Days Of Ruin13…Never Ending

I do not own Advance Wars or any of the series…if I did…I would be sad…sad that this story would have never been born if I owned AW.

Tabitha and Zene were nearly done with their work, Tabitha was nearly done with her inspection and Zene was carrying the last cans of fuel needed to fill the tank.

"Hey Zene?" Tabitha's voice didn't have the usual vigor it had.

"Yeah?" Zene was pouring gas into the tank.

"Aren't you sad about what happened?" She asked.

Zene paused for a moment before continuing. "Yeah, I'm sad, but I don't want to endanger our lives by mourning."

"Endanger?"

"I'll have time to mourn later. I know that my guys wouldn't want me to be sad for them, that wouldn't meet their standards of their leader." He ended on a happy note.

"I understand. I'll be done with checking the barrels in a few minutes!" Sounds of metal hitting metal rang through the tank; Tabitha was checking the insides of the barrels with a metal rod, poking around to check for hazards.

"Ok! I'm done!" Zene shouted from behind the tank.

"Get me some water then!" Zene grumbled and headed to the water truck to fill up his bottle for Tabitha.

He came back and handed the water to Tabitha after she hopped down from the tank. "Thanks" She smiled at him slightly before drinking. The two blushed slightly before Zene headed to the back of the truck.

"I'll…umm, head back to close the gas…uh, opening." With the silence broken, Zene headed to the back of the War Tank.

After Zene left, Tabitha climbed back up to check the barrels with the metal rod.

A group of soldiers were making their way from the city.

"Commander Tasha, there are vehicles ahead of our position." Gage pointed out what he saw from his scope.

"Raiders?" Tasha asked.

Gage checked again with his scope, he saw a raider flag with a reflective patch. "Yes, they have the mark of the raiders."

The group tensed, Gage had his rifle ready and the guards walked in front to shield their commander, guns at the ready.

As they walked closer they began to see the objects in front of them. There was a male working behind the War Tank, his back to the approaching group.

Tasha made her way to the front of the group as they approached.

Zene was busying himself with the fuel tank when he heard someone behind him.

"Stop! Raise you hands up and turn around you raider bastards!" The voice was a woman's

He raised his hands and turned around. He saw five soldiers in front of him, three of the men had similar military gear, another man had blue hair and a sniper rifle, and a woman with orange hair glared at him.

Zene saw Tabitha coming around from the War Tank. She wanted to see what the problem was back there.

"Hey Zene? Whats-" Tabitha stopped and glared at the people in front of Zene. The orange haired woman looked at Tabitha with a mix of shock and anger.

"You're that bitch! Die!" The orange haired woman took out her pistol and pointed it at Tabitha. She knew the IDS CO that was one of the problems she had faced.

The woman was about to pull the trigger.

"NO!"

Zene yelled out and knocked the gun away from her grasp.

"Commander Tasha!" The guards yelled.

The three grunts tackled Zene and pinned him down onto the ground. Tasha's hand was still numb from Zene's strike.

She yelled out "Gage! Kill her!"

The sniper nodded and shot.

The single shot echoed throughout the area.

…

Time stopped for Zene.

He heard the shot.

He saw the flash.

He saw Tabitha try to turn away.

She was hit.

She screamed in pain.

Her body fell to the ground with a thud.

He saw the blood pool around her.

Then...nothing...silence...

Within his mind, something snapped.

The sadness from back when he saw the remains of his men flooded his body.

As he saw Tabitha's white clothes soaked in blood, he felt his sadness change. It was not the sadness that had engulfed his body…it was now rage. Power coursed through his veins, he felt his senses sharpen, his strength grow and his mind focus. He inhaled. He was raging, his mind was warped and words rushed through his mind. 'Protect, guard, shield, save'

"TABITHA!" He roared. With his enhanced body he knocked the men away. They charged at him to subdue him. Zene threw his elbow into the stomach of one of the soldiers. The form crumpled and fell. He took a step and brought up his knee to the side of one of the other soldiers. The form skidded across the ground and lay motionless. He ran up to the remaining soldier and headbutted him. The helmet of the form dented and the man collapsed on the spot.

"Gage-" Tasha was cut off. Zene ran up and tackled her. She was thrown against the Tank and slumped to the ground.

"Die-" Gage lifted up his rifle and shot. Zene continued to run and was grazed by his shot. The shot had only grazed Zene's face. Gage went to grab his pistol after noticing his miss.

Zene roared as he ran. The shot had grazed his cheek and burned a scar. He ignored the pain, he knew what Tabitha had gone through and this amount of pain was miniscule in comparison to her pain. He pressed forward and brought his arm back and slammed his strongest punch into the man's face. Gage had reached for his gun but was stopped as he saw the fist arc toward him. Gage's body twisted from the force of the punch and immediately went limp as the man was thrown onto his back, his weapons scattered, unmoving.

After he expended his energy he rushed over to Tabitha. He was shaking now. Zene turned her and held her. He was crying, he had failed to protect his friend, blood was soaking both his jacket and her white clothes. He held her tightly, crying his heart out.

Hope abandoned him, left him to bask in despair. He had no knowledge of how to perform field surgery on wounded people.

...

...

Tabitha winced in pain.

...

"Tabitha! Please!" Zene was desperate; he was clinging to the strands of hope that were being lowered from the heavens.

