Prologue: Hometown

It was late; of this Serah Farron was quite sure. How late? Who knows, she had long since given up on checking the clock on her phone ever five minutes. The fifteen year old was sprawled out, her long legs dangling off the edge of the couch positioned in front of the television in the spacious living room. She had been mindlessly flipping through the channels for what felt like (and probably was) hours, looking for anything that wasn't late night comedy shows, featuring the kind of humor that was more crass than actual comedy, or advertisement for products that only people who were completely wasted would order and then wonder where it came from when it showed up on their door step.

With a huff, she switched off the television and lazily dropped the remote on the floor, deeming it too much effort to stretch her arm out to reach the table. She stared at the ceiling for a full ten minutes before snatching up her phone and checking the time again. The LED screen lit up, the numbers on the interface displaying the time as 1:03 AM. She sighed dramatically. And began swinging her legs back and forth, making a game of trying to keep them in rhythm with the ceiling fan. Fifteen minutes later, she finally heard the door open slowly, undoubtedly trying to make as little sound as possible so as not the supposedly sleeping occupant. Light but steady footsteps grew louder as they drew near to the living room. The sliding door to the room opened and a figure stilled as they saw the girl on the couch.

"You're supposed to be asleep. It's a school night." A young woman with hair the same shade of light pink that Serah had.

"Good to see you too, Light." Serah greeted, obviously put off by other's lack of warmth.
The woman rolled her eyes, although her overall attitude seemed more good natured and was obviously finding it difficult to stay irritated at the younger's childish antics.
"And why, may I ask are you still up at this hour. I told you I'd be back late. I hope you at least did your homework this time instead of talking on the phone with that idiot all night." She said, her tone less scolding and more playful now. She settled on the couch next to the younger girl, who moved her legs up to her chest to make room.

"Well it's not my fault that you work ridiculous hours. I hope you didn't really think you could get out of this, just because you refuse to take the day off." She said cheekily. With that, she reached behind one of the small decorative pillows on the couch and produced a medium sized parcel, neatly wrapped with a white satin ribbon on top.

"Happy birthday!"

The gift was placed in the woman's lap, the card attached to it facing up so that she could read the immaculate hand writing on the frilly stationary that read: Happy Birthday, Lightning! P.S. I'm going to throw you a party, and you can't stop me! You only turn nineteen once, sis!

Lightning chucked quietly at the card. The look on Serah's face left no room for argument, and Lightning secretly dreaded the idea of walking through her front door after a hard day working for the Guardian Core, only to find Serah's rowdy gang of half wit friends ready to make her have fun whether she liked it or not.
She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts and carefully removed the shiny ribbon and paper that secured the package. Removing the lid revealed the contents to be a basic survival knife. She lifted it in her hand and pressed the trigger, the mechanism that held the blade safely inside the handle. The blade glinted, warning of its sharp edges. The felt balanced and light in her hand, but still sturdy enough that it would hold out for some time. It was obvious that Serah had taken her time and spared no expense in obtaining a high quality knife. "How practical." She said in an amused tone.

"Do you like it? You kept complaining that your old one was broken, so I thought this might make a good gift." Serah said. Her voice was calm, but her face betrayed her anticipation to hear Lightning's verdict.

"Serah, this is nice but…" She began, making a show of trying to get the blade to click back into its original position. "I think it's broken." She declared.

"What!" The disappointment in Serah's voice almost made Lightning sorry for the trick she had played. Almost. She laughed at her sister's face as it slowly morphed into annoyance as Lightning lifted her fingers, revealing that she had been holding the trigger in place, preventing the blade from retracting. Serah did her best to look petulant and playfully pushed Lightning, who had yet to stop laughing. It was only a matter of moments before Serah gave in and started laughing to, causing the sisters to collapse into giggles all over again.

When they finally caught their breath, Serah leaned over on her older sister's muscular shoulder. Lightning swiped the remote off the ground and turned on the television. The two sat on the couch, talking and laughing at the ridiculous late night programs, that somehow were much more entertaining with someone to watch them with. No more than an hour later, Lightning glanced over at her shoulder to see that Serah had dozed off and was now sleeping peacefully. Lightning carefully shifted before picking Serah up and carrying her bridal style up the stairs to her room. She stepped around the many girly clothes and stuffed animals that covered Serah's room and laid the girl in her bed, drawing the covers up to her chin. She smiled fondly; brushing aside the younger girl's bangs and planting a light kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Serah."

