The next morning…
I wake up after sleeping all the night in the floor, right next to what’s probably the only being I care of in this fucking planet. I stretch my arms and go outside, to see where are we, exactly. The huge plains we are in now are the result of one of Gehenna’s stomps over a forest, event that automatically killed every single living being, even bacteria, that dared to live in the place.
-The son of a bitch doesn’t have any better idea than to destroy all life in the planet. What’ll the idiot do after that, huh? Devour itself? Geez, if there’s a God, then he’s an asshole for allowing all this. I wonder how the idiot came into existence; a being so large shouldn’t be possibly alive…
I hear footsteps behind me, and that is indeed a familiar couple of boots.
-Hey there, sis’! How did you sleep? – I ask.
-Terribly. This must be the worst possible world. We are only waging a lost battle…
-It’s the world we had the bad luck to live in. There’s nothing we can do about that. – I answer. – We should seek for a better refuge and extra provisions. What we have here won’t last long.
-And how do you plan to do that? The Branch has been completely and utterly destroyed, and there is little we can retrieve out of those ruins. Besides, who knows what lurks in tho...
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large thug appears behind Nia and lays a knife in her throat (not sinking it, laying it in her skin). She suddenly stops breathing and looks at me with a nervous stare. The guy says:
-So, I see some God Eaters survived the massacre… You IDIOTS! Your job was to protect us!
-How are we supposed to protect you from a being larger than a goddamn mountain, you genius!? Have you ever used that which people calls “brain”? Oh, sure, it doesn’t fit in your damn head!
-Tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk. You don’t talk to me like that… – He says, while laying the knife stronger against Nia’s throat and causing her a small bleeding wound. – …lest you don’t care about your sister.
-What… do you want? – I ask, barely containing my anger.
-Your food. – I practically throw the bag full of food over him. – Good, you’ve taken the best choice, young persons. You won’t regret it. – He left Nia and began to run in the opposite direction. Without thinking it twice, I cease controlling my anger and run up to him, make him trip, throw his knife away and punch him in the face, causing him a nosebleed.
-How much people have you extorted like that, eh!? – I ask him. He doesn’t answer, prompting me to punch him again, which causes his mouth to bleed. – That’s a question! ANSWER!!
-Twelve… twelve persons. – He says, deeply scared of me and looking at my fist with despair.
-Oh, so you think it’s funny to extort people to accumulate goods, you amoral piece of...? – I say, while punching his face again. – You’ll get what you deserve, you Aragami spit! – I raise my fist, but then…
-Bal. – I hear Nia behind me. – What you’re about to do won’t do anything other than putting you at his level. Is that what you wish? – I realize her intention, and let go of the... better not to say it, but not before spitting in his face and retrieving our food. He runs away, terrified.
I return home and begin to plan what move will we do next, alongside Nia.