Last Knight

He had been digging for what seemed like hours. The rest of the group had offered more than once to help, but he had to do this alone. For the entire trip he had been dreading coming back here. He told himself that he would never return to the ruins of his former home. Yet another vow he broke, yet another promise unkept. The goal of his quest had been unburied for several minutes now. He had yet to work up the courage to open the case at his feet. He knew what lay inside, the remains of past he thought had died. Just like everything else in this world it too had come back from the grave. With two spine chilling snaps he opened the latches and raised the lid. there on top of a neatly wrapped bundle lay the object of his greatest regret and failure. Still as polished as the day he gave it to her, lay the heart shaped locket. His whole body quaked as he reached for it. His eyes gushing with tears as he opened it and gazed at the faces of his family once more. All the pain of their loss, and the joy of their lives flooded his mind.

The moment he first met his love, the way her copper hair dance in the cool morning breeze flashed before him. How he had nearly been hit by a speeding drunk on their first date. The day she said yes to his proposal. When she told him that he was going to be a father. When he held her hair while she suffered with morning sickness. The day their daughter was born. Each one of her birthdays. The day the virus was discovered. The day they left the city. The last radio broadcast. The first time the encountered the infected. Hen their camp was attacked by raiders. When they made him watch as his family was killed. Sobbing heavily as his friends approached, he squeezed it tightly before placing it in his pocket.

He reassured his companions that he was fine and began unwrapping the bundle. Several minutes later the contents were fully revealed, a set of armor he had made before his world was shattered. Still as new as when he buried it in the case. Slowly he attached each piece as the tears began to subside. A few minutes later he was his old self again. Not the broken creature that had been wandering a dead world hope to join his family in death. But a strong warrior ready to face the demons of the world and send them back to hell screaming his name.

He was ready for the final leg of his journey to begin. He had tried to run from the past that broke him, now he will build him self anew from the pieces left behind. He had lost the family he had when he refused to fight, he would not let that happen to the family he found. So now he will wear his armor once more and face the darkness to protect what he has come to love. He swears one final vow as he shovels the dirt back over the case.

Never again will I let those I love suffer. Never again will I let this world beat me.

As he places his shovel back in the truck, he sees another vehicle heading his direction. On it is the symbol that haunts his nightmares, the sign of the raiders that burned his home. He grabs his weapon from the seat and marches out into the open, telling his friends to take cover and leave the raiders to him. With his weapon he draws a line in the dirt at his feet. He stands ready. His mind is at peace for the first time in years. As the first raider approaches he hears only two words before his life ends.

“Never again”.