The land was dark and desolate; a barren field with the only evidence of humanity being the rubble and debris of buildings as far as the eye can see. That was all the world was now; just shattered remnants of what once was. Humanity destroyed itself. It all started with the Gloom; it changed humans and made them evil and attack one another. First came the panic. Then the riots. After that the wars broke out and the anarchy until most of the humans were wiped from existence along with everything else which was blown to bits. Now, there's only few humans left who are struggling to survive.

 

A young boy of age five with markings of bones on his body and a sugar skull on his face was searching through the ruins of what once was a two story building. The Gloomified wildlife was too busy trying to kill another poor soul so the boy had time time to search for supplies. He needed some kind of medication for a dying man he called his father. With nothing but tattered pants and a satchel the boy was on his knees searching through the rubble for some kind of item he could give to his father so he could feel better.

"Por favor..." The boy sniffled, wiping away thick tears that ran down his face as he searched. The tears dampened the ends of his scruffy brown colored hair.

"Por favor... Por favor... Mi Papa..."

Edited March 17, 201510 yr by Awuwa7KH

-NEXT MORNING-

 

The sun rose and Grim was the first to wake up. He blinked a few times as he sat up slightly. He looked over to Miguel and then at the kids. All three still asleep it seemed. "Well at least it didn't rain." Grim said with a yawn. He stood up and stretched, only to notice that the black blood had started to make the veins on his body look more notable. "Hm." He didn't feel any pain, so there wasn't any concern just yet. He picked up his clothes from the pile and after dusting the most sand off them, he got dressed in them and quickly took a look at the map. "Hm...somewhere around this coast there should be a town...if we find it we will be able to know where exactly we are instead of just a general area." Grim muttered as he looked around the map.

Miguel roused up from sleep with a small yawn. He sat up and stretched with all his might. "Mmmmm!!!" He noticed Grim was wide awake right next to him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around Grim's neck to kiss his cheek.

"Good morning Guada~" Miguel said with a chuckle. "I hope you slept like un bebe!" He looked behind him to see the kids sound asleep. Nicholas was still curled up in a ball as he had before. He didn't move an inch in his sleep.

"I'll wake up little neña linda and you wake up little niño?" Miguel asked.

Grim smiled. "Good morning, wife." Grim teased. He looked back at the kids. Ash had moved all over the place in her sleep. By now she was resting horizontally to Nicholas with one arm over her stomach and the other resting over her head. She snored too. "Sounds like a plan." Grim said as he settled down the map and walked over to the sleeping kids. He sat down, laying down a bit next to Nicholas before gently moving some hair out of his eyes. "Nicholas, wake up, Nicholas~" Grim said as he very gently shook the boys shoulder.

Miguel glared at Grim. "I'm not your esposa!" He crawled over to Ash, and began to tickle her feet with a smile. "Wake up niña~" Miguel said gleefully. He let out a chuckle as he looked at her silly sleeping position. He thought it was a miracle that Nicholas was able to sleep next to her.

Meanwhile Nicholas shifted slightly in his sleep from the sudden shake of his shoulder.

"Mmmm...." He yipped slightly as he shifted again. His scarf became loose on his neck, and underneath Grim could see dark markings, almost like scars on Nicholas' neck.

"You sure?" Grim laughed as he turned over to Nicholas. His eyes narrowed as he saw the scars of the neck, which made sense of why the kids was so attached to the a scarf. It was hiding the injuries all along. Ash groaned and turned her back to Miguel. "Fiiiiive more minutes...for fish...yuck...nutrient bars..." Ash murmured in her sleep. "Hey Miguel, come over here. Take a look at this." Grim said softly, his eyes not leaving Nicholas as he stroke the child's hair gently. "Look at his neck. Do you see what I see?"

"Sí! I'm a hundred percent sure! I'm as sure as I'm sure that I have a boys pee pee!" He said jokingly. He continued to tickle Ash's feet, even going to tickle her neck. "Nooo it's time to wake up! No five more minutes!" He heard Grim call Miguel over, which was then he decided to actually let Ash sleep for five more minutes. He'll return to the merciless tickling later.

"What is it?" Miguel asked as he sat down next to Grim and Nicholas. His eyes widened as he looked at the markings on Nicholas' neck.

"What..." He studied them. "I see them... It looks like scars? But from what..." He went silent for a few moments before he reached out his hand to touch them. Right as he was about to however, Nicholas sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"It's so early..." He muttered as he opened his eyes and looked to Grim and Miguel with a frown.

