After a couple of more weeks of foot travel the two of them had crossed the border of New Mexico. And currently they were in the Texas city of Midland, which was a few miles away from the New Mexico border. Now that they were in Texas they figured that it would take them a long while to get across the large state on feet, however they were up to the task.
Midland just like everywhere else had been nearly completely taken over by mother nature, since human beings had went away from the city decades ago. Grass, leafy vines, shrubs, trees, plants, and flowers had overgrown the concrete and all of the buildings in the city. Making it look more like a forest than something mankind had build up. And as they traveled walked through the city they even spotted some wild animals such a deer through the area.
They shared words as they walked through this city of how they both were in agreement that it was mother nature's karma in a way. For the longest time many human beings had been careless, reckless with how they treated the earth and the nature that she provided. How humans had hunted down some animals driving them into extinction or putting them on the endangered list. How their pollution had threatened to cause severe climate change and global warming, which would end up threatening the lives of all those on earth.
The last straw had been the building of the machine in which humans back then thought that they could control the weather of the planet. And that machine ended up causing the destruction that lead to the apocalypse. But, now that most of humans had been wiped out, mother nature had rebounded and reclaimed the planet. The weather patterns had returned to normal. And the species of many animal populations had went up in the last thirty years. If anything if proved to both Damon and Bonnie how mother nature could move on and thrive without mankind around. But, that mankind wouldn't stand a chance at survival without planet earth and all that it provided around.
They were just at the start of the Western parts of Midland as they made their way through. They passed by an newspaper display which had a newspaper in it whose headlines were all about the chaos and the destruction that the weather and storms were causing at the time. The paper had been dated during late August 2017. From what her father had told her, the weather had started going haywire in Mid July 2017 and lasted all the way up to March 2018 before the machine was finally destroyed. Months and Months in a row where man never would be able to recover from what happened.
In the present time they were in the late Spring of 2047 on the verge of Summer arriving. Soon they entered into a Barnes and Noble that had half of its roof missing. Still the other half of the store was remained standing and they could see books stacked up across the shelves. As well as a Starbucks stand which had been a part of the store. Damon approached the Starbucks stand and he out of curiousity read over the menu board, with the different coffee drinks that had been offered. He noticed an advertisement sign which was boasting about caramel lattes, which made his coffee lover self's mouth water as he wondered how it had tasted. Coffee drinkers who lived back then had it pretty good he thought.
"You know it's kind of sad." Bonnie spoke breaking into his thoughts.
He turned to face her. "What's kind of sad?"
She made her way through the suspense book section, "All of these books around here, written by all of those authors and no one around to read them anymore."
Damon commented. "While I agree that no one being able to read these books is sad, there is a way we could fix that at least somewhat."
"Oh, yeah. How is that?" Bonnie wondered.
"You and I can look through here and take some books to read. We both love reading don't we." Damon suggested
"We do." Bonnie agreed.
Damon gestured. "Let's search through these books, perhaps we will both find something entertaining to read."
Bonnie said. "You're right, a few books to read will help us pass the time as we travel along the way."
So on that agreement the two of them searched through the bookstore, each selecting a few books, placing them in their bags to take with them on their travels.
After they were finished with the bookstore, they continued to make their way further inside of the city. Doing their usual routine of searching for supplies and food. When they reached the middle part of the city, Damon discovered a building which was useful to them. There wasn't food or supplies inside, however the continents of it were still useful.
"Hey, Bonnie over here." Damon called out.
"Yes, Damon?" Bonnie returned from the other side of the narrow street that they were on.
"Check this out." Damon jerked his thumb.
Bonnie jogged over to check out what he had seen. She peeped inside of the building. "Clothes, you found a clothing store."
Damon popped the p. "Yep."
"Useful." She said with a nod.
"Very, I could seriously use a new change of wardrobe right now." Damon commented.
Since he had brought it up, Bonnie had remembered that she hadn't had changed her clothes in a while as well. Not since she had left with Damon all the way back in Arizona to start their journey. She was limited to what she could carry in her bag and clothes weren't as important of a priority as food, water, and supplies were. She had washed up when she could along the way, whenever they came up on a water source which provided enough water for bathing.
But had to put back on the same clothes, so them finding this store filled with clothes was very useful and timely.
"Yeah, I could use a change to mine as well." Bonnie mumbled.
"Let's go shopping for clothes, it will be fun!" Damon exclaimed.
"Shopping, just without actually paying for the clothes with money." Bonnie snorted.
Damon joked. "A five finger discount then."
Bonnie smirked. "Is that what we are calling it."
Damon shrugged. "Getting a new wardrobe for free will make this even funnier."
"True, the clothes are just sitting there, who is going to be around to stop us." Bonnie said in a easy going tone.
"Not a damn person." Damon played in with a dramatic look around the area.
She chuckled.
Then they proceeded to go into the store to get them a change of clothes. Because the men's and women's clothings sections were in different areas of the store, they had to briefly separate. As she went into the women's section to look for her clothes. Damon went into the men's section to search for his.
He used his flashlight to see through the extra dark areas in the store, where the daylight outside couldn't reach. After a few moments of searching he found himself a pair of black jeans, then a dark blue shirt. Once he had that, he kept looking and came up on a leather jacket which had caught his eye.
He ran his hand over the jacket and could tell that it was real leather from how it felt. He looked at the price tag and saw the price. Whistled at how expensive it was and smirked to himself for the fact that he didn't have to pay for it.
He was too caught up in checking out the leather jacket, that combined with how darkened it was in the area that he was in, he didn't realize that there was someone else in the store besides him and Bonnie. Not until someone snuck up behind him and out of nowhere and wrapped a rope around his neck. Whoever it was began choking Damon from behind with extreme force.
Immediately Damon began to struggle with the person, at first trying to fight off the attack and get the person off of him. But, whoever it was held leverage on him due to the fact that he had Damon in a tight gripped choked hold, as well appeared to be taller than Damon from the angle that the rope was choking him at. Damon choked and tried to get free. He tried pulling the rope from around his neck, but this only caused the person to tighten the rope around his neck.
