America

[Noctis the Devious]

OOC America

[Old Intro is old]

"They wanna see blood, they wanna see hate! Like a needle in your vein, a sickness with no name, in a world that's insane, was America to blame? When you're praying for a change to a God with no face!" Kaycee sung as she resting her upper body lazily over a railing. She was standing on a roof that once topped a sky scrapper; now it topped a pile of rubble that the sky scrapper was reduced to over the ages.

"They wanna see blood, they wanna see hate! Like a fucking AK, it's going up in flames. In a world that's insane, was America to blame when you're praying for a change to a god with no face?!" The world around her was a grim reminder of the grand city the crumbling buildings used to represent. As predicted, the Earth grew around humanity's artificial environment as if it was never even there to begin with and wildlife began taking over, proof that this country has been long abandoned.

Humans were dwindling in numbers. All except Australians who kept to their own little piece of the world on their country/Continent/island. They took no part in the war that began hundreds of years ago when nuclear warfare was at its peak. When it was all over, this country was declared unfit to support life. Over the years it had healed of course, and though the nuclear-tainted was said to be unable to support human life that didn't mean it couldn't support life period.

The radiation in the air had its effects and Kaycee can't really say she didn't like the symptoms. In fact, she was rather comfortable with the power she was blessed with.

 

[Apollyon]

Heavy footsteps took place around her. These lost streets were like hallways, echoing each sound as it was channeled through and around. Who's they were she wouldn't be able to tell just yet. But they definitely sounded heavier than most peoples. Cai wasn't quite normal anymore. The air had consequences for man's appetite for destruction, even if it was there own. The devices meant to eradicate life, had expelled tons of radioactive fall out. It was a wonder anything was alive, let alone the creatures the bombs were built to destroy.

Cain was a survivor though, even when a sickness wretched his body from him and twisted it into something else. The third rate doctors had never seen anything quite like him. A mutation on the genetic scale had altered his body and thus, altered him as a side effect. He had a severe sensitivity to daylight unless covered heavily. His hair had lost all off its color, turning a stark white when it was a deep chestnut brown. His irises turned from hazel to blood red and morphed his pupils to being broken and fragmented appearances. There were other...effects as well. Something wasn't quite right.

The young man halted his motions. A gas mask with tinted eyes much like blowtorch mask. No one knew how he could see through them so easily. That wasn't all. He seemed t have physical enhancements. He was stronger than he remembered, tougher too. He could move a bit faster than most folks, able to spring through woodlands or down streets with a breeze like a skittish deer. But it came at a price though. People around him began to believe he was a monster and while it certainly was never his intention to be this way the distrust and hysteria o those he was once around--drove him from his native home.

Out in the wastelands he adapted quickly. He always scavenged for things. He'd even killed for them. But people were left after the bombs and wars, were left in a bleak were world that instilled a sense of lawlessness. Those who weren't in communities that shared things, were often driven mad by desperation. Though people were few and far between, there was always danger lurking.


Cain checked the magazine of his assault rifle. He had enough bullets to last, but he wanted to use them sparingly as much as possible. He was a noticeably built man. A towering man, also a side effect of the mutation. He was nearly seven feet tall. The bullet proof vests he'd collected to both cover and protect himself had to be overlapping. Thick ceramic plates and heavy kevlar coats like those of the former armies. He had camouflage pants that were varying shades of grey and knee high leather boots. He couldn't stand the sunlight, it would burn him too severely.


He breathed in deeply, the masks respirator in haling air gave him an almost mechanical sounding breath. Someone was here...he could smell them. He would have to be careful..

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____Kaycee stopped her singing in favor of listening to the echoes of footsteps that seem to be approaching her. A breeze blew by and she tilted her head, trying to get a more accurate idea of where and how far the person was but the way the steps resounded made it difficult. All at once they stopped and the redhead frowned. Should she ditch her current spot for lower ground or stay where she was in an attempt to avoid a possibly unpleasant encounter? She currently had nothing on her person but the clothing on her back as she has just ate her last rations; she no longer had a need for water. The railing creaked as Kaycee's weight was lifted from it and she walked to the other side of the roof top and peered out into the horizon.

_____It was a cloudy day and the threat of rain hung over head. That most likely won't happen until nightfall though. The late teen still couldn't make out anyone around and she turned away, plopping down and resting her head against the rusty and half decayed railing. She thought of another song and she mouthed the lyrics from memory. That was what she did. Day in and day out she'd sing merely to keep herself sane - she wasn't exactly a popstar - but with the threat of someone in the area she had to keep her voice down. Her dark eyes looked towards the sky again, the chill of the day biting through the fabric of her jacket.

_____Why was she hiding? Kaycee had nothing on her person of much value and even if she did it wasn't like she was completely defenseless. Even if they killed her, wasn't like she has much to look forward to in this life. Despite that, she couldn't deny she was curious. That and how was one suppose to hide from another if one didn't know where the other was to begin with? With that in mind, she hopped over the railing and carefully picked her way down from the pile of rubble that was a past sky scrapper. Cautiously, Kaycee peeked down the street she assumed the person was on and that's wen she spotted it, a figure off in the horizon double checking their ammunition. They were an interesting person decked out in military wear. A closer look couldn't possibly hurt.

_____Keeping a mental note of where the figure was, the redhead ducked away and picked her way through the maze of streets and rubble. She ended up a mere block away and was taken back by how big the figure really was. If she were to stand next to him, he would dwarf her. She couldn't tell if the figure was male or female as they were thoroughly covered be layers of thick clothing. The lenses of the mask they wore seemed near impossible to look through properly. Could they even see what they were going or even where they were going? More importantly, could they even tell where they were? Another thing Kaycee took note of was the equipment the figure carried.

_____Maybe she should have kept her distance...

 

[Apollyon]

Cain's sense of smell was a shark. A drop of blood in the water they could have smelled you miles before you realized. It was very similar to him. His senses were animalistic in nature, and he had to adapt that way. The scent of a person wasn't just their body odor or natural musk. It was also the smell of their tears and their blood. Their urine and even their seminal fluids. These had various odors, somewhere more blatant and some couldn't really be sniffed out by the human nose because it simply was not strong enough. And he couldn't really be fazed by powerful aromas, confused maybe, but never overwhelmed.

The shifting winds meant Kaycee's various bodily odors were now drifting towards him. He could tell many things from her scent. Not just she was a girl, but a juvenile still. She wasn't aroused, but cautious even afraid. She hadn't had sex yet either. She was above, ad behind him a ways. He didn't smell gunpowder but he did smell faint traces of sulfur like a fire had been lit recently near her.As long as she stayed put and didn't try to attack, he was happy to let her go. Though another part of him chided him for letting prey go like that. But that was soon to be...rectified.

