3 The Search for a Morsel of Meat

The Drifter comely clears his throat.

So there is was, just risen and in the middle of nowhere. But, once I saw that smoke in the horizon my instinct told me there were people there. So, because of my hunger and somewhat thirst for human interaction, we started to go to the smoke trail.

While we were walking, it kinda cleared my head a bit. Just enough for me to get conscious of my surroundings and myself. I was in a tattered uniform, it looked like a pre-Collapse military uniform> It was to battle turned that it nearly covered me from the wind, I'd say I was blown up in my past life. Just picture this, your old Drifter fighting in the military when a grenade rolls under him. Just a click and BOOM!!! And the Drifter is dead. That's how I imagine how I kicked the bucket. The Drifter chuckles to himself, he looks at his Guardian friend still seeing him fixed on his cards. The Drifter speaks up, "Oh, sorry for getting ahead of myself. Shall I continue?" he says with a devilish smirk. The Guardian breaks his gaze and looks at the Drifter, to see his smirk. "Ah, I just got lost in my thoughts. Please continue." The Guardian says. "Just checking if the customer is enjoying his product. So anyway, where was I?" The Drifter says.

So, There I was in my tattered clothes with just my Ghost at my side. But, while walking I realised something that the surroundings were like a battlefield. Trenches, holes, destroyed tanks, rotten soldiers as far as the eye can see. "What the hell happened here?" I asked my Ghost. He responded in a saddened voice "The Collapse. Once the Darkness found the Traveller and us, it and it's forces came and destroyed everything. As a last-ditch effort, the Traveller sacrificed itself for humanity. Driving of the Darkness and with its last glimmer of Light made us, to find the next Guardians of humanity." To think something that helped humanity would also bring its downfall, pithful.

With a glance at the sky, the sun shined in the middle of the skies. Which means it wast noon. With the smoke still at the horizon, I proclaimed to the Ghost "If we want to get to that smoke single, it would take a whole day of travel. And In that time I could starve to death." The Ghost replied "Not really, Guardians don't need to eat often. The Light can sustain a Guardian for a month without a need to eat and when revived it takes your body to its maximum physical strength and beyond. You're stronger than ten Lightless humans and your stamina is nearly limitless, so this day-long journey can be cut short with an hour worth of running. So, you up for it?" That whole sentence he said lighted a nearly limitless possibility to me, so I just nodded and he continued "Great, but the problem is I can't keep up and there nowhere on your body for me to be." He looked around for a bit the dissembled himself, then a beam of light shoots out everywhere. He just assembled himself and continued "Found it, follow me." He flew to a destroyed tank a bit off where we were talking. He came at a stop around a dead solider "Here, he has a backpack and maybe a weapon." On the side of the tank lied a skeletal body of a long-dead man with its uniform still on. I came close to inspect in closer. His clothe were intact more than mine but I still wouldn't take the clothes from a dead man. "Take his backpack." The Ghost chimed in, the backpack looked good enough for the taking. Carefully I took it off him, "Looks like you wouldn't need this brother.". The backpack was in the same condition as his clothes. It was filled with an assortment of items that a soldier would use. "This is good enough, let's go!" I said but the Ghost interrupted me "Wait, see if he has a weapon on himself. Just in causes?" I responded, "For what, humans?" He replied "No, well, somewhat, and for the remnants of the Darkness. Some of them roam the earth, so it is safer if we had a weapon." I looked at the body the rifle and pistol were broken or rusted to a point of no use, except the knife which was still in its sheath. the sheath had a little rust on it but once I pulled out the knife it was almost pristine. "Good enough, get in." I said. The Ghost went into the backpack, I put the knife on to my waist and began running.

I ran for almost an entire hour and didn't felt a bit tired but I did feel hunger, I wasn't the body acing for food more like a feeling that needed to be satisfied with eating it felt strange.

Soon after running, we came to the village or better to say what was left of it. The smoke was from the burning houses, charred bodies filled the ground. I was at the edge of the village and I could still see the bodies, but of the things that I still see was that body, it was smaller than the other which meant it was a child. I thought to myself which monster could have done this.

"Fuck!!! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I yelled out. Then a voice from behind me rang. "Oy, what are you doing here?" When I turned there were four of them. All clad in battle armour, one was wielding a rifle, two had pistols and the last one had nothing. I just stayed silent. "Hey, are you deaf? I asked you a question, so answer me!" The one with a pistol spoke. He had a smug look on his face that pissed me off. But still, I wouldn't talk so he continued. "What, are you shocked that your entire village was burned down, face it you didn't pay your monthly payments so it had to be done. So no hard feelings." I knew that the village was attacked by the monster but I hopped it wasn't these monster that we all have. I could hear that one in the back said to another "His clothes are strange, as one of the dead soldiers?" Before the situation escalated I wanted to speak up, but the Ghost beat me to it.

The Ghost transmatted through the backpack and started talking "Look, we don't want..." He was caught off by the man screaming "His a Risen!!!"

I just grabbed the Ghost and ran into the village and they pursued me. After running around I hide behind a building, "What are you doing? I was talking to them." the Ghost said, I quickly responded, "I saved your and my hide, so you better hide in my backpack if you what's the best for you." He sounded disgruntled but obliged. He transmatted himself back. "At least don't die." I quipped "Wanna bet on it?"

