Blood Sport

[Megami*]

((Continued from Headhunter))

"Jo?"

"What's gotten into you, Matt?" "You never get mad when people make fun of you." "How'd you get into that fight, anyway?"

The questions plagued Matthias Kovalenko's mind, but he wouldn't allow himself to answer them... wouldn't allow himself to dwell on the events that had unfolded in the botanical garden between himself and Eric Silvstedt.  He and Whitney had left the area and headed toward the residential district in search of Jodeen... from there it was all a blur.  Matthias remembered splitting up at Whitney's suggestion.  It only seemed logical that they'd cover more ground if they went separate ways.  Looking back on it now, it probably wasn't the best idea.  Still, at the time, he had been so desperate to find his sister, so scared for her life after Eric's threats, that he would've done anything to find her.

And look at where that desperation and sheer will had gotten him now.  He was stumbling around in the middle of the night in the middle of a seemingly endless cornfield.  Ever since he had gotten separated from Whitney so long ago, he had staggered aimlessly through the pouring rain in search of his sister.  At first, he'd attempted to relocate Whitney, but when the residential district was declared a dangerzone, he was forced to fly the coupe before he lost his head, quite literally.  Part of him felt almost guilty for leaving his friend behind, but there was nothing he could've done.  Besides, neither she nor Jodeen had been in the announcements yet, so they were safe, at least for now.

But for how long?

Minutes had turned into hours had turned into days that he had been searching for his sister, but to no avail.  It was a miracle in and of itself that his excessive shouting hadn't attracted any unwanted attention.  In that respect, Matthias was a very lucky boy.  Still, it was just a matter of time before someone did respond to his shouting, and the odds of it being Jodeen were slim to none.  Matthias knew this, of course, but he simply couldn't give up.  He owed it to Jodeen to protect her.  That's what big brothers were supposed to do.  They were supposed to be there to protect little sisters.  He hadn't realized that before, and it took almost losing Jodeen forever to make Matthias realize what his purpose as an older brother was.

That was why he had to find her.  He felt like he'd travelled across every inch of the island at least twice by now, but still, he'd seen next to nobody.  Nothing but a whole bunch of corpses.  The announcements had echoed off, one by one, and the death of Eric Silvstedt at the hands of Ricky Callahan chilled Matthias to the bone.  He could never have imagined Ricky killing anybody.  He was always sort of quiet and withdrawn.  Sure, he had stood up for Matthias at Benson's during the little scenario that started his "rivalry" -- as Eric called it -- with Eric Silvstedt in the first place, but Ricky had always been the baseball boys' lapdog, so to speak.  He had always been a follower... the nod-your-head-and-don't-speak kid.  But he had killed Eric.

Just goes to show you that you can't trust the people you thought you could, I suppose.

In a horrifying way, Eric's death had almost eased a burden on Matthias's shoulders.  He wouldn't wish death on anybody, even his worst enemy, but at least now, at the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about Eric stalking him down... and he wouldn't have to worry about Eric hurting Jodeen.  She might not have been safe from the world, but she was safe from that threat.

"Jodeen, are you out here?"

The rain might've been lightening up slightly, but it was still drowning out his voice.  The pouring rain combined with the dark night sky and the tall cornstalks obscured his vision drastically, and exhaustion was definitely starting to take its vicious toll on Matthias's body, but he wouldn't allow himself to rest until he found his sister.  He couldn't afford a luxury like resting.  In the short amount of time it might take him to take a short nap or rest and recuperate, something bad could happen to her.  Matthias wouldn't let that happen, no matter what.  He had to keep looking.  He'd find her, no matter what it took.

"JoDEEN!"

[Megami*]

"C'mon Jo, where ARE you?"

He'd staggered through that cornfield for what seemed like hours now with no luck at all in locating his sister.  Finally, he'd given up on thinking that she was in the area.  It had taken him nearly half an hour to wade out of the tall cornstalks, but finally, he could see the small farmhouse sitting on the front of the property.  He wouldn't have time to check inside.  Just as Matthias began ambling over to the house, the static echoing from the public access systems stopped him dead in his tracks.

The announcement...

Matthias crossed his fingers and silently prayed that none of his friends were on Danya's daily list of the dead.  It seemed like it took the man eons to call out the names of those who had died.  He was doing it purposely.  Drawing it out, elaborating in gorey detail on everyone's deaths.  It made Matthias cringe.  Finally, he reached the end of the announcement, and Matthias let out a relieved sigh.

They're still alive.  Thank God.

Danya's next words caught Matthias's attention all too well, however.  The farmhouse was about to become a dangerzone.  His eyes widened drastically when he heard it.

"Shit."

It was the only word he uttered as he took off running.  He had to get out of there, and now.  He couldn't afford to be caught in a dangerzone.  Not now, not after having searched for her for so long.  Matthias had been a bit of an athlete in school, played basketball for Franklyn Senior, even got a decent amount of playtime.  He was thanking his lucky stars for that fact as he darted through the dense fog that had come up and as far away from the farmhouse as he could possibly get.  At least with five dangerzones, that was five more places Matt didn't have to worry about looking.  Still, with every second that passed by, his time was running out.

((Continued in In the Darkest of Times))