Prologue
Roadkill
"You got to do what you got to do" that's what they tell you when you sign up…it's their catchphrase almost. They tailor that saying on EVERYTHING. Their Jackets, Bikes….even their women. Me? I'm only here because I have to be, a man who rides solo in this wasteland is a DEAD man, as long as I aim and shoot the men these guys want dead, I'm not, simple.
Initiation was tough though, and I'd rather not go into detail. It took days to get the brain out of my beard. That's all I'll say. I lay in my Bed looking at the ceiling as long as possible before I hear my name being called…my NEW name.
"Roadkill! Wake up! Romeo stole our supplies and head for the hills, it's time for you to kill one of our own! Builds character!" I groan at the sound of my boss' voice calling my name, his voice was like a rabid Dog barking; his breathe smells like one too. They call him "The King" for good reason, he rules us like an Iron fist, "Cruel, but Fair" is his motto…you know, besides "You got to do what you got to do."
"Roadkill, if I have to come in there, I'll serve your fingers as breakfast sausages!" I sigh and stand up, going over to my Jacket in the corner, wrapping it around my body. I feel safe with it on, like no one can kill me. The King busts through the door, chuckling, he looks at me, and I see him through my cracked mirror, he walks over and puts his hand on my shoulder, laughing, I gag internally. He doesn't see, good.
"You feel good, don't you…Powerful, we found a lot of these jackets in the large building with the word "Mall" on it…I tell you, 21st century architecture bothers me, what is the point of fucking large buildings filled with clothing? You can just rob the men you kill! Am I right, Roadkill?" I look at him and nod
"Yes, Sir…" I speak, finally I say something to him, his words disgust me, this is wrong and I know it, my gun is in my holster on the dresser. I could kill him right now…I'd be doing everyone in the world a favor. I grab my holster and set it on my belt, I look to The King, biting my lip and grabbing the holster. He frowns at me, pulling my hand away, I begin to walk out of the room and to my bike.
"I'll pretend I didn't see that, Roadkill…I get it, you're not used to killing, but you're one of us now…one of the Saints. Killing your boss is a no-no…" He pulled out his gun, in case I got any more Ideas no doubt. I cursed under my breath as I walked to the garage, hopping on my bike and following the King's lead. He spoke as we rode behind him
"Listen up, we're riding out to the bandit camp we destroyed last week and parking out bikes, The Chief says he found out where Romeo is camping out, we go there, take him out, and take him back to make some stew, Saints! Ride with me!" The other gang members yelled and whooped as they rode behind The King, I let out a disheartened "Yea" before keeping my eyes on the road, as well as making sure no killer Bees flew into my mouth. That's how Test went…one flew right in his gullet, stung the poor guy's heart. We rode for what seemed like hours, parking our bikes and going in on foot, we met up with Chief next to an old tree overlooking a field where Romeo was camping out
"He saw me and he's getting ready to pack up, King, we need to take him out now! I slashed his tires, but he's still got legs, I can't slash those yet!" he said, running up the hill, King must have some ideas for Romeo if Chief couldn't touch him…Chief loves cutting people up, his Jacket is pure red, it didn't start out that way, and lord knows I can't scrub that red out. That's when I began to hear something…a motor, King heard it too, he turned and readied his rifle, aiming in the direction of the noise, a truck came darting over the hill, running over Deer-Track…and shooting at the King, he shot back, but yelled at us to take cover, I did as told, hiding behind the tree, everyone else got slaughtered due to the lack of cover. Bandits always show up at the worst fucking times. I fire blindly at them, afraid to poke my head out.
"Come out! Wherever you are! I just want to snuggle you!" Psycho bandits, great, I can already assume that The King left me on my own. Thinking I could handle myself. Either that or thinking I was killed. I poked my head out and shot at him, getting a clean shot through the skull, the way I looked at it, I just put down a sick puppy. I made a dash towards the middle of the field, trying to dodge bullets and whatever they were throwing at me. That's when I hear it again…a motor, I turn to see another truck on a direct course for me, but these were people weren't crazy, three people in the truck, 2 young women and one man, One woman aimed her gun at me, I sighed and put my hands up.
