in shock as he noticed a piece of bone shard impaled into it.

"My days really can't get any worse than this… I'm so filthy…" Jin was both tired and disgusted by his own condition.

Weakly tapping his watch, Jin summoned a menu and navigated to the photo function. With trembling hands, he aimed the camera at the lifeless body of the Cypher sprawled on the ground, capturing the grim scene.

As he took the photo, his mind was racing.

"How did he know my name?" He was both puzzled by it and couldn't care less at the same time as the pain was more of his concern.

After snapping the photos, Jin retrieved his dagger and pistol, securing one in its sheath and the other in its holster.

Approaching his hunting rifle lying on the ground, he couldn't shake the thought of the armor piercing bullets.

"Those things can pierce metal… and this fucker brushed them off, what the hell was he?" He gazed back at the dead body of the Cypher.

Yet he pushed every useless thought aside, he began to think about his wounds, his biggest concern at the moment.

'Where is the doc again?' He got overwhelmed by a sudden headache, he couldn't even remember places that he visited countless times. 

Opening the holographic map on his watch, Jin noted with dismay that it was still at least ten minutes away on foot. 

Clutching his bleeding stomach, which left a trail of blood behind him, he stumbled along the side of the sidewalk. 

Using the buildings for support, he left smears of blood on their walls as he struggled to remain standing. 

"This is just pain, just gotta... push... through," Jin repeated to himself. Yet, despite his efforts, the pain only intensified, and his vision began to falter. 

Clasping his stomach in agony, Jin continued to fight through the pain, but suddenly, he collapsed to the ground, unable to continue. 

"Damn it... this was not nearly enough money for me to put up with this shit." Jin cursed, finding himself engulfed in a torment beyond description. 

The pain struck Jin on a cellular level, as if needles were stabbing deep into his flesh from every single point in his body. His very being seemed to collapse upon itself at a cellular level. 

"Arghhh." He ground his teeth while trying to get up from the ground, but the pain pushed him down time and time again.

He could only lean against the wall for support, using it to prop up his back as he struggled to endure the agony coursing through him. 

'This is the first wave… I still have time, there is still time.' Jin repeated to himself, his mind racing as he attempted to count the seconds amidst the overwhelming pain.

Reaching into his coat pocket with his bloodied hand, Jin retrieved a small picture. Despite the pain, the moment his eyes met the image, a weak smile began to form on his lips. 

'I'm going to find you all… I promise.' Muttered Jin while gazing warmly at the picture.

There were 13 children in the picture, each adorned in white lab coats, smiling warmly at the camera as they stood shoulder to shoulder. 

Behind them, a breathtaking green scenery unfolded, with a lone towering oak tree completing the picturesque scene. 

With his body trembling like a leaf and his skin now ashen pale, the contrast with his normally tanned complexion was stark. Despite his condition, he carefully tucked the picture back into his coat, determined to prevent it from getting any more bloody. 

The pain persisted, a numbing, dull ache that momentarily receded into the background but never truly vanished. Its constant presence weighed heavily on Jin, 

"Tiring," Jin muttered aloud in weary frustration as he slowly stumbled towards the doctor's office. The dull pain intensified with each step, gradually eroding Jin's remaining strength and willpower.

In the dimly lit expanse of the Tenth District, where broken neon signs flickered every other second against the shadows, the first hints of dawn began to emerge.

The sky above gradually changed its color from inky blackness to a soft hue of orange, signaling the approaching sunrise.

"Not even With each agonizing step, Jin cursed his situation under his breath, frustration boiling within him.

As he neared the doctor's office, the building came into view, what should have caused him joy, only brought pain.

The previously suppressed pain surged back with another wave, its intensity akin to needles piercing him, but this time, they penetrated even deeper.

"You've got to be— kidding me…" Jin murmured, his voice barely rising above a whisper as his strength abandoned him completely.

The rundown building of the doctor's office loomed closer than ever, yet with every agonizing movement, it felt farther away than ever before.

His vision blurred and his world shook, but Jin pressed on

From the side, the gazes of the Tenth District's inhabitants turned even deeper as they watched Jin, heavily armed, but on the verge of death, seemingly unable to defend himself.

This is obviously a Cypher, should we even try anything?" asked one of the older, more timid inhabitants to the person walking beside him, who approached Jin with a smile on his face. 

"Dem, don't act like such a pussy right now. This guy's as good as dead, handing us money from the goodwill of his kind heart." Said the other inhabitant, the smile on his face only widened from the promise of a free paycheck. 

'Fucking hyenas…' Mused Jin as he gazed at the incoming slum dwellers, in his mind, they resembled a pack of drooling hyenas. 

"Thank you for the money, dear sir Cypher," he expressed with mocking gratitude to Jin, who now lay on the ground, his wounds overwhelming him.

Jin could only stare intensely at them from the ground, the doctor's office barely a block away. However, he was too weak to continue on his own.

As he attempted to reach for his pistol, he was swiftly kicked in the stomach before he could make a move.

Coughing up blood from the impact, Jin grimaced, but the pain from the kick paled in comparison to the constant sharp and dull agony coming from the collapse of his very cells. 

"Fuck… off," Jin managed to say through gritted teeth, his hostile stare intensifying as electricity crackled in his eye.

"No, I don't think we will." Laughed the slum dweller, crouching to Jin's level to laugh into his face.

But to his shock, Jin was smiling as well while he was in his face.

Jin reached out, touching the stomach area of the dweller, electric current from his hand traversed into the dweller, zapping him with lightning currents that traversed straight to his heart.

Killing him instantly.

"What the fuck, this freak is still dangerous." Screamed out one of the slum dwellers in fear as he saw the dead, scorched body of another dweller to the ground.

All of them ran away in terror while screaming, leaving Jin alone with a dead body on the ground while he continued to bleed profusely.

"What a shit show…" Muttered Jin, his consciousness faded slowly into nothing.