Dead Air

The green plains were littered with what felt like dull, flexible needles that pointed up at the sky, but bent under the weight of my hooves, attempting to tickle at the frogs.

The hissing was no more than a startling whisper as Dancing Flame and I trekked through the open landscape to the falls of blue in the distance. It was evident that the city was not safe. Both of us seemed keen to stay as far away from it as possible...

"Phoenix..." Flame said, hanging his head down to the prickly tendrils of green.

"Yeah?"

"In the screaming... did you hear anything else? Like... a voice? Or rather, a bunch of them? Telling you something?"

"About a song or something like that?"

He glanced at me with a brief nod, before closing his eyes, deep in concentration. "Fulfill your part in the choir of unity... Rejoice in righting this wrong, sing my song..."

"Yep..." I clenched my jaw as tears fought to escape me just thinking about it... "I heard the same thing..."

"I don't know what all this psychic shit is, but it's driving me over the edge... Too many voices in just one head... And..." He knit his brow. "I mean, what the fuck is a song?" He spoke the word as if it were alien. It was alien... to both of us, to everyone...

"I'm not keen on finding out..." I muttered.

"Fair... I guess I'm not either."

Not much else was said between us as we ventured farther from the city. As far away as we could go, was the plan. This place didn't look so great to me anymore...

For hours, we traveled. I wasn't sure exactly how long. I wasn't exactly keeping track. But I knew it had to have been hours. And still, an invisible force kept the land lit as if the sun poured its light through the thick, impenetrable shell of a structure that domed the land... the... core... of the planet...

It was at the point of nearly collapsing from sheer exhaustion that we actually came across a landmark near the base of the falls.

A two story structure. Nothing like the towers. This looked older, more crudely built. Nothing metallic, I was certain.

"Just a little longer..." Flame mumbled.

I wasn't sure if he was telling me that, or himself. He looked as if he were about to keel over too...

We were both dehydrated. We were both starving. The muscles of our legs quivered, threatening to buckle the joints at any moment.

"Just... a little... longer..." He reiterated.

... Then collapsed.

"Flame!" I rasped, grabbing a hold of an outstretched hoof. "C'mon..." I tugged, but I was no better off than he was...

Regardless, I put his foreleg around my back, attempting to lift him up so I could carry him the rest of the way.

"Damn it!" I shouted weakly just as my legs gave out beneath me.

He rolled off me, staring up at the sky.

I rolled over on my back, rasping with each breath, until finally, I turned to Flame.

"So close... yet so far..." I whispered.

He let out a dry chuckle.

"Well... If we die out here..." He turned to me, and despite the exhaustion and fear, a smile curled on his lips. His hoof rested over mine. "I had a great time with you, Phoenix..."

"I did too..." I replied, feeling some semblance of... something great. Despite everything... "Just wish it could have lasted longer..."

"Yeah..." He sighed, then coughed. "Great while it lasted, though."

"At least we won't die as slaves."

Another chuckle escaped him. "I'll take what I can get..."

"Well, fancy seeing you here..."

Oh... shit...

"Looks like the cunt came crawling back for more... and brought me a little bonus, too..."

Dread washed over Flame's eyes as fear struck my heart once more.

Our dream died right there...

I slowly turned my head up to meet the gaze of Flame's master, Feris, now without his suit. He held a gun to my head from a distance, standing straight with a wicked grin and disturbed look in his eyes.

"Vector ain't around to give orders no more... Cunt. You're mine now."

"Go to Hell..." I said behind clenched teeth. "I'll die before I ever comply again..."

"Oh, I never said anything about needing your compliance, 012... I was looking to just take what I want from you..." He then kicked my hindlegs apart, exposing me.

"No!" I shouted - or at least tried to - as I pressed my legs firmly together. "Piss off!" I curled up on my side as a sad means to protect myself from that...

He laughed softly, shaking his head.

"Seems you figured out how to break free from Orientation..." He turned to Flame next. "What about you? You seem free spirited..."

"Fuck..." Flame turned from me, glaring up at him. Fire in his eyes. "... You..."

