Danti One Shots

·Retirement Day· (Pt. One)

Yells could be heard from the street below as the couple hurriedly packed a small suitcase. One of the men opened a small hatch in the floor that led out back of the building they lived in. "Anti, I'm going to check if the sewers have cleared." Anti looked up from packing the suitcase. "No Dark, you can't, not without me. Hunters could be down there!" Dark sighed. "Then how will we know if we can hide in the sewers?" He reasoned.

Anti just shook his head as tears started to well in his eyes. There seemed to be plenty of tears shed lately. "Please Dark, let me go with you. If I lose you..." Dark took in a shuddering breath and cupped Anti's face in his hands. Anti leaned into his touch. They had been frantic and paranoid about Retirement Day for months. Now that it was actually here... They were deathly scared for eachother.

Dark gave his boyfriend a passionate kiss before putting their foreheads together. "Darling..." Dark started. "I know what I'm doing. Just trust me. If the sewers are clear we'll have an easy escape, and if they aren't, I have another plan. You know I do." Anti tried to nod before he broke out into tears. He desperately tried to wipe them away, will them to stop. He was just so scared he was going to have to live on without his love. The light that gave him hope. The man he hoped someday would be his husband.

Dark pecked his cheek, and wiped away his tears. He gave Anti one last kiss before he went down went down the hatch. He closed the small door and it went dark. Anti didn't dare look put the window. He knew he would see undesirable things. Uncanny, grotesque... He had been through it all before. The ways him and others lived was severely overpopulated. So the Highborns had to fix that. They decided that every year they would have a Retirement Day.

To Anti and those around him, retirement didn't mean a relaxing life after work, oh no, it meant death. Inevitable death and misery. The Highborns would send out their guards to slaughter anyone they saw until the Highborns thought it was enough. Anti had found it utterly disgusting that they would just murder innocent people. People that had families. People that had lives.

And life was something that so many people had taken for granted.

BANG!

The man was taken from his thoughts quickly. The guards were going to break into their building. A series of more bangs and gunshots sounded from below. Anti gulped and tried to calm himself as he put on his jacket, grabbed the suitcase and threw his ass down that hatch like there was no tomorrow. He was worried that there wouldn't be a tomorrow anyway though.

He scooted himself down the enclosed tunnel and felt with his feet for the other hatch. A few more feet and... There it was. He kicked it open and hopped out into the chilly air of the day. He closed the small door behind himself. The sky was cloudy, but he doubted that it was clouds. In fact, he knew it was smoke. Then there it was... The ashes. Ashes of the fallen. The soldiers would burn the bodies of the dead. There were so many deaths that the ashes of them actually fell from the sky.

Anti shook his head and ran down the familiar alleyway to the manhole. He saw the large ladel that Dark had left near it. He picked it up and pried open the lid. Anti dropped the suitcase down first and then eased himself in. He thought of what a tight squeeze it must of been for Dark, he had such broad shoulders. His body was lean enough that he could slip right through. He drug the lid with all his might over the opening. He let it drop into place with a grunt. Anti scurried down the small ladder. He took his lighter out to find their suitcase. The small flame could only light up so much. He found it and grabbed hold of the wore leather handle.

Anti snuffed out the flame and continued down the path him and Dark had practiced so many times before. Anti grimaced as water seeped into his shoes. The smell of piss and shit assaulted his nose, but he had to find Dark. He had to know that he was okay. Anti drug on through the slosh of the sewer, and let his hand glide along the wall as a guide.

He stopped abruptly.

Splish.

Anti regained his composure, thinking it was just a rat. Though, he did walk a little faster.

Splash, splash.

BANG, BANG!!

Anti bolted down the tunnel. His heart sped in his chest, he felt as if it were going to explode. Just as he passed a tunnel that veered off the one he was in, a rough hand grabbed his shoulder. Anti was about to scream but another hand covered his mouth. "Shhh, Darling, calm down. It's me... its me." Anti instantly relaxed into Dark, grateful that it wasn't a Hunter that had grabbed him.

Dark took Anti's hand and led him down a narrow passage. They walked for a while, shared small whispers to make sure the other was alright. The reached an opening and sat down to rest. Dark pulled a cloth from his pocket. Inside the cloth was small peices of bread and cheese. They snacked on a little and saved the rest for later. They didn't know how long they would stay in hiding. Sometimes Retirement Day turned into weeks, and weeks into months. It was an absolutely horrific time for anyone.

"Oh Dark... What are we going to do? What if they kill off our families this time around? I mean I wouldn't doubt it, you lost your father last year, and I my mother. Dark I can't stand to think of my sister's and brothers being murdered-" Dark shushed him by pulling Anti into a strong hug. "Darling, you just have to trust. Trust your family to be smart and have their own plan of escape. Trust the Divines to look over them."

Anti shuddered and took deep breaths. They'd get through this, he just had to trust in himself and others. They stayed like that for a few moments longer before Dark's head shot up. "What- what is it?" Dark didn't answer Anti, but instead stood up. It was soft, but he could hear it. A distant whistling sound. It started to get louder before the sirens went off.

Dark snatched up the suitcase and helped Anti to his feet. "The bombs." He whispered. Anti's eyes widened. Dark practically dragged his boyfriend down down the tunnel. The ground shook above them, indicating that a bomb had struck. More would be coming.

The two men crawled into an old maintenance hole. They huddled there and awaited a fate that was unknown. Anti wrapped his arms around Dark's waist, and Dark held him close. They closed their eyes and readied themselves for the big bomb to hit.

It took a while... But a huge explosion sounded from above. Anti cried out in pain, his ears popping. Blood trickled down his neck. Dark gritted his teeth. This was the first wave. An ear peicing sound, then the fire... And finally the gas. More screams then ever filtered down into the sewers. Thundering footsteps could be heard from down farther in the tunnels. More people had escaped down into the tunnels also, trying to find a place to hide.

Then... There was silence.

Not a breath was taken, and not a person stirred. The silence was deafening, making Dark just want to scream and see if anyone else was with them. It started out slow but the gas had reached them. They could smell it. Dark quickly ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and soaked it in the piss water. They didn't have anything else, so it had to do. Dark wrapped it around Anti's mouth and nose. He tore off his other sleeve and did the same.

Not long after did the two hear choking and coughing. Bodies fell and basically threw up their insides. Dark didn't hold back the tears that fell down his face. Minutes turned into hours as they waited for the gas to clear. Anti had thrown up everything in his stomach, but luckily the worse of the effects hadn't gotten to him. Day turned into night as the men fell asleep unwillingly.

What they would see in the morning would change their lives forever.

To Be Continued...