Rains of Heaven & Sprouts of Hell: by Nick Venom (ereader android .TXT) 📕

She shook her head before heading to Ryder’s house. “Come on, we only have two months.” Ryder grinned before nodding his head.

“Of course, my queen.”

TBC…

Madelyn and Ryder headed to Ryder’s house, a two-story flat tucked away in a corner away from the rest of the community. The flat was a beautiful white and gray-colored building with awnings that hung over the five massive windows on the front side of the house. The front porch held two chairs sitting next to each other, decorated with shreds of blue and purple papers. 

“Welcome home,” Ryder told her. “We’re home.”

Madelyn nodded, grinning from ear to ear. “We’re home.” She repeated before Ryder led her inside. They passed through the living room, which was a well-furnished and clean room, and headed into the kitchen. 

“Hungry?”

“You shouldn’t ask me that.” She retorted. Ryder grinned, glancing down at himself. He felt his stomach rumbling, hoping to devour some food. 

“You’re right,” He responded before turning to face the cabinets over the refrigerator. He opened the fridge, glancing at its contents. The fridge was empty except for a carton of eggs that had expired long ago. “You didn’t restock the fridge?” He asked.

Madelyn shrugged her shoulders. “You know that I don’t sleep here whenever you’re gone. The house is too… empty.”

“So you sleep in the dorms?” He asked.

She nodded her head. “I don’t want to be alone.”

Ryder nodded, turning towards her. He embraced her tightly, pressing his body against hers. “Don’t worry, I’m home now. You won’t be alone anymore.”

Madelyn didn’t respond, pressing her face against Ryder’s chest. She felt his heartbeat thump against his chest, pressing against her. His stench and warmth were familiar and alluring. She basked herself in it.

Ryder pulled away from her, ending the moments of peace, staring at her. “Man, you really missed me.” He teased her.

Madelyn pouted, looking away from him. “Stop that.” She told him, receiving a chuckle as his response. 

“Just joking,” Ryder told her before turning back to the fridge. He skimmed through its emptiness before moving onto the cabinets, snagging a box of crackers from one of its shelves. He opened the box and took out a packet, sharing it with Madelyn. Madelyn took some crackers, feasting on it in silence - with the occasional loud crack of the crackers or sigh of the floor. 

After a short while, Ryder turned to Madelyn. “I… I wanted to tell you that… I’ll be here for two months before we go back out.”

“Only two months? Your last one was three?”

Ryder shrugged his shoulders. “It was supposed to be three, but it got cut down thanks to the supervisors. Plus, this isn’t a normal break. My unit is taking the time off to train the rookies.”

Madelyn furrowed her brows, recognizing the order as the same one given to her unit. 

“My unit is stuck here taking care of rookies too.”

Ryder raised both eyebrows. “Oh, really? Then that means your unit is off training them right now?” She nodded her head, running headfirst into the trap set on her. “Oh, so you’re skipping your duties? What happened to that good girl that I used to know? Oh, poor me.” He remarked, grinning.

Madelyn punched him in the shoulder as she shook her head. “Quit it with the “Oh, poor me”. You’re too old to be using that.”

“Worked in high school, worked in training camp, and still works today.” He declared. “Don’t fix what’s not broken, right?”

Madelyn scoffed at him, turning away. “Whatever,”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be mad.” Ryder said, embracing her from behind. She didn’t try to squirm her way out of his grip, nearly melting in his arms. She tried to fake being mad, but the act didn’t last long. 

“We got two months to spend together. We should be celebrating that.” Ryder told her. 

Madelyn nodded. “Let’s see if your status will get us two bottles of alcohol.” She remarked, surprising Ryder.

“You really think I would use my status as an Attack soldier so I could go buy us some booze?” He asked. “Because you would be right. Now come on.” He told her before heading to the door. As he approached the door, Madelyn noticed a large bloodstain on the side of his pants, furrowing her brows. 

“Are you bleeding?” She asked him.

Ryder turned around to face her, raising both eyebrows. “What?” He asked her, watching as she raised her index finger and pointed at his pant leg, catching Ryder off-guard. “Oh… it’s not my blood. It’s…”

Madelyn nodded, already guessing whose blood it belonged to.

“Yeah… sorry about that. I’ll get cleaned up.” He told her, passing by her and into the bathroom. Madelyn tried to speak to him but he quickly walked into the bathroom and closed the door before she could get a word out.

Now inside, Ryder faced the wounded mirror in front of him. The mirror was cracked everywhere but still usable. 

Ryder stared at the broken mirror, hesitating to move. He stayed in place, simply keeping up eye contact with his figure in the mirror.

“I’m sorry. I tried to save you. We promised to all return.” he muttered to himself. “We tried.”

He then wept as silently as he could.

