Violence is often met with Violence

 The next few weeks focused on building the sanctuary, securing food and weapons, and preparing for winter. The group managed to get some solar power working with the help of a former engineer and started a greenhouse with as many vegetables as they could manage. Naturally, meat was rare. They tried to prolong the life of the meat they had, turning it into jerky and such, but another issue was ensuring we had clean water. Of course, they still wanted plumbing, and through a community effort, they managed to get some tanks of water set up so they had some basic plumbing for the complex. They took in a few more survivors and even a few animals that could help with security, pest control, and emotional support. The few children around were thankful for the animals, giving them a distraction, but the apocalypse was taking a toll on them all. A few attempted raids later, the survivors were low on ammo and weapons, so when they found out about an Air Force base only a town away, it was necessary to try and see if there was anything left. 

They took a smaller group, which had become their primary group for leaving the college, which was Charles, Tess, Claire, Roxy, and Harmonia. It seemed simple at first, but of course, nothing could be as simple as it seemed. 

The ride to the abandoned Air Force base in Biloxi was bumpy, but thankfully short. They'd brought a couple vans to carry supplies in, with plans to even loot a tank if possible. It was getting toward the end of November now and the cold was eating at the group, despite all the clothes they wore. Each of them was more battle-hardened, prepared to fight back against the demons that aimed to claim their lives, and Harmonia's face was screwed up in thought and determination. All they had to do was get there and take what they needed... hopefully it was empty.

Tess fiddled with the weapon she held, steadily attempting to curl up more into herself as the bumpy ride continued along, trying to not get too far caught up in her head with the uncertainty of what lies before them...

Harmonia glanced over to her. "How are you doing?" She asked softly.

Tess flinched, locking up a little before looking to Harmonia, immediately starting to calm down a little, eyes softening. "Oh..- uh. I'm fine! Just a little... nervous, is all."

"Me too... so I get it,," Harmonia said, flashing her a smile. "But it'll be okay, promise."

Tess offered a small smile in return, seeming to clear up a little. "Not every day you... break into an abandoned Air Force base, haha.. but yeah.. it'll be okay! I hope so.."

"Yeah... but you have us to protect you, okay? Nothing bad's going to happen, I promise." Harmonia places a hand on Tess's knee, giving it a squeeze.

The tension in Tess lessened some more, nodding as she started to relax in her seat. "Yeah... Yeah." She spoke softly, processing Harmonia's words. "Thank you."

"No problem... we stick together. No one left behind,," Harmonia reassured. 

"No one left behind.." Tess repeated with another nod, fully relaxing her body. "You're so.. levelheaded."

Harmonia blushed a little. "You think so? I've never really thought of myself that way.."

"Definitely! I dunno, you seem like the most... put together here.. you know?" Tess spoke a tad haphazardly, then immediately shook her head, flustered. "I mean, not saying the others aren't obviously- You know what I mean. You're just very. Comforting?" 

Harmonia nodded, smiling. "Yeah,, thank you, Tess. I appreciate it.." She paused, looking down. "How old are you again? You were out of school, right?"

"No problem..!!" Tess perked up, fixing her posture some as she started to fiddle with her own hair. "Oh, right, yeah I'm out of school but I was in college for a small while- I'm 21."

Harmonia nodded. "Makes sense... did you go to MCC?"

"I did! It was uh-.. pleasant. How about you..? I don't think I managed to catch your age.."

"19,, so not much younger,," Harmonia said with a small smile. "I was planning to try and go next year... guess I'm going now in a way?"

"Ha, yeah.." Tess laughed half-heartedly. "Well, I'm sure there's some stuff left in the classrooms.. reading material to pass the time."

Harmonia nodded. "Yeah... been reading some botany books to help with the greenhouse mainly..."

"Oh, that's good! I haven't stopped by there too often- It must look really nice around there then.."

"Yeah, thankfully they already had one so... we just focused on trying to make sure it would stay warm." She explained softly as the van came to a stop, meaning their journey was over. Harmonia glanced at Claire, giving her hand a squeeze as she stood up. "Let's do this thing." She said confidently, soon exiting the van into the chilly November air.