Damon wheezed as his air supply started to get severely cut off. He then attempted to back up into something, in hopes that if he slammed his attacker backwards into an object that it would cause his attacker to loosen his grip and allow him to get free. Damon did this and rammed his attacker into a large rack of clothes, causing the rack to fall over with a loud crash. But, his attacker didn't let up and seemed to be determined to straggle Damon to death.
Now Damon was finding it very hard to breath, his vision was getting blurry and he was moments away from passing out.
Just as she had finished collecting a fresh pair of bra and panties. And had picked out a new shirt and pants for herself, Bonnie had heard the commotion. She rushed out of the women's section and into the men's where she saw a man who was a few feet taller than Damon choking him from behind with a rope. Damon's face had turned red and purple from the lack of air his lungs were receiving and he looked like he was about to pass out.
Immediately seeing that her friend's life was in danger. Bonnie reached back and quickly grabbed onto her bow and arrow, she loaded it and stepped up with her arrow drawn on her brow. She aimed it at the man who was choking Damon with a rope.
"Release him right now." Bonnie demanded with a deadly tone.
In response the man shook his head in refusal and continued to choke Damon.
Without giving the man another warning, she shot her arrow at him. The arrow hit him dead in the center between his eyes. This made him immediately release his grip on Damon's neck as the man fell to the ground dead.
Finally free Damon fell to his hands and knees, removing the rope from his neck, gasping and sucking in air into his lungs.
"Damon…" Bonnie looked over him in concern.
Damon held up a finger to pause her response as he regained his breath. Then once he had it back he said. "I'm alright, I'm fine."
Bonnie gave a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, where in the hell did that bastard come from."
"I have no clue." Damon looked back at the dead corpse which had Bonnie's arrow sticking out of his forehead. "He may have been in here with us the whole time I wasn't paying attention."
"Looks like he was a hunter." Bonnie shined her flashlight over the tattoo on the man's hand, which was a common tattoo that hunters. Hunters were another post apocalypse group much like bandits. Except they were more violent and hunted people down always killing them for their belongings. Hence the nickname, even while some bandits were violent. Such as Billy Bob and his crew.
There was still cases where some bandits just robbed people and left them alive. The hunters always had a kill and steal mentality.
"Guess we aren't alone in this city after all." Damon mumbled.
"It appears that we aren't." Bonnie said.
"Can't believe I was so caught off guard, this asshole nearly choked me to death." Damon rubbed at his neck.
"Hey, it shit happens to the best of us." Bonnie recalled as she had been caught off guard by Billy Bob.
Damon looked up at her from where he was still on the ground. "Thanks for saving my ass, I surely would have been a goner without you."
Bonnie held out a hand, with a half smile on her face. "Consider it a return of the favor when you saved mine."
He took the hand that she offered and pulled himself to his feet. "It's what we do have each other's backs."
"Correct. Let's move onto the next spot." Bonnie picked up the clothes, bra and panties which she had dropped to get a hold of her bow and arrow.
Damon put the jeans and shirt he had gotten under his arm. "Wait just a second, we can't leave just yet."
Bonnie faced him. "Why is something wrong?"
Damon replied. "Nothing really wrong, I just need to grab leather jacket real quick."
"Seriously." Bonnie arched a brow.
"It's really nice, made out of real leather." Damon pulled the jacket from it's hanger. "I just have to carry it with me."
"Of course." Bonnie stated amused.
"You know finding this jacket has made my day, I'm super pumped right now." Damon grinned.
Bonnie was in disbelief. "You just almost got strangled to death moments ago and you're here saying that a simple leather jacket has made your day."
Damon took the moment to put on the leather jacket. "Yeah, free clothes and an awesome leather jacket makes getting nearly choked not so bad, especially because I'm still alive."
Bonnie just had to chuckle. "You are truly something else, Damon."
He winked. "I know."
BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK
A few hours later and it was late evening as they made their way more around Midland. They knew that they wouldn't make it out of the city before nightfall came, so they had decided to pick somewhere within the city to spend the night.
However, before they did that they wanted to do more exploring first. They were in the business section of the city, walking through and sharing small talk with each other. Then something suddenly happened to bring their conversation to a halt.
And that something was the fact that they now had red laser beams pointed at their torsos. Laser guns which belonged to the people who was aiming at them and it was obvious that the people meant them ill will.
"Watch out!" The both of them said in unison.
The pair ducked just in time enough for bullets to start rushing at them, zooming by them and missing their heads by just inches. They quickly moved behind a large dumpster as cover from the bullets which were constantly being shot at them.
They were kneeling on the ground next to each other, out of sight of the people who were shooting at them.
"Damn it, it looks like this city is more occupied with people than what we originally thought." Damon cursed.
"Hmmm, looks like the bastard who I killed back there has some fellow hunters around here." Bonnie gritted her teeth against the noise of the bullets clacking against the dumpster, which was a shield from them getting shot.
"Assholes want to kill us and take our shit." Damon grumbled.
Bonnie retrieved both of her handguns from her holsters, made sure that they were fully loaded. "Can you tell how many of them are?"
Damon answered. "Not exactly, but the shots seem to be coming from ahead of us a little ways."
Bonnie breathed out. "We would have a better chance at knowing how many we need to take out at least. I'll try to take a quick look."
But, with the bullets flying he didn't want her trying to take a peek and expose herself to getting shot. So, he held up a hand to prevent her from doing so. "I'll take a look instead."
She opened her mouth to say something, then nodded in agreement.
He took a deep breath, waited until there was a pause in the shooting towards them then popped his head around the corner of the dumpster. Only enough to see where the shoots were coming from. He saw eight people, standing behind some barriers in the distance, but within shooting range. They were yelling and glaring in the direction of him and Bonnie.
Damon maneuvered his head back around the dumpster just as more bullets started to fly by them. "There's eight of them, three women and five guys."
"Alright, I think that we can handle those numbers with the right strategy." Bonnie said.
"They seem pretty intent on killing us." Damon scowled.