Serah was awakened by the sound of her cell phone ringing on the nightstand beside her bed. She didn't remember going up to her room, but thought nothing of it. She slowly opened her bleary eyes, fumbling for the phone. Her hand finally made contact with the slim device and she pressed the answer button and held it her ear. "Hello?" she asked groggily.

"Serah? Is that you? Are you okay?" The familiar voice of her boyfriend asked.

"Snow? What the hell? What time is it?" She moaned, rolling over to see her alarm clock, which read 3:31 AM.

"Serah, listen to me! Something's going on out here. Something bad! Are you at your house? Is Lightning with you?" He continued frantically.

Serah was now sitting up in her bed with the bedside lamp turned on, "Snow, what's going on?" She asked nervously.

The voice on the other end of the line began to fade out as static cut through, muffling the message. "…out here…everywhere…insane…Ser-…get…stairs…coming ov-" The line went dead. "Snow….Snow?" She yelled into the receiver. Upon receiving no answer, she climbed out of bed, wincing as her bare feet made contact with the floor.

Still feeling groggy from having been woken up so suddenly, she wandered through the hallway to her sister's room and knocked on the door. When she received no answer, she pushed it open, revealing the ever-immaculate room to be empty with the small TV at the foot of the bed turned onto the news station. The woman on the news seemed nervous and disheveled as she spoke.

"I'm here in front of the Bodhum hospital where just hours ago, law enforcement was called in and the area declared off limits to civilians. There are still no reports as to what is going on inside or how it relates to the mass panic now spreading in the surrounding area. Authorities are reluctant to give out any information. Civilians are encouraged to stay in their ho-"
"Look! Over there!"
A voice suddenly interrupted her. The camera zoomed in on a figure emerging from the building. It looked like a man, but he staggered strangely, as if unable to walk properly. The man looked up and saw the news crew and began running toward them, screaming. Then, there was chaos. The camera was dropped on the ground, and screams could be heard, those of the crew along with the crazed screams coming from the mad who had staggered out of the hospital. There was a bright light and then, nothing. The Television cut to static, showing the same on ever channel.

"What in the name of Etro? That's close by…" Serah muttered as she stared at the screen, trying to reconcile what she had just seen. There was a loud noise that made her turn her attention from the useless TV. Her eyes darted to the window in time to see a bright explosion in the distance, from the same direction as the hospital. "Shit." She raced downstairs, still in her pajamas, desperate to find her sister. "Lightning? Lightning!" She called. The downstairs portion of the house was exactly as it had been. The only note left on the refrigerator was the one from earlier that Lightning had left, telling her that she would be home late from work. It was then that Serah noticed the cell phone on the kitchen counter: Lightning's cell phone. Alarms went off in her mind; Lightning never left the house without making sure there was a way for Serah to contact her. She continued her search into the living room, just in time to see Lightning dart through the glass door that lead from the beachfront where their house was located. Lightning looked haggard, still in her Guardian Core uniform, with her gunblade drawn. Before Serah had a chance to question her sister, the sound of banging at the door that Lightning had just come through distracted her. She recognized the person as the kind elderly man from next door, Mark she thought his name was. Lightning quickly switched her weapon to gun mode and aimed it at the old man, who continued ramming himself against the door and screaming. "Mark! I'm warning you! Back off, or I'll shoot!" Lightning yelled. The old man paid her no heed. Serah gasped as he crashed through the glass, not even noticing when the jagged shards became imbedded in his skin. He charged straight toward Lightning, who shot him down instantly.

"Oh, Etro…" Serah gasped, sinking to her knees as blood pooled around the dead man. "What the hell happened? I… I saw him just this morning." She was broken from her stupor as Lightning grabbed her upper arm and began dragging her away.
"Are you hurt?" She asked frantically. Of course that would be the first thing she worried about. Serah shook her head but said nothing. Bright lights shined through the windows by their front door, the rumble of a vehicle audible from where they stood. "That will be Snow." Lightning said, dragging her sister toward the door. Serah said nothing as she was hurried into the back seat of her boyfriend's truck, while Lightning secured the copilot seat.

