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wowzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa · 11 months

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this is a short(?) story i wrote about an alternate universe in which europe doesn’t exist. you might like it <3

oh btw i make music with my friends, u wanna check it out? itjustwontdie.bandcamp.com

Heartworm 2023 / Cancer In America (FINAL VERSION)

CLASSIC EDITION - REDO

my first story rewritten for apparently the fourth time. but i can tell. this one’s the keeper. mostly bc a lot of generations ii and iii are just edited versions of the 2022 ones but whatevs lmao enjoyyyyyyy ✨✨✨💀😭😭✋🏼✋🏼🍠🍠👢👢👢👍👍👍❤️❤️💖💖😂😂😂😂💖💖😂😂💖😂😂💖😂😂😢😂😂😨

——————

PRELUDE …AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

Let me take you back to March 1927, in a small town in Germany, nowadays called List. All the residents currently living there were gifted, or perhaps cursed, by the birth of a wonderful baby, a son to a young couple trying to make their way through life. This boy was a very special boy and had all his chances to do whatever he wanted as a child, but stayed with the rules and the rules only. Did this truly benefit him or, like, anyone? Find this out for yourself.

At the age of two, he got a job as the spokesman of a nearby toy factory called “SpaßZeit”. It was founded and run by two elderly-aged brothers, Karl and Leon. This company was very famous in West Europe but if you weren’t in that specific area in that specific time period, you won’t have heard about them.

At the time young Konnor got this job, underwater, close to a volcano near a Sicilian village, another baby boy was born, brought to consciousness in an abandoned sea-ville. This boy, soon to be called Oscar, got onto land at around one year of age. He says he doesn’t remember much of the rest of his history, but other times when asked, he’ll go silent, avert his eyes, and leave the room.

Konnor got his parents considerable money over the next few years up until he was orphaned in a freak car accident, his parents drunk driving off a bridge on the way home from a meeting at Spaßzeit.

He and his little sister, Henrietta, stayed at the factory while the two brothers, growing old, nearly burnt themselves building what would’ve been the world’s first animatronic that they called Busterdog. In fact, those two walked right out of the fire without a scratch! Konnor escaped alive, but didn’t think to get Henrietta. Legend says, she apparently fused with or melted into the animatronic. Allegedly, Konnor saw something exit the fire, but it didn’t look like her. Anyways, the next month, on the turn of 1941, the smoke from the fire was still being run out. It was considered toxic, and no one was allowed near the site. The eldest brother (Karl) passed away from an unknown cause and the government was convinced the smoke and ashes carried some kind of virus. The citizens tried to resist, but a lockdown was enforced in 1942. Everyone’s lives in that town became somewhat dystopian from this point forward.

——————

GENERATION I

PART 1 …FUN TIMES

A 12-year-old boy walked into List. He was very rugged and dirty, but had well intentions. His shirt had holes in it and was an off-putting shade of white and his flood pants were nearly shorts that matched the brown shoe that he had. This boy was Oscar, no last name (known to him, at least). He was going to turn thirteen this year soon. He had been taken care of by an unknown woman for over a year before she mysteriously died when he was six and, missing the ability to relax in a safe home, he wanted to apply for a foster family. In order to do so, he had to go to the Krankenhaus and test and get a vaccine for the disease Blorgschnecke, and it affected mainly teens. In the waiting line, he grabbed an article of the local newspaper instead of watching Tokio Jokio on the little Fernseher. He didn’t know much about the current events. He was, in fact, homeless. He had been living mostly behind a dumpster for about two years.

Konnor was having an awful day, as he was applying for a foster family that probably wouldn’t love him and his birthday present from the universe was a Q-tip up his nose and a needle full of toxic chemicals to counter the ones already in his system.

Oscar was the only one not wearing a mask in the line. Everyone else was angry at him. Finally, one man spoke out and everyone started yelling at him. He was confused, as he could not hear what they were saying. Konnor noticed this and told everyone to take their masks off because they were becoming useless: most people in line had them around their chins.

While a riot formed in the street and buildings crashed, Oscar and Konnor stared at each other, flabbergasted, from across the crowd.

———

The next week, the two met in the woods. The government was getting worse every day and gangs were forming that would publicly loot and murder civilians.

They talked for a long time, and they agreed that for the next couple weeks, they should stay somewhere to protect each other. They went searching for a suitable shelter to temporarily stay for the time being. Most places were either taken or, more commonly, past the point of repair. The two finally settled on a cave just south of the mountains.

It was very empty there, and the cave didn’t go deep. Oscar also pointed out that there was an old man to come with the cave. When asked what he was talking about, he turned around and pointed at the surviving Fun Times brother, Leon. He was not aging well, and he had heart problems that showed. He looked up at Konnor like he was an angel.

He said, “Ah! How you gave me such a fright!” They slowly hugged. Leon was tired, yet Konnor wanted to ask questions. “How come you didn’t talk to anyone after Karl passed away?”

“Oh, Konnor. Those legends are crazy. Then again, who knows what could have come out of the alliance of the Dark A…”

Konnor awaited patiently for the end of the pause, but soon enough realized it wasn’t an intentional pause.

The man suddenly couldn’t speak. It seemed he was choking, but he didn’t have anything in his mouth. He looked like he was trying to pry hands off his throat but there was nothing there. In fact, very soon, there was nothing there.

Konnor tried to see if he had a pulse while Oscar rubbed his forehead in disappointment, saying “Why does this have to happen to every old person we meet?”

Konnor continued to panic.

“How could this happen?! Help!”

“Maybe it’s Sinbad or So White and the three Coyotes,” Oscar pithily pointed out.

“Have you tried checking his pockets?” “What could be in there? How would that even help?! Get in your head!” “Just check them.” Konnor kneeled back down and, shaking, reached his hands into the old man’s pockets, to find a folded up piece of paper. It seemed like a note. “Give it to me.” Konnor refused and kept it to himself. They started wrestling on the floor. They got each other in a lock and Oscar quickly grabbed the note. He unfolded it. “Well? What does it say?” “It says, stay away from two things in life. The evil robot, and the.. beast of the night? What, like a dragon or something?” “I have a question.” “What?” “How did you know to reach in his pockets?” “I’m from a place where it’s actually… customary to look in dead people’s pockets. “Where are you from, then?” “I… oh, look! A dead body! We should get that out of the cave before the police get us!” “Okay…”

They shoved the body outside of the cave and rolled it off a cliff. “Glad to see that old man gone,” said Konnor. “Really? I thought you liked him.” “Naw, all he ever did was burn down a factory trying to build a dog from scratch.”

PART 2 …MORE FUN TIMES

“Well, if we’re gonna eat anything, we’d better set up a fire and get some meat.” “Who elected you leader of this outfit?” “You don’t have a last name! How am I supposed to trust you?” “I know how to make hollandaise sauce.” “Do you even have parents?!” “Why do you need to know?” “I doubt you even have a family.” “What about it? What about yours, Konnor?” There was some silence.

“I’ll only get into mine… if you get into yours.” “Fine, I’ll get some kindling.” “Mm hmm. I’ll hunt whatever I can.”

When Oscar came back with kindling and a little dagger from in the middle of the woods, Konnor also came back with two dead pigs. They had a big meal that night.