"Then let's get rid of this fuckers first." Bonnie sneered.
He got his rifle and loaded it with more bullets until it was full. "Yes, let us kill them all."
The bullets continued to rain down on them for a couple of more minutes, then there was a moment where they stopped coming. Both of them figured out that it was because the people had to stop and reload their guns. And they saw this as their brief opportunity to take advantage of this.
With a look of determination on both of their faces, they gave each other the non verbal signal. Then they popped out their heads over the dumpster, with their guns. He with his rifle and she with her twin handguns and they started shooting at the group which instigating the fight against them.
As they had been reloading the group was caught off guard some. Which allowed about three of them to be taken out with Damon and Bonnie's gunfire before they could respond. But, just a short time later the hunters were able to reload and they fired back at the pair. Once again Damon and Bonnie had to duck behind the dumpsters for cover.
For a long twenty minutes they were caught up in this gun battle with the hunters and had to carefully return fire to make sure that they didn't get shot themselves. The gun blasts echoed through the otherwise empty city. It was tough for a while, since Bonnie and Damon were outnumbered. But, with their experience and skill and careful strategy they were able to shoot their way down to only having two people on the other side. As they had each taken out the men and women hunters with their guns.
It came down to Bonnie taking out the last women with a classic headshot as she tried to flee the scene after seeing that her partners were mostly dead now. The women may have tried to run away at the last minute, but as far as Bonnie was concerned it was too late, as they threat had been made on her and Damon's life for twenty minutes in the gunfight. And Bonnie was after all ruthless when a threat was made against her life.
But, the last male hunter who was left refused to give up and kept occasionally shooting at the pair from where he was perched. Damon knew that they wouldn't be able to go on until this guy was dead, so he turned to Bonnie.
"You distract him and keep him covered." Damon whispered. "I'm going to go around to get better angle in taking him out."
"I've got your back." Bonnie returned.
So, Damon stayed low to the ground, making sure to stay out of sight as he maneuvered around, using different things as a cover from any possible gunfire.
Bonnie raised back up with both of her guns. "Hey, you stupid fucker over here with your terrible aim."
The remaining hunter screamed back from the barrier that he was behind. "What did you say about me?"
Bonnie yelled out. "I said that you have awful aim, just like the rest of your dead hunters do. I'm still alive, stupid fucker."
This enraged the hunter. "I'll show you bitch."
Her bait had worked as the hunter started to shoot at her once more. Bonnie moved between ducking for cover and returning fire with her guns.
The hunter was so into his gun battle with Bonnie, so focused on trying to shoot her that he did notice that he had lost track of Damon. From where she was Bonnie soon saw Damon quickly come up on the hunter. And from the hunter's left side Damon had taken his revolver out. Damon then used his revolver to shoot down the hunter before the hunter could even realize what was going on.
Bonnie lowered her guns. "Nice work with the shooting there, Salvatore."
Damon put away his revolver. "You too, Bon-Bon."
They took a few moments to look around, listening out and making sure that nothing was out of place. Now that the gun battle was over with, silence had returned to the city.
"I think that these area is all clear." Damon commented.
"Yeah, let's just hope that we don't run into anymore of these assholes." Bonnie returned.
"Just our luck the only other human presence that we have ran into since our journey are those who wish to kill us." Damon walked back over to her.
"All the more reason why you're the only person that I have chosen to trust. Lots of messed up people in this world." Bonnie muttered.
Damon said. "There is, why don't we find a building to settle down in and call it a night."
Bonnie nodded. "I'm all for that."
BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK
The two of them had found a warehouse just after darkness had fallen over the city. They settled down in the warehouse for the night and lit a few of the candles that they had carried with them from the bunker as a way to see.
To get their minds off of the fact that they had been in with a battle for their lives earlier with the hunters, including Damon nearly getting choked to death they had decided to read some of the books they had gotten, since neither of them was in the mood to sleep at that exact time.
"Can't believe what I'm reading right now." Damon spoke.
"What are you reading?" Bonnie questioned.
"A book called 'Fifty shades of Grey'." Damon held up the book in his hands.
"And what is that all about." Bonnie looked up from the book that she was reading.
Damon responded. "Well, I thought that it was a book about romance at first."
Bonnie furrowed her brows. "You picked out a book about romance?"
Damon answered. "I picked out a few other books, but also this one out of curiosity."
"Oh, well how is the romance in it?" Bonnie asked.
"It's actually not that romantic at all." Damon mumbled.
"It's not." Bonnie leaned back.
"Not at all." Damon made a face. "Actually it's a very terrible read."
She cocked her head to the side in question.
He explained. "The guy in it Christian Grey is kind of a jerk and it comes off more as abusive and controlling then as an actual romantic relationship."
Bonnie put in. "If that's the case that does sound like a terrible read."
"Plus, the sex scenes in it are cringe worthy." Damon added with distaste.
She just laughed.
"I'm serious, it reads like a bad porn story." And to prove it, he read off a few lines from one of the sex scenes in the book to her.
"Really, was that suppose to be considered hot." Bonnie blinked.
"Apparently, the author seemed to believe so." Damon snorted.
"Guess that author is mistaken." Bonnie said.
Damon went. "The joke is that a lot of people must have thought that it was hot, as this was a number one New York times best seller."
Bonnie stated. "Then I have to wonder what were those people thinking."
Damon expressed. "Ha!"
"The book I'm reading is very good though, at least so far." Bonnie mentioned.
"What is the name?" Damon questioned.
"It', by Stephen King." Bonnie replied.
Damon scratched his beard. "It?"
Bonnie explained. "It's a horror book, about a clown named pennywise who terrorizes and hunts down kids."
Damon joked. "Knew that there was a reason why I hated clowns."
"I do too, but it's still one great read." Bonnie said.
"I'll take your word for it." Damon verbalized.
"Why don't I read it to you, then the both of us can enjoy the book." Bonnie offered.
"Okay." Damon accepted with a half smile.
