The rain outside the window never shouted.
It always came with long, melancholic whispers. Drop after drop tapping against the glass with the same rhythm every night.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPh8fkCmPN
Like invisible fingers knocking on a door, asking for permission to enter a warmth that had never existed inside this room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtjn4MGdve
The streetlights in this small town on the outskirts cast a dull orange glow through the misty rain, creating blurry circles that hung in the air like giant blind eyeballs, staring everywhere without truly seeing anything.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTBIGehhB9
The dormitory room sat on the third floor of an old red brick building that had stood for nearly two centuries.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56Db5g7T7J
Its walls were thick, painted a pale white, made of stone and plaster cracked in many places.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SA1WCebo8
In weather like this at the end of the year, cold that pierced the bone, the air inside the room felt colder than the air outside.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wxWkNXrX4
As if the ancient building deliberately trapped the cold, storing it in every pore of its bricks and every crack in its wooden floors, to torment its inhabitants who had never truly been wanted by anyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFeDaSp8k6
The central heater in the corner of the room, a rusted metal box that hissed softly all night long, produced only a shallow warmth, not enough to drive away the cold that crept from the wooden floor into the bones of the feet.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5wqGvfZs0
Voltase Watt lay on his back on a bed far too large for his body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccKP176GHK
The body of a thin boy, shorter than the average of children his age, where his body lacked the nutrition and protein to grow any further.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBw336GSN0
His shoulders were narrow, so narrow that the navy striped flannel pajamas he wore kept slipping off his left shoulder.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErAG6MJONV
His arms were thin, with faint blue veins visible beneath pale skin that rarely saw sunlight.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZN2wivERi
His short legs could never reach the end of the bed, and every night he felt the tips of his cold toes touching the empty air beneath the blanket.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGHyMXyPOn
He had bought those pajamas three years ago, and even then they had been too big for his small body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xTf5hmbje
Sometimes he thought that perhaps his body simply could not find a reason to grow, because growing required attention, nutrition, love, and he had never had enough of any of those.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6FjfFHN8D
No one will notice whether you're here or not, he thought.
The thought felt ordinary in his head, not a piercing sadness, but a fact he had accepted long ago, ever since his mind was old enough to understand that he was a burden moved from one place to another.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdc2BfUFwDn
Things do not grow.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HdlgwgXHY
He never knew his biological parents.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0phHPicrx
Voltase was a baby found on the doorstep of an orphanage in South London on a cold winter morning, wrapped in a faded blue blanket with a piece of paper bearing his name and birthdate.
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Nothing else.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKU0ysmv6A9
No letter, no message, no clue about who had left him there or why they had gone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6IGbsTvKQ
He grew up in that orphanage for five years, changing caretakers and beds and faces that came and went.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3DvOudBYb
Then a family came and chose him, a polite, well dressed couple who said the right things in front of the social worker.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XbrAFKzjg
They took him to their home in the suburbs, gave him his own room, food, clothes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmMkBihUGO
But they never truly wanted him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQh7ZXVHk22
He knew it from the way they looked at him, not with hatred, but with indifference.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngJSXMyTRs
As if he were an obligation, a task to be completed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhAdFaiRj0
When he turned ten, they sent him to this boarding school.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBtOaNWQEa
An elegant, polite way to get rid of a burden without appearing cruel.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlxWWZIlmU
They paid his school fees.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wmaybfeAn
They sent birthday cards, store bought cards with printed text identical for everyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Fv8wjZ0Vo
But they never visited.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5AB8CGJyV
They never called.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONidvgxwNs
Voltase was a receipt already paid in full, an obligation fulfilled.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2YFhsizla
Now he was left here, in this cold room, in a country that was supposedly his birthplace but never felt like his own.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKcxh3wNKr
You have no one, he thought, and he said it with lips that did not move, only inside his head.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnZGaQkRd5
You have never had anyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3j33G1gTM8
And you will never have anyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaeh1JiHIp
