Where is my John Wayne?
Where is my prairie sun?
Where is my happy ending?
Where have all the Cowboys gone?
Where is my Marlboro Man?
Where is his shiny gun?
Where is my lonely ranger?
Where have all the cowboys gone?
-Paula Cole
Guns in his hands, he made sure they were ready to fire as he aimed around every corner he had to cross.
Strife wasn't one to always follow orders but he had been slightly curious at what the human world looked like at its end. He didn't really have an opinion on the human race but from the bodies he had seen so far he wasn't impressed.
He made it to a country area where it was most likely less populated before the apocalypse even came, slowing his horse down so he could take a look at the scenery.
The sky above him started turning dark indicating a storm was on its way. The thunder was gentle and quiet for now but he could tell the storm would be a violent one once it reached his location.
The masked man found a farm house and decided to investigate. He wasn't sure why but something inside was telling him to search the place. Usually he would ignore that little voice in his head but something about this place seemed promising.
He jumped down off of his horse and stepped up onto the front porch. Of course, the door was locked but he could've cared less. The glass in the top half of the door was easy to knockout so he could reach in and unlock it. Once inside he took his guns out again.
Unlike the places in the cities, this place was being lived in. There was no dust anywhere, there was a bed area made out of blankets and pillows in the corner that still had body heat on them and he could smell someone, a human, alive.
A click of a gun was heard behind him.
"Who are you?" A feminine voice said.
Strife turned around to see a skinny woman with long blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Her lime green eyes held rage and fear.
"How did you find me?"
The rider rolled his eyes behind the mask, "I was minding my own business, exploring the human world to see if I could find anything valuable and the cities were full of shit. Found my way out here, saw this place, and thought 'What the hell, I can check it out.' I had no idea there would be a human in here... One still living, anyway."
"Exploring the human world? Are you on drugs or something?"
"No offense, darlin' but the drugs in the human realm can't get a Nephilim high enough to do shit. So no, I am not on drugs."
The woman held the gun down with a confused expression on her face, "Wait, what?"
"From what I've seen, your pretty little self just might be the only human left in existence." He said, turning around and walking out of the house.
"Wait!" She called after him, "You can't leave me here! I've been trying to find other survivors for the past two months! You're the only other thing I've seen that's... Fairly normal."
Strife stopped walking and shifted his gaze to the ceiling with an annoyed sigh, "I'd invite you to come with but you were mean to me." He said with a sarcastic pout, "You put a gun in my face. That's not a very friendly thing to do, you know."
"What? Okay, I'm sorry! Just... Just don't leave me here by myself..."
"You'd willingly trust a man you just met?"
"I'm at the point of insanity, so yes."
He turned and looked at her with a glare in his eyes as if he'd draw his guns and shoot her any second. Then without warning, he answered.
"Okay." He said with a care free tone and a light shrug, his eyes easing up on the harsh stare.
The blonde almost fell to the floor, this man was freaking crazy with some kind of mood swings!
"You comin' or not?" He asked and she grabbed her bag and took off out the door behind him.
Seeing a demonic horse outside was not what she was expecting once she left the house. He climbed up on it and looked at her with his hand out.
She hesitated.
"You're insane enough to trust a man you just met but not enough to get on a horse with him?"
Still, she hesitated, pulling at the bottom of her black spaghetti strap shirt then after a moment of comparing pros and cons on the situation she took his hand and allowed him to help her up in front of him on the horse.
"Maybe we can beat the storm to the bridge that should still be standing up ahead. Can't have a pretty little thing like you getting wet on me..."
She ignored his comment and the way he said it but forgot all about it when a loud thunderclap echoed through the sky, making her jump.
She should've known better than to leave with him when a storm was coming up, she hated storms! Ever since she was a child she was terrified of them.
Strife seemed to sense her discomfort so made an attempt to get her mind off of it, "You never told me your name."
Again, she hesitated before she spoke in a shaky voice, "Claire."
"Alright, Claire. We're almost to the bridge."
Once they made it there it had started pouring rain. Before she could see the lightning streak across the sky again Claire ran under the bridge and sat near the top where it was bone dry. Strife jumped down from his horse which stood at the bottom of the bridge where the water was. The rider himself made it to where Claire was curled up at. He tried to ignore the short blue jean shorts she wore that revealed how long her legs were.
"Why are you afraid of storms?"
"Long story." She hugged her knees tighter to her chest. She wasn't quite ready to share personal details with this man.
"Fair enough."
Strife reached up and gripped the mask on his face, pulled it off then shook his hair to get the rain water out.
Claire looked at him and felt the fear from the storm go away. He was beautiful with pale skin and perfect yet manly features. It was then she actually noticed how much taller and muscular he was, more so than normal guys. He had a thin goatee the same dark color as his hair.
"What was your name again?"
"Strife."
Note: Made Strife look like a more gothish/cowboy version of Joe Manganiello just because I've always pictured him looking like that, sometimes I picture him with the facial hair, sometimes without.