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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFi5in2qcK
Like invisible fingers knocking on a door, asking for permission to enter a warmth that had never existed inside this room.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKujDfVeove
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfboURN0rXY
The dormitory room sat on the third floor of an old red brick building that had stood for nearly two centuries.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRS3WJcrcK
Its walls were thick, painted a pale white, made of stone and plaster cracked in many places.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4jMnqWMvr
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PzqOS1jI7
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWtz5R1wUA
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMvEGDQ42T
Voltase Watt lay on his back on a bed far too large for his body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrxyoLsClC
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3IqHAF6Ta
His shoulders were narrow, so narrow that the navy striped flannel pajamas he wore kept slipping off his left shoulder.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDCiL5raL6
His arms were thin, with faint blue veins visible beneath pale skin that rarely saw sunlight.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6o1jDQLp3x
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVyl7QrWIJ
He had bought those pajamas three years ago, and even then they had been too big for his small body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqVCLYmvSq
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGcjraiZrn
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTvZSfjGei
Things do not grow.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QLPSvXF3S
He never knew his biological parents.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiegOlTIkO
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRwoXAgp9x
Nothing else.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvupQTgp8w
No letter, no message, no clue about who had left him there or why they had gone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LRErcXXkc
He grew up in that orphanage for five years, changing caretakers and beds and faces that came and went.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCeOUNEQtu
Then a family came and chose him, a polite, well dressed couple who said the right things in front of the social worker.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbZiEn9Vtp
They took him to their home in the suburbs, gave him his own room, food, clothes.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8bSusZqA4
But they never truly wanted him.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKkIRUrmWN
He knew it from the way they looked at him, not with hatred, but with indifference.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLWp06VZTn
As if he were an obligation, a task to be completed.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXxfqix5Ki
When he turned ten, they sent him to this boarding school.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bdMXNHSh9
An elegant, polite way to get rid of a burden without appearing cruel.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfQHTdYnYm
They paid his school fees.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRcco1h0wX
They sent birthday cards, store bought cards with printed text identical for everyone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbESQ66e2G0
But they never visited.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp51mAvapb4
They never called.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MbFSEcdD7
Voltase was a receipt already paid in full, an obligation fulfilled.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEf1gwltHyp
Now he was left here, in this cold room, in a country that was supposedly his birthplace but never felt like his own.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ220awJAEJK
You have no one, he thought, and he said it with lips that did not move, only inside his head.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zX2nzIOux
You have never had anyone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hdaVDlX2U
And you will never have anyone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9akz01wXSm
Voltase had counted those cracks on the ceiling every night for two years since he first arrived in this room.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QaIXNshk4
The number of main branches was always twenty three.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanag301soZ
Never changing.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zP17nqA2z
The small branches varied, depending on the humidity of the night air, the temperature, whether the rain fell harder than usual.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwe4zNGa28D
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XIyWSPlsZ
If he touched it, he would feel the cold of the plaster and remember that he was still here.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yQ4f1I9mY
In the distance, the bells of St. Mary's church at the end of the street began to ring.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlv1z2Uc1xm
The sound was old and heavy, with a slightly off key tone from age and dampness.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XKQfo85yY
Voltase counted each chime because there was nothing else he could do.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAEhkiqlAl
The bells stopped at the ninth chime, and silence returned, filled only by the patter of rain that never stopped here.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExnQB3W3Hh
Voltase reached his right hand toward the small table beside his bed.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1JpLkQ8qa
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMl7TOmWjo
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNDNZOSwkb
His long, thin fingers groped across the table's surface until they touched the phone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcCLfXmPo8
The screen lit up.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NMaiWstWf
Pale blue light illuminated his face for a few seconds.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24WmAHSzF9
The time showed 21:49 PM.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89mftGI37p
He opened the game he was playing.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcYTlqGJhK
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDqKdOoJNw
Voltase almost hated that smile.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfa3OGxdww
That character never got tired, never got sad, never felt alone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XK5sy1NeD
He just ran, collected coins, dodged trains, and smiled the whole time.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GEEu0aqXp
His right thumb swiped the screen, and the game began.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RK0z5wYag
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEI1kuDs1ma
Golden coins sparkled in the air, and every time the character collected them there was a satisfying ding sound.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFz2TaL6P8
Voltase played mechanically.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBokmuwvBjU
His thumb swiped left, jumped, swiped right, ducked.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0UZ1hW8KX
The score in the upper right corner climbed, 240, 480, 710, 930.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQnxf3eHMd
He did not care about the score or the character.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RL8oVrthk
The only thing he needed was the sound.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1ZAT9C3PY
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZc0WOtnIn
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHevWugpCx
The three of them ran together.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjlDK9EI45
A fake family in a fake world.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVmJaKOCd6
They are not real, Voltase thought, just code, they can never feel anything.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1t2uIYW1z5
They are never alone because they never existed.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEH3oP73f38
At 1,230 points, the obstacles increased.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzp6ml0HgfJ
Train cars came faster and denser from both directions.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5hGTyymXJ
Voltase's small fingers began to sweat, making the touchscreen feel slippery and sticky.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHy8vbRzPDN
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfubpEVnbTj
A giant steel train car passed right in front of the character.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2K37sLReCE
Bam!