Voltase had counted those cracks on the ceiling every night for two years since he first arrived in this room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFMTAztCZi
The number of main branches was always twenty three.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QDbLLWtVH
Never changing.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVN2PuVCouM
The small branches varied, depending on the humidity of the night air, the temperature, whether the rain fell harder than usual.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLirjYuxcPV
Tonight he counted forty three small branches, counting with his thin right index finger, tracing the crack patterns in the air without actually touching the wood.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMm4LrsHJnX
If he touched it, he would feel the cold of the plaster and remember that he was still here.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLO7Xsb2Fm
In the distance, the bells of St. Mary's church at the end of the street began to ring.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPob0jA5ES5
The sound was old and heavy, with a slightly off key tone from age and dampness.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf68RggXcQK
Voltase counted each chime because there was nothing else he could do.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9t2ZCdbJz
The bells stopped at the ninth chime, and silence returned, filled only by the patter of rain that never stopped here.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbViIevUsg
Voltase reached his right hand toward the small table beside his bed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU53U1uAoC8
The table was made of cheap wood, chipped in places, its surface covered with scratches from pens and pencils of children who had been here before him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclrWfBdpO3
On it lay the cheap phone given by his foster family when he left for boarding school, a symbolic gesture so they could still keep in touch, and a small desk lamp he never turned on.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dhWutLunY
His long, thin fingers groped across the table's surface until they touched the phone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNWr1Rdx1g
The screen lit up.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjH2CDi0xO
Pale blue light illuminated his face for a few seconds.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQ2HlACnD4
The time showed 21:49 PM.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoSRVwahae
He opened the game he was playing.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1waLZmtYR
The app was colorful and bright, with the main character's icon smiling widely, a boy with black hair and oversized onyx eyes, with a smile that never faded.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiFjubbKwC
Voltase almost hated that smile.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAWqev5KXG
That character never got tired, never got sad, never felt alone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBiVuXbpmj
He just ran, collected coins, dodged trains, and smiled the whole time.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nSVC4G6X1
His right thumb swiped the screen, and the game began.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhH7W1VzadY
Cheerful electronic music flowed from the phone's speaker, trying to drown out the sound of rain, while the character started moving along the railway tracks with a synthetic sunset sky full of orange and purple gradients stretching behind him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBD8gJCQfnx
Golden coins sparkled in the air, and every time the character collected them there was a satisfying ding sound.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwwc2ltuhx
Voltase played mechanically.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpgtkSX1CA
His thumb swiped left, jumped, swiped right, ducked.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpdzMltkNs
The score in the upper right corner climbed, 240, 480, 710, 930.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJecBuqBvF
He did not care about the score or the character.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVZbd9aRyQ
The only thing he needed was the sound.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzccuIF1B9
The music was a thin curtain separating him from the silence of the room, from the patter of rain, from the awareness that he was truly alone in this world and no one would come to save him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpI9HKObG9P
On the right side of the screen, a second character appeared, a grown man in a white long sleeved shirt and a faded blue jacket, wearing a security guard's hat tilted back, and beside him a digital sheepdog ran at the same speed, its tongue lolling in a repeating animation.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbkzDenMSY
The three of them ran together.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9WFWAvolz
A fake family in a fake world.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEto6WS6r6
They are not real, Voltase thought, just code, they can never feel anything.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN78BMxAidp
They are never alone because they never existed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYdBYH5pcy
At 1,230 points, the obstacles increased.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwJ02YgkXD
Train cars came faster and denser from both directions.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HX1B1zZ1o
Voltase's small fingers began to sweat, making the touchscreen feel slippery and sticky.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpBqFoCYVW
His main character stumbled, a repeated falling animation, got up, stumbled again, while the score stopped climbing and the music shifted into anxious, stretching notes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwallLa09xZ
A giant steel train car passed right in front of the character.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFoiHRjG03
Bam!