She listened to her sister and boyfriend talking in low, panicked voices. "Snow, what the hell is going on out there?"

"Honestly, I don't know. But it's bad."
"How bad?" Lightning asked, sounding as if she'd really rather not know.

"Really bad. They've closed off the highway, and they're saying that most of the back roads are inaccessible. I'm guessing you two heard the explosion? It was Bodhum Hospital. It's gone, completely gone."

"That leaves the main road." Lightning said, ignoring the rest of Snow's ramblings.

They drove fast along the coastal roads. A family on the side of the road with a small child tried to flag them down but, at Lightning's insistence, they kept driving and ignored them. Once they reached the heart of the city, everything went to hell. There was chaos in the streets, people running and screaming as whole buildings burned. In the distance, they could hear shots being fired. Unfortunately, they found that they weren't the only ones with the idea of escaping via the main road. Traffic was piled up for as far as the eye could see. People honked their horns and shouted furiously. A few even tried to ram into the vehicle in front of them. On man stepped out his car, furiously shouting at the cars in front of him. His protestations were cut short as another man, this one screeching in a way that didn't seem human, barreled into him, locking his teeth around the mans neck and biting down until the first man's shrill scream died out, replaced by a gurgling sound as blood spewed out of his neck.

"Snow! Get us out of here!" Lightning commanded. He needed no further persuasion, as he quickly shifted the truck into reverse and drove away from the scene as fast as he could. He pounded his horn furiously, warning people to get out the streets lest he mow them down. Serah found she couldn't even scream as she saw that many of the running people were those…things. Many of the fleeing citizens ran screaming, only to fall into the waiting jaws of the humanoid creatures that dug their teeth into the screaming victims, silencing them. The flash of headlights was all the warning they had before another car plowed into them, sending them careening off of the road and onto the sidewalk.

The first thing Serah noticed when she came to was that the truck was on its side. The next thing was the voices outside, screaming as hundreds of people thundered past them without sparing so much as a glance. She turned her attention to the front seat, where Lightning had yet to stir. She grabbed her older sister's shoulder and shook her, "Light! Lightning!" A groan escaped the woman's mouth as she came back to consciousness. "Are you okay?" Serah asked. Lightning didn't answer, instead telling Serah to back away as she kicked the glass out of the front windshield and climbed out of the wreckage. Someone nearby screamed, "There's another one!" before one of the creatures jumped at Lightning, who had just moments to react, pinning her to the vehicle as it desperately tried to reach her with gnashing teeth. Lightning wrestled with it, trying to keep her arms out of the monster's reach. She was saved in the nick of time by Snow, who smashed a brick into its skull. The two immediately turned their attention to Serah, working together to pull her from the wreckage. Serah winced as pain shot up her leg. "My…my leg…" She choked out. Lightning wasted no time in hefting her sister into her arms. She handed her weapon, to Snow, locking eyes with him. "Keep us safe." Was all she said before she began running with Serah in tow. Snow ran right beside them, keeping the gun trained expertly on anything that got too close for comfort. One of the creatures tackled the woman who was running nearby them. They left her.

The group was forced to turn onto another street when an explosion erupted from a gas station, setting off several more fires. "Keep running!" Snow shouted. "Close your eyes, Serah!" Lightning ordered. Serah wished she could as she saw several people catch fire. A squad of Guardian Core patrol cars wrecked into each other, causing yet another explosion and causing the three to dash into an alley. Snow opened the wire gate for them and waited till they were through to close it before following behind them. A figure, what they had assumed was a corpse, suddenly began writhing and leaped off the ground, attacking the sisters. Snow shot it down before it could harm either of them. "Dammit!" Lightning shouted. Two more of the creatures were pounding at the fence, trying to get through. "They're getting through!" She shouted.
"We'll find a way out!" Snow shouted back, although he sounded more desperate than certain. They dashed into a seedy looking bar through the back entrance. They were all too aware of the sound of inhuman screams echoing behind them. They ran through the door and Snow slammed it, just as a group of the creatures reached their arms through, unhampered but the man's attempts to close the door.

"Get to the highway!" He shouted, desperately trying to keep the screaming horde out.

"What?" Lightning asked, stunned.

"Go! You've got Serah! Get her to safety! I can outrun them!" He yelled, making eye contact with the woman.

