THE SCARS

"I know my love should be celebrated, but you tolerate it."

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Scars

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A man with a gruff beard held onto the chain of a clicker, watching as it wailed and tried to fight back against its restraints. Its feet made marks in the thick, green grass, showing its true struggle. The man sighed, looking to the side to see a Scar hanging from the tree. His face was beaten up badly, the result of the cult member trying to fight back against him. He merely grinned and cut the Scar down, holding onto her rope that was tied around her wrists.

She writhed as he pushed her towards the clicker, but she was too quick for him. She quickly pushed her arms up, hitting him in the lower stomach and letting him fall to the ground. The scar, her hands still tied together, used her feet to push the man dangerously towards the clicker. The infected cried out, pulling itself as close to the man as possible. Regaining his self, the man stood up, picking up a bat and hitting the Scar in the stomach a few times.

The woman fell to the ground in a heap, groaning as the grass and ants crawled against her skin. The man stood above her, smirking a bit. He spit against her Scar clothing as she writhed against her restraints, her wrists beginning to bleed from the rope. As she moved, the dirt around her kicked up, causing her to enter into a coughing fit. She felt as if spores had flowed into her lungs, she couldn't even hit her chest to get the dirt out.

He looked over her, crouching down to her level menacingly. "Your family will suffer because of your incompetence." The man spat, kicking the woman's stomach with her feet. She groaned in pain, her eyes screwing shut as he talked. "Fuckin' Scar."

"Seraphite." She corrected, coughing. The man kicked her harder, watching as she screamed out to nobody. The woman regained her life, her eyes almost rolling to the back of her head as she looked back at the gruff and painless man. She nodded her head towards his exposed bicep, and only then did he notice the large, bleeding bite mark from the clicker. "The demon struck you, all hope is lost for you. May she forgive you for your sins." She stated, her head dropping against the sand as she lost consciousness.

The man stood up, his eyes widening in panic as his bite mark continued to bleed. The clicking noises of the infected filled his senses, and his mind began to swirl with thoughts unaccounted for. He looked out onto the forest horizon, spotting an older man walking towards him. He quickly used a bandage to cover up his bicep, the other man walking closer and closer towards him. Two other guards were with him, and he only hoped he could keep a secret. What had he done?

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Robin looked out onto the WLF stadium, her eyes glossing across the many houses and apartments that made up the beautiful nation. Her blonde hair was pulled up tightly into a ponytail, only a few strands escaping and falling against her cheeks. It was her 'vacation' day, so she sat in her couch in her living room, wearing a simple blue pullover and jeans. She wasn't expecting any assignments, so she simply watched as the WLF apartments began shutting their lights off, the sun setting behind the clouds.

She sighed, grabbing her empty mug off of the coffee table in front of her and standing up, stretching her back out a bit. The top of Robin's shirt lifted up, revealing her ugly scar that fell just above her hipbone. "Scars." She muttered deeply under her breath, scoffing before walking into her kitchen. Cups and plates scattered the countertops messily, and Robin knew she had to clean up, but usually she'd clean up before her boyfriend got home.

Speaking of, Kam hadn't gotten back to the stadium yet. Well, he hadn't come to the apartment, at least. They had been together for almost five years, give or take about a year when they had been broken up. Robin was hopeful that he was being distant because he was planning a proposal, but he had always been distant. Truly, the red flags of a one-sided relationship were all there, but she was too blind with love to notice that Kam didn't love her back.

Robin sighed deeply, rubbing her sleep-deprived eyes before beginning to wash the dishes. It was the same routine everyday. Clean, do some assignments for Isaac, clean, and maybe get some sleep- if she was lucky. One of the women around the WLF, Mel, had offered to take some assignments for Robin, but they were really the only thing keeping her sane. Killing Scars and patrolling the area around the stadium, she was truly living the life, wasn't she?