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1x6yNXKoYt
The screen turned blurry red, with a crimson gradient encircling the edges.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptKMa0trqX
Thick black ink pooled in the corners.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUsbv4FEWi
White bold text appeared in the center.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97oGu632y0
GAME OVER.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwWMDLF27S
Voltase let out a breath.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkbh7ut3t7
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCTD9POuQW
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSF4rFM3n7K
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVojDSCY3xN
Silence returned.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡij6eHdn0UV
Rain returned.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLINjdx2kC
He was still here.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWNK5EqpuI
Still small and alone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEASw5TC0u6
Voltase closed his eyes.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetpqHYKnvA
In the darkness behind his eyelids, he imagined another place.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHw8uVGVrg
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigUn13HVZ3
A place where he could become something, become someone meaningful, someone who could not be ignored.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2D4DQqCVt
But the image was vague, like smoke vanishing before he could grasp it.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMgNDiesai
He did not know what a big body looked like.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRdwHlNwZW
He had never had one.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYx7RAx55fx
He only knew that he wanted it, something more than this thin, weak, useless body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8T0PPDMZ64
Slowly, exhaustion consumed him.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7de8xQ6cOK
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8ocQ0ww1M
The rain kept tapping the window.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aIPOVk85M
The wind moaned among the old oak trees in the schoolyard.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4skgEXXcV
His consciousness began to blur, sinking into a dark, warm abyss.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuklAN6vIGX
The clock showed 22:01 PM.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBRyQYmphv
Three minutes since he turned off the phone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeH2MnPQh4G
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ThzzfwF6t
The first thing that registered through his sense of smell was the stench.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jT5vLmp4e
Not the musty, dusty smell of the dormitory room.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnScoxYIt9
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFYFE1xcq3
The smell entered his nostrils like thick, heavy smoke.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypIWbFYlro
It crept inside uninvited.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiwRz53ibs
Stabbed the back of his throat like swallowed glass shards.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFA6P4SjbC
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDnxyvo3cL
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnk8DmRDjjB
Blood, he thought, and the thought rose from the depths of an instinct he had not known he possessed.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnY6whnmlH6
The smell of blood.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLat4iljRJ
A lot of blood and flesh.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfxyAQaJI7
Rotting flesh.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oPIWqGz9m
Voltase opened his eyes.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zEOiQ73rq
The darkness he saw was not the darkness of his dormitory room.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXrP9d7pxA
This was total darkness, darkness that rejected light, darkness that felt solid like wet velvet pressed against his face.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6nOooqdmN
His eyes blinked, adjusting, but the adjustment was slow, as if his pupils had to relearn how to catch light.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjnMDi3mB2
Slowly, silhouettes began to emerge.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XcqJx86j9
He saw a shape above him, very close, only inches from his own nose.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTBqyjPWcn
A face.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYWBmLc7Pz
But not the face of a living human.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuxiSHkbGs
The skin of that face was ashen green, pale like dried clay beginning to crack.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPIk0CBhc3
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ojlhzUPGQ
On its chin was thin brown stubble, with flakes of dry earth clinging between the hair strands.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31Y52E4frw
Its eyes, or what remained of them, were two dark hollows.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOXWNemcda
No eyeballs.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE36sXs4RdJ
Just black holes filled with small, writhing movements.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6pg5g2IRh
Voltase saw them clearly, maggots.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WNTgzPv4P
Dozens, maybe hundreds of small pale yellowish bodies, segmented, with darker heads, writhing inside those eye sockets.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Q44XjfR1A
They rose and fell like tiny waves that never stopped, eating the remaining tissue still clinging to the orbital bone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTvYbBIuNw
Some were larger than others, fatter and whiter, perhaps because they had been there longer and had eaten more.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97BCiPHyhM
