Redemption

Chapter 1

The remains of the buildings crunched and cracked under the weight of my boots. This once intimidating structure now ruined and left behind filled me with depression. How could 20,000 people just disappear overnight? After the war, so many things that used to seem impossible now were everyday occurrences. I drew my cloak closer to defend against the bitter wind that screamed in my ears and sent the ruined ends of the cloth flailing around me. My name is Leo. I would tell you more, but I don't know more. I can't remember who I am. I guess that's why I'm here now. to find some clue that I had a life before the war, before the experiments that made me what I am now. A freak of nature with unnatural abilities. Sure, some would say having the strength to lift ten tons with one arm was a blessing, or a super power. But what do you do when you want to hug someone, but you're afraid you'll end up crushing their spine, choking the very life out of them? Depressing, I know. Try living with it.

As I pick through the rubble, distant visions of packed streets invade my imagination. When the images fade, and the horrible reality returns, I can't help holding back tears.

Damn that stupid war! Damn all those people who believed the only way to live is to kill! I punch a steel wall to vent my frustrations, and it collapses. A movement to my right catches my attention. Looking round, I see a single moving shape among the dust the fallen wall kicked up. Instinctively, my hand flies to the handle of the blade strapped to my back, and I force some calming breaths to ease myself. As the dust cleared, I see a small dog sniffing through the debris. Chuckling slightly, I carefully close the gap between us and crouch down next to the pitiful creature. It's eyes were wide open with fear. I stick out my finger for it to smell, and it gives me a lick. Carefully, I take the small dog into my arms. It had short, black and white fur which reminded me of the search and rescue huskies. It seemed only a month old. Looking around, I used my, for a lack of a better term, Super scent to locate a similar smell to that of the dog. Following the trail, I get lead to a slightly less ruined building on the outskirts of the city.

The building looked like an old apartment building. Busted windows and shattered doors litter it's front. It stood a single story high, The pup began to wriggle in my cloak and I knew it recognized the place's smell. As I approached the ramshackled place, a movement in the upper right room catches my eyes and the fall of carefully placed footsteps ring in my ears. I entered the debris filled main entrance to find overturned desks, lamps and papers littered the ground and made it difficult to muffle my foot falls. A ruined staircase met me at the end of a long hallway. gripping the dog tight, I leaped over the scrap pile that use to serve a purpose. Another shady hallway with 5 doors on either side was what I found.

Many of the rooms were impossible to pass into, but when I came to the end of the hall, I found a mostly cleared room, to which I realize was the room I saw someone in. Looking around, I called out into the gloom, but no answer came. Confused slightly, curiosity took hold and I stepped into the room. There was a loud CRACK as a large plank of wood broke over my head. Taken by surprise, I dropped the pup and curl my arms over my head, preparing for another attack. A shaky voice entered my ears.

"Don't m-move!" It said "I-I-I'll hit you again!"

I looked up to see a girl, probably in her early twenties, holding a long plank like a bat. the sight was so ridiculous, I couldn't help myself. "Please don't' I said,"It almost tickled." Which was true, I hardly felt it, but instincts are instincts.

"Y-you think you're so high and m-m-mighty?"

Another wap on my head kicks in my combat reflexes and as I felt the wood lift, I whirled around, snatched the wood plank, and broke it across my knee.

The girl screamed and scampered back, tripping over various debris.

"P-please, I don't want any trouble! It was for self defense! I thought you were an android, I swear!" She looked me up and down as if she still suspected this. Pity and guilt flooded me and I was about to reassure her when the dog began tugging at the hem of my cloak playfully. Smiling, I knelt down to tug the dog away. I lifted her into my arms and began rubbing it's head with my finger. The girl seemed more relaxed as I looked up. Tentatively, I walk over to her, and she tensed and pulled back against a corner. She slid down to a crouch and hugged her scrawny legs. I set down the dog and, with my hands raised, backed away and sat down in the middle of the room. The dog looked from one person to the other, confused. The girl whistled and the dog trotted over to the girl's outstretched hands. A sudden loud BANG sounded out and my hand flew to y sword, this time welcoming the reflex. That was a gunshot. The only things that had guns were-

"Androids!" The girl shouted, finishing my thought. She raced into another room as I made my way over to what I guessed used to be a balcony, a carefully looked out. another gunshot, and the projectile ran straight through my fore head. Stumbling backwards, I reached up and removed the metal bullet from my head and the wound instantly sealed. Yea, I also have bones as strong as diamonds mixed with titanium, and can heal 50 times faster than any human.