Grim quickly changed his attitude, hoping to mask the fact that they saw the scars. "I know it's early, but you know what they say! The early bird gets the worm! If we want to reach somewhere today we better start early, otherwise we might have to sleep in the sand again for all we know." Grim said in a happy matter as he watched Ash groan and sit up. Her hair was sort of a mess, sand mixing with her dark hair. She shook her head to wake up and looked over at Miguel and at Grim. "Where are we going today?" Ash asked. "I am planning to have us walk to a town that should be up ahead if we follow the beach line. From there we should be able to reach New Dystopia in no time!" Grim said. Ash stood up as she walked over to the two. "Would New Dystopia be good?" Ash asked. "I think so. It's made out of survivors and military. They are sure to have better supplies and better food. We'll have to find out when we get there." Grim said as he took out from of those nutrient bars from his backpack. "Eat this on the way."

"But I want to sleep on the sand..." Nicholas said softly as he dug his fingers into the sand. Sleeping on the sand was the most comfort he had in a while. He hardly ever slept but the warm sand that turned cool during the night helped him sleep light a baby. It was just so soft and relaxing.

"I like it here..."

Miguel chuckled and ruffled Nicholas' head. Thank goodness he didn't notice the fact that they saw his scars.

"We have to go there at least to see if they can give us better supplies." He said with a smile. "You wouldn't want to be living on yucky nutrition bars forever! We might get tools to help hunt and get medicine for when you are sick."

"Yup, just like Miguel said. The city is more prepared. Even if it isn't as nice as the beach, the least we can do is to check it out and see if we can have any supplies to make our lives easier out here." Grim said as he stood up, helping Nicholas on his feet. "If you guys don't like the city and don't want to stay, you can come with us and we'll live right here! We'll build ourselves a small house and make this territory our home. Sounds like a plan?" Grim asked at what he offered. "Wait, you really mean it? If we don't want to stay in the city, we can stay with the two of you?" Ash asked. "Yup." Grim assured with a smile.

Nicholas nodded. He'd rather be here than anywhere else. He was happy that Grim and Miguel would let him and Ash come with them.

"Okay..." He said. "I guess I wouldn't mind seeing what it looks like." Nicholas didn't really like heavily populated areas. He'd rather be apart of a small group.

 

Miguel stood up and stretched with a yawn. "Come on we don't got all day!" He said happily. "The faster we leave the faster we arrive at New Dystopia!"

"Let's get going then." Grim said. After preparing and picking up their stuff they started to walk off in hopes of reaching New Dystopia anytime soon. Ash walked along until she complained that her feet hurt, to which Grim fixed it by giving her a piggy back ride for the rest of the way. Grim started to feel other symptoms but they were so small it was hard to tell if it was the Gloom or the environment. Feeling a bit hazy, but quickly fixed. He did sweat a little bit more than usual. Fever maybe? That or it was getting hotter. One way or another he'd apologize to Ash if she complained about his sticky sweat. "Hey, how do they know if people are infected or not?" Ash asked. Otherwise infected can get in." "Hmm...that's a good thought. Maybe they have some sort of test...or they use magic, like Miguel does." Grim responded. "You can use magic?!" Ash asked gasping at Miguel.

Miguel was walking along while holding Nicholas' hand. It felt wonderful traveling again. He wasn't stuck in the same place he always hated. Now he could go wherever he wanted. He loved the wind hitting against his face, and the smell of pure air. It was very easy to get cloudy senses at the Wolves. The air there was stuffy and it smelt utterly foul due to the body oder and strong smell of booze and salt. It was great to actually smell something else for once. Nicholas followed along rather tiredly. He could go for a nap later

"M-Magic?" Miguel asked. "Q-Que?" Suddenly he had an idea. "Oh sí!" He suddenly said proudly. "I have magic! I can create masks and disguises for you!"

"See? Magic." Grim said. "No way! Put me down put me down!" Ash demanded with small kicks. "Ow ow ok ow!" Grim said as he let Ash down. Ash quickly ran up to Miguel and pulled on his free arm. "You have to show me! Make me mask! Pretty please!" Ash asked. She pointed at Nicholas. "You can make him one for courage!" Ash said. "Oh magical Miguel, it appears the children demand a magic trick!" Grim said, half sarcastic as he smiled. He couldn't ask for a better situation right now. It was the closest thing to perfection, currently. He wished they could just stay this way for eternity.