Several other traces, most foul aromas. Maybe not to others living in this area as humanity had long since lost the ability to keep up with bathing regularly. The waters were still tainted with radiation. Though there were purifiers, there was only so much they could do. So bathing on a regular basis was simply not going to work. Not with the only sources of power in shambles and were few and far between. Several figures emerged from another street entirely. Wielding mundane weapons; crowbars and tire irons--one even had a fire axe.

Their skin was covered in mud and grit. Their faces filthy and hair matted. They were a mixture of men women. Vagabonds. Junkies looking for a fix. To Cain, they were like a buffet. They didn't know he had claws and teeth. Or just how strong he really was, or how fast his reflexes were. They were looking for an opportunity to gang up and steal his weapons and clothing--maybe leave him for him for dead if they didn't outright try to bash his skull in. But time and again, the world showed humans that they weren't the top predators anymore. The dead rose, mutations of animals that made them into something completely different and completely deadly.

Chuckles and sneers came from the lot, while an eerie rasping came from but one.

"Look a this guys," The leader of this motley crew lifted his arm directing the axe towards Cain. " Seems we have ourselves fine pickin's tonight." The group cheered and started surrounding the individual.

Cain breathed, releasing a raspy, deep voice. " There are only four of you...I smell five." He commented. " Although...the one I smell is a lot younger than you rabble, perhaps I shouldn't be so hasty."

"Huh? What the fuck you talkin' 'bout?!" ne of the others yelled. They were all addicts. You could see it in their eyes. Always wanting a quick fix. An escape from this world.

"You gone bat shit crazy or sumthin'? " Another asked.

Cain's head swung one way slowly, the next. He spotted out a burnt out, rusted car. Walking towards it the group followed, staying uniformly around him in a 'u' shape. This individual stored his assault rifle inside the destroyed car, even taking the shotgun off his shoulder and storing it away as well.

"Holy shit Clive, this guy really is fucking nuts." The second guy told their leader.
"Yeah, well it makes it a lot easier for us to bash his fucking skull in. Go get him! Bring me his fucking teeth after you kick them out!" Clive responded, standing back while three members of his party--two men and one woman engaged Cain.

The first attack would come with the clap of thunder, signalling it was about to down pour. The the man to Cain's immediate left came with his arm reared back behind him. In his hand was a heavy wrench, like those used to fix cars like the one behind Cain. The man swung hard, the physical exertion evident as it met the frame of the car. He didn't hit what he intended to. It was just about that time, in the instant that lightening flashed, Cain had buried a tomahawk into the man's throat.

He dropped the wrench. His choking and gasping as blood pour out and no air poured, was heard around them. His hands, trembling tried to pry at the hand that had embedded the source of his pain, but it was like fighting a steel trap once it had shut. His eyes stared up at the black visored gasmask. Fear gripping him as Cain took a breath, then, as though maliciously, flung the man's entire body as ifhe had no other choice, slamming his skull off the corner of the car and tore out his throat. The man's body spun around from so much force and just collapsed.

The body sliding down the tire leaving a massive puddle of blood and gore behind. The other two looked at each other in shock then back at the black masked man who now held a tomahawk out to his side drenched in blood. They would hear the crunching of bone, but could tell where it was coming from. It was Cain. He was chewing the human remains; snapping the bones so he could get at the marrow. He started walking forwards slowly. The pair responded.

The second man swung the tire iron outwards, hoping to strike at Cains face. However, Cain simply bought the axe up. The point at the tip tore through his lower mandible. Bones splinter causing his jaw to snap shut suddenly. His screams muffled now. His insults were silenced. t tore his tongue from its fixed place and pinned it to the roof of his mouth. The woman aimed for Cains abdomen, stabbing with a small stiletto. However, she forgot to account for the large hardened ceramic plates in his vest meant to stop rifle rounds. It did no good here. Cain kicked the man he'd just maimed back and down, his body sliding a few feet away.

Turning to the woman one massive gloved hand gripped her throat. On contact with her chest, she'd forcefully expelled her breath. Cain slowly lifted her high into the air. She was now more than seven feet off the ground--dangling. His hands around her throat, he could feel the bones shifting. Her legs were kicking, her hands trying to pry him away. There was a loud audible 'pop' and she went limp. He tossed her body aside like a sopping wet rag doll. He turned to the leader--Clive. He unceremoniously, dropped the axe and ran for his life.

Cain tilted his head, removed his side arm and fired striking the man in the lower back. Wounding him but not killing him. He then stepped over to the man with an axe nailing his mouth shut as he didn't dare touch it--it hurt too damn much. Cain didn't have that issue. He put one boot to the mans chest, grabbed the handle, and tore out his jaw. The addict slumped back down, his tongue or whatever was left now lie in his wide open throat. Once the hatchet was free of the mandible, he set pace towards this Clive fellow.

Once upon him, he loomed over the man as he rolled over like a dog. Funny how that worked, wasn't it?

"W-W-Who are you?! What are you?!" Clive whimpered, trembling. Not because he was feeling the chill of the rain that was washing away his life slowly leaking out. But the large masked figure didn't give an answer he just...breathed raspily and rose his arm.

N-N-N-No! No! N-" The voice was cut short and abruptly. The sound of silence after the sicking noise of a head being severed from its host.

Cain never liked being what he was. In fact, he detested it. But there was human in him and the human will to survive was stronger than his prayers of just being another animal that was to be shot. A lot of the times,he felt like Cain from the old testament. Never good enough and always forsaken. He held no malice towards people in general. But what he had turned into craved their flesh. Without it he'd die. It was a curse,and he wondered who else had been stricken with inexplicable gifts. Gifts that made them outcasts. Gifts that left them curse. Gifts that left them alone in the dark, scared to think..you might not just make it this day.

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____Kaycee watched everything curiously, if not a bit wearily. This man was definitely not one to be trifled with. Honestly, she could tell that before the punks attacked. The dude had to be on steroids with the way he was built! And all that military armor... They just had to be baked out of their mind if the thought they had any chance of winning. Another thing, he practically told them he was a victim of the radiation and yet they still stood their ground like arrogant fools. The idiocy behind humanity will never cease to amaze her. He could have easily shot them all down but instead he set his equipment down in the shelter of a car, a move Kaycee didn't blame him for with the threat of a storm.

_____And that's when it all started. With a loud cry of thunder, the heavens broke and the first move was made. The redhead wasn't paying attention. Not that she couldn't stomach some old fashion carnage, but the rain currently held her attention. It was a beautiful thing really. Even in its impure state it was still something that the pyro took pleasure in. The small, cool droplets of poison fell from the clouds above and she tilted her head back to greet them. She closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of having the water pelt gently against her caramel skin just to slide off and leave behind a wet trail. The rain didn't completely distract her from what was going on just a few feet away though. She was well aware of every crack of bone and every life taken away. She just chose not to acknowledge it in favor of something more pleasant. It wasn't any of her business anyway.

