Man with the Gun and Girl with the Smile

1. Das Dragon
-May 6th 2139-
“I’ll take it. How much?” inquired the first voice in the alley. The voice belonged to a skinny man with a tattoo of a dragon circling around his eye. He held his old brown leather wallet in his dirt-covered hands, and fingered the bills inside it.
With a scratch of his nose the other spoke, “The bird’s old, she has history. I can’t let ‘er off with anything lower than 9 bucks.”
Grinding his teeth, the skinny man gave the other what was owed, took his purchase and tried to walk away.
“May you be warned, love it and it will love you, hate it and it will hate you. T’was what I heard when I bought ‘er in a day long since past. Remember those words and we may meet again,” the second voice said chuckling.
“Look I bought the enchantment for its power, I intend to use it,” said the first voice.
“Call it a charm, or it will hate you. Use the German slang and you may live longer,” The Second voice spoke with unease. When he finished talking the figure vanished and the first walked back onto the Berlin road.
The first voice looked up into the day-ending sky, put a joint to his lips and walked on, “This bitch isn’t a charm; it probably isn’t even a working gun,” he mumbled breaking the gun to reload it…

* * *

“God damn, why do I let my friends talk me into these things?” Jim asked the wind. He was walking into an abandoned building. Some insane asylum or something with the same haunted tone to it. He was supposed to get something to prove he was there, but he didn’t know what.
He walked inside and looked around. It was cold and damp. The floor was all wood, and the walls were covered in spray paint. Some form of proof that others had been here and vandalized their way into some lame hall of fame.
He looked at his Rolex, it was a little after 11. He wanted to just go home at this point. But he knew his friends would never let it down, so he walked up the creepy stairs.
He walked deeper and deeper into the building until finally he found something that would be useful to him. Somewhere along the lines, someone had left a syringe in there. He picked it up and heard a noise behind him; he turned around and uttered the sound he heard, “Creek?”
“That would be me!” cried the half rat, half human creature that attacked and killed him.
As the rat stood over the dead body of the teen, he saw the shinny object on his wrist. “I know a few women that would impress,” he said taking it and placing it on his own wrist. He smiled and spoke again, “I love my job.”


2. Police Report/ Fumi’s Last Words
– May 7th 2139-
Crime: Murder
Location: Berlin, Germany
Date of Incident: 5-6-2139
Approximate Time of Situation: 10:30 P.M.
Details: Body found face down in mud. Shot by gun in right eye. Gun obviously charm or “magic item”. Deceased was found to be family-less and will be shipped with charm to London for storage and burial.

* * *


“It’s my god damned job!” Freddy screamed.
“You promised me that you’d come with me and meet my parents! What kind of job is worth more than me?” Fumi screamed back.
“Do you think we live in this paradise of a house by blind luck?” The level of his voice had come down some, he wanted to get his point across and he knew that Fumi wouldn’t listen to him if he screamed.
“There here for a day and a half from Japan,” She spouted.
“You think I don’t know that? It’s not my fault that they can only spend that much time with their youngest daughter, and it’s not my fault that they decide to come out of the blue and only give us a week to get ready!” Freddy was upset; he wanted to meet his wife’s parents as much as she wanted him to meet them.
“I have to be in Berlin by tomorrow, and then in London by the day after that. We aren’t that far from there. I might be able to hurry home in time to catch them and say goodbye. It’s the best I can do; is that enough?” Freddy was calm now, and wanted to get Fumi out of attack mode.
“Yea, its great,” she sighed, “I just want you to see what I lived with, ya know? I really enjoyed meeting your parents, and I thought you’d have just as much fun as I did,” she was just about to cry, but she was built like a man with emotional armor, to hold in all the pain and anger, so she didn’t shed a tear.
Freddy rolled over to her side of the bed and put his arm around her, “I’m sure I would,” he rubbed her tummy and put himself cheek to cheek with her, “Maybe we should wait till June when I have the month off, and we can go see them. Would that be better?”
Fumi turned her head and looked into his eyes, “Could we really?”
“Yes, we really could,” said Freddy. He did stuff on a whim all the time. When an idea comes to him, he acts on it.
“That would be so great!” She had wanted to see Japan again for so long, “But what about you not knowing the language? Do you not care about that anymore?”
“I’ll have you, and I’ll have them. I can live next to another person for two weeks.”
“I’d love it so much if we could go,” she said optimistically, her smile stretching to the sides of her face and beyond, “but you still have to get home as soon as you can. I want you to see them eye to eye.”
“Alright, alright,” he said nestling his cheek back into hers.
“London isn’t anywhere close to Zurich?”
“Ok, fine I won’t come home,” he said chuckling.
She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. After about an hour of trying to sleep she heard Freddy snoring, “I’ll love you either way, I love you now, and for always,” she whispered into his ear. She had a fear of telling him she loved him when they were awake, and for some reason she tried not to say it. If she loved him, Freddy didn’t know. Fumi closed her eyes content that she knew, and drifted into dreamland.


