Mᴜᴛᴀɴᴛ Aᴘᴏᴄᴀʟʏᴘsᴇ 2: Sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ Sᴇᴇᴋᴇʀs [Cᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ]

04 || 𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋

𝐎𝐬𝐚'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

We continued to drive down the road, which was being covered in fresh snow. We went on for maybe another two hours until we heard the engine die on us.

"What happened?" Raph asks Stan, watching him try to turn the key. The engine sputtered but nothing was fueling the tank.

"Gas," Stan replied. "We need gas."

"I'll go look." Says Raph, volunteering to go out into the open, risking his life for all of us. He had an empty red gas tank with a siphon tube.

"I'll go with Raphael, Dad." Says Kristen, standing from her seat and grabbing a jacket from the front.

Stan gets up from the driver's seat, stopping his daughter before she could exit the bus. "Kristen, I don't think that is a good idea."

"Dad," Kristen said, putting on her jacket and zipping it up. "Raph will keep me safe."

Raphael nodded, adjusting the upcycled jackets on his body. "Yeah, Stan. You can count on me."

Stan looks at Leonardo, and then back to Raphael and Kristen. "Be quick. If you're gone for more than twenty minutes, I'm coming out to find you guys."

"You got it," Raph says, looking at Kristen. "Let's go, Kri." He marched out into the cold, feeling the temperatures drop.

Leonardo calls out to his brother and Kri. "Stay safe!"

****

𝐑𝐚𝐩𝐡'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

As soon as I exit the bus, the damn cold touched me. Whatever part of me is bare, I felt it very well.

The more I associate with this winter, the tighter my scales become. It feels like the red plastic tank in my hand is being frozen to the object. I just really want to be a help for my group and get out of this frickin' weather.

I'm sure Sensei would be proud of me for taking the initiative as I should be. I've been feeling numb ever since Dad died-- I don't know what to feel. But this mission of searching for gas is distracting me from it all.

Kristen and I pass by some cars that were abandoned and checked their gas tanks. We discovered that some other survivors might have taken the gas from these cars or the tanks were already empty.

The girl and I kept on pushing through the harsh weather, searching for any kind of vehicle that might have what we needed.

Soon, we came close to a car in particular. The windows on this one have been cleared of snow-- like there was hardly anything on top of it. There was heat inside this car. "Oh, sh*t..."

"What is it?" Kristen came up to my side.

"This car is in use..." I told her, looking around for any suspicions. Right away, I found footprints in the snow that didn't belong to either of us. "Keep your weapon ready," I say.

"Okay," She says.

I came up to the car's gas hatch, insert the siphon tube, and inhale the gad so it can enter the gas can I held. What a nasty stench that I praised so much. "Once we get this gas, we'll head back to the bus. I don't want to be out here for too long."

Kristen nods, keeping a lookout for me. She held her gun firmly in both hands, looking in every direction to make sure we don't get attacked.

I watched the gas tank fill up slowly until it stopped. "We got 3/4's of a can. That's pretty good." I smile at her.

"It's something, right?" Kristen grinned at me.

"It's something." I agreed. It felt like a dream. Well, damn, this whole thing feels like a nightmare. But there are dreams placed in this nightmare. "Okay, let's get back," I say.

After Kri and I were lucky to find us some gas for the bus, a dark figure dressed in thin clothing slammed Kristen up against the car. The wind was knocked out of her the second the Runner distracted her with a great shove. It took me a split second to realize this wasn't a living person. But when I finally snapped out of it, I took action. "Kristen!"

"Raph!" She cried, the Runner roaring at her neck. Kristen was in so much shock, she wasn't thinking correctly about defending herself. Her only reaction was to raise her arm to shield her face from its jaws.

I roughly set the gallon of gas down on the ground and yank out my sais, lunging at the Runner and stabbing its skull from behind. Immediately, the Runner stops attacking Kristen and drops to the cold ground.

The beast made gruesome gurgling and gasping sounds that only the souls of hell would recognize.

Kristen panted, sighing in relief before coming off of the car. "Thanks, Raph..." She says.

****

𝐊𝐫𝐢'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

I actually thought I was going to die right here...

Raphael is staring me in the eye and I wasn't entirely sure why. "Kristen." He says, walking closer to me. "Kristen, your arm..." He pointed out.

Now that the adrenaline rush had finally worn off, it feels like someone shoved a knife under my skin. I peer down at my right arm and see the blood is soaking my jacket. My sleeve is torn, too. I fully lift my sleeve up and saw the blood drizzling down my arm, to my fingertips, and falling to the ground. "No..."

"Kri." That is all he said, holding my arm in his large hand. "I'm-- I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." I scoffed, pulling my sleeve back down and placing pressure on my bite wound. "Maybe it's my fate."

This virus had a 100% fatality rate, and I was going to experience it in either a few days or a few hours.

****

𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝗼𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

"Maybe we can cut it off! Like how Leo saved Osa." Raph suggested.

Kristen laughs lightly at Raph. "No, Raph. We don't have anything to cut it off with." She says. "Even if we did have something to give me a chance, I would bleed out."

Raph thought that this wonderful and tough girl was brought into his life for a reason and he believed it deeply. For some reason, when he saw her for the first time, Raph knew she was special to him and the group in some way. He just didn't know how she was. He felt like he was swept away into the heavens.

But now that Kristen's and the Runner's yells have been heard, there is a possibility that someone might have heard this and will come running for their used car.

****

𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

I was only gone for a few minutes to find more supplies and then got a glimpse of a blur in the distance. I could see the Runner going for the car I was living in and soon heard the shouts coming from someone that is very much alive. At the same time, I am relieved and angered by the sound of a human cry.