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The screen turned blurry red, with a crimson gradient encircling the edges.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZcnbyVA0Z
Thick black ink pooled in the corners.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSWoxqYRiM
White bold text appeared in the center.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JgxdUSV3e
GAME OVER.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgop1BfO2fN
Voltase let out a breath.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXr9DgTTeWQ
The breath left his small chest as a faint, almost inaudible sigh, like wind slipping through a crack in a door that did not close properly.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiF5uPSB03i
He pressed the home button, and the phone screen dimmed to black, reflecting his own face, the face of a thin child with weary onyx eyes, cheekbones beginning to protrude, and messy black hair.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhoUiDSz2U
He put the phone on the table with a slow, reluctant movement, as if letting go of the phone meant letting go of the only thing distracting him from the silence.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8toU6wwak
Silence returned.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT44WcGMLUC
Rain returned.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4OGAeDH9L
He was still here.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7q8JAvqYj
Still small and alone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmQccH3ex3
Voltase closed his eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRdOeMJVjH
In the darkness behind his eyelids, he imagined another place.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4tej5CMvb
A place where he had a big, strong body that did not need to be afraid of other children mocking him in the school hallways.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcEXqOYgFA
A place where he could become something, become someone meaningful, someone who could not be ignored.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5V2EskG1bE
But the image was vague, like smoke vanishing before he could grasp it.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfaTa3uc54
He did not know what a big body looked like.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh12JiPPthp
He had never had one.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FBStV4IOO
He only knew that he wanted it, something more than this thin, weak, useless body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4Qf4Awz0x
Slowly, exhaustion consumed him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTNAujlTfO
His body curled up in the middle of the too large bed, knees drawn to his chest, arms hugging a pillow that had become dull and smelled of dormitory laundry soap, sharp and chemical.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbw0exXNwI0
The rain kept tapping the window.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmbbZis1I6
The wind moaned among the old oak trees in the schoolyard.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCADrU8wR7v
His consciousness began to blur, sinking into a dark, warm abyss.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQrMJwtM9d
The clock showed 22:01 PM.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwYszkeBQu
Three minutes since he turned off the phone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEOjMUX87N
Voltase Watt, a twelve year old boy who did not know who his parents were, who had no home to return to, who had never been loved by anyone, began to fall into a dream.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8KCRQ7WIp
The first thing that registered through his sense of smell was the stench.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUzYfQ1Y1G
Not the musty, dusty smell of the dormitory room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbROVHnZHp
This was a completely different smell, one he had never smelled before, yet somehow felt old, as if he had smelled it in another life, in a memory that was not his.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwu0IT3dWpz
The smell entered his nostrils like thick, heavy smoke.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWN3OSmeZa
It crept inside uninvited.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTxbZUaB2e
Stabbed the back of his throat like swallowed glass shards.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFQUHtEKFP
Settled on the roof of his mouth, leaving a residue that felt like a layer of copper on his tongue, salty, metallic, and with a faint sweetness that was nauseating.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluK06uiXdA
Beneath it lay another layer: a sharp, fishy stench like fish left too long in the sun, and the smell of wet earth mixed with something darker, thicker.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lYYCJw854
Blood, he thought, and the thought rose from the depths of an instinct he had not known he possessed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN1LdKNsQQZ
The smell of blood.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ied3xke1i
A lot of blood and flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2m3Z4zVpIb
Rotting flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVmxLkUBzd
Voltase opened his eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TIO8kXJfi
The darkness he saw was not the darkness of his dormitory room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZPRm0I6bu
This was total darkness, darkness that rejected light, darkness that felt solid like wet velvet pressed against his face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDFEewdBm3
His eyes blinked, adjusting, but the adjustment was slow, as if his pupils had to relearn how to catch light.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Vi9Bm4DHM
Slowly, silhouettes began to emerge.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANgI6JLfud
He saw a shape above him, very close, only inches from his own nose.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhAkxmWvKE
A face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9PlywU7Ds
But not the face of a living human.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8vIkbXVh2
The skin of that face was ashen green, pale like dried clay beginning to crack.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqatkZEKwU
On its left cheek was a large tear exposing the tissue beneath, a layer of dark red that had begun to blacken at the edges, like beef left too long in the refrigerator, its fibers drying and shriveling.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jkBUZW98b
On its chin was thin brown stubble, with flakes of dry earth clinging between the hair strands.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlx3n8egoj
Its eyes, or what remained of them, were two dark hollows.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Nj6Cscduv
No eyeballs.