One of them crawled out of the left eye socket, across the corpse's cheekbone, and fell right onto Voltase's cheek.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHVJL2YIEC
He felt it.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmIBHtioNw
Cold, Damp, and Writhing.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL55D6izhWY
That small soft body clung to his skin for a second, then began to crawl slowly downward toward his jaw.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfrsqOR3Qr
Voltase felt every movement of that body, every small muscle contraction pushing it forward, every segment rubbing against his skin.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0M0vnJEsoN
At that moment, panic exploded inside him.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdLE51lhDE
Pure, primal panic that recognized no logic or reason.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oYo4p4wRl
He wanted to scream, but his voice was caught in his throat.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiyWnE05dCc
He wanted to push, but his hands felt foreign and heavy.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTATaSKyno
Because he realized: his body had become different.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSO9pY2Kp4T
His hands pushing the corpse away felt longer and heavier.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VJDduCyOF
His fingers were no longer long and thin.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUq5xrkqKt7
He felt protruding knuckles, long and sturdy finger joints, a wide palm with blue veins clearly visible on the back.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpskiQHD7D8
When he pushed the corpse away, the muscles in his arms, muscles he had never possessed in the real world, contracted with surprising strength.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZlCXz4nxZ
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKrpaDJdKf
The corpse rolled to the side with a wet, heavy plop, like a bag of wet meat falling onto mud.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUKyIidBmw
Its head hit something hard, maybe a rock, maybe another skull, with a dull crack.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LVnvWBRtO
Voltase coughed, choked, and sat up straight with a jolting movement.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gLW4gACic
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLj3xfHB0g
His chest felt heavy, broad, and wide. His back felt solid.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ottErYCEh
His shoulders were now thick and muscular.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkjBni7aN0
He looked down and saw his own body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvzDII61Qv
A uniform.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUbTfc3EBz
A long sleeved shirt in faded blue, made of thick wool fabric that was coarse and slightly damp from dew or blood.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zbVlL6TTU
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pcs0p1t9E
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZKRZhfJLN
The patch was faded, its edges torn.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jwOn4EOTj
Blue trousers tucked into tall dark brown boots that felt heavy on his feet.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJMUFSC4VL
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqMfqq06f6
Loose metal buckles on the tops of the boots swung gently as he moved.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDeX8ERJkTa
Voltase raised his right hand in front of his face.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpJfl11UXS
The hand trembled violently.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMa4X88fUy
He could see it clearly, and it was not his hand.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02xRpTLpym
The hand was long, thin but muscular, with blue veins prominent on the back.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVe3y5RtNp
The fingers were slender with prominent knuckles and short nails dirty with black earth drying beneath them.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXTUk0ZSLn
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbKlF7PPp1
His palm was wide with deep, clear lifelines.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NxNlttKfS
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ikCFhPvXz
This was an adult man's hand.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMblBRdDPh
A strong hand.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBWRDpj1g9
A hand that could never belong to a weak, thin twelve year old boy.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqf9ouG3s7D
He pressed his palm to his chest.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQcSnZ8uY9
Beneath the thick wool fabric, he felt the contour of hard chest muscles, broad pectorals with wide ribs beneath them.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9mN6OLhiL
And beneath those muscles, he felt a heartbeat.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpn9RergT2q
Thump, thump.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfASv9hcpF
Thump, thump.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnP2mkixf1O
A deeper, stronger, heavier heart.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5wKaLWve9
Each beat felt like a hammer striking the wall of his chest from inside.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAlCxnMaSF
This is not my body, he thought.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzChsESnS0V
The thought sounded foreign in his head, deeper, heavier, with the resonance of an adult man he did not recognize.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNekOwRJas
This body is not mine.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBlauLnuDN
I am inside someone else's body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvwFpz7Y9t
I am trapped inside someone else's flesh.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgcbTovO3X
How can this be?
