Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 97a: Retrospection

Original Post Date: Aug 20, 2024

Note: Story starts in Wyvern, Aerial ABC backwards filter and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Paraceratherium, next chapter in Pachy.

~

Drip.

Drip.

Blood piled up like puddles in the rain.

A Carcharodontosaurus angrily grumbled from outside, waiting impatiently.

Gathering around Jerry’s feet, he stared into the darkness in silence. Owls hooted in the distance. The mood was somber. And Jerry’s plan was almost complete. There was so little time yet so much opportunity.

Slowly, Jerry stepped forward toward the dead body.

Then, he lifted his foot and planted it atop its head.

CRUNCH!

Jerry pressed harder and harder onto its skull, and then with a deafening crack, his foot smashed right through the head and hit the stone floor of the cavern.

Squish.

Bits of brains exploded out into the air like a volcano, coating Jerry’s body further in blood. An eyeball landed on the ground next to his foot. Then, hair began to fall on the top of his head.

A smile grew on Jerry’s face as blood continued to overflow the cave. And then the corpses began to glow red.

Splat.

Blood coated the cavern walls and organs littered the ground. A stream of blood hit Jerry on the lips, and he licked it off with his tongue. Jerry’s smile transformed into a grin, his golden tooth dull underneath the moonlight. The Moon cast its rays into the cave ever so slightly, illuminating the room in red and white.

It was an unholy sight.

But Jerry was a god amongst mortals.

And you cannot oppose God.

HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME

~

Bang.

BANG!

“I am going to hurt you.”

The boy squirmed, nervous under his tormentor’s wrath. The tormentor’s gold rings flashed under the fluorescent lights. No cameras in sight, no people in sight, the boy was just a plaything for him. The tormentor grabbed the boy by the hair and then slammed his head into the locker that he had posted him against.

SLAM!

“AH!” the boy cried.

Blood trickled down the back of his head.

The boy had shut his eyes. He slowly opened one of them up and could see his bully’s teeth barred at him like some dog. Despite being just as skinny as he was, he still had him locked in his grip.

“Please,” the boy pleaded, “Let me go. I’m sorry for spilling my water on you.”

“I’m teaching you a lesson,” the bully muttered into his ear, “It’s kill or be killed. Weaklings like you don’t deserve to live. You just end up getting the strong hurt.”

The boy winced, and tears sprung forth from his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Clack.

Clack.

Footsteps echoed in the hallways.

The bully’s eyes widened, almost as if he recognized them. The two looked toward the direction of the noise. A tall girl with emerald green eyes approached with her hands in her pockets. She was really muscular, wore a black crop top, gray sweatpants, and had long, wavy, brunette hair that reached her back. More notably, she wore a golden cross necklace. Her hooded eyes pierced the confrontation.

“Oh, Matthew, why are you putting your hands on this innocent boy?” the girl asked. She stepped forward. The bully let go of the boy and stepped away. He raised his hands in surrender, walking backwards slowly.

“He-He spilled water on me. He’s guilty,” Matthew claimed.

Her emerald eyes narrowed.

“I do not care. Violence is intolerable. You are no better than a sinner. Now, shoo.”

Matthew looked at her towering body for a moment before quickly scuttling away.

The girl turned to face the boy. She looked him up and down.

He was a skinny little thing. He had slicked back black hair and wore a white collared dress shirt. He also wore blue jeans. He looked like a typical nerd. However, as the girl stared into the boy’s awestruck brown eyes, she couldn’t help but feel attracted.

“What’s your name?” the boy asked firmly, the fear washed away from his face. A coy smile grew on the girl’s lips.

“Esmeralda. I’m glad you asked. And you?”

The boy paused for a moment, before giving her his name.

“Jerry.”

“Jerry,” Esmeralda repeated, putting her index finger on her lips. She looked up at the buzzing light, pondering his name. Then she added on,

“Jerry, do you want to be friends?”

~

Date: March 19, 2025.

“Hey Esmeralda?”

It was a quiet night at the lonely park. And one year since the two had become friends. They could hear the sounds of crickets in the background, and the stars shone above Jerry and Esmeralda as they sat together on one of the benches below the drooping branches of a large oak tree.

Jerry was scooping up spoonfuls of cherry flavored shaved ice into his mouth.

And Esmeralda was just enjoying the moment, her head propped against the palms of her hands. Esmeralda’s eyes slowly shifted, staring at Jerry with a blush.

“Yes?”

Despite her clear feelings toward him, she wasn’t sure if he felt the same way.

She was afraid.

“I have a question,” Jerry asked. He pointed his finger at the golden cross necklace that was wrapped around Esmeralda’s neck.

“What does that mean to you?”

Esmeralda grasped at the necklace slowly, staring at it attentively. Truth be told, not many people wore it. Not many people believed in God either. People’s faiths had dashed away for quite some time.

But not Esmeralda’s.

“Well,” Esmeralda answered, “It gives me some hope. Do you know what Christianity is?”

“It’s a religion, right?” Jerry said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. Precisely that. I’m a believer,” Esmeralda replied with a smile, “I want the world to be a better place. That’s why I always try to step in and help others. If I try my best to be a good person, someone else will follow in my footsteps. Maybe then the world will be cleansed. Maybe then people will have faith.”

