SPECTRE

CHAPTER I

AJ stood at the edge of the cliff just gazing out at the vast distance. The sun was rising behind the horizon whilst a herd of buffalo ran acrossed the land. A trail of dust followed in their stampede. The sky above was dark, thought the sun was out. That was just the way it was. The way it has always been. Ever since the war that ended almost all life on the planet.

He placed his hand on his sword, he kept sheathed away in a metal box wrapped onto his back. He was ready to pull it out at a moment’s notice. Not that he ever had to use the sword; not in a while.

A cool breeze blowed through and brushed against his dark skin. He wore a black skin tight shirt made with nanofibers that could take the shot from a nasty 50.cal sniper rifle. A weapon he had a knack for getting on the wrong end of.

“AJ are you listening?” a voice asked.

He found himself daydreaming and soon came to his senses. He looked over to his left at his best friend Sev who sat on the edge of the cliff with his legs hanging off. He smiled up at AJ with his winning white teeth.

“Sorry, I was busy thinking about something,” AJ said.

“It’s alright man, just wanted to know why you grabbing your sword. You expecting a fight way out here?”

AJ shook his head. “No, I was just…” He couldn’t understand why he was gripping his sword. He let go of it and placed his hand at his side. He was always uneasy, an effect from living a life of a spectre.

Spectres were soldiers for hire by the remaining nations. They were soldiers who could wield powers known as Kitek. It gave them all sorts of powers, from elemental abilities to powers that allows them to change the very laws of physics. It was a game changer which is the reason why countries that haven’t been destroyed are constantly scouring the dying world for those who can wield kitek.

“So, whatcha think’n about man?” Sev asked.

AJ lowered his guard, something he had trouble doing, and sat down beside Sev. At eighteen, Sev was just a bit older than AJ. He wore a sleeveless black turtleneck with the spectre white insignia pinned to his chest. He wore dark armor padded jeans and a two belts around his waist that crossed over his crotch.

“I was just thinking about our last battle,” AJ said. “I don’t think I saved enough of those people.”

Sev smiled. “Don’t worry man. For your first mission you did pretty good out there. You didn’t freeze up or nothing.”

AJ was just fresh from training. He wasn’t a rookie anymore but a full fledged spectre. Unlike most spectres, he wasn’t up for hire but worked along the US military as a soldier. Today was the first time he had gone out on a mission with his friend Sev. Sev had gone on numerous missions before so he was use to it.

“Yeah, but I overheard the commander going over the body count. The numbers were extremely high.”

Sev nodded his head along to AJ’s words.

“I think about how all those people could have been saved if I tried hard enough.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself man,” Sev said. “You need to know that you can’t save everybody. What matters is you saved people.”

“I guess you’re right. But I want to be able to save everyone.”

“Well if heres a thought.” Sev leaned back and looked out into the distance. Another cool breeze rolled through and his long black hair fluttered in the air. “If you can convince the countries to stop fighting over a dying planet, maybe then you’ll save everyone.”