So, Bonnie started to read from where she had left off, as she was half way through the second chapter by now. She went over the words carefully while telling them in a fashion that allowed Damon to create a picture of what was happening in the book in his head. Before he knew it, he had found himself really into the story. Bonnie read page after page and chapter after chapter.
And before she knew it a few hours had past by. She had just finished reading the sixth chapter when she asked Damon a question about how he was liking the story so far.
"Did you hear me." Bonnie directed at him as she looked up from her book, just to see the sight of Damon lying on the floor fast asleep. She didn't know how exactly to respond to that, except for maybe being flattered that her voice was so soothing as a story reader that he had fallen to sleep with it.
She looked over at him, he had really looked comfortable and peaceful in his sleep at the moment. She gave herself a playful pat on the back for being able to put a man like him to sleep. Then realized that she herself was sleepy as her eyes had gotten heavy. Hours of reading had did the trick in making her ready to go to bed.
So, she bookmarked the page that she had stopped on and put the book to the side. Then used her hoodie to cover the floor and laid down on top of it. "Sweet dreams." She yawned over to him before she closed her eyes and fell to sleep herself. It was just before midnight when she did.
Unfortunately for Damon his dreams were anything but sweet. He had gotten in some decent hours of sleep and normal dreams. Before those dreams with into the horrible images of a fire and people screaming out in pain and agony.
Damon woke up with a jolt, saying "No" loudly and in a cold sweat.
He had said it so loud and had woken up with such a start that it woke up Bonnie as well. "Damon?" She rubbed the sleep in her eyes.
He was silent at first, looking around the warehouse with wide blue eyes, as it took him a moment to realize that what he had just dreamt wasn't real.
Seeing his wide eyed, cold sweat demeanor Bonnie sat up. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Damon swallowed.
"You don't look fine." Bonnie's eyes scanned him over.
"It's cool, just a bad dream." Damon said after a while as visions of it danced around in his head, even though he was awake now.
"I would say that you appeared to have more of an awful nightmare." Bonnie commented.
Damon was silent again.
Bonnie added. "I would know about those as well."
Damon admitted. "Yes, I had an awful nightmare."
Bonnie inquired. "Was it the horror book I read, you think that it triggered you to have nightmare?"
"No, it has nothing to do with you reading that book to me at all. I enjoyed the book and the way that you told it as you read." He paused. "Did I wake you."
"You did." Bonnie nodded.
"Sorry about that." Damon apologized.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Bonnie told him.
Taking a few seconds to look around the room he added. "It's still dark outside, what time of the night is it?"
Bonnie corrected him. "It's early in the morning actually, just before five a.m."
Damon knew that she normally would wake up at seven a.m. the earliest on most mornings. "You should go back to sleep and get those last couple of hours in."
"I'm not falling back to sleep after the way you just woke up." Bonnie shook her head.
"There is no need to stay up just because of me." Damon looked over at her.
"I got enough sleep in and besides I don't think you'll be able to go back to sleep either with the nightmare that you just had." Bonnie stated.
Damon could see that she saw right through him, sleep was the last thing that he wanted with the nightmare still in his head. "You're right, I not falling back to sleep anytime soon."
Bonnie suggested. "Perhaps I could lend an ear to you telling me about it."
Damon asked. "You wish to hear the details of my nightmare?"
She insisted with a shrug. "It could ease your troubled mind if you talk about and get it from your chest. I'm more than willing to listen if it will honestly help you."
The way that she said it, offering her ear and therefore her comfort managed to warm away some of the chill which the nightmare had caused.
"We hide nothing of importance from each other, right." Damon reminded the both of them.
"Right." Bonnie agreed.
Damon took a moment to gather up his thoughts and feelings. "The nightmare that I was had was related to an event that happened when I was in the Militia."
This made Bonnie concerned about him, if this event was severe enough to cause him to have nightmares. But, she said nothing.
"Before I tell you about the nightmare and what caused it, I think that it's best that I tell you my story from the start of how I came to be in that group and all of the fallout from it. It isn't a pretty picture." Damon quietly added.
"You just do what is best for you, as I said I'm here to listen." Bonnie reassured him.
"You remember how I told you that by mother placed me in a dumpster, right after she gave birth to me." Damon began.
"I remember that quite clearly." Bonnie commented.
Damon went on. "Well, the person who found me in there was a man. He saw me in the trash and took me in, and in that way I guess you could say that he was my father figure since I don't know where my biological Dad is. From outsiders a guy taking in an abandoned newborn would seem like a touching, good natured action. Especially for a baby born during the apocalypse, however I soon learned growing up with him as a kid that he was far from a good natured man."
"He was the reason why by whole entire time with the Militia was like one ugly long nightmare, he was the reason why I became a member if that malice group. And the man who did this to me name was Alaric."
Bonnie guessed. "And Alaric, he was a member of the Militia when he took you in as a newborn."
Damon sighed. "He was more than just that, he was the general, the leader of the Militia forces and he still is the leader today. He is the one who writes all of the rules, which include cold blooded murders of people and terrorizing innocents in order for him to maintain power. And many of the men gladly follow along with him to maintain the upper hand in this brutal world."
In support of him, she gave him the signal to continue on.
So, he did. "Like I said he didn't take me from the trash because he was good natured. He did it because he saw a baby boy and an opportunity."
She needed to know. "Why would getting a newborn baby boy be so important to him?"
Damon returned. "Because Alaric was intent on keeping the Militia growing and strong, by keeping the number of men who had joined and would join up. He needed to keep the Militia going forever, because the longer that it went on and the more members that he had, the stronger that he was as the general and an individual person."
"To do this he recruited grown men, offering them the highest chance at survival, by convincing them that those who belonged to the Militia survived much better than those who didn't. Men who refused to join the cause usually ended up beaten or killed. Besides recruiting grown men, his other way of keeping his numbers strong was by establishing that every boy born within Militia camps would automatically be raised to be Militiamen, to join the numbers when they were old enough of age."
"You mean the Militia raises child soldiers." She was sort of taken aback by this, even while knowing all of the terrible things that the group was known for.
