In the outskirts of a small city called Lindor, a young man named Mark Higgins was hiding under a piece of brick wall that had fallen onto a dumpster. The brick was starting to get scolding hot because the wood on the other side of the wall was on fire. As he looked up he saw that it was just after dusk. The confused birds were scrambling out of their homes and leaving their offspring. If only humans were so lucky.
Black smoke swept across the sky and began to take over the streets with its thickness. Covering the city in soot. Mark knew he had to get out of the hole that he had burrowed himself into. He took off in a sprint into the carnage filled streets. He was forced to stop when he had seen the wreckage that once was his beautiful home. The small pubs and bakeries that once filled the streets were replaced with burning piles of ruble in a span of two minutes. Mark listened for the familiar sound of an aircraft. No sound of one near by so he started to run again, not knowing where he was going or what, or who he may run into. The smell of death filled the air as he kept running. Yellow and orange flurries passed his vision. The thought of his parents bunker came to his mind. When The Empress took over those rich enough could buy bunkers for under their houses, but it was up to the families to stock them. Marks parents spent their life savings on their bunker, but couldn't afford to put food in it. That was the first time Mark seen Empress Voldrack. He had been caught stealing a package of bread and was sent to "your merciful empress" for proper punishment for his crime. That was the day Mark was broken. When the hot metal of the empress's mark touched his back his spirit was shattered. The memory of her cruel laughter sent a shiver down his spine. His face started to burn with the memory he wished he could leave in the past. None of that could be a distraction now though. He had to get home. To whatever was left of his home at least. Mark noticed he was on his street. At the end of the street where his house sits he saw bright light. He sped up his pace, running till his throat burnt with every breath. He ran up the steps of his house ablaze and rummaged through the rooms that weren't on fire to gather everything he could. Down the main hallway upstairs he could hear his father call to him from his room. He ran to the door and tried to pull it open but the knob fell off. His father cried out for help on the other side mearly six inches away from Mark. His father cried out for help while Mark tried to kick the door open. Minutes passed and his fathers' cries became more hushed and less frequent. Eventually they stopped completely and Mark had to abandon his father. That was ten years ago. And no matter how much he wished he could, Mark would never forget that sound, and the cessation of it. That day Mark had promised his fathers revenge. pleaded to a god that doesn't exist to bring his father back to him. His words had fallen onto deaf ears, and he vowed to return the favor.
Now, Mark Higgins lay awake sharpening his knives inside his bunker. Inside with him are weights, shelves full of canned food, and Lucia Arbinich sleeping in her bunk. He had found Lucia three years ago outside of an abandoned school building. He never found out but he always assumed that she use to go to that school. An open field sits where it sat now. Mark finishes sharpening one knife and moves onto the next. He has found enough knives to have some weird post apocalyptic knife collection as Lucia calls it. Most of them are hunters' knives and cooking knives from abandoned houses that he has raided in the past. After only six months of basic training Mark allowed Lucia to accompany him on his scavenging trips. He looked into his tiny reflection in a shiny piece of metal beside his bunk. He notices his hair needs cut and runs his fingers through the tousled locks. He sighs as Lucia stirs in her bunk. She opens her eyes and a smiles cracks across her face. "What?" Mark asks. "Nothing, just, if you could have seen your face!" She says, crinkling her eyes up. Mark nudges his head to the left side of the bunker. "Powdered eggs on the hot plate." He said smirking. He knows Lucia hates powdered eggs, but they are running out of food to eat, so they are stuck with cans of powder. Lucia slams her head down onto the mat on her bunk and puts her pillow on her face. "I think I'm skipping breakfast for the rest of my life if it's eggs one more time." She said in a whiney tone. She asks to hunt; eagerly. She has been begging to go hunting again for days. Last week they were extremely close to being caught by a minion named Lucas. Most people from this area are dead or run off, but some became minions and had fucked up little minion children who think practicing their aim down a barrel on pregnant cats is a fun way to practice their shooting. Lucas is Marks age and use to be a childhood friend of his. Mark often attempts to forget his childhood in this town. More so, that he is even human. Mark looks at the door, then he starts to think about Lucas. "I was going to say no, but who am I kidding. If we don't raid somewhere soon we are going to starve." He says staring intensely at the steal door. He looks back at Lucia and raises an eye brow. "We never talked about what the other would do if one of us disappeared." He says slowly studying Lucia's face. Her face was bleak and showed boredom. He clears his throat. "This is serious Lucy!" He says sternly. "What are you going to do when I dissapear and I have the only key to the bunker? Or if you get lost out there, how am I going to know where to look?" He grumbles harshly. Lucia rolls her eyes and says tiredly, "Nothing is going to happen". Mark grabs his tough pillow and throws it at herbunk. "Hey! I'm serious! So listen." He shouts; Lucia spins on her mat to face Mark. "O.k., So, if I have the bunker key and I go missing, you can find another key buried behind the bunker. It's about two feet down, but it has always been there. And if you for some reason end up disapearing, put a very very big blue "X" on the North side of the tallest building you can find. Got it? I don't want to repeat myself." Lucias' eyes did not light up, and a smile didn't cover her face. She let her skin relax and pull with gravity, she was slowly realizing it is easier to let your face frown and scowl instead of pulling your facial muscles against gravity all the time. "Ok, so, a blue "X" will save me if the Empress catches me?" How does that work? How will I even find something blue to paint with?" She asks angrily and sarcastically. "It will work", he says, "because, I will find you where-ever the "X"'s are. And you'll just have to find something someway." He says matching her sudden anger. Mark stood up and stretched out his back. Slowly, he bent down and grabbed his boots. Lucia quickly returned to her cheerful self when she realized they were going out. She happily started to put her boots on while Mark slowly pulled his on. She turned to put a knife in each boot like he had taught her to, but her knives were gone. "Hey, if you're going sharpen my knives with yours' at least put them back." She smirked at Mark. He looked back at her confused. "I didn't take your' knives. In case you haven't noticed I have a lot of my own." He says teasingly. A small panic arose in Lucia. If Mark didn't take her knives, who did? How would anyone know where they were and how would anyone get in? She didn't bring it up to him though. Who needs a worried, angry guy who is unfocused leading them around? Mark looked at Lucia and realized she was more freaked out then she had let on. "Hey, if you are that worried about it take a couple of mine, I don't care." He said more kindly giving her a brotherly smile. She smiled politely and picked out two knives. She carefully sank them into the sides of her boots like he had shown her and stood up eager to get out there.