Miguel looked down at Ash with lopsided smile. Ash is such a silly girl. He looked over to Grim. "Right now? In the middle of a journey? I don't know..." He pretended to think for a moment, all while looking at Ash's excited face. "I guess I could spare the time and the magic! Come around little children, you too Guada!" He knelt down and took out all of his paints from his bag.

Nicholas looked to Grim for help. "C-Courage?" He asked. He didn't know if that was supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing. "Will it hurt?"

"It won't hurt a single bit. Miguel is so good at this, when we were younger, even our dad would ask for him to get his painting done, and he was usually a no nonsense type of man when it came to his face." Grim said as he sat down, resting with the kids as he settled the backpack down. "You know what, Miguel? I want one magic spell too. Make me look like,the Grim Reaper." Grim said smiling. He hadn't had his face painted in years...he would miss the feeling.

Miguel grinned; he was waiting for Grim to say that. Ever since he got separated from Grim be never painted anyone's face except for himself. Now, he was going to finally enjoy this childhood skill once more.

"Sí... I'll do Guada first, then la niña and el niño." Miguel said with a smile. He hasn't been this excited in a long time. He went infront of Grim and began his work right away. Even after not doing face paint other people all these years he still had the skill. His movements were fast and with purpose. Already after only fifteen minutes he was done. "Tada! You look like the Grim Reaper himself! Look Guada look~" Miguel took his knife out of his pocket so Grim could see.

Nicholas watched as Miguel did his work. As he watched, it only made him excited to get his own face painted. Once Miguel was finished Nicholas smiled. "Wow!"

Miguel chuckled. "Like it right? Now Guada, when people will look at you, they will see the face of the Grim Reaper.

 

(It took me 20,000 years to find the perfect picture

Grim's face:

Ash stared in awe. "Amazing! If I didn't saw it happen...I'd swear he's the real thing!" Ash gasped. Grim looked at his reflection against the knife, a feeling of nostalgia and happiness warming up his chest. As always, Miguel's work was flawless. Once again he looked something out of this world, the pain work extraordinary. He had missed the feeling so much. He was glad to feel it again after so long. "You haven't lost your touch, Miguel." Grim said, almost speechless. He could let out a small tear of happiness if There wasn't the worry of it damaging the art work on his face. Grim leaned forward to Miguel, pulling himself closer to him before giving him a light kiss on the lips. Ash covered Nicholas's' eyes from the innocent moment as Grim smiled. "Thank you, Miguel."

Miguel couldn't help but chuckle gleefully. He was so happy to have been able to paint Grim's face again and now he could do so whenever he wanted. This made him even more excited to paint the children's face. He pulled away and smiled, feeling very warm and comforted by the innocent kiss. "You're welcome, Guada."

Nicholas pouted and tried to get Ash's hands off of his face. "Let me see!" He protested.

Miguel looked to the two children. "Come on niña, it's your turn." Suddenly, Miguel felt a slight pain in his stomach, almost like terrible cramps. He shook it off as just soreness from perhaps sleeping on the sand the night before.

"My turn my turn!" Ash squealed as she sat right in front of Miguel and closed her eyes, excited to see what kind of paintings he would receive from him. Grim smiled gently and watched at Miguel do his thing. So peaceful, so lovely. If only it could last forever. He moved his hands up his face to feel the paint as it dried, then he moved his hands down his neck and around his jaw. He felt warm. "(Am I getting a fever? No, it can't be. Maybe just a cold? I'll sweat it out. When we get to New Dystopia I'll ask for an antibiotic.)" Grim thought as he watched Miguel do his art. He promised he'd tell Miguel...but maybe later. When the kids weren't around. Wouldn't want to worry them. He smiled at Nicholas and pointed at his face. "What do you think? Miguel's magic isn't he?"

Miguel happily sat down and went to work on Ash right away. He was extremely happy and flattered at the fact that Ash was so excited to get her face painted. He used more color in her design than Grim's, adding subtle marks and hints of pink to make a much more feminine cute design. After again fifteen minutes, Miguel was done and very satisfied with his work. He pulled away and took his pocketknife to show Ash her reflection.

"Fin~! What do you think niña?"

Nicholas smiled at Ash's finished look. She looked utterly adorable and cute. Nicholas couldn't help but feel slightly flustered, a gentle shade of pink rising to his cheeks. He wrapped his arms around Grim's arm.

