1 Chapter 1: Through the Flames of Judgement

The day seemed like any other day, well, as far as the apocalypse goes anyways. Beneath the surface of the Russian city of Moscow were a series of tunnels known as the metro. Before the nukes were launched, it was used simply as a means of travel by train. Now, everyone lives together in small settlements just to survive the horrors. The surface is full of terrors, but even in the tunnels, nowhere is truly safe...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

"Wake the fuck up!"

The door is pulled open as a burly man stands there, wearing heavy winter clothing with a metal plate over his chest. On his back was an AK-47 and on his hip a revolver. His worn out brown eyes stared down at me.

"Hurry up! We are already late! You slept for 15 hours! 15 fucking hours! Do you know what that means?! Our journey will be in the dark now because of that! The caravan will be leaving in 5, with or without us." The man, whose name was Petrovich, was a mercenary for hire, and more than that, an old friend of mine.

"Alright alright Petro! You made your point!" I can't help but to smile as he groans with annoyance. I stand up and look around. As I slept with most of my items, all I needed to grab was my revolver, shotgun, and lighter. "So Petro, shall we be on our way?"

"Damn right!" He turns around and begins to speed walk back towards the checkpoint. I followed him through the small settlement. Once we arrived at the checkpoint, the caravan was already starting to pull away. We were lucky enough to hop on board as it slowly pulled away from the platform, heading into the dark tunnel that awaited us.

"Alright Petro, go ahead and get some rest, alright?" As we entered the tunnel, I pulled on my hood and turned on my flashlight. He reluctantly sat down and began to drift off to sleep. Meanwhile, I walked up and down the carts, keeping an eye out for any beasts or hostiles. Luckily, the ride was smooth, only really getting any attention when a small critter scurried past the rails and into a web filled service room.

The trip was relatively quiet, albeit a bit too quiet. As the caravan rode the rails towards Polis, the atmosphere became different. It was radioactive as far as they were concerned, nor was it toxic in anyway. The air felt heavier and drier than usual, causing many to wonder what exactly was going on. Just as Polis was in sight, a blinding light appeared, engulfing everyone and everything. Within moments, everything became dark once again. This time, however, I wasn't on a rail cart, I was on a chair, strapped down and stripped of almost everything, only having a shirt and a pair of gray, baggy pants.

"W-What the fuck...? Where am I...?" I look around, trying to gain my bearings, but a light shining in my eyes and the rest of the room being dark prevented me from seeing much.

"Ah, you are finally awake huh? Filthy roach!" A boot slams into my chest, knocking the air out of me and possibly breaking a rib, but I wasn't sure if it was broken. The boot sends me down the the floor, my head banging against the ground which gave me a headache in return.

"You think that you can just sneak into our settlement and get through it?! Do you think that you didn't have to pay the toll?!" I was so confused, so I just laid there, hoping that they wouldn't further beat me. "You god damn inbred! SPEAK!" I was lifted off of the cold, hard ground only to receive a fist to my face, breaking the nose as it connects.

"Forget it...He can offer us nothing! His trial has already begun and he shall pay for trespassing! He is to be drowned and left for the creatures to devour!"

And with that, the restraints left me, and they put a bag on my head. I was dragged out of the room to a different one. I couldn't see anything, but soon, I felt cold, icy water as my head was pushed into a bucket. I struggled, but to no success, and slowly I was losing my vision as my air depleted, slowly falling into the darkness that meant death.