TBC…

“Split into pairs. Move cautiously and avoid roamers!” Squad Leader Houston whisper-shouted. He jumped out of one of the three humvees his squad was assigned. “Keep an eye on your surroundings. Don’t let them sneak up on you.” He ordered his unit, who responded with nods and other nonverbal responses. They spilled out of the humvees and quickly flooded the first few houses of the mostly empty neighborhood. Roamers idled on the middle of the road and off to the side, most of them not noticing Houston and his squad’s appearance until it was too late. Houston approached the roamers, quickly disposing of them with assistance from his second-in-command, Orlando. 

“All clear here. Establish perimeter?” Orlando, a short-haired redhead, asked. “Or move and raid?”

“Move and raid. We have no time for perimeters or barriers. Help with the scavenging.” Houston ordered him, staring down the road at more roamers at the intersection. They heard the gunshots, shuffling quickly towards them. “Make sure the unit knows we’re low on time. Take the essentials, ditch the rest.”

Orlando nodded, turning away and spreading the word. With him gone, Houston turned to face the houses being raided by his unit. Everyone followed his order and moved in pairs, swiftly venturing through the houses and dispatching any roamers they found. Fortunately, there were very few of them as much of the roamers had left the area vacant. Pretty vacant. 

Meanwhile, in one of the houses, Ryder skimmed through the kitchen cabinets in search of edible food. He found several cans of food, grinning at his catch. He then laid them in his reinforced duffle bag, which only the Attack and Scavenge squads had access to, before turning around to another set of cabinets diagonally across from the stove. He sifted through the inedible and spoiled food in the cabinet before coming across a few more cans and a pack of instant ramen that he quickly threw into his bag. 

“Done here?” One of Ryder’s comrades asked him. Emile, a blond-haired man the same age as Ryder, entered the kitchen with his assault rifle pointed at the ground. “We’re about to move.”

Ryder nodded, following Emile out of the house. They equipped their weapons and moved carefully and silently over the overgrown lawn and onto the neighbor’s property. They approached the front door, glancing at each other before breaking into the house. They swarmed the house, their guns following wherever their eyes went. If their eyes stared at the living room’s rotting couch, then the gun was pointed at the couch. When their eyes darted to the door frame to the next room, the gun found itself now looking at the next room.

“Living room clear, moving into the dining room,” Emile reported before entering the dining room, which housed four chairs and a wooden table. “Dining room clear, moving into the kitchen.”

“Copy. Moving into the first bedroom.” Ryder responded, splitting ways with Emile. He checked the first bedroom, the master bedroom, and quickly searched every nook and cranny for roamers or other threats. Fortunately, nothing was waiting for him aside from a lonely bed. 

“First bedroom clear, moving into the second bedroom.” He reported.

“Kitchen clear, moving into the bathroom,” Emile said, passing by Ryder and entering the bathroom. He quickly checked the small bathroom before popping out to assist Ryder with the final room in the house. The house was a one-story building with no roof or attic. 

Ryder and Emile entered the second bathroom and found the room to be empty. No roamers of furniture waited for them. 

“Second bedroom clear. Check the kitchen, I’ll search the backyard.” Emile ordered. Ryder nodded his head before turning around and heading into the kitchen. He searched through the cabinets and fridge and found a small collection of cans and nonperishable items. He threw them into his back before turning to a window facing the backyard. He saw Emile walk around, searching the small garage, before returning to the house.

“Anything?” Ryder asked him.

Emile shook his head. “Nothing we could use. There’s not even a single tool in there, just photos and papers. And not the good type of paper, the scratchy and cheap one.”

Ryder shook his head, smiling. “Let’s keep moving.”

Emile nodded. “Yeah, let’s be like your relationship.”

Ryder raised an eyebrow. “Oh, do I hear… jealousy?” He teased him.

Emile shook his head. “Ah, shut up. It was just a joke.”

“Are you sure, because… that didn’t sound like a joke. Are you jealous that I got someone and you don’t?”

“Oh, you’re pulling that card out? How about I tell your girlfriend about all the times you cried, jumped like a scared cat, or pissed yourself? I’m sure she’ll have a blast.”

“Hey.” Ryder started. “I thought we promised never to speak about it.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Emile said. “Let’s keep going.”

Ryder smacked his lips. “I thought whatever we said out here stayed out here. Did you forget about bro code already?”

Emile shook his head. “I didn’t tell anyone who doesn’t already know. Now, let’s go. We got more houses to clear before-” He was interrupted by a scream that was immediately followed by gunfire.

“Roamers! Roamers incoming!” Emile and Ryder heard Houston shout. They looked at each other before sprinting out of the house. They ran outside, glancing around for Houston. They quickly found him further down the road dealing with the roamers who began sprinting towards him. However, there