The Dance of the Doomed

      The day was young, and the air was cold, and while nothing seemed to have happened there was a low-lying sense of gloom. We knew what had happened, we knew without knowing, we saw what had not been seen and we heard the unheard. So, we knew that he would come, and he came and stood in front of us and said in his deep unloving voice "they deserted... neutralize them." He was referring to scouting unit 15b they had left last week and had not come back but their vitals where still showing, and they had not responded to any attempts of communication. Unfortunately there was little we could do to prevent them from falling into enemy hands, they had also committed treason and we would have to execute them anyway. 
     The command believed that if that eight men of 15b were publicly executed it would lower morale and anger some of the more aggressive beings in our wretched home. So, we were ordered to track them down and kill them-no mercy, no-hesitation. These men had dug their own graves, to leave one must have sanctioned orders he was a deserter and our leaders would allow no deviation from their rules. So, any wise man would immediately do as he was told for if he didn't it was considered an act of defiance and the War Lords did not approve of defiance.  
   We set out at 6:30 in the morning with nothing more than the gear in our packs, I had a Remington 700 with no ammunition and a 9mm with its standard ammunition. It was made clear that we could only come back when we had completed our mission.  We would probably spend some time scavenging in the DZs, or Dead Zones, for ammunition and food. Our compound had plenty of weapons because of the previous scouting and scavenging missions and I never understood why but the scouting missions always focused mainly on weapons and never left any space for ammo, so we always had an ammunition shortage at the compound, the fallen raids never helped.
    If only I knew what to do with this opportunity, group 15b had a chance and they took it. The War Lords knew that those who came to the compound were scared, hungry and desperate, if only they knew who ruled behind those great steel doors or they would never have come seek refuge in the compound. It was the most unforgiving group of men, well, not merely men, they were so corrupt and devious that we called them War Lords. That was after all the only thing they were good at, waging war. They were dead but had been resurrected and chosen by the Traveler to protect the people but instead, they used their power to rule an oppress, however there was a rumor spreading around the compound some of the War Lords who called themselves the Iron Lords had banded together and were working to revitalize a dead world and its people. It was said that they were imprisoning the corrupt War Lords and freeing their people. This scared our rulers so much that they banned any talk of them and anyone found conspiring with them would suffer a most terrible death.
   I stood up and left my fear and doubt behind, this mission would fail with a trace of either. "Good luck" said the compound Artificial Intelligence (AI) "I will prepare a retrieval mission." "We're going to be picked up?!!" asked Barry, his happiness undeniable. "No for the gear," the emotionless AI replied "oh" he said, barely a whisper. Eric slapped Barry on the back saying "Oh stop crying Barry boy." "We go out we loot, we shoot some fallen and have a blast." While his words obviously consoled Barry we all knew he had left the neutralizing of 15b out of his little outburst of support as to not darken the mood, but we were happy for it. Nonetheless, we had to keep moving because if we stayed in one spot for too long  we'd end up getting shot, and that's no fun for any one- especially not us.
    We walked through the big steel doors and got a glimpse of the outside world. It didn't seem like the kind of place that The Fallen would come from.  It seemed like a peaceful world with absolutely no problems, especially not being overrun by Fallen and other alien, if only it could be so, if only we could live in a world that was free of problems, if only... 
      I had walked with only my thoughts not realizing James' raised hand clenched into a fist. I walked right into him earning myself a glare from Barry and John. Coming back to reality I noticed a city limits sign for a town called Coreso. 
      The name called out to me, but I couldn't place it. I felt an unease it was like walking through a dark room and then seeing a pair of eyes glistening in the dark. 
    The wind combined with the beating of a heart that was not my own, I was able to hear the low thumping noise but not being able to recognize the source, I grew impatient not being able to figure out where it was coming from. The thumping grew in intensity, but I still couldn't place the sound, but for some reason I was prompted to kneel, I put my ear against the ground and listened. I could hear the thumping, but it grew increasingly quieter until I could hear other sounds low guttural noises then tapping and some knocking (*** --- ***) this pattern repeated itself several times in this strange pattern. 
     I beckoned James over with a wave and he knelt to the ground as well, he put his finger to his lips in a smooth fashion and proceeded to put his ear to the ground. After about two seconds he said, "Morse Code, SOS." "Coincidence," I asked? "Probably, but we should check it out any way."  Just as he finished speaking the thumping grew louder to the point where it could be easily heard above a conversation. 
     Eric told us it was time to go but we hesitated, we wanted to know more, we wanted to understand. Eric grew increasingly impatient and began to raise his voice, "We're leaving NOW" he said sternly. He began to walk away from us saying, "COME O-," but before he could finish there was a deafening BOOM-the earth shuddered beneath us. Eric dove for cover and a rather odd sounding thud came from behind me. It was a pair of legs, no torso, just legs. I was heavily confused but then I heard it, a terrible unearthly scream a scream that can only be heard in the most horrendous of situations, and it came from Barry it was a staggered high- and low-pitched sound that mixed with the ringing of my ears into a nightmarish sound. The sound got worse, my ears began to bleed, and I realized that it was no longer Barry screaming but something else, Barry had gone silent as if he thought there was something else. The noise intensified gradually and then it stopped.