Chloe
"Erin, wake up" I say sleepily as I stretch and hop out of bed, it was my turn to use the bed last night. She mumbles and throws her bag at me; I sigh and walk over, kneeling next to her.
"It's our turn to scavenge the town today…get up, we can't afford to miss another work day" She sighed again and sat up, she turned her head toward me, Erin was only a year older than me, she stood around 5'7, short black hair, piercing blue eyes. She was cute, and this made the boys in the Clan go crazy for her, that's fine, I don't need someone slowing me down like that anyways, Erin's lucky I'm stuck with her, or I'd so leave her behind on scavenge runs.
"Come on, Chloe….can't we just get another 3 minutes?" She asked, pouting, I shook my head
"Stop speaking Erinese….I know what "Minutes" means in your language…" I mutter as I walk into the bathroom, brushing my hair and packing my bag, Erin laughs and does the same
"Crap, I forgot, I already pulled that trick on you didn't I?" She laughed, setting her bag on the bed and dressing herself in her ragged T-shirt and jeans, hers was more low cut then mine…she likes the color orange a lot for some reason, I shake my head at her for the 34th time this week about her apparel
"You think we'll find out what "Hooter's" is today?" She asked, referring to the logo on her shirt, she sighed, making sure her bag was packed
"Probably not, let's go" I said, walking over to the door, we walked over to the lot, grabbing a truck and heading to the Entry Checkpoint
"Chloe and Erin, yup, you're on your Scavenge duty, I expect you back in a few hours, if not, and we close the gates until the morning." I nod and I drive out towards the ruined city, I take out our list
"Here, we haven't checked this building out, I'll go in, and you keep the engine running" Erin nods and leans back
"Keep your eyes open you fucking slacker!" Erin bolts awake, nodding, she, brings up her rifle and looks around the area, I walk in and look around…the place is bloody, I sigh and walk past a half-eaten woman, the worst part was, I knew her, Heather, a woman who went missing a few weeks ago, that means this place has been checked over by bandits, I leave, but not before grabbing Heather's I.D to bring back to the Morgue. I hear gunshots and run out quickly, Erin is shooting at Bandits outside, I run out and hop into the back
"How'd it go in there!?" Erin asked, sitting down and driving down the road, and the bandits began following
"I found Heather, she was eaten, I grabbed her I.D" Erin sighed, and nodded, she kept shooting
"They pay good money for those I.D's…I'm going to try and lose em' in the forest! Maybe they won't catch up to us in there" I didn't even have time to explain why that was a bad Idea….but it was our only Idea at the point, that's when I turned to see the Saints riding down the road, I glared at them, I walked over and shoved Erin aside
"I'm driving…you shoot" Erin looked to me, then looked over to see the Saints, sighing and ignoring them, I drove around them, trying to swerve the bandits into their way, it didn't work too well, I began to worry that we wouldn't get any kind of work done and make It back in time. I looked to Erin and smirk
"There's a field up ahead, I can lose them there!" Erin shook her head, sitting down
"They left, they're going after the Saints, we can ride back into town and…" a bullet whizzed by my head and hit the seat behind me, I jumped a little and swerved
"SNIPER! Get down Erin!" I yelled, keeping my head down and driving up onto the hill where the shot came from, I stopped the car, making sure I had my head down, looking to Erin, I prepare for the worst.
Adam
It's hot today, and I'm sweating…I'm kind of pissed off about this, I hate sweat, it's gross, and if close enough it could even alert Bandits and psychos…I also hate the cold, when I breathe, my breath is visible in the air, it gives away my position. I'm not happy a lot; perhaps if I didn't wear this large coat all the damn time, I wouldn't sweat so much. I ponder this for a moment and decide to think about something else, maybe I should go north….but not too far north, just north enough so that it's cooler, but not…cold. I've probably been all around the world at this point, unless you believe that theory about how the planet isn't just one large land mass…some people believe that there are more land masses out there, filled with people. One of them is supposed to be safe! Safety isn't a thing, safety is a lie told by parents to help you feel safe. I begin to hear something, I look over and see an individual, and it's crushed, under a wrecked vehicle. A Psycho…it doesn't seem to mind much that it's absolutely fucked and might die any second, at least it'll go out in agonizing pain…hit probably did this to itself, I'm not even sorry for the bastard. I walk over to it and kneel down next to it.