_____It was during the last one's begging did she finally turn around and head back the way she came. The rain would most likely - hopefully - disguise her scent enough for the other being to lack the ability to track her, but for all she knew he could have other means of following her. She frowned inwardly, the displeasure thought but not psychically shown. The late teen would much rather avoid an encounter as she was uncertain how well she would do against him. On second thought, it was raining. But seeing as the man was completely garbed, her self defense fire wouldn't activate so readily. No, skin-on-skin contact would have to be required. Yet, another displeasing thought. This man was already proving to be troublesome and they haven't even been in close proximity!

_____She needed a nap.

 

[Apollyon]

When the world had gone deaf due in no small part of the loud crack overhead--Cain seemed to vanish. The the heavy rain masked hs movements. He was a predator, and while he could certainly fight-he preferred stalking. Hunting potential prey. This smell wafting through his nostril had him intrigued. The scent of another infected person. He had smelled this scent before so it was familiar. Her body told him a plethora about her. Chaos, it seemed,didn't bother her. Nor had his savage slayings. In conclusion he surmised she had seen or been witness to bloodshed often enough. Too often to be one born in the small gatherings in rundown shacks protected by only a wall of refuse.

He had taken a route through an abandoned lot near the building she was in. When he neared a ruined wall that allowed him access. He knelt down taking his heavy boots off first. His pallid skin would emit a faint trail of smoke, but no odor. In fact, he didn't have a smell. His body was untraceable by odors. He stepped through the rubble softly, his feet adopting different and varying positions and applied varying weight measures to keep the ruined blocks of cement and brick from moving too much.

She was human, not deaf.

The lightning continued to flash blindingly; more violent than in days past. The thunder clap making the world seem...mute. The girl would hear nothing but silence over the rumble.Deafening to the ears. As he made his way through the building, navigating like a bloodhound to its favorite toy. He had come full circle. The room behind her was dark, dank, and wet. The ceiling had collapsed in, allowing the water to pool and create miniature rivers through the debris on the ground. He made his presence known, but it would be too late for her to run. The noise he made was the cocking of slide being drawn back, chambering around. Kaycee's human nature could tell her right away that she was undeniably in danger. It could tell her she could run but from this distance...it would be very hard for him to miss her by any degree.

Then came a terrifying sound to confirm her fears if she did not believe this was happening. A slow mechanical withdraw before that uneasy easy exhale. The hunter of the infected had gotten behind her and was no more than a few feet from her, his pistol dead trained on the back of her head.

"You have...a very peculiar scent girl..." His voice ruptured the silence. It wouldn't be easy to describe other than mechanical and frightening. "You are...infected. Given a curse in this rotting world. I smelled you before I entered this city. A vague aroma dawdling in the wind..."

He moved forwards, his bare feet stepping into one of the many puddles. "The question now is, are you dangerous..?"

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____The first thing that Kaycee be came aware of was the absolute silence. Though this was normally how everything sounded save for her random singing, it was particularly unsettling after what had occurred mere moments before hand. Her plan was to retreat to the fallen sky scrapper as it was high, easy enough to climb, and the roof was flat and stable up to this point. The railings were another story but she could live without them; however, her plan was rudely interrupted by a silent assailant, the cannibal from earlier. When he spoke his voice had a certain metallic quality to it. From the mask maybe?

_____Before he spoke though, he had placed her at gun point. The sound was unmistakable to her ears that have grown to pick out the metallic click of the hammer being drawn back and the trigger being prepared to be depressed. He heard him creep closer to her, the splash of a puddle being a dead give away, but it was the sound of the splash that intrigued her. He was barefoot. He had to be barefoot. A heavy boot would have put more emphasis on the splash intentionally or not. The again, the soles of boots would have made it that much more difficult for the cannibal to sneak up on her. What idiot would walk around barefoot?

_____The question now is, are you dangerous..?

_____Kaycee mentally facepalmed. Of all the things she had observed from this guy - super strength, heightened senses - the hope of him having an actual wit outside of combat was dwindling. Seriously, what idiot stalks out someone, corners them, and then proceeds to ask if their prey was dangerous? Then again, he could be looking for a challenge. That thought wasn't particularly consoling. If anything it put the redhead even more on edge than she already was. Her body was tensed but her jacket was just baggy enough to hide this fact. With it falling past mid-thigh, she might as well be wearing it as a shapeless dress. Another thought that wasn't consoling; what if he ate her?

_____Dead or alive, she'd still burst into flames and devour him as her flames were far from ordinary. They didn't merely burn and then fade. No, they ate their victim and didn't die until there was nothing left to be eaten. If he were to eat her alive, she would not only regain her energy but absorb his own through her fire. She could leave him and be rejuvenated as if the encounter had never happened. He would be nothing but a memory. The mere thought of attempted to be eating was what made her sick to her stomach. What if he ate her while she was dead? Kaycee mentally grimaced at the thought.

_____She debated letting the silence carry on. Then again, being held at gun point was no reason to be rude. But, for all this guy knew, she could have been mute. If he shot her for not talking, he'd be shooting a mute. Oh the irony. Slowly, Kaycee removed her hands from the pockets they barely reached and held them up even with her head before inching her way around so she could look at her attacker. "Only a coward would bother holding a gun up to someone's back," she finally murmured. Her voice was light and airy, emotionless despite the terror that rocked her to her core. If there was anything she had learned from living out here it was perfecting a mask of apathy. The only thing left her unguarded was her eyes. After all, she might have been infected but she was still human and no human can go completely emotionless without some sort of outlet.

_____The late teen took in the cannibal's appearance. He was drenched just like she was, rain water dripping off of him and pattering against the cement under them. She considered his question. Was she dangerous? Of course she was, especially to his current state. Not only was her speculations about him being barefoot confirmed, but he might as well be soaked in gasoline.

_____The rain water was tainted.

_____"Yes, I am dangerous. Another question of the moment, what are you going to do about it?" Kaycee wasn't scared, she was terrified, but her tone remained steady. She displayed a false calm and indifference towards the situation at hand that could possibly get her killed. The red head looked up into the tinted lenses of the masked and waited for the towering cannibal to make his move. That was another thing she was right about, he completely dwarfed her. While she stood a mere 5'6 and weighed a healthy one-hundred and thirty pounds for her build, he had to be at seven feet tall and at least twice her size when it came to mass.

_____No wonder he approached her in such a way; he had every right to.

 

[Apollyon]

Moments had passed when he had asked the question to himself aloud.In those few moments he could hear her ever movment. Her heart's racing palpitations, every muscle twinge. It was partially why he was always so fast. His reflexes were enhanced by the fact his muscles were super condensed as well as his bone structure. Striking him would be like striking a diamond hard brick wall. The condense feature of his muscles also was the reason why he never looked bulky, but instead lean without his armor on. He simply didn't need more muscle, when the muscle he had was acting the part.

