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

Miguel was very excited on seeing the tower. It gave him hope that this New Dystopia was actually real and not some false dream. He was going to go foward, however he felt Grim's hand on his shoulder. The grip was serious.

"Guada-" Miguel said as he suddenly supported Grim. He felt Grim's face. "You're burning up! We have to take shelter now." He looked to the tower. They couldn't take shelter there. The tower was huge and it was basically a giant target for bandits to see if there were any survivors in there. There must be a place nearby. He was going to move foward, until he heard loud howling nearby.

"...Wolves." Out from the bushes infront of them, came out a small pack of large wolves. They looked vicious, with Gloom and blood oozing from their mouths and fangs. They were ready to rip any living being apart limb from limb.

Nicholas ran foward, and grabbed Ash to pull her back away from the wolves. "A-Ash!" He squeaked. The wolves began to charge at them.

Grim groaned. He felt nauseous. Hearing the loud howls however, forced him to look up to formulate some sort of plan. "Sh*t..." Grim cursed. He reached into the pocket of his backpack, taking out a dagger and a revolver. Ash shook as she backed away. The wolves would kill them. A slow and painful death. "Run!" Ash screamed as she grabbed Nicholas and started to run back to the two, the wolves dashing at them. "Quickly behind us!" Grim yelled. He got out of Miguel's grip and charged at the wolves, running past the kids and shooting at them with the revolver. He hit one, two, in the heads to slow them down and then one of them leaped right on him, taking a large bite on his neck as they fell back. Grim screamed as he heard the teeth rip his skin, the gloom infected saliva splashing and goozing. The pain was unbearable. He got his revolver and started to shoot at it in the face, black blood and matter splattering. Just as another tried to jump past him, he grabbed its leg. "Miguel! Get the kids up that tree! They won't be able to reach them, hurry!"

Miguel went straight for the kids. He couldn't help but stop mid way once he heard Grim's screams. He instantly turned around to go try to help Grim, however he had killed the wolf that bit into his neck. In an effort to at least help him get up, Miguel drew one of his knifes right at the wolf that Grim had grabbed it's leg. The knife hit it right in the neck, which in turn caused the wolf to drop with a small whimper. Miguel ran to the kids and swung Ash over his shoulder. He grabbed Nicholas' hand and started to run to the closest tree they could find. In the middle of the run Nicholas shook his head and ripped his wrist from Miguel's grasp. "No!" He yelled, crying. "I want to help Grim!" With that, he made a break for Grim.

Miguel reached his hand out. "GET BACK HERE!" He screamed. As Nicholas went to go help Grim, one of the few wolves that was left tackled him and tried to bite him. Nicholas began to kick and scream, trying to get the wolf off of him. All of a sudden however, an extremely loud gunshot was heard and the wolf that was attacking Nicholas dropped dead, it's blood splattering all over Nicholas' face. After that, the same gun shot the other wolves that was trying to attack the 'skeleton family.' Behind a couple of yards away was a single man, sniper rifle perched right ontop of the rock.

Edited April 26, 201510 yr by Aqua7KH

Ash screamed as she saw the black blood rushing from Grim's wound. "Nicholas no!!!" Ash screamed as Nicholas went right after Grim. That idiot! However relief happened as gunshots rang and took down the wolves in no time. The gunshots weren't theirs, however...Grim sat up, crawling over to Nicholas despite the pain. He pushed the dead wolf off him and quickly hugged him. "It's alright, you're safe now." Grim muttered as he used his jacket to clean up Nicholas' face from the black blood of the wolf. "What you did was extremely stupid. I hope you know that. Don't ever do it again." Grim told him, his voice full of relief more than worry. He would never forgive himself if the kid died for his sake. Ash looked around shaking. Were the wolves done for? Would there by anymore? "Miguel..." She hugged Miguel tightly. "Those gunshots weren't ours...are they...bandits...?" Ash asked, gulping at the thought. Other humans would be much more difficult than wolves. Grim's wound was a mess, ripped skin and muscle covered in black blood and goo of his own and from the wolf. You could barely see the bone. Grim glanced back where the shots came from, staring into the distance. "Whoever that was, it saved us. I just hope he didn't saved us for himself." Grim muttered as he stood up and picked up Nicholas with his good arm on his good shoulder.

