Welcome to a new story and series I plan on producing. This is currently the first story of the five or six that I have planned out, spanning across multiple years and multiple games. This first story takes place in the world of Call of Duty and the Dark Aether Saga as I feel that the Aether Story (Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo, Nikolai) is pretty complete and retelling it wouldn't make sense with some of the ideas I have.

For this story, I will begin working through the Vanguard storyline. I also plan on introducing community created custom maps into the story to give extra flare and substance to a very monotonous Vanguard Zombies experience. Speaking on the experience, as you will read, I want to stick to as close to the game mechanics as makes sense. I had toyed with the idea of making this story an experience ultra-realistic (which this will have plenty of) would make the Vanguard story both incredibly depressing as a reader and terrible to write. Sticking to the already working game mechanics feel, to me, as a simple reminder that this story isn't miserable and won't take itself seriously.

With that being said, I am always open to criticism and correction. If you as the reader feel that details are inconsistent or I am missing context I will respond to your ideas in the next chapter from a review or directly through a DM. I want to make this story both clear and enjoyable as something you will come back to and enjoy as time goes on. Anything extra I have to say will be listed now at the bottom of the chapter. Thank you for reading through my little beginning introduction and without further ado, enjoy.

December 24th, 2023
Alaskan Wilderness

"Remind me again dad, why is it necessary for me to take this trip to Alaska with you?" A boy, late teens asked groggily after waking up from a short nap.

"Elk tags are hard to come by Apollo, you know this. You have a break and you know it's better to not be in one place for too long." His father gruffly replied.

Apollo rolled his eyes. He was upset about being dragged out to Alaska for this hunting trip. Hell at this age, Apollo was upset at his father for damn near everything. Apollo's father was a Green Beret, serving Uncle Sam in Desert Storm. His father came back after an IED had gone off under his service vehicle. He had been severely injured with bad PTSD. To this day, episodes are commonplace.

Apollo's father had fallen in love with his nurse, a woman named Stephanie. They were discharged from the military in 2002 and didn't bother waiting to get married and have children. Apollo was the first, and the most athletic. His father always joked about him following in the footsteps of the old man. That would've been the case had Apollo not outgrown the upper restrictions of the army. Now standing at 6'9", Apollo was a head taller than his father.

The family should've had a normal life. Everything was perfect. The family had Apollo and his parents had planned on having more children shortly. Everything was going right.

October, 2005
Spokane, Washington

"Look babe I'm off work. I'll be home soon and we can watch whatever movie you want."

"Steph, you're too kind. I'll have you know that tonight I'm thinking I can cook and you can pick out the movie."

"Of course, Johnny, overcooked frozen pizza is the exact thing I'm excited for after a 19 hour shift at the hospital. I can't wait." Stephanie replied, jokingly rolling her eyes as she said it.

"Come on hun! I'll order some, does that sound good?"

"It's a start." Stephanie replied, laughing, "Make sure you remember what I like."

"How could I forget? It should be here by the time you get home. See you soon." Johnny replied.

"Love you."

Stephanie sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She was slightly annoyed that the parking lot for the hospital had been filled earlier yesterday, forcing her to park in a lot about a block down the way. However, she smiled again, knowing she had three days off and plenty of time to spend with her son and the love of her life.

A black shadow appeared out of nowhere around the corner of an empty building.

"If you know what's good for you you'll empty your purse and give me everything you got." A man's voice, rough, desperate, spoke in a hurried hush.

Stephanie slowly raised her hands. She felt the cold steel of a pistol pinned against her forehead. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the man. He had dark hair, an unkempt stubble on his face, bloodshot eyes. He was the typical picture perfect robber.

"Look guy, I work in that hospital down the road a block. I only keep cards on me. By the time you take them and do anything with it I'll have called Amex and the card will be useless." Stephanie replied, keeping her cool.

"I don't believe you, empty it." The man spoke, allowing a little more desperation to seep into his voice.

"Fine." Stephanie reached into her purse, pulling out her wallet. She handed it over to the guy. He quickly snatched the wallet from her, never letting the gun move an inch from her temple.

"Haha-HAHAHA." He began laughing maniacally, pushing the weapon more into her temple.

"See what's funny," He continued, "Is that you think I give a fuck about your money. No. I got no interest in your filthy fuckin' money. See I wanted you. But no, you ran off with that green beret prick. So now, neither of us are gonna get you."