"Only a coward would bother holding a gun up to someone's back," She finally answered, he had allowed her to turn and face him. His face he could not read...But hers was an open book. Rather she'd admit it or not, she was afraid. She might have been calm when the carnage involved someone else, but she was trembling at the thought of what happened to those addicts--happening to her.Cain lifted the pistol slight. Once trained on her heart, the iron sights now directed the bullet, if it were to come, straight to the head. Another raspy exhale, another mechanical withdrawal of the intoxicating air around the two. Even without the radiation, one could say the tension alone could suffocate.
"I'm not pointing at your back anymore...does that mean if I were to shoot you like this I'm no longer the coward?" His response would provoke a sense of being smart mouthed. But his voice while mechanical, was cold--very cold. "Don't place your dogma on me, human.It has no bearing there. You're kinds to blame for that--Maybe instead of calling me a coward you should glance down at that puddle by your feet and wonder...Am I really that cowardly when bombs fell and turned countless children to ash and burned their existence into the pavement we no walk on? A bomb falling is like a gun to your back or your front--it won't matter where you get shot you still die in the end. The bullet doesn't discern the fact, it just knows where its wielder points and squeezes the trigger. Just like human beings and their recklessness with things that are beyond them. So tell me, do you feel any more cowardly than I do yet?""Yes, I am dangerous. Another question of the moment, what are you going to do about it?" She asked Cain, posing the inquiry because she was scared of the outcome.

"That depends. What usually happens between those with guns, and those without guns? " He kept his gun fixated on her. His arm wasn't wavering, it wasn't shaking. it was like the branch of a tree; stiff and unrelenting to the elements. "Even if I am not human anymore, I still have a soul." He said to out loud rather to himself or to her it wouldn't easily be discerned though the message was. He didn't like killing needlessly he didn't even like eating the flesh of humans, but as much as a monster as that made him in the eyes of humans--still had a soul. Rather it was a human's soul, or a dark angels he wasn't sure. Only then did he lower his side arm, pushing the hammer back up and holster it.

He began towards her again, but as he did so his hand lifted and began unsnapping the clasps that held the gas mask. When he removed it slowly, her eyes would be bewildered at the sight of him. He unraveled the shemagh and removed the balaclava, and out fell an ocean of solid white, snowy soft hair. Then, his pale as the moon skin which seemed to glow as it caught the waters reflection of light. His face was bent forwards, so she couldn't easily see his eyes. The long, beautiful strands of hair that shimmered like silver or platinum. Slowly though, his head lifted and she saw two socketed rubies for eyes. His face was angular; a slender nose and risen cheekbones--he was entirely handsome. He had blood still on his lips from partially eating and his sharp teeth could be seen only slightly.

He looked like what an angel should be like. Tall, pale--otherworldly in both appearance and presence. He had stopped before actually letting the light touch him.

"I was once called Skylar, but now I'm just Cain." He stated, looking down at her from his shadowy place, but he extended a hand to her. It was gloved so it could pass through the threshold and into the overcast light.

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____Kaycee's fear ebbed away into anger with each word he had said until she was about to boil over. He dare blame all of this on her?! She might still see herself as somewhat human but to be looped in with those who wiped life from the land and poisoned the air was going too far. She didn't care if he had guns or ate human flesh to survive, she wanted to burn him alive! He then had the gulls to reveal his is face to her, to expose more skin, and get down to eye level with her. Crimson pools met dark forests and she fought back a glare. Her facial expression remained blank even though all she wanted to do was scowl.

_____"Burn in hell, Skylar-Cain," the red replied, managing to keep her voice the same as earlier. She dropped her hands and stuck them in her pockets. "Keep away from me and I will be sure to leave you alone." Her tone wavered and she turned on her heels, lightning flashing and creating false day light for a brief moment. The redhead abandoned all intentions of returning to her roof top and decided on another route. Kaycee tugged the bill of her hat further over her eyes and made her way through the crumbling building and out into the pouring rain. She no longer took pleasure in the weather, her mood too foul for that.

_____She kept her head down and navigated her way through the empty streets. Why, of all people, did she have to run into him. A bike gang would have been more pleasant to run into on the streets, but no, she just had to run into another infected who decided to blame everything on her. Whatever she was now was her fault. Bastard needs to die in a hole. Or burn to death. If she was the type of person to smile, she'd be grinning at the image of Cain's of so perfect features melting off of his bone structure as he screamed and withered in agony at her feet. Stupid cannibal. Screw his soul.

 

[Apollyon]

Nearly a week or two had gone by, with no indication of the monster Cain. Since her fateful meeting with this aberrant nightmare, Kaycee would hear many tales spun about him. How he lives in the wild where mutants slither and crawl and the risen dead walk. She would hear of him devouring flesh, not of animals--but people instead. How he could suck the bones free of marrow after skinning them like any deer could ever be skinned It was a grotesque picture to be sure. But what would catch her attention was from the very few who traveled to other encampments dotte through this lonely world--He hunts and kills infected people deliberately. Then the speculation that his mutations were released by a doctor in a journal who supposedly went bat shit crazy saying that he was nature's way of balance; every animal had a natural enemy. Cain was the natural enemy to those infected.

But no one knew what he looked like.They had never seen his real face. So the hysteria boiled over until everyone was blaming everyone afraid they might infected and the person sitting next to them was this monster then was going to kill them and eat them--bones and all. However, they had all unknowingly seen Cain. But they saw only a large, muscular man with a kevlar vest and a gas mask. Hardly the appearance of a mutant. Especially when he didn't seem to have any sickening mutations on him. Cain had even traded goods and lost artifacts with them. Many believed he was a kind of...hero. Kids even looked up to him, been literally.

But only a handful knew what was beyond the mas. A mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Meant to gouge and tear, meant to rip and crush. He had the bite force of a hyena; able to snap bone to get at the marrow inside--like cracking the shell of a lobster or a crab. His strength was unreal. His speed was unreal. But his most dangerous asset was his bodies ability to adapt. You burn him alive, his skin becomes immune to the flames. You drown him he earns to breathe under the water. You freeze him, his body's two hearts beat so fast, the blood thats pumping becomes superheated. You crush him...his body becomes like a diamond. He was truly meant to survive where no one else could and while he could certainly live of the flesh of an ordinary person, the infected were like delicacies to him. Sweet morsels to be savored and chewed through.

So why not kill Kaycee? History has shown, time and again that the hunter can also show a sense of interest in its prey. The lion that never kills the gazelle, the world that strangely, protects the lamb. And while those creatures may kill other gazelles or other sheep, they never seem to want to kill that particular one. It comes by in happenstance. t first they mean to. Their instincts as predator kick in and they give chase. But then, something very unusual happens. They don't kill it. Instead...they care for it. Nurture it. Like they would a cub of their own.

