《Evolved》 Evolved chapter 0: The Day The World Went Dark Today started out like any other day: blood, death, and betrayal. That¡¯s right just another day in the apocalypse¡­ or so I¡¯d like to say, but, unfortunately, today is different. Today I¡¯m dying. Today I turned 28. Funny, huh? Today, if the world hadn¡¯t evolved, I¡¯d have been drinking with good friends, celebrating my trip around the sun. Well instead of doing that, I¡¯m bleeding out while I¡¯m being feasted upon by the abhorred. Well at least I¡¯m dying face down so that the world can kiss my ass one more time before I nod off. They say that as you lay dying, your life flashes before your eyes. Well maybe because it was so vivid, all I can seem to recall was how this all started. Funny enough this whole ¡°end of the world¡± crap started on my 18th birthday. My name is Noah Brookhart; it was 2021, on a cool April night. I had just gotten out of class (military college) , and had just gotten home. The very first thing I did whenever I got home was to check the news, however this time there was something that shocked me like never before. A chemical plant had exploded in New Jersey causing a mile wide devastation. At the time I was appalled by the sudden loss of human life, however, if I knew then what I know now; I would have instead been terrified. It wasn¡¯t until later that we found out just what this meant. Apparently there was some kind of underground facility underneath the chemical plant, that just so happened to be housing gene175 aka the evolution gene. The evolution gene was a government project to basically unlock the potential in the human brain. At that time we didn¡¯t know that gene175 spread across the world at an alarming rate. Hell, we didn¡¯t even know about the underground facility until years later. The gene laid dormant in all of us. Fast forward to a year later and the gene decided to ¡°wake up.¡± April 2nd 2022, my eighteenth birthday, and also ¡°The day the world went dark,¡± as we would later call it. I don¡¯t really remember what I was doing that day, all I know is that I suddenly felt wave after wave of pain assault my body. I spasmed all over the floor, until after what seemed like an eternity, I passed out. Of course when I woke up the world had gone to shit. When the gene activated, supposedly, the world evolved. Humanity, when it woke up, encountered creatures that we later called the abhorred. In the coming weeks, we learned the facts of this cruel game of survival we were thrust into.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Number one: everyone who evolved at least once (the day the world went dark) will receive a kinetic power. Number two: every time you evolve you run the risk of deviating, and becoming an abhorred, however, your body, and your power(s) grow stronger after every evolution. Number three: if you die you¡¯ll definitely become an abhorred Number four: in order to evolve, you must consume the crystal core of the abhorred. Number five: in order to continue evolving, the abhorred must eat human¡¯s crystal core. Number six: those who become deviated (abhorred lose all reason except the hunger for evolution) We called the levels of evolution the stages (stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, ETC.) throughout my 10 years of the ¡°evolution¡± (apocalypse,) I have learned that it¡¯s not just the abhorred humanity has to worry about, but humans as well. Unlike everyone who woke up the next day, I was the only one to wake up a month later. After they woke up, my parents rushed to my apartment encountering dangers on the way. They found me in a coma. When I woke up I was in a hospital, a ragtag group of survivors took over and made into a base. My mother died before we joined up with the survivors. About a year later I still hadn¡¯t uncovered my power, and guns basically become obsolete. Two years in, a group calling themselves ¡°Tango Company,¡± raids the hospital, killing and enslaving many. While my father, my brother and I were escaping, my father was shot and killed before my very eyes; my brother and I were captured and enslaved. While slaves, we were forced to do labor, sold as sex toys to the women of Tango Company, and tortured. Three years in, my brothers body gave in and he died. Six years in, I became friends with two fellow slaves: jack, and Kat. Eight years in, I finally managed to escape slavery, however, it is at the cost of Kats¡¯ life. Nine years in, I fall in love with another survivor called Kate, however, jack falls in love with her as well (she chooses me.) ten years in jack betrays me and leaves me to die out of jealousy. In all ten years, never once have I evolved to stage 2, or even uncovered my power. That leads me back to my current situation: dying. Pain washes over me in waves. I¡¯m tired¡­ so tired. Tired of¡­ this life. Tired¡­ of¡­ this¡­ pain. Ju¡­st¡­ pl¡­a...in¡­ ti¡­re¡­ chapter 1: the awakening (Noah) ¡°Nnn¡­.agh¡± When I came to, all I could see was white. So this is what heavens like? After my eyes adjusted, I saw a, floral white, plaster ceiling. I heard quickened footsteps. Suddenly this¡­ celestial being was looking down at me. She spoke, in the only words I can use to describe her voice: angelic. (???) ¡°you¡¯re awake?¡± ¡°Hold on I¡¯ll get your father.¡± So my dad made it to heaven as well? That¡¯s good. She left to apparently go get my father. I wonder how he¡¯s been. *beep*¡­ *beep* (Noah) ¡°Huh?¡± There was this beeping sound¡­. I hadn¡¯t paid attention to it, until now. It kind of had this rhythmic pulse to its tempo, Wait!! WHAT!!? I quickly turned my head¡­ and there it was. Standing on a wheel base, skinny, and primer gray¡­.. A heart rate monitor. Ok, I know I¡¯ve never been, but I¡¯m pretty sure heaven doesn¡¯t have a heart rate monitor. Is this a dream then? When I focused I could see a brand on the monitor. Bellevue hospital¡­ at least I didn¡¯t end up in a dump. That would have sucked¡­.. BUT WAIT A MINUTE, BELLEVUE WAS DESTROYED BY TANGO COMPANY!!! So how am I here? Unless maybe it¡¯s just a salvaged piece of equipment. That¡¯s it I must be getting ahead of myself. But then what did that angel¡­ err¡­lady say about my father. I watched my father die eight years ago!! So what¡¯s going o¡­.. BANG!!!! The door to the room was suddenly thrown open, completely interrupting my thoughts; and what came rushing in was a face I would never forget. (Dad) ¡°NOAH!!!¡± My father rushed to my side and as I tried to get up to greet him he pushed me back down (Dad) ¡°Noah don¡¯t get up¡± ¡°Your body is still weak¡± (Noah) ¡°dad¡­ *sniff* I¡­ *sniff* mis¡­*sniff* (Dad) ¡°Noah!! What¡¯s wrong? Why are you crying? (Noah) ¡°Never mind its¡­. I was just¡­ happy to see you¡± (Dad) ¡°You should see yourself, you look like cra¡­¡± BANG!!! The door was slammed yet again. You know what? I¡¯m starting to feel bad for the door. This time what entered was a younger face. My brother. (will) ¡±NOAH!!!¡± I couldn¡¯t hold in anymore. I started to break down. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// My father: Joe Brookhart Age: 42 6ft 4in/ Well built/ midnight black hair/ well defined facial features Previous occupation: decorated army general Current occupation: leader of our survivor group Power: pyrokinesis ( the ability to control fire) *currently sobbing while embracing me -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My brother: William Brookhart Age: 22 5ft 11in/ also well built/ rich auburn hair/ way above average looks Previous occupation: army ranger Current occupation: head of cleaners (they clean up abhorred) Power: electrokinesis (control electricity) *currently enjoying this reunionThis story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it (Dad) ¡°It¡¯s good that you woke up¡± Yes it is good that I woke up¡­. Ten years in the past. (will) ¡°We were getting worried you were never going to wake up¡± (Noah) ¡°Dad¡­ where¡¯s mom¡± (Dad) ¡°Noah¡­ I¡­ your mother¡­. She¡­¡± (will) ¡°just before we joined up with the group we are currently in¡­ she.. gave her life¡­ protecting us¡± I already knew that of course, however, how would I explain my knowledge of that. Sometimes a man has to know when to lie I proceeded to act out a crying scene from what you might see on a TV drama. I¡¯m pretty sure I would have gotten an award because half way through, my fake tears turned into real tears. I guess I still wasn¡¯t over my mother¡¯s death. My father, my brother, and I all talked for a long time after that. They proceeded to tell me all about how the world has changed in the month that I was in a coma¡­.. (Dad) ¡°Noah¡­ get some sleep. We¡¯ll talk more tomorrow¡± (Will) ¡°get some rest little brother, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow¡± They soon left, and I soon drifted off to sleep. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (Noah) ahgh¡­¡­geh¡­.. Later that night¡­.. I was awoken by terrible waves of pain. Because I was flailing all over a cold hard floor, I¡¯m sure I fell off the bed at some point. It was so painful that my voice could barely leave my throat. This pain is like no other I ever felt¡­ no that¡¯s not right I have felt this before. ¡°The day the world went dark,¡± I was evolving for the second time. I was evolving to stage 2. Wave after wave of intense pain shot through my system, converging on my head. My whole body radiated a wave of intense heat. It felt like liquid fire was coursing through my blood. My bones felt like they were losing form¡­¡­ melting due to the intense heat engulfing my body. Very quickly the intense heat went away, but it wasn¡¯t over by a long shot. Soon my bones started to take shape again¡­. It felt like they were being¡­¡­ compressed? My whole body felt like it was being crushed. My heart¡­.. felt like it was going to explode, due to the sheer intensity of its beat. My pulse spiked, my vision darkened, and my sentience faded. Somewhere along the line I lost consciousness due to the pain¡­¡­ (Noah) ¡°Nnn¡­.agh.¡± When I woke up I was still on the floor, so I tried gettingup. (Noah) ¡± ah¡­¡± I just realized I¡¯m standing. In my last run through the apocalypse, it took a week to get off my bed, and a month before I could walk. I tried walking. Surprisingly I felt as if I was never in a coma at all. I guess the evolution helped. (Noah) ¡°This¡­¡­.¡± As I was looking around at the mayhem that was once my room, I caught my reflection in a mirror through the opened restroom door. I looked a lot¡­.. Smaller. Overall my looks have improved, but what the hell is with this bullshit. It looks like I lost a lot of my muscle. I look weak and pathetic. And why do I feel shorter. My body feels like it could explode with power¡­¡­. So why does it look like the wind could carry me away? (Noah) ¡°wait! What¡­.. is that?¡± I realized that there was something in my field of vision that wasn¡¯t there before. It looked like very dim grid lines. This grid had numerous lines, impossible to count. The grid just hung in my field of view. (Noah) ¡°this¡­¡­ is going to get annoying¡± Anyway I better clean up this room before Dad makes an appearance¡­.. And guess who decided to walk in on me as I was cleaning up. (Dad) ¡°Noah¡­.. What happened¡­. Here? How are you even out of bed? And why do you look so different? Did you do something to your hair?¡± (Noah) ¡°i¡­.. err¡­.. uh¡­. It¡¯s a long story Dad¡± Man, I feel like the kid who¡¯s mom walked in on him while he was jerking off. (Dad) ¡°whatever, just get this room cleaned up¡± ¡°and when you get done with that I¡¯ll bring you some breakfast¡± /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// It¡¯s been a week since I woke up. I realized that I got skinnier, and shorter because of the way my body went through evolution. Instead of gaining muscle mass, or stature; my bones and my muscles compressed becoming denser and stronger. I was currently walking around the compound. By the way, the compound is basically an entire block surrounding the hospital. The hospital was built for psychiatric patients in the seventeen hundreds. The survivors created a wall, if you will, around the entire block using big trucks and sheet metal. It¡¯s quite ingenious for only having a month to work with. The main gate is made using an old school bus that when pushed unblocks the entrance. This compound looks like something out of a certain movie about the apocalypse. it seems...... fitting. I was currently walking around the hospital courtyard by myself; Usually there would be many people here, but it was just me today. The cleaners were out¡­.. Cleaning, while everyone else was within the hospital working to fortify it. The guards are the only ones outside, obviously guarding the wall. Over the past week I realized a few things about the gridlines I saw after my second evolution. -I finally awoken my power and the grid is tied to it -if I concentrate I can make the grid go away or become easier to see. -If I think about it I can make the lines expand or contract, but I don¡¯t know what it does While I was walking around the courtyard, I was playing with the grid lines. This has been my routine for the last week. As I was stretching the lines of the grid, I noticed it was starting to get dark....... and cold. I decided to head back to my room, to set in for the night. (Noah) ¡°huh...?¡± I was standing in my room. (Noah) ¡°But I was¡­. Just¡­. Out¡­ side¡± A thought suddenly occurred to me! I brought up the grid lines and imagined that they started stretching. As I was stretching the gridlines I pictured the courtyard I was just standing in. instantly the scenery changed, from one of a dull white room, to an empty courtyard surrounded by a broken city. (Noah) ¡°ah¡± I was standing out in the courtyard with a big stupid grin on my face. I finally received my power¡­. No that¡¯s not right. I probably always had this power; it was just too weak at stage 1 to be noticed. With this power, things don¡¯t have to turn out the same way as before. Right now I have to figure out what my power entails. The power of spatiokinesis (Noah) ¡°hehe¡­ things are gonna be a lot more fun this time around¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Name: Noah Brookhart Age: 18 5ft 10in/ chestnut blond hair/ weak build/ superior good looks Previous occupation: military college student Current occupation: survivor Power: spatiokinesis? *currently planning out the future with a huge grin on his face. list of kinetic powers A: B: C: D: E: F: G: H: I: K: L: M: N: O: P: Q: R: S: T: U: V: chapter 2: The Hunt Chapter 2: the hunt You know¡­. When I first died, I wasn¡¯t even scared, I was glad. I was glad that I didn¡¯t have to deal with the constant fear of the abhorred. I was glad I didn¡¯t have to deal with the constant horrors of this world. I was glad I didn¡¯t even have to survive on borrowed time anymore. I was just plain glad, But¡­.. now that I came back to the past, and actually obtained the strength I need to live¡­. I¡¯m scared. The fact of the matter is¡­ that before, I knew I was going to die, it was only a matter of when and where. I already had everything taken from me, and nothing to live for. Even my own friend betrayed me to take the last thing I love away. It¡¯s funny now that everything was given back, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m going to be able to protect it this time around. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m scared, but I¡¯m also excited, and happy. That¡¯s right, for the first time in a long time, I¡¯m¡­. Happy. I may be scared but one thing I am not is a coward. After all, you can¡¯t have courage without having fear first. This time around, I¡¯m not going to let anything happen to my family. This time I¡¯ll be the one taking things, instead of losing them. This time I¡¯m going to survive, however, I¡¯m going to need to be strong. Stronger than anybody and everything. In order to do that though, I¡¯m going to need to evolve. And the only known way to do that, is to eat abhorred hearts¡­. I mean the crystal in their head, god, how sick do you think I am? ¡°Heart¡± is just a nickname hunters came up with a few years down the road. Technically you can eat a humans ¡°heart¡± in order to evolve, but I¡¯m only going to kill those that want to kill me. That means this isn¡¯t a very reliable method. The only way to kill an abhorred is to remove their ¡°heart,¡± or destroy their brain. (Noah) ¡°if I¡¯m going to do this, I¡¯m going to need a weapon.¡± My weapon of choice: a knife So I go and ¡°borrow¡± one from my brother. Whoa wait a minute, rewind. Why a knife you ask? Well to put it simply, guns become ineffective against stage 3 and higher. I want to get enough practice against the weaker ones with a bladed weapon, before they get stronger. Technically knives get weaker against the abhorred as well, but there are work-a-rounds. Every power gives a special trait to a weapon when you imbue it with power. Enough about that, let¡¯s get this show on the road. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// later that night While everyone was sleeping, I snuck out of the camp¡­.. Well¡­.. When I say snuck out, what I really mean is that I teleported out, after all the guards can¡¯t all just go to sleep In order to find a suitable target, I¡¯m going to need to search around for a good while. I look around at the devastated city that was once a golden metropolis, now desolate. Desolate? Hmmmm¡­. This is going to take longer than I thought. Man¡­. my brother and the cleaners have really been doing their job a little too well. I took out my iPhone to check the time, I¡®ve already been at it for over an hour with no results to show for it. While I was walking down the street, loaded with abandoned cars; I noticed something run out into the open a couple of blocks down. I got close enough to see his features, there he was, Standing at probably¡­. 