3. Passing of the Gun
-May 8th 2139-
The Police Officer began the conversation with these simple words, “Driver, this shipment is going to Munich and this one is going to London. Have you been to the London outpost yet?” questioned the officer as he pointed to the different sacks and boxes.
“Ahhh, no actually. I got my cell phone though, I’ll call info when I get there,” replied Freddy.
“Right then,” said the officer filling out the release papers. “So, you figure that China or Canada will strike first with the fusion bomb?” inquired the officer.
“Don’t know, don’t care. Just glad Europe isn’t involved,” Freddy said with a short smile, then spoke again, “so I hear rumor that there are enchantments in this shipment, that true?” Fred lived in Moscow and they didn’t use the term charm often. It was like calling a soda, “pop”.
“Aren’t there always?” the officer replied.
“Guess so, but this time there’s a coffin,” said Fredrick as he drove his armored transport.
It was one of those cold days in Europe, the kind that made ice illegal. As Fred drove down those roads and highways he began his favorite hobby, thinking of what he would do if the world ended. He began this hobby when the “war” between Canada and China started. That war was just the Cold War all over again, with new Technology and new sides. Both countries would give evil looks, with their hands over the M.A.D. buttons, no one ever actually doing anything about it though.
The road was as far as the eye could see, but only one lane wide. He was near alone on that road, a few cars buzzed ahead of him like ants. Behind him, in his blind spot, there could always be horrible traffic or some odd number of cars and trucks trailing Freddy; he relaxed his muscles and didn’t bother himself thinking of useless facts such as that.
It was peaceful, that’s why Freddy loved his job. The true reason he loved his job was because it was the only excuse to get away from his wife. He hated her, but didn’t know it. She treated him with the utmost disrespect. Freddy was blind to it. Why? Because he was far more afraid of being alone, then living with someone that never referred to him as sexy, or handsome. Yet if he doesn’t call her thin and beautiful every day, she’d hold out on him, or start a fight that he’d stop trying to win and just try and make her happy. He looked back up at the road and tried to forget what he had left behind.
A sudden explosion behind his car launched him and the car onto its side. His head slammed on the side window and he felt the burst of pain. He could hear blasts in the distance. He opened his frightened eyes and looked around. He could see people running and screaming. a couple ran from their car but only made it a few yards before a bomb landed close enough to them to burn the flesh away from their muscles. Freddy couldn’t hold it, he threw up.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and tried to roll down the passenger window above him. He realized how foolish it would be to go out there and get the same fate as the couple he just saw. He leaned back against the bullet proof window. He breathed hard. It was almost as if there was a stutter to his breath, he near forgot how to breath. Each instant now lasted years for him. Each thump of his heart was louder and slower then the one before. Terrified wasn’t what he was. He was much, much worse.
As he hung there, a woman ran up and knocked on the windshield; she had been screaming something motherly like, “save my baby.” At this point, Freddy was still entranced by his horrified shock, so he didn’t notice the strange lady drop a child into the cab of the car.
But when Freddy saw the child, he not only snapped out of it, he freaked, “Woah, woah, lady I can’t do this,” Fredrick yelled at the woman who was running off at this point. He was left with a child, a little girl.
He continued to yell and holler until an explosion landing close lifted the truck off the ground and sent it flying through the air. It landed after a few cartwheels. With the final drop of the truck, Fredrick had had his head slammed so many times that he passed out.