So was it...just a fluke? Did Cain just let her go? Or was he protecting her from his very nature to hunt and kill her and those like her?

Cain was now, at this very moment hacking away at a severed limb. Sure, he could bite it. But that would have been messy. He didn't like being messy. It reminded him of the animal, the beast--the monster he held locked away. The tomahawk acting as a sort of hatchet and meat cleaver. A fire was going inside one of the ruined apartment complexes. It was amazing, but somehow his know-how intellect was amazing. It had been years since the stove had been even touched. Yet with a little ingenuity--he had managed to create a small sustainable power source for it to work.

He had discarded the man's clothing, skinned the body and now...now he was just deboning the hunk of flesh while the skin cooked; sizzling, cracking a popping the pot. The human fat acting like a grease and therefore, the pot had become a deep fryer. He was quartering the body. Cutting the limbs off until only the torso remained. He had already disemboweled it. Removing the organs he didn't want such as the intestines, and the ones he dead like the heart or the liver and kidneys. They did make for a good additives after all.

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____She was said to be possessed by fire; nothing more than a wild fire waiting to burn herself out...

_____Kaycee didn't know what to make of half of the things she heard about the Cain character. The only conclusion she could draw was that it was like living with a shark on land, or a wolf in sheep's clothing. She had seen some of what he was capable of and even knew what he looked like - a devil in disguise, and in the time span of two weeks, being eaten was added to her list of irrational fears. Then again, was there even such thing as an irrational fear in this day and age? Some would say no, but one look into Kaycee's mind might have them double check themselves. She never really had a sense of security and from that stemmed a boat load of paranoia. Yet, being shot, stabbed, beaten, poisoned, anything an actual human being might be afraid of never seemed to bother her. In fact, she's more worried about ghosts than being jumped by a gang.

______Despite her fears and nightmares the late teen was still curious, especially about one rumor in particular. Could he really adapt to being burned? The questioned pestered her just as much as her nightmares of a shark coming out of the ground and swallowing her whole did. If he were to seriously try to eat her, would her flames with the same cannibalistic nature actually have no effect on the Cain character? She wanted to know, be able to test her theory, but at the same time she didn't want to be on the same side of the city as him! Another thing that bugged her; she knew he was still in the city. Kaycee couldn't explain it really, but every time her sixth sense kicked in she took off in the opposite direction. As much as would love meeting someone who could possibly adapt to her flames, she didn't want to run the risk of being eaten after she was killed.

_____One would think she'd be more worried about being eaten alive.

_____Kaycee had found a small little store that seemed to carry everything but actual food. Small snacks had rotted by the counter and that was the extent of the edible product. In the back was a small dressing room and a full body mirror, cracked and ruined but still considered usable. The redhead had took it upon herself to try on anything that was in her size and see how it looked on her. It was small past time she had fun doing every now and then. During her little dress up game she found one of the objects she was particularly good at fixing up and her attention went from clothing items to electronics in a blink of an eye. After hours of tinkering static could be heard through the strange device. Another look around the store and she found one of the discs that could be inserted into the device.

[spoili][/spoili][spoili]

I'm waking up, to ash and dust;
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust.
I'm breathing in the chemicals...​

[/spoili]

_____Kaycee sprawled out across the floor of the store and just listened to the music that played. She wasn't a specialist when it came to genre, or even knew what a genre was, but she found herself drawn to a specific style of music; quick paced and loud. Every now and then she would find a different style of music outside of her usual style, but that didn't seem to happen often. Her eyelids began to drift close and she yawned; nap really did seem appealing at the moment. As her mind got further into the music, she started to become a lot less aware of her surroundings. Her jacket and hat were hung up in the dressing room on a peg, leaving her in nothing but a black shirt with a rainbow colored graphic design printed on the front of it and a pair of cargo jeans that had to be held up by a belt or else they would slide right off her hips. She didn't even bother changing her shoes since no other seemed durable enough to navigate the ruins that made up the city.

[spoili][/spoili][spoili]

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus.
This is it, the apocalypse;
Whoa...​

[/spoili]

_____Another thing that bugged the pyro; why didn't Cain kill her when he had the chance? Sure she could have acted all innocent and wowed as she reached out to touch his face, setting him on fire in the process and possibly ending his life. But she had little to no reason to kill him besides self defense, Darwinism, and spite. Cain has been said to hunt the 'infected' like a blood hound, so why did he not eat her when he had the chance? He even held out his hand and introduced himself. Like Kaycee would have given him her name after he had so rudely pulled a gun on her.

[spoili][/spoili][spoili]

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones;
Enough to make my systems blow.

Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.

Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh- I'm radioactive, radioactive.
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh- I'm radioactive, radioactive...​

[/spoili]

 

[Apollyon]

A man marched down the dilapidated, overgrown streets; tattoos bearing striking similarities to creatures of myth in times past. A colorful depiction of what once, a Japanese dragon. A symbol power then. Merely something menacing and fanciful now. Zanis was not a man easily to be trifled with. He was the head of the gang The Rook. Thieves at best. Murderers first. If they wanted something, be it money or a piece of ass--it was best just to give it to them. They'd take it anyways, and kill you after they made you watch.

The Rook, however, inadvertently played two roles however. Because what they saw was theirs--they simply refused to let it go. So when others came, and they were like minded--the groups often fought. The Rook had somehow become this settlement's saviour as well as a damning quality. There were some who just couldn't handle this. And they either driven to fight and die, or become so manically depressed that they'd kill themselves somehow, some way.Those that adapted to this lifestyle lived a lot happier existences. However men became slaves during the day, and women often bore bastard children.

This was a fate often delivered, in a world that saw no rules. Irony would strike cold steel; anarchists who would ordinarily believe in no rules, would make rules up as they go.

So which is worse? A world where there is no restraint, where anything can happen good OR bad. One that shows no mercy to those not willing to fight for what they have got, however little it may be.

On the other hand, you can live in a world where the only rules there are apply only to you. There is a small chance at forgiveness if you obey the rules mostly. But you'd be at the mercy of the one or ones you had to obey. But as indignant as that may sound, there is nothing indecent about the will to survive. For that is stronger than anything.

Still, Zanis was not one to be easily crossed. He was an infected too. Just like Kaycee. However, while she were principally undisciplined and therefore LESS of a hazard than say--one who could control is power on command? Zanis however,was not the strongest gravitational user in the whole of this world. He was just powerful for this region. Unless of course...there were something capable of surviving a gravity well or being crushed by debris. Her flames might have been hot, but Zanis's power created vacuums, and flames could not live, or live easily in a vacuum. No air, no fire. It was simple.