*Bang*

Stephanie collapsed, quickly beginning to bleed from the bullet wound at point blank. She was dead before she hit the ground.

Present Day
Alaskan Wilderness

Ever since then, Johnny had gone AWOL. Severe trauma and PTSD combined with the loss of his wife drove him to near madness. Apollo and Johnny moved out of Spokane and into the surrounding forest. Education for Apollo consisted of survival training, weapons training and any type of strength training. He learned to fish, hunt, and build cabins in the woods. Apollo became an expert in two types of martial arts but swore never to use them.

Apollo hated every minute of his life. He despised his father and despised the murderer even more. Apollo swore to kill the bastard himself if he ever got the chance. It was only thanks to his father's teaching he didn't fall into a life of hard drugs and crime.

When Apollo was 12, his aunt took him in. She enrolled him in normal school and taught him the joy of sports. Due to his father's training (which continued, much to Apollo's dislike), he was already very athletic and strong. He quickly became a standout in baseball, football and basketball due to this. He used these outlets to take out as much anger as he could on the court, which drove him to success. He now planned to play basketball in the local college of Gonzaga University, only a couple streets down from where his mother was murdered.

Now, however, he would have to survive one last hunting trip with his old man. One more elk was all that stood between him and freedom.

"We're here." His father spoke, unceremoniously. The old Ford F-250 coming to a halt. The men quickly hopped out of the truck into the snow covered parking lot of a local hunting trail. No other cars were in the vicinity, Apollo noted.

Storing the information away, like he had been taught to do, Apollo quickly slipped on his thick ski mask and snow goggles. He flipped his hoodie up and velcroed his gloves on. He grabbed his organized hunting pack out of the back seat, clipping the straps to hold it onto his body. Walking to the back of the truck he grabbed his tree stand, firearms and his tent. He quickly hooked the weaponry around his body, sliding his sidearm into the holster on his right hip. His SABER M700 Sport-TAC was strapped to one side of his bag while the Mossberg 500 was held on the other side. On the other side of the car, his father gathered similar items.

Once both were done they quietly nodded to each other. Johnny locked the door to the truck and they began walking into the forest to start their hunt. The two planned on hiking a couple miles into the forest on the first day and spending the night. After that they would continue on their journey. Apollo never knew what the hell they were looking for but he trusted his father enough to not screw up the hunt. Apollo worried more about losing his dad in this expanse of a forest due to both of them being covered in all white, masking them as part of the elements surrounding them. Apollo knew deep down that his tracking skills were very proficient so he wouldn't have to worry.

"Right, let's get this shit over with." Apollo mumbled to himself. He forgot that in snow and ice, sound travels much better. His father quickly shot him a look over his shoulder.

4 days later
December 28th, 2023
Alaskan Wilderness

Apollo and his father had finally found a place to stay for the day. They'd reached the middle of their trip and would likely begin the long trek back to their car soon. They hadn't seen much of anything outside of the usual fauna and flora expected at this time. Apollo sat in his tree perch, about 20 feet off the ground hidden amongst the branches of a tree. He had a lookout view onto a wide river around 30 yards away from him. His father was closer to the ground, only about 10 feet high, so he could easily get onto the forest floor if needed.

The two men had barely spoken on their trip. Apollo had tried to text his friends and look at his phone, but they had long since lost reception. He had a SAT phone, but didn't feel like outright calling someone. As he sat looking across the river into the forest behind it, Apollo whistles, alerting his father that he sees something moving towards them.

"Middle of the forest, where that large rock is protruding. See the shadow?" Apollo whispered across the gap between the two men.

Johnny's response was to grunt, raising his rifle from the seated area. Sure enough, a large elk about six-and-a-half feet tall strode from out under the cover of the forest. He walked to the river and leaned down, drinking the river water.

"Jackpot." Apollo heard his father mutter.

The elk quickly finished drinking, looking right to where the two men were sitting. It quickly turned around and took off, slamming its head into the sharp boulder.

*CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!*

The elk kept rearing back and slamming its head into the rock. Both men stared, stunned. Apollo knew his mouth was agape. He saw his father lower his rifle in shock. The skull of the elk had split open, there was blood leaking out around its eyes and its tongue was lulled to the side of its mouth. The elk quickly jumped. When it landed, the beast's front legs gave out, sending it crashing to the ground.

