Chapter I: Apocalypse

𝘈𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘺, 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.

~𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘡𝘪𝘳𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴

---

Along the ruined and blackened skyscrapers and buildings were various creatures, some crawling on the ground, some flying, and some scaling the broken walls of buildings in search of prey. Few people ever ventured far outside of the Settlements they lived in, and even fewer Chimera went on expeditions these days, so it was up to a brave few men and women to scavenge for supplies.

A squad of five people, three women and two men, armed with military-grade assault rifles and handguns chambered in .45 ACP along with dark clothing to help them blend in with their surrounds, we're quickly transitioning between the broken down cars through the doors of stores and such looking for food.

Two people went in, one to scavenge and one to cover, while the other three kept watch outside. The main scavenger was a man named Asher Mark, a man of average height and no real noticeable features or interests other than his avid love of books, and his partner was a woman named Megan Croft.

The woman's face never moved with emotion and she was about as merciless as the monsters outside. Asher and Megan slipped into the corroded doors of a supermarket as the rest of their team spread out across the front to keep watch.

Asher took a deep breath to steady his hand. This was his worst nightmare come true, being a scavenger away from his small and cramped room back at home in Haven, the Western Settlement in Sojourn. Asher shook his head and furrowed his brows. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 fight, he thought as he readied his P220.

Asher scanned the large welcome center while fingering the deactivated flashlight under the barrel of his gun. He knew that the monsters here in District 13 were extra sensitive to light, but if only he could see just a bit more...

Asher jumped slightly as an echo of a crash reached his ears. Megan shifted slightly, but never stopped scanning their surroundings. Vibrations from various distant roars filled their bodies, but they were faint, which meant they had time before the Herd came.

Sounds of creatures scurrying about came from above. 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, Asher thought to himself as he stepped over a rotted corpse and a pile of broken glass. Cringing at the smell of the place, Asher donned the mask around his neck before squatting to look at the bottom shelves of a register aisle.

It was picked completely clean.

Megan tapped Asher on the shoulder, making him jump before he realized it was her. Megan's hand flashed in silent code. 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵.

Asher clicked his tongue and stood up, his eyes beginning to dart around nervously. Asher was never a brave man. Not once in his life did he stand up for another, speak for another, nor do anything that could have possibly of put him in harm's way. Now...now, the world has gone to absolute shit. He had no other choice, and the choice he made was beginning to weigh on his shoulders.

Suddenly, a loud screech resounded through the air before being accompanied by the flapping of many wings, gunshots fired off outside as Asher's companions shouted in panic. Winged shadows flew over the entrance to the supermarket, and screams, Human screams, began to fill the air.

With hardly a glance, Megan snatched Asher's arm and began to run toward the back of the market. Asher ran faster than ever as he held on to his handgun for dear life. He could hear his own heart beating as well as Megan's, who was strangely calm in this life-or-death situation.

Asher's heart seemed close to popping out of his chest when Megan suddenly skid to a halt and dragged him into an aisle before shoving him into a container of sorts. She looked around once before climbing in and shutting the lid.

Asher was close enough to make out the light sheen of sweat on her face despite the lack of light. He was so close that he could...

The sound of a claw clacking against the marbled floors outside almost made Asher cry out in surprise. The monster was right outside of the container. How Megan knew it was coming was beyond Asher. He was supposedly more skilled in tracking and keeping the party away from danger then her, but he didn't even hear the damned thing...

The creature clacked its claws against the floor again before letting out a light, croaking groan and walking off. Asher glanced at Megan curiously as she carefully opened the lid of the container to check the surroundings.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the gunfire had eventually ceased and the monsters were busy feeding or had flown off, so the duo made their move. They moved swiftly and quietly through the supermarket until reaching the emergency fire exit placed in the back.

The exit put them in a sludge-covered alleyway littered with trash and bones, distant snarls and howls forced the pair to make haste back toward Haven, which was hours to the South as they had ventured far up North to gather what supplies were left.

It was rumored that Chimera were able to make items like food and water appear from thin air, but they kept their rations to themselves most of the time, leaving people like Asher to fight for their lives everyday away from home.

Truth be told, Asher hated the Chimera. He thought that they were all selfish pricks that cared for nobody but themselves. Even when he saw a group of Chimera giving aid to the elderly in Haven, he knew their actions held ulterior motives.

Asher felt his pockets as he kept pace with Megan. He still had the emergency grenade he brought on every mission. Asher always said that it was better than being eaten alive when someone asked.

Before he knew it, the ground began to shake ever-so-slightly and he couldn't help but grimace. If the Herd caught their scent...they would have no choice other than to die before they caught them. Asher, for one, refused to lead the Herd to Haven. Megan, on the other hand...she was an unknown variable as always.

The two ran as fast as they dared and kept to the shadows to avoid the monsters in the air. Asher thought it impossible to dodge all of them, but he was proven wrong over and over again when Megan effortlessly led them around every monster. It was almost as if she knew what they were going to do and used that to her advantage...

