Natros

Prologue

The sound of falling rubble and explosions could be heard through the walls. Painful wails would shake the room every once in a while. A mother and her son sat huddled in their underground shelter.

"When is Dad coming back?" the boy asked his mother.

"He'll be back soon. I promise."

Suddenly, something started hitting the shelter door. The woman held onto her son as someone demanded to be let inside. The banging grew fiercer until it was cut off by the sounds of lasers ripping through flesh. The door was unlocked and a man toting a rifle walked inside.

"Diane, we need to leave. Now."

"Dad!"

" Mitchell, what's going on?"

"All out war is going on. Complete anarchy has gripped the world. We need to find somewhere safe before bandits get to us."

Mitchell packed his family and a few supplies into his vehicle and took off towards the sky. The son looked out the widow and observed the ghastly sights below. The entire city was in chaos. Buildings on fire, people dead or dying in the streets.

"Ah, damn it! The Internet is down. Same with the phones,"Mitchell said as they flew away from the city.

The vehicle started to beep and whir. Red emergency lights started flashing. It started losing altitude.

"Why are we falling?!" Diane asked.

"Probably an EMP. Hang on, this is going to be rough."

They hit the ground and the vehicle rolled. When it stopped, Mitchell and Diane crawled out the windows. Diane grabbed the boy and the family walked from the wreckage.

"Just a little farther and we'll be out of the city and in the clear."

Mitchell looked up and saw a military aircraft in the sky above the city. Hope arose in him until he saw it glow bright red. He pulled his family into a hug to say "I love you" for the last time.
A laser rushed down, demolishing the city and incinerating Mitchell, his family, and anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the way. Up on the ship, a man spoke to the captain.

"Why did you fire?! There were still civilians in that city! Our own forces didn't even get to retreat!"

The captain smacked the man.

"I did what had to be done. A large enemy base was inside the city and I cut our losses."

"By cutting down the lives of thousands of innocent bystanders."

"I did what had to be done, " the captain said, pulling out a hand gun"And I will continue to do so."

He pointed the gun at the man and pulled the trigger. A red light would be the last thing he saw.

"Turn us around. We have five more cities scheduled."