Drawing back, I went to look where the girl had gone, but when I entered the room she had run into, neither she nor the dog were to be found. The room was ruined and had debris everywhere. Sniffing around in the rubble, I heard footsteps down stairs and the creak of a ruined staircase taking a lot of weight. Thinking wildly, I threw around rubble, until the distinct scent of a dog wetting itself filled my nose. As I ripped open the floor boards, the sound of metal on wood began inching closer, and closer. The scent began moving away, into the next room. following it, I realized too late that I had followed it right out into the hallway, right where the metal body of the murderous android was not even 10 feet away. I stiffened, but it already saw me. I was frozen as it raised it's mechanical arm, which bore a round barreled mini gun. I could heal well, but take 100 or so bullets at once? not likely. The black gleam of the machine's body shined in the exposed sunlight of the roofless building. I stared into it's glowing red eyes, the ones that always haunted my dreams, as the barrel began to spin. Instinct took over, and immediately, I whip out my sword and lunged at the thing. several bullets raked across my front, but I was already in motion. I plunged the unbreakable blade through the android's human like torso, then for good measure, socked it in the cpu, knocking it's head clean off. The machine stumbled backwards, then fell with a satisfactory clunk. Dread filled me as I heard more footsteps. There was more of them. Acting quickly, I rammed my foot into the floor, properly knocking a huge chunk of the first floor ceiling to the ground. That should lead them up here, no doubt the girl would have taken some kind of fire escape downstairs. Leo pulled back into the room to wait for the Androids as he heard the stairs once again begin to creak. How could those stairs possibly take all that weight? A splintering sound made Leo realize that it couldn't. Leo knew what he had to do. Gripping his sword tightly, he launched from the room, right towards the stairs, his cloak billowing out behind me as I flung right over the half a dozen androids, and as I heard bullets raking the ceiling, I knew my plan would work. My feet hit ground and he kept with the motion, taking off outside just as the unstable building collapsed, sealing the metal killers inside. Or that's what I thought, until a metal fist broke through the rubble, then another, then an entire torso. I sprinted away, tracking the scent of the girl and the pup. Left, right, left, left again, and right into pure horror.

The girl's body was splayed out on the ground, her limbs at awkward angles, a giant hole in her head. As the blood oozed from her forehead, suppressed memories filled my mind. Not another one. the sound of a multi barreled gun starting up grabbed my attention. I looked around to find twenty or so Androids, each one pointing their guns at me. Anger welled up inside me, and as I rose, I removed the ruined cloth from my neck. It would only serve as an impairment for what I was about to do. Gripping the blade tightly, it began to hum as it vibrated. My reasoning was gone, my want to kill and my animal instincts took over my being. This was unforgivable for anything. As the bangs began, I leaped up right in front of the sun light. Their sensors couldn't adjust fast enough, and I launched my sword at the group. It went through several, the planted it'self deep into the ground. As I landed, I took their temporary blindness to rip off several of their heads. The three left recovered and I was flung back by a hit to the gut. I landed on a rubble pile, but I quickly got back up, only to be buffeted by a volley of hundreds of bullets. Several passed through, and I fell hard. As my healing began, more androids began appearing. I can't do this, I'm going to die said my reasonable self. But I'm going down fighting! said my instincts. I rose from the pile, and quickly rolled out of the way of another volley. A clicking noise caught my ear. They've run out of ammunition, and now that gives me time. I turned towards my attackers, and sure enough many of them were reloading. I lunged for my sword, and just as I reached it, ripped from the earth, bringing a large chunk of stone with it. Roaring in rage,I broke the rough clump of rock against the head of one Android, smashing it in. Whipping around, I broke into several of them, but one struck me against the head, and I retreated. As my healing began, more Androids began appearing. 'I can't keep doing this, I'm going to die' I thought. The Androids began creeping nearer, looming over me, this time without their guns, but with 10 inch knives. As the bullet holes still oozed blood, my vision became clouded, and the odd smell of rotting fruit. No, that wasn't me, I know that smell. That's tear gas! As the unwanted gas began overtaking me, the Androids began pulling back, something must be here, but what? The gas was too much, clouding all thoughts until finally I lost consciousness. Not my best day ever.