1 The short story of val

Dust covered the worn road, back then this would've been considered a busy road used by all to get to the nearest city, but for me i'm a wanderer traveling to get back to my base. All around was barren the only trees that stood anymore, never produced leaves, and were most likely radioactive. This day had been windy causing dust storms wherever I went, the radio had said visibility wasn't going to be good but I had to get out of that base. I had walked this road hundreds of times but something felt off this time. I felt eyes watching me, it wasn't night yet so it was probably the night hounds. Night hounds were blood hungry mutants taking the form of dogs, only instead of fur its steel like hide. I could feel the cold steel against my legs and arms where knives stayed hidden underneath my clothes, the wind blew through my short cut hair. I shivered at its presence.

Footsteps crunched on the rocks behind me. My hand drifted to the release on the daggers. I felt the contact on my shoulder before i realized i was falling, i hit the ground dust flying into a cloud around me. I felt a hand around my throat as I slid my dagger out of its hidden shealth. The attacker scuffled to get me under control as I squirmed to get free, closing my eyes I recalled the fighting techniques I was taught by my faction, brothers, and father. My eyes shot open as I sliced my attacker across the chest, the dagger hitting cloth and flesh. Blood dripped onto me as I kicked the man off of me and ran. I could hear the cackles behind me as I reached my motorcycle, as old as it was it got me away before the attacker ended my life or theirs.

*****

Dust kicked up behind the bike, a bandana covering my face and goggles over my eyes, I rode until my bike sputtered out of gas. As the bike died I walked it towards the looming gates of the faction's base. The gates were welded pieces of scrap metal with guards posted above it. As I approached the gate the sound of guards going to attention rang out and guns were aimed at me. I sighed and waited for the boss to come meet me, or for the guards to confiscate my things again.

Just as I guessed four guardsmen dressed in camo pants and brown shirts came to greet me, I was patted down. All my weapons were taken from me and my bike was wheeled away into containment. The guards snickered around me; they roughly cuffed my hands behind my back and they shoved me towards the opened gates. Once inside the base I saw what greeted me almost everyday. Men and women being beaten in the courtyard, soldiers and thugs banded together to get supplies to the off site camps, and one skinny white man oversaw it all. Scars covered this man's body and so did tattoos, his hair was a deep brown and dirt was everywhere on him. The guards shoved me onto the ground as the overseer looked down from where he was standing on a brown looking bus, its windows blown in and all tires gone, graffiti covered its sides.

The man jumped off of the bus and two soldiers immediately ran to catch him. This was Anarchy. A base full of thugs who think they can rule the world, after the bombs many groups formed and two rose to be the most known. Anarchy and The CDF, they grew to the top of the food chain, having the most soldiers and the most supplies to keep people alive. The people who worked for Anarchy are usually never seen outside of their camps or are seen dead on site.

"Val! What a wonderful surprise seeing you here!" the overseer sauntered over to me. I sighed in disgust and in response a guard used his foot onto her head causing her face to smash farther into the dirt and grime of Anarchy's courtyard. As the man approached, without a word I looked up and spat at the overseers feet. The man looked at me, his face disgusted. In a split second his foot came at my head and I felt a searing pain crack through my skull and it traveled down my spine. I remember my screams being full of agony as this man kicked my head over and over again each time a little harder. As the guards dismissed themselves, the overseer grabbed my arms tightly, and dragged me into the building and into an office out of sight from the soldiers working outside.

The buildings in anarchy are worse than the people themselves. They were roughly built with scrap metal and wood and their doors were just two by fours. The overseers office however is in the main building that anarchy was built around, it was stone and metal and glass, a building from before the bombs. His office was sparsely decorated, his people were practically slaves if they worked in this building. The 'slaves' ran around cleaning and serving him food as he dropped my arms and sat down in a leather office chair.

My face remained unchanged as I stared ahead at the overseer, not wanting to even begin looking for the one person that mattered in this place. I spat on the ground trying to get dirt out of my mouth before I dared to speak up. "What do you want from me?" I faced him, my eyes challenging like a feral dog's. I was scared on the inside, I had done nothing wrong today, however that truly didn't matter. The overseer always had reasons to get me beat or on a duty that my ranking forbade. His face lit up in hideous laughter at my comment, he settled down quite quickly and gave me a look that showed he didn't give a crap about whatever I said.

"Val, when you left this morning, Hanna came running in saying that you disappeared from her in the middle of battle practice. And while she is the youngest of us here…" he gave a pause waiting for a reaction from me. My eyes ended up showing my fear.

"Hanna is your responsibility, Val. Not mine. That means that while I am her boss, I do not have to care for her. You are supposed to have her trained as a killer by now, you'll like to learn i had her tested today"

I opened my mouth to argue, my face covered in my anger that he would go behind my back as to test the only person that mattered to me. His tests were extremely painful to go through, now i know why he won't let me go. This man shushed me trying to continue, I argued my points quickly.

"Hanna is not just some object that you can train and test and abuse. She is a kid, she deserves to have a childhood full of memories that don't become ptsd in the future! And ya she's My responsibility because you can't be trusted around her!" I quickly snapped the bindings that kept my hands cuffed behind my back. I crumbled the bindings up and threw them at him, they flew onto his desk and i didnt get the satisfaction of seeing his reaction as I stormed out of the office.

The door slammed behind me and I was back outside again. The air wasn't as dusty in this small courtyard that was before mine and Hannas room. This courtyard had bright green grass that was watered every night by the last of everyones water rations for the day. A strong tall oak tree grew in the center, from what we know it's the last tree for miles. I looked around and saw hanna sitting under the tree on a bench peeling an apple.

I walked up to the tree and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Hanna winced not expecting the sudden contact. "Hey Hanna….how are you feeling after the test?" I only asked her cause she winced at my touch instead of pulling away or trying to stab me with her peeling knife.

"Why did you leave on your bike if you knew he was gonna throw me into a test I wasn't ready for…" Her voice quivered at the beginning before she hardened like I taught her too. I had to teach her to not show her emotions because expressing anything here except for rage or anger was a death sentence.

"I didn't know he would spring a test onto you, but you being here right now means that you were able to pass it. So many have ended up gone or dead because of his tests, I'm proud of you and I promise to not let it happen again," Val rubbed hannas head, making sure her voice showed how much she cared for the young girl in that moment. She looked down at the nine year old who was now eating the peeled apple and smiled if only briefly, she knew some kindness within the world won't fade, and those that look for the great beyond within the soul will find true peace in this wretched world.

~Chapter one will be released in due time