Nicholas shivered, deeply scared from what just had happened. He clung to Grim like a koala, extremely fearful that the wolves would attack again.

"I-I'm sorry!" Nicholas cried. Thick tears rolled down his face and he started to hiccup. "I'm sorry!" He cried once more.

Miguel looked around, trying to pinpoint where the gunshots came from. "I don't know..." Miguel muttered as he held Ash tightly. "We will have to wait and see- wait!" He pointed towards man that had shot the wolves. He came out from his hiding spot with his hands up and his rifle slung over his shoulder. He carefully approached Miguel.

"I will not hurt you." The man said. He was a rather big man, who was very tall and somewhat thick. He was in very good shape and wore military combat clothing with a German flag patch on the side of his arms. He had short dark brown hair slicked back and light brown eyes. "Are you alright?"

Miguel hid Ash behind him. "Who the hell are you?" He asked.

The man smiled and put his hand on his chest. "I am Stiles." He had a German accent. "I am a medic for the German military. Or was, at least. I saw the wolves attack you and wanted to help."

Grim held Nicholas and hummed slightly to calm him down a bit. Ash peeked from behind Miguel at the stranger. "Medic? Isn't that a type of doctor?" Ash muttered. Grim walked up next to Miguel. "Well you saved Nicholas. You have my thanks." Grim said as he rested his head slightly against Nicholas. "We didn't expect to see someone else around here. I would've guessed any humans in the area had already made New Dystopia their home. Are you on the way there too?" Grim asked. As wary as he was, that this man could be a threat, the fact he saved Nicholas gave him the benefit of the doubt. "I'm Grim, and this is my brother, Miguel."

Stiles smiled and kneeled down to be at Ash's height. "Why yes sweetie." He said. "That is a type of doctor. I make sure all of my friends are healthy and I make sure their boo-boos are okay ja?" He stood up and gave Grim a nod. "I'm happy to have saved your boy. At first I thought you were a bandit until I saw your children. Many bandits like to search around here especially in the tower. I heard of this 'New Dystopia' and I was on my way there actually to see if they need my assistance. I was just now currently trying to set up a small emergency camp in case things went wrong. It's nice to meet you, Grim and Miguel."

Miguel huffed and crossed his arms. He really didn't like this guy at all. "Nice to meet you too, I guess. But I don't think we need some German-" he paused and looked to Nicholas. This man DID save Nicholas' life so Miguel couldn't be too rude. "Actually-" Miguel sighed. "Gracias for saving Nicholas..."

Nicholas snuggled in Grim's hand. His cries quieted down and he rubbed his eyes before looking to the newcomer. He tightened his hold around Grim. "H-He's really big and tall..." He said with a hiccup.

Ash growled at the medic. "Only Miguel gets to baby talk me!" She hissed before hiding behind Miguel again. Grim smiled at Nicholas. "You're right, he is. If my memory serves me right, our father used to be just as tall. He was scary when mad too." Grim said as he looked back at the medic. "Well we're heading to New Dystopia as well. We are suppose to meet up with another group there. Maybe they've arrived before us." Grim thought and came up with an idea. "How about we head over there together? Bigger numbers means bigger chances on survival, but we are heading the same way anyways so why not?" Grim then turned to his beloved brother, giving him the sweetest smile he could come up with and puppy eyes. "Right, Miguel? What do you say?"

Stiles couldn't help but chuckle at Ash's attitude. "You're a feisty one aren't you?" He commented. He listened to Grim's proposal and agreed to it completely. "That sounds great, however we should go tomorrow. You have a terrible wound on your neck and I want to try to fix it." He pointed West. "There's a barn nearby. I have been sleeping there for the past few days. It's very warm and it should be comfortable for you and your children."

Nicholas perked up at the sound of the barn. I really did sound very warm and comforting. Maybe there was some animals that he could play with like the cattle or maybe even pigs and piglets. "I wanna go..." Nicholas said quietly.

Miguel crossed his arms and looked to the side. He really didn't know. "I guess..." He muttered after a short while.