The next day, Oscar took one of the bigger bones and, intending to make a broth, boiled it in water along with some random spices. He got curious when the whole batch turned blue and started bubbling. He took it off the fire and drank some. It tasted nice. Nothing happened. He heard a loud noise coming from the cave entrance.

He ran over and Konnor was sitting nearby. “Konnor. What was that?” “What was… what?”

“That noise, just now!” “I didn’t hear anything.” “It was coming from this room.” “Look, we need more firewood, and I’m busy finding leftover steel to make helmets and that kind of stuff.” “Swords, too.”

Oscar walked over and tried to open the entrance like he normally did, but it was stuck.

Konnor went to open it for him and see himself in even more glory, but it was stuck no matter how hard they tried to open it. This was bad, this was very bad.

Oscar ran back to the kitchen and the pot where the potion-like broth once was was now empty and there was little to no sign of spillage on the floor. Oscar began to feel very dizzy and uneasy and collapsed without warning on the kitchen floor.

PART 3 …VISITORS

Oscar had experienced some changes since the kitchen incident and become paranoid and even more malnourished.

He kept trying to make a potion that would “undo the curse”.

He had boarded off the original place where he made the cursed potion and would sometimes inhale too many fumes and forget entire hours of time.

While, along the way, he had made some interesting and wacky broths, he didn’t find a ratio of ingredients that was the same as before.

The two had been living together for months now and it was early 1943.

The two had managed to open the entrance, but it was very hard so they would keep it open all summer and closed all winter. Oscar had begun to make a potion book, documenting each “precise” combination. “Precise” meaning “a little bit” and “some” and “a lot”, of course.

Konnor began to regard Oscar as a wizard, and their roles in protecting the cave began to become clear. Konnor would hunt and make metal things, Oscar would make potions and do anything with wood, and they would both garden, which was especially hard since there wasn’t much natural light in a cave nor enough space to garden out front.

It would sometimes be tricky to keep this routine up, however, but only because sometimes Konnor would be tired or have injuries. Oscar was a good fighter when it came to beasts and such but still didn’t like the feeling he got when the enemy was dead or hurt, even when the enemy was particularly mad or evil.

Someone knocked on the entrance.

There were two people, a girl and a boy.

Konnor and Oscar invited them in and they opened the entrance from the outside, making it movable again.

The visitors, in uniforms of some sort, formally introduced themselves as Diana and Michael as they made their way through the

Diana said, “What are your names?” “Why are you asking?” “We have a warrant.” “From who?” “BND.” “This is a really bad time to come-“ “Well, regardless,” said Micheal, “we have been sent here by the German government, and you people are living in this cave without a telephone, housing license, and address.” Konnor pointed out, “How do we know you people aren’t scammers? You look a little young for the government.” Diana showed him a badge with a picture of an elderly man on it. Konnor said, “Wait. That’s not-“ Diana started fighting with him and Oscar ran away. Diana was good at karate but she spoke German, both confusing and bad news for Konnor. He threw hard punches but she was quick and dodged a considerable amount. Oscar ran back with the last potion he made and dumped it all on Diana without any warning. She disappeared as it was pouring. Michael was now gone too.

“Oscar…what did you do?!”

“That doesn’t matter right now.”

“Doesn’t it?!”

“You invited them in and I only defended you and that’s all I’m going to say about that. Don’t make me come over there and bludgeon you with this metal pot.”

Konnor went silent.

Oscar walked to the entrance and went outside.

Konnor immediately followed him out the door but when he looked around, Oscar wasn’t anywhere.

Oscar woke up on some leaves in the woods at midnight. It had been two weeks since the fight with Diana or…whatever her name was. He got up and saw some blood on his hands. He looked at the leaves below. They were also blood red. Blood was dripping down his front. He then looked around him. He could feel the trees looking at him, staring at him. He felt paranoid.

The trees told him it would be best to go and leave the woods behind. He obeyed something for once in his life and ran away.

He woke up in the passenger seat of a Volkswagen Beetle next to a guy who was a few years older than him. The moon began to go down. The driver said, “What were you doing out in the woods?” Oscar said, “Well, I’m not completely sure.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not like you were sleepwalking?” “I… really hope I was.” “And, if you weren’t?”

“It’s nothing. I think the question should be, why would you pick up an unconscious stranger from the woods at two A.M?” “I don’t know. You were bleeding from the head-” “I was?” Oscar felt his forehead and there was dried blood all the way down to the end of his nose. “Yes, you were. And you looked like a gang beat you up.” “Yeah. What’s your name?” “Brian Adams. Yours?” “Is this interrogation gonna go on any further?” “Look, just, where do you live?” “In a cave, only northeast of that abandoned bomb shelter.” “Got it.”

Oscar pressed his face against the window so that his nose was snow-white. He looked at the trees, and their leaves fell off. Their branches formed crosses and the clouds began to turn red. The clouds dripped a red liquid down onto the ground which grew plants. Oscar exclaimed, “Look at that!” “What is it? Show me.” They pulled over. Brian grinned. In real life, there were actually no blood plants and no crossed trees and no out-of-ordinary clouds.

The driver got out a knife. Oscar said, “This is weird. What do you think it is?” “I think… you’re one of them.” “One of who? Is it those Mexican guys who go around stealing earlobes? Because I have nothing to do with them.” “You’re one of the cursed ones.” “Huh?”

PART 4 …PLACEHOLDER ARC

The moment there was a flash of light, there was nothing.

The moment there was a vision, there was simple, plain, wandering blindness.

The moment there were bleeding vines, there was then a road.

Oscar was running down this road, covered in his own blood once again.

He ran into a Glundenheisten (grocery store) and started looking for scissors, a staple gun, matches, or anything else that could be used to fight Brian.

He lit a match but dropped it in the corner, five boxes of wafers now engulfed in flames. He was still looking for a blade of any kind and not acknowledging the safety hazard two feet away from himself.

That’s when an alarm went off in the building.

Policemen ran in and told everyone to find shelter. Konnor ran to Oscar and shouted in the midst of all the noise, “Why did you run away?!”

“The trees were telling me to!”

Konnor was enraged at this.

“You’re insane! The trees did not tell you to run away!”

“They did, too!”

“That doesn’t matter. We have to get OUT of here! Come on!”

“What’s all the commotion about, anyways?”

“A nuclear bomb is being fired at us!”

Oscar, who’d never seen or heard of a nuclear bomb, gazed in amazement out of the window, surrounded by chaos and fire.

“Huh,” he mumbled to himself.

“Will you look at that…”

———

GENERATION II

PRELUDE …AWAKEN, DARLING

Welcome to September 1945, the perfect time of the year to live in America.

Just warm enough, orange trees, kids playing in the park, people waking up from comas…

Two who fell under this category were Konnor and Oscar, your favourite apocalyptic survivors.

I know what you must be thinking. Apocalyptic? What am I talking about?

You’ll see.

After this, there’s only one more generation, by the way, and then something really wild happens.

Beep, beep, beep.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

Beep beep beep beep.

BeepBeepBeepBeBeBeepBeBeBeBeep.

BeeBeeBeeBeeBeeB-B-B-B-B-Beeeep.

The same way the hospital machines frantically press when heartbeats become faster, Konnor and Oscar jolted to consciousness in their beds.

“What year is this?”

“1945, sir.”

“We time travelled two years in the future?” Oscar didn’t know what to think.