"Oh, that's the spirit." He laughed. "This'll be fun. I like it when they try to fight... I think I'll take you first. Now get up!" He slammed the toe of his boot into Flame's side, resulting in his cry. "Get the fuck up!" Another firm kick to his side, with which he curled up, shivering. His teary eyes stayed on mine for a moment before he winced, lifting himself up on his hooves.

I barely managed to follow his lead...

He stayed behind us as we made our way to the building in the distance.

Eventually, coming across the door, I stumbled over, leaning against Flame.

"Come on..." He whispered, wrapping a foreleg around me.

"Oh, that's cute..." Feris remarked. "I'll be sure you watch while I take the other, then."

My head slammed against the door before me. My body was launched forward, and the obstacle broke into shards, stinging at my hide.

I landed on the floor, sliding along its coarse surface for a moment before coming to a halt. My rear already implied I was gonna have a bruise from that strike...

"Get in!" He screamed, moments before Flame gasped, landing atop me.

Boots traversed the interior, nearly each step met with a creaking sound.

His hand firmly grasped my mane after throwing Flame off my form, lifting me up.

I cried out as he dragged me across the floor.

"Leave her alone!" Flame shouted. "Motherfucker, I said LEAVE HER-"

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" He screamed back, throwing me against a couch.

I pressed the side of my face against the bottom of it, shaking. Hot tears stained my face as I shuddered.

As his footfalls faded for Dancing Flame, something ran through my mane with care.

I looked up to see 153 staring down in remorse, her hoof stretched to the back of my head, petting me...

Blood stained between her legs...

In a quick motion, I lunged up, holding her tight to me. Her forehoof dropped like dead weight, and her upper body convulsed as tears broke out.

"012!" The vile Human known as Feris called out with sadistic tones. "Turn around, you don't wanna miss the show!"

Shaking, still holding my look-alike, I looked over my shoulder with hate in my heart.

He slammed Flame's head into the ground, getting in position as his other hand fumbled to undo the belt around his waist.

"Look away, Phoenix..." He hissed behind grit teeth, locking his eyes with mine.

"Look away, and it'll be worse for you!"

No...

I was dying free...

Flame cried out, wincing his eyes shut as Feris took him...

I let go of 153 and spun around, charging in a clumsy canter. Exhaustion, fatigue, pain, and severe disorientation fought me, but damn every star, every molecule if I wasn't going to die fighting! I finally got a taste of freedom, and I wasn't letting that go! Flame got a taste of it!

I let out a scream as blood rushed into my vision. He glanced over, swinging the gun around. Pulling the trigger...

There was a loud crackle of energy which carried on through an absurd ringing in my ears.

I couldn't hear my screams, his swears, the floor creaking. I didn't need to...

Both of us rolled along the floor, slamming into a chair, a table.

I bit deep into his arm as he tried to choke me out, and even through the ringing, I could hear his agony.

More gunshots...

The ringing got worse.

A muted scream unknown to me escaped my lips as he slammed the butt of the weapon against my gut repeatedly, but that was his mistake. The pain only made me bite down more. My scream wasn't that of pain... Something was burning deep inside me...

Sinking teeth through muscle, to bone.

He flung me off him, to which I struck a wall. His blood-soaked flesh remained in my mouth, and turning away from the indent my head left in the wall, blood sprayed out over him, over the floor, over Flame's shuddering form.

And between us, the gun...

In a near instant, I lunged for it, but his awareness got me. An outward swing of his leg had his boot strike over the wound he previously inflicted on me, tossing me to the side.

The gun slid off to the right, but in the dazed confusion, I lost track of where it laid next.

He lunged for it before I had time to think... or move...

Blood spattered everywhere from his arm.

In the corner of my eye, I saw his body struggling. I looked up to see 153 pounding her forehooves down on his chest, screaming, though I could barely hear it.

He pushed her off, shouting something that only came out as a muffled incomprehensive rage.

Just as he raised the gun on her, I had gotten up and charged him once more.

A quick glance in my direction had him swing the gun back around just as he pulled the trigger, resulting in a miss.

I tackled his mid-section back to the ground, and without a moment of hesitation, sank my teeth into his ear, ripping it clean off his head.

He dropped the gun, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Now, that... I heard...

