The Ghost: Year-8 Day-57

The Ghost and the Remnants of America had been planning the return to the surface for 30 days and with 27 days spent getting ready for their return and their bunker doors had finally opened. Unleashing a dark entity back into this world.

"Good luck out there Ghost, I hope the HA-80 prototype serves you well."

"Thank you, I shall give it the best field test I can. Everyone, let's go make history."

Upon their entry into the wasteland, they were greeted by skeletons of the past, bones littering their path. Turns out, something else had moved into the neighborhood, something altogether grotesque and disgusting. A human-like creature walked up to the group, the revealed its deformed mouth and tried to eat one of the soldiers, but was promptly killed by Daniel Light, former IA Director, now known as The ROA Mercenary.

"What the fuck was that sir?"

"I'm not sure, but stay alert, there are probably more of them."

More of them was an understatement, these creatures were known as Skattlkin, or cannibalistic, radiation riddled humans. Their minds and been stripped away and the only thing they craved was human flesh. One or two weren't hard to kill, but there was a large horde blocking their path to freedom.

"This is Ghost Alpha calling Archive, come in Archive."

"We read you, what is it?"

"Send up Liberty Bell, we've run into a problem, set target parameters to kill anything that looks like this or has this genetic composition."

"Understood sir."

After about ten minutes, Liberty Bell emerged from the Archive ruins and marched to join the group. Without a second command, she opened fire upon the Skattlkin horde, gaining their attention.

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are the sovereign rights of every American citizen, lethal force authorized. Engaging unknown aggressors."

The Skattlkin roared and charged the group, but they were quickly put down with lasers and bullets.

"Targets neutralized, what are my next orders."

"Executive Order 17-Dominion Protection. Await the other troops, then once they've arrived, clear the area of anything that looks like that."

"Executing Executive Order 17, Return American Sovereignty to this land!"

The automaton marched to the Archive ruins and waited for the remaining troops to arrive on the surface.

As the Ghost and his team marched across the Wasteland, that nice guy, the defender part of the Ghost took a backseat. All that remained was rage, and hatred of anyone and everyone who took advantage of the crumbling world.

They happened upon a slaver camp, as Alpha team was beginning to move in, Ghost gave the order to stay put. He marched up to the gates and kicked them in.

"The fuck..."

None of the slavers stood a chance, with his hands, he tore the jaw off of one slaver, and shoved it into another one's skull. The slaves watched as this armored man torn into their capturers and removed them. He punched holes through people, decapitated others, every single slaver was running in fear for their life.

"Boss you gotta go, there's some armored dude..."

"So, the filth lives in here then."

"Boss RUN!"

With his axes he tore into the slavers, blood splattered all over the floors and walls, gore and guts dotted the building. He threw one of the axes, the blade catching a slaver in the head, splitting his skull open. He surveyed the building and began to make his assent up the stairs as he did, he came to some double doors, kicking them down, he was now staring down the slaver boss.

"Didn't I say I'd personally kill any and all filth like you?"

The slaver boss shot at him, but the bullet was deflected off the armor. The Ghost wasted no time in crush him as well. Anyone in the room wasn't safe. The slaves watched from the doorframe as this armored figure quite literally slapped the blood out of the boss, he occasionally throw a punch breaking more and more bones, using a drug the slavers would you on the slaves when torturing them, it kept them awake, and fully conscious.

"Someone...anyone....save me..."

"Scream, beg or plead. Nobody can hear you, and no one is coming to save you after what you've done."

The Ghost lifted the man above himself and tore the boss in half, splitting him at the torso. Hot blood covered the armor as he tossed the bosses legs aside, then cocked back a punch and removed the boss's heart.

"Anyone evil enough to prey on the weak, can answer to the strong, in other words..." The Ghost smashed the bossed head under his metal boot. "Me."

With the boss dead, the Ghost removed their slave collars and lead them outside where the few slavers that had escaped had been captured by Alpha Team.

"Orders sir?"

"Stand down, let the slaves earn their dignity back, take back what was robbed from them." He hands each and every one of the slaves a pistol. "Their lives."

"But sir..."

The Ghost removed his helmet revealing the white of his eyes was a deep crimson red.

"Kill them and earn your freedom."

Without hesitation, the slaves opened fire, killing the slavers. They were free and they made a decision to follow the Ghost in combat.

"Archive, this is Alpha Team, requesting additional armor and weapons on my position."

"Sir this is crazy."

"This is NECESSARY."

Light took a step back as the Ghost looked at him.

"They are the future, and we will rebuild. They will help us liberate this disgusting wasteland, freeing slaves and taking back what is rightfully ours."

"Understood sir, sorry to question your judgement."

"Don't do it again."

After they restocked and supplied, Alpha Team pushed further west, liberating slaves and leaving a blood-stained path in their wake. Tales of Raiders in the South and religious fanatic in the west began to reach Alpha Team the further they pushed into Wasteland America.

"Sir where is it we are heading?"

"Ottawa Daniel. From what I've gathered that will be where all the factions collide."

"Why there?"

"That's where it all began, or have you forgotten our roots?"

"I haven't sir, it's just, Ottawa, it's like a magnet for fuck up bull shit to happen."

"Exactly why I need to be there to see to it nobody lays claim to that awful city."

"Then onward we march sir."

As they marched a few former slaves asked about their new leader.

"What was he like in the bunker?"

"He has always been strong, but this, this is something that pre-dates even the bunkers and the New American Empire."

"How so?"

"The Ghost of Ottawa wasn't always this brutal, he used to be this nice, funny, caring guy, that was before people took advantage of his trust. His family, and a few of his old friends did so, without a second thought."

"What assholes."

"Agreed, but he became the Ghost during his service in the US Army, according to what he told me, it was like something had snapped inside of himself, something dark. One of the guys had been making fun of his significant other at the time, and he'd done so for a while. On that day however, that poor bastard found out exactly how strong the Ghost was. There was one instance long before that where one of his ex-girlfriends was raped, and he made it his personal business to put the fear of God into that asshole. Nobody has dared to open that can of death, it's seriously one of the scariest things to witness, him losing control makes him very dangerous yet very powerful. Call it another personality because it's the complete opposite of who he really is."

"Kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"

"Kind of, except in this case, it doesn't take much for them to switch places."

They all looked to their leader who kept marching, as if his eyes were fixated upon something they couldn't see. They burned with an anger and hatred; some would've put on par with God. Vengeance was his calling, and that is just what he did.

Eventually stories a circled about a vengeful spirit in black walking the Earth, destroying anyone who stood in his way, or anyone who hurt others. "Stay good, and stay alert, when the man in black come to see you, you best have your life in good shape, or face his wrath.

"What fun! A righteous man fallen down the hole of cultist, a peaceful man who became the evil and terrorized the people, and a nice man, became the avatar of vengeance. I must have them for my collection, tell Zeke to have my Zepplin ready and to send the troops to Ottawa, I want those three alive."