The van has been parked just outside the eastern gate which was locked shut, topped with spikes on the fence. It was definitely able to be hopped over though they needed to be careful. There was a commissary, food court, Starbucks, gas station, and a medical center all within walking distance, not to mention all the weapons and hangars deeper in the base...

Charles was the first to hop out, slinging his rifle upon his back.  He approached the fence with a signature self-overconfidence as he looked it up and down. "Doesn't seem too bad, who wants to be first?"

"Uhh..." Harmonia looked at it sheepishly. "I guess I can?" She took off her bag, hesitantly lifting herself over the gate, careful not to snag her pants on the tip of the gate, then landed on the other side. She put her hands up, expecting someone to throw her the bag.

"Catch." Charles already had it in hand, giving it a hefty toss over the gate, clearing the fence easily.

Harmonia took it, offering him a smile as she put it back on, looking around to keep an eye out for any attackers.

Claire hopped out of the van, her eyes darting around for any way that didn't involve climbing. She wasn't the best with upper body strength.

"Need a hand?" Roxy asked, startling Claire. She hadn't noticed Roxy sneak up behind her.

"Mmh.. yeah, probably.." Roxy would then lift Claire up and Claire would hop over the fence. She landed on the ground with a solid WHAP! as her boots connected with the pavement. "Euugghh.." She whined. She wasn't hurt at all, really, but still.

Harmonia made sure to steady her, clearly nervous about her falling. "Are you alright?" She asked, just to check.

"Can you kiss my knees better?" Claire looked up at Harmonia. She giggled softly, and it was clear she wasn't too badly hurt, just in a slight state of discomfort.

Harmonia just smiled. "Sure can, darling,," She said softly, a tinge of her southern accent coating her words.

"Why are you guys gay?" Roxy yelled out. "Hey, Harmonia, wanna see a magic trick?" Roxy's body was quickly coated in what appeared to be a flashing purple light that, in less than a second, flickered out. Roxy had disappeared.

A second or two later, the same light appeared on their side of the fence, flickering and fading into Roxy's form. She turned away and coughed up a bit of blood. "Fuck- I forgot how much my body hates when I do that, eugh.." 

Harmonia's jaw dropped as she stared at Roxy, clearly confused and maybe a little afraid.  "Are you a WITCH??" She asked, her eyes widening and her voice getting higher.

Roxy stood up straight, wiping the blood from her lower lip. "Worse, a transvestite."

Harmonia gently smacked Roxy's arm. "Shut up! Trans people don't just have powers!!"

"We should..." Roxy shuffled over to Claire.

Claire swayed gently, looking around the site.

Tess was busy struggling to climb over the fence, wincing the entire time and going painfully slow in the process, almost annoying each time she locked up or slowed down. She eventually ended up on the other side, nearly knocked off balance with her landing.

Charles made sure he was the last one over.   He... struggled at his age, but very much clearly did not want to talk about it once he cleared the fence, making sure his landing was strong.

Harmonia helped steady Tess, looking around at their surroundings. "Alright... where to first? Weapons, food, or medical?"

"Oof- Thanks, Harm... Er- maybe Food first? or Medical.. whichever's closest.." Tess said, glancing around.

"Medical.  Most essential, if we need to leave early I'd rather leave with just medical supplies rather than anything else." Charles looked out at the military base, getting a grasp of the land and where they were.

"Alright-" Harmonia took out a map she'd gotten from a book at the college, looking it over. "Looks like we need to head straight then to the right and it'll be at the end of that street." She folded it back up and put it in her pocket, then looked at the gate. "We should bust this open and bring the van in so we can load it with the supplies- she heads to the control hut, staring at it. 

"Fuck... damn thing doesn't have electricity to open it..." Harmonia looks to Roxy. "Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve?" 

Roxy shrugged. "I dunno if I can help you there!"

Harmonia sighs. "Charles, do you have bolt cutters? We can probably just cut the locking mechanism, right?" 

Charles slung his backpack around and unzipped it, rummaging around for a hot moment before pulling out some bolt cutters that have seen some better days and offering them to Harmonia. "Wanna do the honors, then?"

