OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 219: "I Need You." —Kiera

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Kiera's POV

'Should I just kill myself?'

Веер... Веер... Веер...

Another had died.

My family.

My only family was dying by the second.

The beeping echoed in my mind, never stopping.

Their life signals were gone before I realized it. It was sudden.

I left them to look for a new hideout.

I had my best men on the lookout too.

A group of three with Sarah, Leo, and Jack.

A group of two with Evan and Hiro.

A group of four with Yuriel, Ren, James, and Kyle.

All of those who could fight were sent out.

The slums were a dangerous place with hidden powers all around, so we needed to be prepared in case we met any on the way.

...I made a mistake.

I took it for granted.

Emir's protection.

He wasn't there.

Our safety net wasn't there.

We should've been more careful.

We should've kept some people behind to defend the base.

But as they say...

Everything was obvious with hindsight.

And now I'm stuck with the consequences.

Their deaths echo in my mind on repeat.

Веер.......

One beep beside me, and another was gone.

Веер....... Веер....... Веер......

A few more in front.

Веер...... Веер....... Веер...... Веер.......

Another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another. Seven, gone in an instant.

Their names, voices, and lives flashed through my mind as I watched their life signals ebb away.

Their pictures turned gray on my terminal.

I didn't look at where I was going.

Yet my feet moved faster than they had ever before.

As if they knew exactly where to go.

As if my entire body's only purpose was to return to the base.

Веер.......

Vomit crawled up my throat.

But I held it back.

I trekked forward.

I stepped to the side, avoiding a homeless man.

I jumped up over some random cats.

Then I flinched.

A few men were blocking the street ahead.

They had knives.

I got my assault rifle out.

Веер......

Bang!

A bullet splattered one of the men's brains.

"W-We aren't here to fight!"

"They forced me into this!"

A few of them stuttered.

'What did they say?'

I didn't know.

Веер.......

I couldn't hear.

Bang! Bang!

Two bullets left my weapon's nuzzle.

Two bodies fell to the ground.

One body was already dead, however.

The man had used his friend as cover.

He swung his knife as I approached.

'Slow.'

I ducked my head, easily dodging its trajectory.

Bang!

Веер........

Another died

My feet rushed through the alleyway.

And as I exited on the other side, a knife was upon my head.

My hand grabbed it.

I squashed it.

Crack!

It broke.

I took hold of its fragments and threw them back at the attacker's eyes.

He was now blind.

Bang!

And now he was dead.

Beep.......

And another joined him.

I continued forward through the night.

The dimly lit streets were filled with garbage that thrashed about my legs.

My feet grew exhausted.

My breath grew labored.

Веер........

My mind grew tired.

But I didn't dare stop.

There was one I could still save.

One who remained alive.

Веер......

My feet finally faltered.

Crash!

My body smashed into nearby garbage.

I couldn't handle it.

'No... they might still be alive.'

I deluded myself....

To keep going.

And I did.

My body allowed me to.

Soon, I turned the corner and met destruction.

A massacre.

'I should kill myself.'

'No, I shouldn't.'

'I must.'

'No... I can't.'

What once was my base, my hideout, my home, my family...

Gone.

My feet felt stuck to the ground.

I felt as if I was stuck in concrete.

I looked down.

"Oh...."

It wasn't concrete, but blood.

My feet were stuck in blood.

I forcibly moved my legs.

I pulled them up with my arms.

I repeatedly hit them.

Yet I barely moved an inch.

Before me was the gate.

A destroyed one.

The courtyard after it was bombed, or at least it appeared so.

We had defensive systems up, newly bought turrets, and sensors.

But they were all in vain.

The warehouse itself had met a worse fate than the outside; it almost collapsed.

I looked down once again.

Limbs.

My family's limbs were strewn about.

Inner organs too.

They covered the broken floor.

It appeared as if the attackers colored the place with my family as paint.

A mosaic of reds.

"Blugh...."

I tried to vomit.

But I couldn't

As if I forgot how to.

It felt like I was about to do it.

But every time the digested food stopped near my throat.

As if I was being played with.

Toyed with.

Even the stench didn't allow me to let loose.

The smell of death and gore all around me.

A nauseating and horrifying testament to what my eyes witnessed.

Smack! Smack!

I began hitting my feet again.

Begging them to move.

I needed to know what happened.

'Ah...'

They finally complied.

I was moving again.

And my feet wadded through the river's blood beneath me.

My right contained a severed head.

It lay there on the ground. "Frank...."

Once a bright little brother of mine.

He was happy, despite our less-than-ideal circumstances.

And the moment Emir came into our lives, he was the most supportive.

'Now look at him... dead.'

Wide, terrified eyes, frozen in time. An agape mouth. Nothing was shown on his face except pure horror.

A tear left my eye.

And I moved forward.

Another head was there.

It seemed like Frank was protecting Jaylen.

Someone we all loved to dote on.

I moved.

Two bodies remained stuck together near the warehouse's entrance.

'Even in death, those lovebirds are inseparable....'

I entered the warehouse.

Heads showed themselves here as well.

"Ariya, Daniel, Bryce, Kora, Will, Walter....."

Many names flowed out of my mouth.

I cried even more.

My nose felt stuffy, and every breath was a struggle.

My jaw felt like it was about to tear off.

My head felt like it was about to burst.

Yet I moved past the bullet holes in the walls.

My feet pushed away the blood beneath and I approached the office.

Maybe some of them hid themselves in there, I thought.

Maybe the life signals glitched out, I thought.

Oh, how wrong I was. Before me was a broken door.

A broken table...

And what most would call a nightmare.

"Ella, Charlotte, Ava, Eleanor, Abigail."

Five names left my mouth.

Those names belonged to the women in front of me.

Each was strapped to her own chair.

Ella, the youngest, had no eyes.

She appeared to have died from shock.

Charlotte, the brightest, had no eyes, no ears, no nose, no fingers, and no toes.

Ava, the cutest, had no eyes, no ears, no nose, no fingers, no toes, no arms, and no legs.

Eleanor, the oldest and wisest, had no eyes, no ears, no nose, no fingers, no toes, no arms, no

legs, and no... skin.

And the last one, Abigail.

She appeared relatively unharmed compared to the rest.

I immediately realized what happened...

And my mind broke.

My body stopped functioning.

I fell to the ground, vomit leaving my mouth like a tsunami.

'Emir....'

A name crossed my mind.

'He could save them, right?'

'He'll help.'

'Emir.'

'Please....;

'Help me.'

'Save me.'

'I need you.'