Eye of the Storm

Chapter 1

She came into consciousness, and felt like throwing up.

She also felt like someone was trying to speak to her, an unknown voice that felt as though it were a mile away. Her brain swam in her skull and it felt like if she opened her eyes they would burst. After what felt like an eternity, she finally managed to gather the strength to shift her arms and legs, before realizing she was pinned under a heavy object.

"Eyes up, Guardian!" The voice rang like a siren in her ears, but she couldn't move her arms to cover them so her response was a weak groan. She opened her eyes and attempted to lift her head, which slammed into a thick and rusty piece of rebar. She laid her head back down with another groan. She then heard a soft chime and felt a warm sensation through her body, the pain in her head subsided; but the blood remained.

"Are you alright?" The voice chimed again, softer this time. It was a calm voice, masculine, and…slightly robotic?

"My head…hurts." The girl finally spoke, her own voice was mature, gentle, and slightly sultry. However at this moment it was a hassle to speak.

"Yeah, sorry about that. You've been dead for…a long time. Right now, you need to get out of there!" The small voice spoke once more, the human girl was able to finally pinpoint the source, she peered up through the debris she was encased in to see a small floating robot. It had an outer shell that was composed of tiny, white, triangular plates surrounding the smaller ball. The blue pixelated eye stared down at her.

Wait, she was…dead? She would have to process that later, but right now she needed to process where she was. She looked down at her body and saw that a large slab of stone was laying across two other slabs, perfectly pinning her inside a coffin of stone. She positioned her hands on the edge of the slab and tried to push. The stone groaned and slid slightly, but the girl had to stop pushing from exhaustion. She took a few deep breaths before starting again, this time she groaned loudly as the stone slab slid off of her with a loud crash. She could finally sit up, taking care to avoid the piece of rebar that tore into her forehead. She seemed to be in some kind of…dojo? There were mats lining the ground, and corpses. A lot of corpses, she studied the bodies, there were adults, teens, and even some children. Her heart hurt.

"Please, we need to go." The little robot flew close and spoke with haste, "I'm detecting Fallen nearby, and you don't have a gun." That's all the girl needed to hear, she stood up swiftly and ignored the slight throbbing in her head. Her eyes snapped to the main door to her left, it was blocked by a large pile of debris yet she could still hear shrill chittering and screeching coming from behind it. She moved her head to the right to find a shattered window that led to freedom.

"What floor are we on?" The girl spoke with her eyes glued on the window.

"The second floor?" The robot responded. The girl's mind was a blank slate, but she knew two things. She was brought back from the dead, and her head wound closed in a second. She snatched the little robot out of the air, and took off towards the window. She curled into herself to fit through the window as glass cut her arms and legs, all while she protected her new, and only friend. The girl took in a deep breath as she fell through the air. She landed hard on the street and rolled her body across the cement to cushion the blow. When she tried to scramble to her feet, her left ankle buckled as white hot pain shot from it; it was broken.

"Hold on!" The little robot said as it was clutched to her chest. A soft blue light emitted from the tiny creature, and spread through the human girl's body. With it, the pain in her ankle faded away. The girl then noticed the strange creatures that were running towards her, bone spears in their hands. They had four arms and resembled a strange humanoid insect.

"Run! Move!" The robot shouted. The girl wasted no time, she took off away from the Fallen, "Turn left! We can lose them in the tight alleys!" The robot continued to shout while being clutched to the woman's chest. She followed his directions and ducked into the labyrinth of cement and foliage. She paused to take a small breather, but could clearly hear the grunting and screeching of the Fallen in pursuit. The robot spoke again as the girl was winded and panting.

"Wait, there's no wall here…behind these vines." The robot said to himself before he floated through the curtain of vines that hung against the building. The girl followed quietly and slowly in an attempt to leave no trace. She immediately crouched down against the cement wall next to the vines and sat very still and silent. She waited about 2 minutes before she heard the pack of Fallen run and screech past her hiding place. She waited even longer until she heard no sound at all. The girl finally relaxed, she slumped down to the ground and leaned her body against the wall.

"How do you feel?" The little robot rose and twinkled. It floated close to her face, radiating curiosity.

"I'm okay, I just need to catch my breath. Are we safe now?" The girl responded through her breaths.

"No, we need to find you a weapon, and armor." The robot added as it looked down the woman's body. She did the same and saw that she was wearing loose fitting joggers, and a sports tank. All of it was dusty and bloody, "After we do that, I can answer as many questions as I can, because I'm sure you have many." The girl nodded and stood up to take a look at the room she was in. This room was broken and ruined, all covered in a thick blanket of dust. It looked as though no one had set foot here in decades.

The little robot looked out into the room, it made a little processing noise and its eye flickered softly, "I'm detecting a weapon in the next room, just past that door." The robot looked towards a door that was on the opposite side of the room. When the girl opened the door and peered inside, she gasped in surprise as she took in the sight of the vast amount of corpses inside.

"What the hell happened here?" The girl spoke softly as she walked through the room, careful to step over the bodies.

"Fallen, most likely. Any refugees trying to find The Last City were often attacked and wiped out by the Fallen that have claimed this area of Earth." The little robot responded as he led the woman through the room. The two finally stopped in the back corner of the room where they found a corpse of a woman. She was wearing some sort of hardened armor, which was white and gray. She had a dark gray cloak with a hood that was up and over her helmet.

"That's…a dead Guardian." The little robot spoke quietly and solemnly, "Wait, but where's…" the robot trailed off as he floated towards a different corpse, a shattered robot, just like him.

"What am I looking at here?" The girl asked bluntly.

"Well, I suppose this is as good a time as any for some answers. That's a Guardian, a defender of humanity blessed by The Traveler; and that…" the robot looked towards the broken robot on the ground. "That was her Ghost, just like I am your Ghost. Ghosts can heal their Guardian, and revive them if they die. This makes Guardians very difficult to kill for real, but not impossible."

While her Ghost was speaking, the woman's eyes caught a small shine that came from something on the ground. She then fully noticed a long and slender rifle, covered in dust and still in the late Guardians hands. She reached down and picked it up, actually prying it from the dead fingers of the Guardian. She dusted off the rifle and saw the golden trim around a dark wood, she also noticed it was lever action. She lifted the rifle to look down at the sight, simple yet elegant.

"You might want to take her armor as well, I hope it fits you well enough." The Ghost spoke again, floating next to the dead Guardians head.

"You want me to strip this woman?" The human girl looked disgusted more than anything.

"Well, it's either that, or you'll be completely unarmored until we get to Devrims place. I can't save you from the pain of being shot. Besides, if you take her gear I'll be able to live in your helmet, and out of harm's way. You need to protect your immortality." The Ghost responded flatly. The girl sighed and looked back at the dead Guardian before kneeling down to remove her armor.

After she finally got the armor on, she shifted her body to help settle into it. It was a little large on her but it was protection at least.

"So, who is Devrim?" The woman asked her Ghost while she slung the rifle up on her shoulder.

"Oh, Devrim Kay? He is a super nice man I found while I was searching for you. He lives in the European Dead Zone, and loves tea. He's also the greatest marksman you'll meet for miles." The Ghost seemed truly happy talking about this man. The woman asked where they should go next to find him. The Ghost thought for a moment, lights in its eye flickering softly. He flew over to the window on the far end of the room.

"We have to get through the woods, it will be a long journey to get back to the EDZ. Good thing that you have that rifle because you will probably have to hunt for food." The Ghost spoke so plainly, like he knew that this girl was capable, she didn't even know if she was capable.