Kaycee's power was not all void however, quick preemptive strikes could still be damaging. She also had hand-to hand combat, though that was just as feral as her ability was, Zanis had not distinct methodology or style either. It also would seem, that infected were faster and stronger that ordinary folk, they could heal more quickly although not instantly. But they were only marginally faster or stronger than the other infect.She was faster than him. He was stronger than her.

This was a result of their powers. o their power levels per say. Zanis's ability to summon a larger gravity force applied innately to his own body. So while most people were feeling the regular g forces, including Kayce. Zanis felt a constant g force, akin to that of a formula on race car or 25 g's which--ordinarily would kill a person. However, rather than dying his body adjusted to this. By applying 'pressure' to his body like he were in water, it built his body a lot stronger than a normal human beings and even other infected individuals.

Kaycee, being the faster is because fire relies on air to breath but fumes to stoke the flame. Hot air rises and the hotter it is, the faster it acts as a propellent. Light too, travels quickly. Though she can not move at the speed of light itself, her body's adjusted to fast, quick methods of moving at a moments notice resulting in wh she seems so strong. The force applied and transferred to the person in question, can be the difference between getting hit by a pillow--or a car at 65 m.p.h. The results can still be devastating when velocity meets resistance and unless that resistance is harder than the object being thrown it is far more likely that the person left is not going to be standing long.

Zanis' ability creates a problem. Sudden deceleration due to the atmospheric pressure around him. It could potentially no only blow her flames backwards--she's liable to snap every bone in her arm and maybe more if contact occurs at such a high rate of speed. Simply put. She'd be going through a metaphoric windshield because she hadn't put on her seat belt before car that was speeding, stopped so suddenly.

"Kaycee! Get your ass out here...now!!"

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____Rule number one: never show emotion.

_____Kaycee had always lived by two rules and whether or not they kept her alive was unimportant really; they were more for protecting her pride. Whenever she received injury she wouldn't allow herself to even wince. If it didn't help take the edge off then what was the point? She also found that no reaction made most people less interested in her and even a bit uncomfortable. She didn't really care if they were uncomfortable or not. She grew up suppressing physical signs of emotion including happiness and confusion (and it wasn't like she wanted people to know she was scared-y cat rather than a fearsome 'infected'), so why should she suddenly start showing emotion? It wasn't as if she was completely rid of emotion or all signs of feeling. The pryro was still human in that aspect, and like most human aspects there were limitations to push.

_____The nineteen-year-old's body was constructed not of bone but of compact fire shaped like a skeleton. It offered more protection and, unlike bone that was merely alive, her fiery structure had a mind of its own - not something to control but to tame, not that Kaycee would bother with either. It gave and strengthen accordingly, but never snapped as it was it was too lenient. Her fiery structure was also compose of two layers and between those layers were extra blood vessels that up her white and red blood cell count. Not only does this offer a quick regeneration process but also increases the amount of oxygen getting into her muscles and where ever else it is needed. Because of all this, her body can sustain a tremendous amount of abuse. Unfortunately, her mind isn't as strong as her body and the more pain she's subjected to the more likely she is to black out.

_____"Kaycee! Get your ass out here...now!!"

_____Kaycee's heart practically leaped up into her throat and she nearly choked on it, bolting up right and causing the music player to tumble into lap from its spot on her chest. Was she hearing things or was there a demanding gang leader right outside the store? At that point, she rather someone convince her she was loosing her mind. What did Zanis want any way? The redhead actually contemplated ignoring him but that was sure to tick him off in all of the wrong ways. Would a 'do not disturb' sign help? Or maybe even a sock on the door? She wasn't even sure what that was supposed to mean but it was supposed to be some universal sign of denying entrance or something. In the end, she took off the head set and set the music player aside before she dragged herself off of the floor. Dusting herself off, Kaycee made her appearance at the threshold of the establishment.

[spoili][/spoili][spoili]

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones;
Enough to make my systems blow.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age.
Welcome to the new age, to the new age...
​

[/spoili]

_____"Oh, it is you," she drawled indifferently, as if she had no clue who it was to begin with. The jolt of fear she had felt when she had first heard his voice hardened into pure hatred the instant she set eyes on the tattooed man, and her gaze froze over. Without her hat, her cherry red hair, cut at an angle as if with a knife, was free to fall in front of her icy stare and brush along her jawline. Her dark green eyes were narrowed but the rest of her expression remained blank. The redhead stood with her muscles coiled but her joints relaxed as if waiting for something as flames licked across her skin. They were darker than the average fire, almost a scarlet color, and she hadn't had anything to 'eat' for the past couple of days.

_____They were hungry.

_____It was nothing more of a natural reaction to the energy source just standing in front of her and to her murderous emotions for Kaycee knew she would have to be an idiot to think she would be able to land even a spark on Zanis. And it was frustrating to know this when a spark was all she really needed.

[spoili][/spoili][spoili]

Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh- I'm radioactive, radioactive.​

Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh- I'm radioactive, radioactive...​

[/spoili]

 

[Apollyon]

"Oh, it is you," She had said to him. How she. The juvenile brat needed a lesson. Those that don't work,get punished.

"Yeaaaah. It's me beautiful." Zanis replied, his temper lifting, rising slowly. The man had a shaved head, and a crazed set of eyes.

"Tell me Kaycee--When the fuck did you think it was okay to no earn me money, huh?!"If there was one thing he hated in this cesspool, it was no god deadbeats that didn't work.

"You know the rules! Everybody works--that includes you! What, you think cause you can burn a few things cause you're infect means you're better that the whole town?" He looked over at the other three that had come with him. " She actually fucking believes she's better than us! Can you believe that?!" He was becoming unhinged.

"Say, you wanna know what happens to fire, when it has no air...to breathe?"

Well, at least he was true to Rook form--violent and short tempered. He turned back around, a smirk on his scarred lips. The small pebbles, stones and debris as a gravitational field activated. When it had, those three tag alongs and the rocks at their feet became subject to a whirlwind of g forces. Bones began cracking much to their agony, and the rocks began 'popping'; bursting from larger rocks into smaller ones and then into a powder. Screams could be heard. The trio's bone marrow was being pushed out of the pores of the bones and the bones themselves were slowly becoming a powder. Their body's losing their uniform shapes that told the eyes they were human.


What was happening, was due to the vortice at his feet. The area which the groupies had unfortunately been a part of. Zanis had a crazed expression. In his disillusioned mind, he was the king. And everyone, everything was just pawns. Playthings to be used and and thrown away when their purpose was fulfilled. If they failed to meet his demands or expectations...they'd meet a slow, twisting and painful death. The bodies behind himnow, were a good representation of his cruelty. ones crushed, they no longer had a shape. Their bodies had imploded from the gavitational pull and bnt them in half. All that was truly left was a mass of flesh, blood and gore.