“Only two? This sucks,” said Konnor.

The doctor said, “You didn’t miss anything. The war kept on going until a couple days ago.”

There was a note on their bedsides, it said, “BUSTERBLORG IS COMING”.

“Where are we?”

“Las Vegas, Nevada.”

“Oh. Well, we should be getting back now.”

“Back to where?” asked Konnor.

“Germany, of course!”

“And what business do we have there?” “Getting back our things, or at least the things that haven’t exploded anyways!”

“I’m pretty sure our cave will be covered in mould by now.”

“What about Buster?”

“What about him?”

“He was a robot! He could’ve sent the nukes!”

“Nuclear Bombs, and he’s probably been in the garbage disposal for a while now,” said Konnor confidently.

“Recycle, and he’s probably been after us for quite some time now,” said Oscar bitchily.

They got out of their beds, had their equipment taken off, and signed their checks as Johnny and Bobby.

PART 5 …DON’T BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Jonathan and Carlo were people.

Okay… uh.. Good people or bad people?

Oh, yeah, I’ll tell you that later.

Jonathan was from Holland, an interesting place to be at the time. He was raised by loving parents who always stood side by side but one of them disappeared one day so Jonathan left to embark on a journey trying to find his mom and the phone charger she took with her. (Yes, I know, 1945, “at least be true to your own story”, okay, fine.) Jonathan met an older friend, Ray, they called him, and he owned a smoke shop. Carlo was born to a loving household in the Islands, out of which he got adopted because they couldn’t afford him anymore. He was then raised by somewhat strict French-Dutch parents who didn’t see him often. He ran away and started living behind a smoke shop, where Jonathan found him and they became friends who would sometimes buy eachother food and protect each other from the mobs.

They started to travel Europe and try and find a safe place to stay.

One day in Germany, Jonathan saw a rusty gate surrounding a torn building that said “Do Not Trespass! BND Only.” Jonathan trespassed, not being BND, just to see what the big deal was about an old building. What could be the matter?

He thought he saw something move in the ground. Its spikes poked out of the ground as it slithered like a snake, smoothly through the dry dirt. The dirt crumbled into rocks and clumps.

Oh, but this wasn’t a snake. It roared in his face, showing its terrifying fangs and eyes. He didn’t know what this thing was! He screamed and tried to run, but he tripped and fell.

He heard something else coming from inside the building.

He got up.

He then saw a humanoid shadow run away from behind the building.

He grabbed his camera and took pictures of the giant slithering creature and the shadow-like silhouette.

He ran away back home and told Carlo all about it, who told the newspapers.

Konnor and Oscar always checked the newspapers at the 99-cent Depot (there were no Glundenheistens in Las Vegas) in case Leon or Busterblorg showed up and they had to make a run for it. Konnor noticed an article about cases of strange, mutated animal sightings surrounding the 1941 Europe pandemic. There were theories of radiation. He told Oscar. They both knew they had to go back to Germany. This was not over.

———

Their cave had been mostly cleared out.

There was still the pot that was used to make potions, even though it was a tiny bit warped.

There was a bow-arrow and a sword on the ground, a couple other not-important things, as well as a note.

It read, “BUSTERBLORG HAS RISEN”.

———

Oscar - Memory 1

Underwater, Oscar felt stinging all over.

He didn’t know what was stinging him.

The place was completely empty, and it was a bit eerie to him.

He swam down to a house and what he thought could be shelter.

The door was open.

He saw pictures.

Pictures everywhere.

Oscar picked up one displaying a mom and a dad and two kids.

The mom’s face was carved out, as well as both the kids’.

The dad looked somewhat unhappy in the picture, even though they were at the beach.

Did he not like the waves?

Was he upset by the trees?

Was he angry at his delicious drink?

Perhaps.

Or, perhaps, he was in an unhappy marriage.

Maybe the mother got custody of both the kids, so their faces got carved out too.

Or the kids and the parents had a falling out too big to repair.

A good situation made bad.

Of course, Oscar didn’t know that this was a family, that there were other people at all, because it could have been random spots carved out of the photograph.

All he saw was a picture of an unhappy man.

Oscar pitied the man and brought the man everywhere with him. He gave the lonely man the gift of company.

But the man was still unhappy.

Oscar hugged the man and complimented him and made him a hat.

But the man was still unhappy.

Oscar was tired of this man not smiling so he stomped on the picture, the glass shattering into millions of pieces and shards.

The man was now smiling.

———

Konnor and Oscar, who just happened to be dressed in black, filled a bag with their things.

Three knocks were heard on their door.

They looked at each other.

“Oh, no.”

They opened the door to see younger Jonathan and Carlo standing there.

“We were forced to!”, exclaimed Oscar.

“Yeah! By the government!”, said Konnor.

“Well, we are the government,” said Jonathan.

Carlo gave him a look and said, “What? Excuse Jonathan, uh, we’re not. But if you are taking their stuff, we would like their potion book.”

“P-potion book?” Oscar had been thrown sideways by this request.

Konnor, still collected, said, “Okay, but I and my friend must talk. Sorry, just a moment, please!” Konnor then abruptly slammed the door.

It was clearly audible what they were saying.

“OSCAR! No! NOOO!”

“Whatever happens, we have to stick together!”

“What do we do?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Your book, your choice!”

“Your fuck, your shit!”

“Uh?”

“Okay. …Let’s grab this…” “What are you doing?”

“Barricading the door.”

Jonathan, trying not to laugh, put his ear up to the door as Carlo said, “Why are you barricading? We’re not government, promise, okay?” “Sorry! No cook book for you! Sorry, Jonathan or whatever you said your name was!” “Yeah, it’s Jonathan!” “I’m Carlo, by the way.” Carlo reminded Konnor of himself, so he thought he could talk some sense into him. “Okay.. Konnor, how do we know we can trust you with our book?” “Because I’m Carlo Agouza. Headline of Vegas News.” Osczr was shocked, but also was angry at himself for not realizing this. “Uhhh… what are you doing here?”

“I know about your whole situation with the Spaßzeit building, and I know you have something to do with the… well, that.”

———

The two opened the door and they all sat down.

“So, why do you need my recipes?”

“Well, Jonathan and I are going to try to do two things:

Uncover the radiation mystery and make ourselves immortal.”

“Why, though? I get it about the radiation thing, but why do you need to be immortal?”

“Because we need to live long enough to see the end of the Cancer of Videt.”

“Cancer of Videt?”

“Yeah. It’s a long story, but when the time comes, we will be there to kill the Cancer. It’s a curse that is carried through not just rogue body cells, but rogue life.”

“Wow,” said Konnor. “We might have some experience with that.”

“Great,” said Carlo.

“How did you find us, though?”

“Well, it’s a lot of digging.

Jonathan and I did our homework. You used to be the spokesperson of Spaßzeit. Then, we found that, by the time the Lockdown had ended, you had disappeared.

We then traced you to the ‘43 explosion through a spy named Brian Hopkins, and that you were flown into Canada by a soldier because German hospitals need home addresses and you were living in a cave. No caves in a ten-mile vicinity of that old Glundenheisten exist besides this one.

We believe his mother’s been taken by this curse and that the entirety of Europe, especially this town, has also been plagued by this curse.

We need your help to destroy this Cancer.”

Oscar and Konnor looked at each other and nodded. Konnor spoke.

