Prologue
"You will lay down your lives for your country! You will do everything you can to take that bunker up there! Now….There is always the possibility that you do not make it out of this alive ladies and gentlemen…..But if we do not do this, then all will be lost and everyone back home will suffer for it. Do I make myself clear? Now move it!"
Sounds of crunching could be heard as armored boots stomped and ran through the thick snow.
Snow fell from the sky above, white flakes landing and melting on the steel armor of fifty brave men and women as they proceeded up the hill.
Silence filled the air…..Hauntingly so.
Where was the enemy?
That question was soon answered as a whish in the air sounded off and explosions rocked the landscape around them.
"Mortar fire!" One of the armored soldiers yelled out before a round exploded two feet away from him, sending him flying through the air and crashing down to the snow covered ground mere seconds later, a sickening crack as bones broke in his body.
One soldier stood above the body, unmoving.
With his rifle in hand, he lifted it up and pointed it at the fallen soldier.
"D….Do it….." The wounded soldier quietly said, the pain too much to bear anymore.
A shot rang out…
Beep beep beep…..
The alarm clock rang.
7:15 a.m.
A groan escaped his mouth as he slowly sat up, looking around the room.
The wall were blackened by a fire long burned out.
Furniture was overturned.
Wallpaper was peeling.
The air in the room smelled of smoke and rotten flesh.
Blood was smeared across the floor and back wall.
A Raider had been killed here the night before.
The body was strewn outside as a warning to other Raiders not to even dare mess with the inhabitant inside lest they wish there fate to end the same way his had.
Standing up slowly, he looked out the window at the ruined buildings along the street and the next street over.
He turned around and began to pack up his gear…..It was time to move on.
There was little pickings left in the immediate area and it was never good to stay in a single location, especially being a wanderer.
But even those town folks didn't get the bigger picture. Being towns, they were larger targets for anything hostile. They were more likely to be attacked than the common stranger on the road.
Finishing packing, he slung his pack over his shoulder and headed out the door.
It was starting to rain out and so he slowly pulled his hood over his head, continuing down the broken road.
"Stop!" A voice yelled from behind.
He stopped, hand reaching from the pistol in his holster.
"Give me everything you've got! No funny business!" The Raider said.
Slowly turning around, he started to put his hands in the air, before quickly drawing his pistol and firing off a round, striking the Raider in the gut.
The Raider fell to the ground, dropping his assault rifle.
"Ahhhh!" The Raider screamed in pain.
He slowly walked over to the Raider and aimed the pistol at his head.
"Who the fuck are you?!"
Looking down at the Raider with pity, he huffed and pulled the trigger.
"Jack…"