Chapter Three: Tasha

Although I couldn't see it, I knew the creature was standing right in front of my face. If I was any normal person, I would've pissed myself or passed out in fright, but I've survived the war and I'm far from normal. I stand still, quietly staring at what I assume is the creature's face. I was determined to see this through until the creature got bored, but suddenly, a gunshot went off and the bullet wizzed through the air right passed my head and directly into the creature's skull–if it even had one.

The blood splatters on my face and I use my right hand to wipe some of it off. The creature's body slowly fell to the ground next to me as I turned around to face the owner of the gun. Before I can do anything, someone grabs my wrist and starts pulling me along after him. I struggle to get my feet into motion as the person also scrambles to get me to follow him. Suddenly the person stops and I hear them turn to me.

"What are you doing, idiot? Get moving. We have to leave," a deep voice says to me.

I mumble a quick apology before I begin to walk after him. At least, I assume it's a man if the pitch of the voice is anything to go by. All of a sudden, the man halts in his steps and lets out a string of profanities. I cock my head to the side in confusion and tug on the arm holding my wrist.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"The corpses are beginning to turn," he explains, sounding a bit frustrated.

Turn? What does that mean? I opened my mouth to voice my confusion, but before I could get any words out the man suddenly began to pull me quicker. I could only assume that we were headed away from whatever…"turned" and towards the staircase. I scramble to keep up with his long strides, but it proves rather difficult. I can tell that he's trying to be as quiet as possible because I notice that he avoids the blood puddles littering the floors. Soon enough, I hear him walk down a step and before I can protest, he pulls me down with him.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see where I should've taken a step down, so I began to tumble. I let out a short yell for the man to grab me before I made any louder noise, but it was too late; I had already begun my descent. For once I was glad I couldn't see the world around me, spinning as I plummeted down the staircase. I definitely hurt, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle–I've suffered worse. I felt my body twisting and swinging around as my arms and legs flail about, sometimes colliding with the railing or the stairs. I faintly heard the man cursing and running down the stairs after me. I tried not to make a sound even though my fall was quite painful and it was already pretty loud, but still, I didn't want to make any more noises.

Eventually the pain ceased, but my head still spun, a sign that the dizziness wouldn't go away for quite a while. I heard the man running up to me as I tried to calm my dizzy mind. He grabbed my arms and began to pull my aching body into a standing position. He clicked his tongue and I could almost smell his irritation.

"What's wrong with you? Are you sick in the head?"

I felt like I would throw up if I spoke, so I opted to just shake my head in denial. Before he could say anything more, tons of heavy footsteps sounded from somewhere down the first floor hallway. And once again he was cursing and pulling me along after him. Again, I tried to keep up, but it was even harder this time because I started to feel the painful effect that the fall had on my body.

I didn't know what the corpses had "turned into", as the man said, but if they were anything like the creature that killed the people on the second floor then I decided to ignore my pain and quickly follow the man out of the hospital. As the heavy footsteps grew louding behind us, we started running faster and faster. When I felt cold concrete on my bare feet, I knew we had finally made it out of the hospital. But we didn't stop running. I was confused as to why we hadn't stopped so I voiced my thoughts.

"Why…aren't we…stopping?!" I had to yell in between breaths as we ran.

He looked over his shoulder as he yelled, "We're going to my place! It'll be safe there!"

I nodded my head, pretending I understood. What was even happening? What did the corpses "turn" into? What was that creature? Why were there so many of them? I had so many questions, but I decided to wait until we got to safety to ask them. After ten minutes of ceaseless running, we finally stopped to take a break. I put my hands on my knees to catch my breath and I heard him do the same. I didn't know how far away from the hospital we had ran, but I thought that it was pretty far away because instead of concrete under my feet, I felt dried up grass. I heard him stop panting and wipe sweat from his forehead.

"We're here. This is my uncle's place, but I made it into my base of operations," he explained.