“Well, here’s what we think. We need your help, you need our recipe. If you can work with us on our radiation project, we can be your supplier of all things Videt.”

PART 6 …A NEW PLACE

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

Oscar only saw Brian.

Carlo was smiling.

Carlo was laughing.

Carlo was holding Oscar’s head.

Oscar’s body had been left on the ground.

Konnor was sitting there with a giant hole in his stomach.

He was yelling at someone, like they were in a fight. Maybe he was angry at Jonathan, who was running out the door.

Then, Oscar’s head started to regurgitate blood. Blood was thick and bright red.

Things started to go dark.

Then, he woke up.

Konnor was brewing some coffee.

Lately, it seemed that things were looking up.

Despite Oscar’s visions, it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, and he just shrugged it off.

Nobody really knew why, maybe it was just the way the light came through the cracks in the stone, maybe it was that Konnor and Oscar’s party had expanded, maybe it was that now they all had a common goal, a purpose.

Also, recently, Oscar had turned sixteen (fourteen if you don’t count the coma).

Later this week, they were going to set out to Keystone Hollows, a small and peaceful Sicilian village just by the bay, because that is supposedly where Brian went. And they’d had a lot of questions for him.

They had started packing their things.

They each had an individual backpack to take with them, and a small ice box that they would fill with snacks.

Konnor’s backpack had inside a first-aid kit that Carlo lent him, clothes, a compass, a dagger, and a bottle of water.

Oscar’s backpack had inside an axe, a wool blanket, a jar of change, a notepad, a rock, clothes, and a bottle of water.

Jonathan’s backpack had inside a bow and arrow, a candle, a lighter, a packet of money, and two bottles of water.

Carlo’s backpack had inside a notepad, two pens, sunglasses, and some seeds.

On Sunday, they began their expedition. They put up a defense system containing extremely potent poison that Konnor and Oscar made, a tripwire that Jonathan just had lying around, and a lot of cardboard.

———

Konnor - Memory 1

“In Ordnung Junge! Dies ist Ihre Zeit zu glänzen!” Leon assured Konnor’s confidence.

Konnor smiled nervously as the camera began to zoom in on him. He didn’t particularly like being on camera, but he understood that his work was valuable and his family would get paid in return.

He began to speak his lines.

“Hallo, ich bin Konnor. Meine Eltern schenkten mir ein Spaßzeit-Spielzeug aus echter, gereinigter Menschenhaut! Ich spiele damit und habe so viel Spaß mit der neuen Technik.

Holen Sie sich unsere Nazi-Hitler-Spielzeuge für nur RM 1 bei Ihrem örtlichen Glundenheisten!”

Kinder, lernt jetzt fluchen! Mach deine Eltern wütend!”

The brothers were so happy, they hugged Konnor. They gave him a dagger for him to remember them by. He kept it for the rest of his life.

———

They traveled via hitch-hiking, an experience that Konnor had to hold Oscar’s hand through.

It wasn’t a very long ride, since they were just going through Switzerland to Italy, but it was very scenic and they enjoyed the trip.

Then, they just had to deal with the over-sea journey. They didn’t have the money for a flight, and they were in a rural area.

The group took a rowboat across the vast 20-degree water.

They landed safely on the outskirts of Keystone Hollows, southwest Sicily, just by the ocean.

Something about this place was familiar to Oscar.

———

Konnor - Memory 2

“We’re going to be fine, Konnor.”

“Don’t worry, Konnor.”

Konnor gazed at the steaming pile of crashed cars on the narrow bridge highway.

Konnor’s mother suddenly screamed. His father was shouting swear words.

Suddenly, the car was dangling off a bridge. Konnor had almost pure adrenaline pulsing through his veins.

His father told him to climb and that he would be okay.

He climbed up and got back on the highway.

He, shivering, followed the cars and planned to find the nearest shelter.

After a few hours, Konnor spotted a shelter, but when he got to the front door, his parents weren’t behind him like he expected them to be.

———

Monday, October 1st, 1945.

Radiation had spread to parts of Spain. It was all over the news. It had been declared an epidemic.

Of course, Konnor, Oscar, Jonathan, and Carlo weren’t hearing of this, because they were in Keystone Hollows, a small Sicilian village.

They built a chest with their weapons and blades.

Oscar also made some sort of tool that he didn’t name, using mainly Jonathan’s stuff. He didn’t use it for the rest of that trip, but kept it in his pocket no matter what. Now, back to navigation.

You look east, you see a gravel road and a sandy town, way out in the hills, and past it, the idyllic grassy meadow, the trees slung with foreign decorations.

You look west, you see the vast, seemingly endless ocean, and some sort of rusty boat and abandoned dock not far off the shore.

Something about that boat looked awfully familiar to Oscar. He wanted to go see it, but they would have to do that later. For now, they had to go through the grassy meadow, into the Greater Mountains where, supposedly, Brian lived.

———

Oscar - Memory 2

Suddenly, as Oscar stared slack-jawed at the ship, everything turned more vibrant and colorful, as if through the lens of a toddler’s vision.

The ship returned to its old, beautiful, sparkling, majestic state. Where some old rotting piles of wood stood began to grow some small buildings. Shelters, perhaps.

Oscar began to spectate himself walking towards it. The place was beautiful on the inside. Everyone was friendly there, and he had a lot of friends.

an v oi

———

The four walked into the main village, Konnor and Oscar dragging the ice box.

It was a pretty place, but there wasn’t much to see, given that it was rural and small.

The first thing they saw was a parrot on an oddly placed branch, no tree to be seen. The branch was dug into the sand.

The parrot said nothing but, “Go no further! Go no further!”

They eventually found a shelter to stay.

They left their ice chest there, and decided to come back every day before sundown.

Oscar was silent the whole time, as residents looked curiously at him and the rest of Konnor’s party.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Carlo grew a blank stare and started to walk out. Konnor and Jonathan followed him, not knowing what was happening.

One of the residents had told Carlo exactly where Brian was, in exchange for half of their money. They now had $5.30.

Meanwhile, Oscar stood still, frozen by the haunted atmosphere of the building.

———

Ding-dong.

Ding-ding-dong.

DingDingDingDing-dong ggg.

DiDiDiDiDiDidi—dong.

A man wearing a suit and a moustache came and answered the door.

Confused, Konnor explained, “We’re looking for Brian…Brian?”

“Brian, the old owner of this house? I think he must be 20 now.”

“Then who are you?”

“I’m Lorenzo Adams.”

“Lorenzo? This isn’t our dude. C’mon, guys.”

“Hold-Hold on!”

“What, Lorenzo?”

“Have I seen you somewhere?”

Lorenzo pointed at Carlo.

“I’m Carlo Ago-“

“Oh my, Dio! My cousin Leronza lives in Nevada! She mailed me this crazy newspaper about things happening in France and Germany and Hungary- I- Well, I think I might be able to help you. But it depends on what it is that you are seeking…”

———

Oscar woke up on some leaves in the woods at midnight. It had been two weeks since the encounter with Lorenzo or…whatever his name was. He noticed that the leaves below him were blood red. He looked again at his hands. They were also blood red.

Blood was dripping down his front.

He then looked around him. He could feel the trees looking at him. They told him it would be best to go and leave the woods behind. He said no this time, as he had become curious what they were driving him away from.