... And I discovered a new part of me at that moment. Because... I liked it...

I was enjoying his pain...

Something deep and dark inside me shivered and laughed at the same time. Crying with repression, but celebrating all at once... Burning me with a freezing embrace. Something I never knew possible...

I couldn't stop myself. I needed more...

Fuck, yes... I needed MORE!

"ALL THE SHIT YOU PUT ME THROUGH!" I yelled, just before taking his nose in my jaw and ripping it off, only to spit it out to the side with the other severed parts. "ALL THE PAIN YOU PUT US THROUGH!" Next came chunks of his hair. "THE FUCKING TORMENT!" Tears broke free as my body trembled with a rage I never knew I had. "THE FUCKING TORTURE!" Part of his cheek. "THE FUCKING TRAUMA!" Part of his chin. "NOTHING I EVER FUCKING DO TO YOU WILL EVER MAKE UP FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE TO US!"

I sank my teeth into his throat and closed my eyes, listening to the choked gurgles, feeling his vacating struggles underneath my body, tasting the rush of hot iron that slid along my teeth, my tongue, shooting down my throat from nicked arteries.

I pulled back, crying out.

"FUCKING DIE!"

His body continued to spasm as he gasped and choked, desperate for air. Looking at me. Beyond me, his eyes looking through the window to another place. A place best suited for him, and Humans like him. Not the Afterdeath. That place was meant for rest.

He was going someplace else...

I was sure his friends were waiting for him there...

My only regret was not being able to enjoy it further...

Tears and blood became one, dripping from my lips, my chin as I stared down, towering over his lifeless body... trembling...

Why the fuck was I scared...?

He was fucking dead now... I did a great justice...

I killed a monster.

I killed a Human.

I... killed him.

I... killed... someone.

I... killed...

... I took a life...

...

Oh...

My stomach turned on itself...

His blood, now foul, wouldn't leave my senses. I couldn't look away...

No matter where I turned, I couldn't unsee the destruction I had done...

I... had a killer inside me...

That's why I was scared...

I was a murderer... and I... enjoyed it...

I was a monster...

"012...?"

I spun around to 153, eyes wide, mouth panting, heart pounding, stomach turning, hide sweating.

She and Flame stayed at a distance, staring... Judging from a distance...

"I-" My voice choked on his blood, bits of flesh between the teeth...

Tears fogged my sight of them.

My legs further weakened, to which I collapsed, retching over the taste and scent of what I had done. Nothing came out...

I couldn't rid myself of the taste...

"I'm so sorry!" I wailed, rolling off the corpse and curling up. "I-I don't know what happened to me! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" I winced my eyes shut with each swear. I slammed my head against the ground.

"Phoenix..." Flame whispered. Through the abstract blur, I saw him approach in a calm manner. Or was it caution...? "He would have killed us... You did what you had to..."

"B-but I... I enjoyed it!" I looked up at him, terrified. He looked more concerned than surprised. And considering what just happened, shaken up.

"After everything he did to us... how could you not enjoy it?" He looked down at the mutilated corpse beside me and spat. "Fucker had it coming..." With a hint of a pained smile, he regarded me again. "You took my kill, by the way. But..." He stepped closer, wiping some of the tears free. "Thank you, Phoenix... For sparing me from..." He winced at the thought. "Further... torment..."

I looked from Flame to 153, awestruck in a puddle of blood and tears.

"You're not... disturbed...?"

"Fuck no..." 153 said. "Fighting for our freedom is the best thing we could ever do. Even if we die for it. Just wish you'd arrived sooner... He... got me good..." She glanced at the blood on the couch. "Point is, you gave us the courage to fight back just now."

"A life of freedom is meant to be." Flame continued. "They take that away from us, then we got nothing left to lose. You showed that. Just now."

"You were willing to die for what's right..." 153 spoke softly. "We stand by you with that."

"So no... we're not disturbed in the slightest." He lifted my chin with the tip of his hoof, smiling softly, though he was still pained. "We're thankful... You saved us..."

I began wiping the remaining tears away, sniffling at an attempt to clean up and clear my head.

"Damn it all..." I let out a choked hint of laughter, sitting up and shaking my head.

