Our World of Ashes

Chapter 1: And so it Begins...

Kennedy stumbles forward, clutching her stomach. It growls hungrily, making her sigh. Looking around, she watches for any sign of game, and looks for any edible plants. Seeing nothing (as usual), she continues on through the forest, trying not to think about how she's literally starving to death.

"Wouldn't be starving if it weren't for those damn Cleansers." she thinks to herself, angrily. Their "crusade" left many survivors like her starving and homeless, and most trying to avoid the Empire. Some joined willingly, however, for the food and shelter, but most wouldn't go, knowing about the horrible laws and punishments for breaking said laws inside their walls. Others wouldn't go, reusing to side with murderers and backstabbers. Kennedy was one of these people. All they wanted was power, with their leader, a man known as Adrian Ryntat, the worst of them all. She continued on through the forest, the wind blowing her greasy brown hair around. Feet sore, and weak from the lack of nourishment, she eventually slumped against a tree, sliding down carefully. She brought her knees up to her chest, and put her arms around her legs, trying to keep as warm as possible, knowing how cold it could get at night. Her eyelids droop slightly, and she let's out a yawn. The wind's gentle whooshing eventually lulled her into a dreamless sleep.

Kennedy's eyes snap open at the sound of leaves crunching. Using the tree for support, she gets up, drawing her small pocket knife from a pocket in her cargo pants. The crunching drew closer and closer. Unsure if the cause of the crunching was a friend or a foe, she gathered up as much strength as she could muster and, as silently as possible, climbed the tree to a fairly high branch, and perched atop it, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. As the crunching draws even nearer, she can make out voices.

"-and he ordered to bring them back to base immediately." she heard a man's voice say.

"And if they give us trouble?" another said. There was a short pause, until the other man replied gruffly,

"Kill them."

"Yes sir!" replied a couple of voices. Confused and scared, Kennedy looked to where the voices were coming from. Her jaw dropped open. She recognized those dark blue uniforms anywhere.

"Cleansers? All the way out here? What are they doing? Who are they after?" she thought to herself. She heard multiple footsteps spreading out in every direction.

"Calm down, you'll be okay. Think. What can you do?" she thought. Using the trunk of the tree for support, she looked down at the places where she heard footsteps. From her high perch, she made out about 12 dark figures. That may not seem like a lot, but 12 soldiers with technologically-advanced weapons against a mangy, weak girl carrying a pocket knife was actually terrifying. Not mention, they could have set up camp, meaning even more Cleansers. Cursing under her breath, she looked around once more, trying to devise a plan.

"I could just stay here," she thought. "but...if they shine a light into the trees I'm screwed." she frowned, realizing her only options were to get to the ground and run, or stay in the tree. After weighing the pros and cons of each, she took a deep breath and slowly started making her way down the tree. Branch by branch, she carefully made her way down the trunk, checking every 5 seconds to be sure there weren't any Cleansers lurking nearby. When her feet touched the ground, much to her dismay, she heard voices coming her direction.

"Yeah, the resistance has been putting up quite the fight.." one voice said

"Nothing the Empire can't handle, though." Said another.

"Resistance? Someone's trying to stop all this? That's actually oddly reassuring. " Kennedy thought, before tip-toeing away from the tree in another direction, opposite from where the voices where coming from. As soon as she thought she was safe, she let out a small sigh of relief. She continued tip-toeing, just in case. Then, out of all the possible times to happen, her stomach let out a large growl, reminding her that it was still in need of nourishment.

"What was that?" she heard a voice, different from the other two she heard previously, and frighteningly more adjacent than the last two.

"Damnit! They're spread out!" Kennedy thought, before bolting away in a completely different direction, abandoning any thoughts of moving stealthily.

"This way!" she heard the voice yell, followed by footsteps. She ran fast, occasionally stumbling over rocks and undergrowth. Two bullets sailed passed her head, missing by mere inches. Heart thumping and filled with adrenaline, she sped up, being careful not to hit any trees. She continued running, and the sound of her heart drummed in her ears denied her any ability to know if they were still running after her. Seeing a bunch of bushes she could hide in up ahead, she continued running, and as soon as she could she leaped into the brush, praying they were enough to hide her. They were thorny, and pricked at her arms, legs, and scratched her face, but she was thankful for being able to stop. Not even 10 seconds later, she heard the sound of footsteps rushing in her direction.

"Where did they go?" one panting Cleanser asked. There was a silence for a couple of moments. Kennedy held her breath, which was exceedingly difficult, because she was panting and out of breath a couple of seconds ago.

"I think I see something this way!" someone cried, and all the footsteps hurried off in another direction, leaving Kennedy by herself. She sighed heavily, and took a minute to catch her breath in the thorny bush. Feeling weaker than ever, she shakily stood up, and stepped out of the bushes. She stumbled a bit, and after a few steps fell over.

"Owww...." she said, clutching her arm, which received most of the damage from her fall. She laid her head down, weary. Angry and melancholy, her eyes stung. She closed them to force back her tears. As a result of holding them in, her throat made a strangled, gurgling noise. Still breathing heavily, she let her self start to drift off, and soon found herself slumbering on the forest floor.