He began to walk over behind the trees.

He suddenly felt something on his right leg. He reached down and felt it.

It was a pair of freezing cold hands.

Oscar got dragged down to the dirt.

He looked up and saw Brian’s face.

Except it was pale and gaunt, and it had bite marks on it.

Brian, almost turquoise a shell, made two very shallow, rattling breaths. He then ceased to breathe.

Oscar tried to wake him up or see if he was still alive but to no avail.

Oscar walked out onto the road.

There was nothing on it. There was, in fact, barely a road. The road was covered only in cobwebs and further darkness around the corner.

He tripped on something and fell backwards, hitting his head and blacking out.

———

“So, Lorenzo, grace us with your intellect.”

“Well, you see, I used to be a scientist at this place… Draagen Facility, we called it, but no one ever knew the real name, just the address.

We would experiment with nuclear radiation, early atom explosives, all the dangerous materials.

Once, we tested male rats in a small environment riddled with nuclear radiation.

One of the twelve Ratten survived, but had clear physical changes—if not injuries.

Also, we put three plants in that small environment. One of them grew. We called that plant something.”

“What was the plant called?”

“I… can’t remember.”

Suddenly, the door slammed, as if one of the boys pushed it. None of them did.

Konnor pulled it back open, even though it felt like someone on the other side was trying to hold it closed. They walked inside, and suddenly, instead of the aerial, wooden home filled with beautiful furniture, it was

cemented and packed with cobwebs. Everything was grey and rotten. There were maggots everywhere.

There was a pile of completely moldy tomatoes directly in the kitchen entrance. Jonathan walked further than Konnor and Carlo did, and saw that the Fernseher (television set) was on.

He sat on the floor silently and watched the alarm test that was being aired.

WARNING! PERICOLO! GEVAAR! DANGER!

Air quality has dropped to below the “red” level in these areas…

Please, all families and citizens, stay in the nearest shelter. There has been a recent explosion in your area and there has been a toxic air alert of 16.1 pCi/h. This is extremely dangerous to breathe or be unprotected in. Get all of your things and hide underground until further notice.

Various jarring alarm noises came from both outside and the Fernseher.

Carlo went running outside, going back to the shelter to warn Oscar.

He left his backpack, though, and Jonathan planted three trees. That was the last time Jonathan went outside for a long time.

PART 7 …BRIAN LUGOSI’S DEAD

Welcome to the wonderful Keystone Hollows — The place that you’ll never leave!

———

The group had returned to the cave, now more of a half-underground mansion hut, and hid cooped up in there in the midst of what might have been just a typical everyday nuclear apocalypse.

Carlo noticed that all his things are gone.

He didn’t use everything he brought, however.

Everything in the ice chest had been eaten.

There were just empty bags and cans left. It wasn’t like a crazy person had gone through it, though. It was very neatly done, as if by pressure. Each bag was popped in the lower-left corner, each can was just slightly opened, but the straw handle was perfectly in place.

Carlo assembled the bags all into place, so that all the seals were facing south.

They formed a drawing of two trees.

Carlo immediately ran outside of the cave.

He saw two plants growing out of the ground, in the left half of a small planter.

———

Oscar woke up in the cave.

He was trying to deny to himself that he woke up in the cave. He wanted to go back to the woods and find out what happened to Brian.

He then saw the amount of blood coming out of his head and put a wrapped gauze bandage on.

He fell asleep again.

———

March 20, 1946

They were living on tallow and some mysterious fruit that they were growing inside next to a light bulb. Carlo was feeling ill and had a migraine recently but didn’t complain too much because he didn’t want to kill the buzz of Konnor’s upcoming nineteenth birthday!

Konnor was an adult now, and this was an important thing to celebrate.

So you can imagine their confusion when a fog began to roll over Europe and the Fernseher that they had stolen from Keystone Hollows suddenly wasn’t working.

Oscar mainly took care of Carlo and fed him healing potions every now and then. He was good at keeping secrets, so he kept a lot of Carlo’s. By the way, Oscar still didn’t explain the ordeal of the woods or his bandage to them, but would disappear a lot to the woods to try to find him. There were no cobwebs. It was like there had never been any. In fact, he rarely ever talked to anyone besides Carlo.

Jonathan was starting to develop a theory that they had never left Keystone Hollows, as well as a much more likely theory that they had never actually left Germany.

Some possible incentives to think as such:

Ray, the owner of the smoke shop he lived behind, was called Lori by his friends.

Just like it would have been for Lorenzo.

That reminded him of the search for his mother and how off-track he had gotten trying to distract himself. Her name was Loretta.

Konnor was beginning to worry that this fog wouldn’t clear over before his birthday.

This was a strange situation, and Oscar and Carlo knew something the rest of them didn’t.

———

“No. No! No! NO!”

Oscar was digging around in the wood once again, for darkness and cobwebs and Brian’s body. None. Just a completely empty valley where the road was, and tulips growing where all the cobwebs were.

Spring. Spring. That’s why, that has to be why, he thought. Too many flowers, too many of something or other.

He had only been there before in fall and winter.

He wasn’t at all paying attention to the fact that he was searching these woods at one in the afternoon.

He was too busy worrying, burdened with Carlo’s secret.

Oscar was frantically digging in the leaves, getting teary-eyed. He just wanted an answer.

He suddenly felt dizzy, like he was on a boat.

That’s when the floor started moving.

Oscar looked east.

He saw a pile of leaves covered in sand and, past it, more woods, the trees slung in foreign decorations.

No! No, no, no, no! This can’t be it!

Oscar looked west.

He saw a creek past the tulips.

In that creek, there was an abandoned rusty old boat, half sunken.

Oscar was running towards it as if he were running for his own life.

Then, just as he was about to touch it, he tripped on Brian’s body and, hooked on it, fell right into the creek and quickly drowned.

Instantly, he woke up again in the cave.

He gasped for air as he noticed, in a split second, that he was back home.

Okay, this is some kind of cruel joke, isn’t it, thought Oscar. I refuse to engage and I will find answers!

I am going there and I am going to find Brian and I will force him, one way or another, to tell me everything.

———

Oscar saw a shadowy figure in the woods.

He started to chase it. Every turn it took was unexpected and he got slowed down. He picked up speed and was just about to grab it but he fell down into something.

Oscar woke up again in the cave.

No, no, no!

Oscar went back to the woods.

He saw a shadowy figure in the woods.

He started to chase it. He remembered the route it took. He managed to grab it and jumped over the hole he fell into.

He pinned the figure against a tree.

What he saw was something undead. It growled at him. He held it down.

It snarled at him.

He held it down.

It opened its mouth wider than any human could do, and it screamed at him.

Oscar, frightened, jumped back, letting the monster go, and hit his something on something, falling backwards.

Oscar woke up in the cave again.

He went to the woods but this time he could not find the monster or the boat.

He looked at his wristwatch and the time had not changed by a second since the first time he went into the woods.

He noticed that every time he went into the woods he forgot another thing that happened.

———

Konnor looked down at Oscar, who had been caught attempting to bleed out on the kitchen floor again.

Oscar had been gone for a week with no explanation as to where he went. Carlo had gone missing as well, but he hadn’t reappeared yet.

Jonathan was busy baking Konnor’s birthday cake and decorating it.

He was stressed about Oscar and Carlo. What is going on with those two?

