1 "Beginning"

The dry fields of nothing but sand, were once filled with humans. The remains of people that were now lying lifeless were once parents, kids, couples..

Everything was so great before it all went downhill.

My mother used to tell me, "If you do something, you should expect karma." Maybe she wasn't wrong.

The sunny blue skies that I used to stare at were now dark and shallow, filled with non-breathable air and no life within miles and miles.

I don't know what happened. All that I know is that we messed up. We messed up badly.

I'd rather say, it was for the best. It was expected, that this will happen one day, and I wasn't scared. I was ready to do whatever it took to survive.

Even if it meant eating dogs and rats. As long as I was with my mother, I was safe.

"Hey you. You shouldn't be outside for too long. It'll damage your filters." Carter said, tapping onto his mask, as he walked towards me. I glanced at him, then back at the distance, sitting down.

"Do you remember the day that you found me?" I asked, turning to Carter and he sat down, right beside me.

"Yeah." He said and I looked at the distance. There's really nothing left out here. Just a shallow, dark shithole.

"What did you think of me? Like for the first time you saw me." I looked back at him, as he turned to face me, just shrugging.

"I didn't think much of you in the moment, but I just felt bad for you. Sleeping next to your dead loved one must have been hard." He said, and I looked away from his face, and turned to the distance again.

"Yeah, it was at first." I said as Carter tapped me on the shoulder.

"Sorry for bringing that up." He said, and I looked at him.

"It's alright. It's the past anyways. Everyone dies one day." I shrugged, as I was clutching my mother's picture in my pocket.

"Do you miss her?" He asked and I nodded.

"Everyday. I wish she was still here, making jokes about it, even how terrified she was of this." I smiled, the mask covering it. You could just see the little corners of my smile.

"She was great, wasn't she?" Carter's voice softened, as he asked me, looking into my eyes.

"She was the best. I absolutely loved her bad yet so great cookies she used to make - She'd always burn them, but it's what made them taste the best." I chuckled, and Carter chuckled too.

A small moment of silence stood in between us. I looked over to Carter, studying his blue eyes, that were clearly covered behind his mask. I never realized how beautiful his blue eyes were. And how somehow, they gave me hope.

"Let's go back inside. It's getting dark, and freaks will show up soon too." Carter got up and I got up after him.

We walked to our bunker door, that was covered around with stone and pulled the door handle. A little alarm went off, but as quiet as possible.

The door opened, as there was a woman, who was tall, and the mask covered those empty and shallow eyes only one person I knew had.

Veri Jones. The leader of the clan. Perhaps it wasn't the best way to greet her, when she's holding a gun pointed at your head.

She stood by the door, as she scoffed. The four other men behind her, turned around, and walked away. You could hear their leather boots hit the floor, as they walked away.

"God, you can't sneak out like that." Veri lowered her gun, and sighed.

"I needed to think. Sorry, "boss." I scoffed, taking off my mask, as my hair fell down my eyes. I brushed it off, as Carter glanced at me, but looked away.

"Okay, no need for your dumb apologies. Go and change, we got a shit ton of work to do. And take a shower, for fucks sake. You stink." She said, as I walked away, Carter walking right behind me, but we parted ways.

I walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower. The warm water ran down my hair, and body.

I wish we were allowed to shower for a bit longer, but we needed to spare water for drinking and also to make food.

I walked out of the bathroom and changed into a pair of new clothes, but they were a bit too big. They looked like I was wearing a potato sack over my body.

My dark hair was messy, but I didn't bother to fix it. I looked at the picture of my mother that was on the nightstand. I took it in my palms, and brushed my fingers against the picture. I miss you so much, mom. Why'd I let that mistake happen?

Carter opened the door, as I turned my head to face him.

"Come on Alec, we gotta go." He pointed at the door, as I got up, putting the picture under my pillow.

Me and Carter weren't on the best terms at the moment, but I never felt scared when around him.

Carter was an interesting person. He was always this mysterious, shady figure, staring at you from the corners, like a stalker. He had amazing humour, and a pinch of dark humour too, but it's what he is. He's Carter. That's what I like about him.

I pushed the door open and fell onto the ground. I quickly got up and ran after Carter, not to make myself even more embarrased.

"Quite the show you put up there, eh?" Carter looked at me and I rubbed the back of my neck turning away from his face, hiding my embarrassment.

Me and Carter mostly walked in silence, sometimes talking about some ridiculously dumb things such as flowers and animals, even the cities that we once had. But the truth was nothing was left. It was only one rule we had here. You either kill or get killed. The one and only rule.

As we entered the room, Veri looked over at us and sighed.

"C'mere. We have some things to discuss."

Me and Carter looked at each other, a bit confused why'd she decide to call the two of us to her office. I mean, Veri fucking Jones. She was the head of everything. This doesn't happen that much. That simple people who only do their shitty bidding get to even talk to her.

The two of us walked over to her, as there was a map marked with blue, red and green marks. It was the territorial map. The blue marks were ours. The green were the other clans.

She pointed at a small red dot. Red dots on the maps meant it was still unclaimed, but also dangerous. Red zones rarely get claimed. That shit is too dangerous to begin with.

"This is a new area. The other clans haven't claimed it yet, but it's weird since it's been at least 2 months since it's discovery." She said, looking at the two of us, and I raised my eyebrow.

