1 Chapter 1: Fake Heroes!!
"After all we cannot save everyone" he said with a distressed tone, "all heroes are fake, I surely accept it now"
Akira has finally accepted the heroes he saw on T.V. are just a mere work of art and their values are limited to the shows only
(with a look of deep sorrow)
Akira looked into the eyes of his dead friend lying on the ground with a shattered skull (open from behind, as the bullet was fired from the backward sideways)
Never had he seen his friend this still, his cheerfulness always filled the atmosphere with joy but what an irony he was lying there motionless and cold
(Akira grasped the body of his dead friend and started to make his way towards the entrance of the warehouse slowly)
"Chief should we send some of our people to the eastern flank" Itsuki said. Itsuki was one of Akira's closest friends, he and the other crew was watching their Chief has his final moments with the fallen comrade
(everybody was in shock and remorse)
Nobody thought that they were about to lose their best gunman, in a fight that was not even necessary, they were on their supply run, and instead of gaining, they suffered a great loss
"Move on to the eastern flank mates, and make sure you don't leave any footprints behind" Akira commanded the rest of the crew to move to their base camp, as it was getting dark
(The crew moved in formation and the guy with the log made sure that he cleared their footprints, the log was flat and two people had it tied to their waist as it was easier to drag)
"Itsuki, can you please cover me to the graveyard? " Akira asked, the graveyard was near the bridge on the west coast of Freljord (river)
(Itsuki nodded his head as a sign of affirmation)
Itsuki helped Akira balance the body of the fallen comrade, and they moved through the woods in the west direction with great silence and a hushful manner
The trees in the forest made a dreadful rustling sound as the wind blew with pace; the night was approaching slowly, and darkness started taking over the brightness of the day
Akira asked Itsuki in a very tender voice "Are you fully jacked on the ammo? because I'm really running low" as he checked the magazine of his rifle with one hand
Itsuki shook his head as a sign of approval. he pointed towards his pouches behind his waist (they were all brimmed with full magazines)
After ensuring the fulfillment of ammunition, Akira kept on moving without a single noise "that gurgling sound, do you hear that, seems like we're close", Soon the forest started to clear out and the coasts of the mighty Freljord were visible in the distance as the duo moved with the corpse on their shoulders
The bridge over the mighty Freljord was clearly visible now, as was the entrance to the graveyard, the duo moved with a significant pace, the sky was turning murky as the light died
"Seems like we have to camp here tonight with the body, we cannot start digging to bury it till daylight!!" Akira exclaimed, the light of the day had vanished, and the sky had already started to turn pitch black
The graveyard was surrounded by walls, the walls had mosses, and the one on the west side was ruptured, the crack was like a hole and it did not have enough room for passage either inside or to outside. The graves were all aligned facing the river and besides the entrance of the graveyard was a small wooden cabin, which had enough room for at least 2 people. Due to the graveyard being so close to the river, it got submerged when the river overflowed.
Hopefully, it was not the rainy season, winters were about to arrive. The Log cabin had a platform leading to the door, it was quite cracked due to the moisture from the environment.
The duo moved on to the log platform and started moving towards the door of the cabin. The wooden platform made a very creepy sound. As they reached the door, they tried opening it by holding the knob and pushing, but it seemed like the door was jammed due to not being opened in a long time
"This door must be jammed brother, we need to kick together to open it, at my count 3" Akira commanded, "1", "2", "shoot". There was the sound of BAM !!, and the door struck open. The duo moved in with the corpse. They put the corpse on the wooden floor in a corner.
Akira and Itsuki both were in grief but yet they were alert as it was nighttime and it was very risky being out
The river was still and the breeze coming through the window was sending chills up the nerves, there was utter silence in the atmosphere
"Do you think we would be safe here all night?", "What if the ADRENALINE MOB attacks us?" Itsuki asked his partner with a big question mark on his face, he seemed to be stressed about something.
This question left a negative impact on Akira as they were already in a lot of stress with the lost team member, but clearing his fears and holding all the confidence he could gather at the moment together, Akira told his partner to calm down.
The flare which they were using to light up the cabin was almost about to run out so Akira decided to extinguish it himself and assured his partner that being in darkness would be better as the light could be spotted from far and that would make them easy targets.
Adrenaline mob was a rival gang full of people who were into narcotics and loved violence a lot. After all the world's governments and systems collapsed, there was no law. Everybody was on their own and therefore the people thought that being in groups would be better than being alone as they had a better chance of survival with their group, given the circumstances.
The Adrenaline mob also had some S rank elite soldiers too in their gang, which made their gang one of the most feared survivalist gangs in the area.
Their scavenging grounds were on the west side of the mighty Freljord, unlike Akira's group which had their scavenging grounds to the right of the river.
Leader of the Adrenaline mob was also an S rank elite military man. Noone knew his real name but everybody used to call him "father". He was as badass as his name suggests. There was a rumor in the area that Father was actually his codename in the military and therefore everybody knew him by this one.
He was merciless, strict ,iron willed and that is exactly what made the people of his group respect him. His group members feared him more that they respected him as he wouldn't take anything lightly and was very quick with strict decisions without fearing anyone.
Father's mentality was to invade other people's lands and to increase his group as well as his territory. He already had good control over a very large area, west of the Freljord. His town was known as "Frelix"(named after the river that flowed by next to it)
The eastern group of survivalists represented by Akira and the Adrenaline mob led by father had beef with each other. They both were losing members due to rivalry amongst them so both of them decided to make a deal mutually that the banks of the Freljord would be considered as neutral grounds for both of them and none should kill each other or their would be strict action taken and the act would be considered as "treason".
Meanwhile, the graveyard falling on the banks of the river was also considered as neutral grounds hence Akira was calm that they would not be attacked but yet he had this small doubt in his mind "what if?"
Another reason that made both the groups choose truce as an option was the fear of an all out war amongst them and the common enemy of them both. So they considered that "better safe than sorry".
The "what if" in Akira's mind was quickly grasping pace as the silence was growing more and more. Now the sound of the silence was more noisier.
Cracking the quietness, out of the blue there came a very shocking and loud noise "BAM". Something hit the double layered wooden wall in the direction of the bridge some centimeters from the window.
Akira instantly lit up the remaining flair and got up to investigate. He saw a hole in the wall of the cabin from where the noise came. He instantly shouted "take cover, that's a bullet".
Itsuki was already in a state of shock due to a bullet surpassing his head by a few inches but yet he tried to listen to what his partner said and was instantly prone on the wooden floor. "Seems like these madmen saw us coming here, must be the scout boys"
Akira knew the sensitivity of the situation. He was a very high profile and critical target for the western group as he was the representative of a whole group and capturing him meant that the group would be left vulnerable as the leader was a very important target.
Akira considered taking a closer look at the bullet and confirmed it to be a "sniper bullet (the one long and pointed)". "The shot must have been taken from quite a distance?" Itsuki asked. Akira nodded his head in agreement but he thought that determining the distance would not help them in any way as it was already night time and they did not have a sniper rifle (a very long barreled gun specifically made to shoot at very long distances) with them so it made no sense at all.