6 ft tall, retaining most of his humanly features, except for the protruding spikes, straight out of a horror film. The further along an abhorred goes on the path of evolution. The uglier and less human they get. What I can deduce from this is that he must only be a stage 1. (Noah) ¡°hyaa¡­¡±Stolen story; please report. Readying the dagger in my hands, I call upon the grid lines that make up space. As I distort the grid, I suddenly appear right behind the creature. Before the creature decides to turn around, I thrust my knife towards the base of its skull. I feel only a slight resistance before my knife plunges into its brain silently dispatching it. The creature limpidly falls to the ground. Calmly I turn the corpse over in order to extract its crystal core. In my ¡°past life¡± I was routinely made to go out with Tango Company as their carrier, whose job is to collect and carry cores. From past experience I know that all beings have their core right behind the forehead. I used the back of my knife to crush the front side of his skull, so as to make it easier to extract the crystal. *thwack* *thwack* *thwack* *thwack* The sound of me bashing its skull in reverberates throughout the surroundings. You know It¡¯s kind of strange, I thought I would feel something, considering this thing was once human. I, however, feel nothing. I stand up and wipe the brain matter, and skull fragments off of my face. I wipe the crystal down with my shirt, and swallow it whole. (Noah) ¡°Aaaand¡­. Nothing¡± as I thought¡­.. You have to eat a crystal core the same level as you or higher, or it won¡¯t work. (Noah) ¡°Let¡¯s go find some more¡± Although I won¡¯t rank up, at least I can acquire some more experience and crystal cores for my father and brother, after all I can¡¯t be the only one who gets stronger. I continued on my way¡­ though, this time I found one a lot quicker. It¡¯s the same as last time, retaining its looks for the most part. I readied my trusty knife, opened up the grid, thrust my knife, Aaaaaaaaand (Noah) ¡°Son of a bitch¡± Just as my knife was about to pierce his skull, sending him on his way, suddenly, I found my arm latched onto by a boney hand connected to¡­¡­.. oh shit¡­.. it¡¯s a stage¡­¡­ *whoooosh* *slaaaam* (noah) ¡°uuugh¡­ haaa¡± Before I can even finish my thought, my body was already ripping through the air, as it hurtled right towards a god damn taxi. It¡¯s amazing how resilient my body is at stage 2, but even at stage 2, crushing a taxi with your body hurts like a motherfucker. I slowly rise to my feet¡­. Luckily while I was getting my second wind, the stage 2 in front of me seems to be gloating¡­. It seems as though the more they evolve, the smarter they get. Well that¡¯s okay he wont be gloating for long¡­¡­ I bring up the grid like usual¡­.. but before I teleport, I suddenly throw my knife at his face¡­.. he of course dodges¡­.. but that¡¯s not what I¡¯m aiming for¡­¡­ when he looks back over to me¡­.. or where I was¡­.. hes surprised¡­. As I¡¯m gone Where did I go? behind him of course, and I¡¯ve already caught the knife¡­¡­. By the wrong end of course¡­¡­. Well what do you expect I¡¯m new to this whole combat thing? I quickly flip the knife around and thrust it straight into the back of his head¡­.. he falls limp. Now I start gloating. Suddenly, I see out of my peripheral a huge freaking claw coming at my face. *whoosh* I fall back, straight onto my ass. A few strands of my hair were lobbed off, by the stage 1 (Noah) ¡°stupid motherfu¡­.) I start cursing, as I make quick work of the stage 1 who caused this whole headache in the first place. *thwack* *thwack* *thwack* *thwack* It takes me considerably more time to ¡°dig¡± out the core of the stage 2 I clean the crystal with my shirt, and quickly consume it. I suddenly feel an energy swarm my stomach as it gets absorbed into the rest of my body. (noah) ¡°Ahhh that hit the spot¡± I feel the energy converge at the spot right behind the forehead. It somehow feels like a second stomach, but in my head¡­.. Err, I don¡¯t really know how to explain it. It kind of feels fuller¡­¡­. But not by much? I turn towards the corpse, that wasted my time. (Noah) ¡± I guess even in death, you still find ways to annoy people¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯m going to have to kill a lot of you guys huh?¡± Wow, I¡¯m talking to a freaking corpse¡­¡­ its official, I¡¯m crazy. I calmly collect myself so that I can assess the damage done to my body To be honest it hurts to breath, actually it hurts a lot. I¡¯m guessing that the taxi that just so happened to be nice enough to break my fall, also broke a couple of my ribs. I¡¯m going to need a lot more practice¡­¡­ just not tonight. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Back in my room. After taking a quick shower, and getting dressed in a pair of sweat pants, I heavily lay down on the bed. (Noah) *heavily exhales a sigh* It was a long day today¡­¡­ As I think back on the events today, I find myself adrift in the plane of dreams¡­¡­. chapter 3: My Brothers Keeper (Dad) ¡°pfft¡­.fft¡­fft¡­fft¡± (Wil) *sighs* (Noah) ¡°it¡¯s not even funny¡± (Dad) ¡°Buahahahaha¡± (Noah) ¡°I¡¯m serious¡± The reason my father is laughing, is because my little brother Noah proposed something ridiculous: he wants to have a duel with me. So how did this start? Well it¡¯s been about a month since my little brother woke up from his long ¡°nap,¡± and things were looking good for our little rag-tag group of people. Well¡­. Not everything was good, I noticed that my little brother was always tired. When we talk to him, he would sometimes be in a daze, as if he was sleeping. i figured he might be dealing with depression, due to mom. I was concerned, at the time, about him; I wanted to help him as best I could. Late one night, while everyone was sleeping, I decided to slip into his room. (Will) *whispers* ¡°Noah¡± I tried to keep as quiet as possible, for fear of waking the others. I didn¡¯t receive a reply, so I got closer. (Will) ¡°huh?¡± I can¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t fooled at first, but what was laying there, was an example of the oldest trick in the book. Two extra pillows under the cover. I was not enthused, not even a little. Why did he slip out? Furthermore, why hide it? This couldn¡¯t just be a midnight stroll! I searched the entire compound that night, not getting a wink of sleep I might add. When I went back to his room in the morning, the sneaky little bastard was just lying there. I didn¡¯t even confront him about it. For an entire week after that I kept going to his room at night, he was never there. One night I tried to catch him when he came back, so I waited in his room the entire night. *shhhhhhhhhhh* *water running* All of a sudden I heard the shower turn on. I was obviously confused, as I hadn¡¯t even seen him come in. he¡¯s seems to be really good at sneaking around, guess I¡¯ll have to fix that. *water stops* I waited for him to finish. (Noah) ¡°ah¡­w-will¡­. What are you doing here.¡± When he finally came out, he was startled at my presence. When I looked at what he was holding, my heart leapt, and knew instantly what he was doing. In his hands was an article of clothing, that was torn and bloodied by, what I can only assume is an abhorred. I furiously grabbed the item in question out of his hands, and angrily belted a question his way. (Will) ¡°SO THIS IS WHAT YOU WERE DOING AT NIGHT!!??¡± (Noah) ¡° i¡­¡­ uh¡­.. wai¡­¡± *BANG* Before he could wriggle out an answer, I quickly left, not forgetting to slam the door. I quickly marched to my father¡¯s room, who had just woken up, due to me slamming the door.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. After I reported to my father about what happened, he ordered a couple of the guards to constantly be at my brother¡¯s side, in shifts. Fast-forward about a week later and my brother was practically begging my father to join the cleaners, so that he can go on ¡°hunts.¡± My father of course didn¡¯t think he was strong enough. I won¡¯t lie he does kind of look weak. My brother trying to prove something to my father, decided to propose a duel. And so here we are¡­.. in the courtyard¡­¡­ facing off. (Will) ¡° are you sure you want to do this little brother¡± I felt bad not taking him full heartedly, but what can I do, he¡¯s my little brother. (Dad) ¡°begin¡± Almost instantly, I regretted not taking my brother seriously. (Will and Dad) ¡°where¡­¡­?¡± Immediately after our dad gave the signal, my brother disappeared! That¡¯s right! Just disappeared! As if his being there was a lie all this time. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (Will) ¡°gah¡­¡­.ka..ka¡­ka¡± What had welcomed me back to this world was a nice cold bucket of water. I don¡¯t even remember what I was doing¡­¡­ no I do, I just don¡¯t want to. (Dad) ¡°buahahaha¡± All of a sudden my father started pointing and laughing. (Will) ¡°Quit laughing, it¡¯s not funny¡± (Noah) ¡°Pfft¡­.¡± (Dad) ¡°Hahahaha¡± And now my brother started snickering. I mean it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t see the irony in this situation, but still.¡­ NOT FUNNY! (Dad) ¡°in all seriousness¡­ Noah I think it would be fine if you joined the cleaners¡± ¡°I just have to ask though¡­. How did you do that?¡± (Noah) *sighs* And my brother began explaining to us, what his power is. He also explained the different stages and how to evolve. He was even nice enough to give us the crystals he hunted from stage ones. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// A couple of days after the ¡°duel¡± with my brother, I decided to take him out on one of our weekly missions. It was currently day time, while my brother, the cleaners, and I were currently heading deeper into the city. The area around our compound has been cleaned out recently, so the only work the cleaners get right now is searching for supplies. We were currently heading towards a supermarket, however, about 3 quarters of the way there¡­¡­. We were surrounded on all sides by a swarm of abhorred. (Will) ¡°Form up!!¡± The cleaners were a group made out of my father¡¯s old military comrades. When I gave out the order, the group, very quickly, got into a back-to-back-to-back formation. (Will) ¡°Light them up¡± *gunfire* Soon, loud ¡°symphonies¡± rang throughout the atmosphere. The cleaners were my orchestra, and I was the composer. We proceeded to mow down enemy after enemy. As we were controlling the crowd, something caught my attention¡­¡­ I found myself in a daze¡­¡­ Noah¡­.. he¡­¡­ is¡­ Flickering in and out of reality, dancing throughout the battlefield. One second his knife is buried deep into the skull of an abhorred, the next, gone¡­¡­ his phantom image, like the grim reaper when passing, cleaving life away from existence. The scene of a hostile crowd soon grows desolate. Bodies pile up at our feet, nearly a hundred by rough estimate. (Will) ¡°Spread out, clean up, extract the cores, and let¡¯s move on¡± ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Once the supermarket came into view, I had Noah and 2 others break off, and circle around back. As soon as we stepped foot inside, we encountered resistance. Our first goal was to secure the supermarket to make it safe for transportation of resources. Groups of the bastards kept flying out at us, all trying to get a taste of human flesh. The further into the store we delved, the more intense the fighting got. The super market has large shelves dividing the isles. And in between the isles you can see a 9 man team, sweeping the store clean of pests. I could hear gunshots ring out on the other side of the store. (Will) ¡°So Noah¡­.. finally decided to make an entrance huh?¡± ¡°Chris, Cole, Sam, link up with the other team.¡± (Chris, Cole, Samantha) ¡°Roger!!¡± (Will) ¡°The rest of you on m¡­¡­.¡± *Booooooooooom!!!* (???) ¡°WRAAARWOOOOOOOOOO¡± Suddenly a black shadow crashed through the domed roof, landing right in front of our group. The beast let back its head, and while staring at the moonlight now cascading through the new gap in the ceiling, let out an unearthly howl. i take out a lighter andput a cigerrete in my mouthe *suuuuuuuu* (*inhales*) *fuuuuuu* (*exhales*) (Will) ¡°Well¡­¡­ fuck.¡± chapter 4: Crisis! (Noah) ¡°Ugh¡­. damned things just keep coming¡± Thirsting for blood, I plunged my blade into yet another skull. Before I could retrieve my knife, another abhorred threw its body at me. With my weapon a bit ¡°pre-disposed,¡± I had to get a bit more serious. As its attack came in, I sidestepped, circumventing the creature. Imagining the grid, I pictured the lines of the grid suddenly separating. As I was falling backwards, away from the creature; I Concentrated on its neck and made a chopping motion with my hand. I fully tumbled backwards; however, I completed the motion with a back roll, landing entirely on my feet and regaining my posture. Looking at the one that attacked me, a thin black line suddenly started forming on its neck. The black line started to expand from one side of the creature¡¯s neck to the other. From left to right the line continued to expand until it reached the end of its neck; leaving its intended target, it continued to expand in the atmosphere. The line traced the path my hand followed, stopping only a quarter of a circle away from where it started. Once the line completed its motion, crack started to spill out from it. The cracks continued to form, until suddenly¡­¡­¡­ *Kshhhhkshkshsh* (sound of glass shattering) Space broke apart in that instant. The black line was now replace by a broken glass window, looking out into nothingness. Almost as quickly as space tore, it closed in on itself, completely fixing the spatial crack. What currently lay fixed in my sight¡­. was the head of the creature flying one way¡­.. and its body falling in the other. Unfortunately¡­. I¡¯m not as proficient at that ability as I¡¯d like to be. (Noah) ¡°Uh¡­¡­ I only intended to hit one target¡± I said while staring dumbfounded at twenty or so corpses, bisected at either the head or the body. (Noah) ¡°works out better this way¡­¡­. I guess.¡± I turned to face the last couple of enemies¡­¡­. *tsuk* *tsuk* *tsuk* 3 knifes quickly embed themselves into the surviving abhorred¡­¡­ add 3 more to the kill count. (???) ¡°Noah, I know you want to play bad ass but please stop running off on your own. This operation is a team effort¡± What stood before me was a stocky, 6¡¯6,¡¯¡¯ Bald, Caucasian male. (Noah) ¡°yes sir, Sargent dick¡± *mumbles under breath* I retorted as I retrieved my knife from the a corpse. (???) ¡°What was that!?¡± (Noah) ¡°uh¡­ nothing um.. Scott¡­. Err¡­ Sir!¡± (Scott) ¡°Look¡­ your brother put me in charge of you. If anything happened¡­. He would neuter me¡­.. with a plastic knife!¡± (Noah) *sigh* ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it won¡¯t happen again.¡± (Scott) ¡°good! Now let¡¯s get in that supermarket!¡± (Noah) ¡°Okay, but first¡­. Where¡¯s torri?¡± (Scott) ¡°She¡¯s lagging a bit behind in order to cover our six. She¡¯ll catch up soon.¡± *************************************************** Name: Scott Stratham (str-at-um) 6¡¯6¡¯¡¯/bald/scarred/average looking/built like your standard soldier Occupation: cleaner¡¯s vice-captain Nickname: Butch (because he likes to shave using a butcher¡¯s cleaver) Power: Gladiokinesis... allows him to manipulate knives with his mind *currently brooding over the fact that he didn¡¯t get to kill many things *********************************************************** ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// We were currently standing outside of the loading bay of the supermarket named: Shaw¡¯s (Scott) ¡°So how do we get through these loading doors?¡± (Noah) ¡° I could jus¡­.¡± (Torri) ¡°Let me try¡­. I don¡¯t want you accidentally bringing the whole building down!¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Tori stood in front of the sealed entrance, and extended both hands. The nails on her hand started to grow¡­.. Into razor sharp talons. *shink* *shink* *shink* She repeatedly swiped at the door, which is now in shambles. *********************************************************** Name: Annabelle Thorrivelli A.K.A: Torri 5¡¯11¡¯¡¯/ebony black hair/hot/has a crush on my brother Occupation: stealth/recon/skirmisher for the cleaners Nickname: wicked kitten (because of her nails and her attitude, nuff said) *currently scaring the shit out of me *********************************************************** //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Once we were inside we encountered a swarm of stage 1¡¯s. I readied myself for combat by taking out my blade. A formation of knives slowly started dancing around Scott¡¯s head. And Torri just took out her gun and started shooting them. *patatatatata* (Noah) ¡°oh great¡± (Scott) ¡°HEY!!! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, ALERT THE WHOLE STORE WE¡¯RE HERE OR SOMETHING?¡± (Torri) ¡°well if you keep shouting like that, then the whole store will know¡± (Scott) ¡°wha¡­..?¡± *Puh* *puh* *ptetetetete* *distant gunfire* (Noah)*sigh* That¡¯s just great I¡¯m surrounded by a bunch of gun toting maniacs. To be honest it doesn¡¯t really matter if the creatures know we¡¯re here or not, after all it sounds like my brother is living it up on the other side of the store. (Scott) ¡°if you got rid of that terrible personality, you would make a half decent wife¡± (Torri) ¡°Walk away baldy¡­.. before someone gets hurt¡± (Scott) ¡°you don¡¯t scare me¡± (Noah) ¡°GUYS! Stop bickering¡± ¡°what happened to all the team work you were preaching to me about, Scott¡± ¡°and Torri, you¡­¡­¡± (Torri) *Glares* (Noah) *gulp* ¡°¡­¡­¡­. Can do whatever you want.¡± What have you gotten me into brother dearest? These two, are like a bunch of fucking children. Next time I¡¯m going alone. I mean REALLY!!!! could you have paired me up with a worse duo¡­¡­.. *Grrrrrrrrraaawooooooooooooooooooo* (Scott) ¡°sounds like something in there is angry¡± (Torri) ¡°I¡¯m sure the captain will be able to handle it, whatever it is¡± (Scott) ¡°We should still get in there and prov¡­¡­. Wha¡­..? HEY NOAH, DON¡¯T RUN OFF BY YOUR SELF!¡± Shit¡­. This is really bad¡­¡­ that¡¯s not a stage 2, my brother won¡¯t be able to handle something like that. Ignoring my teammates, I rush forward, in an attempt to get there in time. I bolt through the double doors leading from the stock room to the store. *Puh* *puh* *ptetetetete* *puh* *gyaaaaaaaaaaah!* *gunfire, and cries of horror in the distance* The sounds entering my ears only serve to quicken my pace. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// When I arrived, it was a complete catastrophe. Cleaners¡­¡­. Or what¡¯s left of them¡­¡­. strewn about the floor. A body hanging from a shelf¡­¡­ missing its head. A leg missing its body. Body innards all over the place. The floor painted in red, the clothing dyed in crimson. Chunks of meat here and there. Entrails littering the floor¡­¡­. It was a fucking mess I struggled to push down the urge to throw up. And in the center of that chaos, was my brother; staring down this¡­¡­.. huge beast. Like something made from nightmares. It was at least 10 ft. tall, with teeth like jagged daggers. It had a coat of pitch black fur. Its limbs: as thick as a tree. Its head is shaped like that of a wolf, with eyes as deep as the sea and as red as the blood now decorating the store. (???) ¡°grrrrrrr¡­¡­¡± It strolled forward towards my brother, stopping only in front of him to raise its claw in the air¡­¡­. And start to bring it down. I was in a panic. Before I knew it, I was already next to my brother. With my hand connected to him, I opened up a hole in space, sending him back to my room. Now with my brother gone, I was in the path of the fucking claw. I extended my hand out. Imagining the lines on the grid converging¡­.. condensing, a transparent black barrier was formed between me and the path of the talons. Halfway through its swing the beast changed its grip to that of a fist and accelerated its motion. Its hand became a blur. When the hand landed on my barrier¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ *Kshhhhkshkshsh* With no resistance at all, the hand shattered my barrier and continued to trace its path into the pit of my stomach. When it made contact with my stomach, the hand didn¡¯t have enough courtesy to stop; it plowed right through, coming out the other side¡­¡­.. (Noah) ¡±HUUUURGGEHH¡­¡­..¡± I quickly vomited blood. I don¡¯t even know how I could vomit so much blood¡­¡­ my stomach wasn¡¯t even there anymore¡­.. I was wrong to think I could¡­.. Take on this¡­¡­ beast. It¡¯s¡­¡­.. At the very¡­¡­ least¡­¡­.. a stage 4. After training my power for the last month¡­¡­.. I thought¡­¡­.. Nothing¡­¡­¡­ could even¡­¡­.. Touch me. I got cocky (Scott) ¡°NOAH!¡± Crap I forgot about them Noticing a set of new targets, the beast tore its hand from my body flinging me at the newcomers. (Scott) ¡±ugfh¡­.¡± Scott quickly caught me with his body, breaking his stance and causing him to tumble over. Torri was about to launch herself at the beast, however¡­¡­. (Scott) ¡°Torri¡­.. Forget about the oversized dog, and come help me with Noah! We need to get him out of here. (Torri) ¡°butt the captain¡­¡­..¡± (Scott) ¡°I don¡¯t see his body do you? He must have gotten away¡± (Torri) ¡°R-right¡± To be honest he wasn¡¯t wrong¡­¡­ but he didn¡¯t know that. He didn¡¯t even say it with confidence, but it was enough for Torri to cling onto. Torri quickly came over and helped Scott lift me up, so that they could carry me out¡­¡­ I guess they were hoping the beast would leave weaklings like us alone, since it hasn¡¯t moved from its spot yet¡­¡­ I of course was not so naive. When I groggily looked up I found a toothy grin plastered across its snout. It was enjoying this, playing with its food¡­¡­.. giving it false hope. I knew that no matter what they did, we wouldn¡¯t get away. I would have to do something¡­¡­.. to save them¡­¡­. I don¡¯t have much time left¡­.. im even surprised that I¡¯m still alive. I was going to do something I couldn¡¯t do earlier, because I didn¡¯t have enough time. Mustering the remaining energy which was quickly dispersing from my body due to blood loss, I quickly began to imagine three separate grid lines¡­¡­ (Scott) ¡°lets go¡­..¡± As they started to trudge forward, my arms wrapped around their shoulders, I looked back over my shoulder. The beast just looked on¡­¡­. It suddenly vanished¡­¡­¡­. Reappearing right in front of us¡­.. *Vwooooooosh* Suddenly that freakish looking claw, was tearing through the air, aiming to cleave us all in half with one swipe. I finished the preparations; only question is, what will happen first, a gruesome scene, or a change in scenery. Of course what really happened went beyond my expectations. My vision started to grow dark¡­¡­. The last thing I saw before I passed out¡­¡­ was a hug freaking claw hurtling straight for us¡­¡­¡­.. chapter 5: When Death Looms/ side 1 *suuuuuuuuu* *fuuuuuuu* (Will) ¡°well¡­¡­¡­ fuck.¡± ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Nobody moved¡­¡­.. We all just stared down the beast for what seemed like an eternity, but couldn¡¯t have been more than a minute. The beast just looked at us as if looking at a bunch of cornered mice. The¡­¡­¡­.. monster¡­. Had the blackest fur, darker than the night¡­.. It may be described by other people as a black bipedal wolf¡­¡­ but all I could see¡­¡­¡­. was the shadow of death himself¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t dare to even speak. *puh* *Puh* *puh* *ptetetetete* *puh* As well trained as they are¡­¡­ one of my men couldn¡¯t take it anymore and openly fired, causing a domino effect of gunfire¡­¡­.. Before we knew what happened, there was blood flying through the air¡­¡­ but not the beast¡¯s blood¡­.. Not with our meager weapons. *gyaaaaaaaaaaah!* Cole started to scream in agony¡­¡­. His arm¡­.. Nowhere to be found¡­. The ¡°wolf,¡± however, could be found standing directly in front of Sam, its arm erect above its head¡­¡­. And then it came crashing down¡­¡­ directly crushing Sam¡­¡­ Her body exploded into a bloody pulp¡­¡­ bits of her flesh scattering through the air¡­. Her blood now staining everything. Before we could wake up from our shock, the beast was already beside another of my comrades¡­.. he brought his arm down yet again, this time choosing to bisect its target. The beast vanished yet again¡­¡­This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. It lunged towards Chris, latching onto his head with its jaw¡­¡­.. on his face¡­. The utter look of despair. The beast flung its head back and forth, with Chris¡¯s body flailing through the air. The beast bit his head off, consuming it whole; sending his body flying. This time when the beast disappeared, it didn¡¯t reappear. Every few seconds someone else would either explode into a gory mess, or be cut into pieces. Throughout this entire ordeal I could only watch on, mouth agape, as my comrades died one by one. When I finally regained my senses, there was nobody around me¡­.. Only a big gory mess¡­. And a beast standing directly in front of me. It stared at me¡­¡­. Its eyes showing nothing but contempt. I closed my eyes, and waited for death to seize me¡­. But it never came. Curious, I opened my eyes. No longer was I surrounded by death¡­¡­. What replaced the red floors and the creature from hell¡­.. was a room with white walls, like a scene from heaven. It was Noah¡¯s room. (Will) ¡°How did I ge¡­¡­ NOAH!¡± Realizing the reason for my being here, I quickly rushed out of the room and straight towards father¡¯s room. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Of the 30 cleaners, only 20 remained. When I told father what happened, we set out to retrieve my brother. Of course when I say we, I really mean my father, a squad of cleaners and I. because small arms didn¡¯t work, my father decided to take out the only grenade launcher we had which only had three rounds remaining. We only brought 4 cleaners because if we took anymore there would be a lack of protection at the compound. When we arrived at the scene of the carnage, there was no one there. I frantically started looking for any signs of my brother and the other two that were with him, however, the only thing I found was a knife¡­¡­ the one Noah uses¡­.. Noah¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ what happened to you? My eyes started to moisten. I don¡¯t know if it was in fear of losing another family member¡­¡­. Or if it was because deep down¡­. I already expect that I¡¯ve lost him. I started cry. Surprisingly I didn¡¯t feel any hatred for the monster that did this; I mean I should, but I only felt hatred for myself. Hatred of how weak I was. I couldn¡¯t prevent this because I was weak, because I didn¡¯t have enough power¡­¡­.. And in this world¡­¡­ power is all that matters... chapter 5: When Death Looms/ side 2 (Scott) ¡°HEY!!! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, ALERT THE WHOLE STORE WE¡¯RE HERE OR SOMETHING?¡± (Torri) ¡°well if you keep shouting like that, then the whole store will know¡± (Scott) ¡°wha¡­..?¡± This woman is freaking crazy. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t like that though. *Puh* *puh* *ptetetetete* *distant gunfire* (Noah)*sigh* (Scott) ¡°if you got rid of that terrible personality, you would make a half decent wife¡± (Torri) ¡°Walk away baldy¡­.. before someone gets hurt¡± (Scott) ¡°you don¡¯t scare me¡± You terrify me¡­¡­ is something I neglect to mention. (Noah) ¡°GUYS! Stop bickering¡± ¡°what happened to all the team work you were preaching to me about, Scott¡± ¡°and Torri, you¡­¡­¡± (Torri) *Glares* (Noah) *gulp* ¡°¡­¡­¡­. Can do whatever you want.¡± I don¡¯t know why the captain left me in charge of his younger brother, after all he may be powerful but he doesn¡¯t know how to work as a team. *Grrrrrrrrraaawooooooooooooooooooo* What the fuck was that?........... (Scott) ¡°sounds like something in there is angry¡± (Torri) ¡°I¡¯m sure the captain will be able to handle it, whatever it is¡± (Scott) ¡°We should still get in there and prov¡­¡­. Wha¡­..? HEY NOAH, DON¡¯T RUN OFF BY YOUR SELF!