Jerry seemed fascinated by her thoughts.

“That’s very admirable,” said Jerry simply.

Esmeralda closed her eyes softly.

“Do you know about the Rapture?” Esmeralda questioned Jerry. Jerry scratched his chin for a moment, and then shook his head. Esmeralda opened her mouth to speak again.

“Not everyone believes in it, even the little Christians remaining in the world,” Esmeralda explained softly, her voice barely a note above the passing wind, “But think of it as the end of the world. All the believers of Christ, dead and alive, will ascend toward heaven to reunite with the Lord. Everyone else will be sucked into hell. Then, humankind will be at peace.”

Esmeralda pointed to her left wrist.

“It starts with the Mark of the Beast,” Esmeralda whispered, “All humans will require some sort of device or item to be implanted into their hand or head to survive. It’s all the work of Satan.”

“You must reject this if you wish to ascend.”

Jerry seemed somewhat confused by her explanation, as if he didn’t fully understand it. But he nodded along anyway. He took another bite out of his shaved ice. The juice of the cherry dripped down his lips like blood. He licked it away, and then got up from the bench. He tossed the cup toward a nearby trash can, but it hit the rim and bounced off, landing onto the floor.

Clatter.

Jerry grumbled to himself in disappointment at his failed throw. He began to walk away.

“Let’s go home now. It’s getting really late.”

Esmeralda got up from the bench and then looked back at the cup on the ground. With a sigh, she walked over to the trash can, picked the cup off the ground, and dropped it inside the trash can.

Esmeralda turned around and squinted her eyes. Jerry was already gone.

She began to walk down the stone path, slowly picking up the pace. The stars twinkled above them, watching. They may have been quite pretty, however Esmeralda had seen them many times. It was no big surprise.

The stench of blood filled the air as Esmeralda reached the sidewalk.

Esmeralda took another sniff. It was gone. She shook her head. It must have been her imagination. She looked onward past the tree lines. It was unusually dark this time of period. Not even the headlights of cars illuminated the area. She could see a sign up ahead that displayed the speed limit.

Twenty miles per hour.

Oddly enough, the sign was coated in blood.

Esmeralda walked past the treeline.

And then her eyes widened at the sight.

“Jerry,” Esmeralda whispered.

His body was strewn across the ground, blood smeared across the asphalt like paint. Shrouded in the shadows, he lay face down. Esmeralda did not want to look. But her body was frozen, unable to move or act.

A car lay on its side, no light pouring from the front. Then, a boy even taller than Esmeralda smashed through the car window. He looked around their age, and he wore red clothing. He rushed over to Jerry’s side.

“Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry,” he apologized profusely. His knuckles were covered in cuts. He turned Jerry’s body over, and then white washed over his face. Whatever he saw clearly wasn’t very pretty. The tall boy reached for his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked at it and then tapped on it three times.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Click!

“911. What is your emergency?”

~

There was a buzzing light.

The last thing Jerry remembered was being hit hard in the side, and then blacking out. Jerry could feel a strange fabric on his body, unfamiliar and foreign. Jerry slowly opened his eyes.

He was laying on a comfortable bed, and there was a blue curtain dividing the room in two.

“What happened?” Jerry asked himself. He could feel IV lines attached to his body, and the beeping of a heart rate monitor nearby.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

His heart felt incredibly still. And strange. It felt weird and unfamiliar, yet oddly comforting. He felt less out of breath. He almost felt healthier in a way. Still, his body ached.

And then it all came rushing back into him.

As Jerry’s mind ran rampant, the blue curtain drew back.

A skinny little nurse that was even shorter than Jerry entered the room, holding a clipboard and pen. She studied it curiously, and then looked up at Jerry. She blinked her eyes and jotted something down on the paper attached to the clipboard.

“So it was a success,” she ominously declared. Jerry’s eyebrow raised at her words.

“What do you mean?”

The nurse looked back up at Jerry and then slowly walked up to his side. She looked down at him with a deadpan look. Then, she hit him with the hard truth.

“You were hit by a car a few days ago Jerry. You almost died. You were supposed to. Shrapnel from the vehicle had entered your heart. But, a donor had given their heart up for you.”

Jerry’s eyes widened, a mixture of surprise and relief on his face. He couldn’t believe it. Who would have been generous enough to donate their heart to him? Jerry asked this question, and the nurse quickly strayed away from the answer.

“The donor has chosen to remain anonymous.”

With that, the nurse slowly removed the IV lines from Jerry’s body. Jerry slowly got out of his bed, shaking around his limbs and getting used to walking again. The nurse gave Jerry a fresh set of clothes, and once he got changed, the hospital discharged him.

Jerry walked out of the hospital doors and into the fresh sunlight. He looked up at the sky, enjoying the warmth. Despite what had just happened to him, there was some silver lining in it. At least he was alive.

“Okay. Now I just need to go find Esmeralda. She must be worried sick,” Jerry thought to himself.

But as Jerry continued to take in the sunlight, a tall boy quickly ran up to him.