"Fuck, thing's got brain rot." Johnny cursed.

Chronic wasting disease, or brain rot as it is affectionately called, is a disease of the brain that can affect deer, elk and other wildlife. It isn't necessarily deadly to humans, but it can wipe out a population of deer or elk if left unchecked.

The elk is able to regain balance of its hooves, standing on its legs normal once again. The elk slowly turns again back towards where the two men are seated in the tree. It stands on its hind legs, and seems to point with its left hove, directly at Apollo.

*BANG!*

Apollo jumps as the beast collapses with a crash onto the earth, blood pouring from the new hole drilled in between its eyes.

"Apollo call Alaska Wildlife and Game. Have them send someone out here for this thing." Johnny speaks.

Apollo, still staring at the elk, whips his head around when his dad speaks. He quickly grabs the SAT phone to call. Apollo is too stunned to speak, having never seen something that eerie during a hunt. Due to his coverage by the tree, Apollo has to climb down the tree and onto the forest floor. His dad is still sitting, looking across the clearing to where the elk lay, motionless. Apollo quickly looks around the forest floor and the canopy above, trying to find a spot with a clear shot into the satellites in space. Having no luck in his search, Apollo grumbles as he marches the 30 yard distance onto the bank of the river. He stares at the elk with one hand on his pistol, daring the brute to move an inch. Adrenaline is coursing through his veins at the sight he had seen.

A ping from the SAT phone made Apollo jump again. He had a reception. Apollo quickly punched in the numbers he needed and held the phone to his ear, never once taking half an eye off the dead elk.

"Hi, Alaska Wildlife and Game, how may I help you?" The operator answered in a cheery voice.

"Yeah I have a dead elk here that needs someone to dispose of it." Apollo responded without much life.

"Oh sorry to hear it. I'll send someone out. Please tell me your coordinates so I can have someone know where to look."

Apollo responded with the coordinates from where he stood, explaining where the elk lay in relation to the coordinates.

"Wonderful honey, I'll make sure someone is sent to you as soon as possible. It seems, however, the earliest is about six hours away."

"Sure, no problem. I won't move." Apollo responded.

"Thank you, have a good one."

A quiet click from the phone was heard as Apollo took one last look at the elk.

"Dad! The game person will be here in six hours! I want to get the hell out of here as soon as the guy is done though!" Apollo shouted back into the forest from where he came, turning around.

That's when he heard it. Dragging. Something was being dragged across snow. Apollo felt his gut screaming at him to run. Something was really wrong. Apollo stood stock still. He didn't move a muscle. Apollo breathed once…twice…a third time before whipping around with his pistol raised.

There was a thick trail of blood leading back into the forest. Drag marks and a missing elk indicated that something had dragged that elk back into the forest. Apollo quickly looked up and down the river, looking to see if there was some type of cross that his father had used across the river. Something, anything. There wasn't.

"Must've been my dad, the prick." Apollo rationalized to himself, "I mean, what else could it have been? A bear? Maybe."

Apollo looked at the drag marks of the elk, trying to see if another set of footprints would magically appear from where the elk was dragged. There wasn't.

"Alright, so likely not a bear." Apollo said to himself. He scanned the forest around across the river. He didn't know what he wanted to see but he hoped it was his dad.

Apollo's intuition kept raging at him. Apollo finally listened and quickly jogged back into the cover of the trees. He ran right back to the two trees where they were set up.

"Dad?" He quickly asked. No response.

"Fuck this is bad…REALLY bad." Apollo thought to himself.

He quickly grabbed his shotgun and backpack from the forest floor and took it with him as he climbed back up into his perch. His father's bag lay at the bottom of his chair, along with his rifle and shotgun. Apollo began shivering from fear as he sat curled up on the platform in the tree. He knew that he couldn't be seen. He prided himself on it. And he would know if anything was trying to climb up the tree. Although that didn't stop him from quickly checking up the tree as much as he could, looking around to see if his dad was playing a sick joke on him. There was nothing in the tree itself. Apollo resorted again to his chair. He quickly brought his shotgun closer to him, and began staring out into the wilderness, waiting for the thing his intuition had told him about.

