THE ASSAILANT
In a small town on the outskirts of the Imperial, Tundarian Empire, a grizzled detective named Luke takes a break from work to check on his family. Upon arriving home, he notices that both his wife Lucy and eight-year-old son Junior have disappeared.
The Assailant
In a small town on the outskirts of the Imperial, Tundarian Empire, a grizzled detective named Luke takes a break from work to check on his family. Upon arriving home, he notices that both his wife Lucy and eight-year-old son Junior have disappeared.
Five years later, the detective has lost all hope of reclaiming his old life. Luke begins a downward spiral, consuming bottles of liquor every night and resorting to VR pornography for sexual pleasure. Suddenly, one day he receives a note from a mysterious assailant stating that his family has been found in a bunker by Matonia City.
Shocked, the man makes it his new life goal to find them no matter the cost. The next day, he goes against his company’s orders and takes a seven-hour bus journey to the city of Matonia. Luke finds the city in shambles and realizes that he has his work cut out for him. For days on end, Luke feverishly walks around the city, asking locals if they've seen any glimpse of his wife and kids. His young son is most likely unrecognizable now, having grown into a teenager.
With no hope of finding his family, Luke sits in his hotel room as the city lights up on Friday night. He finds out from the local newspaper that October 13th is the national day of Matonia, where citizens take a break from the devastating war outside and focus on living it up. Luke takes a look outside his hotel window to see Fetaris everywhere, drinking and dancing the night away. But then he spots something he'll never forget. Luke sees his wife Lucy with another man. In a rage, he runs downstairs to a nearby bar and confronts the couple.
"Where have you been all these years?" screams Luke, gathering the attention of every partygoer in the street. Lucy looks back and realizes that her worst nightmare has just returned.
"Get the hell away from me, you murderer!"
Lucy screams as her new husband John confronts him, threatening violence if he doesn't back off.
However, Luke's anger gets the better of him, and he storms forward, pushing the smaller John over and demanding to know why Lucy disappeared. Mortified, she mutters, "Don't you remember...?" As the crowd of bystanders watches, they pull Luke away before mobile police units arrive to restrain him.
The man is kept in a holding cell overnight as police soon identify who he is. They find out that he's an accomplished detective for the Imperium, having solved dozens of brutal cases over his long career. However, he was discharged five years ago. The police decide to leave him with a simple fine and ban him from entering the city of Matonia for an entire year.
Dejected, Luke heads back to his home near the outskirts of Matonia. Walking inside the door, he smells something foul rotting in his storage room. The man checks inside to find his son Junior, completely lacking any hint of skin, with maggots wriggling around inside his skeleton. Shocked, Luke gazes at the wall, finding a lone newspaper with the headline stating,
"Eight-Year-Old Son of Detective Mysteriously Disappears, Has Yet to be Found."
To be continued...
Gallery
