A Lawless Land

The End is Just The Beginning

Blythe woke up to the sound of a deafening boom. She rolled out of the bed and put her arms over her head as the building shook violently. She felt something sticking to her arm and frantically examined it; she was hooked up to an IV.

Clenching her teeth, she tore it out. She crawled to the window where a red glow was flickering. There was another boom, another tremor. She carefully peeked through the drapes. There was smoke and fire everywhere, people screaming in fear and agony. The world she knew was crumbling before her very eyes.

Everyone saw the signs, they should've prepared themselves better. At least that's what she was trained to do, but now that she was witnessing it, she realized, nothing could've prepared anyone for this.

She looked down and discovered she was in a hospital gown, "where the hell are my clothes?"

Blythe glanced around the dim room and couldn't find any. Gunshots were heard and footsteps running through the hall. She tried to stand up, but felt a stabbing pain in her left temple, making her stagger back, and her eyesight blurred. Then she remembered, someone had caught her off guard and hit her in the head with something cold and hard. There was a bandage over it.

She started to tear the room apart, looking for something, anything, that could help her. She spotted the table, and in one swift maneuver, knocked it over on its side and broke a leg off. Shortly after, she came across disposable paper clothing to wear until she could find real clothes. Her arm was bleeding from where she tore the IV from. She found a bag and grabbed any bandages and first aid supplies she could get her hands on.

She crept into the hospital corridor and glanced around. The halls were empty. It appeared to have been evacuated. Something felt very wrong about the place.

Suddenly, a scream echoed from around a corner. Blythe clinged as closely to the wall as she could and peeked around it to see what it was about. Two masked men had taken a nurse captive and were torturing her.

She looked down at the broken table leg in her hand and gripped it firmly. She poked her head around the corner and screamed at them. Only one came running in her direction.

Blythe ran from corridor to corridor, and finally came to a stop in a dead-end hallway. The light was flickering and it got dimmer every other flicker. She stood in wait, listening to the footsteps get closer and closer. They stopped right before her corner, there was a click, then a cold metal object was pressed against her neck.

She gave the man a sidelong glance and gave him an unsettling smile, "is it difficult to see with that ski mask on?"

"Why?"

She quickly swung the table leg at his head as hard as she could, "because you let me lure you away from your pal while I was holding on to this."

He groaned in pain as she hit him again, he knew he had been stupid to follow her when he didn't know who or what she was, and he was about to pay for it.

Blythe hit him again and again, until he no longer moved. She grabbed his gun and returned to the spot where the other guy was holding the nurse. She ditched the table leg and held the gun up to the other masked stranger.

"Step away from her," she demanded as she cocked the gun.

He turned to face her and put his hands up, "you know how to use that thing, beautiful?"

Blythe glared at him, "step away or you'll find out."

He smiled and stepped away, "shouldn't you have checked your surroundings better before charging in like an idiot?"

As soon as he said it, a third masked man seized Blythe from behind. He twisted her arm behind her back and made her drop the gun. She cursed herself, then without thinking, slammed her head back into his face.