"Sounds wonderful. Let's go then." Grim said as he looked down at Nicholas and smiled. "Hay makes a more comfortable bed than a tent sometimes." Grim then looked over at Miguel, who seemed unsure. Grim purred as he stood next to Miguel and slightly leaned over to him. "Come on, Miguel. You know it's dangerous to stay out here by ourselves, and without any actual refuge either. A barn provides wonderful place to rest and protection from multiple threats. Plus...I REALLY need to be stitched up." Grim said smiling, hissing at the end of his sentence. He knew Miguel was stubborn, so he'd have to use his trick to make him want to go ahead willingly. Besides, the injury really hurt. He wants to get on his sweet side. "Now then, love, let's go!~" Grim said as he kissed Miguel's cheek and walked with Nicholas, following Stiles. Ash took a peek and chuckled to herself. She looked up at Miguel with a smirk. "So, who's the wife?" She teased.

Miguel was still protesting until Grim used his secret trick. Miguel gave in immediatly. "W-Well I guess one night..." He muttered with a huff. He began to follow Grim long with anyone and suddenly saw Ash poke her head out with a rather interesting remark.

"Not me!" He said. "I am no wife! Yo no soy esposa!!!"

Stiles led them to a field surrounded by trees which acted as a sort of wall in the outskirts of the city. There were a few cattle and even some horses and chickens roaming freely. At the edge of this field was a big red barn where some pigs layed at the front. Stiles smiled and stopped at the front of the barn.

"This is it." He said. "Feel free to make yourselves comfortable. The animals are friendly and this place is hidden."

Nicholas almost squealed and ran right over to the pigs. "They have piglets!" He yelled, picking up one and holding it to his chest. "Look! Look!" The piglet squealed happily in Nicolas' arms.

"Miguel's a wife~" Ash teased before catching up with the group. Once she saw the pigs she ran up to them to pet them. "Uncooked bacon!" She said, making Grim laugh from the remark. "Be careful with them, they're small still. They can be pretty feisty, for uncooked bacon." Grim said as he looked over at Stiles. "We owe you one." Grim said as he crossed his arms slightly. "My father used to be a doctor too. A good one, when considering the circumstances..." Grim trailed off before sitting down on a pile of hay. "Those wolves definitely knew how to some no wonder New Dystopia is hard to reach. There's more dangers concentrated around it the closer it is." Ash petted the piglets gently. "One day they'll be big and fat and very heavy. Then turned into BACON!"

Stiles nodded back. "I'm more than happy to help other survivors. I try to help as much as I can. They remind me that the world hasn't completely fallen." He began to chuckle at the sight of Ash and Nicholas. "They're polar opposites ja? Are they siblings?"

"I guess you could say that..." Miguel muttered, cutting in. "Hey, we're not your friend or anything and we're only sticking around with you until we get to New Dystopia."

Stiles frowned. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to seem bad or anything."

Meanwhile Nicholas began to sniffle, and held the piglet closer to his chest. He protectively got in front of the pigs.

"T-They're not food..." Nicholas whined softly. "D-Don't say that... Nooo...."

Ash groaned to herself as she heard Nicholas pout. "Ok ok! I'm kidding! They aren't going to be bacon! They're going to be just pigs! Ok? Now no crying!" Ash insisted as she sat down and started to pet the piglets again, muttering something under her breath of annoyance of Nicholas being a big baby. Grim got his hands on his hips as he pouted at Miguel. "Miguel, how rude of you." Grim muttered. He understood Miguel's concern. Trusting was the last thing on their mind after everything they've gone through. But now Grim worried that he would never be able to trust on people again. He turned to Stiles. "Forgive him. We've...been through a lot...trusting is something that's been stripped away from us for a long while. So trying to regain it might be a bit difficult." Grim said as gently as he could with his sweetest smile. He cleared his throat and looked over at Miguel. "You must be tired. Go get some rest, alright? I'll get this wound patched up." Grim said with a small purr.

Nicholas pouted as he continued to hold his piglet. It had fallen asleep in his arms. After a few minutes, he took Ash's hand and put it on his piglet's fur. "Isn't she so soft?" He said with a small smile. "We should name them! I want to name this one Charlotte."

Miguel growled. He really didn't want to be dealing with this army man. But for now he as willing to cooperate. "Fine." Miguel said. "We'll see how this goes. Just don't try anything stupid and be careful with my brother or I'll stab you in your sleep." With that, he pecked his brother on the cheek. "I'm going to make us some beds and go to sleep. Goodnight." He went right inside the barn.