¡± Suddenly Noah launches himself past me¡­¡­¡­ completely ignoring his teammates yet again. (Torri) ¡°Ugh¡­¡­ when I catch that kid¡­¡­.. I¡¯m going to skin him alive¡± (Scott) ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about him¡­¡­ he can take care of himself¡± (Torri) ¡°Who¡¯s worried about that little brat?¡± (Scott) ¡°You are!¡­¡­¡­. Kitten¡­¡­.. ¡± (Torri)¡±¡­..¡± (Scott) ¡°pffft¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­hahahahah¡± (Torri) ¡°I told you not to call me that, baldie¡± Don¡¯t worry I get it. Your probably worried because you want him to be your future brother-in-law¡­.. Well since there are no more laws in this world, I guess its brother-in-promise? I wonder if she even confessed her feelings to the captain yet. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// *puh* *Puh* *puh* *ptetetetete* *puh* ¡­.. *GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!* (Torri & Scott) ¡°Wha¡­¡­¡­¡­ SHIT!!!¡± We were just entering the store from the stock room when we suddenly heard an agony induced wail coming from the direction of the gunfire. We abandoned our mediocre pace, setting about as if our lives depended on it. We soon ran into a mob of abhorred stampeding towards us. (Scott) ¡°we should have followed the kid a bit closer¡­¡­. I thought he was just trying to show off.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. (Torri) ¡°Damn it¡­¡­ all of these abhorred¡­¡­ how did Noah get past them?¡± (Scott) ¡°Just do your best to plow right through them¡± I threw out my bundle of blades towards the hoard of abhorred. Using my thoughts, the knives suddenly spread out from each other and started to accelerate, cleanly cutting through head after head of abhorred. Torri, who was once at my side, is now streaking past the abhorred in the direction my knives went. Anything my knives managed to miss simply had their head disconnected from their shoulders by her nails. My knives, Torri, and I, in a single straight line, drilled through the enemies, quickly arriving at the back of the back. Once we got past the stampede of abhorred, who seemed to only care about getting as far away from where we¡¯re going as possible, we increased our pace. I wonder that could be spooking them so bad¡­.. just what is the captain facing¡­¡­. I regret not chasing after Noah with some seriousness. (Scott) ¡°I hope we make it on time¡± ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// When we arrived¡­¡­.. What we saw¡­¡­¡­ can only be described as hell. Chris, tommy, cole¡­¡­¡­.nobody was left alive. (Scott) ¡°NOAH!!!¡± Before i could take in the entire scene, I saw Noah standing there¡­¡­. As stiff as the claw, ruggedly protruding from his back. In front of him¡­¡­. the biggest fucking wolf I¡¯ve ever seen. Suddenly Noah¡¯s back started getting bigger and bigge¡­¡­.. This fucking thing threw him at us like we¡¯re playing hot potato. I quickly braced for impact by bending my knees¡­¡­¡­. and completely toppled over. (Scott) ¡±ugfh¡­.¡± When I looked up from my spot on the floor, Torri looked like she was about to launch herself at the beast, however, if even Noah or the captain can¡¯t beat it, what good could she do? (Scott) ¡°Torri¡­.. Forget about the oversized dog, and come help me with Noah! We need to get him out of here. (Torri) ¡°But the captain¡­¡­..¡± (Scott) ¡°I don¡¯t see his body do you? He must have gotten away¡± I half-heartedly reply to her worry. To be honest I can see many bodies¡­¡­. Or what should be bodies, and you know the damnedest thing? I can¡¯t even tell anybody apart. There¡¯s nothing left of anybody. It¡¯s just one big bloody mess. Given how much he loves his brother I doubt the captain would have just ¡°gotten away.¡± (Torri) ¡°R-right¡± Despite the poor excuse for an argument, she tried to cling to hope and decided to fool herself into believing my words. Torri quickly came over and helped me lift Noah up off of me. The wolf¡­¡­.. just stood stock still. If the damned thing wasn¡¯t breathing, I would have taken it for an ugly statue. Well if it¡¯s not planning to attack us¡­¡­.. then we need to get the hell out of here. Noah was in really bad shape: his face drained of color, his blood soaked up in his now tattered clothing, and his breathing ragged. We have to get him bandaged up fast¡­¡­ We wrapped his arms around our shoulders and turned to face the opposite direction¡­. (Scott) ¡°lets go¡­..¡± As we started to stagger towards the entrance, Noah, who was still conscious despite the lack of blood, turned his head. I suddenly felt chills rushing down my spine. *Vwooooooosh* I heard the cleaving of air. Wanting to turn around and look, I suddenly felt a pain in the side of my neck. I whipped my head around¡­¡­ and nothing was there¡­¡­. No I seriously mean nothing. Not the store, not the bodies, and for damn sure not fido. What was there, was a desert. Noah must have gotten us out of there. I felt something start to drip down the side of my neck¡­¡­. Blood? 3 new jagged marks ¡°somehow¡± found its way onto my neck¡­¡­ (Scott) ¡°t-talk about ¡°just in time.¡±¡± I looked towards Torri, who looked utterly confused. (Scott) ¡°let¡¯s set him down.¡± (Torri) ¡°R-right.¡± //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (Scott) ¡°t-this is¡­¡­¡­¡± (Torri) ¡°it can¡¯t be that bad¡­.. R-right? (Scott) ¡°He has a hole in his abdomen what do you think?¡± She seriously becomes an moron when she¡®s concerned. What I¡¯m shocked about is neither the size nor the severity of the wound, but the fact that it¡¯s¡­¡­. Regenerating!!!! i could not believe what i was seeing. Soon the wound was gone¡­.. Like it never happened at all. (Scott) ¡°torri he¡¯ll be fine¡± (Torri) ¡°that¡¯s good¡­¡­ huh?¡± When she looked down she was surprised the wound was gone¡­. Hey!! you just noticed that? Despite the fact that the hole in his stomach was gone, Noah refused to wake up. First things first, we¡¯ve got to figure out where the hell Noah dropped us off at. One thing I do know, is that we aren¡¯t in New York anymore¡­¡­ hence the desert. We decided to trek through the barren land so we can search for a town¡­. Or something. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// It didn¡¯t take us long to spot a road, which we decided to travel south on. Soon the image of a city popped up on the horizon. After traveling that road for a while, getting infinitesimally close to the city, we came to a sign that read¡­¡­.. NOW ENTERING LAS VEGAS. Really? You can¡¯t even tell. It looks like it barely survived a bomb. I mean it¡¯s only been a couple of months since this whole apocalypse party started. (Noah) ¡°nn¡­..nng¡­¡­..nnnng!¡± Noah started groaning. I placed him down on the road, to see what¡¯s wrong. (Scott) ¡°that¡¯s not good¡± He¡¯s started sweating profusely. His face flushed red. He¡¯s got a fever, and it¡¯s a bad one¡­¡­¡­¡­ //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Somewhere in a dark room a person was kneeling, with his head lowered. A voice spoke to him from the darkness¡­¡­ (???) ¡°Zwei¡­.. I Trust you completed the task I assigned to you¡± (Zwei) ¡°I ¡­¡­did¡± (???) ¡°Why the hesitation?¡± (Zwei) ¡°¡­¡­. The boy and three others got away, however, I fatally wounded him¡± (???) ¡°That¡¯s not good enough¡± ¡° I took you in when you were down, I gave you that strength when you weren¡¯t strong enough, and this is what you have to show for it?¡± (Zwei) ¡°I¡¯m sorry master¡­¡­¡­¡­ it won¡¯t happen again.¡± (???) ¡°Go¡­.. Since you¡¯re so sure he¡¯s dead¡­.. Then search for his corpse¡­.. I need that core.¡± (Zwei) ¡°Yes master!¡± The voice stopped. The figure stood up. It was a man with black hair and¡­¡­.. Red eyes. poll results and more i will be writing a few side stories later on in the series, however i would like to know weather or not you want a couple of quick chapters, or would you like it to be a completely different series (short series.) it will be about noahs father waking up in the apocolypse and its basically all the events that happen before the start of evolved. let me know what you think in the commentsLove what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** ******************************************************************************************************************* chapter 6: Situation? (Noah) ¡°crap¡­¡­ still no good huh.