Damon continued. "That's exactly what we were to Alaric and all of the men who followed his lead. Every boy ever born to a member of the Militia or within one of its bases must immediately be deemed as a future solider of the group. No exceptions, we didn't have a choice in becoming anything else when we grew up. From when we became young boys we were told that we must be members of the group, because that what was best for the Militia and the future of the group. And as boys they told us that going anywhere outside of it would result in us dying and at a young age a lot of us believed that, including me at first."
Bonnie pressed her lips together in an unpleasant manner. "Bullshit."
He understood that she didn't mean him personally, but that it was more so directed at the Militia for how they groomed young boys into being soldiers of the group. "Anyone child who didn't go along with the rules or didn't rule into line one hundred percent was disciplined, until they fell into line like a robot. They were very strict on the boys and the rules that we were suppose to follow. But, Alaric he was especially strict on me, since I was his adopted son, he was determined to shape me into his perfect ideal Militia man. And he used getting me from that trash as leverage for why I was suppose to go along with what he wanted of me."
"Remember, son you would have been dead and not have lasted two days on this earth, if I didn't get you from the dump when you were a child. You owe it to me to become a fighter of my establishment." Alaric scolded to a five year old Damon.
"Once we reached the age of four, all of the boys enter into a class. Where it was drilled into our heads day in and day out, about how joining the Militia was our destiny and how it was an honorable thing to do, we had to read over booklets over the rules and regulation of the force. And had to resight the code, including how we would stay as members of it until death or give up our lives fighting for the cause." Damon explained as remembering all of this left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Alaric shouted out to a young group of boys sitting in a class, which included Damon. "We are the way, the truth, and the light. It's killed or be killed out there. And we must kill the weak to stay in power. Our way is the only way, the only way you'll survive is if you pledge a lifetime of loyalty to the Militia or else you'll die. Now repeat after me and recite this oath…."
Damon recalled the oath that the kids were required to say every day before class. He had said the oath so much that he had grown tired of it and had grown to hate it by the time that he was seven years old. And had only said it because not doing so, meant that he or any other kids that refused to say it would have gotten whooped with a belt on bare skin the same number of times however old the kid was at the time.
"By the time that we were six, we were soon pictures of the people that the Militia had killed, as a way to destationalize us from the killings and violence we would have to do. Bodies of decapitated heads, missing limbs, people with their guts hanging open, blood and gore every where. It was suppose to get us used to it, but I never did and can remember having nightmares of bloody bodies because of the pictures that were shown to me." Damon wanted to throw up even as he thought about it.
"How could they expose young kids to such blood and death." Bonnie was very disturbed, the Militia was even lower than she thought it was.
"It gets worse. At seven years old we were made to go into physical military type training. Forced to do all of the physical training and exercise that the US military use to do and then some. And we had to train from sun up until sundown. With only a couple of 30 minutes breaks in between. And if a kid got tired or couldn't get through the training, then that was considered being weak and we were beaten with a belt." Damon grimaced.
The green eyed Bennett woman was enraged as she heard this. "Those bastards they made you do the physical training that grown ass men do at seven. You were just children."
Damon grew more angry with the more that he confessed to her. "On our eighth birthday, as soon as we turned eight that was the official time which we were made to join the Militia members which meant that we would go on missions with them. Our initiation into the group was for us to have to kill a person, an innocent person to be an honored member of the group."
Bonnie went. "You can't be serious, they forced boys to kill at eight years old."
"If one couldn't then one was considered weak and not a honorable Militia member." Damon shook his head.
"Is that how you got initiated into the Militia, you killed at eight years old." Bonnie's tone wasn't in a judgemental manner.
Damon's expression turned grim. "Believe me I didn't want to do it and killing was the last thing that I wanted to do as a child. Other boys raised up in the same class with me fell right into the killing, just because it had been pounded into their heads so much that it was what they were suppose to do."
"However, no matter how much I got told that it was okay to kill in the name of the Militia, I didn't wish to do it, I hated the thought of doing it."
As he told her further about his vicious childhood, he flashed back at the same time in his mind.
There were a line of men and women against the wall, facing the wall with their hands tied behind their back. They had been men and women, innocent for the most part that were taken in as prisoners by the Militia and now these men and women had become target practice for the initiation ceremony of Damon's class.
The Ceremony was suppose to end with each boy killing one of the people which were lined up against the wall in execution fashion. One by one the boys had fired off their guns and one by one each person fell dead to the ground, with bullet wounds in their body.
Damon stood there as a skinny eight year old, clutching as his gun which he was given. He jumped with each gun shot as each person was killed. His stomach filled with dread as the line got closer and closer to him. Until it was his turn, with a man standing before him, his hands tied behind his back and his back facing towards Damon.
"Your turn, Damon do you duty and join us in our battle for superiority." Alaric directed at him.
Damon swallowed nervously stared ahead, but made no moves to shot the man.
"What are you waiting for, deliver your execution right now." Alaric demanded.
His heart pounded with worry, the dread heightened, and he felt tears well up in his young icy blue eyes.
Alaric gave him the look of a disapproving father. "Son, what did I just tell you to do."
"I can't." Damon spoke in a shaky voice. As the other boys turned to stare at him.
"You can't." Alaric scoffed.
"I-I don't want to do it." Damon stuttered
"I'm not giving you a choice, just do it." Alaric's tone was threatening.
Tears brimmed over in his eyes. "Don't make me do this, I don't want to hurt or kill anyone."
A few of the other grown male Militia members laughed at him in a mocking manner, as Alaric took a step forward. "For God sakes, son grab a hold of your balls and step up, be a man."
Damon defied before he even knew what was coming out of his mouth. "No."
Alaric's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "What did you just say?"
The young Damon only could lick his dry lips.
"You better deliver this execution, Damon." Alaric commanded in a harsh tone. "Or else face the consequences."
He looked back and forth between the man and froze couldn't move a inch.
Alaric put his face right in Damon's. "Are you challenging my authority, You've got until I count to ten to kill him or you will be disciplined."