Harmonia smiled and took the bolt cutters. "Of course-" And then proceeded to struggle to cut the fucking lock for a solid five minutes until Charles helped her.

They managed to pry the gate open, bring in the vans, and head to the medical center first. They trodded carefully around the bodies they found, Harmonia covering them when she could. 

Next was commissary and finally they arrived at the hangar, hoping to find weapons to stock up on.

Upon entering the hangar, they were met with lots of heavy machinery that looked to have been thrown around. A thin mist poured through the doors, getting thicker as the open room went on. Vines littered the place, overtaking much of the machinery that was there.  It smelled sweet. Unnaturally so.

Harmonia's eyes widened. "Shit- put your respirators on-" She said quickly, doing so and then drawing her gun.  She looked around, on edge and afraid. "Should we just leave?" She asked the others, though she was already ready for a fight.

Tess immediately locked up as she fumbled to get it on in a hurry, struggling a tad before she managed to get it snapped into place "D-Do you think we should??" She looked between Harmonia and Charles.

Charles tightened his grip on his rifle, stepping forward as he tightened his respirator.  He certainly didn't look like he was going to back out anytime soon. "If anyone would like to stay at the wheel of the van it'd be welcome.  In case we need to make a quick exit. Though I intend on bringing home some firearms." 

Harmonia cocked her gun, taking a deep breath. "Let's fucking do it then." She said, desperately trying to feel cool despite how terrified she felt inside. Her bangs clung to her sweat-covered forehead and she held the gun tighter to stop her hands from shaking. Into the fog it was.

As the group walked, the thicker the fog got. The more overgrown the area became. The fog shifted to a bluish color, and suave, jazzy music could be heard. They could hear movement up ahead.

Harmonia stayed close to Claire and Roxy, looking behind her and in front, anxious about getting surrounded. She wasn't sure if they still had any sort of element of surprise... but it was unlikely. She just pushed forward, keeping an eye out, not wanting to alert the demon to their location by doing anything drastic.

Charles's eyes were on high alert.  He was older, so they wouldn't cut through much, but they held a deep contempt that didn't seem to want to be quelled.  His movements were silent, poised.

Claire loosely held onto her respirator as they walked. It was clear, again, she didn't want to wear it. Her breathing was nearly silent. 

Roxy walked alongside her, occasionally adjusting her hair and making sure Claire was doing okay.

Harmonia kept close to everyone, trying to make sure they were all okay, especially Claire. She would've held her hand, but she didn't want to take either of her hands off of her gun.

To be honest, Tess was tempted to turn back... but at the time, she swallowed her fear and forced herself to trudge forward for the others, furrowing her brows as she stayed a bit behind.

A light plane came into view. There seemed to be a figure taking it apart, taking pieces out, and tossing them on the ground. The group couldn't make out the details of the figure, but pink light seemed to be emitting from where their face would be.

Harmonia slowly approached, trying to be as quiet as possible. This was the demon, right? Not a human? She didn't want to guess wrong and be sorry for it... she looked at the others, trying to get an idea of what they thought through their eyes.

Tess looked.. worried at the sight of it. It was hard to tell if it was a worry about the situation at hand in general or the strange figure.. she wasn't sure how to face it, giving Harmonia an uncertain shrug.

Charles’ gun had been raised since the moment they entered the hanger, and it didn't falter for a moment as the end of the barrel was locked onto the figure.  It didn't look like he was taking chances.

The pink light slowly faded to blue, then back to pink. It moved slowly, methodically. Like an eye examining something closely. 

As they approached, they began to see the figure more clearly. They appeared to have long, dark red hair. Their face was obscured by what looked like a high-tech plague doctor mask, one meant to double as a respirator. She wore a black and white polka dot dress with black leggings, and her arms seemed.. no, not just her arms, most of her skin seemed to look almost like wood. She clearly hadn't noticed them, as she continued taking apart the plane.

Harmonia's eyes widened as she raised her weapon as well. Whoever this was, they certainly weren't human. She knew she should just shoot while they had the advantage but... she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not when she hadn't attacked them yet. 