“Jerry!” the tall boy cried out. Jerry turned toward him, his ears perked. The tall boy had dark bags under his eyes, and something in his hands.

“Yeah?” Jerry asked, “Do I know you?”

The tall boy blinked his eyes.

“Yes. I was one of the-the riders of the car that hit you. I’m really really sorry about what happened,” the tall boy apologized, “I’m Alan.”

“It’s okay Alan,” Jerry told him with a smile, “It’s not your fault. I forgive you. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to find my friend.”

Alan’s head dropped in shame at his words, and Jerry immediately noticed. He suddenly felt very suspicious about this whole situation. And then his suspicion turned to dread.

Alan raised up a small piece of paper in one hand, and a golden cross necklace in the others. Jerry snatched the two trinkets out of his hands, and then took a look at the message. There were only three words present on the paper.

“I love you.”

“She wanted me to deliver it to you after you woke up,” Alan explained, looking around in a panic, “I-”

“Shut up,” Jerry snarled, “Shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!”

Jerry pushed Alan out of the way, and ran away as quickly as he could.

~

It’s raining.

Jerry was kneeling at the base of an oak tree, near the bench where the two had enjoyed their last moments together. He held the golden cross necklace up. Under the clouds, it had no glint to it.

“It should have been me,” Jerry wept, tears falling from his eyes, “It should have been me.”

Jerry’s head dropped in shame, and he continued to cry her heart out for his lost friend.

Because in the end, Jerry loved her too.

As Jerry continued to mourn, he heard soft footsteps head toward him.

And then his head was kicked into the ground.

Jerry dropped the necklace onto the grass and tumbled forward. His face planted in the dirt and a soft, familiar chuckle radiated from behind him. The stranger grabbed Jerry’s hair and pulled him up onto his two feet. Jerry groaned in pain.

“We meet again Jerry, after so long,” Matthew snickered, “News has gone around that your little girlfriend died. Now nothing’s stopping me from kicking your punk face in.”

Matthew turned Jerry around so he could be face to face with him, and then he slammed him into the tree.

SLAM.

Matthew took his fist and instantly drove it into Jerry’s stomach. Jerry let out another groan. He felt his organs vibrate and he felt like puking. He began to grow dizzier.

“How’s a punch to the liver feel?” Matthew asked sarcastically, “Did you know it can kill someone? Crazy, huh?”

Matthew slammed his fist into Jerry’s liver again. Jerry let out another groan.

“How about we find out?”

Jerry’s eyes darted to the golden cross necklace that lay on the grass.

Esmeralda did not deserve to die for this.

Jerry had to be stronger.

Rage began to boil in Jerry’s eyes, as he stared back at Matthew with a glare. His breathing became more ragged as Esmeralda’s heart pumped faster and faster against his chest.

“I hate you,” Jerry growled, “And I’m going to hurt you.”

BAM.

Jerry slammed his skull into Matthew’s, and Matthew let out a cry of pain, clutching his forehead and dropping Jerry to the ground. Jerry landed on his two feet and balled his fist up, slamming it into his ribs.

BAM.

Matthew let out another groan, and his hands dropped to his side. Matthew stepped backward a bit, but not noticing the bench behind him, tripped and landed on his back.

As Matthew tried to get up from the ground, Jerry quickly stepped over the bench and got on top of him. Then he began to lay his fists onto his face.

BAM.

BAM.

BAM.

Over and over, Jerry punched Matthew’s head into the ground. Blood spurt out from his nostrils, and it began to pool around his head as his eyes began to drain of its own life force. Matthew muttered something under his breath, begging for mercy. But Jerry did not care.

And then Jerry began to grin.

“Goodbye.”

Jerry got up from the ground, raised his boot up, and then shoved it right into Matthew’s face.

Over and over and over again.

Blood splattered onto the soles of his boots, and then dripped onto the golden rings around Matthew’s fingers.

And then, Matthew stopped resisting.

Jerry’s breathing became steadier as he looked at the mess he had created. For a moment, he felt bad. But his hatred for others slowly began to rise within him. He crouched down and slowly slipped the gold rings off Matthew’s fingers, placing them on his own.

After wrapping them around all his fingers (except the ring), he walked away from the scene, but not before snatching the golden cross necklace off the ground. The treeline began to disperse as he reached the street where everything had to go to hell.

Jerry crossed the street quickly, placing the golden cross necklace around his neck.

And as he did, he made himself a promise that he would never forget.

~

A roar suddenly shattered Jerry’s retrospection.

Jerry’s eyes opened up, and he looked behind him to see his Carcharodontosaurus, Romeo, standing outside the cavern, tapping its foot on the ground. Jerry grumbled and exited the cavern, entering the outside world once more.

“Jeez, I didn’t take that long did I?” Jerry asked, rubbing the back of his head. Romeo exhaled out of his nose. Jerry fanned the air as he did, and then he rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. Just deal with it. It’s almost over anyways.”

As Jerry took in the scents around him, a familiar smell suddenly entered his head.

Jerry’s grin returned.

“Oh.”

“Alan…”

“I SMELL YOU.”