* * *


He came to with the help of the little girl, who was with him. She had shaken him to reality. He opened his eyes to see the little girl’s face. She was very pale, and thin. She had long blonde hair, flat as paper.
“Holy Shit,” said Fredrick shooting his hands outward. The girl gasped so Fredrick knew she wasn’t used to curse words. “God my head,” he said in pain.
“What’s wrong?” asked the little girl.
“My head is throbbing, and it hurts like a bi..sh,” he said catching his own cursing now. He was used to men his age saying “bloody fuck” easily, so catching his tongue was a little hard.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because my head was slammed against every wall in this car,” he replied.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because, god damn it,” he said with agitated anger.
“Oh,” she uttered. It seemed she was at that time where she had just learned the word ‘why’, and with her knowledge of nothing, she was very curious about her surroundings and the word ‘why’ was a very good friend.
“What’s your name, little one?” Fredrick asked, rubbing his forehead and grinding his teeth.
She answered with a quick shrug.
“Ok then…” Fredrick said as confused as any one would be.
He got out of the car and blinked a few times to clear his mind. As he looked around he saw that the once thick forest was now the largest pile of ash he’d ever seen. He turned around and saw that his car was now just as burnt as the area around him. It was missing all of its paint and was down to the alloys that made up its bulletproof shell.
The little girl stepped out of the car and handed Fredrick the keys to it.
“Thank you,” he said as he used the keys to open the back of the car.
The back of the truck was filled with clutter. Both of them started to search the boxes. Fredrick found that most of the things that would be useful were covered in blood. A Buffalo rifle and a coffin were the only things that didn’t have some bodily juices on it, so he seized the rifle and tucked it under his belt.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at its cracked screen, “no signal,” he said putting the phone back in his pocket.
“Ok, let’s start off, we can make it to Munich by sunrise if we start now,” he looked at his watch and then swung his head around looking for street signs, “I think, I’m not sure.”
“What’s you name?” asked the little girl.
“Wha?” replied Fredrick.
“I told you I didn’t know my name, what’s your name?”
“It’s Fredrick, but my friends call me Freddy because I went overboard with the Nightmare on Elm St. movies,” said Fredrick as they started to walk.
“Ok Fredrick,” she said. She put her hand up into the air to be held, but Fredrick didn’t grab it. At the time he hadn’t seen her hand. He started walking, and she had to run just to keep up because of her short legs.
They walked for what seemed like hours to the girl but minutes to Fredrick. When they had first emerged from the car it had already been dark, and at the moment it was 11:45pm.
“We had better find a place to sleep,” Fredrick said looking around. He saw only compacts and half destroyed cars. Neither of which Freddy was willing to sleep in, they were either too small or too dangerous.
The little girl lifted her finger with what little energy she had left, (being a child she was probably used to going to bed at 6). The tiny finger held up was pointing at a Hummer/Limo, the old kind, the ones actually used in battle. Fredrick took one look at the vehicle and found himself dumbfounded, why had he not seen the car before? Beside the fact that the car had appeared out of nowhere, he loved it. It was beautiful; the vehicle of his dreams. This people mover didn’t deserve the name car, it had to be called something, but there was no word that described it. It was far too complex to be given any title. It had the best of two worlds, the rugged power and off-roading abilities plus the sparkle of Hollywood.
For a moment or two Fredrick forgot about his companion. He opened the door and lay face first on the front seat and closed his eyes. The girl yawned, crawled in and lay on top of Freddy like a living blanket. She closed the door and they both fell asleep.


4. Do you know the Coffin Man?
-May 9th 2139-
One eye awoke from what should have been an endless sleep. Within seconds the being knew where he was. With great anger and great force he slammed his fist through the coffin lid and bent his arm to grip the edge of the cover. With his next rage filled action he tore away the lid and pulled himself out of the coffin. He didn’t exactly know where he was or what had happened to him. He walked to the mirror of the armored transport and looked in.
What gazed back at him through a cracked mirror was one eye, one hideously bloodshot eye! But where a second eye should have shimmered back at him, there was nothing; just a hole in his head. Blood stained his cheek in a horrifying manner. His once beautiful brown hair was now covered in grease, dandruff and some form of fungus that had decided it would be alright to just start a home on his head. His non-bloody cheek had a boot print, a deep black one.
He stood there and thought for a moment. He had been killed, and because of it he had grown stronger at the cost of his gorgeous face. He was once a model, although he didn’t remember. Everything about his life was a little fuzzy. He lifted his hand in front of his face. He could see it before him, but he couldn’t feel it, he couldn’t sense the appendage. It was as if his arm was torn off, but it was still there.
“The charms usually give something back,” he said to himself, tensing his muscles. They seemed much larger then usual. He tested his new strengths on the vehicle next to him. He didn’t put too much force into his first punch, but it was enough. The truck was left with a dent that day, only a few inches shy of 2 feet.
He remembered two definite things from his previous life; his name and what had killed him. “I am Alex. The buffalo rifle was in Berlin when it killed me,” he thought. He would go there. The gun had more power to give him, and he would get that power if it were the last thing he did.

