An Old Wives’ Tale

It didn’t take much for the world to end. Everyone always expected some cataclysmic event would bring about our doom. An incurable virus, some earth shattering natural disaster or even an alien invasion. There had to be some kind of grand finale to this shit show right? Nope, it was much more simple than that.

Turns out all you needed to throw the world back into the dark ages was a batch of global economic crisis, a handful of proxy wars and a dash of food shortages for good measure. Yes, the government tried their best to ease the growing tension but the levee had to break at some point. It was no surprise when the riots started. What really threw everyone for a loop is when the riots never ended. It was incredible how easily we could turn on one another without the slightest bit of remorse. How easily the laws of man succumb to human nature.

It’s a new world now. A cruel, unforgiving world where only the cunning and barbaric can hope to survive. Many stories have come out of this lawless land shared but none could ever compare to that of Bonnie the Butcher.

There isn’t a person this side of the Western Hemisphere who hasn’t heard of Bonnie. Said to be more demon than human. Her origins have never been clear. Some say she was a woman scorned by her past lover. Others say she was a housewife who lost her family when society collapsed. It wasn’t who she was that made her famous but what she became.

Everywhere The Butcher went was left devastated. Bandit camps turned to cinder. Caravans of militia ravaged. Extremist cults extinguished. At first it seemed like us common folk finally had a beacon of hope. That is until we got word of entire towns being massacred. Makeshift hospitals were obliterated. Hundreds of corpses strung up from high places as some kind of sick display of power. It didn’t matter who you were. Man, woman, child they all suffered the same fate.

How pray tell, did we know it was The Butcher? Her calling card of course. After eradicating any and all in her path she would always leave the same note behind.

“To whomever it may concern, I am in search of something precious of mine. (Picture Below) If you are fortunate enough to stumble across said item it'd behoove you to keep it safe. When I find you, and I do mean when, simply display what is mine in your hand. In doing so you will be spared. You have my word -Sincerely, Bonnie”

The bottom of the note was always the same. A drawing of a heart shaped locket. To think of all the mayhem, all the pain she’s caused over some necklace. How one person could be so evil I’ll never know.

As malevolent a force she was, she still bled. It took over 1,000 brave men and women to take a stand against her. I'd love to tell you all that we hunted her down like a dog but that's far from the truth. We tracked her down to an old cave system in what used to be Kentucky. She must’ve known we were coming because the place was riddled with traps. Blood curdling screams echoed throughout the night as people fell to their deaths, rocks collapsed and calculated explosions were set off. Hours had passed when a party of 30 managed to corner her. She fought hysterically. Shooting, slashing, swinging at anything that moved in the darkness. Wasn’t until a young man by the name of Robert decided to make the ultimate sacrifice. Pulling the pin from his grenade he charged at Bonnie, bear hugging her until it went off. When all was said and done 451 of us remained. We emerged triumphant but haunted by the horrors we witnessed that night.

Ironic it took something like Bonnie to bring people together. To be able to bond in the presence of such evil is a feat all on its own. Although it’s not what it was before the world ended, we managed to start our own little makeshift society here. A community built from rubble and people looking for a sense of normalcy again. Now when you hear stories of The Butcher they’re told more along the lines of a cautionary tale. To serve as a warning of what this world could turn you into if you let it.

As far the heart shaped locket is concerned I don’t know if anyone ever found it. What I do know is you’d better pray for the poor bastard that does. She may be dead but I have a feeling she isn’t done looking for it just yet.