And Damon very well knew what Alaric meant by disciplined. He turned to face the man who was up against the wall. Raised his gun, but Damon's hands shook so much as he did this that he couldn't keep the gun straight. Alaric was counting down to ten, but even as Damon knew that he would be punished for it, he didn't pull the trigger and broke down crying as tears streamed down his face.
Even while calling himself Damon's father, Alaric didn't feel concern or pity for seeing the child cry like a normal parent would. Damon's tears only managed to outrage and offend him. "Look at you crying like a punk, you're weak a boy and a disgrace to the Militia. You failed at your initiation and should be ashamed of yourself."
The eight year old could only cry more.
"Is there anyone willing to step up and show him what real men of the Militia do." Alaric called out.
"I can do it." Another boy raised his hand, who also happened to be eight years old and in the class that Damon had been in.
"Enzo." Alaric called out the boy's name. "Step on up."
Enzo did with his gun that he had already killed a women with.
Alaric gestured. "Show how it is done."
Enzo did and without hesitating he shot and killed the man that Damon couldn't.
"See, Enzo here is a real man. One which will make the Militia proud, unlike you Damon." Alaric clapped.
Although Enzo was also a child, he was the exact opposite of Damon and had zero remorse of the murder that he had just committed. In fact Enzo seem to revel in the praise that Alaric was giving him, casting a cocky smirk in Damon's direction.
Back in present time Damon ran a hand over his face, which was slightly shaking as it had been when he held that gun as a boy. "I just couldn't bring myself to kill that man on that day. No matter how much Alaric tried to prompt me to do so."
"Because you were just a child, because you were actual human enough to feel compassion and sympathy towards a stranger not to want to kill them in cold blood. The fact that you hesitated in killing proves that you have more heart than most of those grown pigs in the Militia does and it's nothing to be ashamed of, Damon. No matter what the master pig told you." Bonnie said with sincere, firm words.
"I do know that now and knew it more and more as I got older. It doesn't change how Alaric was very angry with me that I went against his word and he let me know as I got punished for it." With a grimace, Damon retold more awful memories.
After the ceremony was over. Alaric had taken Damon back home, to the place on the campbase where they two of them had shared a building to stay in, since Alaric was his father figure.
Alaric yelled and ranted at Damon the whole time on the return to their place, which only made Damon want to cry more, even though his tears had dried up by now.
"You have the nerve to disobey me, challenge my authority in front of my men. Your mother left you for dead, because she didn't want another mouth to feed." Alaric slammed the door behind them. "I took you in and this is the gratefulness that you show me, you little punk.
Damon stood in the middle of the room and flinched.
"Now you must be punished for your disobedience of me. I am the law around here, understand me. You will be made an example of when you disrespect me." Veins popped out of Alaric's forehead.
"Please, don't hurt me." Damon pleaded knowing that punishment meant a physical one.
"Too late for that." Alaric walked over to a place where fire was lit. He stuck a poker in it. "Now remove your shirt."
The eight year old stood there with his bottom lip trembling.
"Do it right now or I'll kill you right where you stand." Alaric warned with a coldness.
So Damon took off his shirt.
Alaric kept the poker in the fire until it was glowing red with the heat. Now turn around.
A shaking Damon turned his back to Alaric.
Alaric approached him with the hot poker. "Consider this your punishment, you are going to learn you lesson in doing what I say."
Then he pressed the hot poker to the dark haired child's bareback. Immediately Damon let out a blood curdling scream of agony.
"Shut up and take it like a man." Alaric barked.
His cries filled the room as he kept getting burned over and over again all over his back, until the poker went cool. But, Alaric heated it back up and burned him again.
Once again Damon snapped back to the present, the echos of his cries as a child in his head. Alaric had spent a good hour burning his back, before finally letting up.
"Feeling the burn of that hot iron against my skin was one of the most painful things that I have ever felt in my life." Damon's eyes cast downward in a melancholy mood.
"How terrible, I hate that you had to go through that." Bonnie was upset and saddened about learning how he got burned, since she had honestly grown to care about him as a friend. "Now, I remember back the river, I saw those old scars all over your back. I figured you got burned, but didn't think that it was my place to ask…..to come and know that someone gave them to you on purpose, I don't have the words."
Absentmindedly he touched his back. "Yeah, that's were the scars came from, I got burned so badly on that night, the scars have remained even all of these years later."
Bonnie was pissed off. "Your so called father figure is a fucking monster for what he did to you, he deserves to rot in hell for it."
Damon spat out with emotion. "I agree with you one hundred percent on that, trust me. I've wanted to send him to hell by my own bare hands many times since that night. You remember how I told you that I liked to play the guitar."
Bonnie confirmed. "I remember."
"Well, I had that guitar since I was about thirteen, then he just ends up smashing it to pieces as a way to keep me in line, because I wasn't allowed to have fun or enjoy anything. He held a grudge against me ever since I couldn't kill that man on inisantion day."
The more that she learned of Alaric, the more disgusting that she thought of the man. She hated him even though she never personally met him.
"After the time that he burned me, he again tried to get me to kill in cold blood a couple of days later. However, I still resisted and refused even after he had burned me. And of course that had made him more angry that I would still defy him. So, he put me into the pit." Damon balled his hand into a fist.
"The pit?" Bonnie didn't want to know what it was, but at answered for his sake so that he could get it off of his chest.
"The pit, it's a small square hole in the ground. Barely big enough to move around in, only big enough for one person and is such a tight such that anyone claustrophobic would have a panic attack. The pit was used to help punish any member of the Militia would went against the rules. Kind of like solitary confinement and the person would be placed in there and the top would be closed on top of them."
Damon went on with his explanation. "After I couldn't kill for the second time at eight years old, Alaric put me into the pit. He shut down the top on me and I was made to stay in that tight space for six days in a row. No food, barely any water, in that tight space and in the dark because the light had been shut out."
"I was so hungry and my throat was dry from thirst. My legs cramping from being stuck in the same position for so long. I thought that I was going to stay stuck there until I died."
"Alaric is a cruel, twisted, sick individual to think about doing such a malicious act to another human being. Especially a child." Bonnie frowned.