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Just black holes filled with small, writhing movements.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pjEe9tlHf
Voltase saw them clearly, maggots.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaPpTlHc3E
Dozens, maybe hundreds of small pale yellowish bodies, segmented, with darker heads, writhing inside those eye sockets.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoAaBNDl6L
They rose and fell like tiny waves that never stopped, eating the remaining tissue still clinging to the orbital bone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAsnfYkcweu
Some were larger than others, fatter and whiter, perhaps because they had been there longer and had eaten more.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEmSRCXdTS
One of them crawled out of the left eye socket, across the corpse's cheekbone, and fell right onto Voltase's cheek.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKkUUOyWC2
He felt it.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntES49MlKI
Cold, Damp, and Writhing.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82a59A4gjR
That small soft body clung to his skin for a second, then began to crawl slowly downward toward his jaw.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEd2YmWNzF
Voltase felt every movement of that body, every small muscle contraction pushing it forward, every segment rubbing against his skin.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsZ7odibKl
At that moment, panic exploded inside him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7UQbAdb2m
Pure, primal panic that recognized no logic or reason.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0pApwWpsk
He wanted to scream, but his voice was caught in his throat.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcBsCPJuu9
He wanted to push, but his hands felt foreign and heavy.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5YwKHuzAi
Because he realized: his body had become different.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46SlMp6pww
His hands pushing the corpse away felt longer and heavier.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuI4biqKBA
His fingers were no longer long and thin.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPB65q1X2x
He felt protruding knuckles, long and sturdy finger joints, a wide palm with blue veins clearly visible on the back.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYQS5CvPVx
When he pushed the corpse away, the muscles in his arms, muscles he had never possessed in the real world, contracted with surprising strength.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjqMvn0rTa
He felt the stretch of muscle fibers, pressure in his shoulders, and the weight of the body he pushed felt lighter than it should have.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKapDksWgV
The corpse rolled to the side with a wet, heavy plop, like a bag of wet meat falling onto mud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhDecAgpj5
Its head hit something hard, maybe a rock, maybe another skull, with a dull crack.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4l0PqNLbhF
Voltase coughed, choked, and sat up straight with a jolting movement.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7gNorZIGd
He sat up, no need to crawl or roll. He just bent his body upward, and the body obeyed, while the maggot writhing on his cheek had fallen to the ground.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtt9j4Evdh
His chest felt heavy, broad, and wide. His back felt solid.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnU6U2mKK3
His shoulders were now thick and muscular.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEl0a7rO7gt
He looked down and saw his own body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIlSgl9N02
A uniform.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQ4EMjx5Lu
A long sleeved shirt in faded blue, made of thick wool fabric that was coarse and slightly damp from dew or blood.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhroLUUtNb
Small metal buttons lined up down the center of his chest. Some were undone, and beneath the undone buttons he saw an undershirt in wet gray.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqZ4ZP99hG
On his left shoulder was a patch bearing an emblem he did not recognize: an eagle with spread wings, its claws grasping something that looked like a snake.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtq5sd7Lh0
The patch was faded, its edges torn.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIJHnyV3Me
Blue trousers tucked into tall dark brown boots that felt heavy on his feet.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kg6mpQOZh
The boots were made of thick leather with hard soles. He felt small studs on the soles when he moved his feet over the ground.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVkLkY9uXe
Loose metal buckles on the tops of the boots swung gently as he moved.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9TnIzrjuv
Voltase raised his right hand in front of his face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡof2UkzfDtS
The hand trembled violently.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR84a80F2Ik
He could see it clearly, and it was not his hand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8OjHaKAnE
The hand was long, thin but muscular, with blue veins prominent on the back.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1V36dxVV1
The fingers were slender with prominent knuckles and short nails dirty with black earth drying beneath them.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRwH1E7qHQ
There was a small wound on his middle knuckle, a scrape still wet with fresh blood, perhaps from a fight that happened before he woke up.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfagCmRwfX
His palm was wide with deep, clear lifelines.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3QV7ON7mL
At the base of his thumb was a thick callus formed from years of holding something. It could be a weapon or a tool, he did not know.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Cm9yrqwZy
This was an adult man's hand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYj2SkzL8VV
A strong hand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvh6M0qfq93
A hand that could never belong to a weak, thin twelve year old boy.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4WgJojXox
He pressed his palm to his chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbgX58JPKJ
Beneath the thick wool fabric, he felt the contour of hard chest muscles, broad pectorals with wide ribs beneath them.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfg58OpwRu
And beneath those muscles, he felt a heartbeat.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Kelvg7ZKb
Thump, thump.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUGKBkiM1b
Thump, thump.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgtag7zr6U
A deeper, stronger, heavier heart.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPoJWDLX6B
