Birthday plans

Marco Heinrich Orthos was turning 33 today. Despite the world going to shit 5 years ago, he still liked to celebrate his birthdays as it brought some joy to his currently bleak existence.

Yeah it was cool being able to cause your surroundings to vibrate just from clenching your fist, as well as do shit you could only dream of as a kid, but the trade off…the damn trade off was having to scavenge like rats in a world now overrun with terrifying creatures. Creatures that could casually break into your safe zones, make a mockery of your pitiful excuse for defences and tear you limb from limb, for sport.

You were lucky if they found the essence Qi in your body appealing. At least then you could enjoy a fast death as they quickly devoured you to the bone.

So yes, if he wanted to enjoy his birthday and blow out some damn candles he was going to very well do it. Lord knows it was a miracle to be able to stay alive in this now desolate world. If the creatures or other scavengers didn't kill you, the hunger would.

…Haahhh…

Who would've have known that more essence Qi meant more hunger.

The price of power ei?…At least the cannibals are easier to deal with…in comparison anyway.

To help him celebrate his birthday, his good friend Luis had come up with a great plan…nothing too wild.

They were going to scavenge for some drugs from the local pharmacy, maybe get hold of some adrenaline shots, shoot up, get really fucking wired and raid the food market. They would then grab the biggest cake and hightail it out of there before the selfish cunts noticed. The so called nobles would never know what hit them.

They had navigated the streets carefully, making sure to avoid the nests and pits that now littered the world. Luckily with Paul's enhanced eyesight, they could avoid most of the stronger creatures. The weaker ones were quickly dispatched by Luis before they could make too much noise.

Unfortunately, after arriving at the pharmacy, they met their first true obstacle in the form of a short, skinny, annoying little shit. A little shit with a snobby face that had decided to take what looked like most of the good stuff from the pharmacy. Marco would've let him leave but Paul confirmed that the brat had some adrenaline shots in his bag.

Those things were very rare and incredibly useful to the awakened. It could temporarily but rapidly boost the amount of essence Qi one could use in a short time. This was ideal for explosive bursts of power and could even be considered a life saving device in certain situations. For example, his fists normally needed about 5 seconds to charge up, however with a shot, it was instantaneous. In a life or death situation, 5 seconds could very well decide his fate.

Unfortunately the little shit didn't look like he wanted to give up on the items. He then started mumbling to himself, not taking any notice of them. Marco was getting tired of this high and mighty act. The kid was probably a 'noble' who had ventured too far from their outpost. He spat on the ground as he thought about how these so called nobles looked down on the 'common folk'. Just because they had managed to secure the more safer zones. It made him sick…these weaklings knew nothing of fighting to survive…growing stronger through struggle. They could just stay in their safe zones, eat and absorb as much essence Qi as they wanted.

As Marco looked up again, he saw the brat mutter something with a disgusted sneer on his face. It was then that Marco felt something snap in his head and his vision turn red…'Mum, dad, I'm going to kill a kid'. He glanced at Luis as he charged up his fists. The plan was simple, Luis would distract him with his speed and Marco would pummel him before he could react. They had flawlessly executed this combo numerous times.

He dashed forward as he felt the wind current shift around him, indicating that Luis had made his move. After just a few strides Marco reached the brat who had just turned his face. He leaned forwards, pulled his left arm back until his torso was almost twisted all the way round, then swung with the venom and hatred of a man spat on by society…right at the brats annoying head. He smiled in satisfaction as he watched the body soar and crash into the counter…'mmhhh that felt good'. However he didn't stop there.

As he saw the body slide down the counter Marco took bigger strides to reach it before abruptly stopping on his right foot and using the momentum to lift and spin his body into a kick with his left foot. He then unloaded with a few more kicks before he was satisfied.

This was where the story was supposed to end. He was supposed to pick up the supplies and go grab his cake. But then the brat stood up. Looking perfectly fine. Like he had not just received an unrestrained beating from a rank three specimen of pure power. It was damn right terrifying. Marco felt like getting the hell out of there pronto but then the little shit started spewing bullshit and putting on a disgusting act. Even though Paul, bless his soul, bought it, Marco didn't and luckily neither did Luis. The brat must have had some protective artefacts on him. Marco felt that it was pretty strange for a 'noble' to be wandering in the harshlands by themselves unprotected…he definitely had artefacts on him.

Seeing that his act was sussed out, the brat seemed to get angry and actually looked like he wanted to fight. Marco smiled to himself 'interesting little shit'.

However, as they prepared to clash, a blinding light popped up between them out of nowhere and assaulted their senses. This was then was followed by a bang and a crash, as Marco saw, through squinted and Qi reinforced eyes, the brat getting flung away and through the wall.

Marco saw the bag fall on the wayside and counted his lucky stars, 'this must be heavenly retribution you disgusting little cunt'…'ahh even the gods want me to celebrate my birthday'. He quickly grabbed the bag and dragged Paul and Luis out of the shop.

"Oi get your shits together, we need to get out of here!!" He shouted exasperatedly. "We caused enough commotion as it is and that light just made things ten times worse, COME ON!".

The other two quickly circulated some essence Qi into their eyes and got their bearings back. The trio then quickly made their way out of the area, leaving behind a twitching body which had arcs of electricity running through it.

…

Patrice had never experienced such pain ever since he had awakened. Even getting his face smashed in repeatedly by his opponents paled in comparison to this.

It felt as though countless razors were being dragged across every inch of his skin. Razors that felt like they were coated in acid.

He then realised he couldn't scream because hell, he couldn't even fucking breath!! Each attempt felt like inhaling metallic sawdust…a feeling made worse by the taste of blood in his mouth.

"Some…*hyyee*…one…*haahh*…hhelp…*hyyuu*…me" he croaked in desperation, each syllable bringing scorching pain to his throat.

When his desperate plea was met with silence Patrice knew this was probably the end for him. For despite not being able to see his surroundings, he was well aware that it was only a matter of time for the beast of the wilderness to come hunting.

As his lungs failed him and darkness began to envelope him, Patrice couldn't help but think 'well, what a shit life'.