Click, click………Click, Click.
“What’s wrong?” asked the little girl in the passenger seat.
“The car won’t turn over,” Fredrick replied as he tried the key again. The car only clicked like it had before, nothing more. He got out and walked to the front of the car and popped the hood. He didn’t know much about cars and car engines, but he could see easily from the rust and scratches that the car was a peace of shit. “The engine is completely corroded, I can’t find a battery. I’m staring at a crap car,” Fred said to the child standing next to him.
“Does that mean we’re walking?” the little one said from below Freddy.
Frederick crouched down smiled and spoke, “You’re a smart little girl.” He stood up and looked around; just the same junky cars from the night before. He gathered his things from inside the limo and started to walk. This time he looked back for his companion. “We have to think up a name for you,” he said looking down at her, “its gonna’ get weird if I keep calling you girl or kid.” He had just realized that he would be spending a lot of time with this girl.
She only looked at him; she put her thumb in her mouth and nodded.
“I had a girlfriend named Fumi once, do you like that name?”
“I’ve never heard that name before, it sounds silly,” she said quickly, only removing her thumb for a second or two to slip the words out.
Fred bent his knees again and came to her height. He looked at the girl for a long time; Fumi had meant a lot to him. Most of it was negative but Fredrick was blind to all of the bad things she did, and only saw the positive things. He considered several quips and insults but he decided his best action would be to wave it off and move on, “Fumi it is,” he said smiling while he ruffled up her hair.
After standing up Freddy saw a road sign, “2 miles to Berlin, were going the wrong way; but we must have been blown father then I had thought. That or we were trailblazing faster than I thought,” Freddy moved on with Fumi at his side.
It took the two of them about 30 minutes to reach Berlin. The city had been bombed inside and out. The buildings that were left were blackened and filled with holes. Their windows were shattered and corpses were hanging out the doors.
“Pepper bomb,” Freddy said with a flat face. Fumi was attached to his leg at this point and had begun to cough. “When it hits, it kills with out destroying, not destroying what a nuke would,” he said.
He tore his shirtsleeve off and fashioned it into a filtering mask for Fumi, “A weapon like that leaves a dust that can get into your lungs. Don’t worry its harmless, but it will give you a bad cough.” He would have pulled her off his leg right there if it weren’t for the gruesomeness of his surroundings (She was short and he was tall, so she fit his lower leg almost perfectly). .
They walked on, but all they found was more death and carnage. Fredrick was forced to reform his walk because Fumi had her face buried in his shin, and the rest of her body was clinging to him. At one point he could even feel her trembling.
He lifted his head and found the remains of a toy store. He thought it would get the child off his leg; Fumi was taking the situation almost too well, but Fred was oblivious to that fact. She was a little girl. She didn’t know letters, or numbers. She should be screaming, she should be freaking out beyond anyone’s control. It would have been creepy to anyone that knew this, but to Freddy, he really just didn’t care.
He walked into the toy store (named Tim’s Toys) and looked around for any dead bodies. There was one behind the counter to the left. He pried the little girl off his shin and spoke to her, “Go off and play with some of the dolls or whatever fits your needs. Remember you can open anything, no ones gonna’ stop you today,” he said with an attempted smile.
She didn’t go very far from him, but she began to play with the toys that weren’t burned or destroyed. Freddy went to the counter and pushed the young woman to the floor. She had only half the skin she should have had, only half of her left eye was present, a few of her teeth had fallen out of her rotting jaw bone. Freddy pushed the body far enough behind the counter so that Fumi would never find it. Before leaving he sat there and stared at the dead youth before him. The mouth fell open and let loose a borage of maggots. A cold chill went down his back and he turned and walked to Fumi.
Fumi had found a Star Wars action figure that she had fell in love with. She wasn’t looking through boxes for new toys; she only sat there sucking her thumb and holding the Emperor under her arm. It gave her warmth where she needed it. She was young and had never seen the movies, so the figure wasn’t a symbol of an antagonist; it was her guardian angel that would hide in the shadows and wait for the moment when she would need him.
“Are you alright?” He asked as if any answer but yes could have been said.
“I’m fine,” she said in her cute little voice.
With a cold heart Fredrick spoke again, “Come on, let’s go find some food.”
They walked outside; the city was still in ruins; some how both of them had expected different. It hadn’t really sunk in for either of them. After each blink of their eyes, it was like they were reliving the end of the world. Fred dropped his head and stared at the ground. He saw a huge rat footprint in the ground. His eyes widened, he new what was coming.
In his sorrow he lifted his head quickly and looked around, it seemed that everywhere he looked he saw them, the Bösartige Ratte, an underground gang of assholes; they use charms that form them into giant rat people. The charms must have protected them from the bombing, and so they now ruled what was once Berlin. Out of every hole or window, one of them peered down at the two normal humans.
“Fumi, run!” Fredrick whispered to her sternly. They both took to the alleyways.
