Epoch of Desolation

Rain was a hundred percent sure of the origins of his new wave of energy. It was, undoubtedly, from his uncanny discovery of his vampire-ish traits a while back.

It had been disgusting at the time of realization; but now, his morose look was as a result of his incapability to store as much of the metallic liquid he had drunk for future purposes.

As it turned out, the blood of physically mutated beasts were medicinal herbs. Well… Rain turned his gaze towards J… At least for him.

He had invited his Companion to share in his feast of blood, but no matter how much J drank its body did not heal the same way Rain’s did.

Of course, Rain knew he would be unable to get the answer to why such had occurred from solely relying on his mental capacity, so he decided to keep it under wraps by giving his brain closure with the words: “Maybe animals can’t be healed from drinking the blood of their kin.”

Rain undoubtedly left that made-up realization in his head so as to not give J any ideas. After all, those words could be translated into: “To be healed you have to drink the blood of a human—probably.”

All in all, it was quite the shame—a shame to leave such fine products wasting away. If only he’d had the time to spare to find plastic bottles and fill them with as much blood as he could from the Coyotes he had killed.

What a shame it truly was.

Well, there was nothing he could do now.

A single moment spared in that alleyway was a single moment some predator drew closer to the inviting scent of blood lingering there. That was why, in consideration for the future, he’d decided to add a backpack to the list of the things he was seeking out. He would need that to store his file, his weapon, and most of all, the bottles of the blood he would siphon from his next enemies—the ones who dared to cross him, that is.

After all, he was not a maniac. If he could avoid killing beasts for the fun of it, then he would; especially those who were mentally mutated like J.

It was apparent that he’d grown to have a tiny bit of affection for animals whose mutations leaned that way. They could think and reason like humans, so why should he have to keep viewing them as mere wild beasts who could not contain their palette of ripping flesh apart? If he killed such animals with little to no remorse then there was no difference between him and someone who kicked around their dog or cat.

Although, like he’d told himself, that point of reasoning would only come into play if his survival was guaranteed.

His lucky ruse with J was not he considered would be always efficient with whatever mentally mutated animal he might come across down the line. Most would probably back-claw him. Rain knew he had to be extremely careful going forward.

Besides, his whole purpose was to find his family and retrieve his memories, not befriend the animals of the universe.

J was more than enough.

He looked at the Jaguar once more at that moment, his gaze frankly assessing the slow strides of his Companion. And then, as though emotionally drained, closed his eyes with a sigh. J’s exhaustion was all thanks to the unwarranted setback they had come across as soon as they’d escaped the surroundings of their starting location, the hospital that went by the name: Western General Hospital.

It had been based purely on his guts, but Rain felt that the best way possible for him to navigate this ruined world he was within was to make sure to stay on the major roads, avoiding detours that could get one lost and wandering into dangerous places.

Yes, the sky was littered with flocks of mutated birds sometimes, and being on the main roads meant hiding from them would prove difficult. There was even the possibility of meeting various carnivores out in the open. Although, it was easier to avoid what you could see than what you could not. Taking detours meant that the idea of where a person would end up was an alien thought, especially for someone like him who had amnesia. That was why a main road was his best bet.

But the appearance of the Coyotes had sent him scurrying into those alien areas as a means to escape a fight with them.

Well, escaping had failed, and worse, he had gotten lost. It was only due to the acute senses of J that he had found himself once again on a main road, one which he figured out to be named ‘Telford’ by the first street sign he’d seen. At least the birds roaming the sky had changed locations a while back; the road so far was free of predators.

“Let’s take a break over there,” Rain put an end to the deafening silence clouding his environment with words directed at his Companion.

He was pointing to his left, at a place he felt was a fast food restaurant based on its outlook. Although, now, it was albeit filled with the same air as every other building in the area; one of desertion and ruins. Even the word that made up its signage was no longer complete, it appeared to be missing a letter, leaving it as: ‘M Donald’s.’

Missing a letter or not, he should have recalled what restaurant he was looking at either way. And since he couldn’t, that meant…

Even food restaurants are out of it as well? It baffled him, he wouldn’t lie. But all that didn’t matter; the ambience of the restaurant included.

Rain moved then, leading J through the restaurant’s broken storefront windows and into the damp, putrid air that made up its interior.

There were signs of looting everywhere; chairs and tables were broken, and traces of dried blood could be seen on the floor. This sight made it obvious to Rain that there would be no food or drink to find within the walls of this restaurant.

Granted, he had not come in here thinking about that, but it wouldn’t hurt a man to hope, would it? It was good that he’d resolved to switch to his primal nature a while back.

You are injured, paws-for-brains. You should be resting! Those were the words he’d wanted to pour out upon J as his gaze found the Jaguar perambulating from one corner to the other for no good reason whatsoever, but he thought against it, letting the animal have its fun—if that could be considered one.

He, on the other hand, went to hide himself in a corner, placing his knife and information file on the round table there as he sat away from exposure while still allowing himself enough leeway to be able to view an approach if one ever came to be.

After an inhale and exhale, relieving himself from the stress that had accumulated in his body the past few minutes, Rain willed the appearance of his Plexus Interface. There was something he was yet to do.