I peaked around the corner and saw the two with the pistol searching around. One of them turned around and spotted me for a sec, hide and waited for him to come close. If he had more brain cells he wouldn't come close to the corner, so while he was getting close I went around the building. Now I was at the opposite corner from him, he didn't even notice that I went around. I quickly looked for the other guy but he was deep in the other part of the village, far enough for me to take this one out. So, went for it. I ran at him, while he was now peaking at the corner. My idea was to stab him but with the adrenalin rush that came over me I forgot to pull the knife, so there I was a meter away from him. He now noticed me and was turning around but my right hand cocked back I hit him with a straight punch. I could feel it colid with his jaw, but I thought it would only knock him out until I heard the crack. The sound of bone-crushing and scraping against each other, his body fell limp and dead from one punch. In his last moments, he somehow pulled the trigger firing the pistol alarming everyone. The other guy noticed this and came running, I took the pistol and ran.

While running I checked the clip, three in the clip and one in the chamber. I hid again and waited for him, "Hey, get out of the back for a sec!" I said to the Ghost, he transmatted out "For what?" he replied "I got an idea and I need the backpack for it. Your job is to stay put there."I responded to him, he just said "Fine by me. But do you know how to use that thing?" I quickly respond "I'll manage somehow."

The gunman showed up running, so I just chucked the bag across the street getting his attention at it long enough for me to jump out. With his gaze caught at the bag, I caught that gaze with my bullet through his eye. He fell dead and I quipped "Bullseye!" The Ghost asked, "What does that mean?" I just said, "Don't know, just came to mind." I stood up and quickly ran to the body, I took his pistol and the ammo which was four bullets in the clip and one chambered. I filled my pistol but the clip only went to seven bullets which were just enough. I turned to my Ghost "Follow me!" and I started to run towards the man with the rifle. Before he could see me I hid behind a half-burnt house. There were two of them, the one with the rifle and the one with nothing. They were arguing, the gunman spoke first "Are you crazy! He would kill us if we reported this." the other on respond "Think about this, those two haven't returned which means they are probably dead. And if the boss gets another Risen on his side, we could get a promotion and we could rule this side of the land."

The gunman went silent for a second, then spoke " You're right. A promotion sounds good. Go!!! I'll keep him here until you get to the boss." He nodded and started running.

"Shit, if more get here this could become a shit show. But I can't do anything against that gunman." I said in a fit of anger, then my Ghost chimed in "Well, you have powers. And a lot of them, you just have to concreate." I just looked at him for a moment, "Couldn't you say it earlier?" I said a little bit angry, "You didn't ask about them." I just thought about it "Touche." I aid before standing up.

I cocked my hand back and started to concrete at it until a feeling of power sweep through me, all accumulating to my fist. I turned to the house and went for the blow, "I hope this works." I thought to myself and I also heard my Ghost say "How's that possible? That's pure Light."

With a powerful crash that the earth even felt, I sent the house flying at the gunman half burying him in it. In the rubel, he laid with his head and arm sticking out. And his little friend was halfway across the field when he heard the commotion he started running faster. On the ground laid the gunman's rifle. I picked it up and started to talk to the gunman, "Nice rifle, looks decent. Now, let's look at its range" I had a mid-range scope and a shoulder stock. I aimed at his friend got it exactly at his head and boom! "And pop goes the weasel" He stopped running and just fell, soI just turned to our stuck friend. He was just swearing at me, so I just.

*Crunch*, "Ahhh, my fucking arm!!!" * sound of bones crunching and snapping* "So, did you do this?" I asked him and he replied rather quickly "Yes, we did it so what fuck about it. They weren't paying and..." *more sounds of bones snapping* and started to yelp like a dog. So I asked another question "Whos your boss?" And he again replied rather quickly "You wouldn't want to fuck with him. He has a small army of fifty strong and another Risen. Even if you could kill them you can't win a fight against two Risen." I said "How said I want to kill him, I just wanted to know about him. And you used your usefulness." "What?" That the last thing he said before I plunged a knife into his throat.

My Ghost spoke up "I think you went a little bit overboard." I just said " Overboard? They butchered this entier village, I had the right." Silence went between us until I spoke up "Can you scan for the number of bodies that are here?"

After that, we dug graves for the villagers. Fourteen in total including two small ones, then we burned the shits bodies. "You know they will look for them probably? They will hunt you." Said the Ghost, I just replied, "They don't know what happened here, and they will never know." I stared at the sky so see the sun setting, after so many years of death I can once finally see it again.

"We will rest here." I said the Ghost asked "Where?"

I pointed at a building that somewhat still standing. "There." The Ghost just said, "Fine by me."

We were woken up in the morning by an earthquake. "Earthquake?" I asked, "Worse!" Replied the Ghost. We ran outside to see the sky reaping apart, as a supernova was happening in the skies. Out the middle, a hole ripped through with a giant ship flying. It stood in the air for a moment until it started to fly overhead of us. "What is that?" I asked the Ghost, I replied in a panic "A Ketch! A fallen ship, we have to run." That name got me off guard, "Fallen?" I asked, "One of the enemies of humanity right now." The Ghost answered.

I thought for a second, then asked: "Are they made of meat?" The Ghost looked stunt for a moment then just replied "Y..yes."

With a burst of enjoyment, I grabbed the rifle, pistol and knife and went to the ketches flightpath. Then my Ghost asked me "Where are you going?" I just replied

"Hunting!"