Flame ran a hoof along my back, sitting beside me.

"Are you in pain?" He whispered.

"N-no, why?"

A moment of worry in his eyes lingered.

"You will be when your adrenaline wears off... You got shot."

"Twice." 153 added with that same look in her eyes.

"W-what...?" I looked down at my body, searching for any fresh wounds. Almost immediately, I discovered a bloodied scar on my rear hoof, which had already cauterized itself.

"Doesn't look like it hit anywhere lethal. Lucky for you, those weren't flechette rounds."

"Second shot grazed your ear." 153 added.

"Shame, too..." Flame jumped in with a smile of mirth, flicking my left ear lightly. The piercing still resided, judging by the subtle weight behind it. "That was my favorite ear..."

Well, that explained that horrible ringing sound...

Sighing, I leaned against Flame.

"I wanna get clean and rest..."

With a kiss on my cheek, he responded with a whisper. "Right there with you... Let's see what we can do about that..."

"I saw Feris washing blood off him in that room over there." 153 said as she pointed at an open doorway in the corner of the main room we resided in. "Some liquid washed it off him. Didn't seem to hurt him, so I guess it's okay..."

"Sounds like a good place to start." He said, getting up. "Come, Phoenix."

I stood up and began stumbling for the room.

"I'll use it after you two." 153 stated as she sat against the couch where I had once been leaning.

"You sure?" Flame asked. "You're welcome to join us."

"Thanks, but..." She turned away, pausing for a moment. "I wanna be alone right now..."

Flame nodded silently, before moving for the room.

The transparent liquid that rained down on us from a piping system the likes of which I never saw before was pleasantly warm.

Flame and I were a bit crammed together, but neither of us were really complaining.

The grime, sweat, tears, and blood washed off our coats with ease, mixing together into a light pink shade before spiraling around a circular, brass grate below us in a vortex, inevitably getting sucked in to the black, unknown depths beyond.

During our cleanse, Flame checked on my eyes again. I was woozy, I was tired, and my brain felt even more rattled.

It turned out I had a small concussion now...

Our manes sparkled from the liquid, giving a certain deep admiration to one another.

I lost track of how long we were in there, but by the time we got out, a lot had changed.

For starters, 153 was sorting through a pack of nutrient rations. That was a blessing right there. Starvation, I discovered for the very first time, wasn't too fun.

Feris' body was gone, but a puddle of red remained where he once laid, which trailed off toward the front door of the building. Or... rather, where the front door once was, before my thick ass demolished it...

The gun rested on the table's surface, pointed away from everyone.

Couch cushions were flipped over on the other side, so as to not sit in her blood.

... And upon a mere glimpse of the windows, the land was now cast in shadow. Everything was, save for the lights that continued to run power, and the glow of our hair.

"What else did we miss?" Flame asked as I stepped up to the window, looking out into the darkness.

Spotlights beamed up from a fully lit city in the horizon. A dome of white light encased it. Thankfully, I couldn't hear the hissing or screams from here. It was a good assumption that we were safe from... well, from whatever those things were.

"Not sure what happened." 153 answered, presumptively leaning against the back of the couch due to the audible groan of the furniture's protest. I had noticed that everything here in this core was meant for creatures that were smaller than us by, I'd guess, 6 to 8 inches... My hips rubbed tightly against the doorframe when I crashed in! "I was moving Feris outside, and everything got dark. Then lights turned on. Guessing its a day and night simulation stuck on loop. Triggers the lights after some time."

It was then that I noticed the white, twinkling dots in the sky to act as stars.

I wanted to reach out to them, touch them. They were so mesmerizing... So free. I was going to be up there with them someday. I just had to stay alive...

"This doesn't bode well for us..." Flame said.

I turned away from the window as 153 spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"We can't see if those things are approaching now. Not until it's too late, anyways. We're blind here."

"But, the static-" 153 knit her brow.

"They can go quiet. It happened before they attacked, remember?"

"It happened a second time after the assault." I filled in. "It didn't last very long, but right after the last of our party was wiped out, they stopped completely. As if it had never happened to begin with."