"Oh, Mother, I knew you'd be here for the beheading of the Orphanage…" It spoke softly; it's more than likely been here for a while. I pull out a small book and look at it
"What is your name?" I ask it, it doesn't answer, it stares at me, with that stupid mask on, taunting me, I say it sterner this time
"What. Is. Your. Name" I ask again, it begins to wheeze out a few laughs before it falls to the floor, dead, I sigh and stand up, putting the empty book in my back pocket
"That's the 26th one…there has to be a way for them to remember who they were, there just fucking has to" I've been alone in this wasteland for as long as I can remember, I know what it's like to be at that point of insanity and come back from it, I want to get at least ONE Psycho remember who he once was. Perhaps I'd be able to figure out if this is just a disease….or maybe it's just mental health? I grab my rifle and hold it in my hands, the worn our metal and woodwork feels cool against my hands, I bite my lower lip, the clank of my sword hilt hitting my back is loud, I try to adjust it and keep moving forward. I begin to hear gunfire, turning my attention toward the noise, I run over to see what's going on. Once I arrive, I realize that this field has become a miniature battlefield; Psycho's, gang members…and even…are those Colony kids? What are they doing so far out of the city limits.
"Maybe they're not colony kids, what if they're spies…from the government, oh fuck, I need to stop them" He set up his shot and began aiming at the car, he shot at them, hitting the seat next to the driver
"Fuck, the one time I fuck up my shot" the girls then began to drive up near me, I begin to freak out, I put my rifle away, no use up close, I pull out my sword from its hilt, readying myself for the Government agents.
"Put your hands up, Psycho!" One of the girls yells at me
"Psycho? I'm not a Psycho! You're Government agents! You don't belong out here!" The girls look at me like I'm actually insane
"No…we're from the colony just north of here, we got chased by Psycho's…we weren't sure if you were one of them, we—" the girl's explanation was cut short by the sound of an actual psycho coming from behind and hitting her in the back of the head
"OH BOY! An orange to make Lemonade out of!" I take my sword and throw the damn thing, hitting the Psycho right between the eyes, the other girl looks to me, and nods, she picks up her friend and puts her in the truck, I pick up my sword and look at her
"Good luck out there" I say, beginning to walk away from them, my eyes were set on the highway, and North
"No! What do you mean? Do you have a place to go? Y-You're not all alone are you?" I look back to her and smile
"What does… "alone" mean?" I ask the girl, she looks at me like I'm crazy, like I just turned her life upside down
"You have to get in the truck, you know what happens when you stay out in the wasteland long enough on your own!" She yells at me, I'm not listening, I turn away from her and begin walking, but that's when I realize I could steal her truck, I turn my head to look at her
"Fine…I'll go with you, make room" I say, climbing into the back of the large truck, at this point, her friend is awoken
"My name is Chloe, and this is Erin…" Erin waves at me, I'm confused at this interaction, these people are talking to me…I'm not used to it
"Hey, there's some guy standing in the middle of the field, let's kill him, he's wearing a "Saints" jacket" I smirk and pull out my rifle, aiming it out the window, Chloe pulls up next to this guy, I open the door and aim at him, he looks startled, awesome.
"Hey Hey Hey! Calm down! I'm friendly" the man says, he's got his hands up, but I still shoot, I get him right in the gut, laughing at what I did, Erin's eyes are wide…she's not happy. She punches me in the chest and helps him into the vehicle, I'm mad now
"What are you doing!? Didn't Chloe say to kill this man! We should leave him here to rot…or let the Psycho's eat him!" Erin shook her head and let the man in, closing the door, she then looked to Chloe
"Drive…" Erin said, and with that, she did, grumbling at Erin's decision.
4 unlikely personas, meeting up in the middle of a war between Gangs and Psycho's…one of us is part of the gang, another two are colony kids, and then there's me. We drive away from the sounds of gunshots and things get quiet, we're safe. I hate safe.