Each beat felt like a hammer striking the wall of his chest from inside.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjAKen3R1r
This is not my body, he thought.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGND075hCAR
The thought sounded foreign in his head, deeper, heavier, with the resonance of an adult man he did not recognize.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpn1dc6Cglb
This body is not mine.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcv48Y9NSUt
I am inside someone else's body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHGpS9Mbsa
I am trapped inside someone else's flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwEvm5qAZe
How can this be?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9bqOZHTqq
He wanted to scream, to call someone, to ask what was happening, but his voice only came out as a hoarse breath caught in his throat, like the voice of someone who had just woken from a long sleep and had not yet found his words.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6hCDpTfs2
He straightened his body, rising from his current sitting position.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2sTxbYBmd
His knees wobbled at first. The long, strong leg muscles felt strange, unused to supporting this much weight, but he forced himself to stand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSu7Uj80zkU
Eye level was now above the piles of corpses around him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKY4VDpUVE
He could see far across the field, farther than he had ever seen in his short, narrow life.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCtbT9rZnV
The body was now tall, a hundred and eighty centimeters or more.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfusoYHBi7k
When he looked down, he saw the long distance between his chest and the ground, a distance he had never experienced before.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMlK11CHhc
His long, sturdy legs felt foreign, like poles newly attached beneath his body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlDYgdZR1G
Every step felt like walking on an unstable stage.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZA5S8aRYeS
He felt his body's weight differently.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CAXQisehQ
Gravity felt lighter on his bones, perhaps because his bones were now larger and stronger, but his muscles felt heavier and denser.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyGIZ5yRC2
There was strength there, potential for movement he had never explored.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0DeNKJ44n
He felt that this body could run faster, punch harder, endure longer than his thin, weak body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00YLN26cBj
But that strength must have its price, something he was always aware of, that nothing in this world was free.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoy7eVVRFz
Instead, he felt strange after obtaining this body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Iw3ldAOYP
Like a thief who had stolen something precious and did not know how to use it, where every movement felt like a violation.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyTMgsoY8i
Whose body is this? The question repeated in his head like a mantra.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtmUr11y4S
Where is he?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIqlYDLKsE
Is he dead?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfALL25whs
Did I take his body?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIW6ZOs91Bv
Did I kill him?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyWJ5bri7x
He looked around.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDVYkgZyz3
Above him was not the cloudy gray English sky always ready to rain. The sky here was pitch black, blacker than the hollows in the corpse's eye sockets.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWijyrKdTzt
No stars, moon, or glowing clouds.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGTtFa5P0R
Just a black canvas stretching endlessly, as if someone had covered the entire world with thick velvet and forgotten it there, leaving it hanging without end.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdo94qbawHx
But beneath that gloomy sky, there was enough light.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dsLbehP6r
Perhaps from reflections off puddles of liquid on the ground that cast a dim gleam.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB250ln5vWy
Remnants of fires long dead in the distance, still emitting thin smoke and red sparks beneath the ash.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iAijmtFeI
The source of the light was unclear, but it was enough for Voltase to see the sight that would sear itself onto his retina forever, burned there like a photograph exposed to sunlight.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYc0bw6pIN
Around him, as far as he could see, there were only bodies.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFY0RuReKoO
Hundreds, maybe thousands, impossible to count.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIh4iEjYRUQ
They lay in chaotic piles like rag dolls thrown by an angry giant and then forgotten.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6MjVv69W2
Some were stacked on top of each other, forming small hills reaching up to an adult's waist.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6PkI2ay2Y
Some piles were higher, reaching chest height.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBQPlc4s6x
Voltase noticed that the piles moved.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPPT6O2QqM
Not moving like living things, but moving because of the maggots and flies writhing inside them, creating small waves on the surface of the flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBN8kVU4hrv
Some bodies lay alone, separated from the piles, with arms bent at impossible angles.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ17wQnr5bP
Elbows twisted the wrong way.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhX9OKVbgBt
Fingers clutching empty earth as if they were still trying to crawl in death, still trying to escape something that had caught them.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdMPwopKMT
Some had intact faces with wide open eyes staring at the black sky, expressions of fear frozen forever in the rigid muscles of their faces.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxvezRZM0H
Some had no faces at all.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1J4yDBc78
Just red, glistening hollows inhabited by maggots and flies, with remnants of flesh clinging to skull bones like unraveling threads.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNK1p6RCAl
Their uniforms varied.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyUT8hyayK
Most wore faded blue, like Voltase.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjRtTNFKNa
