Meanwhile, the atmosphere was quite different in the base’s lounge.
Katy was sitting down, needle in hand, fine-tuning a tattoo on her own skin.
Sophie, sitting right next to her, watched her every move with obvious fascination.
She plucked up her courage and asked:
“Could you do me after you’re done?”
Katy barely looked up, a smirk on her lips:
“Aren’t you afraid your parents will throw a fit?”
“No,” Sophie replied, looking away with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
“They don’t care about me anyway.
They only think about Tony.
Sometimes, I even wonder if I was adopted…”
Katy paused for a moment and looked at her with an air of complicity:
“I get it.
At your age, I would have run away a long time ago to join my wolf, Rick.
Come on, don’t worry, I’m going to give you a beautiful mark of independence.”
Katy cleaned her equipment and began inking the teenager’s skin.
Sophie clenched her teeth under the pain of the needle, half-muttering to herself:
“My parents would kill me if they saw me…”
“After this, they’ll see you differently,” Katy replied confidently.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered.
The dog Croquettes came rushing into the room, running all over the place, closely pursued by little Tony, who was laughing and simply wanted to play with him.
Katy stood up abruptly, her face distorted by anger, and yelled:
“Kid, you’re a pain in the ass!
Stop stressing this dog out, or his price is going to drop!”
In this world, pets like dogs held immense value, especially when they were well-treated and spared from stress.
Tony froze, intimidated.
The dog, sensing the tension, began to bark aggressively at the little boy.
Disturbed, Tony turned to his big sister and began to sign to her:
“Sophie, I…”
“Get lost, Tony!” Sophie screamed right in his face, venting all her frustration.
“You always tire us out!
It’s always Tony this, Tony that!
We always have to bring ourselves down to your level!
I can’t take it anymore, get lost!”
Tony couldn’t hear her words, but his sister’s violent tone and expression came as a shock.
He burst into tears, turned around, and ran away.
Sophie watched him go, her eyes instantly casting down as a heavy sense of guilt already began to gnaw at her.
Katy, for her part, displayed a satisfied smile:
“Good, Sophie, you learn fast.
You must always show who’s the boss around here.”
“That’s true…” Sophie replied, not very reassured.
“Was I too harsh with him?”
“No, you weren’t even at full power,” Katy brushed it off.
Once the tattoo was finished, the door swung open abruptly to reveal Rick.
Without a word to Sophie, he grabbed Katy firmly by the arm, squeezing his fingers hard.
“Follow me,” he ordered dryly.
Katy winced and tried to pull away:
“No, let go of me, you’re hurting me.”
“Hurry up,” Rick replied, his eyes dark, “unless you want me to do it right here.”
Understanding she had no choice, Katy tried to save face in front of the teenager.
She flashed a forced smile at Sophie:
“I’ve finished your tattoo.
See you later.”
“Okay, see you later,” Sophie replied, uneasy.
Rick dragged Katy to their room and slammed the door violently behind them.
Immediately, a fierce argument broke out, their voices piercing through the thin partitions of the base.
“I don’t want to!” Katy cried out, her voice laced with fear and anger.
“Without that, you’re useless here!” Rick shot back, raising his voice.
The tension rose so fast and so hard that the sounds of a struggle threatened to degenerate.
That was when the door opened to reveal Mr.
Bones.
The little old man immediately stepped between them, his hands raised:
“Calm down, calm down!
Rick, you mustn’t force the little girl into this.
Cool off, and kiss to make up.”
Katy, trembling, quickly hid behind Mr.
Bones’ back to protect herself.
Rick, with a dark stare, spat on the floor:
“I’d rather die than do that.”
Mr.
Bones didn’t back down.
His usually kind eyes became absolutely firm:
“If you don’t do it tonight, you’ll sleep without eating.”
The threat of food deprivation in a world where every calorie counted did the trick.
After a fierce struggle against his own pride, Rick, torn by hunger, had to capitulate and step forward to perform the forced makeup hug.
Mr.
Bones instantly recovered his jovial smile:
“Isn’t that beautiful?”
After the heavy revelations in the control room, Lamar and I decided to go up to the base’s roof to get some fresh air before dinner.
The desert horizon stretched as far as the eye could see.
I stopped in front of him, a big, provocative smile on my face.
