In Death's Grip

Chapter 1

The farm. A forgotten wasteland. Burned. Rotted. Desecrated and annihilated by fire and death. Wrought with souls for the Reaper to collect. My home once, now nothing but ash. I tried. We all tried to save our home. Our safe haven. All our efforts were in vain though. He was too strong and we were outnumbered.

Nikolai had burst through our puny wall and destroyed our morale in an instant. He killed my friends. The ones who were left stood their ground and fought. My greatest allies had ran though. Zach. Nathan. Haven. Taylor. All ran. Our best fighters had fled. When I saw that they had left, all hope of winning faded from me. My spirit to fight was lost.

Not my father's though. He pushed back at the attackers. Our armored bus came flying at the incoming troops as if it appeared from nothing. My father, Tony is what most call him, was in the driver's seat. He managed to rid the world of a few men but not enough to make a difference. He realized that he could not save us. The ones closest to the bus piled on and we road away from the burning patch of earth.

Charleston is my home now. This is where my family is. This is where my friends are. I see three more of my friends on the horizon right now.

"Is that them?" Felix, luietenant of Charleston, asks me.

"Hard to tell from here," I reply from the top of the west wall. The west wall overlooks a huge, open space of land that has been cleared out so that anyone arriving can easily be seen.

Felix hands me some binoculars so that I may see if I am right in the assumption that the three figures are indeed my long lost friends. I hold the black metal binoculars up to my eyes. I see across the cleared land to see the three people stumbling toward the city.

"What's that one in the middle holding up?" Felix asks me.

It seems like the one in the middle, whom I can infer is Nathan, is holding up a piece of white fabric tied around a branch. He looks as if he can barely stand.

"I think it's a peace flag. They probably have it to show that they mean no harm," I tell the luietenant.

"Good. Last thing we need is another threat on our hands."

I turn to some men that are hanging around atop the wall. "Hey, get together a welcoming party for those survivors out there," I order. The men barely pay me any mind and go back to their conversations a moment later.

"Did you hear what he said? Get a group together and go help the survivors you useless half-wits!" Felix barks at the lazy men. They immediately jump up and rush to carry out his command.

"Thanks," I say.

"Don't mention it," He replies with a grin.

I bring the binoculars back up to my face to watch four men go out to greet my old friends. Nathan falls limp before they reach him. The men draw closer. They raise their guns and aim them at my friends. Idiots.

Haven draws her twin swords from the two sheaths strapped onto her back. Taylor doesn't even reach for his scimitar. He just puts his hands behind his head and allows himself to be lead to the city gate.

Haven doesn't go as quietly though. She swings her right sword but the man closest to her dodges it and slams the butt of his rifle into her temple. She's knocked out cold.

Nathan and Haven are dragged through Charleston and put in the cells where they can be evaluated. Every new survivor that stumbles upon the town is checked to see if they are physically and mentally stable. If they are, they are granted free roam of the city or they can leave if they choose so. If not, well...I don't like to think about what happens to those people. Hank, the leader of Charleston, is brutally strict.

Taylor is about to be thrown in one of the cells as well but I stop the guard before he has the chance to.

"I can vouch for this one. He's not insane," I tell the suspicious man. The man raises an eyebrow and looks in Felix's direction for clarification.

"If Keaton says he's good then he's good. Let him go," Felix orders.

The guard shrugs and takes his hands off of Taylor. Taylor stands by my side.

"Walk with me," I say, "We've got a lot to talk about."