2 hours later
December 28th, 2023
Alaskan Wilderness

It has begun snowing heavier now. It was expected at least. The blood from the elk still stained the bank of the river red. Nothing had happened. Apollo hadn't even heard a bird chirp. The snow falling was better cover though, to which he couldn't complain. He had sat, vigilant, not daring to change his steady watch of the world around him. Nothing had moved. It seemed like he was in the middle of a horror movie.

"Maybe I am." Apollo thought, smirking slightly. His mind had worked overtime, preparing him for any scenario that could possibly happen.

A shadow moving through the forest alerted Apollo. He stared, tunnel vision, directly at whatever the shadow belonged to. Another elk and a baby elk came into view. Apollo breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the elk walk towards the river. The two stared into the river for a second and then began to drink. Apollo dropped his head and chuckled. He knew trying to bag an elk like this was immoral at best. It would leave the baby stranded. He WASN'T a monster.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A woman shrieked from across the river. Apollo froze.

"What the fuck." He muttered.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Again there was a shriek from across the bank. The elk and her baby's heads shot up from drinking. The mother elk quickly stood in front of the baby, protecting it from whatever was in the forest. Apollo's mind raced trying to figure out the source of whatever could've made that noise. He settled on it being a mountain lion. He'd heard a few before, none pleasant to hear scream like that.

Quickly another shadow appeared in the forest. It was moving and fast. Apollo watched with wide eyes as a woman draped in a white sheet and black hair was sprinting through the forest. It sprinted directly at the mother elk. Apollo watched as the woman slammed into the elk, pushing her into the icy river. He was dumbfounded. The water from the river washed over the elk as it squirmed. The baby elk began to cry as the woman stood back up and took two big steps back up the bank. The mother elk cried out as red blood began flowing from the elk.

"What the fuck!" Apollo spoke again as the very skin of the elk seemed to be getting ripped away. Soon, the mother elk stopped moving all together. The forest was silent. When the elk stopped squirming, the woman turned to look at the baby elk. Its eyes hadn't left its mother yet. The woman quickly sprang at the baby, grabbing it and slamming it onto the ground. It squeaked as the air was pushed from its lungs. The woman immediately ripped the elk's throat off with her bare hands and began eating the elk alive. The baby elk didn't put up much of a fight as it was torn to shreds. Apollo noticed a glowing yellow…artifact? It was attached to the side of the woman that had eaten the baby.

The woman stood up once she was done, he could see she had a slight distended stomach from eating the baby so quickly. She turned back to the forest and ran back into it, taking the corpse of the baby elk with her.

Apollo watched her leave, before closing his eyes and rubbing his head.

"I'm hallucinating. That's what it is. I'm going insane from this forest and that didn't really happen. Once I look back, the blood and elk corpse will be gone. I am ok. Everything is ok." Apollo took first breath…then a second…then a third before opening his eyes and looking across the river. To his horror, nothing changed. Not a drop of blood was out of place and all the footprints were still there.

Apollo shook his head sadly. He checked the time as a few stray tears slipped from his eyes. He was scared, and rightfully so. He held his gun tighter as he checked the time. Three hours left.

2 hours later
December 28th, 2023
Alaskan Wilderness

Johnny had still not turned up. Apollo had tried to call his SAT phone, but was too scared to move off the platform. He knew he would eventually have to move and meet the ranger sent out to deal with his elk problem. Apollo checked his map and saw a trail road about a mile away that the ranger would likely use to make it nearby. That meant Apollo had seven minutes off the tree and on the ground. He saw, luckily, that the river cut his side of the forest from where that woman was for at least 20 miles. That means unless she pulls a stunt, Apollo shouldn't have an issue getting to the ranger. He planned his journey and made sure all his bags were packed. He assessed his father's pack, thinking to see if there was anything that he wanted to bring in case he wasn't coming back. He also wanted to make sure that in case his father DID decide to show again that he had everything he would need to survive.

Apollo determined the only thing he would grab was his father's other ice pick. That way he had two of them. Apollo had no idea what he'd use it for, but determined he felt marginally safer with it.

Rustling across the forest on the other side of the river startled Apollo again.

"Not again." He muttered.

The shadow emerged from the forest. It was Johnny.

"Holy shit, how'd that prick get over there." Apollo exclaimed. Apollo watched his father. He quickly squinted his eyes and tilted his head to the side. Something was wrong with him.

