The Collection: Short Stories, Misfits, and One-shots

The Calm After the Storm

So, this isn't really a new chapter, nor The Power of the Uchiha, these are shorts that I've had as their own books until now.  This one was a short I wrote for a contest here on wattpad, but sadly didn't win.  It's a sci-fi dystopian that I am happy to share with you guys on here!  I hope you enjoy!

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There are storms you can weather, and ones that ought to be avoided, for the sake of humanity. Nuclear destruction is the one last resort they had all decided should never have happened, but it did. The nightmare it left behind was one that the old wished was not real, and the young shouldered with bleak hopes. Luke had grown up in this twisted and mangled world, never having known what it had once been, but never having cared either. He could only see the here and now, the old be damned. As soon as he was able, he joined the patrols, happy to protect all he had ever known, but there are some things he should never have seen or known. There are things that only a nuclear winter can reveal; things that otherwise would have remained hidden.

It was odd being out after so long, his helmet keeping the rigid temperature from freezing his face, but also blocking the actual splendor of the snow covered ground around them. He wanted so badly to be able to take the helmet off, and feel the snow that came down in a curtain. Instead, he kept himself walking in the carefully maintained line of soldiers, his gun at the ready, and his eyes focusing on the many areas that enemies could hide. Under his feet, the snow and ice mixture crunched, sometimes his footing slipping a little even with the specially made grips the shoes had. Buildings covered in white rose up on both sides of the street they patrolled, some hiding scared families, others empty, and a few housing the darker nightmares of the world.

Luke glanced at the windows, turning his gaze from one when a curtain would cover the brief glimpse of a room, and trying not to feel sadness at the countless ones that had cracked or shattered panes. Too many lives had been touched by the destruction, too many were left unprepared for the devastation it had left. He had grown up in the aftermath, and had been saved from the turmoil he saw in other's eyes when they remembered what had once been. That in itself was a blessing, but some part of him wished to protect them from their own horrors, but that was all together impossible.

"Hold," the Captain shouted, his hand balling into a fist, every man behind him halting without a sound. Up ahead, Luke could make out the outline a man, one of his hands up in the air, but the other hidden inside his jacket, each of Luke's comrades stiffening as they saw the same.

"Both hands in the air!" His Captain raised his pistol in warning, stepping closer to the unknown man. The man though had shouted something back, his words lost in the harsh winter wind and his hand remaining in the jacket, which wasn't helping him. "I'm not asking again, Hands up!" Again, the man shouted, but nothing could be heard, his words muffled by the wind. When he stepped forward, coming towards their group, a shot rang out, the man falling instantly to the ground. Slowly, the group approached the fallen body, forming a circle around it, Luke finally getting a glimpse at him. The hand that had been so ardently tucked into the jacket had rolled out on impact, its surface metal, but the metal covered in the only red substance he knew; blood.

"Sir-," he started, leaning down next to the body. His Captain merely shook his head, and refused to look at it any longer.

"I know. I'm calling Command, it's out of our hands." Luke felt the buzz in his ear as the Captain called it in, demanding the presence of the Orbital Forces Troops with a scowl. When he got off the scowl only grew in size before he shut off the light in his own helmet. "We move out now. Jenkins, take lead. Luke, take the rear. I need a drink after this," he muttered crossly. Jenkins nodded quickly, bringing the group away from the body, their Captain falling into the middle of the group without a word.