Asher stopped in the middle of the street, monsters all around him but paying him no heed as they continued to sniff and growl. Megan realized that Asher had stopped and turned to face him, but Asher's face was covered by his long, dark-blue hair.

Only a thin sliver of his captivating ruby-red eyes shone through his bangs.

Asher's fists were balled tightly, tight enough that his nails dug through his palms and began to drip blood down his hands.

"You're a Chimera, aren't you..."

Megan had been by Asher's side ever since he first entered Haven. She knew his hatred for Chimera. She knew the boy even better than she knew herself. She couldn't help but smile at how similar Asher was to Fin.

Megan unclenched her jaw and weakly nodded her head before smiling and responding. "Yes. Yes, I am a Chimera..."

Asher thought her smile was both beautiful and sad, but he was too angry and frustrated to figure out whether he liked it or not. 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦. 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, Asher thought to himself.

Megan tried to speak again, undoubtedly to allay Asher's fear, but he cut her off with a yell.

"Shut up!! If you speak one more fucking word I'll kill you!" Asher's eyes were wide and bloodshot now, his lips curled up into a snarl as he held his P220 in front of him. Megan's eyes flashed with pity as her shoulders visibly slumped.

"You could've been normal," she said in a low voice, "you could have been happy as a normal person, away from harm. But you refused to stay in Haven despite your fears. You threw yourself into the position of Scavenger like a maniac and put the party in jeopardy many times...yet you always forged on. Know that, no matter what happens, you will be able to continue forward...you have to..."

Megan's voice began to fade away as Asher's vision wavered. The monsters around them now acknowledged Asher's presence and formed a circle around Megan, baring their teeth at Asher. When she turned her back to Asher, however, the monsters leapt forward, their open maws the last thing Asher saw before his eyes closed.

---------

Meanwhile, at the Chimera Headquarters of District 13...

A group of five people, all males past their early-twenties, sat on two separate benches across from each other, each outfitted with form-fitting mesh armor under a set preference of clothes with a pair of weapons strapped to their backs or waists, were eagerly discussing the state of the The Dark Zone.

"I heard that District 3, 4, and 5 had all been terraformed to match their respective species of monsters," one man said.

"Isn't D3 the lava-zone," another man asked.

"Nah, D4 is the one with all the volcanoes and lava, D3 is the one with all the acidic water, remember Rato?"

The man named Rato grimaced as his companions chuckled at his expense. To be fair Rato was from an island off the coast of The Dark Zone named Ziro. Rato was a rather lean man with taut muscles, dark eyes and sleek black hair tied behind his head. He specialized in reconnaissance missions and assassination.

"You're one to laugh, Bjorn Dahl. Your sense of direction is almost as bad as your fighting skills," Rato said with a smirk. After a moment of silence, a man with short blond hair and vibrant green eyes lowered his shades and spoke.

"Looks like someone needs to work on their joke-making skills..."

Bjorn snorted, a smile across his face, as he pat Rato's shoulder. He then looked over at Kieran, the blond man, and asked, "How about we grab a drink? Just us three?"

Kieran glanced at their other two companions before shrugging his shoulders and nodding his head in agreement. Before Rato could turn the offer down, however, he was promptly dragged away by Bjorn.

"Those two seem fishy, eh Kieran," Bjorn muttered.

"𝘠𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴..."

Kieran's voice pierced both Rato and Bjorn's heads, even though the man had not said a word. That was just one of his abilities as a Chimera. Telepathy. Rato began to finger the hilt of his wakizashi and tanto as Kieran used his link-com to speak directly to the Chief of Chimera Operations.

Bjorn absently picked at his ear appearing seemingly absent minded, however, he was scanning each and every crevice of the hall they were walking down. Bjorn's eyes lit up, and Rato knew he was using his Search ability.

Suddenly, Bjorn spread his arms, halting Rato and Kieran both as a woman with short, shoulder-length wavy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes framed by a doll-like face that normally showed no emotion. But this time was different. Every mannerism down to her very gait reeked of despair and melancholy despite her expressionless face.

"Asame." Rato's tension-filled voice got the woman's attention and she turned her gaze toward the onyx-haired man. Rato shivered and averted his eyes. Bjorn, sensing the mood between the two, decided to step in.

"Asame," Bjorn said with a grin, "I thought you were going by Megan these days?"

Asame, or Megan, turned her furious gaze toward Bjorn, causing the big man to fall silent. Kieran seemed unphased, his eyes closed and brows furrowed. Megan stomped past the trio and Kieran opened his eyes; a single drop of sweat fell down his cheek.

"She says that a new Chimera has been born," Kieran said in a slow, somber voice. The last time a Chimera was born was centuries ago, as the transformation was extremely rare. Chimera could live for centuries, but most didn't live through the transformation or they didn't retain their sanity through the process.

"Well, what else did she say," Rato asked in a hesitant voice.

"She said that he had the potential to change all that we know, both in our world and others yet to be discovered. She said he had the chance to be even more powerful than herself, even with her Nature attribute and ability to command monsters..."

"And his name?" Kieran paused several times as he tried to form the words until, finally, he spoke.

"Asher Mark."