Anon Apocalypse

Phoenix Rising

Keep going. Don't slow down! 

I put one bare foot in front of the other faster each time. I wasn't about to go out like this. Not after I had already survived the release of the C19 virus AND the mutant attack on my colony. Who would have thought it'd be humans that took me out. Cannibals to be exact. The virus was a militarized weapon of the government that was supposed to induce a curable sickness to control the population and the people. The weak died and the strong survived. Except it didn't turn out quite as expected. Maybe it was a missed calculation, or a complete fluke, whatever it was the virus began mutating the victims. Creatures who's only instinct was to kill. Those who survived the C19 virus banded together to create colonies. Shelters for those who survived and remained healthy. Not many remained due to the increase of mutants, it seemed as each day passed they grew stronger and more vicious. Intelligent, vial creatures who morphed into half human half beast creatures. Not only did survivors have to live in fear of these beasts but also the disgusting humans  who resorted to eating each other to survive. 

Fuck!

I tripped over a dead branch and landed face first into the sandy dirt. I laid there for a moment shaking in pain and anger. The tears i had held back for so long forced their way down my face as I felt myself give up. I could hear the heavy boots of my stalkers getting closer as I continued to sob into the Earth. I heard rustling ahead of me and snapped my head up, my will to fight returning as the fear of death racked my very being. In front of me was a beautiful orange fox emerging from the green thrush ahead of me. Its green eyes blinked slowly as it tilted it's pointed head, pondering if i was a threat.  I gasped as two little heads poked out from behind it. One was an ashy grey and the other was a burning red, both had piercing yellow eyes. What must be their mom, crouched a little lower ready to pounce if I were to make any sudden moves. My heart ached at the thought of my own family and how I failed to protect them. My colony had been small, but well kept. Families from all around what used to be the United States of America had gathered in an abandoned town, rebuilding and defending. My parents and sister were all I had after the virus, my brothers had been ripped from us as their bodies couldn't fight against the virus. I thought seeing their names on tombstones would be the most traumatic experience of my life. I couldn't have been more wrong. My parents and sister didn't even get a tombstone. There was nothing to bury. In a blink of an eye the colony had been raided by mutants. I woke to the sound of my sister screaming, I rushed out of my room to find her only to slam into my father. I'll never forget the look of pure anguish in his eyes as my sister was torn apart in front of us and tossed aside next to my already dead mother. My dad had shoved a backpack in my hands and pushed me to the back door. My father was a strong man, I had never once seen him cry, but as he had urged me to run I saw the tears fall. He had opened his mouth to say something, probably that he loved me, when he was dragged backwards by a mutants tail. I couldn't even scream, I was frozen in place as the creature murdered the last of my family. I choked back a sob and booked it out the back door. I had no time to grab shoes or change clothes, I sprinted past the door frame grabbing the machete that hung next to our coats, and rushed into the forest surrounding the colony, leaving behind the screams and death of everything I loved.

As the fox family kept there eyes on me I slowly sat up until I was sitting on my knees. I had lost my machete fighting a mutant upon my entry into the forest, and I hoped my dad packed a knife in the bag he handed to me before his death. Knowing how tactical he always was I could assume the bag carried a change of clothes and boots, water and energy bars with an assortment of other survival needs. I took a deep breath and held in the tears back, I wouldn't disgrace the honor of my family sniveling like a child waiting to be killed by cannibals. I swiftly removed the bag and  unzipped it to discover its contents. Just as I suspected it contained clothes and the basics. I pulled out a switchblade, not an ideal weapon but better then no weapon, and zipped the bag back up. I turned my back to the foxes just as two men emerged from the trees. I heard the fox snarl behind me and hoped it wouldn't attack me out of fear of the lumbering cannibals. 

"Isn't it a bit dangerous for a little girl such as yourself to be running around the woods alone?" The lanky man with hunched shoulders and a pointy nose chuckled as he slowly stalked towards me. He wasn't much taller then myself, standing at a solid five foot and 9 inches and a hundred and sixty pounds I was no small target. The pointy nose man was only a few inches taller and was pretty scrawny. Probably ran out of people to eat. I shivered at the thought and his grin grew. He probably thought I was afraid of him. I internally rolled my eyes and crouched into a defensive stance. As he neared i watched the second man in my peripheral, taller than his companion and weighing a significant amount more with a bald head and flat nose , he was the one I worried about most. "What's the matter little girl, fox got your tongue?" I saw his eyes dart to the furry creatures behind me and my eyes narrowed. I couldn't let these animals die, not after they survived so much too. I shuffled my feet, ready to attack the scrawny man first. If I can dive fast enough, I should be able to slide by while slitting his throat. I just hope baldy is as slow as he looks. Before I could make my move, the mother fox jumped towards the bald cannibal ripping at his legs, he shuffled back with a yelp falling as she snarled and snapped. I took this as my chance and dove towards the second man plunging my switchblade into his chest, his eyes widened as blood filled his mouth and he collapsed to the ground. I focused my gaze on the bald man just in time to watch him kick at the poor fox, landing a solid blow to her tiny abdomen sending her flying through the air. I cried out as she landed in a heap, her babies whining behind me. As the cannibal groaned and began to stand I picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a decent sized rock, and ran towards him. I raised my makeshift weapon and brought it down on his head, causing him to fall back to the ground. I slammed it against his head over and over until it was nothing but mush and I was covered in blood. I stood up and stumbled away, then turned to where the broken body of the fox lay. Her babies were sniffing and pawing at her, crying for her to wake up. I approached them and knelt down next to them, offering my hand. The two pups sniffed my hands and slowly crept closer. They leaned against me and whimpered, as if they were begging me to help. "She's gone little one. I'm sorry, I should have been faster." They whined and sniffed at her motionless body as I stood up to return to my bag. I pulled out the change of clothes and boots and began peeling my bloodstained pajamas off. I wiped most of the blood off with the ruined t-shirt I had been wearing and slipped into the black cargo pants and black long sleeve shirt. As I began lacing up the combat boots the fox pups ran up to me, jumping at my legs. I knelt and scratched each one behind the ear. They're all alone now...Just like me.

"Alright I suppose you can come with me. I can't leave you to fend for yourselves after your mom sacrificed herself for us." Granted it was probably for her pups, but I felt she knew I was no threat to her. I felt obligated to the mother fox to look after her babies. I looked at the carnage I was leaving behind, two dead cannibals and a broken orange fox. I sighed and tied my long dark hair in a ponytail. Shifting my attention to the endless woods in front of me I began heading north. I was bound to come across another colony at some point. As I passed the pointy nose cannibal, I tugged my switchblade out of his chest and wiped it off on his dingy shirt. "I'll take that back thank you!" I tucked it into the pocket of my pants and continued on, the foxes hustling around my feet. "Since we're companions now I should come up with names for you huh." Two pairs of yellow eyes blinked up at me waiting for me to address them. I looked at the two innocent creatures before me and sighed. My mind wondered back to my high school days, four years before the flash hit i had been a senior. Sitting in my Latin class complaining about homework. 18 year old phoenix never would have believed that she would spend the next 4 years surviving on mutated land, with everyone she loved dead. My gaze returned to the expectant pups and a slow smile spread across my face. "I know! Tempest and Stella."

Storm and Star.