[TW gun violence]

Ever since the iron gate opened, it's been literal hell on earth. It's next to impossible to find a person whose body is not host to a demon. Some become powerful militants or "ascended". Others give in and work with their demons, donning an iron mask and gun. Those are known as civilians. Others still refuse to give in to their demons until they are driven insane and become one of the axe-wielding lunatics who no longer have a sense of self-preservation. As for you? Your body is indeed playing host for a demon, but... It's a weak demon. No matter how much they whisper or even sometimes beg in your mind, you remain in control. You've found yourself able to get by by scavenging for weapons, tools, food, and souls that others more focused on power than survival pass by. Yet... as you haven't put on an iron mask signaling full possession, the fully possessed see your soul as something up for dibs, so you have to stay very hidden, and you do still have to kill for the sake of survival. So, you do have blood on your hands, just like every other soul in this place.

You are running through a series of shadowed alleyways. You crash into a brick wall as you try to take a sharp turn, a series of gunshots snap through the eternal night, directly behind you missing by a few mere inches, and splattering into the wall. You push off from the wall with a sharp intake of breath and continue to run aimlessly away from the trio of citizens hunting you. Your poor excuse for a base has been discovered, and now you've lost all of your supplies, your shelter, and any sense of safety you may have had. The demon stuck with you calls out in your head, the warning causing you to instinctively drop to the ground as more bullets whiz over your head. That's the good thing about being possessed by a demon so weak. You're still in control, but if you die, so does the demon, so it's still in the demon's favor to protect you. You scramble back up, sharp pavement digging into your hands and knees as you force yourself to keep running, ignoring the increasing pangs of pain in your chest. Your heart drops as you see a barred gate in front of you, a dead end... or is it? There's a church on the other side of this gate, likely one of the last still standing. You're growing increasingly weary, practically about to collapse under your fear and exhaustion, but you feel hope strike your soul as sharp as these bullets will if you aren't quick enough. Fully possessed people hate churches and holy ground, so they'll likely turn back if they don't immediately see you but see the church. You have less than a minute, but... You grab onto the cold iron bars of the gate and heft yourself up carelessly, practically throwing your body over the top and landing roughly on the asphalt on the other side, a sickening crack sounding from your arm. Your body feels hot and sore. You almost feel like throwing up, yet you force yourself despite your demon "benefactor" screaming protests against being on holy ground. You stagger into the first unlocked room you can find in the church, stumbling inside and pushing the door closed while dropping to your knees as the chase fully catches up to you. Before you're even able to properly catch your breath, you hear the sharp sound of a gun's safety clicking off and look up with wide eyes to meet a gun being pressed into the center of your forehead. You're at point-blank range. You're about to have your brains blown out by someone you've never seen before. You're too tired to fight back, especially after just thinking that you were safe. So, you close your eyes as you brace for death. Tense minutes pass before the barrel of the gun is lowered. You open your eyes as you hear the gun returned to a holster and look up to meet the near-emotionless eyes of a gray-skinned man wearing a red and black pizzeria employee outfit. The man speaks in a gruff voice with an air of warning while turning away from you.

Pizza guy: "I only kill those who surrender to their inner demons. You may stay, but don't touch my supplies."