Chapter 1: What Nightmares Doth Bring

Along a dilapidated roadside the sounds of rummaging are heard. Amidst the vast ruin and debris a small child scourers the junk heaps. She is clothed in what would seem to be tattered sack cloth materials with patches of other colors sewn in on it and her hood. The small child's face held an expression of wavering energy yet held the zest of curiosity. Her dirty face lit up in joy when she happened across a piece of relatively clear plumbing pipe.

"Yay, I found one!" she exclaimed. "Master Rich will be so happy I found what he is looking for." she continued.

She held the pipe segment in her tiny hands as she skipped back home through the ruined roads of a decaying city. All around her lay the burnt and crumbled remains of what was once a sprawling metropolis. The sky above was a somber complement to the depressing landscape. It was as if someone had murdered the Sun. the clouds were a mix of black and grey with veins of what was once sunshine peeking through. She kept on skipping along the road still grasping the long pipe in her small dirt coated hands. She at last came to the entrance of what seemed like a large village or make-shift encampment. She knocked on the door to gain entrance.

"Hey, I'm back. Open up." she said.

"State your business here." replied a voice behind the door.

"It's me Nil, let me in." the small girl stated.

"State the vow." replied the voice.

"Oh come on Sid just let me in." Nil complained.

"Sorry Nil, its protocol." Sid replied. Nil sighed and spoke the vow.

"As we sleep at night and rise in the morning, we shall persevere. When in darkest times, we shall find the light. And though the world may try to destroy us, we shall rebuild. Can I come in now? Master Rich is waiting for this part." she said.

"Oh Master Richard is expecting you; why didn't you just say so?" said Sid as Nil sighed and entered past the large gate.

Nil walked hastily through the shabby looking village. The houses all around her were crafted out of everything from porch awnings to salvaged sheet metal. She made her way through the scrappy looking town an arrived at a large ruined building. It looked like the remains of a government building. The structure was concrete and marble and was built in the shape of a square with rusted blackened steel support beams sprawled out everywhere. Nil headed for the central tower on the far side and proceeded up to the third floor. After climbing many steps Nil finally reached the third floor.

"Master, Master Rich I'm back. I found the pipe you needed." she called out.

"Welcome back Nil. Are you ok, you didn't have any trouble finding it did you?" inquired a voice.

A moderately tall yet stocky man came walking over to her from a table cluttered with books, papers, and glass laboratory vessels. He was dressed in a white cloth shirt and tan colored linen pants with sandals covering his feet. On top of all of that was a long black coat with a hood pulled back. His hair was shoulder length and dark. He had a mustache and beard goatee, dark brown eyes, and wore a twisted bronze torc around his neck.

"No, it was just really messy.", Nil answered as she handed the pipe to the man.

"Thank you Nil. Now Mikey can repair the repair the irrigation system.", he said.

"Is there anything else I help you with Master Rich?", she inquired.

"Not at the moment Nil but thank you. Just go deliver the pipe to Mikey and tell the others that I'll summon the village to the temple in an hour.", Rich mandated.

"Yes Master.", Nil confirmed as she smiled and bowed.

She turned and started back down the stairs. As she made it through the courtyard past the remnants of the tower spire Rich couldn't help but breathe a sigh of sadness.

"She is a bright light in a dark world. It pains me to see her live like this. At least she was born after those times. The day the whole world went to Hell.", he remarked.

It is Tuesday August 21st, 2017 in Philadelphia and much has changed. The world as it was once known is gone. The clouds have darkened, the land has been tainted, and the water befouled. Things of course weren't always this way. There once was a thing called peace and prosperity in this world at a time.

"They called it The End Days, Ragnarok, and Judgment Day. We on the other hand had a better name for it. We simply called it the Apocalypse. It started like any other day, birds chirping, people talking, and cars crowding city streets, kids were in school while average people worked at their many jobs. All was right with the world; that was until that day came. Some say we were warned while others said it was just superstitious bullshit. To all of those nay-sayers they were wrong and the others never knew how right they were. Long ago the Mayans warned us, then the Chinese, and after them was the Cybil and later still Nostradamus himself but did we listen? No.

From the earliest I could remember nations and their leaders have been fighting over everything from resources to stupid idealistic and religious zeal. In retrospect I can't remember what set things into motion. Whatever the reason, it was the last straw. So on December 21st, 2012 the leaders of the world committed the most heinous act in human history. Armageddon, mankind's ultimate sin, that is what was done on that fateful day. Numerous rockets filled the skies and on that day the world cried bloody murder as Earth, for the first time in four billion years, burned once more. And so in a single day and night mankind destroyed all it had ever known. The ancients warned us that at the apex of our civilization we would bring about the end of the and our own destruction.", Rich recounted to himself as he looked with much sorrow at an old news paper that read "The End is Nigh".

The memories of that horrid day still tormented his every thought and still haunted his every dream. He hadn't had a peaceful rest in some time now and even fewer dreams. For those few and rare times when he did sleep, he knew only fear and terror. There were no more dreams, only nightmares….and screams.