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdPOddQQrI
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2FxGUjTl2
He straightened his body, rising from his current sitting position.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9GxRcsshC
His knees wobbled at first. The long, strong leg muscles felt strange, unused to supporting this much weight, but he forced himself to stand.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsgySW5rKl
Eye level was now above the piles of corpses around him.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsp0fW4CbZO
He could see far across the field, farther than he had ever seen in his short, narrow life.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3o0N27ox6n
The body was now tall, a hundred and eighty centimeters or more.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7x3GVOo2oX
When he looked down, he saw the long distance between his chest and the ground, a distance he had never experienced before.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMynoP6ddV
His long, sturdy legs felt foreign, like poles newly attached beneath his body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QstNak2Zx
Every step felt like walking on an unstable stage.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaEjwElyxh
He felt his body's weight differently.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhrPylhB2p
Gravity felt lighter on his bones, perhaps because his bones were now larger and stronger, but his muscles felt heavier and denser.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlS9qqe5ha8
There was strength there, potential for movement he had never explored.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWsNI9socO
He felt that this body could run faster, punch harder, endure longer than his thin, weak body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFk2ggfrp4z
But that strength must have its price, something he was always aware of, that nothing in this world was free.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRew6SdyRs
Instead, he felt strange after obtaining this body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqme6QCGHDD
Like a thief who had stolen something precious and did not know how to use it, where every movement felt like a violation.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡli5abAUrsp
Whose body is this? The question repeated in his head like a mantra.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYsqH0qoP3
Where is he?
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4XzLkPxMI
Is he dead?
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhUyWftk6I
Did I take his body?
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpetfk3p4sT
Did I kill him?
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR01C6ZGQ3c
He looked around.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJ5ISsEYfk
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IDfQE8uoU
No stars, moon, or glowing clouds.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsfXcXyCL6
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISTN7Va9YA
But beneath that gloomy sky, there was enough light.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4r2RVFz8xJ
Perhaps from reflections off puddles of liquid on the ground that cast a dim gleam.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9i1Bre9hB
Remnants of fires long dead in the distance, still emitting thin smoke and red sparks beneath the ash.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfyGfUA29L
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBsNlM38Fy
Around him, as far as he could see, there were only bodies.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlb2YXSoLD
Hundreds, maybe thousands, impossible to count.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e1ZyyQ9cv
They lay in chaotic piles like rag dolls thrown by an angry giant and then forgotten.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhalyOfnvuN
Some were stacked on top of each other, forming small hills reaching up to an adult's waist.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQltKs2Ezc
Some piles were higher, reaching chest height.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjMxumdG9D
Voltase noticed that the piles moved.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgHnNojB8JL
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbVkrBB4HZ
Some bodies lay alone, separated from the piles, with arms bent at impossible angles.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlJpS2QER8
Elbows twisted the wrong way.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡithSCCL7fC
Fingers clutching empty earth as if they were still trying to crawl in death, still trying to escape something that had caught them.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnjXmqChcv
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV14dP4rVEK
Some had no faces at all.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0U5HX21NYA
Just red, glistening hollows inhabited by maggots and flies, with remnants of flesh clinging to skull bones like unraveling threads.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1q7JeODcZ
Their uniforms varied.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCmAXc057Q
Most wore faded blue, like Voltase.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2F5t9t0vh
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97xunQrzgA
Some others, fewer in number, wore ash, the color of gunpowder dust, or ash left after fire dies.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVZWqaPdJI
Those three colors mixed in this pile of death without pattern, without meaning, just chaotic horror.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFypovx1awp
Often he saw blue bodies lying on top of green bodies, or gray bodies wedged between two blue bodies.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXNoDnNaoO
Nothing was ordered.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuZRBTCQYp
Nothing was intentional.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNy8Tfa5Pz
They died where they fell, and they fell where they died.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TRu7TgmJF
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIwUzq2E1r
He looked down and saw his boots sinking several centimeters into a brown black surface.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpiuxGNQY99