Charles though, wasn't one to hesitate.  This was a monster.  Something that stood in their way and would only seek to kill them, or turn them, the first chance it got.  He could have felt sad looking at them, seeing the mask, thinking about who they were, how long they lasted, and the life that they had.  But he didn't.  He simply didn't care.  He pulled the trigger, his hunting rifle firing as the shot rang out with a painful echo through the hangar. 

The figure stopped for a second, as the bullet made impact with its arm. The bullet lodged in the wood, briefly burning it. It turned its head to face them, the lights in the eyes of the mask moving around.

"Oh." She climbed down from the plane, examining the group before her. "That wasn't very nice." Her voice was smooth, silky. It had the potential to be comforting, if not for it sounding vaguely electronic.

"N-neither is killing people and invading our world!" Harmonia yelled, though there was clear fear in her voice, her gun shaking with it.

Charles fucking hated when they spoke.  Every word out of their mouths only made him want to shut them up more.  Bang.  Another shot in its direction.  Aiming for the jaw.  He didn't want to give it the satisfaction of hearing a verbal response.  Another bullet would be enough to express his hatred.

A bit behind, Tess was frozen in place, staring silently with fear very clearly evident in her posture, shaking heavier with every bullet heard.

The bullet ricocheted off of the mask, seemingly made of hard steel and leather. The figure put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just following orders! Now if you'll excuse me." She started picking up the scrap metal and electronic pieces. A swishing could be heard all around, like leaves rubbing against each other.

"Following orders doesn't mean killing people is okay?? Are you kidding??" Harmonia yelled back. She looked around, trying to figure out the cause of the noise, unsure what it was.

"I haven't killed anyone!~" The figure called back.

"S-should we just leave?? I don't... I don't like the sounds of this one.." Tess spoke out meekly, clearly further stressed by how bullets didn't seem to be doing anything.

“You have a gun.  Use it.” Charles hissed quietly between his teeth.  He didn't care what this thing was doing.  He’d never seen one that had good intentions.  Bang.  Another round clambered against the hard floor, shooting for the torso. 

The bullet hit the figure's back and a loud electrical hissing could be heard for a brief moment. More swishing occurred all around the group, and something that felt... almost floral, brushed past Tess's leg.

The figure turned back to face the group. It looked over all of them but lingered on Claire for a brief moment, who turned to look away.

"Bullshit, you haven't!" Harmonia yelled, though there was doubt blooming inside her. What if they were telling the truth?? What if she hadn't killed anyone? Would that make them the bad guys in this situation? "If you don't want to fight then let us get some supplies and leave. Deal???" She asked, the doubt creating a schism inside her. Maybe they could just- not fight this time?

Tess couldn't help but flinch with the command, scrambling to reach for her gun and having a.. weak grasp on it. Upon feeling something brush past her leg, she immediately scrambled backward, nearly falling back with a small "shit-" She bit back her exclaim as she took a look around them, no longer just focused on the demon alone.

Charles looked down towards Tess, attention pulled to her.  He knew he was the most capable here, and yet he despised it when he felt he was proven right in his conviction. Tess couldn't fire a gun, Harmonia was talking to it as if it were human, and now Tess was frightened about something new.  He scanned Tess up and down, the floor around her, but not too far.  He was only looking for an immediate new threat, anything less could be dealt with later.

There seemed to be a congregation of vines slithering all over the floor near the group. 

"These are my supplies. First come first serve." The fog began to smell slightly floral.

Harmonia didn't shoot at Petrichor, instead putting away her gun and taking out a combat knife, starting to try and cut at the vines on the floor. The last thing they needed was to be restrained-

Charles saw Harmonia start to deal with the vines and nodded.  It was good that she was actually working towards a productive solution at this point.  He didn't understand Harmonia's bleeding heart, this thing was clearly nothing but aggressive.  Bang.  Another pull of the trigger, aiming for the torso area.  He knew he had limited rounds left.  He didn't want to grace this demon with more of his ammunition.

Tess seemed stifled as she watched Harmonia attempt to deal with the vines. Knowing she probably wouldn't do much but get another hurt if she tried shooting at them, she resorted to attempting to stomp on them to halt them.