As they ran Freddy remembered the weapon he was carrying. He pulled it from his side, spun, and fired; he did this without slowing down, or stopping. He didn’t catch whether his attempted had hit. He only saw that every rat bastard was following them, and they could run faster then the little girl.
“One,” Fumi yelled at the top of her lungs.
Fred yanked the girl off the ground with one arm and increased his speed. He spun and fired again; he could feel the gun had little recoil.
“Two,” Fumi yelled as Fredrick ran faster.
He turned a corner and found himself in a dead end; it was like a cul-de-sac in the alleyways, it opened up some to give him room to run in circles. Fredrick turned and placed Fumi behind him. He raised his gun and began to fire. There were windows in the ally walls; the Bösartige Ratte flooded from them and rushed him and his friend.
(Boom, chuck chuck, Boom, chuck chuck)
“Three, Four,” Fumi counted from behind her human shield.
The lever action rifle seemed to flow with Fred’s hand, as if he’d used the gun many times before; he’d never held a weapon before let alone fired one. He fired the short rifle with only one hand, swinging his wrist forward to cock it. He fired 6 more shots, each shot fired faster then the last.
“Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten,” Fumi said as the wall she gazed at began to crumble. The wall finally broke a hole in it and a rat arm reached out and yanked the girl into the wall. She was pulled through a hole the size of a basketball into the depths of the city.
“Fumi!!!” Freddy screamed as he saw the small being pulled away from him. In panic he fired the gun at the wall, and opened the hole just enough for him to fit through. He found him self in the basement of one of the buildings. He could only see black and white, (and only in small chunks where the light could shine through the holes in the wall).
He walked slowly, each step lifted puffs of dust his brow clustered moisture, and his eyes moved around rapidly. He heard the sounds of the rats that scampered around outside. At the drop of the hat it stopped. He felt alone again.
He heard the scurry of a rat off to the right, so he followed it. He circled around a pillar or two and found a rat warrior huddled on the ground. It held two wakazashi and bared its teeth. It opened its mouth and spoke with a scratchy and deep voice, “I was ordered to guard the entrance to our home,” she hissed.
“I came for that which was taken from me,” Fred said as he lifted his gun and cocked it.
“You’ve killed our people. You must endure our trials or we will kill you and the girl,” she hissed back at Freddy.
Freddy fired his gun and watched the rat fall to the ground. Freddy was not the type to wait, nor was he the type to care if a gang member died.
He walked past the corpse and down the hallway behind it. It led him downward, into the sewer. That opened into an underground housing development. And in the center of it was a thrown room, with a massive seat at the far end. Seated on the throne was a large shaggy brown rat, with a white spot over its left eye. Two lizard people holding sawed off shotguns and swards flanked it.
“You kill so valiantly,” the rat said with a maniacal, muffled laughter to its voice. “I will offer you the girl back if you do a favor for me.”
“What? I kill your people, and you want me to do some dirty work for you?” Freddy said.
“My people do not enjoy the light of day, we are the under world rats, and they are the above. I am the warlord of this faction; my name is Ingrid,” she spoke with a suspicious lack of anger.
Fredrick didn’t have to think about his options, he knew that lifting his gun and threatening the rat would be his best action, “Give me the girl, or I will fire my weapon,” Fred said with one eye closed, and the other locked at the gun’s sight.
“You won’t fire,” Ingrid said as one of her hidden guards put a cold steel blade onto Freddy’s sweat covered neck. “I know people like you. You won’t risk your life for another, and I don’t see you killing me to prove a point,” she continued.
“You don’t know me very well. I don’t have anything left; the world ended remember? My life ended, only this shell remains. So, the question is, who cherishes their life more then the other,” Freddy said with out flinching. He cocked back the hammer of the gun to help prove his point, and the guard pressed the curved knife deeper into Fredrick’s near slit throat.
Ingrid stood off of her seat and glared at the being that set before her. She looked at the rifle he held. After a moment she saw what it was, “You hold the dragon,” she realized, “Let him go,” she said with anger in her voice, as though a vengeance was needed.
“Miss, are you sure? He killed our opposite, what says he won’t kill us?” said the guard with the blade.
“He holds the dragon, he could hit a pin blind sighted from a mile away; let them go,” she said without her anger, but with more of an understanding now. She reached over and opened Fumi’s cage. The little one ran to Freddy and clutched his leg.
Ingrid sighed and pulled a small brown box out from behind her thrown. “This is a vile of concentrated charm extract. Drink it and you’ll be a rat like us. You are welcome back, but not as a human,” she said as she threw the box to Fred, “You would be a great asset to me,” she snickered and gestured them to leave.
They left and Ingrid turned to her lap dog Hanna, a white rat that lived only to serve Ingrid “Follow them, guard them with your life, if ether dies, bring the gun and the survivor to me,” she paused, fisted her hand and spoke again, “Hanna, the weapon is more powerful then anything you could ever dream of. Don’t fail. Persuade them to come back. But if they don’t, you are a gift to them,” Ingrid snarled and drew her eyes to the far wall that contained the exit.
Hanna grasped her short staff blade, holstered it to her back and ran after the two on all fours. She would watch them from afar, she wanted to know what kind of people they were before she pledged her life to them.