"It does the same thing people do--suffocate."

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____Rule number two: never make a sound.

_____Kaycee watched the whole thing without batting an eye. In all of the minds in question, her's was not the one everyone should be worried about. She shifted her wight onto her left foot, her eyes on the carnage that were once human. Must be newbies if they thought they could have survive the run. Despite how comfortable she seemed to be around gore, she faltered a little. While her body could with stand a great deal of damage she didn't particularly enjoy her limits being tested. She wouldn't scream, she wouldn't protest, and she definitely wouldn't beg for mercy, no matter how much pain she was put through. She had a high tolerance to pain thanks to the man standing before her and a durable body, but she wasn't invincible and she knew that all too well.

_____"There is a shark in the water," she found herself muttering in her monotone voice. "Blood attracts them you know." Her dark eyes flickered up to the leader of the Rook gang, who she felt no obligation towards. The only person here who thought they were better than anyone else was Zanis in all of his psychotic glory. Besides, how was she suppose to make money? Selling her body? Fat chance. Though, it would be slightly comical to see a man be lead on just to be burned to a crisp. Maybe even a woman if that's who's team they were batting for. She licked her chapped lips and mentally analyzed her situation. She knew she wouldn't escape this encounter unscathed. Hell, escaping this situation alive was slim. She had a feeling she didn't want to. How did he even find her to begin with? The pyro looked back down at the mounds of flesh and blood and wondered if he could so easily do the same to her even without having bones. If he could, why didn't he already do so? It wasn't the first time she was caught lounging around. Though, if past experience told her anything, this wasn't going to be a fair fight.

_____"No good ever comes from having sharks in the water..."

 

[Apollyon]

Zanis's fist tightened and when it had it caused the bodies to rupture as they warped so much they twisted themselves apart spilling blood all around him, even washing himself in the carmine liquids. But unfortunately, the wind was drifting ever slowly that night. It carried the scent like a river through the air, drifting it right into the nostrils of a dangerous creature one that hunted infected people, the mutations in their blood was what he needed. It was like a delicacy to his taste buds. To have it also drenched in human fat and blood...was just too tempting.

Cain could smell them. Their sweated perfumes.Their unique aromas. And that blood! Oh the blood! It was making him scratch and claw the walls desperately. He was loosing control again. The mutation within was starting to come to the surface. His canines, all four grew much, much larger. He threw off the helmet, and tore off the armor. He fell forwards onto his knees and hands crawling as if to escape. But there was no escaping this. It overrode everything like a virus, it took every primal urge and amplified it a hundredfold. One hand that out stretched was growing much larger than it had originally been. Talons sprouted where his nails once were, claws sharp enough to tear through the cement floor below him as he grabbed the bit of floor he had torn away and his crushed it. He unleashed a partial scream, part howl. Its sound would fill the area around Zanis and Kaycee. It would sound inhuman and chilling.

Like something from their nightmares had somehow escaped and was out there in the dark now.

Before the roar emerged, Zanis had Kaycee pushed up against the wall. His gravitational power had repulsed her backwards forcefully and slammed her into the wall of the building. He had first drawn her towards him like a magnet then slung her around. Now he was slowly grinding her into the surface of the building. Her bones may have been flexible, but her skin could only take so much stretching before it split wide open. But it would never get that far, the roar from Cain was enough to snap even Zanis from his psychosis and make him spin around.

"The fuck was that?!" He asked panicking. He'd never heard a monster before.

_"There is a shark in the water," Kaycee was grinning as she sat there. "Blood attracts them you know." Shen then taunted the man, listening herself as more and more roars filled the night air.

No good ever comes from having sharks in the water..."

How right she was, but she ma not have wanted to be after what hen arrived. A towering thirteen foot behemoth. It had long, muscular ape-like limbs that were longer than a man was tall. The large fingers ending with cruelly curved talons that had small serrations that allowed the claws to tear as well as pierce. Its skin was as pale as the moon above, it had long white hair that fell over its face overshadowing and causing the red color to glow. Cain's mouth had been enlarged, and now those once scary teeth had become a maw like that of a beast. When its foot stepped down, a small tremor flooded the ground. Cain released a predatory growl as he exhaled , the heat of his breath hotter than the air and created a steam.

"The fuck is that?!"

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____Kaycee uttered a curse under her breath as she was suddenly jerked forward against her will and then suddenly threw back, hitting and knocking over shelves before the back wall finally halted her unexpected flight. Her skeletal system of condensed flames absorbed the blow well enough, but her muscles were left vulnerable to the impact and the air was knocked out of her; air she couldn't get back as the gravitational pull that caused her flight in the first place continued to press down on her. She nearly bit off her tongue in reaction to the pain that was rattling her frame. Blood dripped down the corner of her mouth from her self-inflicted injury but there was little she could be other than gasp and cough while still remaining determined to keep her pain out of her expression. A task more easily said than done. Bruises where beginning to spread across her skin and it was threatening to just tear open.

_____However, bone-chilling bellows echoed through the city and Kaycee found herself slumping to the ground, gasping and spitting out blood. Her tongue was barely attached to her mouth but lucky for her is was only a minor injury in her case. Her internal organs were in pain from having to endure such a massive pressure but at least she was still alive. For how long though? the nineteen-year-old managed to prop herself in a sitting position against the wall as she tried to regain her breath and tried to refrain from choking on her own tongue, which hung out over the side of her mouth - if the situation didn't seem so dire it would have been comical. Her fire was working it's way through her body already, healing her bruises and what ever injury had come to her but not doing much for the pain. After all, there was only so much her body could do for her.

_____In her exhausted, sore, and half-starved state of mind, she actually grinned at Zanis' panicked state. Half psychotic and half sadistic, what a lovely combination for an infected like herself. She quickly composed herself though, and the grin was dropped from her face. Threads of fire sewed her muscle back into place and she was finally able to talk. Though, the regeneration left her even more tired than she already was with the lack of spare energy and paired with the pain pulsing through her system she could really go for a nap right then. Sleep would have to wait as a thirteen foot monstrosity stepped into the store, taking out the door frame with him. Steam huffed out with every breath he took and a heart-stopping growl emitted from him. Kaycee, for once, wasn't afraid. In fact, she was enticed by the creature. Whether it was because her mind was too out of it for the danger to click was unknown even to her, but the monster was beautiful!

_____Smooth, flawless, pearly skin was stretched taught over ropes of muscle, so easily was it to watch them flex with each moment. Curtains of colorless hair cascaded from from his scalp and cast shadows from his sharp, angular features. The cruel-curved talons glinted in what light there was and shone like a gem, and the hyper-extended mouth didn't really do much to hinder his beauty. If anything, it was the icing on the cake! So exotic. So bazaar. Bright pools of crimson nearly glowed in the dim light of the establishment as it took in the two figures and Kaycee was left breathless. Her breath caught when she realized exactly how familiar this creature was to her and she fought back a gulp, the fear finally catching up with her. Was this really who she thought it was?! Or did the predator have some sort of demented twin brother?