Stiles chuckled and crossed his arms. "Your brother is... Interesting. I don't mind if you don't trust me. Trust is earned. I'll fix up your neck now ja? It'll hurt but you're strong." He sat down next to Grim and took out his supplies such as alcohol, a thread and a needle.

Ash smiled and picked one of the piglets up. "I'm naming this one Wilbur!" She said smiling. Grim smiled gently as he got mentally prepared for the stitching. "We've been together for a long time. At the same time, we got separated for years, and only been back together for over a week now." Grim said rather calmly. He still had a fever, his body was aching and the white of his eyes were starting to show a gray hue. "Hey Stiles, I've heard rumors from my group, weeks before from where we are now...is it true the infected in New Dystopia are experimented on for a cure?"

"Why, so you can get cured?" Stiles asked, gently pouring some alcohol on Grim's bite to clean it. He clicked his tongue as it bubbled. He could easily tell by the black blood and the fact that the Wolves were infected Grim was infected himself. By the fact that his veins were already black, Grim must have been infected anyway for a while.

"You must have been infected for some time now..." Stiles said in some amazement. "I only seen one other person infected like this and not be affected by it. I don't know about any rumors... However I was with a group far away that was experimenting with Gloom. They weren't trying to find a cure for it, but they were trying to use it to vaccinate people as well as use it to cure illnesses. Gloom has been known to cure certain viruses and diseases such as smallpox and flus." He hummed as he gently patted the wound with a rag and started to work. "This will hurt..." He muttered as he gently poked his needle into Grim's neck so he could begin the stitching. "Maybe they're doing the same. You and your brother must be so happy to be reunited again."

Meanwhile Nicholas began to play with his piglet, watching her roll around in the ground. "I love that name, Wilbur! Wilbur and Charlotte!" Nicholas said with a smile. He started to scratch Charlotte's belly. "Maybe Grim could teach us how to milk a cow... If he knows how to. We could try playing with the chickens too!"

Grim hummed. "Such a strong infection would definitely kill off any competition within the body in order to take over. However animals seem to be unaffected mentally due to them already living on instinct...I've seen humans with Gloom, but they either die from the side effects or lose their minds and have to be put down. I'm glad to see humanity starting to develop some uses for it." Grim said, distracting himself from the needle being used to close his wound. "I've been infected for a couple of years now. Was purposely injected with it in hopes that it'd kill me. Didn't work." Grim then pointed at the kids. "Those children along with others were already born with gloom in their system. So they're immune to the side effects, I believe." Grim said as he stared down at the floor for a bit. "I don't want to infect my brother. So maybe my infected body can be cured so we can be together. That's what I hope." Ash thought. "Chickens are scary..." She muttered before perking up. "Milking cows should be easy!"

Stiles hummed at he continued the stitches. He tried to make it as neat and as clean as possible. It was very difficult however due to Grim's messy wound. "Das ist gut- That is good." Stiles commented as he dabbed the now finished stitches with more alcohol, and began to place dressing on it. "I hope the friends you make at that New Dystopia place won't notice for now. They might not want to infect an infected, but who knows. The may have plenty of infected there already. I hope you can be cured so you can be with your bruder again." He fished around in his pocket for some cotton and gauges. "I also hope this healing I'm doing is priceless so your bruder won't hate me more than he already does." (Bruder is German for brother btw but that's pretty obvious LOL)

Nicholas nodded excitedly. Who needs chickens anyway? He'd rather eat a chicken than a crab or a piggy. He patted Charlotte's head. "Let's ask later to see if we could milk the cows! Ooo, maybe we could ride on their backs and let them walk us around everywhere! We could see the horses too!"

"He'll warm up eventually, I think, I hope. He used to be so gullible when little, I kind of miss that." Grim said as he took a look at his patched up wound. "Thank you." Grim said, both for the fixing of the injury, and for the kind words. Ash looked over to see Grim had finished. "Why not now?" Ash said as she ran up to Grim and pulled on his braid. "Oi!" "Hey, Gwadah," Ash said, trying to imitate the nickname Miguel had for him. "Teach us about the other farm animals." She insisted. "Eh, right now?" Grim asked. Ash pouted and then gave a small growl. "Now." She insisted. "Ok ok~ Don't bite me." Grim said as he looked over at Miguel in the further side of the barn, and then back at Stiles. "I'll be with the kids, then. Maybe you'd like to talk to Miguel." Grim said as he stood up, being pulled by Ash further into the barn. "I got him! Come on Nicholas! Grim, show us about the cows!" "As in, milking them?" "Yeah, that stuff." "Ok ok, but I've never lived in a farm so I'm only going to know the basics..."