Apollo quickly noticed that much like the other woman who had appeared a couple hours earlier, his father had similar yellow eyes. Everything about them seemed normal except for a slight yellow tint that could easily be seen from the scope of Apollo's rifle. Johnny also wasn't wearing his ski mask. Apollo lowered the zoom on the rifle to take in his father's full stature. There was blood staining his white outer jacket. Not enough to seem like a wound, but similar to that of grabbing something bloody.

"Must've been the elk? From way earlier." Apollo thought to himself, "I have so many questions."

Apollo let his guard down with the sight of his father. He breathed a sigh of relief and began to climb down the tree, taking his stand with him. He made it to the bottom without incident, before his intuition screamed at him again. Apollo hurriedly put everything together, strapping his gear to his body. He grabbed his father's ice pick and racked a slug into the chamber of his Mossberg. After checking to make sure everything was tied down, Apollo crept across the forest to the edge so he could see his dad. He didn't expose himself and made sure to not make tracks like his father had taught him. An extra precaution that his subconscious did without permission.

Across the river Johnny stood, in a trance. He was staring up into the sky and seemed to be oblivious to the outside world. Apollo just watched and waited. With quick movements Johnny unstrapped his revolver, pulled the hammer and placed it underneath his chin.

*BANG!*

Apollo watched in horror as his dad ended his own life across the river. His father collapsed. Apollo didn't move an inch, however his stomach told him it was time to go. Apollo immediately turned around and ran back to his father's pack. He grabbed the pack and strapped it on to his stomach before taking off in the direction of the trail. Apollo kept running and running, tears streaming down his face as he kept pushing to where he knew the ranger would be. The extra weight didn't slow him down as his muscles burned. Quickly, Apollo made it to the trail where he was told to meet the ranger.

The ranger's truck was there and thankfully the ranger was too.

"Oh hey," The ranger spoke out, standing behind his truck, "You the one who called about the elk?"

"Get in the truck we gotta go." Apollo spat out.

"What? Kid, are you ok?" The ranger replied, walking to the side of the truck where Apollo was running to.

"We gotta MOVE we can't stay here we can'twecan'twecan't." The tears were free as Apollo ran to the back seat door on the passenger side and ripped it open. He quickly threw his packs and guns into the back seat before climbing into the passenger seat. The ranger got the memo and ran around to the driver's side. He quickly started the truck and pulled out, back onto the trail road.

The two drove in silence for a few miles until they reached a normal road and eventually a neighborhood of cabins.

"What was all that earlier?" The ranger said, shooting a glance at Apollo. Apollo hadn't stopped crying but hadn't made a noise. He was wide-eyed staring ahead as tears streamed down his face.

Apollo told the ranger what he saw. He told him everything that happened, from when he and his dad first arrived until he ran into the ranger on the trail.

"Fuck…" The ranger muttered when Apollo was done speaking, "I'll take you back to the airport. We'll get you and your gear back to Spokane and I'll make sure your truck gets delivered back to you."

Apollo didn't respond.

Silence held the truck for another half hour as the two drove back to Anchorage, Alaska. There was something eating in the ranger's mind.

"Why'd you guys decide to go hunting in that area?" The ranger asked.

After a moment, Apollo responded, "Dunno…My dad just told me that he had an elk tag and that was where we were going."

The ranger sighed, thinking. Another moment passed before he spoke again, "I thought we didn't give tags to that area anymore. Usually everything is more north, past Fairbanks. I haven't heard of anyone hunting elk there since the '80s."

"Huh? Why's that such a big deal? It Native land or something?" Apollo asked, weakly.

"Not anymore. Land used to belong to the Athabascan native tribe. Legend says that the land was cursed with an ancient artifact directly from their gods. Some female witch doctor had discovered the artifact buried in a cave. She used it to curse the land when America took it over. Apparently she went insane and murdered her captors and anyone else who walked. There were cases of people losing their minds and killing themselves or losing their heads. Every couple years from 1950-ish to the '80s when we stopped supplying hunting tags in that region."

Apollo looked at the ranger, shocked. He wasn't a kid who believed in conspiracy theories like that. His father had taught him that they were just that, theories. Nobody really died to creatures in the forest. These disappearances usually boiled down to feuds and other stupid things.

"I-I-I saw a woman, with a glowing yellow thing attached to her side. She was the one who ate the baby elk. Could that be her?" Apollo asked.