    A thick fog came through the area, the fog engulfed Barry his eyes going wide but still not screaming, even in his unbelievable state. The fog moved in towards us we heard more of the unknown sound from earlier, Barry screamed, and we heard what sounded like a rusty blade going through a piece of meat and Barry stopped screaming. The fog began to recede and went away completely. In the middle of the road stood a glowing green and black figure. He stood around 9 feet tall and held a jagged sword that looked to be made of some material that resembled stone but it was glowing. On the end of that sword hung Barry. John looked horrified, James looked bewildered and Eric, Eric was the definition of wrath. He slung his AA12 which was an automatic shotgun, off his shoulder and into his hands without looking away from-we'll call him Big Green. Big green growled and kicked Barry's corpse off his sword, he was ready to fight so I brought out my 9mm, it looked puny compared to Eric's shotgun but judging by Eric's composure I didn't think I would need it. Big Green roared and Eric cursed and as they ran at each other big green swung his sword towards Eric, but he dove out of the way and fired a round into his head he was 4 feet away and a 12-gauge shotgun to the head didn't kill Big Green. It didn't seem possible that anything could survive that, but it did, and it was angry. This time instead of running towards Eric, it went for James. James also tried to dive out of the way, but he wasn't as lucky as Eric who had caught big green off guard, instead it had expected this and kicked James into a nearby railing effectively knocking him out. While this was no good for James it gave Eric a chance to get behind Big Green giving him the perfect angle to shoot at his neck and head, Eric blasted away at him and it seemed as if big green was finally going to be defeated. Eric shot twice more ,and big green collapsed and stayed in an awkward position for a moment but then shriveled up and in a burst of green flame was gone. Eric dropped his AA12 and rushed over to James he seemed to be waking up. Eric dropped onto his knees and grabbed James's head looking intently for any surface wounds, James began to cough and coughed blood onto Eric, James began to scream. He had undeniably broken several ribs and it seemed that at least one had pierced his lungs. James began to crawl but he didn't use his legs "He's paralyzed..." Eric said "there's nothing we can do" Eric sighed and looked towards James, he had stopped screaming and simply laid there he knew what was wrong, he was a smart kid so he just laid there defeated, acceptant of his fate. He wiggled his fingers at me beckoning me over. I walked to him and took a knee and resisted the urge to cry. He looked up at me and smiled, it was a sad smile the kind that you are given by a loved one as they take their last breaths on their death bed. A tear crawled down my cheek, one more drop of water into the ocean of despair and one more lost soul, forever to wander through infinity. He stopped smiling and reached for my hip, he then pulled my 9mm out of its holster pointed it towards himself and looked down the barrel, he held this position for a moment then pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed, even though there was nothing to echo off, it was as if the earth was honoring the passing of our friends two teenagers who hadn't even made it to adulthood. Rest in Peace, Barry and James.
    We had no time to dig graves and no time to honor them properly, we took out of their packs anything of use and left everything else. Before Eric and I left we decided to leave a silent prayer over their bodies with the hope it would make us feel better, it didn't. So, we continued on because it was the only thing we could do other than mourn. 
    We walked through Coreso for what seemed like 18 miles still not finding anything that could possibly be useful, and part of that was probably James's and Barry's passing but while it was sad we had to keep working, this world was a cruel one and we knew it would only get worse. 
   I heard something scamper through one of the nearby buildings, it seemed Eric did to, so we stood still and scanned our surroundings for the source of the noise. We couldn't see anything, and we were both scared but after having faced down Big Green but our confidence was slightly boosted in our self-defense skills. We took another step then we heard the noise again. This time. Eric held one finger up, the translation was obvious, one more step. We took one more step and heard the scampering grow closer and then suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a squirrel. I made my eyes go wide and I turned towards Eric stuttering and faking a freak out and said "o-o-over there" pointing in the direction of the squirrel he did the same AA12 from shoulder to hands move and quickly did a 180-degree turn pointing the shotgun at the squirrel. He glared at me saying he could have wasted ammunition due to my stupid joke. I then began to laugh, and Eric joined in, we had a hearty much needed laugh. When we had finished laughing I began to wipe away my tears and Eric followed in suit. After he after he laughed his last laugh his shoulder suddenly erupted, and his arm fell to the asphalt. We were shocked by this sudden occurrence, we hadn't even heard the shot. We were both in shock and did not even head for cover, we didn't even look for the shooter. We just stood there, standing still in the middle of the road. 
        Eric screamed and I finally regained my senses, this time I heard the shot and Eric's head ruptured, he fell back I turned around looking for Eric's killer. I heard another shot and this time it came for John, hitting him in the chest and ripping through his heart and lungs. He died instantaneously. I was immediately filled with rage and sadness nothing felt right in my head other than the feeling that I would overcome all that opposed me but my rage and vigor was short lived because when I turned around I saw them a. there was a group of men much older and larger than me, and my vigor turned to doubt and my doubt, with fear but still I continued. 
