What Has Come

Breathe, just breathe.....

The antique gas mask seemed to be permanently fixed to my face as I moved silently through the thick layer of smoke that never went away. Blackened trees of towering heights stretched dead, gnarled limbs to the always gray sky, too stubborn to completely give up. The trees in this district reminded me so much of what was left of the human race.

The endless breeze shifted, stirring the ever present layer of smoke, and I lifted my gaze to the sky in hopes that I could catch a glimpse of the sun even though it hasn't been seen in these parts since the end of The Great War, where mankind and the Evolved Humans, also known as EvoH's, nearly destroyed the entire world.

"Emma, get a move on!"

The sound of Group Leader's gruff voice in the comms unit had my body in motion. Out of the smoke came the silhouette's of Group Leader and two other people appearing directly in front of me, all three of them impatiently motioning for me to continue our trek to find anything worth salvaging and bring it back to base. Me personally, I didn't think there was anything worth saving in this forsaken part of the country but I couldn't disobey a direct order even if I didn't agree with it.

Quickly, we moved across the barren land, weaving in between the blackened trees on our search for anything that could be useful for our survival. The longbow that I kept at the ready was a security blanket in my hands but it did nothing to fully expel the anxiety that coursed through my body. I absolutely loathed leaving the compound, wanting nothing more to do with the outside world once it had taken the only being on this earth that had kept me going, but I was the only person in the compound that could keep the Recovery team alive.

Soon, the layer of smoke started to dissipate to reveal the dead earth scarred from the Great War. Buildings that had once stood proud, much like the trees in the forest that we had just left, now were crumbling piles of wood, concrete, and iron. We picked our way around the spilled guts of what use to be the town's postal office and weaved in between the husks of several automobiles with my ever vigilant gaze darting around my surroundings, trying to spot any inconsistencies that would hint towards any danger, but there was none. This town was just as dead as the forest.

"There has to be something here." Group Leader said into the comms. "Emma, can you sense anything?"

I let out a tired sigh. "No. This place is dead, just like the rest of the world."

"We don't need your melodrama today, Emma." Group Leader sneered and motioned for the other two in the group to split in each direction. "We're splitting up and we are not leaving until we find something. That includes you, Emma."

I rolled my eyes and lifted my middle finger towards the Group Leader as he turned to resume the search, completely missing my vulgar response.

Now completely alone, I wandered around the broken street with my mind not really on the mission we had been given. I relaxed my arm and lowered the drawstring of my longbow until it was no longer taut and removed the arrow. I slipped the arrow back into the quiver on my hip before I reached up with hands covered in fingerless gloves to unclasp the gas mask that covered my face and pulled it off in relief. The smoke here wasn't as thick as it was in the forest and the air was just a little easier to breathe and I took in a lungful, elated at no longer wearing that constricting headgear.

The wind shifted my pale blonde bangs into my eyes and I swatted at them in an annoyed gesture as my feet carried towards the town square. Blackened and overturned vehicles littered the street and broken glass crunched underneath my boots as I moved around what use to be the town's courthouse until I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw before me.

A woman stood nailed to a wooden post with her arms stretched above her head that hung limply before her, causing her dirty tangled hair to cover her face. She wore no clothing, allowing me to see multiple wounds that marred her chest, stomach, and thighs that still oozed blood. My breathing is shallow and my heart beat heavily within my chest as I hesitantly approached the woman until I was standing directly in front of her. Up close, I could see that the wounds were deep and that she wore only a silver heart-shaped locket that dangled just below her chin. Without even thinking, I slowly reached up and fingered the locket just as a ragged breath escaped the woman's throat.

"Shit!" I swore as I stumbled back, surprised that the woman was still alive.

Another ragged breath left the woman's mouth as she weakly lifted up her head to fix her dying brown eyes on me. "Leave."

"What?" I frowned.

"Rea.... pers." The woman was able to force out before her head collapsed once again, making my blood run cold.

My instincts took over and I swiftly moved back to the spot where we had split ways. "Group Leader! We need to leave, now!"

"What?!" Came Group Leader's agitated response. "Why?!"

"Reapers!"

A couple vulgar words sounded from Group Leaders comms just as he appeared out of a crumbling building three yards ahead of where I stood.

"Nick! James! Report back to my location!" Group Leader commanded as he reached my tense figure. "How do you know there are Reapers and where the hell is your mask?!"

"That's not important!" I snapped in frustration. "Right now you, Nate, and James are in danger. Reapers could be hiding in any of these buildings."

