{Apocalypse AU}

《Trigger Warning》

  Year: 3114
  Date: 15 May
  
     The world was in catastrophe, millions had died to an incurable  disease. The outbreak was caused by an exposure of deadly chemicals and nuclear energy that fried the brain, making those who were exposed, go completely insane. This experiment was a failure, the kill zone project was too unstable, but it had to be done, for the world was changing, countries were blood thirsty for war, the society rebelled against the government until it was overthrown by The C.O.-The Chaos Order-Which were the survivors who made it through the nuclear holocaust.

      The climate change was also triggered by the toxins, Antarctica became a desert as the Sahara became capped with snow. The heavens no longer cried water, but acid that ate flesh. Those who were lucky enough to survive abandoned hope and resorted to savagery, kill or be killed. The world had changed, nothing was going to ----.

        The rushed writing was blotched with dried crimson soaked within the paper, making it destitute. The worn down journal had definetly had seen better days, the worn down edges, the burned leather on the cover left charcoal stained fingers.

    "Did you find anything yet?"

    A soft muffled voice called from the other side of the small concrete room, papers were strewn all over the floor, cabinets fallen over to the side. Shards of glass, a stench of rot and mildew was nearly suffocating even with a gas mask on.

       "Just a journal... not really helpful though."

         I set the journal back down on a stainless-steel table, I walked over to where my wife was, she was searching through aged documents that could lead to some type of clue, a cure.

        I glanced over at her while she was reading through some papers. She wore a gas mask and a slightly tattered cloak. She had a combat knife hidden in one of her brown lace up boots, I had given it to her as an anniversary gift so she could defend herself if anything happened to me. Of course nothing bad had happened since we always stick together, no matter what, we've had a few close calls but nonetheless we survived.

        "Keith..."

     She snapped me out of my daze, her head now turned to me, a few papers in her hand.

      "These documents show that they tested this project on living people. Most of them being orphan children and infants. What kind of monster could do this?"

         She clutched the paper so hard her knuckles were pale, her arms shook ever so slightly. I set my hand on her shoulder as an attempt to sooth her, her grip had ceased around the now crinkled paper. I gazed at her for a brief moment before she dropped the documents and picking up her messenger bag, a rapid beeping was heard from it. She pulled out a small metallic box with a built in radioactive detector, the little red needle was twitching around the green area of the meter.

       "Looks like this area is clear of the toxins." I pulled off the mask and sucked in some oxygen, the air in the musty room was fresh. She clicked a few buttons before shoving it in one of the pockets if her cloak. She took off her mask and let her beautiful face free from the containment of the horrid mask. Her gleaming {E/C} eyes, her flawless {S/T} skin, and her {Hair Texture} {H/C} hair, was definetly something I could study all day, she was absolutely breathtaking in this gruesome world.

"God you're so beautiful, __________."

      I watched her orbs glint with mischief, she lifted her hand and flicked a few strands of her hair over her shoulder.

"I know."

       She finished with a smirk and then a short giggle, I shook my head and smiled at her quirkiness. No matter what situation, she always knew how to brighten things up, one of the many reasons why I loved her.

        "I think we should get a move on with this research center, it's gonna get dark soon and someone might find us here." _________ suggested and I nodded in agreement, it'd be nice not to cross paths with some of the diseased or some of the C.O. members.

        Although the C.O. was basically the government in whatever is left in this country, they're are gang-like groups who go around in large masses, looking for survivors to take to their territory to 'welcome them'. Instead they perform human experiments to find a cure. I know this because I had saved __________, I used to be one of the members until I found out the dark truth. They didn't know whether to use her as a human guinea pig or to use her as a 'comfort object'. So I planned our escape and been running for 5 years, searching for answers. Of course there were other large groups than the Chaos Order, but they weren't as brutal.

        We walked through the empty halls, our breaths were slow and muffled by the gas masks.

      "It's already 6:39, we need to hurry..." _________ checked her digital watch, we started at a slow jogging pace, the sunset made the cracked, concrete walls appear a tangerine hue. The sound of our boots hitting the floor and our soft huffs bounced off the walls and echoed. We had to get back before it was too dark out.

         After a few turns of the halls and climbing down the stairs, we made it outside of the building.

      "Well there wasn't anything useful, just the same thing..." I muttered while we continued to run toward the fence.

      "We could check more tomorrow alright? Don't lose hope, we still have a chance." I hoisted her over the fence, her voice muffled as she talked.

      It was my turn to climb over the fence to be with my wife on the other side. The sun was almost completely set, the skies had a nice pastel pallet mixed in with the ebony night and the rare appearance of the stars.

       "Let's Go."

▪▪▪

       We walked down the abandoned streets of what used to be a huge lively city, not a single living person was in sight, weeds and bushes had broken through the asphalt, paper and trash fluttered about, old rusted cars, and flickering lampposts. The buildings were fallen apart and replaced with mounds of debris. I held _________'s hand as we walked on the sidewalk together.

         Sounds of broken sirens then pierced through the air, roared across the dark skies. A high pitched scream of a woman raked through my skin and made me freeze to scan the area, loud pleas and gurgles were heard before it went silent.

      "Keith, do you think it's them?" _________ asked while her grip on my hand tensed along with her body.

      "We need to find a place to stay over night, I don't think we'll make it to the safe house." I whispered and started to jog off, my wife following shortly. We scanned the area as sounds of motors and maniac laughter was getting louder. We stopped beside a small, trashed diner and decided it'd be best to hide in there.