As Harmonia cut at the vines, something like pollen or spores released from the flowers. It smelled sweet. Floral. Much like the fog, but a lot stronger. Petrichor turned back around. "It's in your best interest to stop shooting. Violence is often met with violence."

Harmonia could only hope the respirator would protect her, shielding her eyes from the spores.  "We need these supplies or a lot of people could die!" Harmonia yelled, clearly frustrated and afraid. "Please!"

"I... I don't think there's any getting through to it- We should just, look for what we can, away from that thing, and go- right?"  Tess felt stressed, and she knew she didn't want to be near the demon, or near these vines, or near this place at all, really. But attempting to plead with or gun down the thing didn't seem to be working.

"It has shit that we need.  And it doesn't seem keen on giving it to us.  We need it more.  Much more.  And if it isn't going to listen to Harmonia's begging, I can tell you it won't hear mine.  I want anyone in this damn hangar to give me a solid reason not to continue to fill that freak with bullets until it stops moving." Charles snarled, holding back on firing another shot without thought.  His eyes held a fire, one that he had determined could not be put out peacefully.  The only thing he could find to quench it was whatever this demon chose to bleed.  And so, he would bring that fire to life.  He pulled a bottle out of his backpack, a rag sticking out the top.  He lit it up, before tossing it towards the demon. 

It took a brief moment for Petrichor to react as the bottle hit her and exploded. She let out a loud, electronic-sounding screech and started stumbling around. Vines quickly swarmed her, thicker ones quickly wrapping around her to smother the fire. It looked like a chrysalis, vines lifting her wrapped body into the air.

...Though, quickly, the smoke would seem to blacken. It warped around the chrysalis, red flashes of light coming from within the smoke. A loud, deafening clap would ring out from the smoke as the chrysalis vanished.

And then the smoke began to expand.

It expanded into the large, vague figure of a deformed, strange man with seven horns. Red light shone from within on multiple pieces of the body. It reeked of oil. The figure leaned forward, looming over the group. It was almost as tall as the inside of the hangar itself. A "mouth" opened within the smokey figure, letting a red light wash over the group.

Claire stared up. It could only look beautiful.

Harmonia pulled Claire behind her instinctively, staring up at the figure in pure horror. What had they done? Who- who was this? Was this that demon's true form?? Well, she knew one thing for certain, they should- "RUN!" Harmonia screamed, forcing her legs to move, trying to make a break for the exit, praying the others would follow her. 

Charles looked up at the figure with a sense of fear himself.  He doubled back in surprise.  He didn't wanna turn tail and run, but he wasn't going to be the only one standing in front of... this.  He knew when he was outmatched.  He moved in time with Harmonia.

Roxy tugged on Claire's arm, but she didn't budge. It was too beautiful.

Tess yelped, immediately backing away on instinct before realizing that everyone else already resolved to run and she followed quickly behind.

The light, accompanied by a vague humming from the smoke, grew. It showered Claire and Roxy, the latter tugging on the stunned former. 

"Come on come on come on-" Roxy yelped, kicking at Claire's ankles as she tried to move her. But all attempts were in vain as Claire continued to stare up into the light.

Harmonia looked back as Roxy yelped, and seeing her girlfriend frozen, ran back to her. She wrapped her arms around Claire's chest, desperately trying to pick her up and drag her away.

Charles looks back at the frozen Claire... She already had two people trying to pull her away a third most likely wouldn't be helpful... he needed to try and slow whatever that was down.  Bang.  There went another bullet as Tess ran out of the hangar and toward the van. 

As the bullet disappeared into the smoke, a crack was heard. Debris of what looked to be chiseled marble fell from the smoke, hitting Claire square in the forehead.

"Oh," Claire spoke, almost as though this was normal. Only then did she push Roxy off of her, grabbing Harmonia's arm and running.

"Wow okay asshole," Roxy grumbled, running after them.

The mass of smoke seemed to lift its head up, its gaze still locked onto Claire. It began moving towards them with movements almost reminiscent of a large spider.

Harmonia ran with everything in her, dragging Claire if she had to, clearly terrified and afraid of losing anyone to this beast. She couldn't scream despite how much she wanted too, she needed the air.  "WHAT IS THAT THING???" Harmonia yelled, curious to see if Roxy or Claire knew.