Stiles gave a small nod, very happy to have helped. He glanced over at Miguel, who was laying down on some hay and seemed far from happy. Stilin rubbed the back of his head. This might take a while. "Are you sure?" Stiles asked. "I know much about the animals-" it was too late. Grim was already taken away by Ash. Stiles shook his head and stood up from his seat. "Ahh well I guess I could get him to make a campfire." He said with a small sigh.

Nicholas happily followed Ash as she pulled Grim around. He just couldn't wait to learn about and play with the other animals. "Do you think we can find some sheep somewhere? Huh? Huh?" He always wanted to feel a sheep's wool.

 

"We'll have to see." Grim said smiling. The three walked around, looking across the stalls for animals. They did see a cow, who was sleeping with a calf. "Look, it's the mommy and the baby." Grim said as he pointed. "To get the milk, you simply milk the cow using its otters. However, she seems pretty sleepy, so I don't think we want to make her angry by waking her up." Grim said. Just then a small lamb nudged Nicholas from behind, baaahing at him. "Ah, look, he likes you." Grim said. "Ah look it's wool is black!" Ash said as she went ahead and petted it. "Yeah. That means its special." Grim said as he watched the little calf walk over to the two and sniff them up, looking up for a probable new playmate. The innocence was lovely. It reminded him of the fact that it still existed in the world, even in its infested form. He backed away to let the kids more space with the animals. "Look at how cute they are-huh, no fair, they like you more, Nicholas." Ash squealed. Grim sat down, resting against the wall as he watched the two play around. He felt his head heavy. The fever was much higher than before, and it was starting to become hard to ignore. "(I wonder...will I become a monster too?)" Grim thought as he hugged his knees and watched the kids.

Nicholas thought the calf was absolutely adorable. He never seen a calf in his entire life, let alone an actual cow. He barely saw any animal before. "Look the baby cow!" Nicolas said. He was going to go over and play with it, until he heard a sort of 'baaa' sound. He turned around to see a small lamb with black fur. He immediatly kneeled down to hug it. "A baby sheep!" He cheered, petting the lamb's soft wool. "It's super special!" He heard the calf moving around, trying to get some attention. Nicholas chuckled at Ash's complaint. "They like me because I don't call them bacon!" He exclaimed, going over to the calf. "Try to pet them more and they'll like you more."

"I pet them!" Ash complained, right before turning to the calf who was smelling at her as well. Ash gently petted it in a similar matter that Nicholas did. The calf happily sagged its tail and knelt down, laying on the hay before resting its head down to not be as tall for the kids. "Wow." Ash breathed. It was adorable. Even the sheep went baah at the pet. It appeared they haven't felt human contact for a time now, and such affection was gratefully appreciated from the kids. Grim kept his head rested against the wall. He could hear something. Something squishy as if an organism was moving up and around his body. Probably just the fever messing with him. He opened his eyes as the white of his eyes slowly darkened due to the gloom. Similar symptoms of those victims his father had treated so many years ago. He could still remember. Hunger. Was he hungry? He couldn't tell. He did, but at the same time he felt his stomach would revolt inside out were he to take a single bite out of anything. "Sh*t~" He hummed, sighing. Maybe New Dystopia did had a cure. The last thing he wanted was to scare the children. He turned away, hiding in one of the stables as he curled in a corner away from the rest.

Nicholas smiled at the calf. He could also tell that Ash was having a wonderful time which made him happy. Sometimes he really thought Ash was a big bully, however in times like these he really enjoyed having her around to enjoy this moment with him. He could get used to living in a place like this, in a barn with a whole bunch of animals. He wouldn't even need a bed or a blanket. He could sleep with the animals. As he was petting the lamb again, he scratched behind it's ears. "Grim, do you think there's more baby sheep? Grim?" He looked behind him to see Grim missing. He poked his head out of the stall to only see Grim in the corner looking very strange or hurt even. "Grim? Are you okay...?" He asked with a frown, going to approach his caretaker.