¡± I tried imagining the gridlines¡­¡­ My head started to feel like it was going to cave in, my heart started to palpitate and beads of sweat started forming on my forehead. It¡¯s been like this ever since I woke up a couple of days ago¡­¡­. When I woke up¡­¡­ I found myself in an old run down house¡­.. It¡¯s the apocalypse, go figure. Torri and Scott explained to me that I had been out cold for a day¡­. But what was even more shocking was where I was¡­.. When I used the last of my strength to teleport Torri, Scott, and I¡­¡­ I was barely conscious at the time and randomly hurled us through space, landing us in the ass end of the Mojave Desert. Luckily when we arrived we were still together¡­.. and for the most part¡­.. Healthy. Scott explained how my wounds ended up closing by themselves¡­¡­. How they just up and vanished. Though I¡¯ve tried cutting myself in the past couple of days¡­. It never seems to heal. I wonder why? Is it because of my damaged core? Furthermore¡­.. How did I gain the ability to heal? Did I even gain the ability to heal¡­¡­. Or is it just a one-time thing? While I¡¯m on it I should probably explain what I mean by damaged core huh? The ability to control 3 layers of space at the same time gave me the ability to transfer multiple people, however it is a power beyond the current me. I think I can control 2 layers¡­¡­. Err¡­.. When I recover my abilities that is. I wonder what kinds of things I can do with 2 layers. To be honest¡­¡­ I don¡¯t know how I ¡°controlled¡± multiple layers¡­.. it was kind of instinctual¡­¡­ it just came to me due to the stress of the situation¡­.. If I had to explain it¡­¡­.. it¡¯s kind of like how I know my core is damaged¡­.. or how I know that I¡¯m probably able to control 2 layers of space¡­¡­. Or how a person just knows how to breath. What I also know is that what caused my core to be damaged in the first place, is the over use of my power¡­¡­ (Scott) ¡°hey Noah, let¡¯s go¡­. it¡¯s time for some combat training¡± When I told Scott and my ¡°situation,¡± he took it upon himself to offer up his experience in close quarters combat¡­.. I¡­¡­ didn¡¯t want to be useless so I accepted his offer. Although it¡¯s only been a couple of days, I¡¯ve learned a great deal through training¡­.. Though Scott just tosses me around like dead weight and calls it training. I took a minute to thoroughly stretch, after which we both took up a fighting posture. Scott started charging towards me like a ferocious animal. I bent my knees to lower my center of gravity¡­¡­ closer¡­.. Closer¡­¡­ when he was about close enough to tackle me I threw my arms out in front of me to intercept¡­.. Latching onto his arm¡­. My body fell backwards¡­ but not because he was running me over¡­.. Because I was trying to use his momentum from running and my momentum from falling, to toss him¡­¡­however just as I was starting to shift his weight¡­¡­. He leaned forward to counteract my throw and brought his elbow to the front¡­.. Hoping to crush my rib cage. I pushed my elbow out in front of my face¡­.. aiming at his face¡­. He extended his arm from the elbow¡­. Putting his palm right into my stomach¡­.. (Noah) ¡°ugh¡­..!¡± using my free hand, I sent a strike into his elbow hoping to make the arm bend.... effectively throwing his weight towards his side, sending him rolling away from me¡­¡­¡­. I attempted to get off of my back so I could get some distance¡­¡­.. And regain the wind that was stolen from me. Unfortunately he had other plans. Capitalizing on my lack of breath¡­¡­ he was already in front of me¡­¡­. or I should say was in front of me¡­¡­. because I¡¯m now lying on my back¡­¡­. No clue as to how I got there. (Scott) ¡°It¡¯s amazing how far you¡¯ve come in only a few days¡­¡­. However you have a lot to work on.¡± ¡°you¡¯re still relying on the reflexes of your body to fight¡­¡­ though it¡¯s nice¡­. You should try imagining what your enemy will do¡­.. Rather than wait for him to do it.¡± (Noah) ¡°¡­¡­I¡¯ll try¡± We continued sparring like that for a while. (Torri) ¡°Now it¡¯s my turn¡± (Noah) ¡°Haa.¡± *deeply exhales* Our schedule for the past couple of day have pretty much played out like this: Get up¡­¡­. Not sure I even want to. Clean up¡­¡­.. thank god the apocalypse has running water. Eat breakfast¡­¡­ whatever Scott caught running around? Morning running¡­¡­. Or should I say suicidal sprinting. Scott then teaches me how to use knives¡­¡­ my favorite one being the karambit. Torri then makes me do short burst exercises to get my speed and stamina up. After Torri tires me out, Scott gets to kick me around. And finally once everything has been dragged or beaten out of me over the course of the entire day¡­.. Torri makes me run away from her and Scott while they swipe at me with sticks to work at evasion¡­¡­ its like a messed up game of tag.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Oh by the way if that wasn¡¯t all bad enough¡­¡­ We are currently living in a farm on the outskirts of Las Vegas. We have to hunt for ourselves. We have to cook for ourselves. And we have to fend for ourselves. Luckily I only have to take care of the cooking¡­¡­ Scott says I should learn everything though¡­. in case I end up by myself¡­¡­ well that¡¯s kind of how I got good at cooking in my last life¡­¡­. There is one good thing waiting for me at the end of every day though¡­¡­. Dinner. Scott usually hunts for something. I cook it and Torri¡­¡­.. Does the dishes? (Noah) ¡°It¡¯s ready¡­. Come and get some¡± Once dinner is ready we sit and eat at an old broken table. I¡¯m actually surprised that there¡¯s a complete roof over our head, everything else about this house seems to be run down¡­¡­. This place must have been ransacked before we got here. After dinner, we all usually retire to our beds to get some shuteye. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// At the crack of dawn, when the light was just beginning to spill into my room, I dragged my body out of bed, and into the shower. The waters warm embrace soothed my weary body. Once I was refreshed I headed downstairs only to be dragged into a conversation about me¡­.. (Scott) ¡°He needs actual comb¡­¡­¡± (Noah) ¡°Good morning¡± (Torri) ¡°Oh hey Noah, we were just talking about you¡± (Noah) ¡°Oh¡­ about what?¡± (Torri) ¡°We were just thinking about taking you out for a walk¡­.. to get some live combat training.¡± (Noah) ¡°Why?¡± (Scott) ¡°You need to fight against someone who¡¯s actually trying to kill you. You need a sense of danger¡­¡­ after all your power gave you some reassurance and lowered your wariness¡­¡­¡± (Noah) ¡±I had a claw penetrating my body¡­.. how much more danger do you want?¡± (Scott) ¡°That¡¯s just it¡­¡­ you should have been more careful! You should have retreated and waited for us.¡± ..... After deciding on live combat for today¡¯s regimen, i finally got to make us some breakfast. After breakfast Torri made me do a morning run despite being sore already¡­¡­¡­.. I swear I could hear the creaking of my bones. We soon set out to find myself a ¡°training partner.¡± We didn¡¯t dare enter the city¡­¡­.. its crowded with abhorred¡­¡­ furthermore there could be something like that wolf we fought last week. We ended up looking around the desert for something to kill. (Scott) ¡°Look over there¡­¡­¡­ it might not be what we were looking for but it will do.¡± Of course it didn¡¯t take long to find a dancing partner. It was a stage 2¡­¡­. Bull. One thing I neglected to mention¡­¡­.. Animals evolve too¡­¡­ if you couldn¡¯t tell by the wolf we fought. I wonder if there are any killer bunnies? Technically this bull is not an abhorred, but since it¡¯s aggressive and you can eat its core¡­¡­. It doesn¡¯t really matter. I left my companions behind to get closer with the beast. Scott and Torri took up positions close by in case I needed backup. Of course the first thing the bull did was charge at me. I rolled to the side of it narrowly dodging its horns. When I stood up I pulled out 2 blades¡­¡­. A karambit in the right, and a kukri in the left, complements of Scott¡­¡­.. Seriously, how many knives does he carry on him? The bull spun around. (Noah) ¡°Well¡­. Hello to you too.¡± Now that it finished its greeting, it started to scrape its hove along the ground; its eagerness in charging creeping along its face¡­¡­.. Suddenly¡­. It spewed fire from its nostrils¡­.. the flame catching onto its own fur¡­¡­. Now it¡¯s a flaming bull. (Noah) ¡°You have got to be kidding me¡± It came charging at me¡­.. I again rolled to the side¡­.. Failing to escape the tenacity of the heat. My patchwork shirt, though it protected me, is now gone. (Noah) ¡°I am so¡­.. lucky¡± Seriously if it was the flames and not just the heat that touched me¡­¡­. I don¡¯t even want to think about it. The bull quickly turned around and begun to charge at me again¡­¡­ this time I dodged perfectly. The bull was furious that it couldn¡¯t hit me¡­.. it spun around, threw back its head¡­¡­. It started sucking in air at an enormous rate¡­.. The flames on its body were also consumed by its breath¡­¡­ a sense of danger welled up in me¡­.. I knew what would probably come next¡­¡­ (Noah) ¡°Oh shit¡± Fighting the urge to run away, I launched myself at the oversized bull. As I was approaching, it threw its head forth¡­¡­ and a jet of flames launched at least thirty feet in front of it¡­¡­. However I had already rolled to the side of the bull¡­. Just before the river of fire could consume me. As I was rolling past the bull¡­.. I swung with my kukri through one of its legs severing it at the joint¡­.. as I completed my motion by standing up¡­¡­. I rode the edge of my karambit along the side of its back leg muscle¡­¡­..causing it to fall to one side. The bull struggled uselessly to get back up. Its two right legs were not in a good state¡­¡­ I quickly brought my blade upon its neck silencing it once and for all. Stinging sensations spread across my whole body. My body, which was now red, did not suffer anything worse than what sunburn would give¡­.. Nonetheless¡­.. This isn¡¯t easy without my power¡­¡­. After collecting myself and resting for a few moments, I made my way over to the corpse¡­¡­ *thwack* *thwack* *thwack* The familiar sound echoed into the surroundings¡­ I dug out the core from its head and hungrily eyed it¡­.. I wiped it down and threw it into my mouth¡­¡­ I didn¡¯t get the usual sensation of my core filling up¡­.. Instead I felt a soothing sensation wrap around my head¡­¡­ (Noah) ¡°This¡­¡­?