“You’ll see, you won’t believe this new technique,” I launched, crossing my arms.
Lamar let out a mocking laugh, adjusting the position of his mechanical arm:
“Your sissy techniques don’t scare me, kid.”
“We’ll see if they’re sissy techniques…” I muttered to myself.
“Ready?” Lamar asked.
“You bet your ass I am!”
Lamar began to count in a calm tone:
“Three…”
But I didn’t even wait for “two.” I instantly bounded forward, running toward him at full speed.
“But I thought it was on one!” Lamar yelled, caught off guard.
“Well, have it your way!” I countered as I reached his level.
Lamar projected his massive fist toward my face.
Anticipating the blow, I slid cleanly between his legs, agilely unwinding a sturdy wire around his ankles.
In the same motion, I pulled the cable, suspending him in the air by his feet.
I turned around proudly, crossing my arms without even deigning to look at him:
“You see, I could beat you without even using my technique.”
But when my eyes finally landed on the trap, my smile vanished.
It wasn’t Lamar swinging at the end of the wire, but a common sack of potatoes.
At that exact moment, a chilling presence materialized right behind my back.
I spun around by reflex.
Lamar was there.
Without a word, we engaged in a frantic hand-to-hand fight, exchanging a flurry of quick blows.
The brutal detonation distracted Lamar for a fraction of a second.
It was the opening I needed.
“FIER PUNCH!” I bellowed.
My fist ignited with a burning heat and slammed violently toward my opponent’s chest.
The impact was so powerful that Lamar was propelled toward the edge of the roof in a thick cloud of smoke.
Under the strain of the deployed force, I dropped a knee to the ground, catching my breath.
The cloud of smoke slowly cleared…
to reveal another charred sack of pasta.
A shadow loomed over me.
Lamar stood right behind, smirking, offering me his hand to help me up.
Being a sore loser, I grabbed his hand with one of mine, while with the other, I discreetly pointed my weapon straight at his crotch.
Lamar didn’t flinch; with a metallic click, his artificial arm pivoted, ready to fire at point-blank range into me.
We stared at each other for a second, then I broke the tension with a sigh:
“Fine, you win, I surrender.”
Lamar put his weapon away and smiled:
“From what I saw, it’s a very good hand-to-hand technique.”
“Yeah…
I came up with it when I was in the town of Happy,” I replied, sitting down on the ledge.
After that intense training session, we lay down side by side to sip cold beers.
Facing the setting sun, we went to clink our bottles, but my movement was clumsy: my bottle slipped from my hands, crashed to the ground, and shattered into a thousand pieces.
Lamar burst out laughing, openly mocking my clumsiness.
Taking advantage of his distraction, I quickly snatched his own beer from his hands.
Yet, just as I was about to bring it to my lips, I felt a strange emptiness.
My hands were totally empty.
The beer bottle was now between the fingers of Mr.
Bones, who stood next to us, a steaming plate in his other hand.
Without a second thought, the old man emptied the bottle in one single, immense gulp, wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, and said:
“Children, the meal is ready.”
Deprived of our drink, Lamar and I decided to console ourselves with the food he had just brought us.
But from the very first bite, our faces contorted.
It was too, too, way too salty.
We looked at each other, grimacing, our stomachs turning.
“Is the food good, young men?” Mr.
Bones asked kindly.
We nodded in identical, hypocritical unison:
“Yes…” we replied with difficulty, swallowing as best as we could.
Mr.
Bones let out a melancholy smile:
“Thank you, but don’t pretend.
Ever since our daughter left, my dear wife adds too much salt to her dishes…
but to me, it has always tasted good.”
Intrigued by his words, I set my plate down:
“Could you tell us a bit more about your daughter?”
“If I were to tell you about my daughter in detail, we wouldn’t leave this place,” the old man replied, staring out at the desert.
“There’s plenty to say and not enough time to do it.
So instead, I’ll tell you why we are here.”
He took a deep breath, his eyes shining with memories:
“In her youth, my daughter was very beautiful—she always has been, for that matter—to the point that all the boys wanted to marry her.
Every day, a new suitor would send gifts for me to give away her hand.
So, I organized a little test to see who was truly worthy of her: I made her pass for dead and watched their reactions.
At the sight of this, those who claimed to love her all withdrew their proposals and took back their gifts.