Charles simply shot again, trying to slow it down.  Bang.  Bang.  There wasn't much he could do otherwise.  He was already at the door, he just needed them closer.

"Looks like a demon!" Roxy yelled back to Harmonia as they ran. 

Claire seemed very keen on escaping.

The demon continued moving forward. As the group made it through the doors, it hesitated for a second.

And then the smoke began pouring out.

"YEAH NO SHIT-" Harmonia screamed, getting in the van as quickly as possible, Tess already getting it started. She let out a shot at the figure, though it didn't seem to do much. 

Charles hopped into the driver's seat.  He wasn't going to let anyone else fumble this anymore.  His rifle was out... so he couldn't do much but watch as people poured into the van.

As Claire and Roxy scrambled into the van and closed the door, a pastel pink Camaro sped past them, towards the mass of smoke. Of course, it stopped right before the gate, just in case. The Camaro seemed to be blasting some sort of music really, really loud, only amplifying as the doors opened and the people inside stepped out. It seemed to be a group of three.

A young woman in a doll-like mask with striped sleeves and torn-up jeans got out of the back, while from the passenger seat emerged a guy in a hoodie holding a rifle. From the driver's seat, a large puff of neon-blue smoke came out, followed by a tall woman with straight black hair and multiple accessories. She wore a tight black crop top and jeans with black high-heel platform boots. It smelled strongly of weed.

Inaudibly to the group in the van, the woman commanded the other two for something. The three ran in towards the smoke monster, which had now taken full form once again. 

"WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?" Harmonia asked, staring at the scene in pure awe. Who was this bitch and why was she hot as hell???

Claire didn't look up until she felt tears nipping at her eyes. In fact, everyone felt as though they were going to cry. They couldn't place why. Or, everyone aside from Roxy and Claire.

"Is she following me? I swear to god she's following me specifically." Roxy huffed as she looked out at the group heading in.

As they reached the mass of smoke, it looked down at them. The woman looked up at it. It seemed as though communication was happening...

Until, barely a moment later, the woman took the man's rifle and started shooting into the monster's mouth. A loud, ear-piercing screech came from the monster as the group started running back to the Camaro, the monster in hot pursuit.

"Charles I think we should drive now. You know how to drive an automa-" Roxy was quickly silenced by Claire punching her in the arm.

Tess could honestly consider the tears to be a result of the stress at hand- but even so, it felt unnatural to her, making the entire mystery of the group that tried to commune with that thing even further off-putting.

"Yeah, we should go- Is- is that-" Harmonia was so out of breath, but she couldn't help but wonder; was this the 'Lucy' Claire had mentioned?

Charles slammed on the gas.  The tires spun for a moment before gaining traction, and they sped off leaving the scene, and the sounds of firing behind them.  He didn't care to look back, but his grip on the wheel was turning his knuckles white. 

As they drove away, the sky pulsated between white and red with loud claps. After a bit of driving, it stopped.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Claire asked Roxy quietly.

"Probably. Wish she wasn't." Roxy chuckled to herself, picking at her nails. Claire looked down at her own hands for a moment before prying the respirator off her face.

"Um... so..." Harmonia took hers off as well. "Who... who were those people??"

Tess hugged herself, clearly stressed as she couldn't help but keep trying to look out the window, as though they weren't completely safe.

Charles was focused on the road as he sped away from the military site, taking a long moment before he even processed Harmonia's question. "We didn't meet any people." He was curt, matter-of-fact.

"No the people- who shot at the monster??"

"Notttt sure." Roxy sighed, curling up to hug her knees. Her pupils dilated slightly as she stared at Claire's hands. Some blisters had formed on her otherwise perfect fingers. "Claire looks hurt. Blisters. Do we have any moleskin at the college?"

Harmonia nodded. "Yeah... I think so..." She gently leaned on Claire, rubbing her back and thinking about the situation at hand as she watched the world roll by. 

At the end of the day they had gotten supplies but their weapons were still dwindling... and of course, she was left to wonder who the people in the Camaro were and what that particular demon was.