The ranger shrugged, "If the rumor is true, then maybe. Seems to check all the boxes we're looking for. Nobody has ever seen the artifact and lived to tell the tale. Anyone who's touched it has gone insane and it has always ended up with them dead."

"Lovely." Apollo commented before continuing his 100 yard stare into the road.

Before long, the ranger's radio beeped. He answered and put a phone up to his ear and began talking to someone on the other end. Apollo didn't bother paying attention. Soon the conversation was ended and the ranger muttered something under his breath.

"The highway between the next mountain pass is closed. There was an avalanche blocking the highway. We have to take the long way around and it being this late already, we need to stop at a hotel on the other route. We can keep moving first thing in the morning."

Apollo silently nodded. The ranger took the next exit off the highway and began the much slower trek to the local hotel to stay the night.

After another hour of driving, the ranger and Apollo pulled into the hotel. The man walked into the front desk to get them each a room for the night. Apollo barely recognized where they were and didn't bother moving his eyes from directly ahead of them.

A knock at the window startled Apollo. He quickly looked over to see the ranger holding a room key in his hand.

"Here kid," The ranger spoke when Apollo opened the door, "Grab your stuff, you'll be on the second floor, down the hall to the left from the elevator. Breakfast is served between 7 and 9 in the morning. Try to get some food before we leave at 9. I told them about the guns already so don't feel the need to leave them here. You probably wouldn't anyway."

Apollo nodded silently again, taking the room key and going into the backseat to grab his pack and his father's. Apollo quickly unzipped the top of his father's pack and pulled out his car keys, handing them over to the ranger. The ranger murmured a "thanks" before Apollo quickly walked into the hotel. The front desk lady, who seemed to be in her mid 40's, took a quick look at Apollo walking in. She shook her head sadly as she saw the look plastered on Apollo's face.

Apollo didn't bother looking at her. He used his brain's autopilot to get to his room. Once inside, Apollo quickly dropped everything on the floor. He opened his pack and grabbed an extra change of clothes. Apollo turned on the shower and set the water to almost scalding. He wanted to burn the memory of today away from his mind. Apollo still hadn't quite come to terms today with what happened. He didn't think we would for a long time.

After taking a long shower, Apollo changed into a different set of clothes and numbly went to sit on the bed. Three knocks at the door startled him out of his stupor. Apollo slowly walked to the door, checking to see who was there through the little peephole. The ranger was there again, looking at something down the hall. Apollo slowly opened the door a crack, indicating he wasn't interested in long conversation.

"I was going to do your wash. They have a laundromat here and I'd assume you'd want some clean clothes." The ranger said with a slight smile on his face, trying to ease the tension of Apollo.

Apollo nodded and muttered a "sure" before closing the door again. A minute later, he opened the door again with his laundry in bags. The ranger thanked him and went on his way to the laundromat down the hall. Apollo went back to his bed, turning on the television. Apollo flipped through news, late night cartoons, and talk shows before finally settling on ESPN. He couldn't bother getting interested in whatever was being talked about. He turned off the TV, settling for sitting down and spending time looking at the ceiling.

An hour and half later, there were the familiar three knocks at the door. Apollo checked again to find the ranger holding his clothes neatly folded. Apollo quickly opened the door, thanked the ranger, and took his folded clothes back. Apollo left his winter gear out and reorganized everything else into his pack. He hadn't bothered going through his father's pack and decided against it.

Knowing sleep was not going to come easy tonight, Apollo spent the time unloading and cleaning his three firearms, along with his fathers rifle and shotgun. It gave him something to keep his hands and subconscious busy while his mind kept blank. After an hour or so of meticulous cleaning and rebuilding, Apollo loaded the guns once again.

December 29th, 2023
Outside Anchorage, Alaska

Apollo didn't get an ounce of sleep last night and it was catching up to him now. The sun had risen and he and the ranger were finishing up their breakfast. Apollo was exhausted. Once he was done eating, he walked to the vending machine and bought an energy drink to keep him going until he could get on a plane later that day.

The ranger confirmed that the highway was now open and the snow had been cleared. There was nothing stopping Apollo from leaving this frozen hell and returning back to his aunt in Spokane. With this being the middle of basketball season, Apollo needed to hit a massive regain on his mental health and finish strong. His team was counting on him.