¡± Another instinctual feeling suddenly sprang forth and I decided to try and use my power again¡­¡­. I pulled up the grid lines¡­¡­. No pain¡­¡­. Granted the lines were a bit fuzzy¡­. But I could see them¡­¡­ its back¡­.. (Noah) ¡°Gaah¡­..¡± I tried to distort the grid like I¡¯ve done in the past¡­¡­.. And a wave of intense pain rushed forth from my head¡­¡­. But I feel better than ever. I found a way to restore my core. (Scott) ¡°What¡¯s wrong Noah?¡± (Noah) ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s just¡­¡­ my powers are starting to come back¡± (torri) ¡°was it that core?¡± (Noah) ¡±¡­. Yes it was¡± ¡°I also feel like I¡¯m on the verge of evolving¡± I noticed that my body was no longer in pain¡­.. it was back to its original color¡­¡­ (Torri) ¡°Noah¡­.. Quit fooling around we¡¯re going to go hunt some more.¡± ¡°we need you back in tip top sh¡­¡­ ¡° (Scott) ¡°hey guys¡­¡­ what¡¯s that?¡± just as we were about to set out¡­¡­¡­ Scott asked us a question while pointing off into the distance. When Torri and I turned to look at what caught his eye¡­¡­ our mouths dropped. We saw a dust cloud on the horizon¡­¡­. Getting bigger and bigger¡­¡­¡­ as it got closer and closer¡­¡­¡­. chapter 7: the harvesters appear (Scott) ¡°hey guys¡­¡­ what¡¯s that?¡± Just as we were about to set out¡­¡­¡­ Scott asked us a question while pointing off into the distance. When Torri and I turned to look at what caught his eye¡­¡­ our mouths dropped. We saw a dust cloud on the horizon¡­¡­. Getting bigger and bigger¡­¡­¡­ as it got closer and closer¡­¡­¡­. As the cloud of dust drifted in from the horizon, what was causing it became clear¡­¡­ A giant steel cow plow attached to a mack truck carrying a trailer on its hitch¡­¡­. The closer the monster rig got, the more detail we noticed¡­¡­.. The rig is a lot bigger than what a normal tractor trailer would look like¡­¡­ the iron beast was an array of rustic colors due to the different metal paneling used in making what appears to be armor plating, it looks like Frankenstein¡¯s patchwork monster¡­¡­. Spikes protruding from every angle¡­¡­.. gun barrels lining the top¡­¡­ pipes sticking out of the side¡­¡­.. It was ready for war. The rig was heading towards the city on a dirt road a couple of hundred yards away, parallel to us¡­.. Behind the truck are more ¡°creations¡± creating a Congo line of vehicular monstrosities. ¡­¡­¡­. It was a convoy of freaks. A mack truck war machine¡­.. an r.v., a school bus and a garbage truck from hell¡­¡­. Escorted by 2 suvs and a pickup truck. The r.v. had a front loader¡­¡­.. metal paneling covering the sides¡­¡­. And an iron crane claw in the back. The bus had metal bars covering the windows¡­¡­.. iron paneling also covering the sides¡­¡­ and what looks to be gun barrels protruding out of the few windows not covered in bars. And the garbage truck was the scariest of all¡­¡­¡­ the metal covering it made it look like a moving fortress¡­¡­.. an iron wall set on the front of the truck¡­¡­. Turrets protruding from the sides¡­. Spikes and pipes coming from underneath the monster¡­¡­¡­. And the worst of all¡­¡­¡­.. a tank on top of the damn thing almost like a halftrack just not on tracks. The convoy was passing by, readily heading towards the city¡­¡­¡­ One of the escort vehicles¡­¡­.. a hummer, banked left, breaking off from the group and heading straight towards us. There was what looked to be a 50 Cal mounted atop the suv¡­¡­.. If they really wanted to kill us they probably would have opened fire already¡­¡­¡­.. Thank god they didn¡¯t, because the only way we could live through a barrage of 50 cals was if I used my powers¡­¡­¡­ which I currently can¡¯t use. The hummer quickly pulled up in front of us¡­¡­. Its headlights staring directly at us¡­¡­.like a creature eyeing its prey¡­¡­¡­ the three of us tensed up¡­¡­¡­. The doors of the vehicle opened, and out stepped a man and a woman. Both the man and the woman seemed to be in their thirties or forties. The woman was of small stature and had short blond hair. The man, who was approaching us, was tall and of average build with black hair that¡¯s cut too tight and a confident grin plastered upon his face. (???man) ¡°hello!¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. (Scott) ¡°uh¡­..hi.¡± (Allie) ¡°the names Allie¡­¡­ this is my partner Shawn.¡± (Shawn) ¡°we¡¯re the harvesting crew from omega. We¡¯re out on a gathering mission. ¡± (Scott) ¡°uh¡­¡­what¡¯s a harvesting crew? And what¡¯s omega?¡± (Shawn) ¡°what rock did you crawl out from?¡± ¡°Omega is not a what, it¡¯s a where. it¡¯s a community of survivors. ¡± Honestly I¡¯m not surprised that Scott doesn¡¯t know what any of that is¡­¡­. Hmmm omega huh? Its probably a ¡°survivor city¡±. Never heard of it. It either was absorbed or more likely destroyed later on. In my past life¡­.. after the first couple of years¡­ when I was still trapped in tango company, there was talk of these ¡°survivor cities.¡± They are basically created when a couple of large groups of survivors band together and create entire communities¡­. Although¡­.. it¡¯s not even past the first year¡­.. this ¡°omega¡± he¡¯s talking about is probably more like a slightly bigger version of what we have going on at the hospital. One of two things happened to a survivor city: they either got big and powerful¡­¡­ or they disappeared; either absorbed by a larger city, or destroyed/abandoned. The reason these cities got powerful, was because of the harvesting groups¡­¡­. They would go out and ¡°farm¡± abhorred for their crystals. The crystals gathered by the ¡°harvesters¡± would be used as currency in these cities. People would receive the crystals in return for labor or resources. People would use these crystals to buy necessities, and of course to evolve. This led to the weakest person being a level 4¡­.well not including me anyway. This of course doesn¡¯t happen until much later. The harvesting also led to a horrifying discovery¡­¡­ abhorred can reproduce. Even when the abhorred were hunted, their numbers only increased. Furthermore stage ones were still the most common group you could find. To be honest though I don¡¯t know much about it though because it took us nine years to find out why their numbers were not decreasing¡­¡­ I learned of it only a few months before I died. There was a rumor that a harvester group had stumbled upon a breeding ground of abhorred. Back to the main topic. The survivor cities from my time were as big as the pre-apocalyptic cities, the amount of these cities however¡­¡­ in America¡­¡­ two¡­ and from what I had heard¡­¡­. Twelve more around the world. In fact the last thing I had heard was that Haven obtained¡­¡­. (Scott) ¡°NOAH!¡± (Noah) ¡°w-what?¡± (Scott) ¡°Two strangers suddenly appear and they have really big fucking guns and your first thought is to tune them out? What am I going to do with you?¡± ¡°He asked if we wanted to come with them and we were just discussing what we are going to do. Considering you are our ticket back home we thought your input might have some value.¡± To be honest it would be better to not go with them since I don¡¯t know what happens to their city or even when it happens. However considering the fact that my powers have yet to return¡­¡­. going with them seems to be the best choice for safety. (Noah) ¡°To be honest I think we should go along with them.¡± (Scott) ¡°are we really going to trust people that we just met? i mean they are very suspicious. How did they even get such monstrous vehicles?¡± I momentarily make a quick look over at the daring duo that approached us. We were currently talking in whispers with them staring on, it was a very awkward situation. To be honest my past has taught me you can¡¯t trust anyone in the apocalypse, even those you thought you knew. Hell the only reason I trust Scott is because I know he¡¯s loyal; he¡¯s one of the ones that gave their lives up in sacrifice when tango company raided the hospital. that all would normally be true, however¡­¡­¡­. (Noah) ¡°I think we can trust them a little¡­.. if they truly wanted something from us, they wouldn¡¯t have to give us a choice. Just like you said, they have really big fucking guns.¡± ¡°of course we shouldn¡¯t trust them fully, but with my powers unusable for the moment, and all on our own ¡­¡­ they are probably the safest bet.¡± (Torri) ¡°I agree. We¡¯ve been lucky so far but we might run into¡­.¡± (Shawn) ¡°If you guys are coming then get in the truck we got places to be.¡± (Allie) ¡°Shawn you don¡¯t have to be so abrasive to everyone.¡± (Shawn) ¡°They are taking too long; we¡¯re falling behind the rest of the group.¡± (Noah) ¡°We¡¯ll go.¡± (Shawn) ¡°Then get in.¡±