Many wore pale green, the color of dead moss, a faded, dull green gray like leaves already rotting in an autumn that lasted too long.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5gcIoMpPi
Some others, fewer in number, wore ash, the color of gunpowder dust, or ash left after fire dies.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYQFBpLFwy
Those three colors mixed in this pile of death without pattern, without meaning, just chaotic horror.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7q9LbmwFM3
Often he saw blue bodies lying on top of green bodies, or gray bodies wedged between two blue bodies.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UZNBopghF
Nothing was ordered.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUoIxijK6B
Nothing was intentional.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecw7i5UV1n
They died where they fell, and they fell where they died.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiRjrCEfYs
The ground beneath Voltase's feet felt soft, not like the hard earth of the school garden, not like the wooden floor of his room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDy0ISKB9z
He looked down and saw his boots sinking several centimeters into a brown black surface.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFplzXnejxt
It was mud, but not ordinary mud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEnSahoLHa
This mud was mixed with something darker, thicker, denser.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBts2AWVqO
Blood.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpSYA7j5N4
This ground was not earth.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSlkILAPtH
It was a layer of flesh and bodily fluids that had soaked into the soil, mixed with mud, forming a new, horrific layer.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70vPGqAuE3
When he moved his boots, there was a wet squelch, the sound of liquid squeezed out from the pores of the earth like water from an oversaturated sponge.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyoh9BUAwK
He saw small white fragments among the black mud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxG12ux8NsM
Bone fragments.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzB9iq2z2p1
Broken rib pieces with sharp ends.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CfZFkTpaI
Severed finger joints still bearing remnants of flesh at the joints.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmHKWmdH72
Shattered skull fragments with pinkish inner surfaces from residual brain tissue.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiibk06iSc
There were also torn fabric pieces, dull glinting metal buttons scattered among the mud, and undone shoelaces uncoiled like dead snakes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIgou6XJUj
The stench here was not uniform.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzKW3FJkgW
It came in waves.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCi96IVfLX
Sometimes sharp and stinging like ammonia burning the nose.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBFLIGKYxu
Sometimes sweet and nauseating like overripe flowers beginning to rot.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxn3gXg8wA
Sometimes like old iron scraped across the tongue, leaving a metallic taste he could not get rid of.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKjwXg0i3c
Every time the wind blew, cold, damp night wind, the smell changed, shifted, found new ways to torment his senses.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZIVWctSAU
Voltase covered his nose with the back of his new, long hand, but the smell entered through his mouth, through his skin, through every pore of his now large but still vulnerable body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzHYUze8rN
He felt it behind his eyes, in his sinuses, at the back of his throat.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4H7dfiB6OX
The smell became part of the air he breathed. He could not separate himself from it.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ26NyvDjKf
In the distance, he heard something.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWI3BFYreg
Not the sound of rain. The sound was a crack, like a twig snapping.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DF1PZpp92
Voltase froze.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdR7uSKNdFK
He held his breath, that deep, heavy breath from this adult man's lungs, and tried to listen more carefully.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuy72gcPq8h
But his own heartbeat was too loud, too thunderous.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0xjzpO7nZ
Thump, thump.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZIxDl5Eeg
Thump, thump.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JH9rQIFUT
This heart was like a war drum inside his broad chest, and he could not stop it.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqlt0UrCvq
Then, he saw movement.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8l5bjs4Bd
Among the pile of corpses to his left, about ten meters away, the pile shook.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDecGD6lnR
Not from the wind. The wind would not move a pile of flesh that heavy.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXKGvchPHn
Something inside it was moving.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoKYyJaIyQ
An arm emerged.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dbW9c7hYv
An arm that still had intact skin, pale but not rotting, with muscles still tense beneath the skin's surface.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wJJblfFNu
The fingers of that hand grasped the air, then pulled, pushed the bodies above them.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRHVdFxiHr
Those bodies shifted, rolled, fell aside with wet sounds.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYtndMz0Wi
From that pile, a man's figure emerged.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgX0oMGe5M0
He rose with stiff, mechanical movements, like a wooden puppet whose strings were pulled by an invisible hand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcnEG5xnWn
He brushed dust and dried flesh scraps from his uniform, pale green, the same green worn by many corpses around him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOc3GZQdpZ
The fabric was torn in several places, and on his right shoulder was the same patch, the eagle or raven, but the colors were more faded, more worn, with threads beginning to unravel at the edges.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmmzofblZI
On his left arm was a large tear exposing the skin beneath, pale skin with an old, dried wound.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLkXJaix9e
The man was tall, almost as tall as Voltase.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5LzjzQa5F
His face was gaunt, with a firm jaw and prominent cheekbones.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mJBGoFAvo
