Achievement Hunter: The Broken

New Normal

Nothing was the same anymore.

The sky's light blue had been permanently set to a much dimmer tone, the boiling sun pierced the nearly destroyed atmosphere. It is the middle of the day, Geoff is walking through the woods, which are scarce nowadays. Any couple of animals was a herd, any cluster of trees was a forest. He looks for any materials to build a shelter for his friends, despite how exhausted he feels. They spent most nights scouting land or looking for a place to rebuild.

Finally, they found a relatively safe place out in a grassy field, but Geoff isn't certain at how ideal it would be for everyone, which is why a makeshift house was their best option.

Geoff was the one who stayed awake most nights, keeping watch for any threats. The explosion hadn't left much for them to work with, however they were managing to find semi-clean areas without too much radiation.

"Geoff?" A voice pulls Geoff from his thoughts. He turns and spots his closest friend, Jack.

Jack looks how Geoff feels. Bags under his eyes, tired posture, sweat clung to his beard. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Geoff sighs. "I need to find some wood..."

"Need some help?" Jack offers.

Geoff smiles at Jack, "Yeah...I'm too old for this. I think I threw out my back picking up a stick, for Christ's sake." Jack laughs in response.

The two of them together manage to bring back enough wood to where they've decided to set up camp. They found a shallow cave within a mountain, and decided to build their house within it for protection, the door leading to the outside.

Jack began constructing the wooden walls, and chiseling the cave, so Geoff decided to work on gathering what good food was left. He heads out to a plain nearby, grass nearly growing up to his knees. It may even have some edible animals hiding within the greenery. He wishes he could say the field looked beautiful, maybe it did before, but any once pretty colors were now a duller shade of what they used to be.

As he heads into the field, he spots two more familiar faces, Trevor and Gavin, walking not too far away. Gavin's skipped with his head high, as Trevor's was down, hands stuffed in his own pockets. As they look up, they notice Geoff approach. Trevor grins at him. "Hey, Geoff! Whatcha up to?"

"Getting you morons some food." Geoff smirks back. "But believe me, letting you starve crossed my mind once or twice."

Gavin chuckles, rolling his eyes. "You want any help?" He asks.

"Sure." Geoff shrugs. "There's a lot of seeds in this field, just collect whatever you two can carry." Geoff points to the grass. "I'm gonna get some stuff from trees."

"On it!" Trevor and Gavin begin digging through the soil. The smile never leaves Geoff's face as he continues on his path towards the trees, now noticing a shiny red apple within the thick, brown leaves.

***

Jeremy walks across the field, staring at the soil beneath him. He had left the others awhile ago to find any animals they could eat that weren't contaminated. So far, the land is completely barren.

He's lost in thought, trying to focus his mind, but his brain was jumping around quicker than he could process. He was thinking about his friends, the world's status, and about the monsters that lurked in the dark. He worries about the others. He had already watched one of his best friends Matt die in front of him when the explosion had first occurred when all this happened. He should still be here. There should still be ten of them.