"Then they went back to the hissing..." Flame shuddered.

"So... why make static noises then?" 153 asked, raising a brow. "It doesn't make any sense..."

The room fell quiet as we wandered our thoughts. Disturbing theories... Too many possibilities...

I almost wanted to stay awake because of them...

"What if..." Flame froze as we regarded his pondering. "What if they're resting? Dispersing their memory to others of the individuals the way our psyche catalogues the information we stored in our waking moments? Studies it?"

"Like data to a network?" I questioned.

"Exactly." He replied with a pointed hoof at me.

"But why would they do that?" I asked with skepticism.

His cold, fearful gaze met mine as he spoke softer.

"To learn about us... To study how we as a species would react to them. Ideas of where we'd hide, or if we'd try to fight them... Make their hunt easier..."

...

"... Is it possible for blood to run cold...?" 153 asked.

"Yeah, this is unsettling as hell to think about before going to sleep..."

"I know..." Flame sighed. "But it's vital to our survival that we discuss the elephant in the room and have a plan ready, just in case."

I nodded to the gun on the table. It was a model I had never seen before, but ultimately, it did the same thing any gun did. Shoot. "How many rounds left?"

153 nervously bit her lip, looking down. "One..."

Flame turned to me with a clenched jaw. "If you don't desecrate Feris' corpse further tonight, I'm gonna fuck his ass bloody, I swear..."

"Noted..." I drawled. "Alright, so if they're gathering info on us, then let's do the same." I turned to 153 with a single nod. "Got anything?"

She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, biting her lip.

"Actually... yeah, I think we have an advantage. We might not be blind after all." She sat up straight, wincing a little as she crossed her hind legs. "When the attack started, I got a glimpse of their faces. Their eyes are glowing white. Each one. Like spotlights. We could very well see them miles away. Especially if they're traveling in numbers."

"That sounds promising." Flame stated.

"Just... one problem." 153 grit her teeth nervously. "The moment I saw their eyes, it was hard to look away. There's something in them that just... pulls you in..."

"Aaaand, there goes our advantage..." Dancing Flame slouched with a pout. "So now what?"

"We take shifts on lookout. I'll go first." She said. "Do you have good willpower?"

"I like to think I do." He replied with a faint smile.

"Okay. I'll wake you in four hours and you can take second shift."

"And me?" I asked plainly.

"Not you..." Flame said in a near whisper. "Your perception of things is too... flexible right now. You took quite a beating to the head..."

"What you need is rest." 153 added.

"... Right." I sighed, rubbing my temple. "No, you're right..."

"There're two sleeping quarters upstairs. I'll keep watch in one of them. You two can take the other, seeing as you're..." She gave us a sultry look. "Inseparable..."

Flame blushed as he glanced at me. I smiled wanly. My mind was rolling from everything that happened today, so I didn't have much energy left to do anything more complicated than a faint smile.

"Oh, before you two go, here..." She held out the pack of nutrient pills. "Thankfully, what's his fuck was carrying them, so we won't starve at least."

"Thank the stars..." I murmured, grabbing the pack with my wings.

"With that, I'm gonna get clean." She carefully slid off the couch, wincing. Once she was on all fours again, she looked at Flame.

"Can you stand watch while I do? I won't be as long as you two horn dogs."

"W-we weren't fucking in there..." I stated abruptly.

She gave us both a skeptical look. "Mhm... I smelled you two when you were thrown in here. I don't believe you."

Flame sighed, shaking his head. There was a hint of laughter.

"I'll be up there with you soon, Phoenix." Flame said amusingly.

"W-wait, 153!"

She turned back to me, standing in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Fulfill your part in the choir of unity..." I rubbed a hoof over my temple, wincing my eyes tight, trying to remember. "Rejoice in righting this wrong, sing my song..."

Upon opening my eyes, she stared silently. Coldly... Fearfully...

"You heard it too, right?" I asked timidly.

She nodded.

"Do you... have any idea what it could mean...?"

"No." She stated abrasively. "And I don't want to know. If it's not going to help improve our odds of surviving this chaos, then I don't need to know about it... Rhymes don't keep us alive."

With that, she turned and closed the door behind her.