His hair was dirty blond, short and unkempt, with sideburns slightly elongated beside his ears.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3cCSsLMs6
His dark eyes, dark like Voltase's eyes in the real world, stared directly at him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAxi3XyfgF
The stare was unfriendly.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiozQdOJIw
Full of suspicion, confusion, and beneath it, a layer of fear trying to hide behind a tightening jaw and pursed lips.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhtN87RE1x
They faced each other.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLzLS9T5Vk
Two adult figures in the middle of a sea of death.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD35oLdgBR0
Cold night wind blew between them, carrying the stench of rot and old gunpowder smoke.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpHVgaFAmq
Voltase felt the wind hit his face, carrying his long, dirty hair dancing around his eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kKmfMvQkv
The man did not speak.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBN8QJ5StbD
He just stared, eyes narrowing, measuring whether Voltase was a threat or just another survivor.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ421hQ8oV1Y
He examined Voltase's faded blue uniform, then examined his face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxreXvY9Hnm
Perhaps searching for recognition.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgkVACcmfr
Trying to remember if he had ever seen this face before.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGteN2JKMMf
But there was no recognition in his eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52Q2IgXckA
Only deepening suspicion.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBjZZ9GGB0
Slowly, he bent down.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lgavpkpNS
His dirty fingers, crusted with dried blood beneath the nails, groped among the pile of corpses.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5nA6gPkRp
He pushed some bodies aside, shifted others, and finally pulled something from beneath the pile.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ69QK7evkmM
A long object.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTsFwKgYf6
Voltase recognized the shape even though he had never seen one directly outside the history books in the school library.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VVTBf9h2u
An old wooden stock, darkened by oil and covered with scratches and deep grooves from grips.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHl3jt5f8Dt
The wood was worn, its fibers peeling in places but still solid. He could see that the stock had been used for years, perhaps decades, by people he would never know.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauOKu7nKfD
A long, slender barrel of dark metal, gleaming dully under the dim light, with grooves along its surface to reduce weight.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuO5IvBtlrh
Beneath it, just in front of the curved trigger made of the same metal with a finger groove, a small box magazine jutted out like a second jaw, loaded with ready to fire bullets.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5f9wfqEmG5
And at the end of the barrel, he saw a locking mechanism, small grooves and metal protrusions, designed to attach a bayonet.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6lo2O7E7I
It was a heavy, ancient, deadly rifle.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVJ0rn4Ym1
A rifle that had killed more people than he could imagine.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbvZHfsxBP
The man aimed the muzzle at Voltase's chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdkZvjUZ4e
Voltase's reflexes acted before his thoughts could formulate a strategy.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaf7mjBCBja
Both his hands, the long, sturdy hands of an adult man, rose up, palms open wide, in the universal gesture of surrender.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6a7uWXF7L
His heart pounded in this new chest, and he felt its beat at his temples and at the tips of his trembling fingers.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKx8cENNjL
"Wait," he said, and his voice came out as a deep, hoarse baritone, a voice he had never heard before, a voice emerging from this chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiByyZJknwJ
"I do not know where this is."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMY3TcT7jj
"I do not know what is happening."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEmgrYAtl7
"I just woke up."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMXV4O4arK
The man did not answer.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1tZ60hm4w
His eyes narrowed further, examining Voltase's faded blue uniform, then his face, watching Voltase's lips move, hearing his words.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlUaNpJK2a
But there was no response.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXToewqh42o
Perhaps he did not believe him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWEkz6BMXn
Perhaps he had seen too many tricks in this place to trust anyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgQEd0afUu
The man began to step forward.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJpDPWBK54
One step.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBMNNYJRPw
Two steps.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7eCerxFyCa
The muzzle stayed aimed exactly at Voltase's chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65pnQ94oaB
Each step the man took was torture.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yBPtNu1IH
Voltase heard the squeak of the man's boots on the bloody mud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSP9pCnFObI
He saw every scratch on the rifle's wooden stock, every peeling fiber, every deep groove.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAGt1WxgrV
He saw the man's finger on the trigger, a steady finger that did not tremble, a finger accustomed to the weight and pressure of pulling.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4AI7rB9pt
The voice in his head whispered.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaqqn4qlz5
If you do not move, you die.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQa2dADAhkW
You die here, in this place.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukuRTYqbgf
And you will never return to your dormitory room. No one will come looking for you.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuT0Rc08HmZ
No one will care.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FKOol4ndo
You will just be another corpse in this pile.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcw2e6eEYS
The thought of the world's indifference, about foster parents who never called, about teachers who did not know his name, about the empty room with only the cracks on the ceiling, gave Voltase a strange strength.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlCKAA4SDj