"I was only able to have food again and a decent drink of water after I got pulled out of the pit. I was tested again on whether or not I would kill in the honor of the Militia and I still expressed how I didn't wish to do that. So, he put me in the pit again this time for eight days in a row."
Alaric tossed him back into the pit, saying. "I will break you, you little punk."
Damon breathed out. "The second time in that pit, I lost track of what day it was and again was given no food and just a little water. I hated it in the pit and being trapped in there became a phobia to me. I got pulled out again, and once again I was given a gun and a unarmed person was placed in front of me."
"Still want to say that you can't kill?" Alaric challenged. "You want to be punished again."
"No, sir. Please don't make me go back into the pit." Eight year old Damon cried.
"Do it or I'll put you in the pit again, this time I'm not pulling you out. You'll stay there and will die a slow, painful death. And I will put you in there with poisonous spiders and snakes too." Alaric laughed coldly.
"I don't want to go back there." Damon pleaded.
Alaric raised a hand in a threatening manner. "You're going back once I count down to ten."
Damon confessed with remorse. "And that is how I killed my first innocent person at eight years old, getting burned and being in the pit twice and the threat of going back in there, pushed me to pull the trigger and I executed an innocent person. Felt terrible about it after wards and I threw up from the guilt of taking a life. But, I did it because I didn't want to go back."
She eyed him with a serious expression of pity. "Only after you were repeatedly threatened and pressured to do so."
"Since that day, I have been taking innocent lives whenever I was ordered to do so, I didn't like doing it and wasn't proud of it. But, everytime that I hesitated in killing someone, I would remember how it was in the pit, how it was to be burned and I took lives anyway. Had a hard time sleeping each time that I did." Damon admitted as it all weighed heavily down on him.
"Every single time that I even raised the slightest objection to something, I would get beaten black and blue, until after the years past by I wouldn't object to anything and just followed along with what I was told. Some may call it selfish to take innocent lives, to preserve my own but that's what I did."
"Knowing what I know now, it puts it all into perspective what you did." Bonnie gently commented.
"Puts what into perspective?" Damon eyed her.
Bonnie responded. "Before I judged you to be just another cold blooded, heartless murderer like the rest of them. But, now I know that you were made into a person who killed innocent people because of your childhood in the Militia and how they forced and bullied you into becoming a killer."
Damon directed. "Maybe so, but I also know that it doesn't excuse the innocent life that is on my hands, especially for those that I took when I got older. And it really did tear me up inside everytime that I did it, but I still choose to do it."
She said this to him. "No, it doesn't excuse the people that you choose to kill or completely make up for it. However, it does make what you became more understandable. Your path was unfairly forged for you since you were a newborn through childhood. They made you became a killer of innocent people and that says more about them than about you. Besides the fact that you do feel remorse for the lives you took is very important, it is what truly makes you different from the rest of them and it makes you better in the sense that you feel such remorse where much of them don't give a shit about the harm that they cause."
He fidgeted with his fingers. "I guess you have a point."
"I do have a point, what Alaric did to you were the acts of a vile, cruel, disgusting human being and all of those around them who allowed it to happen are just as guilty as he is. They knew that children are young and have impressionable minds and used that to their advantage. Alaric manipulated you my using fear and imitation of your life to try and make you kill. The fact that you managed to resist, object like you did even at eight years old, proves that you have more courage than they ever wish to have. Especially because you fought them even after the burning event and being put in the pit."
"They put you through physical torture and assaulted you. And mentally and emotionally abused you as a child, and put you through constant torment to make you cave in to their sociopathic actions. You were abused as a child in every sense of the word, physically, emotionally, mentally and while it's still wrong to take an innocent life, none of that is on you, Damon." Bonnie finished.
"Hearing you tell me that helps a lot, I was always told that what happened to be through my child and teenage years was my fault, no one ever really told me otherwise. So, part of me had believed that it was my fault." Damon shifted.
"I said it because it's the truth and Alaric is dead wrong on it being your fault. It's one hundred percent his and for those who stood by letting it happen, but it's not your fault." Bonnie reassured.
He felt more of his emotions lash out. "I grow to hate him more and more, with the more punishment that he put me through. On this day I loathe him more than I do anything other person. And I thought of ways every day where I could end his life for what he did to me."
She returned. "And you would have every right to feel that way, It's natural for anyone to feel that way against someone who abused and tormented them."
"Year after year I felt like I was in a hell hole, living and operating with the Militia. Going on missions with them to see the terrible acts that they committed against humanity. It was like a long awful living nightmare. Where I had no hopes of getting out of. Then one day on this mission I find a letter, with a map crammed in between some book."
Damon explained. "And this letter explains how there is a settlement in Virginia, that is like an oasis and a saving grace in this world. And it said "to the lucky one who finds these, follow this map to salvation." Like the owner wanted someone to find the map and make their way to the settlement. I never told anyone that I had found the map and kept it to myself. Thought that it was just some joke and a fairy tale in the first place. Because no way did I believe that the place in Mystic Falls and how it was described was possible. Certainly not after the hell that I went through in being raised in the Militia camp."
Bonnie looked on. "So, you had the map for a while before you actually decided to leave for Virginia."
"I had it on me for a couple of months, even though I didn't believe then that a such a place was real, something prevented me from throwing that map away." Damon said.
"Your instinct." Bonnie suggested.
"Correct." Damon agreed. "Which circles all the way back to the nightmare that I just had."
She was prepared to listen to what he had to say.
"There was one last mission that I went on before I eventually left the Militia for good." Once again he flashed back as he told her the story at the same time.
Weeks before he had met Bonnie.
He was on an ordered mission with a group of other Militiamen, just a couple of hours walk away from their permanent military base. This time Alaric wasn't with them.
Damon was told to stand outside of a cabin house with a few others, while another part of the group split off. A few moments later Enzo came back with some of the other men of the group and they were dragging along a family, which included the husband, his pregnant wife, and a their child which appeared to be around five years old.
"Found them, they were hiding, like they knew that we were coming for them." Enzo spoke.