* * *

As Fumi reached the surface just behind Freddy she looked up at him and spoke with the small quiet voice she had, “I wish I had been home yesterday.”
“Why is that?” Fred asked as he kneeled to her level.
“Because then I’d still be with mommy,” she said as she started to sniffle while her eyes opened up a little more letting a few tears fall down her cheeks.
“No, no, no. Fumi, you’d be just as dead as her. You wouldn’t have met me, you have me now, and I have you,” Fredrick said with the thought that it would cheer her up. She only cried harder, so Fredrick lifted her into his arms and walked on.


* * *

He stepped slowly into the ruins of Berlin; his face was frozen with intense anger and hatred. His steps were cautious as he walked by the various stores and apartment buildings. The pace stopped finally as he passed a clothing shop; he realized that half of his head was gone so he needed something to cover it for the time being.
As Alex looked through the assorted shirts and pants he found a black trench coat that he used to cover his blood and mildew covered body. With the use of a bucket hat and a pair of sunglasses the hole in his head was barely visible, but he needed more. He pulled a black headband off of a young woman’s corpse; it fit nicely over his empty eye socket.
Alex walked outside and looked around; he had no idea where the weapon would be. He took himself farther down the street. His mind was traveling slower than it should have been, and he couldn’t place any of the rotten buildings with their living counter parts from the past. He lifted his hand to his face and bent his fingers to see if he still had the strength from before. It was there, and he could almost feel himself getting stronger.
As his eyes focused away from his lowering hand which reveled what seemed to be a possum tail zip away around behind a building in front of him. He closed his eye, and listened to the steps of the rat beast around the corner, each movement was built in his mind. It seemed to be another power he gained in his death, seeing things from sound, echolocation. He walked past the wall and saw three bipedal rats standing before him. Each held a spear and a short sword.
All four paused for a moment. Then the three rats charged Alex with full force. The fastest rat dove to ram his head into the human’s chest. The human could see the actions of the rodents in slow motion, but could act with much more speed. He grabbed the diving head and slammed it into the wall adjacent to him.
Her scull shattered and blood exploded across Alex’s arm, some of which sprayed onto his face. Clumps of pink rubbery brain matter fell from the wall. Alex scraped the cadaver down the wall leaving sections of dead skin and fur on the wood panel. He dropped the body to the ground with a thump and the other two rats halted.
The two races were very different. The way they walked, the way they talked, and even the way they took breaths were different, but their eyes were the same, and Alex saw the fear and anger that flushed through the above world creature’s eyes. “I’m looking for something; maybe you two would be so kind as to help me find it.” Alex said with a cruel wounding voice.
The larger and uglier of the two Rats stepped forward. Both were covered with dirt and blood from an earlier battle; they clearly didn’t bathe. The taller Rat with all of its teeth still intact spoke with the scratchy voice every other rat had, “What do you want? You are on our hive. Speak!”
“A weapon, one with great power and anger imbedded in it,” Alex said.
The two rats looked at each other, then back at the walking stiff before them. They knew what he was talking about, and they knew how to find it too, “A girl, a girl and a man beast. The girl was short and the man was her guard.” Spoke the larger of the two rats. His name was Creek, self named. He says that the sound of a creaking board is the last sound you’ll hear if he is close.
He has a story that he tells every time someone asks about his name. so he tell it like this, the same way every time, “I wanted a ring. It was a silver one with a small red pendent in it. I followed the two young lovers up the stairs of the abandoned building, and followed them through doorway after doorway, until they stopped and started making out. I pulled my sword and snuck up behind them. I made a step on a loose board. ‘CREEEEEEK,’ it went. They both looked at me. I stabbed forward with my sword and spilled the man’s guts over the floor. ‘That creaky board will be the last sounds you hear other then your own scream,’ I said to the woman before killing her.” The funny thing about Creek’s story is that he says it the same way every time, except how many people he’s after. Usually its two, sometimes it 3, others times it just one.
“They have it, they have the weapon?” Alex asked quickly.
“Yes, the man beast carries the boom stick,” both rats spoke with out the same patterns as most would. It was like they had their own accent and Alex was forced to decipher what they were trying to say.
“Where are they now?” said the human.
“The underworld,” spoke the smaller rat.
“They are dead, then where is the weapon?” boomed Alex.
“Not dead, underworld is the land of the rat beast that stayed behind when the world was handed to us on a silver platter,” the small one spoke with slightly more comprehension, but not much, “it is lead by Ingrid, the apothecary below us.”
“Take me to her,” Alex commanded.