Before she knew it, the dishes had been stacked in their proper cupboard. Robin sighed, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. The doorbell chimed and echoed through her apartment, and the woman eagerly walked over, opening the hinges. Across from her stood her boyfriend, Kam, bloody and bruised with his hair tussled. His clothing was ripped, scars cutting deeply in his skin and half-assed stitches wrapped around his cheek.

Kam's girlfriend quickly pulled him inside, only for him to retract his hand at her touch. Robin closed the door behind him and faced his eyes, trying to find any kind of eye contact she could find. "What happened?" She asked, concern furrowing in her eyebrows and wrinkling her forehead deeply.

He simply looked to the side, his eyes dull and almost lifeless. "Just some Scars." Kam muttered, his voice deep and uninterested. "Nothing I can't handle." He shrugged his long, blue shirt sleeve down his arm further, his bicep completely covered by the cloth.

"Okay..." Robin replied skeptically, her neck bobbing as she gulped down a reply. "Let's get you cleaned up." She smiled sweetly, only for Kam to shake his head grimly.

"I can do it." He quickly spoke before swiftly gliding across the wooden floors, his blood-stained boots staining the planks. Kam disappeared into the bathroom, the door shutting lightly behind him. Robin sighed, only wishing for her boyfriend to be okay. He always acted like that after missions (before and during, too), and she had gotten used to the fact that he was probably just a distant man. But she couldn't help but let her mind wander to when she had seen him with his close WLF friends a few weeks before. He was truly enjoying himself, laughing at their jokes and even making a few of his own. Kam never laughed at Robin's jokes anymore, and he never bothered to entertain her with his own.

Robin turned around to her freezer, opening the bottom drawer and looking around for her ice pack. It was placed just above one of the frozen chickens she had stored. She grabbed it and shut the freezer with her leg, walking back over to the living room and placing the ice pack on the coffee table. Robin sat back down on the couch with a sigh, her head turning to the bathroom door. Her eyes bored into the doorknob, and she still felt her heart race as the gold reflection turned a bit. It opened fully, revealing Kam, the blood washed off of his face and and his bruises patched with taped bandages.

He didn't say anything, he didn't even make an effort to acknowledge his girlfriend. Instead, he swiftly turned into their bedroom, shutting the door and shuffling around. Robin looked at the unused ice pack on the coffee table, watching as it slowly slumped into the wood and began to melt. She looked around the couch, grabbing a hold of the cold remote and pointing it towards her old television. She made sure to turn down the volume before choosing something to watch.

Some of the WLF members worked at the TV station, and they delivered news sometimes. It was hard to get a good signal, but it was better than relying on an old radio for any form of entertainment. Robin was convinced that their line was being taken over by Scars, even though they didn't believe in any 'old world' technology. The enemies had been getting better and better at anticipating their attacks, radios were telling them where they were.

The woman zoned her eyes out on the television, drowning out her loud thoughts. None of the other house lights in the stadium were illuminated, and most of the curtains were drawn over the windows to keep privacy. Even the lights in the main area of the stadium were dimmed, and Robin took that as a sign to turn her body around and lay down. She rested the back of her head on the couch armrest, letting her eyes slip shut.

Her mind wandered to Kam, was he okay? What had happened? It was supposed to be a simple single-man patrol around the untamed forests of Seattle. He was supposed to just check the WLF traps and then come back home. And no matter how hard Robin tried to clear her mind, it kept jumping to how worried she was for her boyfriend. He was acting odder than usual, and she heard more shuffling and items being dropped from the bedroom than usual. She was worried.

Robin shut her eyes harshly, turning over onto her side and placing her hands under her head as a cushion. She just wanted to sleep, she had assignments the next day. She just wanted to sleep. The large bags on her eyes told the story of a few weeks gone by without a proper night of rest. Finally, the universe answered her prayers, and the thoughts of Kam, Scars and the infected left her mind and disintegrated as she fell into a sleep.

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