The open land provided no cover from the creatures prowling around the desicated world. Most of Sam's group were picked off long ago, leaving only him, Eliza, Saddie, Chris, and Sam's younger brother Nick. All they had to do was make it beyond this bare stretch of land and then they would be safe at the checkpoint. It would be at least a week's trip to make it. "We really gonna do this?" Saddie asked as they stood at the crest of a hill. "It's the only thing to do," Sam replied. And with that, they set off into the barren wasteland.

The first three days went by without a hitch. They walked all throughout the day and camped at night. At night, they would sit around and talk about The Before, when the world was whole and normal. Sam was getting ready to graduate high school while his brother Nick was finishing freshman year. Eliza dropped out of high school and was working in the mall at Hot Topic. Saddie and Chris were both working at one of the largest hospitals in the state, both as nurses. They told funny childhood stories and tales of family members. They would fall asleep remembering the good times that once were.

As the small group begins their journey once more the following morning, all was eerily still. Even with a wasteland, little mice would scurry in and out of the scrubby brush. However, today was silent. Not even the wind dared to blow. "I don't like this," Nick spoke, barely a whisper in fear of provoking some invisible evil. The others nodded their agreement. "Let's keep moving," Sam murmured.
They carried on for a couple hours, moving silently yet swiftly across the dusty landscape. All was calm. Almost too calm. "Maybe we should-" Eliza was cut off by an inhuman, ear-splitting shriek. They all whipped around. Slithering swiftly towards them was a nure-onna, a half snake half woman hybrid. "Scatter!" Sam commanded, pulling out a long bladed hunting knife. Everyone separated, pulling out weapons of their own. The creature didn't know who to lunge for first, darting it's eyes from one group member to another. Sam swiped at it as it went for Eliza, causing the creature to turn towards him. While it was distracted, Nick came up and slashed at it with a knife of his own. The nure-onna whipped it's scaley tail at him, knocking him to the ground. He got up immediately, poised to strike once more. "Keep it steady!" Chris shouted, "I can get a clean shot!" He pulled an arrow from the sheath on his back and aimed. He released and the arrow went flying straight to it's mark, the nure-onna's heart. The creature burst into dust, never more to rise.

The following day, they set out earlier. They were all on high alert even if all seemed well. There was no speaking, only listening. The wind began howling by mid-day, signaling that there was a storm coming. The storm held off the rest of the day, however, by nightfall, the storm was raging around them. They scrambled to get the tents up as the wind whipped them around.
They finally got settled. Nick and Sam in one tent and Saddie, Eliza, and Chris in the other. Everyone was fast asleep; Everyone besides Nick, that is. Sighing, he stood and exited the tent, the storm having calmed to a slight drizzle. He checked the water buckets, which were filled to the brim with rain water that would be purified in the morning. As he was covering each bucket, he heard a faint moaning coming from his left. He turned, knife at the ready. Nothing was there. 'Hallucination,' he thought, turning back around. He looked to the sky, spotting more clouds coming, lightning flaring from them ever so often. Suddenly he felt a rough hand clamp around his throat. He struggled, trying to get a slash in at his enemy. He was then lifted into the air and slammed hard onto the dusty earth. The breath was knocked from his lungs. Gasping for air, he looked up at the creature. It was a fury. It's mouth opened wide in not a moan, but a wail that mixed with the sound of the next storm that had just started.

Sam was awoken by a large crash of thunder. "Another storm," he sighed, turning over to his right to see if his brother was awake. He noticed immediately that he was gone. Sam was up in an instant and headed towards the other tent. Maybe Nick was in there talking to Chris.

While Nick was stunned, the fury wrapped a branch-like appendage around his ankle and began to drag him back to it's lair. Still gasping for breath, Nick tried, but couldn't, call for help. Suddenly it lifted him high into the air and threw him a good few feet. He got up and was ready to strike, but the fury was faster and whipped the knife out of his grasp. It swiped it's wicked claws and caught him. Blood immediately began soaking his shirt from the jagged wounds on his chest. He gasped at the pain. This was going to be tough.

Sam made it to the other tent, but he knew Nick was not there due to the lack of a lit lantern. "Eliza, Chris, Saddie. Get up, Nick's gone," he said, nudging them with his foot. They quickly got up. They began looking around, trying to find any clues that could lead to Nick's whereabouts. Rain began to trickle from the clouds above. Somewhere along the way, the thunder and lightning died out. "I can't find anything. The rain is making it impossible," Saddie said. "Keep looking," Chris said, "We can't stop." They searched all over the camp. "Let's expand the search. Look around and fan out," Sam said. After 20 minutes, Eliza calls them over. "His knife," she says, picking it up and examining it. Then they heard a scream.

In that distracted moment, the fury lunged again and threw him at least 10 feet away. "Not...fair...," it hissed, "You...not...trap...I...stuck...pain..." It struggled to speak. He was confused. Nick had never heard one speak before. It attacked once more, going for his face. He brought his arms up. The fury's sharp teeth sank into his arm, causing a scream to erupt from his throat. He managed to push it off, rolling away in the process. He got to his feet and looked around. There was nothing he could use as a weapon. He decided to try something. "Wait, please," he said, holding his hands up. It tilted it's head, but continued to advance. "I, um, I can help you... maybe," Nick spoke, "We can find a way to restore what once was." The fury stopped and looked at him with curiosity. "Help...make...human?" it questioned. He nodded. The hostility seemed to melt away, as did his strength. Nick collapsed on his hands and knees, the blood loss finally getting to him. The fury warily crept towards him. Just as it reached out to him there was a shout. "Nick!" Sam screamed, then there was an arrow flying at the creature. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the fury and pulled it down out of the arrow's path. It let out a screeching wail and turned. Another arrow whizzed past, then another. The fury dodged in a graceful dance. It began to advance on the others when a final arrow flew. It was going to hit it's mark. 'No,' Nick thought. He forced himself to crawl over to the creature and pull it out of the way. He hissed in pain as the arrow grazed his arm. The creature hissed at the others then grabbed Nick. It began to run, slowly gaining speed. Then, it leaped into the air and opened it's large wings. The last thing Nick saw was his brother and the rest of the group running after him before he blacked out.