A raider is wandering through the wasteland, he has no name, it seemed arbitrary to him. Why did he need a name if all he knows is how to slaughter and kill? Yet every once in a while, he feels like there is more to life than that, that there is more to just killing innocents and stealing what you need. He wanders for nearly 3 weeks, hunting for food, or stealing what he can before he comes across an abandoned town. Outside of the town is an old metal sign that says "Welcome to Pineview." The raider, however, cannot read this sign. He can only comprehend that there might be something of value inside of the town, maybe something that will help him find his higher purpose.
The streets were, of course, empty. Devoid of fast-moving cars, people, and children. This was a complete ghost town, one of many that now inhabited the world thanks to The Great War. The raider finds a skeleton holding a small bundle of bones. What used to be a dress was now pink tatters, and the hair that topped its scalp disappeared so long ago. The raider felt something for this mother, he didn't know what this feeling was and how it made him feel cold inside. The raider was sad for this mother, and her dead child. He was sad for her, and her inescapable fate.
The raider continued down the main street, looking down other ways and feeling sadness for all of the dead. They didn't have a choice, they couldn't save themselves. These people were just like the ones he had killed so long ago, people he killed only to survive. He thought about all of the people he has killed, and all of his thoughts started to mush together into one big regret. Instead of killing them, he could have helped them. He could have been a farmer, a doctor, a savior. In spite of all of this he chose to kill to get ahead n the world rather than work, and he hated himself for it.
This raider, this so-called monster, was making himself sick with these revelations. That woman, dead long ago, made him feel something a freshly dead corpse could not. The feeling of being human, of being not the only one on this planet. He suddenly was overcome with an intense anger, and smashed his fist at a decayed building. The building crumbled in, revealing a dark room and one single hanging light bulb. Someone was crying, the raider heard crying. It sounded like a little girl. The raider followed the noise, and went inside of the dark room.
It was old, and smelled heavily of rust and death. Bottles of murky liquid, that one held labels lay lopsided on the shelves and beneath a counter lay an old Pre-War cash register. It was broken and tossed aside. The raider followed the little girl's cries until he reached a door at the back of the abandoned store. Slowly, he opened the door and saw, huddled next to a woman's emaciated corpse, a skinny little girl. She looked frail, and her blond hair hung in wisps off of her head. The raider picked up the girl, and cradled her in his arms. "What is your name girl?" The little girl stopped crying for a moment, "M-m-my n-n-nam-me is-s J-j-jad-de. W-whats y-y-yours?" The raider smiled and said, "The people I know call me War, nice to meet you Jade."
War walked out of the store with the little girl and smiled. With her in his arms, he walked out of the town and began his journey to a new life. So you see, in the end, war can change. It just takes the pure innocence of a child to change it.