Sleep, feelings, life. Those were luxuries. Luxuries he couldn't afford. Not since few weeks ago.
Despite the barren wasteland surrounding his meaningless existence in that small settlement, he used to have it all. And all was kept in the body and soul of one person. The love of his life.
She was his world. She was his life. She was his very being. And all of it was taken away in a single night.
Raiders. Heartless monsters bent on making a man's miserable life in the wastes even worse.
They had appeared in the settlement one peaceful night and made it their personal playground. Stealing, raping... murdering. The cozy bed he shared with her was made into a horrid tool of torment as they grabbed his arms and dragged him outside and her terrified screams filled the air.
Some they killed. Some they tortured. The rest was thrown into a dark corner to wait.
Days went by and no-one came. No-one came to get them. So they made their way outside again, greeted by the smell of burning corpses.
He ran through town. Ran to his house. Hoping they had spared her. Darkness hailed him with nothing but an empty home.
His world was gone. His life was gone. His very soul was gone. Taken away by the hands of demons.
He was ruined. His mind turned to ashes and his tears to rain, washing it away.
But from the destroyed core of his feeble self, rose a stronger resolve. Filled with rage, hate and a will to annihilate.
With protection on his shoulders and a weapon in hand he wandered into the wastes. Determined to figure out the fate of his beloved.
The land was dry, torching, and dangerous. But he could feel nothing, nothing but freezing blizzards of despair.
He was too cold to sleep. Too cold to feel. Too cold to live.
For days he followed the raiders' trail without rest. His mind fixated on tearing the truth from their throats and leaving their bleeding bodies to feed the wasteland and its beings.
And his wish was fulfilled at last.
Deep inside a cave he ventured. Killing everyone in his path and their screams of desperation and mercy flooded his ears. But he could not hear them. He was too cold.
As he shot them down and ripped the life out of them he felt nothing. The tables had turned completely. The merciless raiders of the wastes screamed and shouted in agony for their lives to be spared and their pain to be ended. But the simple settler and newborn wanderer did not bother to heed their words.
Then, in the deepest part of the cave, he found the meaning of his journey. His embodiment of life crept in a corner and covered her eyes. Both her legs shattered.
He went down on his knees and gently moved her hands from her face, releasing a flood of tears. When he saw her pain, he cried with her and took her in his arms. And he could feel again. He finally felt what he had long thought forgotten. From their love, their relief, and their passion he felt...
Warmth.