    Running full speed at them the wind roared past my ears and I could feel the air holding me back not allowing me to reach my full speed. Mid run I decided that if I was attempting to attack a group of men I should have a weapon, so I pulled my 9mm and my Damascus steel knife out, the time I was within twenty feet of them I was already formulating a plan. By ten feet I was ready to put my plan into action and when I was within arms reach of the first man he raised his fists expecting me to try and stab or pommel him with my 9mm but instead I jumped into the air extending my feet in front of me, taking all the momentum I had gained and transferring it into this man's chest. He gave way, even after this great attack I still had a good deal of momentum, that carried me forward landing me on my victim's chest with my heel facing his chin, he saw my foot coming towards hi, so he instinctively turned his head. This was a mistake, because my foot collided with his swiveling chin and I heard an audible pop!. Still on the ground I decided to use my gun to shoot the two closest men. I managed to shoot the first one in the head and the second one in the chest, he wasn't dead, but he was well on his way there, so I decided to leave him.
      I felt invigorated with the knowledge that I could survive, and that there was no obstacle I couldn't overcome, and I used this emotion to my advantage. With three men down, I only had a few to go. So I raised my pistol towards the remaining men and aimed at the furthest one. I pulled the trigger and "click" the gun was empty but there were only five more, so I dropped it out of hubris instead of reloading it. Swapping my oversized knife to my right hand it had a blade of 11 inches and it was heavy enough to cleave through bone. I gave the men a devilish smile and ran towards them, I could now see a new emotion in them, fear. 
     It was almost funny now. All of these people taking advantage of two young men. eight against two, how confident they had been. The only problem with over confidence is that, overconfidence is a flimsy shield, it can offset you're opponent into thinking you are superior but the second it comes into contact with a sufficient force it is shattered leaving your the seemingly undefeatable opponent lying in doubt and fear.
   I neared my fourth victim he held a heavy looking metal pipe, he held it up ready to swing. I aimed my body towards his right side and as he prepared his attack, I faked, switching to his right side, I spun holding my knife out slicing through the gap in his ribs. I then took one step forward and shoved the knife behind me and into the small of his back, he fell onto his knees and made some weird gurgling noises. As I looked at the fifth one he looked more resolved than the one I had just defeated, I had probably taken out his friend or brother. He carried two knives and it looked like he had more, he sheathed the two knives but the second he did he reached behind
himself and grabbed two small throwing knives and threw them underhanded towards me. It happened so fast and I was caught off guard by him sheathing his knives. One of the knives hit me pommel end in the forehead. I was lucky that it did not hit me tip first because I would have died but the knife still spun after it hit me and it cut a thin line right below my hairline. I was not so lucky with the second knife, it went straight into my stomach and stuck there ,but fortunately for me I was having an adrenaline rush soI didn't feel any pain yet. He readied another set of throwing knives. This time he took more time to aim and I decided to use his move against him. I grabbed the knife in my gut and yanked it out probably ripping through several lengths of intestine as well as my stomach and hurled it at him. There was almost no aiming involved just my natural coordination and a slight bit of thought on how this was a mistake. The knife flew true, it seemed as if was being guided by some unseen hand. The knife struck him dead center in his chest and he fell to his knees, clutching the knife that had been embedded in his chest he fell over and lay still. He was probably trying to fake dying because there was no way that that was immediately fatal so as I ran past him I yelled coward and kicked his side. 
          I was becoming aware of my wound and knew that I had about twenty seconds before I could feel the full extent of my wounds, I had to make this count. The next man also had knives, he held one out and in the other hand he held a wooden club that said something along the lines of "Lusvil Lugger". I couldn't formulate a plan in the remaining time I had so I decided to wing it and hope for the best.
    I ran at him and slashed wildly and managed to get a couple sizable cuts on his arms, one almost took off his left arm but this did not stop him from swinging his club downwards right into my thigh. I heard a snap like that of a carrot or a dry branch when it is broken except it was much louder-it was my femur. My leg had broken in half and the bone had gone through the skin of my inner thigh.
    My opponent stood over me with a triumphant devilish smile, he and I both knew what would happen next, he would beat me with his club until I was dead and then he would leave my corpse lying broken in the middle of the road.
   He raised his club up above his head and swung down, colliding heavily with my hip, shattering it. I then felt my adrenaline rush leave. Now I felt everything my broken hip, the compound fracture of my femur, the knife wound that ripped through my gut, and a twisted ankle that I do not remember receiving. All this pain, all this suffering, there was only one thing that I could do and that was scream and believe me I did, You could probably hear my wailing for miles around "scream, whack, scream, whack" until finally my body gave out. My soul however did not leave my body instead it seemed that I was trapped, sentenced to remain in this wretched, confined space that kept me from rejoining my fallen brothers. There was nothing I could do but wait so I waited and waited and waited. My favorite pastime now concluded of counting until I could count no more and starting over, I was inches from madness. I could feel parts of myself leave, not physical parts but mental ones I was losing myself until the only memories I had were of my brothers. I held on to these memories, I would not forget them, and I would not stop thinking of them. This was my life or death until one day I heard
something, for the first time in what seemed like years and these sounds rang through my head, "Eyes up guardian" and I was reborn!