_____"The fuck is that?!"

_____"Who is the correct term you are looking for. Zanis, Cain; Cain, Zanis," Kaycee calmly introduced the two in her usual monotone voice, breathing the words more than actually saying them. She secretly hoped he would go after the crazed leader of the Rook first and got full off of him. He was much bigger and much more powerful - something that mainly applied to a matter consumer like Kaycee - and would thus be much more filling than the redhead currently fighting for consciousness. The again, there was also the chance her defenses would kick in just in time and actually affect the infected man.

_____"Play nice, you two."

 

[Apollyon]

__"Who is the correct term you are looking for. Zanis, Cain; Cain, Zanis," Kaycee informed Zanis. The information wasn't exactly...enlightening. Nor was it taken credulously.

"What? You mean like that freaky albino that fucking eats people?!" Zanis yelled, backing up slowly until he hit the wall.

Cain didn't exactly...fit through the door. But the sound of him sniffing out the blood drenched Zanis. He was like blood hound. Cain's body had even mutated his once angelic face to the extent that he no longer even had a 'human' shape. Along his right arm was razor sharp protrusions; onyx black and jutting irregularly. But these weren't just four and a half inch spikes, these were once the claws on the ends of his formally human fingers. It seemed the more blood thirsty he would become, the vile, violent and twisted he would become. How a human heart could endure such unfathomable torment?

His right arm had grown horridly...bulky with muscle. Where his left arm was like a titans arm, compacted with with a boulder sized bicep. His right arm on the other hand was grotesquely mutated; having several jutting spine, and his fingers hand been replaced with three or four long solid claw. He was an aberration from a nightmare. Even the right side of his face close up, had melded with the flesh of his huge shoulder. Another thing about this monster was that indescribably mutated bicep. It had split the muscle, flesh and bone and birthed a massive eye. Easily the size of a human head, it moved separately than the two that glowed crimson.

The area of this eye that should have been white were a rusty brown color, it had a black ring, then a bright orange one surrounding a human shaped pupil. One that swished and swashed, one that gave a terribly eerie feeling like you were always being watched no matter where you his. His left hand, the only true arm that could be considered remotely human extended forth. This first phase of his transformation would stretch and tear his flesh, this left large 'fissures' where the raw muscle could be seen just yonder. His hand would scrape its finger nails along the old plaster---easily tearing through and digging out a handful of the doorway, and the wall adjacent as he slowly crept his hulking mass towards his prey.

"Get away! Get away! Get the fuck away from me!!" Zanis screamed scurrying to a corner. His animal instincts had overridden even his psychosis.

 

[Noctis the Devious]

_____Kaycee's eyes widen as Cain continued to morph and shift and mutate into something human nor infected. This was beyond anything what the pyro had ever seen before. What the hell was he?! He seemed hell bent on getting into the building. Was it because of Zanis? The cannibal's favorite meal, all sauced up and ready to be served. Kaycee glanced at the leader of the Rook gang. If they weren't in such a critical situation she would be laughing, and that's saying something because Kaycee doesn't laugh. "Oi, there is an emergency exit at the back of the store. Why not escape through there?" If the redhead was able to move, she would be running but seeing as she was in pain and completely exhausted, she couldn't really move much. Then again, why didn't Zanis just crush him like he did so many others?

_____Some would ask why she was offering such advice in the first place. Didn't someone like Zanis deserve to die? Well, once upon a time he didn't. Once upon a time he was a sane enough man who took in a wondering girl no older than ten years old. See, Kaycee was abandoned as an infant and found by an elderly man who was also infected. Nobody could touch the child, not even her own mother who burned alive when she went into labor. the elderly man was kind enough to take her in and nurture her but everyone had to die someday, thus leaving her to rely on the kindness of a complete stranger. It wasn't until Kaycee was in her mid-teens did Zanis finally snapped and started on his blood thirsty reign. It was sad really.

_____ Her eyes threatened to close out of exhaustion and maybe even revulsion from what she was seeing. Everything seemed louder, more vivid, surreal. The protesting building, skin ripping, bones crackling, muscles shifting, Zanis screaming... was this really the reality she come to known?

 

[Apollyon]

Zanis lifted his hands, eyes bulging as he gazed into the voids of carmine colored eyes that seemed to glow brightly as the light reflected in them. Gravitation began to exert forces upon this creature before them. Zanis was trying to blow him backwards, away from himself in a fearful panic. Cain roared; ear splitting shriek, his one ape-like arm latched large pallid fingers onto the doorway. Just the mere force alone was enough to cause the wood to splinter and send spider web fissures outwards along the wall. Its fingers hand created singular holes where they had embedded.

It was stopping itself from being blasted backwards. The effects of gravity could be seen. The creature's skin had started splitting apart, tearing because it was fighting a force of nature, the very laws of physics. Blood began oozing from all over its giant body, dripping to the ground where it was seen to eat through the surface of anything it touched like a corrosive acid. It flung its clawed arm forwards, sending a smattering of its genetic make up towards Zanis. When it caught the man's face he screamed and released the hold and clutched his countenance.

Instantly the blood had eaten away at the top layers of flesh and muscle, already leaving him disfigured. If that wasn't enough the Cain had charged and with his hand, swept Zanis off his feet then suddenly stopped as he rotated his hips. It sent Zanis straight through the wall and bouncing off the Terra firma like the creature had just cast a stone over water. It stood there momentarily, releasing a low growl before it drew in a deep breath releasing it as a roar. It turned its head frighteningly towards Kaycee herself stalling to stare at her before it looked back towards the direction Zanis was in and stepping out of the new exit.

It charged Zanis again who rolled, dragging his arms to slow himself. This monster wasn't human. It wasn't like he was either. He'd never seen anything like it. When he slowed enough, he pushed up grinding to a halt on one bent knee. He lifted his arms again with renewed vigor. This time the force was amplified. Twenty-five G forces. Enough to kill most any normal human. It was more force exerted than an acrobatic display in a jet fighter craft exerted, or the re entry. Cain was forced to halt, but it didn't come immediately. Instead, the giant was made to stomp slowly each step.

Still, it was enough to show the effects of gravity. His flesh was ripping all the more. Tearing like a simple handkerchief exposing the raw muscle beneath. But forcing so much gravity had its own weaknesses. Zanis showed that. Blood was oozing from his nostrils and it was simply from the behemoths barehanded attack that sent him throug h the wall's doing. His body could only muster so much,, it was beginning to strain like metal fashioned to tautly.