A week after the Harbinger's attack, more than half of the population of the camp were still missing in action.
Though the defenses had almost completely fallen and the place was now far from being a safe haven, the camp somehow still stood…however not proudly. It just still existed.
The Extinction Neutralisation Department (END) was rebuilding.
I guess that's why they were the main resistance to the apocalypse. The moment they'd ever call it quits and give up, that would be the fatal end of civilization.
Branches of END all over the world were still thriving and rebuilding despite now being constantly targeted by the most powerful enemies almost on a daily basis.
Rumor has it that a sinkhole had appeared under an END camp in Ghana and the whole camp went crashing into the void below. After that, they simply just relocated the base to another state and started over.
After the Harbinger disappeared, I was certain the camp would stop functioning, considering the level of damage it took…and the sheer amount of casualties that remained, but that wasn't the case.
Meg had been hospitalized for the past week after she was dug out from deep underneath rubble of broken bricks and twisted metal after the Harbinger's attack. She was able to stand on her feet now, (thanks to the usual quick healing that came with having Abilities) though still wrapped in heavy bandages on her arms and legs.
She was now loading our luggage with supplies—clothes, canned food and a first aid kit. Meg and I were leaving camp. For good.
Okay, let me rewind a little.
After I'd killed Vektor, the Harbinger disappeared and I sort of got control of my body again.
Sort of.
Yeah I was still Zephan…just not the usual good old Zephan.
My mind had been permanently corrupted to the core. Morally stained.
I'd become extremely violent and aggressive. Easily heated and a tendency to want to have to kill whenever I felt angered, which was basically almost every moment. I picked at least two fights daily and ended up hurting random END soldiers and campers.
I'd become a nasty problematic hothead.
Hylla hadn't spoken a word to me since I killed Vektor—wouldn't even look at me. I was now a murderer after all. I couldn't blame her either. I'd dyed my fist in blood on that day.
And then of course there were the whispers that followed. The ugly glances that I got from people in the camp.
"He's not one of us."
"There's no human trait left in him. He actually killed Vektor."
"Hylla must be devastated."
"Murderer."
And they weren't wrong either.
The worst part was that I didn't feel awful about it. Sure I felt a little guilty sometimes about it, but I didn't really care, the way I was supposed to. You know, like how you'd feel after you've murdered a human…
Instead I wanted to avenge. Though Vektor and I weren't exactly on good terms, I still felt the need to respect his final wishes.
"Make it count."
I had to.
And what it's worth, I did at least want to apologize to Hylla and I couldn't even get the chance to do that.
At some point, Meg was the only person that wasn't scared to come near me and for some reason I could never bring myself to hurt her no matter what. Even when I was not in total control of myself. What was up with that anyway?
So basically that was why we were leaving camp. It was no longer safe for the other campers to be around me. Though I'd tried to beg Meg to remain in camp, she still insisted on coming with me.
"I'm coming with you." She'd said flatly, lying face up in her hospital dress and staring at the ceiling, "Don't argue. Don't fight it. It's decided."
Meanwhile END was organizing search-and-rescue missions for those still displaced by the storm that day. Brody went with the small teams every morning and came back in the evenings, looking weary and tired.
I spotted Bloodfang a few times, talking in hushed tones to Hylla while they wandered through the ruins of the camp.
I never got to figure out what they were talking about. Perhaps building plans?
"-hey, pass me the duct tape." Meg was saying, pointing at a pile of supplies on the bed I was sitting on.
I picked it up and tossed it in the bag. "You shouldn't be overworking yourself, you know? You haven't fully healed yet."
"Don't tell me what to do." She grumbled, still stuffing our bags with things we might never need.
I walked over to the window and stared down at the camp, now noisy with the activity that comes with rebuilding—hammers striking metal, cranes beeping, chattering voices and hum of machinery.
"Done." Meg patted the bags, "You are carrying them."
There was a beat up Prius waiting for us at the camp gates, courtesy of Abel, the flying END transport soldier.
Brody was waiting for us by the car outside.
I could feel my muscles tightening, that familiar aggression taking hold of me for the hundredth time that week.
"Relax." Meg whispered, "It's just Brody."
"I know…I'm trying." I said through gritted teeth. I felt like throwing myself at Brody like a lunatic for absolutely no reason. And it also made me feel awful because Brody was one of the few people that still treated me like a human.
"So you guys are really leaving, huh?" Brody asked again, like he'd already asked everyday since I told him about our decision.
I managed a smile, "We are not leaving leaving. You'll see us on the battlefield. Just give us a call whenever we are needed."
Meg and I had already discussed that we'd come back to help whenever we were needed. It would just be unfair to do nothing while we had Abilities that were useful to fight for humanity.
Brody nodded, hugged Meg and patted me on the back—which was a big risk seeing as he had encountered me losing my mind around him multiple times.