Oscar went silent for a half-year and disappeared for days.

Carlo went silent for a month and disappeared indefinitely.

When Oscar finally did return, he came unconscious.

This was a strange, strange situation.

Jonathan was now almost completely sure that there was some place that they never left. He wasn’t sure where it was, though.

Oscar jolted awake suddenly, his mouth closed and dripping with blood.

He pointed at the entrance.

“What are you pointing at?”

PART 8 …SO, THEN, A WORMY THING

Oscar - Memory 3

Oscar sat, eating a dumpster frankfurter.

It was dark outside.

Suddenly, Oscar saw light, and heard a wail.

He thought the heavens had come down to Earth.

He thought he was dying.

He looked suspiciously at the frankfurter, which, in daylight, was actually covered in mould, and then looked back up again at the sound.

Then, he heard a voice screaming.

Then, there was an explosion.

Then, there was nothing.

Oscar got up. He walked towards the source of the explosion. He heard footsteps.

He then saw a flame. One flame, two flames, three flames, a considerable amount of sparks and smoke, then the building was on fire.

He saw something walk out of the building.

Then, another, smaller explosion.

Then, once again, there was nothing.

And then there was everything.

And then there was light.

Broad daylight.

Oscar lay in a pile of ashes and asbestos.

He got up and dusted himself off.

He heard a horn.

He saw a boat sailing away.

———

“Hello…” “Jonathan, did you invite this woman?” “No..”

An elderly lady stood at the door, leaning on a beaten wooden cane.

The old lady showed herself the way inside.

“Boys, I have very crucial advice for you!”

“What?!”

“Don’t mess with radiation. It is very bad for your health. And we wouldn’t want you going and dying, would we?”

“Wait, how do you know us, again?” “Heartworms.” “I’m sorry?”

“He died of heartworms. The things sick dogs get. Karl died of heartworms. No one knows, except for the police, most of which are dead.”

“Hold on, how are you surviving the apocalypse as an elderly woman?”

“Why, I was born in the apocalypse.” “Excuse me?” “I was born in 1941.” “That wasn’t an apocalypse, that was a virus, like influenza.”

“No, I’m not sure you understand. I was born in 1941.”

“How could you be an elder if we, teenagers, are thrice as old as you are?!” “Well, actually, I’m nineteen today,” stated Konnor, confidently. “Well, technically, you’re seventeen today,” added Oscar with an additude. “Well, technically, shut up,” yelled Konnor. “Up yours, birthday boy,” growled Oscar.

The elderly woman was startled by their argument. Wait.

Where did the elderly woman go?

———

April 2, 1946

Jonathan woke up from a deep slumber.

That was a good night’s rest, he thought. Had to have been over 8 hours.

He glanced at his watch.

Oh. It actually had been over eight hours!

It had been nineteen days!

He didn’t remember anything about celebrating Konnor’s birthday but he remembers stabbing someone… Oh, no! Did he stab Konnor? Did he stab himself? Did he stab a stranger?

No, he thought as he observed the green blood on his knife. He walked further into the front room and noticed that their cave’s rocky floor had been uplifted by something cylindrical.

Hooooooold on a second.

He remembered a dragon of some kind.

This was the breaking point for Jonathan.

There is something wrong with this cave, he thought.

And then, as he looked up towards the ceiling, he saw someone (not Oscar, Konnor, or Marco, but a stranger) hanging on the drying rack.

Okay, that’s it, I’m out of here, Jonathan thought. He started packing his things.

“I’m gonna go find Mom.”

By now, he had almost completely forgotten that Marco ever existed, so that was useless by now.

He walked out of the cave, leaving behind that chapter of his life. He had given up on ending the Curse, he had given up on life in Germany. He was finally heading home.

———

Now, it had gone back to just Konnor and Oscar, but now, instead of defending themselves during a time of corrupt government, they were defending themselves during a time of no government whatsoever.

It was April 18th when they awoke.

Carlo and Jonathan were gone, and so were their things.

got up and looked down at a very pale Oscar. Right beside his head was an uplifted trail of blood-washed rock and stone. The entrance was open!

Who knew how much radiation the two could’ve been exposed to while they were asleep?!

Konnor looked down again at Oscar, who seemed to have gone back to sleep. He attempted to wake him up. Nothing worked. Also, in doing this, he noticed that Oscar’s skin felt quite cold.

Flies began to gather on Oscar’s skin. Konnor had to waft them off and keep Oscar warm.

He covered Oscar with blankets.

Konnor started to make some bean soup.

———

Oscar woke up.

He was alone. Everything was blurry.

What was this place? What was happening?

Surrounding him were four walls, each with two or three doors, all closed but one. And the open door led to nowhere.

He looked up, and he saw more doors on the ceiling, what looked like a reflection of the doors he was in the middle of. He tried walking up towards one of the doors and realized his body was sideways. He looked down at where he thought one of the walls were, and it was just the floor again.

Oscar looked behind his shoulder and saw the same wall of doors that he was facing. Then he noticed that his body was also facing that wall.

Had he even turned his head at all?

Where am I?

What kind of weird game is this?

He tried to open a door. It was locked.

He looked closely at the door. He blinked.

He realized he was looking at his hand.

He was now, once again, in the middle of the room.

Oscar started to panic.

He ran over to another door. It was also locked.

He tried to escape, but wherever he went would lead him to the exact same spot.

He tried to open another door.

He pulled with all his weight and was sent flying.

He noticed the door was now opened wide and that a vague shape of some smaller person was walking into the room.

There Oscar stood, staring at a 12-year-old Oscar.

Neither of them knew what to say.

———

Konnor would check on the plants every other day or so, just to make sure it was still growing.

He was beginning to wonder if he was losing his mind. Where was everybody? How was Oscar still able to take a nap?

It felt like Konnor’s life was at a standstill.

He could stay here at the cave with Oscar, who was more or less dead, or he could move on and get a life and try to save the world and be the hero. But he couldn’t do that if he had waters to plant and a care to take friend of and a giant food of supply, could he!

No one knew that he was alive.

And he didn’t know that anyone else was alive.

His entire life was now a leap of faith that, somewhere out there, there was a good samaritan. Someone that knew about him.

They’d better come fast, because Konnor was starting to see two of everything.

———

“Un-fucking-canny,” mumbled Oscar as he looked at every angle and every scar of his old self.

“What happens to me?” “What do you mean?” “If you’re me, you’d know. In the future, how do I go from me to you?” “I- I guess you don’t.” “What?” “If I’m dead and I’m seeing you, then you’re dead.” “No… I’m not. I can’t be. I can’t die at twelve!”

“No. Listen to me. Get out of Germany now.” “Why should I trust you? What if this is just another broken delusion?”

“No, I’m trying to warn you! You need to leave Germany as soon as possible! You are going to die!”

“But-“ stuttered the younger Oscar,

“If I leave, then you die.”

“No! You don’t understand! I’m dead because you stayed in Germany. You’ve got to get out of here now. Turn back.” “But if I left then you would never exist.”

This stopped Oscar in his tracks.

“Oh. You’re right..”

“You know what? This is a stupid trap! You’re not me!”

Oscar was trying to explain to him to leave, but he kept realizing that no matter what Young Oscar did, Oscar would end up dead.

It was like Death had Oscar in a checkmate.