"Perhaps because it's a red zone, pretty reasonable." I said, as Veri's expression turned soon into a frown.

"Can you stop being so complainant? I give you food, shelter, and you brats dare to even complain. I'm asking you to investigate. And, claim the area as ours, if it's even worth doing so."

"Why haven't you already dealt with it? Why invite us, quote on quote "two rookies who have no idea what the fuck they're doing"? Just get your best men and deal with it. I'll just work at the lab again." I said, as she frowned, crossing her arms.

"Are you stupid? All of them are dead. The war? The stupid war we had with Ratri clan?" She raised her eyebrow. I rubbed the back of my neck, I was unsure of what I will say from now on.

"Well, still Alec is right. Why us?" Carter looked over at Veri.

"Because you two are good, and I mean from past experiences. You two know survival good, both are psychically and mentally strong."

He looked away and I scoffed.

"Our past lives don't have to do with anything. You want us to get killed hm? Then go yourself. I ain't risking my fucking life for you to get another trophy on the wall." I said and Veri sighed.

"Fine, then. How about we make a deal? Does that work?" She asked.

"You get a raise, better food, better clothes and even a car." She said. I rose my eyebrows.

"And also we get unlimited access to the frontier." Carter glared.

"No-" She said but Carter cut her off. "Yes. Or there's no deal."

She frowned, and then looked at the two of us, and stood there silent for a minute. She'd roll her eyes, as she understood the two of us were serious.

"Fine! Fine. You can access it. You're going out at dawn. Do your jobs for today, and come to my office when you're done." She said, and Carter and I nodded.

We both smiled and walked out of the room.

We both walked back down the hall, taking a turn left and right to our bunker rooms. I looked at the hazard suit, and just grabbed it in my hands.

I walked out of the room, looking at the jobs assigned for me and others. I brushed my finger against the paper, and I found my name.

"Shit." I muttered as my name was in the "extermination" side.

The extermination assignment, is where you need to make sure no shit's like freaks*, and mutant animals don't get through the border. That is what we get assigned to do, everyday. There's at least 3-4 people doing the job at the same time, in order to scout around the whole area. It's safer too.

I walked to the changing room, changing into a hazard suit, zipping it up. I picked up a small gun, loading it with a couple of bullets. I also grabbed a flamethrower. It's so awesome to be allowed to do things like this. In my opinion, so fun too. I mean, the killing part isn't, but still. Walking around with a flamethrower seems pretty badass.

I walked over to the door, turning the handle. Two of the guards nodded, greeting me as I stepped outside.

I glanced around, and there they were. All sorts of creatures lurking around. Ugh. This is the most disgusting and longest job you could get.

I picked up my gun, and I started walking around. There was nothing yet, just a few rats here and there, a few bugs, but bugs weren't even changed. It was so weird. Why did everything get fucked up, but not bugs?

I heard loud thudding, and I widened my eyes. A huge, mutant dog was running towards me. I panicked, not sure of what I'll do. I just started running, and I ran as fast as I could.

If you thought it couldn't get worse, the dog picked up it's pace too. It was like cat and mouse, but make it me being the mouse, and the dog being three times the size of me, being the cat.

In short, I was going to fucking die. Such a way to die, hm? I hope I at least get a memorial plate with my name, saying, "Most ridiculous way of dying, in memory, Alexander Alec James."

I ran. And ran. But it was faster than me. I stopped, and pointed the gun at it, but it only jumped on me when it had the chance.

"SHIT!" I yelled out, as the dog threw the gun out of my hands.

I tried to reach out for the gun, but the mutant dog was too heavy, that it pressed me to the ground, making it even hard to move, or breathe. Or just do anything in general.

I closed my eyes. I could feel the suit tearing apart at the back, and I sighed. Well, that's life. Everyone has to die someday. I mean, I thought I'd die differently, but guess not.

Just before it sunk it's teeth into my shoulder, I heard a gun shot. The dog yelped out in pain, as I felt weight fall off me.

I opened my eyes to see Carter, holding the gun.

"Shit, are you okay?" He asked, rushing to me.

He looked at the rip, his eyes wide. He gently crouched down, picking me up in his arms. He started carrying me, as I felt that my vision got blurrier, my head lighter.

My sight went dark, as I realized. I passed out. From shock? The dog didn't even touch me. I mean, it was inches from that, but it didn't.

I'd walk towards the light, as I saw a familiar Silhouette.

"M-mom?" I reached out my hand. I'd run towards her, and reach out my hand.

"Mom!-" I'd smile, as I ran up to her silhouette, and reached my hand to touch her shoulder to tell her it's me, but..

She vanished. She vanished like a drop in the ocean. Just like that. Into thin air.

"MOM-"

I woke up. The sudden brightness hit my face, I squinted my eyes a bit, to not hurt them from the bright room, that I happened to wake up in.

Veri and Carter were chatting in the distance. Veri looked over at me and Carter quietly walked over to me, with a small smile on his face.

"Hey. How you feelin'?" Veri asked as my vision became clearer, and the sudden light wasn't hurting my eyes as bad as before.

"How long was I out?.." I asked, as Carter leaned against the wall, by the nightstand and Veri sighed.

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