"How do you know that there are Reapers?" Group Leader repeated through clenched teeth.

"They left a nice little marker in the town square." I answered and pulled an arrow from my quiver. "You and the rest of this little group need to leave."

"We might be a little too late on that." Group Leader said and turned his attention to his comms. "Nick! James!"

No response came over the comms and a rock dropped down into the pit of my stomach. Group Leader must have felt the same as his hand fell from his ear and he turned back to me. But before he could utter another word, a pained gasp escaped his lips.

For a moment everything felt like it was in slow motion as Group Leaders body crumbled to the pavement before me with an arrow protruding from his back. I stared at his now prone form with a wide gaze just as I felt a slight change in the air around me. My instincts took control and I dropped down to my knees just as an arrow whizzed past where my head had previously been.

"Fuck." I swore as I quickly rolled to a nearby rotting vehicle for cover just as another arrow flew by.

Notching my arrow to the string, I readied my bow in my hand and took in a deep breath as I honed my senses to a razor sharp focus. Everything came into a fine clarity; my sight became as sharp as a hawks, my touch became sensitive to the soft wood of my bow, my smell picked up the rotting odor of the world around me, and my hearing became as acute as a bats.

"Come out, come out wherever you are."

I rolled my eyes at the cocky attitude and released that breath I had been holding. Swiftly, I was back on my feet as I pulled back the string and without even having to think, I let the arrow fly.

The Reaper didn't have any time to react before my arrow was embedded into his chest, knocking him right onto his back. As soon as that happened, a volley of arrows was released in my direction and I quickly darted back to my cover to wait out the wave, smiling to myself at their lack of intelligence.

"Morons." I muttered just as the wave was over.

I gently placed my longbow onto the pavement before me and rotated my shoulders until I heard and felt that satisfying pop. Arrows snapped underneath my boots as I calmly moved from the rotting vehicle. Slowly, I removed the dark brown trench coat and let it flutter to the ground to reveal my scarred arms and the two short swords strapped to my back.

It didn't take long for the rest of the Reapers to converge on my location. Twelve men to my one and I knew for a fact that they were thinking that this was going to be an easy win.

"You killed one of my men." One of the Reapers stepped forward, a bear of a man with a scraggly beard and sharp hazel eyes, indicating that he was the leader.

"You need better men."

He let out a deep chuckle and crossed his arms. "Just you against all of us. You don't stand a chance, girlie."

"Why don't you find out?"

Again, the leader of the Reapers let out another chuckle just before he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers.

All at once his men converged from my front and sides, taking there sweet time as they all grinned and sneered.

Calmly, I pulled my short swords from their sheaths and rotated them in my hands, finding comfort in the familiar feeling that they brought. It has been such a long time since I have held these swords and I felt myself enjoying them just as the first man reached me.

I was a blur as I dodged his outstretched hand and shoved one of my short swords straight into his gut, jerking it from side to side, quickly disemboweling him. His intestines unfolded from within his stomach and unraveled onto the cracked pavement as his blood coated my hands and I pulled my sword from within him in a span of a second and moved onto the next man before he could even collapse to the ground.

Now sensing that I was a threat, they all moved more quickly as I danced around them; carving into them with the precision of a surgeon. Blood rained down from all directions as bodies began to litter the ground and I continued to move as swiftly as a speeding bullet until the only one left standing was the leader of the Reapers.

"Still thinking that I don't stand a chance?" I questioned.

Suddenly, the brute of a man charged forward with a battle cry and I braced myself, lifting up my short swords in an X formation just as he brought his machete down. He struggled against my hold, his strength nowhere near my own, gritting his yellow teeth as he tried to force me down. I just held it there, enjoying this moment where he slowly realized that I was much stronger than he was, before I decided to finally end this.

I pushed up on his machete causing him to stumble backwards on unsteady feet and watched as he fell to one knee. Using that, I darted forward and used his bent knee to launch myself in the air and plunged my short swords straight into the sides of his neck.

I pulled my swords free from the deceased Reaper and didn't even bother to watch his body fall down to the pavement as my feet carried myself back to the town square where I had found the woman that was no longer alive. I stared at her emaciated body before I slowly reached out and pulled the heart-shaped locket from around her neck. Inside rested a picture of a handsome man with salt and pepper hair and a charming smile with in inscription carved into the silver on the opposite side:

What has come is only one step closer to finding peace.

If only that were true....