(Ash's design:

)

Edited April 25, 201510 yr by Aqua7KH

Ash looked at herself and her eyes widened in shock and awe. "This...is...incredible! I've never had anything so pretty before!" Ash said as she squealed and hugged Miguel. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Ash said, feeling grateful for the face painting. She would awe over it and look at herself in reflections for at least a week. Grim smiled. "You look beautiful, Ash." Grim said. He carefully turned to see Nicholas hugging his arm. Grim chuckled and rubbed his head, ruffling his hair. "Alright Nicholas, it's your turn." Grim said as Ash moved out of the way for Nicholas to sit. "Come on Nicholas! It doesn't hurt and you get to look cool like us!" Ash said excitedly. Grim couldn't help but to laugh a bit. "We'd be a big skeleton family."

Miguel nodded. "Sí! A big happy skeleton family!"

Nicholas looked down and contemplated if he should get his face painted or not. It looked so much fun, and Grim and Ash was enjoying themselves. Finally, Nicholas caved in.

"Okay..." He muttered softly as he sat down infront of Grim. "Please don't get any magic on my scarf..."

Miguel grinned. "Sí!" And he went to work once more. After a final fifteen minutes, he was all done which his last 'magic' for the moment. Miguel took his knife and held it so Nicholas could see his reflection. He couldn't help but smile.

"I look so cool." He said as he gave Miguel a hug. "Thank you."

Miguel smiled warmly and returned the hug. "You're welcome."

(Nicholas' face paint;

 

"Now we're like siblings!" Ash said as she hugged Nicholas. "Man we look so cool!" Ash giggled happily. Grim watched the interactions with glee. He could barely remember the last time he saw something this cute, or such happiness in one place. "How lovely...~" Grim squealed in delight. He looked around and looked back down at the group. "Well then, I think we've had enough of a break, don't you think? We should get going and make what we can up before night fall." Grim said as he stretched his arms and stood on his feet. Suddenly as quick as he stood up, he felt his mind go into a spiral, the world looking hazy as he could barely keep his balance. "Whoa...oh ****!" Grim cursed as the second he stood up, he ended up falling back on his butt. "Oi, you alright?" Ash asked. Grim held his head and looked over at Ash. He blinked a few times as he calmed down. "Yeah, just felt dizzy all of a sudden. I'm getting old." Grim smiled as he stood back up, this time slower and much more careful. He picked up his backpack. "Don't worry about it, just got too used to sitting down. Let's get moving!"

Miguel was very excited to get moving with his matching family. However once he saw Grim fall down he couldn't help but know something must be wrong. It had to be the Gloom wasn't it? But Grim assured him that everything was okay. Was he lying? Or is this just something new? It might not be Gloom at all or perhaps a cold. Miguel sighed, and helped Grim up. "Come on." He muttered. "Let's just walk for a little longer."

Nicholas chuckled and patted Ash's back. They really did look like siblings. "Yeah!" He said with a smile. "We look like cool siblings!" He pulled away, and looked to Grim with a frown. "Are you sure you're okay...? You don't look old..."

"Yeah, I'm totally fine! I'm not that old, but it's most likely a cold. It'll go away later." Grim assured as he started to walk around. The group walked further, following the map. They should be there a few hours after nightfall if they follow the same directions. Or by morning if they stop to sleep and continue the next day. Grim could feel the fever getting worse, but played it off smoothly by making jokes and giving the kids piggyback rides when they got tired. "Hm...hey, what's that?" Ash asked as she pointed in the distance. Grim glanced up and looked over to where she pointed. It looked like a large, tall, tower. Very tall. They could see the tip of it, just barely over the tree line. "Oh! That must be the tower!" Grim said as he showed the map. "That's the marker for New Dystopia city. Only a few more hours of walking, it seems, and we should start seeing the walls." Grim said. "Alright! Finally!" Ash cheered as she started to run forward. "Come on, guys! Lets get there already!" Ash cheered. "Slow down, we're on our way!" Grim said as he turned to Miguel smiling. "We're almost there. You know, even if the city is pretty nice...I think I still want to return to the beach." Grim said, his eyes becoming a bit hazy as he hummed. "Yeah...the beach...sounds great..." Grim muttered as he suddenly gripped Miguel's shoulder. "Phew!...is it me or is it getting hot in here~"