It was mud, but not ordinary mud.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUcHPXSIr9
This mud was mixed with something darker, thicker, denser.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7T0rHjDoTb
Blood.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnbv8NmZMk
This ground was not earth.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYMRB0A4QI
It was a layer of flesh and bodily fluids that had soaked into the soil, mixed with mud, forming a new, horrific layer.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIuJv43ecM
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPiYdHEJZa
He saw small white fragments among the black mud.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuPhkNpefl
Bone fragments.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybzt64WnC7
Broken rib pieces with sharp ends.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU93ORAdOdG
Severed finger joints still bearing remnants of flesh at the joints.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29CDeklT6E
Shattered skull fragments with pinkish inner surfaces from residual brain tissue.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtc2tmkn0tq
There were also torn fabric pieces, dull glinting metal buttons scattered among the mud, and undone shoelaces uncoiled like dead snakes.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCFYZSiDeH
The stench here was not uniform.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXp7wiZ9cu
It came in waves.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PQAApT9Q0
Sometimes sharp and stinging like ammonia burning the nose.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskREKZ1e4h
Sometimes sweet and nauseating like overripe flowers beginning to rot.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZJon7wgTw
Sometimes like old iron scraped across the tongue, leaving a metallic taste he could not get rid of.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOPQgQ4n8P
Every time the wind blew, cold, damp night wind, the smell changed, shifted, found new ways to torment his senses.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfUbksn3UT
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTYTcOM7UK
He felt it behind his eyes, in his sinuses, at the back of his throat.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgnyQ7Rtbt
The smell became part of the air he breathed. He could not separate himself from it.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XgZro8Hje
In the distance, he heard something.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4l99EYCxfy
Not the sound of rain. The sound was a crack, like a twig snapping.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DvglEw4uJ
Voltase froze.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ519Xp3hSRH
He held his breath, that deep, heavy breath from this adult man's lungs, and tried to listen more carefully.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcrfbYV0U0
But his own heartbeat was too loud, too thunderous.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5kVTcdalh
Thump, thump.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIvCgEGbwt
Thump, thump.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOWSZzZyaF
This heart was like a war drum inside his broad chest, and he could not stop it.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygW0tVtU9E
Then, he saw movement.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcqqsmzvnF
Among the pile of corpses to his left, about ten meters away, the pile shook.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ899T9eFkXr
Not from the wind. The wind would not move a pile of flesh that heavy.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm2Z9Lv9nl
Something inside it was moving.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6x0wpiZUbo
An arm emerged.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbx1i4dmNXj
An arm that still had intact skin, pale but not rotting, with muscles still tense beneath the skin's surface.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFNQlSWZg5
The fingers of that hand grasped the air, then pulled, pushed the bodies above them.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwybyDffUt
Those bodies shifted, rolled, fell aside with wet sounds.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmJ1Hll9KZ
From that pile, a man's figure emerged.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0a83j41Kh
He rose with stiff, mechanical movements, like a wooden puppet whose strings were pulled by an invisible hand.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAsxHNqFQV
He brushed dust and dried flesh scraps from his uniform, pale green, the same green worn by many corpses around him.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQErTDL5J0v
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPOdzBYLUg
On his left arm was a large tear exposing the skin beneath, pale skin with an old, dried wound.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3qYgadav7N
The man was tall, almost as tall as Voltase.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtaUXUm52MT
His face was gaunt, with a firm jaw and prominent cheekbones.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPMEk7Pkub
His hair was dirty blond, short and unkempt, with sideburns slightly elongated beside his ears.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjxcFrQ3gt
His dark eyes, dark like Voltase's eyes in the real world, stared directly at him.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBwKaSuna2
The stare was unfriendly.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XEtNYOlPS
Full of suspicion, confusion, and beneath it, a layer of fear trying to hide behind a tightening jaw and pursed lips.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVDmMwhzvk
They faced each other.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡev8H2col4A
Two adult figures in the middle of a sea of death.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbpAVqilcd
Cold night wind blew between them, carrying the stench of rot and old gunpowder smoke.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudYDL3f8q5
Voltase felt the wind hit his face, carrying his long, dirty hair dancing around his eyes.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lfsvJJyyc