Soon Apollo and the ranger, along with another female ranger who joined the two men, entered his truck and headed back out on the road. They found a way back onto the highway. They were only about 20 miles away from Anchorage. It was slow going, however. Heavy snow severely reduced visibility and there seemed to be no one else driving or in the vicinity. Likely due to the heavy snow and remote location.

Apollo was seated in the backseat with his two packs and weapons buckled into the seatbelts. The female ranger had shot off questions nearly as soon as they hit the road. Apollo knew she was there to help coax him into giving details about what happened on the trip. He didn't have any other information besides what Apollo originally told the ranger. The woman was writing down all the information she could while the male ranger, Thomas (Apollo finally learned), silently sat driving.

"Fuck this snow is some of the worst I've seen." He finally commented.

"I heard there was a blizzard passing through town. Same storm caused the avalanche. We're close to the airport though, so this won't be a big deal for long." The woman ranger responded.

Apollo continued to stare out the passenger window before something in his gut started acting up again. He frowned, not liking the feeling as he tied it to when the woman in the forest was around.

The female ranger noticed it after looking through the mirror on the front passenger side sun screen.

"Something the matter?" She asked.

"Dunno," Apollo shrugged, "Probably nothing. Just tired is all."

The woman nodded before focusing her eyes on the road. Apollo felt that familiar tug of his intuition and adrenaline begin to course through his veins once again. He turned his attention through the front window of the truck and saw her again.

The woman from the forest was directly ahead of them, 15 feet ahead. She was barely visible in the snow but Apollo saw her clear as day.

"There!" Apollo shouted pointing right at the woman.

The ranger squinted to try and see what he was pointing at, but saw the woman all too late. The ranger tried to slam on the breaks and swerve to not hit the pedestrian on the highway. The car dove right and rattled heavily as the tires tried desperately to grip onto something. The chains on the tires didn't get an inch of purchase and the car slid towards the embankment between the highway and the forest nearby.

The car slid down the embankment into the Forest below. Apollo leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes as the world flashed around him. He heard a scream before everything was cut off around him and he blacked out.

Sometime later
Anchorage, Alaska

It was dark when Apollo finally awoke. He was groggy and didn't quite remember how he got in the situation he was currently in. Memories flooded back to him as he quickly looked around the outside of the car. He breathed a sigh of relief as he didn't see the woman from earlier.

His sigh of relief quickly turned to horror as he saw the interior of the truck. His gear was still in its place, but in the front seat, Thomas and the woman ranger were dead. They had run head first into a tree. The tree crushed the driver side of the car. Thomas was covered head to toe in blood with a death grip still in the wheel that was now pushed in a foot. The female ranger was impaled on a branch. That meant the snowfall totaled enough to reach the lower hanging branches of some of these trees. She must've died on impact too.

Apollo quickly composed himself, breathing in and out a couple times. He was sick to his stomach with what he saw. He couldn't take his eyes off the scene.

Finally working up the strength to tear his eyes away from it, Apollo kicked the door open after it wouldn't budge from his pushing. He stumbled onto the forest floor and quickly collapsed. His muscles were unwilling to work and his legs couldn't hold him up anymore. Bile quickly rose from his throat and he hurled his breakfast into the snow nearby.

Apollo quickly took stock of his surroundings. It was still snowing, the forest was quiet and it was nighttime, but not too dark due to the reflective snow. Apollo was able to gain some strength back after he calmed down and devised a plan.

The highway was a direct shot to the airport. Before they crashed, Apollo remembered they were about 12 miles away from the airport, meaning it would take over an hour to reach it. If he stayed on the edge of the highway, he could jog the miles and reach the airport by early morning.

Apollo checked his watch. It read 4:28 AM.

"Fuck." He muttered. Apollo had to pray he could make it to the airport by the time people got there and get on a plane. Although now, he lost his alibi. He'd have to convince the staff at the airport of what happened.

Apollo noted the coordinates of the highway and where he was before strapping his packs to his body. The extra weight would slow him down but not by enough to risk leaving the gear. He didn't know what that woman would do if she found a gun laying around, and Apollo didn't want to find out.

Apollo was able to jiggy both packs to his back and hand carry the Mossberg 500. Apollo climbed the embankment, back to where they first slipped off. He took a look down both ends of the highway, looking for the woman in white before sliding his ski mask, gloves and snow goggles back on. His clothes were stained red from blood, but he figured it was a small price to pay for warmth. He definitely looks like a serial killer now, though.

After seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Apollo began jogging in the direction of Anchorage. His muscles protested for a little while, but he pushed through and they eventually quieted their protest.

4 miles into his journey, Apollo was making great progress. He was past 30 minutes in but felt fine to continue. He guessed he'd get to the airport about 7:15 in the morning. Apollo would make good time.

The snow, thick as ever, continued to fall which helped cool his body as he jogged. Due to the nighttime and the weird lighting, shadows had begun dancing in his periphery. Nothing amounted to more than shadows, but it freaked him out nonetheless.

10 miles in, no contact with people, animals or otherwise, Apollo was very happy with his progress. His muscles continued to burn with a passion now that the adrenaline had worn off. He pushed through once again, not daring to slow down.

Apollo closed his eyes while he jogged. Fatigue had really begun to set in with the weight of his gear and the consistent pace he was setting. He knew it wasn't much farther and light from the sun had begun to show through the heavy clouds above.

Apollo's eyes snapped open when he heard crunching from up ahead. She was there. The woman who had upended his life. 20 feet ahead she stood still, staring directly at Apollo. Her white blouse was stained red in places and her dark hair was covering most of her face. It went down to her waist in most spots. Her feral, yellow eyes bore holes directly into Apollo.

Apollo slowed down to a stop. The two were now only 10 feet apart. Apollo's legs gave out as he felt fear threaten to overtake his mind. He collapsed onto the highway and stared back at the woman who would haunt his nightmares for the rest of time.

"What do you want with me?" Apollo cried out. He was too tired and too worn out to cry anymore.

Apollo felt defeated. He was so close to making it home but fell just short. 2 miles was all that separated him from freedom. Now a monster he couldn't begin to understand stood between that. He saw the woman tackle a 600 pound elk like a linebacker. Apollo knew he stood no chance.

The woman skipped her way over to Apollo before too dropping to her knees. The yellow artifact attached to her hip glowed in the early morning light. The two were there, staring at each other, inches away. The woman raised her hands and put them on either side of Apollo's face, pushing his goggles up his head. Had he not been so freaked out, Apollo realized the woman was semi-attractive. Beyond the yellow eyes and very pointy teeth, the woman had nice facial features. As if she read his mind, the woman giggled and smiled, a far cry from what Apollo had seen earlier.

"Eyes….pret-ttty." The woman stuttered, speaking.

"Wha…?" Apollo responded.

The woman giggled again. She leaned in slightly to get a better look at his eyes. Her hands moved from the sides of his face to the bottom of the ski mask. The artifact glowed bright again.

This caused Apollo to react instinctively. Apollo drove what remaining strength he had into a right hook, driving his fist into the woman's chin. She was knocked backwards to the ground. Apollo quickly stood up and racked a slug into his shotgun. He took aim directly at her head and pulled the trigger. The slug, point blank, destroyed her head. Red and…purple(?) blood went everywhere. Apollo didn't care as he took off again.

Apollo kicked the artifact down the road, tripping as he did and falling face first into the snowy pavement. Apollo quickly got back up again looking behind him at the corpse of the woman and kept running. The artifact was a few paces down the way. Apollo felt some type of attraction to the thing. It made him stop and look at it. The artifact looked like an old Aztec head. It was black with yellow highlights coursing through it. It had yellow eyes and a black, gaping mouth.

Apollo stopped running and looked at it. It glowed once, twice and a third time before Apollo moved. He looked at the body of the woman and back at the artifact. He shook his head before looking back at the woman again. He was in an internal struggle deciding whether to keep the artifact or not.

He sighed, "Fuck it. I'll give it to someone else, I won't know what to do with it."

Apollo dropped down and grabbed his dad's pack off his back. He tried to open the top compartment, but the zipper wouldn't budge. He got frustrated and began to feel frantic, like he was about to get in trouble for stealing. He took off the glove on his left hand and was finally able to get the zipper to move. He reached down to grab the artifact with his left hand.

When he did, yellow electricity shot up his arm and across his body. His muscles all activated and he screamed as pain coursed through his body. It was over as soon as it started, but Apollo was unconscious all the same. Apollo collapsed on his back, the artifact in his left hand and father's bag in his right.