by Caroline
Disclaimers: Don't own it.
Pairing: none
Rating: R
Warnings: blood, squickyness, strange...
Spoilers: none
Notes: This is what happens when I have a REALLY BAD DAY - like yesterday. I wrote this instead of bashing some 2nd graders heads together. I still have a headache.

Soldier

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…" The young soldier chanted his mantra over and over as he scrambled through the dark, smoke blocking out what little emergency light the military bunker had in place. He clenched the butt of his gun, his hands trembling so much he feared he might drop it. And he didn't dare drop it. Not with that… *machine* on the loose.

The ground beneath him heaved with a silent explosion. The part of his mind that was still working told him the Leo hanger must been hit. He was too far underground to hear the actual explosion, but the dust and debris that rained down on his head told him all he needed to know.

There'd been a Gundam attack. His comrades were most likely dead.

He'd joined OZ full of dreams and ideals of how the world should be governed, and he had wanted to be part of the glorious organization that would bring order to the chaotic world in which they lived. He had hoped to someday achieve some minor rank in order to make his family, and Jenny, proud. If he worked hard, perhaps someday soon he might have enough standing and money saved up to ask Jenny to marry him. He'd been one of the top cadets in his class, and his future had been looking bright…

Until the Gundam showed up and took everything away in a ball of blazing yellow and white light.

He'd been in the soldier's mess when the attack began. Fortunately he'd been near the exit when the disabled Leo had crashed through the roof, killing his friends and a good portion of his commanding officers. The collapse had caved in a portion of the roof, blocking his exit from the complex altogether. The elevators had not been working of course. The only way to go had been… down.

The halls were filled with smoke and dust. The power had gone out when the complex above collapsed. The emergency lights could not quite penetrate the smoky air. He heaved in a huge breath, choking on the dust. There was an emergency exit near the south entrance he could use, if only he could make his way through the dark to get there.

He ducked around the corner, breathing a sigh of relief as he realized the stairway to the exit was just two corridors over. He took a step forward, but his foot caught on something large and heavy, sending him crashing face forward to the ground. Instinctively his hands shot out to brace himself for the impact. They landed in something sticky and warm. He lifted his hands as the smoke cleared enough to let a dim ray of light shine down from above. His eyes widened as he stared at his hands.

Blood. There was so much blood. He looked down. A pool of blood was flowing from the mutilated face of what had been Private Jansen. At least he thought it was Jansen. The eyes were gone, the nose was carved in two, and… there was something in his mouth…

He bent over and wretched as he realized what it was. He glanced at the private's groin area just to be sure. A bloody hole in the jumpsuit told him he'd been correct in his assumption. He looked away again quickly, and scrambled backwards to put as much distance between himself and the… corpse as possible.

His hand hit something else that was again soft and sticky. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw another body. This time he couldn't even tell who the poor bastard had been. The face was gone as though something large and sharp had sheared it away, then left the body to drop where it had stood.

He wrenched his hand away from the body and flew to his feet. The smoke cleared again, and he nearly screamed as he saw the hallway littered with bodies, all in similar states of mutilation. Then it dawned on him. The corridor was mostly intact. These men had not died from a cave-in of the ceiling, or even of asphyxiation. He glanced at Jansen's bloody corpse. Someone ­ or *something* - had done this to them. Something… that could still be lurking in the shadows.

With a cry he forced himself forward, stumbling over bodies and *parts* of bodies in a desperate attempt to get to the exit. Whatever had killed all those men, he had no desire to meet a similar fate in the dark. He had to get out, had to escape, had to see Jenny…

The lights went out. He stopped dead in his tracks, the wild thumping of his heart and the raggedness of his breath were the only sounds he could hear. He felt something move behind him. He whirled around, but in the dark could see nothing. He held his breath, straining to hear if anything was in the corridor with him.

He took a hesitant step forward. Then another. Then another.

"Going somewhere?"

He screamed as the voice dripped the words from the darkness into his ear. He turned, fingers clenching for the gun, only to discover he must have dropped it when he'd tripped over Jansen. He backpedaled into the wall, holding up his hands in a futile gesture to ward off whoever ­ whatever ­ had spoken.

The thing laughed, and he knew in an instant that whatever stood before him could not be human. The laugh turned his blood to ice. He stood frozen in place as the figure stepped forward.

"Wh… what are you?!" he cried as the thing reached out a cold hand and wrapped it around his throat.

"I am Shinigami." The lights flickered, and all he could see was a pair of glittering, cold eyes. "I am Death. And I've come to take you to hell."

The lights flickered again, and he screamed. He screamed and he screamed and he screamed. And when the lights went out again, only the echo of the scream and a new pool of blood remained.

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