The man did not speak.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKuRJXJMq2
He just stared, eyes narrowing, measuring whether Voltase was a threat or just another survivor.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkegXXAij0u
He examined Voltase's faded blue uniform, then examined his face.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDheKneMG9I
Perhaps searching for recognition.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Hn54vNCvD
Trying to remember if he had ever seen this face before.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEKxVkGSYA
But there was no recognition in his eyes.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGacUDbX1io
Only deepening suspicion.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fbRBFpVHN
Slowly, he bent down.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7umWLArYfR
His dirty fingers, crusted with dried blood beneath the nails, groped among the pile of corpses.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSZbSgqdq6
He pushed some bodies aside, shifted others, and finally pulled something from beneath the pile.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczh9hgHOeQ
A long object.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUWypA9K9m
Voltase recognized the shape even though he had never seen one directly outside the history books in the school library.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTSN8r8cUW
An old wooden stock, darkened by oil and covered with scratches and deep grooves from grips.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PgpmoamDs
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCe9a31CQ3
A long, slender barrel of dark metal, gleaming dully under the dim light, with grooves along its surface to reduce weight.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDGoomG9k7
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPmup9QZtn
And at the end of the barrel, he saw a locking mechanism, small grooves and metal protrusions, designed to attach a bayonet.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2tQRfyB6C
It was a heavy, ancient, deadly rifle.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fWLfImJpN
A rifle that had killed more people than he could imagine.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5sGdeJEyW
The man aimed the muzzle at Voltase's chest.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vXU0Wfcng
Voltase's reflexes acted before his thoughts could formulate a strategy.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDae2VNs9G4
Both his hands, the long, sturdy hands of an adult man, rose up, palms open wide, in the universal gesture of surrender.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkOKnqlqFR
His heart pounded in this new chest, and he felt its beat at his temples and at the tips of his trembling fingers.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyzeYdJB24
"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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5fvVuJWNI
"I do not know where this is."
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiejqD7Nois
"I do not know what is happening."
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivlR8NW6wb
"I just woke up."
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYPj7t89HM
The man did not answer.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmu2mXhUrU
His eyes narrowed further, examining Voltase's faded blue uniform, then his face, watching Voltase's lips move, hearing his words.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOtyiNissT
But there was no response.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxcwWB9MRb
Perhaps he did not believe him.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOb1nW60ir
Perhaps he had seen too many tricks in this place to trust anyone.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2M8p6bLeK
The man began to step forward.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2gXNHuiYs
One step.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pIUWiMg2S
Two steps.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexNrBfig2d
The muzzle stayed aimed exactly at Voltase's chest.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hB8ZzMyvq
Each step the man took was torture.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNijjOBHLO
Voltase heard the squeak of the man's boots on the bloody mud.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTeSKVtb4i
He saw every scratch on the rifle's wooden stock, every peeling fiber, every deep groove.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpl0JvgfjSf
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwN3okmxEHI
The voice in his head whispered.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCUM96neL4
If you do not move, you die.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡik7PdjUp7B
You die here, in this place.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4V8zp1RkJ
And you will never return to your dormitory room. No one will come looking for you.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLcZTL55QX
No one will care.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8D63BRdax
You will just be another corpse in this pile.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRpo3CwHiG
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm38WiStAdm
He had nothing to lose in the real world.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1J3c4ErHxv
No one would mourn him if he died.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Py9Jo7rB7
But here, in this strong body, he might survive.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygwAPGtnsG
He might become something.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvy7I5FuXa
And he moved.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmBvtsYgs8
His tall, powerful body shot forward, faster than he had imagined.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1M5efEoBq
The muscles in his legs, muscles he had never possessed, contracted with surprising strength, propelling him forward in an instant.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjIvUiqVrE
His long hand grabbed the end of the rifle's barrel before the man could react.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9p84Z3DPR3