“But wait!”

“There’s no worth waiting for you. I hate you.”

Oscar’s eyes welled up with tears.

“No! We have to stay here! I’m real! I’m you!”

“You’re no person. You’re just a curse.”

———

“Konnor? Is that you?”

A deranged-looking Oscar, covered in blood and rotting pieces of flesh, got up and hugged Konnor. “Yes, Oscar. I’m here for you. You were asleep for a couple hours,” giggled a dirt-covered, limping Konnor.

He pointed at the ceiling, just above a wall that had black scribbles on it.

“MONDAY TUESDAY WHENSDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY THIRSDAY EIGHTDAY ONEDAA ONEDA OADANDA”.

Oscar looked behind Konnor at a giant pile of shriveled fruit and discolored soup.

There were maggots and flies everywhere.

“Konnor…” “What is it, you guys?” “I really messed up.” “Me too.” “No, like, I messed up really bad.”

“Well, let’s hope the sleep midgets don’t punish you.” “What?” “I’m so glad to see you. We’ll get through it.” “Merry Christmas,” said Oscar on this 1st of May as they embraced each other.

This was actually not the lowest point in either of their lives (see: Konnor became an orphan and Oscar was homeless in the winter), but it came very close.

———

“What did we get beat by?” “I don’t know. I remember an old lady and then I remember someone killing her and transplanting into this wormy thing.” “So, then, a wormy thing?” The two were dressed and clean now, but neither of them were all the way mentally stable, and the cave still smelled like beans and rotten apples.

“When was Christmas again?” “I have no idea.”

Oscar went to sit down and he took one of the rocks growing off of a branch of their plants and dropped it in some acidic bean soup.

It sizzled and let off steam. It smelled nice, like roses. He studied it with a microscope and poured it all out into a bucket that he dumped onto the plants. The plants immediately started to look different, but neither of them paid attention.

Outside was starting to look more like it did, but they still kept an up-to-date map about areas with more radiation than others.

Konnor was noticing that he had a headache, and so did Oscar. Neither of them knew why.

———

GENERATION III

PART 9 …START AT THE BEGINNING OF THE END, MY FRIEND

———

Some time in the mid-late 1940’s;

X-rays had finally come to underground post-apocalyptic Germany, so Konnor and Oscar were able to finally get a good diagnosis.

It was a somewhat cold summer, given that the ozone layer had been completely shattered and who knows what that could have led to.

Konnor and Oscar walked up to the Krankenhaus to finally get tested to see whatever this was.

It was a miracle, they said.

A miracle about what?

“A miracle that you’ve lived this long.”

What?!

“You have tumors.”

Oscar and Konnor had gotten diagnosed with brain cancer for being exposed to too much radiation.

Neither of them knew exactly what this meant, but it was scary for sure.

Oscar still hadn’t told Konnor that he was a curse — that their bond was a curse — and he wasn’t sure when he was going to.

The two climbed out of the underground Krankenhaus, worried and confused.

Was this the beginning of the downfall of Oscar and Konnor?

Well, only time will tell. But, I must say, things are gonna get really interesting.

———

Konnor had a plan.

He knew now how everything was gonna go down. It wasn’t all sunshine and flowers, either.

Oscar was planning to tell him about what happened in the room of doors.

He was now completely sure that they were dying because he killed his younger self.

That had to be why this is all happening.

If his younger self was dead, both of them would be dead. Their lives had to go exactly the way they did, or neither of them would’ve been alive.

And they were now desperately trying to track down the monsters that attacked them before, because Konnor was sure that these things were the curse. As you well know, though, having seen all sides of the story…

———

With every stroke of the brush, Oscar’s art got more beautiful.

He was painting a butterfly.

It was a blue butterfly.

He put his arm around to reach for a different brush, and instead of what he was looking for, he felt cold faux leather.

He reached behind himself again, just to feel the same material, what seemed to be a shoe.

Oscar turned around in panic, only to find that he was at his own funeral.

He got up from his chair and, shaking, stared silently at his own dead body.

Konnor stood at Oscar’s coffin alongside others, shaking his head.

Oscar wandered the room, looking at everyone who was attending.

He saw the faces of Carlo, Jonathan, Michael, Leon, and he paced further to see a collection of strangers, the doctors that had diagnosed him, and the thing that shook him the most, his parents were standing at the foot of his corpse.

How were his parents here?

He had no parents!

Parents were supposed to be mean and selfish and unforgiving!

He didn’t even know what his mother or father looked like. How could they appear in this sick dream?

How would they know their son, who they probably never touched, died of a brain tumor? This was when Oscar walked up further.

He discovered that a brain tumor was actually not the cause of death.

Oscar’s dead body had been stabbed in the heart several times.

“It all makes sense now,” said Oscar coldly to himself. He tried to signal to everyone that he was there and, in fact, alive but the people attending didn’t seem to notice or care.

“I was the curse of Alkam, and Jonathan and Konnor finally killed me.

So… what, now?”

———

PART 10 …I DIDN’T THINK I WAS GONNA GET THIS FAR

You’ve read this far, you must like this story. Do you like it enough to keep reading, or does this feel like a fit time to end your journey? It is up to you.

In the event that you choose to keep reading past this little checkpoint, I think you’ll find that the remainder of your time with us here in post-apoctalyptic Nazi Germany is more carelessly written than the previous few parts. Consider everything from now on bonus content if you’d like.

———

Oscar finally confronted Konnor one autumn morning.

“Remember John an-an’ Carlo?”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“They… kind of killed me.”

“What?! Blasphemy! What, are you stupid? If you were dead I wouldn’t be talking to you right now!”

“No. Konnor, listen. They killed me.” “Whatever. And?”

“I was the thing they killed.” “Okay, now you’re just repeat- you’re just rephrasing youself. Tell me what happened.”

“I was the thing I killed.”

“Explain, please.” “I… was… the thing… that they lived… to kill.”

“Yes? …And?!”

“I was… the curse.”

“The- ha!- the curse of what?”

“I… am… the curse.”

“You’re the reason Germany’s an ashtray?!”

“Konnor.”

“Are you the reason I don’t remember what my family looks like?

Do you know how awful it is to not remember what your family looks like?!”

“I was stabbed in the heart! It weren’t no toothpick, either! You were alive! You were alive and well! I wasn’t!”

“It was a mistake to ever meet you or move in with you into this cursed death-pit.”

“The first thing I ever saw was a boat! That boat sank! We read about that boat in the news! I should’ve known then! My first bed I ever slept on was shared with an inmate who was known for murdering children! I lived in a poor kingdom where we were treated like slaves and then when I finally escaped I lived with someone who died within a year of having me!”

“I’m leaving!”

“Please do, do leave! I’m going to do nothing but harm you.”

“Well, that is obvious.”

Konnor swiftly grabbed all of his possessions and slammed the cave entrance on his way out.

Oscar began taking down the boards that he had used to block off the old part of the kitchen.

———

PART 11

———

1948 was a strange year so far.

Well, of course. After all, it was Konnor’s and especially Oscar’s first time living completely alone in years, except this time, he had a home to take care of.

It was also Oscar’s first time living as a dead person, believe it or not.

He still wasn’t entirely sure who killed him, Jonathan and Carlo or himself. Imagine if he was dead because of the Room of Doors incident.