* * *


“Eleven…..I can see twelve, but it hasn’t happened yet,” Fumi said letting out a couple of tears.
“What are you counting?” Freddy queried.
“I don’t really know,” answered the little girl, “I just know something has been happening, and each time it happens, it hurt me.”
“How?” Freddy asked.
“Huh?” Fumi replied with a twitchy sad lip.
“How does it hurt you? What’s hurting you?”
“I don’t know what is doing it, but I know how it feels. It’s like…it’s like my heart isn’t there anymore. I feel like I gave it to someone, and they never gave it back. Instead they show me pictures of dead people, and those rat peoples.” She began to truly sob. She wasn’t crying, or wailing like a little girl usually does. She was sobbing, like a broken hearted teen would do.
After a few sniffles, Freddy picked her up and held her head close to his, “Fumi, let it out, it’ll make you feel better,” he let her cry for a while, and then when she calmed down a little, he spoke again, “so you count when people die, is that it?”
“I don’t know!” she cried out.



* * *


Ingrid stood at attention and glared at the rats that had entered. She was well groomed and very clean. It was like that throughout the rat village; every rat was clean and with perfect posture. That is why the Rats covered with blood; dirt and various other stains in their clothing stood out and drew such awareness from the well-groomed rat people around them.
“Guards,” she gestured at the lizards in front of her, “What brings two thieves to this neck of the woods?” Ingrid barked.
“We bring a visitor, one who survived the quakes,” replied the larger scoundrel.
“Your people agreed never to return; why are you here, Creek?” asked Ingrid.
Alex reached a hand out and gripped the neck of the smaller rat at his side. Using only his thumb and first two digits he snapped the vertebrae of the creature. After the loud cracking sound faded, the rodent shell fell to the floor with a muffled, “thump.” “He is here because I asked him to come,” interrupted Alex.
Any conversations in the room halted, and every eye in the room widened except for one pair. “Who are you?” Ingrid asked.
“My name is Alex, and I seek a weapon,” Alex replied.
“He is looking for the weapon, the one the man beast and the child carried,” Creek spoke with hesitation but without fear.
“I don’t…” Alex lifted his hand and halted Ingrid’s voice. He lowered his hand and pointed to the corpse beside him. She stared at the dead rodent for a moment then began again, “My scouts tell me they are headed for the mines.”
“For that I won’t kill you. Come Creek, we have our course set,” Alex said as he turned to leave.
A child from the crowd stepped forward and threw two dice at Alex. They struck him and fell to the nicely cleaned floors. One die had the common dots with a white background, the other was speckled red and yellow and the numbers were printed in basic symbols. The dice landed a 3 (1 dot, and a printed 2). Alex and Creek paused as the two cubes began to bounce. An energy stream connected the two for a few seconds, then a burst of electricity shot out towards Alex, but was grounded by his arm.
“Thank you young one, I am unarmed, and this is a start for the task at hand,” he pulled the magical dice off the ground and placed them in his pocket. A smirk came to Alex’s face as he and his dumb slave exited the sewers.