The metal was cold, very cold, like ice burning his skin.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSjGengs4x
He felt the texture of the metal beneath his fingers, smooth in some places, rough in others from rust, and he gripped it tightly.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXUpWZsTUf
He twisted the barrel aside, away from his chest.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2ras7NHVI
His other hand formed a fist and swung it at the man's face.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡip3CI4jJU3
The punch landed.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEhnrYHDcw
His knuckles struck the man's cheekbone with a dull thud.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZiEosnBm3
Voltase felt the hard impact in his hand, pain spreading like waves from his knuckles to his wrist.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1NF2F1VVZ
But there was a primal satisfaction that his punch had connected.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGDpBufHw0
This was the first time in his life, both in the real world and here, he had ever hit someone with full force.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Jy8unxFdb
The man stumbled back, his arm bending, but he did not fall.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTd0CnrZANv
His head snapped to the side, and from the corner of his mouth, a drop of blood began to flow.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8qRsZ4ICH
He raised his hand to his face, touched his lip, looked at the blood on his fingertip.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvjlCcXB6f
Then he looked at Voltase with changed eyes.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxAMhEsXSH
Suspicion transformed into burning anger.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVFh16lW7v
With reflexes faster than they looked, he blocked Voltase's attack with his forearm.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1riaE4ut7f
His other hand grabbed Voltase's collar and pulled him forward.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBGgGZ5MA4
At the same time, he bent his right knee and kicked forward.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1r9pWtBL9
The knee struck Voltase's stomach, and the pain exploded in his solar plexus like a bomb.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKh46S3PfY
All the air in his lungs was forced out in one gasping exhale that sounded like a long, deep groan.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5soZFkAyEt
Saliva and bitter bile from his empty stomach spurted from his open mouth, wetting his chin and dripping onto the faded blue uniform.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLT0cszqefj
For a moment, the world around him spun wildly, black sky, corpses, and the man's face all mixed into a nauseating vortex.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPbuTiWH6l
He tasted metal on his tongue because he had bitten his own tongue from the impact.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uiHEALCw8
Fresh blood began to flow in his mouth, mixing with the bile.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpu1t2XDnBj
But Voltase did not fall.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedNBpAjBIP
Unlike in the real world, where he always fell when pushed by other children at school, this body was stronger, heavier.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw4Z70tDsz
His long legs planted in the bloody soil as he held his ground.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzxHnGlIMB
His hard, trained abdominal muscles absorbed part of the kick's impact.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWlm0knfHs
Despite the overwhelming pain, he was still standing.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5gu3gr6jN
With clenched teeth, enduring the pain gnawing at his stomach like burning fire, he launched a counterattack.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBO4eTlMSP5
His foot with the heavy boot and hard sole swung toward the man's shin.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bGw2vJiQT
He swung his leg with all his strength.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQTLG8TCcW
The kick landed with a harder thud than before.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvhJ5tzcE7
The man stumbled, losing balance.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMq9uaFLJH
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqVViobQNd
Voltase seized the moment.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXm5WqBgc1Z
He twisted his body, pulling the rifle barrel with all his strength.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0XQZfpMA3
The wood and metal, an object weighing nearly four kilograms, tore from the man's grip.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtK6E35HMpX
It flew, rolled across the pile of corpses, and fell among the rotting bodies on the other side, sinking beneath the pile of flesh.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdLsBR3WBf
Now, without weapons, they faced each other equally.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3nJPn0Cbn
The man swung a punch at Voltase's jaw, but Voltase ducked, feeling the wind of the fist brushing his long, dirty hair.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPRQvr8B3D
He answered with a punch at the man's chin, but the man tilted his head with agile movement despite his large body.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvj5atGFSHr
They fought wildly, punches, kicks, elbows, and knees, in the middle of the sea of corpses.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEyOsoT9TD
Dust and dried flesh scraps flew around them every time they stepped on or fell into the piles of bodies.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72H3WJOTwW
Voltase felt blood, both the corpses' blood and his own, covering his face.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCes3ps0N0t
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.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfTfV1CHVw
This is not me, he thought between punches, but his thoughts were fragmented by pain and exhaustion.
263Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTXOFl43yi
Why am I here?
ns216.73.216.48da2 
and then Add to home screen.