Strange autopsy that would be, don’t you think, suicide by homicide?

The fifties were approaching and the remainder of the government had already built up an entire faux Europe; the one that the world lovingly knows today. They had already killed everyone that knew about what happened, or so they thought, and the last flight from Original Europe was leaving for New York. (unnamed) had boarded that plane. Oscar’s ex-roommate.

Even though it had only been a month or two since (unnamed) had left, Oscar had forgotten what his name was.

Oscar didn’t have to worry about his brain tumor because it was indefinitely terminal at this point, but he still had his moment of nervousness and anxiousness.

Wait, when did Oscar grow a tumor?

Anyways, he was planning to kill a monster later this week at the canyon. For now, he planned on making life potions, ones that cost the most resources. Luckily, he had (dying) plants outside and he was living in a cave about half a mile away from the mountains, where all sorts of things lived and grew. But he didn’t need those resources, because he wasn’t planning on making potions any time soon.

sWAIT!

———

Konnor had quickly gotten used to the bustling nature of Albany, New York. He had gotten a job as a bartender. He was planning to buy an apartment where he could start to write papers so he could quit his job at the bar and become a businessman, hopefully in Senate. Sometimes he missed his old life with Oscar, when things were simpler, but he knew that a freer life in America was worth it. However:

He did not take into consideration that, in order to apply for Senate, he would have to state his hometown, and according to every map being produced from that time on, that town never existed, only “List” which was in its place.

———

Oscar held out his knife against the creature, who had shapeshifted from a humanoid animal to a dizzyingly gigantic mutated earthworm.

This was the beast that had nearly killed him before? Interesting.

Oscar, filled with rage, swung his blade against the pattern of the beast’s scales, leaving a bleeding gash in its side.

The giant spiked heartworm burrowed underground and rose back up, lifting Oscar into the air.

As he was flying directly above the thing’s mouth, he realized he had bitten off far more than he could chew.

The beast jumped up and, just as it was about to bite off Oscar’s leg, he ran on the area below its mouth, using it as a floor. He jumped down below onto the ground. He landed on his feet.

An earthquake happened all at once, shattering the ground. Oscar, standing on a falling fragment of the ground, jumped and threw his blade at its eyes. He missed and his knife landed directly into its mouth. It choked on the sword as it had dragged itself down its throat horizontally, cutting open the tissue to drain out blood and pieces of entrails.

Oscar thought he killed it. He tried to climb back up. The heartworm had successfully eaten his knife, however, and slithered towards him in all of its wrath.

It dove down into the hole he was in.

That’s when his vision went completely black.

———

Oscar woke up, almost drowning in a sea of red water filling up the canyon.

He swam up to the top in a panic, and accidentally swallowed some of it.

He saw the creature laying dead on its back.

It had drowned in its own blood.

Oscar was both happy and also scared… and… a little cold, if I’m being honest.

It started to hail outside.

Now, hear me out. Oscar might not survive.

He is swimming in infected, tar-like, frozen blood. There is a very little chance of him surviving this one.

I mean, c’mon, we’ve already intercepted his death like, what, 5 times, now. If he dies this time, there ain’t no savin’ that guy. Like, maybe it’s just meant to be!

———

Okay, it’s about time I did an arc with Jonathan. Plus, I type well enough now if I want to turn off autocorrect, so now there’s no excuse not to.

Alright. Carlo’s dead, so dear old Johnny boy went… where? Wait, lemme scroll back a second. So many backstories… yeesh…

…M’kay, found it.

So, Holland was a nice-ish place to be in the later 1940’s. They and Hungary were the only ones mostly not affected by the apocalypse, so their economy was amazing at that point.

However, Jonathan was more damaged and brooding than the other boys there, who were mainly just playing games all the time; that is, when they weren’t in school.

One day, as he was checking another street for his family, he met a boy named Johannes (Dutch for Jonathan; they literally had the same name) who was having a hard time with school but wanted to learn so badly after the war and such.

They had a conversation and Jonathan found that a lot of the struggles Johannes had with school were the same ones Jonathan was having with his search. It was hard; he could barely keep up with all that was happening but this was so important to him; etcetera.

The two eventually became friends, creating a complicated dilemma. Our dear old Jonathan didn’t want to leave the warm company of Johannes, but he also didn’t want to get sidetracked on his journey for another five years.

And don’t go trying to jarringly interrupt this part, because it’s not going to

PART 11 …A GOOD LOOK IN THE MIRROR

Now you’re all caught up with where our dear sweet Johnny boy is in his life and mostly perpetually will be,

we can continue with the rest of the story.

———

Oscar swam out of the dirty Aqua-Pack canyon very calmly and slowly, knowing (thinking) that he was, for sure, going to die because of Jonathan killing him. So this gave him a lot of liberty in whatever he did.

Regardless, Oscar was now back home in the cave.

He was silently awaiting the day our dear old sweet innocent Johnny boy would return.

What he really wanted to do was go try to find (unnamed) but he didn’t quite care enough, knowing that it would be near-impossible if he didn’t know the guy’s name.

So he stayed back and started mentally preparing and gearing himself for our dear old sweet innocent loving Johnny boy, angel boy. :)

———

After Konnor got rejected from government jobs, he had no choice but to go to “Europe”, except this time with no friends and no money.

Hot diggity dam.

———

Oscar, fully armed, had spent every day for weeks awaiting the return of Johnny Angel Boy Oh My Goodness He Is So Amazing Angelic Wonderful Dear Old Loving Sweet Kind Generous King Of Gratitude Savior Of The Universe.

But, instead of The One And Only Johnny Very Kindest God Soul Amazing Great Cool AngeOscar instead got Konnor in a ripped up, burnt top and dirty and stained jeans.

Oscar put a finger to (unnamed)’s mouth.

“Shhhh, sh-sh-sh-tsh-tsh-ttsssshhhhh.” “What is it?”

“Blink twice if Johnny’s behind you.” “Wha- why?!-“

“BLINK TWICE, GODDAMN IT!”

“I got cured.”

“What?!”

“I had a surgery in America. I’m tumor-free now. The surgery and radiation cured me. But then they banished me.”

“You didn’t even send a postcard! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because then I can do this,” said Konnor slowly before he rose like a shadow upon Oscar and stabbed him six times in the heart with an old dagger.

———

PART 12 …EPILOGUE

———

Berlin, Faux Germany, April 1965

Oscar walked along the grassy fields of Berlin. A bustling city it was indeed, but it never failed to preserve nature and wildlife.

The nuclear families and mass civilization never knew that Oscar had existed.

His life was of no importance to them.

They didn’t know the truth.

He didn’t care at this point. All of this, his whole journey through modern urban culture, was nothing but a cold reminder that nothing mattered anymore. No one would ever know.

When Oscar had awaken from the dead, the first thing he wondered was,

Where’s Konnor?

But Oscar soon learned that the Cancer had killed him.

That means there was no funeral.

Anyone out of the very small group who had known Oscar still probably thought that he was alive and well.

And the thing Oscar was most deeply terrified about was that he didn’t seem to really care.

He knew full well that he was destined to wander this city and watch it disintegrate until everything went to black and there was nothing to wander anymore.

Just nothingness.

And thank you for reading my confusing, poorly-plotted fairy tale about cancer in America.

——————

FIN

9/29/2020 - 5/23/2023

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