Lighting nodded, "We'll meet you there!" She said before turning and running.

"Snow!" Serah shouted, trying to get out of her sister's grip. "No! We can't leave him! We have to go back!"

Lightning ignored her sister's pleas, focusing completely on running as fast as she could. "He'll be fine! We're almost there!" They ran out the front door of the bar, speeding up as she heard the ragged screaming of another one of the creatures that gave chase after them. She was dimly aware of hearing an aircraft flying over them, but blocked out the sound as they ran past the wreckage of an ambulance that two more of the creatures staggered out of and joined the other in chasing after them.

Lightning's legs were burning and her heart pumping wildly at the stress of running and carrying her sister. She could her the screeching monsters getting closer. She knew she couldn't outrun them for much longer. As if the answer to a prayer, three precise shots rang out of nowhere, putting their pursuers out of commission. Lightning turned her attention to their savior. A man in a PSICOM uniform stood in front of them, his military issue gun still held aloft in his hand. "Please!" Lightning gasped. "You have to help us!" She stepped toward the man, but stopped when he refocused his aim on the pair. "Stay where you are!" He commanded. Lightning did as he commanded, knowing that she was in no shape to fight back against him. She took a step back, as if to assure the man that they weren't hostile. "We're not one of them. It's my sister. I think her leg's broken." She said, trying to remain calm. The man ignored her, instead reaching for the communication device fastened to the front of this uniform. "Sir, I have two civilians in the outer perimeter. Please advise." He said.

"Lightning, what about Snow?" Serah whispered as the man listened to whatever orders were relayed to him through his earpiece.

"I'm gonna get you to safety, then I'll go back for him." Lightning whispered back.

"Sir, they're kids. One of them is injured." She soldier said solemnly into his communication device. Lightning began to back away, every instinct telling her to run. The soldier sighed wearily, "Yes sir." He lifted his gun, leveling it with them. Lightning's eyes widened. "Shit!" She screamed, before turning and tossing Serah away as the man opened fire on them. A bullet hit her in the shoulder and she fell to the ground, cradling the injury. The man stood over her, no emotion visible through the lenses of the gas mask he wore. "Please don't." She begged, lifting her hand as if to push him away. His finger shifted to the trigger.

Bang!

The soldier toppled over, dead. Snow stood a distance behind him, Lightning's gun held expertly in his hands. He raced toward the girls, and then stopped abruptly. "Oh no." was all he could say. Lightning quickly looked in the same direction.

She didn't want to believe what she saw. Serah lay on the ground; hand clenched around the bloody would in her stomach. "No!" she shouted, running to her sister's side. "Serah! Serah, look at me! You're gonna be alright!"

"L-Light…?" Serah said between gasps. Tears filled her blue eyes as she clumsily grasped for her sisters arm, squeezing it as the pain kicked in. Snow was at her other side, pressing his hand over the wound, desperately trying to staunch the flow. Serah's skin seemed too pale. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her blurring vision. "L…ight…Snow…" It was hard to tell which one of them was screaming.

"Stay awake!"
"Serah!"
"Don't go!"

"Stay with me"

Her eyes glazed over, staring at nothing as her life left her.

"No! No! No! No! No!" Lightning was screaming, shaking her sister's lifeless body.

It was Snow who pulled her away, forcing her to run, even as she reached back for Serah's corpse.

"Serah!"

Somewhere, a radio crackled to life.

"The number of confirmed deaths has passed two hundred. The governor has declared a state of emergency."

"Hundreds and hundreds of bodies lining the streets…"

...

"Panic spread worldwide as a leaked report from the department of health showed that the latest vaccination tests have failed."

"With the bureaucrats out of power, we can finally take the necessary steps to…"

"Palumpolum is the latest city to be placed under martial law."

"All residents are required to report to their designated quarantine-"

"Riots have continued for the third consecutive day and winter rations are at an all time low."

"A group calling themself The Cavalry have claimed responsibility for both attacks."

"Their public charter calls for the return of all branches of government."

"Demonstrations broke out following the execution of six alleged Cavalry members."

As time passed, the other voices faded into static as another voice, overloaded the airwaves.

"You can still rise with us. Remember, when you're lost in the darkness… look for the light. Believe in The Cavalry."