I nodded. I heard him begin to walk forward so I slowly followed after him. After a few seconds, I felt concrete hit my toe and I concluded that this was the patio of the house. I lifted my foot and stepped up, following the man as I heard him open the front door. I entered after him, shutting the door behind me. I walked a little ways into the house, hearing the man lock the door behind me. I felt him walk in front of me and he grabbed my arm. He dragged me into another room and sat me down on what felt like a relatively old couch. I heard him sit down across from me, probably on a chair or something.

"Okay, so introductions are in order, I suppose," he mused.

I nodded, agreeing with him. "My name is Tasha Caronilius," I said. He snorted at me. I gave him a glare in return.

"Don't give me that look. You can't blame me for thinking your name is quite…unique," he explains, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

I scoff at him. "Whatever. And your name is…?"

"Oh, right. I'm Sion Hyakuya."

It's my turn to snort at him this time. "And you said my name was strange."

I heard him place a hand on his heart as if I had wounded him. "You hurt me, Tasha," he mockingly says.

I rolled my eyes, but soon realized that I can take this moment to get answers to my questions. But it seemed like Sion had his own inquiries because he voices his thoughts before I can.

"You're blind, aren't you?" he shocks me by asking.

I gulp before hesitantly nodding my head. "...Yes."

He sighs and I hear him run a hand through his hair. I suddenly find myself wishing that I was able to see what he looked like. I quickly shake my head, swiftly dismissing those thoughts.

"That's really troubling considering the situation of the country…" I hear Sion say to himself.

I tilt my head and ask, "What situation?"

I can feel his gaze on me. "Surely you're joking…right?" he says, disbelief clear in his voice.

I raise my eyebrow in confusion. "No?"

He lets out a breathy laugh. "So you're telling me that you have no idea what state the country is in right now?"

"No? Is something wrong?"

I can tell he's about to say something, but suddenly he says 'ah-hah' as if he had just realized something. "You weren't in the war, were you, Tasha?"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, shocked that he figured that out. "No, in fact, I was."

He sighs, muttering to himself, "Of course you were."

"What's the significance?"

"Well, it's no wonder that you wouldn't know about the Mossers if you were in Korea when they first started taking over," he says, further confusing me.

Nonetheless, I press on. "What's a 'Mosser'?"

He sighs again (does he do that often?). "I have a lot to explain so sit tight and listen up."

It takes an hour to explain everything to me and everything I heard leaves me in utter disbelief. A squid started the apocalypse? Weird squid people are going around killing and infecting people? What the hell kind of fiction novel is this? I run a hand over my face, sighing. After hearing the story, it was pretty hard to believe, almost impossible, but I could not deny the existence of the strange creatures I faced back at the hospital. But the question was; how will I survive? Would Sion allow me to stay with him?

I knew I wouldn't be able to survive by myself. I mean, come on, I'm a blind man in the middle of an apocalypse. But on the other hand, I'm a blind man so why would Sion allow me to stay with him? I'd be a liability, a hindrance. But then again, I was very confident in my fighting skills. After all, I had survived the Korean War. Even if I was blind, I still clearly remember everything I was taught and trained for. As long as I focused on my other senses, I would be able to fight. Suddenly, Sion spoke to me in his baritone voice, shocking me from my thoughts.

"Would you like to stay with me?"

He was asking me if I wanted to stay with him? That surprised me. I thought he'd realized what it would mean to take in a blind man. I stared at him, confused.

"You do know that I'm blind, right?"

"Uh, yeah. It's kind of hard not to notice when you fall down a staircase."

I glare at him for bringing that back up, but he just chuckles at me. "Wouldn't a blind man just get in your way?" I ask.

I hear him shake his head. "Naw, you seem pretty capable. I mean, you would have to be if you were in the war," he explains, calming my nerves.

I don't know why, but my heart slightly swells at the thought that he wouldn't leave me to fend for myself. I dismiss it, blaming it on the adrenaline of the situation.

"Well, thank you, I suppose. I'll take you up on that offer then," I say, grateful for Sion's generosity.

I hear him stand up and he claps his hands once. "Great! I've survived this alone for three long years and I'm ready to get a partner."

And with that, my adventures with Sion finally began.