I loaded the trunk and climbed onto the shotgun seat. I'd never taken driving lessons so it wasn't safe for me to drive…and besides that, my road rage would be nasty.
Meg hit the gas and the last thing I saw of camp was Brody waving at us at the camp gates and a bunch of workers swinging hammers on the ruins, rebuilding.
***
I'd used up my college savings to rent a small run down cabin at the edge of town.
The place was perfect. It was close to a field with the city noise far away from it.
Abel had helped with finding me the right connections to purchase it despite the state of…you know, the world.
The drive was uneventful. The scenery we passed by wasn't pretty—just ruins of what was very recently a thriving civilization.
We drove till ruined buildings turned into wide expanses of fields with sheep grazing peacefully. Small hills stretched out to the horizon.
Countryside.
I stared into the distance and let winds rush past my ear, letting myself get lost in my thoughts.
I'd stained my hand with blood and that might not be the last time. The way I was going…well I guess good thing I was leaving camp.
I wondered what Hylla now thought of me. Did she think I was now fully a monster for killing her lover?
The idea of that started making me angry all over again. Before I knew it, my fists were already balled, ready to punch something.
"Zeph." Meg said, her eyes still fixed on the road. "Forget about all that for now. Let's just…forget about camp and pretend we are just going for a camping trip. How about that, huh?
My anger subsided. Meg was so soothing when she wanted to be. She was the only one that had steadily been with me in the past few years. Even now, when there was no reason for her to stick with me, she still refused to let me go.
"I'm glad I have you." I said to her, fully meaning it.
She blushed but she said, "of course you are."
I'd not been alone with Meg for a long time. So us just being together and not constantly fighting for our lives was just refreshing. And it made some things clearer to me…
An hour later, we got to the cabin and I offloaded our supplies from the car.
The place was so dusty, I had Meg sit and wait inside the car while I cleaned and scrubbed the whole place.
The cabin had one tiny parlor, a kitchen and one bedroom with a bathroom that had a faulty shower head and randomly spewed cold water in the middle of hot baths.
"It has one bedroom." Meg noticed.
"Don't worry. I'll sleep on the floor. No big deal." I said quickly.
Meg looked like she wanted to say something but she changed her mind. "Come change my bandages will you?"
She sat on the bed and held out her arms to me. I remembered the nurse that took care of her did say I should change her bandages after every bath.
Meg's wet hair was now almost fully black. She'd neglected dying it pink recently for obvious reasons.
When she crashed after the Harbinger threw her, a metal rod had pierced right through her bicep on her left arm. But it was the crash itself that did the most damage.
She had dislocated almost every joint in her body and was left in unbearable pain for days.
I'd never seen Meg go through so much since I'd known her. She tried to play it off lightly the way she usually does but I could see it in her eyes—the fear that still lingered as if afraid the Harbinger might appear again to finish the job.
I was sure that was why she was leaving camp with me, to avoid the trauma and fear of being attacked again.
I silently swore to myself to protect her with my life if anything like that ever happened again.
I knelt in front of her between her legs and took her left arm in mine.
I'd helped her change her bandages multiple times before whenever the nurses weren't available, which was a lot of times because the nurses were usually too busy due to the number of patients and casualties from monster attacks flooding in daily.
I peeled off the old bandages as gently as I could so I wouldn't hurt her.
The wound she sustained from the stab from the metal rod was already slowly covering up.
I used a clean moist cloth to gently wipe the wound and applied scenting ointment on the tender skin around the wound. Then I pulled out fresh bandages from our bags and wrapped the now clean wound in them.
I did the same thing to all her other cuts and formerly dislocated joints, holding them in place, careful not to upset them.
For me, this was like therapy. It felt like the one thing I was doing right after all the damage I'd caused lately.
It was healing for me, just as much as it was for Meg.
I was so close to Meg, I could see the slight steady rise and fall of her chest beneath her oversized shirt.
I'd just finished the last of the bandage replacements but I kept kneeling there in front of her, still holding her freshly bandaged hand.
I was done but I didn't want to leave that position.
She was not saying anything…just staring at me with her bright blue eyes, her still wet from bathing.
I needed to leave.
She smelled so good. Her jasmine shampoo probably.
I managed to raise my head to look at her face. I couldn't place the expression I saw on her face.
Her eyes were softened and there was a half smile playing on her lips.
God, she was so beautiful.
No, we were friends. Best friends!
What was I thinking? I needed to leave there.
My heart was racing for a really annoying reason.
I finally released her hand and was about to move away but she held my arm instead.
She reached over and sank her fingers inside my hair, playing softly in it.
"M-meg." I managed. A warm feeling rose to my cheeks, very glaringly opposite from the cold feeling of the poison inside me.
Her fingers traced down to my ear, my cheek, my chin…
She brought her face closer, her eyes studying mine.
Blue on green.
And before I knew it, I surged up and pressed my lips to hers and I felt her hands around my face, pulling me into a hot make out.