          "I think this should be safe for a night." I pried the door open using all my strength, we both slipped in before pushing it closed. _________ walked around the counter of the place, even though the outside was trashed, the inside was pretty decent despite the slight stench, broken tables here and there, and broken glass by the barricaded windows. She looted around for some canned goods or whatever tools would be useful as I scouted for whoever was possibly out there.

      A half an hour had passed and we just hung around, __________ was opening and closing cabinets, finding some bandages and a first aid kit. A few cans of vegetables and beans, and a lantern. She turned it on and it illuminated brightly, lighting up most of the room despite the shadows still making it dark.

         "Hey Keith, check this out. I found wine that hasn't been opened. You think it aged good?" Her voice was heard from the other side of the room despite how soft it was, I looked over at her and she was holding the glass bottle in her hand.

        "Most likely, maybe we could have a toast when we get back to the safe house. Have some time alone after a busy day." He smiled even though she wouldn't have seen it behind the mask.

        "...Yeah..." She slid her messenger bag from beside her to carefully put the bottle inside. An explosion was heard from outside, shaking the building and making some dust fall from the ceiling.

       I quickly turned my head and checked through the little hole in the door, seeing that there was a blazing fire in the middle of the street, surrounded by a group of people wearing masks, laughing as they threw what looked like to be backpacks?

        "Keith, what is it?" _________ rushed to my side, panic tinged in her voice. "It's the Chaos order." I answered, I knew it was them from the symbol that was spray painted red on their vehicles that were parked a few feet away from us.

       I moved away so __________ could get a look, she quickly pulled away as a woman's scream could be heard. "They're about to throw her in the fire!" She grabbed my arm and pointed at the door. "We have to save her." __________ reached for her holster and went to pull out her revolver. "__________ no, there's twenty of them and only two of us. I can't risk losing you." I whispered and she shook her head.

     "Keith plea-"

      "Hey I think I heard some voices from in there!"

      "Let's go check it out then."

        My blood ran cold, I felt my heart drop to my stomach, the next thing I knew I grabbed _________ by the wrist and dragged her behind the counter, I found a little compartment to hide her in but only one person would fit. The door was screeching and groaning as the men behind it struggled to push it open. I pushed _________ inside despite her protests, she stayed quiet once I closed it and saying a quick "Don't worry."

       I dashed to another door and opened it, it was a kitchen, I ran towards  two rusty lockers across the room and closed myself inside, I tried calming my rapid beating heart and breathing so I wouldn't give myself away. The door of the kitchen swung open and two men, one bulky tall one and a lanky shorter one, walked in. The taller one held a baseball bat while the other one held a knife, they walked in different directions, looking around. I couldn't see their faces because of their beat up hazmat helmets.

    "Are you sure you heard voices? Maybe you were just hallucinating." The shorter one spoke while he checked in one of the cabinets.

       "No, I heard 'em, they were real." The taller one retaliated, he neared the lockers and opened the one beside mine, I held my breath and reached for my knife, clutching it in a shakey hand. My ear drums pounded in my ears, beads of sweat rolled down my temple as he shut the locker closed, I saw him pause in front of mine. I was ready to jump out and fight, sneak out, and go back to the safe house with __________, enjoy that wine that she had found, and not have a care in the world.

       The locker swung open.

            I pushed myself out and onto the man, raising my knife over me. I grunted and let my arm come down towards the guys neck until something grabbed my arm, I looked back and saw the skinny guy pointing his knife at me. I twisted my upper body, kicking the taller guy towards the lockers, sending him crashing into it. Using the momentum to twist the man's arm, dislocating it as many popping noises mixed with his wailing was perceived.

      I pushed him away and he stumbled off, holding his arm, I was blindsided by a fist coming toward me, I dodged just in time but another blow was made towards my abdomen, which I wasn't able to block in time. I gasped for air and my feet were swiped from under me, I felt my head make contact with a hard surface. I fought against the urge to go unconcious, I tried to push myself up, but I was shoved back down. Then my mask was being lifted off my face, I sucked in a breath and glared up at the man.

       "Keith?" He whispered in surprise before taking a step back. I raised a brow, still holding my breath from toxin exposure.

     
        I didn't recognize the voice but he seemed to know me, maybe I knew him from when I was a member of the C.O. he looked over at the shorter man who was faced away, holding his arm. He quickly put the mask back on me and I gasped for air.

       "Who are y-"

     I was interuppted by a blood curdling scream that resounded from outside the kitchen.

      "KEITH! HELP! LET GO OF ME!"

      I felt my blood boil and the feeling of fear was long gone, they had found _________, now they were probably going to do terrible things to her. I struggled to get up but I was pushed down again.

      "Shh stay down, if they find you, they're gonna kill you." The man hushed me but I still struggled against him, panic and anger blinding me.

       "Let go of me, they're gonna kill her if I don't do something!" I managed to push him off and stumble onto my feet until I was pulled down again, her screams and pleas only making me feel helpless.

     "KEITH! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME! KEITH!"

      I could only imagine her fear stricken face, the tears that rushed down her cheeks, her desperate cries. The man reached over to pick up the baseball bat he dropped and looked towards me.

      "I'm sorry Keith it's for the greater good, I promise nothing bad will happen to her, not on my watch."

    He swung the bat and I went limp, an immense pain followed by darkness.