He had nothing to lose in the real world.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmp67peppI8
No one would mourn him if he died.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjr53ho01cF
But here, in this strong body, he might survive.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nd7eVdPXb
He might become something.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjUJmcz3Rp
And he moved.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7BjONKPSW
His tall, powerful body shot forward, faster than he had imagined.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx75nTFH6Cj
The muscles in his legs, muscles he had never possessed, contracted with surprising strength, propelling him forward in an instant.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIXQA8bXCG
His long hand grabbed the end of the rifle's barrel before the man could react.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNnQKWfP8j
The metal was cold, very cold, like ice burning his skin.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnvie6SEO7
He felt the texture of the metal beneath his fingers, smooth in some places, rough in others from rust, and he gripped it tightly.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPdr20P0HG
He twisted the barrel aside, away from his chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAueADnUWUl
His other hand formed a fist and swung it at the man's face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVs9WaXoHdf
The punch landed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP6LmpIS1q
His knuckles struck the man's cheekbone with a dull thud.
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Voltase felt the hard impact in his hand, pain spreading like waves from his knuckles to his wrist.
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But there was a primal satisfaction that his punch had connected.
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This was the first time in his life, both in the real world and here, he had ever hit someone with full force.
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The man stumbled back, his arm bending, but he did not fall.
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His head snapped to the side, and from the corner of his mouth, a drop of blood began to flow.
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He raised his hand to his face, touched his lip, looked at the blood on his fingertip.
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Then he looked at Voltase with changed eyes.
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Suspicion transformed into burning anger.
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With reflexes faster than they looked, he blocked Voltase's attack with his forearm.
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His other hand grabbed Voltase's collar and pulled him forward.
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At the same time, he bent his right knee and kicked forward.
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The knee struck Voltase's stomach, and the pain exploded in his solar plexus like a bomb.
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All the air in his lungs was forced out in one gasping exhale that sounded like a long, deep groan.
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Saliva and bitter bile from his empty stomach spurted from his open mouth, wetting his chin and dripping onto the faded blue uniform.
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For a moment, the world around him spun wildly, black sky, corpses, and the man's face all mixed into a nauseating vortex.
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He tasted metal on his tongue because he had bitten his own tongue from the impact.
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Fresh blood began to flow in his mouth, mixing with the bile.
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But Voltase did not fall.
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Unlike in the real world, where he always fell when pushed by other children at school, this body was stronger, heavier.
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His long legs planted in the bloody soil as he held his ground.
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His hard, trained abdominal muscles absorbed part of the kick's impact.
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Despite the overwhelming pain, he was still standing.
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With clenched teeth, enduring the pain gnawing at his stomach like burning fire, he launched a counterattack.
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His foot with the heavy boot and hard sole swung toward the man's shin.
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He swung his leg with all his strength.
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The kick landed with a harder thud than before.
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The man stumbled, losing balance.
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His kicked leg buckled, and for a moment he seemed about to fall, grimacing in pain, his teeth clenched, his breath coming in a long hiss.
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Voltase seized the moment.
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He twisted his body, pulling the rifle barrel with all his strength.
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The wood and metal, an object weighing nearly four kilograms, tore from the man's grip.
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It flew, rolled across the pile of corpses, and fell among the rotting bodies on the other side, sinking beneath the pile of flesh.
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Now, without weapons, they faced each other equally.
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The man swung a punch at Voltase's jaw, but Voltase ducked, feeling the wind of the fist brushing his long, dirty hair.
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He answered with a punch at the man's chin, but the man tilted his head with agile movement despite his large body.
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They fought wildly, punches, kicks, elbows, and knees, in the middle of the sea of corpses.
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Dust and dried flesh scraps flew around them every time they stepped on or fell into the piles of bodies.
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Voltase felt blood, both the corpses' blood and his own, covering his face.
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His lower lip was split, and he tasted his own salty, metallic blood on his tongue, mixing with the copper taste from the air around him.
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This is not me, he thought between punches, but his thoughts were fragmented by pain and exhaustion.
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