Damon watched as the other men dragged the terrified looking family along. "What are you doing?"
Enzo turned to Damon. "We're here handling some business."
Damon knew while enough what type of business that Enzo was preferring to. "I thought that this mission was all about just gathering supplies to take back to the base."
"Oh, Damon, Damon. It's hardly ever just about supplies. We're here to execute this man and his family right along with him." Enzo gave a short laugh.
"But, why? What did they do wrong." Damon demanded to know.
"This man, Joel." Enzo swept his hand. "Betrayed the Militia when he refused the offer to join our ranks, said something about how we were too dangerous because he had a family."
Damon frowned. "Wait, you're going to have Joel and his family executed because he picked his family over us."
Enzo garbled. "We're going to execute them together, as the lesson needs to be learned, the Militia must come before all, you're either with us or against us."
"Just wait, Enzo. I'm asking you to reconsider." Damon tried to reason.
"You know how it is, Damon we show no mercy here." Enzo returned.
"But, you're talking about killing a pregnant woman and that damn child." Damon swallowed, bothered by the very thought.
In a nonchalant manner, Enzo shrugged. "Tough luck, If they're too weak to survive in this world, just like Alaric says."
Still Damon objected. "We can't do this to these people."
"I think that you forget that Alaric left me in charge of this mission since he isn't here." Enzo croaked. "Because he figured that you might chicken out and you're just not a reliable man."
Damon glared at Enzo.
Enzo ordered to the other men. "Put, them inside of the cabin, light it on fire with them inside and lock the doors."
The Militiamen dragged the now panicked family inside of the cabin, the husband begged for mercy, the wife screamed and the child was crying. They locked the family inside of the cabin and splashed the outside of the cabin with gasoline. Then Enzo, a a few of the other men stepped up with lit torches.
"I won't allow this to happen." An upset Damon stepped forward preparing to stop them from doing what they were about to do.
"You won't? You're outnumbered here, any attempts to stop us will be futile and lead to the family doing either way. Question is will you risk yourself in failed attempt. You know that if word got back to Alaric that you attempt to stop this execution that you'll end up back in the pit for days on it until you die." Enzo gloated.
The present adult Damon had memories of how it was to suffer in the pit and those memories made him freeze on the spot.
Enzo did the same cocky smirk when he saw this. "That's what I thought."
Helpless to the plight of the family, Damon stood and watched as they lit the cabin on fire. The cabin bursted into ugly yellow and orange flames of the fire. And soon the screams of pain and agony could be heard from the family inside as they burned alive.
He stood there with wide, teary eyes of heartbreak as the screams slowly faded away until they stopped and the cabin was nothing but ashes. He had witnessed an innocent family being burned to their deaths and there was nothing that he could do about it.
Damon ended his flashback by saying. "And that was what my nightmare about, hearing that poor family being burned alive.
Bonnie cringed at the description of the family being burned alive and was emotionally sickened by it.
"Seeing that family burned alive was the last straw for me. I couldn't take it any longer. I decided right then and there that I was going to leave the Militia." Damon muttered.
"It's perfectly understandable why you would be driven to leave after witnessing a action so horrible as people being burned alive. Combined with all of the abuse that you went through I can see why you had enough." Bonnie said.
He confirmed. "A couple of days after that event, when we had returned to the camp base, I have made my decision to escape that hell hole and nothing was going to change my mind. That night, when I knew that the guarding would be down to a skeleton crew, I packed all that I could into my duffle bag and with that and just the clothes on my back I got out of there."
"Once I had managed to get outside of the base without being caught, I ran and ran as far away from that base as I could get, I ran until the muscles of my legs ached and my lungs burned, I ran for hours worried that they might catch me, but they never did. And left knowing that any soldier caught leaving would immediately be sentenced to death for deserting. So there is no going back for me, because if I did go back to the Militia they would call me for deserting."
She eyed him through her soft green eyes. "It takes a lot of guts to work of the will to leave, after being trapped in those circumstances for so long like you were, and doing it knowing that leaving the Militia is a death penalty punishment for them:
Damon stated with meaning. "I left not only to escape the conditions that I went through, but also for a second chance, a second chance at a new life and a new beginning. And in finding this settlement a chance at redemption for all of the awful acts that I committed."
Bonnie found herself feeling sorry for him and having empathy for the blue eyed man for what he went through. While she herself had a harsh and tough childhood from ten and up once her Dad had been taken away from her, making her have to fend for herself in a brutal world. She at least took some comfort in how her Dad, when he was around loved her and gave her the best childhood that he could provide. As well as knowing that her mother, Abby had loved her up until the day which she gave birth.
It appeared that Damon's whole childhood and teenage years were filled with abuse of every kind and that he was shunned by his father figure and had never gotten to know what it was like to be loved. She could tell how heavily his past weighed on him and how much it bothered him and because of that she felt for him.
"If you ask me, I think that you're well on your way to being redeemed and earning your second chance at life." Bonnie worded.
"I hope you're right." Damon nodded.
"And if I could I would kill the pig Alaric for what he did to you when you were a child." Bonnie added.
Despite the heaviness of the mood that he was currently in, Damon chuckled. "That's very comforting to know."
Maneuvering she made her way over to him and kneeled until she was at face level with him. "For one, I'm glad that you made the decision to get away because it lead to us meeting and becoming friends."
"I'm glad that we met and became friends as well." Damon looked her in the eyes.
"I'm sorry that you went through such a terrible childhood, but you are strong for surviving it." Bonnie whispered as she placed a comforting hand on top of his. "Just know that I'll always have your back and that you're stuck with me for life."
Damon was both comforted by her words and warmed by the embrace of her touch. "Same here, Bonnie." He softly worded. "You're stuck with me for life too."
BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK
I know that this chapter is super long, so Thanks to anyone who stuck it out and read through the whole thing. But, I needed to get everything that I had planned for this update in, especially Damon's back story.
To clear up any confusion in this AU story, Alaric is several decades older than Damon is and is old enough to be his father. Please leave feedback if you can, it's appreciated.
I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors I missed.