No one had expected that it would have happened. No one had thought that all those nut jobs yelling on the streets and all of those groups claiming salvation were actually right, that the end was near. Actually the most shocking thing was that the Mayans, a civilization that had collapsed a couple thousand years ago, were right. Judgment Day, Armageddon, The Rapture, The End of Days, all of these names wouldn't amass to what happened on December 21st 2012 or as everyone calls it now, The Darkest Day. Tornados popped up over the Hudson River Valley, earthquakes hit London, and wildfires raged through out mainland Europe. Hurricanes formed at the southern tips of South America and Africa and ran straight up the respected continents coasts. Floods broke out, destroying anything along a major river, and typhoons murdered the Pacific. Long story short, it seemed as if Mother Nature was out to murder human kind. The real kicker though is what happened after.

Now before I get any further, allow me to introduce myself. I've gone by many names throughout the years I've lived, Xavier Blackstone, Longstride, Ranger, just to name a few. Now a day I'm called a hero, savior, and the brightest star. But before all of this, this insanity, before the Darkest Day, I was called son, brother, friend. I was an OA, RA, 2nd Lieutenant, but also a monstrosity, demon, but most importantly Hellfire. But none of these are my true name. This here is Jacob "Jake" Murphy, reporting for duty. I was just a sophomore in college when this was happening. Going to Scranton for my higher education, I enrolled in the Army ROTC program at my college, figured might as well use every option possible to save money and possibly make some too. Wasn't too hard of a life style, learn the ways of a scholar and also receive training in one of the world's greatest militaries, but boy was I happy that I decided to join up since once the Darkest Day hit, everyone was turning on each other and slitting each other's throats. The city itself was at war, but by a miracle, my college kept it together. The Army actually helped out since it already had its foot in Scranton due to the ROTC so they step up shop right there and helped us keep order. Life wasn't too bad, just instead of classes I had to patrol a twelve block radius to keep things peaceful and hope that the world would return to normal. Too bad that was just wishful thinking.

Back then during the early days of rebuilding after the Darkest Day, the majority of society split into two groups. Either you survived or you died on that day. However when people dragged themselves out of the rubble and dug others out, they realized that natural disasters as big as hurricanes weren't the only problem. A virus of unknown origins sprung up and worked with what was left of mankind. It infected everyone, but only a few actually succumbed to the disease. Doctors now refer to it as the Angel of Death virus, seems like it was picky like the angel that swept through Egypt in the Bible. Anyways not here to talk about religion, those affected by the virus turned crazy. It was as if all logic and common sense had vanished. They became barbaric and attacked anyone who they saw as a threat. This caused the survivors to panic, forcing the governments that had reformed to install marshal law.

I don't know how effective this was around the world, but where I was in Scranton, PA, that worked for a while. The Army worked wonders in keeping order, and it seemed for a few months that everything was going great, till we got word of what was happening in the South and the Southwest of America. Whole communities had been hit by the Angel of Death and turned into these psychos and had actually managed to form together as a make shift fighting force. They only had one objective; Bring hell upon the world. This had caused widespread fear in the nation, and soon she began to fall apart. States left the Union and were trying to protect themselves either on their own or by forming with a state next to them. From the looks of it, it broke down in a rather classic example of geography. The South stayed to the South, West coast to the West coast (though I heard that California broke in two so that they could either join the southwest or the northwest) etc. But no one was more successful than New England, or as they called themselves New America.

While everyone was running around and fleeing from these marauding bands or trying to fight back, the Northeast had formed a plan. First they broke off from Washington D.C. and formed their own country. Next they inducted any able body possible within their region of control into their military task force. Then they began to prepare for the long haul. They began to pitch together all of their resources and did the one thing anyone could possibly do to survive an army; defend themselves. All along the coast, from Long Island Sound and the waters around there straight up to the northern most waters of Maine, mines were placed as well as a patrol system. Air monitor systems were manned 24/7 in the event that the southern crazies managed to fly a plane within a thousand miles of the northeast. But the greatest achievement of this newly founded country was a wall of steel, that stood fifty feet high, fifteen feet thick, and 500 miles long. This thing was like a modern Wall of China. Starting just outside of New York City (They moved the city east and onto higher ground when the Hudson River Valley had flooded) and going up into upstate New York, it followed the river till it hit the mountains. From there miniature versions of the wall were installed to lock down the northern border and form a ring of protection around New America. From there all the people had to do were work and enjoy life, for all they knew the world around them was dead and though that was a morbid thought it was reality. However the government of the country wasn't the same way. They knew people were in trouble and so they formed a plan. Since the country needed people to keep a population going and for manpower in the event the defenses didn't hold up, they staged rescue missions of the outlaying world while the Wall went up. First they went as far as North Carolina, Ohio, and up into Canada. As the invading swarms of bloodthirsty lunatics came closer, the rescue crews in C-17s picked up people closer to home. Soon Blackhawks and Chinooks were flying over my head and landing in districts just outside of Scranton. This was when everyone knew it was getting bad. The army started aiding in getting as many civilians out of the city and onto these vehicles bound to the safest haven possible. All was going well, we had actually managed to get 3/4ths of the population out of the city and onto the planes when the hordes of murderous madmen appeared on out outlying perimeters. It took two days to get the rest of the population of Scranton out and onto planes and helicopters when we had to retreat into the city itself in order to continue fighting. That's when things started to get interesting.