Even those we believed were sincere…
Sometimes, appearances are deceptive: if the heart is black, the feelings will be too.”
Mr.
Bones smiled softly:
“But against all odds, there was only one, who didn’t make a good living compared to the others, who told me he loved her for what she did, for her kindness, and not for her beauty or her assets.
An unconditional love that his own mother had approved of.
It was crazy to say that, but I wanted to see even more if he spoke the truth.
And when your heart is pure, your actions are too.
Every day, he would come by to give us a bit of what he earned.
He still believed our daughter was gone and wanted to take care of us.
He gave half of his savings to us, and the other half to his mother.
He kept nothing for himself, sometimes wearing the same clothes several days in a row.
Some took him for a madman, but we knew.
One day, having absolutely nothing to give, he came to apologize in tears.
It was then that we revealed to him that our daughter was very much alive.
He cried tears of joy.
The other men, shocked by such devotion, even congratulated him.”
The old man paused, a tear running down his wrinkles:
“He was a shy young man before, but he had become a true man now.
He and our daughter loved each other with an inseparable love.
Since he mastered the art of the sword, he found a good job.
Before the wedding, he had one last mission left to accomplish before stopping everything to live with her.
A week before the ceremony, we were told he had been killed by the Calamities…
It goes to show, beautiful things never last.
After this terrible news, our daughter became amnesic due to the shock.
She forgot us, her own parents.
She ran away.
My wife was cruelly affected by it, hence the over-salted meals…
One day, after searching so hard, we found her at her new job.
She didn’t remember us, but we hadn’t forgotten her.
Three times a month, we would go see her in secret, just to reassure ourselves and protect her a little from afar.”
He sighed, his gaze distant:
“It was on our way to see her, since she lived a bit far, that we ran into Rick and Katy, who took us with them.
They were going to see someone named Édouard, Rick’s father or brother.
Katy told us he was kind.
Rick claimed to have many children and that he gave most of his bounty to them.
But taking a shortcut, we were attacked and cornered by the Calamities…
and that’s what brought us here.”
At that exact moment, the heavy roof door flew open.
Rick stormed up the steps, his face contorted with anger.
“What a shitty meal!” he shouted, violently tossing the contents of his plate into the sand.
Furious at such disrespect, Lamar bounded forward and grabbed him brutally by the collar:
“There are people starving to death in this world, and all you can do is complain and throw away food you don’t even deserve!”
“No, my little Lamar, it’s fine, it’s nothing,” Mr.
Bones intervened softly, a sad but soothing smile on his face.
Rick spat on the ground, shook himself free of Lamar’s grip, and went back to lock himself inside the base without a word.
Later that night, the base grew quiet as everyone went to bed.
But in the quarters of David’s family, a storm erupted.
Sally had just discovered the fresh tattoo on Sophie’s back—the one Katy had done for her earlier after Sophie had violently rejected her little brother Tony when he wanted to play.
“Our backs are turned for two seconds and you take advantage of it to get a tattoo?!
And you attack your brother on top of that?
Really, Sophie, you…
you…”
Sophie, trembling with rage and contained tears, exploded:
“I…
I…
I what?!
I’m too much!
I annoy you!
I’m not your daughter anyway!
You only have eyes for Tony!
Me, you don’t even look at me!
I’m suffering, and you don’t see it!
You always favor Tony!”
The door opened gently, letting Mr.
Bones into the middle of the room where David, Tony, Sophie, and Sally were.
His calm presence stopped the shouting dead.
“Sally,” he began in a soft voice, “you should listen to Sophie more.
Teenagers always need support.
And you, Sophie, you must understand your parents: they are grown-ups who work hard.
It’s not always easy being a parent, especially with two children.
Help them by looking after your brother sometimes.”
The old man then turned to the researcher:
“And you, David, express yourself more.
You’re the father here, not Sally.
I understand Sophie: my daughter went through that too.
Once we understood her, we never let her go and we showered her with love.
On that note, good night.”
The whole family, appeased by his words, thanked him warmly.
Mr.
Bones left the room to return to his own quarters.
On the way, he heard Rick and Katy laughing out loud in their room, then passed by Eden and Lamar’s room, who were already fast asleep.
Arriving in his bedroom, he lay down as gently as possible so as not to wake his spouse.