5. The Die is cast, to who is luck’s favor.
-May 10th 2139-
Fumi and the “Man Beast” awoke that morning under the roof of a shack just out side of the mine entrance. They had arrived late the night before, and decided that it would be better to wait till morning to explore the cave.
Fredrick lifted himself off of the dusty floor and headed for the door. He opened the door and looked at the cave wall. It had been his worst fear; scorch marks everywhere and the white powder of a pepper bomb surrounded the entrance. He took a few step out of the shack and looked back; it was as blackened and decayed as the buildings in Berlin.
“Fumi, wake up. If there are people still alive they’ll be in there,” Fredrick said as he dipped his head into the opening of the mine. Fumi woke and stumbled to Freddy’s side.
Fred lifted the girl onto his back and walked onward into the mineshaft. It was cold but well lit. Freddy had been smart enough to start the generator he had found in the shack.
Hanna watched them enter the rock enclosure. She had perched herself on top of the shack for the night. The shack roof was slanted so it was easy to hide. She was planning on waiting for a few minuets until they were far enough in that she could still hide from them, but her plan was foiled when Alex and Creek had showed up.
“Sir, I need sleep, I’m not what you are, my body needs things,” Creek pleaded to Alex, “We’re here, you don’t need me anymore.”
Alex stopped and glared at Creek with his one evil eye, “Why don’t I let my new charm decide weather you should sleep or not?” He pulled out the dice and shook them as though he was going to use them against Creek.
“So, do you want a helmet or should we just trudge our way in?” Creek inquired.
Alex looked at the rat, “You’ve changed; you’re not talking like a drunk caveman anymore, why not?”
“Because I was born and raised a human, I can speak normal. But it makes the hot rodent ladies come running”
Alex didn’t respond; he merely walked inward and held the dice ready for the two that were inside the cave. Creek pulled his weapon and walked after him.
Hanna stood up and stared at the opening. She knew Creek, every one knew Creek, if he were involved than something was wrong. Her bladed staff didn’t seem enough to face Creek. But something more important was wrong. She saw fear in Creek; something she hadn’t seen before. She hopped down from the shack and scrambled down the rock hallway.
Deep in the mine Alex had met up with Fred. He rushed up behind him and swung him around by his shoulder.
“Excuse me, but you have something that belongs to me,” Alex said as he removed his hat and headband.
Freddy lifted his gun, aimed and spoke, “Stay back!”
Alex took an aggressive step forward. Fredrick didn’t hesitate like most would. He pulled the trigger and a blast came from the gun. The slug barely nicked Alex’s shoulder and hit the wall behind him.
“Fumi run!” Freddy commanded, he knew something was wrong; the gun is powered by magic, the definition of a charm, and it missed. Something was protecting that dead asshole.
Alex watched them run, he wanted to hunt them. The idea of chasing some one down pleased him. He turned to his companion and spoke, “Guard the entrance; I don’t want them leaving. If any one comes, kill them.”
Creek obeyed his order and ran for the exit. He turned his first corner and ran smack dab into Hanna.
“You!”
“You!”
Their weapons were drawn, so Hanna struck and pierced the opposing rat. One hit sent the over world rodent to the ground.
She moved onward and found Alex shortly, “You there, turn around. I want to see your face when I kill you,” Hanna ordered.
Alex turned to see the rat with its weapon pointed at him. She stood only a few feet from him, “And you are?” Alex asked.
“I’m Ingrid’s head guard. My duties are to protect the two you are hunting. In order to do that I must kill you,” she pulled the staff back and waited for the right moment to attack.
“Fool,” Alex insulted to her and tossed the dice out from his hand. The dice landed 12 (double 6s). The dice didn’t bounce this time; they only attacked. From the dice came a very large shock of blue sparks and power. This wasn’t like the first time. That was merely a shock; a small spark that could wake some one from a light sleep. The blue voltage filled the tunnel and engulfed the female rat.
Alex walked away from a charred rat carcass with his dice in hand, “That was cool, He heh he,” his laughter followed him into the darkened abyss.
Down the path Fred and Fumi found that the only route was to climb a ladder up into a pitch-black tunnel, “Maybe there is a light switch, to save power,” Freddy said as he scanned the wall with his hand.
“I found a wire that goes up,” Said Fumi.
Freddy reached for it and found a flashlight that hung from the roof. He flipped the switch. The zombie that was just behind them saw the light flicker to life and headed in their direction. Alex squeezed his way up the ladder crevasse and found footprints in the cold dirt.
From the ladder the path only led one way; five feet to a blind curve. He took the five paces and saw Freddy with gun aimed, standing at a dead end.
“I want the weapon! Give it to me and neither of you will be hurt,” Alex demanded. Freddy lifted the gun to Alex’s eye level and Alex spoke again, “That weapon took my eye, it wont take the other,” Alex barred an evil grin and Fredrick fired.
The blast blew out Alex’s second eye, and caused him to drop the dice. He didn’t so much as drop them as he did lose control of them as they flew into the air, giving Fred and the little one time to escape past him and down the ladder.
As Fred’s second foot came down from the step, the dice landed a 2 (1 dot, and printed 1). The dice rolled toward Alex and up his leg. They rolled up onto his face and stopped on his cheekbones. They started to glow and Alex tried franticly to remove them, but they held tight.
Fumi and Freddy walked down the hall thinking everything would be OK until they heard a loud explosion from behind. Freddy looked back and saw the mine start to collapse, “Oh Shit!” He cried as they bolted for the exit.
They ran as fast as humanly possible, but only Fumi made it out. She took four or five steps out of the cave and looked back to see Freddy dive, but the rock wall fell. It covered all of him, except for his left hand. It and a small fraction of his bloody forearm poked out from the rock pile. It tensed for a moment, reached out for help then gave and fell limp.
Fumi felt pain and fear far beyond anything before: she knew her mother was dead, she had run from a rotting zombie, and jumped over a creepy burnt dead rat, but it was seeing Freddy crushed that made her snap. She screamed, began to cry and fell to the ground. She placed her thumb in her mouth and curled up.
(Step, Scuff…Step, Scuff) she heard something coming for her, but it was walking slowly and limply. She picked herself up and ran into the shack. “I’ll hide here till it leaves, then I’ll find the rat people and live with them,” she said to her self, trying to forget what had happened. Was it over? Would she be all right? Her thoughts clouded her mind as she leaned over and fell asleep.