It was faint and weakening, but he could hear Tabitha's words. "…My…wound…Please…"

He looked at her arms; he was a deep red hole that had been made by the shot. Her detached sleeves along with her clothes and skirt was absorbing the blood. He took off his jacket and ripped off his sleeve and tied it in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Tears flowed down his face, his hands were shaking, and his arms were being soaked in her blood.

"Tabitha! Don't die! NOOOOOOO!" He began wailing when he was her head slump; she wasn't dead but had passed out from blood loss.

Tasha regained consciousness after hearing the wail of sadness. She checked the bruise on her head and brought herself up to look at the raider. He was cradling Tabitha in his arms, crying his heart out, tears turning red as they touched her clothes. She felt a pang of sadness. The scene before her looked exactly like the time when her brother's dead body was returned to her.

Tasha looked at the couple with sadness. 'They make me look like I'm the villain…' She noticed the faint pants of Tabitha, they were barely noticeable but they showed that she was alive.

Tasha walked up to the man, noticing his gas mask on his arm had Tabitha's blood wiped on it. "You can still sav-"

Zene snapped back. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" His rage flared for a moment.

"You can still save her!"

"I can't…just like before-" His rage was replaced by sadness.

"Just drive the tank! I'll tell you where to go!" Tasha pushed Zene and pointed to the tank; she picked up Tabitha and brought her up onto the tank, making sure not to hurt her enemy.

"Just head to the opposite side of the city! When you see tents start to slow down!" Tasha yelled to Zene.

Zene quickly nodded and jumped inside the War Tank from the turret hatch. He went down to seat himself in the driver/aimer/gunner/loader's seat. He grabbed the only familiar controls in front of him, the steering wheel, and floored the gas pedal. The massive War Tank's engines roared, he turned the tank around and plowed through the wasteland and into the city roads.

Tasha looked back at the now shrinking forms of the unconscious soldiers. 'They'll come back later…' Their bodies now faded as the Tank entered the city.

The tank sped through the streets of the city, knocking cars and trucks to the side as if they were mere flies. The tank was heading straight into a building that had fallen onto the street. Zene saw what lay ahead on the displays and something sparked inside him; he brought his fist down on the buttons that fired the cannons.

"MOVE!" He screamed, the cannons fired. The cannons boomed, and the five shots came one after the other.

Tasha saw the building ahead and braced herself, and then she saw something that surprised her. There were the loud booms of the cannons and the instant destruction of the obstacle before them, but this wasn't what had surprised her. The flashes of the cannon weren't the red explosions of a cannon firing; they were blue, like the blue colors of the plasma that attached itself to meteor fragments. Tasha noticed the subtle distortions as the cannons fired, those were sonicbooms, the distortions radiated outward, just like when a rock is thrown into a pond.

'Railguns?' Tasha thought in fear, she shivered at what might have happened back at Caulder's fortress if War Tanks like these were there.

The Tank soon crosses the border separating the city and the outskirts. Off in the distance there were tents, the cross on the top signaled Zene that those were field hospitals. He suppressed his desire to accelerate into the camp and reduced his speed. Tasha was at the back, keeping Tabitha from losing more blood, when she felt the decrease in speed. She climbed onto the top of the tank and yelled down to Zene.

"Don't scare them! Take it slowly and they won't shoot!" He complied and slowly approached the camp. Many of the soldiers had noticed the approaching War Tank and started to panic. After they realized that their commander was waving to them from the top they calmed down. As the War Tank stopped, Tasha yelled back to Zene.

"We're here! Get her and come with me!"

Zene got out to see Tabitha's arm was wrapped by Tasha's scarf. 'Hmm…what caused her to change? I'll find out later.' Zene carried Tabitha bridal style and jumped off of the Tank's end.

The soldiers around Tasha tensed when they saw him jump down, they raised their weapons at him. When Zene walked closer the soldiers lowered their weapons, they saw the bloodied girl in his arms and the rage deep in his eyes. Tasha motioned the men away.

"Get the medics! I want them here NOW!" She yelled.

Zene lowered his gaze at Tabitha. "Thank you, miss Tasha…"

"Just Tasha."

The two hurried into one of the field tents. There were medics prepped, ready to go. Zene placed Tabitha on the makeshift operating table and watched as the medics surround her.

"Hey raider, lets leave them to do their work." Tasha ushered him out of the tent to let the medics work.

"…Tabitha…is going to be fine, so don't worry…" She assured Zene.

Zene clutched his face; he was doing a bad job at hiding his tear. "Why? Why? Why did you have to shoot her?"

"She-" Zene cut her off.

"She was the only one left! And you shot her!" His tears were streaming down his face and onto the earth. "Tabitha saved my men, and she saved me! She accepted me even though I'm a raider! She wasn't disgusted by me!" He fell and brought his fist down, cracking the hard concrete under them. He roared in agony, channeling all his rage and sorrow into the earth. "I was supposed to protect her, keep her safe, even in her dreams!" His body depleted of energy, he passed out. In his mind Zene had reached the lowest pit of sadness, he had failed to protect his friends three times and he wasn't even able to protect a single one.

Tasha stood there and watch, her tears falling. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" She whispered to the broken raider.

A/N Next chapter will be different...very...different. Keep an open mind!