“Bones, are you okay?” a weak voice asked in the dark anyway.
“Yes…
but aren’t you asleep, my dear?”
“I know you didn’t eat tonight.”
Mr.
Bones smiled in the darkness:
“Is it that obvious?”
“No, but I know you better than anyone.”
“Phew…
I was afraid someone else would notice and worry.
Since the dish wasn’t enough for everyone, I preferred to give my share to the others.”
“It’s a pity you didn’t eat, but at least everyone was able to fill their stomachs,” she murmured, snuggling against him.
“Tomorrow, if they bring back something to cook from their expedition, I’ll prepare your favorite meal.”
“Thank you, my dear, I’d be delighted.”
The old couple fell asleep, hand in hand.
The next morning, the time for the expedition had come.
Eden, Lamar, Alya, Rick, David, and Sally were ready, heavily equipped.
They brought out two agile motorcycles and a large utility vehicle to load the future provisions.
Remaining at the base, Mr.
and Mrs.
Bones, Tony, and Sophie armed themselves with pots, tools, and anything that could make noise to sabotage the monsters’ hearing and drown out the roar of the engines at the moment of departure.
The engines roared.
Eden surged forward on the first motorcycle, Rick on the second, while David, Sally, Alya, and Lamar settled into the armored vehicle.
The trip was short-lived before hell broke loose.
They were suddenly pursued, not by the usual underground Calamities, but by long-legged Calamities—dreadful predators attracted by the intense heat of the engines.
Realizing the danger, Eden and Rick broke away from the convoy to draw the creatures away from the main vehicle.
An immense beast stuck tightly to Eden’s tail.
He tried to shoot backward while riding, but the creature, with surprising agility, dodged every bullet.
Spotting a rocky ridge forming a steep slope, Eden accelerated to the maximum, soared into the air, and executed a perfect backflip with his motorcycle.
Finding himself momentarily suspended upside down right above the monster, he planted a series of bullets straight into its skull before landing cleanly on his wheels and resuming his race.
For his part, Rick was not to be outdone.
Pursued closely, he accelerated abruptly, performed a 180-degree drift to face the creature, charged straight at it, and made his bike leap over its head.
In mid-air, he pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it with precision into the monster’s maw before rolling on the ground to pass into its back.
The explosion was immediate and brutal, pulverizing the Calamity.
The group finally reunited and arrived at the second base.
Larger, the structure formed a massive ‘C’.
In its exact center, an immense lightning-shaped pylon pointed toward the sky.
“It’s a system designed to capture lightning and power the entire base,” David explained, stepping out of the vehicle.
As they began to gather the crates of food and energy cells, a sharp crackling rang out.
It was Sally’s radio.
Believing it to be a distress signal from the Order, she picked up hastily.
But on the other end of the line, it was Sophie’s panicked and trembling voice:
“Hello, Mom?!
We can’t find Tony and Croquettes!
We’re looking everywhere for them, there’s nothing…
they’re nowhere to be found!”
Sally turned pale instantly:
“Keep looking, we’re coming right now!”
Meanwhile, at the main base, little Tony was running joyfully through the sand outside the security perimeter, laughing out loud as he chased the dog Croquettes.
The boy was totally unaware that the ground behind him was vibrating dangerously, and that an immense underground Calamity was barreling straight toward him.
From the roof, Sophie and Mrs.
Bones spotted the scene of horror.
They began to scream his name with all their might, waving their arms.
But Tony, deaf, did not understand the terror behind their gestures and continued to smile.
Realizing the tragedy unfolding, Sophie rushed off the roof and ran breathlessly into the sand to try to tackle her brother to the ground.
But it was too late.
The sand exploded in a hellish crash.
The Calamity erupted from the earth, jaws wide open.
Sophie screamed in despair; her mother let out a heartbreaking cry from the roof.
That was when Mr.
Bones lunged out of nowhere.
With a speed and strength incredible for his age, the old man threw himself forward and violently pushed Tony out of the impact zone.
The sharp claws of the creature only managed to graze the little boy as he fell…
before the monster’s colossal jaws closed brutally, swallowing Mr.
Bones’ body whole into its entrails.
In the same fluid motion, the Calamity dived backward and vanished forever into the depths of the sand.
Silence fell over the desert once more.
Mr.
Bones was gone.