The world tasted like wet earth and burnt plastic.
Happy opened his eyes, blinking away the muddy water that clung to his snout. Everything hurt. His front paw throbbed with a sharp, biting ache. The air smelled wrong. Burning rubber. Leaking oil. The sky above him was a dark, bruising shade of purple, illuminated by the distant, sickly green neon glow of the Forbidden Zone.
He let out a low, pathetic whimper, his tail twitching against the cold mud of the ditch. Every instinct in his body had screamed No.
Everything smelled wrong. Rain. Blood.
Lisa. Lisa everywhere. Lisa nowhere.
Where was Lisa?
Happy crawled out of the ditch, dragging his injured leg behind him. The wreckage of the car sat a few yards away, a mangled heap of black steel illuminated by a flickering streetlamp. Smoke drifted upward. Hot metal hissed in the drizzle.
He limped closer to the debris, his nose pressed to the damp soil.
Memory returned in jagged fragments.
The Bad Place. The hum hurt his ears. He refused to go. Lisa locked him in the car. Kyra placed beside him. Oil. Blood. Her scent different, sweet and rotten. The angry driver took the corners too fast. Happy bit him for that. Blinding lights. Tearing metal. Sky and ground switching places.
Then nothing. Nothing for a long time.
Pain.
He got back up.
He sniffed the air desperately, catching traces of Lisa, the angry man and Kyra, but they were gone. The area was empty, save for the distant wail of sirens echoing through the neon-lit streets.
Beside the shattered window lay a small, sleek black object. Happy recognized it instantly. It was one of the glass bricks Lisa always carried, its surface covered in her greasy fingerprints and the comforting, sharp scent of her hairspray. She talked to it constantly. Sometimes she even fell asleep with it resting against her chest.
Desperate for any sign of her, Happy nudged the device with his wet nose. He bopped it again, harder this time, trying to wake it up.
The glassy face flared to life, casting a bright blue glow across his muddy snout. A voice tore through the quiet night, loud and frantic.
"Live from the edge of the Forbidden Zone!"
Happy’s ears perked up instantly. His tail gave a weak, hopeful thump against the ground. It was Lisa! He barked.
"It’s not radioactive! There are no biohazards! That’s right, folks, it’s all a government lie! What’s really inside the Zone is monsters!"
He didn’t understand her words, but he knew the sound of fear.
The message ended.
Silence.
He whined, nudging the device again, expecting her to reach out and pat his head.
"...Live from the edge..."
Her voice returned, but where was Lisa? Her voice kept repeating, her scream tearing through the tiny speaker over and over again on a continuous, desperate loop.
He curled his bulky body around the glowing brick, burying his nose against the warm glass, letting her recorded words wash over him while he whined.
"Oh my goodness! What happened here?"
Happy bolted upright, a sharp growl catching in his throat.
A woman hurried toward him from the brightly lit building across the street that smelled like the vet's but bigger. She wore a heavy blue coat. Her face looked pale and drawn, with deep shadows under her eyes.
As she drew closer, Happy’s growl died down, replaced by a confused tilt of his head.
She smelled like medicine and worry. She also smelled like ...Sweet Death. Same as Kyra.
The woman rushed over, her eyes darting from the crushed vehicle to Happy’s bleeding shoulder. "Oh, you poor thing. Was your owner in this crash? Did they leave you behind?”
She knelt in the damp grass, completely ignoring the mud staining her knees, and reached out with gentle hands. “Of course it was an accident. No one would leave a Bio Construct like you behind.”
To Happy, she felt like a sudden, warm light in the dark. He could feel the genuine kindness radiating off her, an absolute absence of malice. He whimpered softly, letting his heavy head sink into her arms as she carefully lifted him off the ground.
"There, there. Don’t you worry, puppy," she murmured, her voice trembling slightly. “Helga will get you help. There's a hospital across the street, but you need a vet.”
Happy snuggled deeper into her coat, his nose pressed against the curve of her neck. He licked her chin softly. He was still frightened, but she was a nice lady.
Helga adjusted her grip on him, her eyes falling to the glowing halophone in the grass. Lisa’s panicked face flickered in the blue light, the warning about the government pact and the monsters repeating over and over.
"Oh! I know that voice. It's that funny girl from the Hexa Herald."
Happy tensed as her hand reached toward the glowing brick. That's Lisa. Don't take Lisa.
“Is that your owner, puppy?” Helga scooped up the device while keeping Happy tucked against her chest.
He calmed. Ok. Lisa comes too.
Lisa’s voice burst from the device, "It’s full of monsters!"
Helga froze, her breath catching in her throat. She looked up toward the dark silhouette of the Forbidden Zone looming in the distance. She touched her lower lip with two trembling fingers.
Helga shifted Happy in her arms and looked down at the screen one last time. Her thumb hovered over the glow. Lisa kept shouting. She swallowed hard, her thumb sliding to Deep Net, then pressing Share.
Her eyes swept the empty, shadow-drenched street. “It’s not safe here, puppy. Let’s get you out of sight right now.”
Happy tucked his nose beneath Helga's chin as she turned and hurried into the dark. His new friend was afraid. The Sweet Death clung to her. Like Kyra. And Lisa wasn't here. Until he found her again... Happy would protect this one.
Woop Woop! Midnight Order is back. Head over and load up on Gothtastic awesomeness and gifts. Helga returns for the finale of Escape from Club Apophis and she brought a cute little friend. She's wearing the VOX Umrae coat and corset, 182 hair by ZAO, Vira shoes by Evil Baby, hypnotic Moka eyes by Haru, and Blair skin by 41m. She's wearing Romance's Blue Heart necklace by AvaWay. In the setting, are the lovely blue Campanula With Planters, and returning awesome setting Crimson Watch Backdrop by Zeroichi. From Aardvark is the returning Wyrmlings, as Happy the Dino Dog.
On her, Helga:
Plants: Blue Blood - Campanula With Planter - Blue (Midnight Order)
Pet: Aardvark - Wyrmlings Animesh - Earth Claw [animesh](449L)
