[IC] After the End (L2W & BrightBlade)

[Love2Write]

After the End

"It was the night of July 4th. Most everyone in America was looking up at the sky, watching fireworks take off and explode in brilliant colorful lights. It was a night of fun, barbecues, bad dad jokes and laughter. None of us could've known the world would end that night.

We saw a flash of light erupt among the stars. Before we had a chance to wonder what was happening or what it was, a blue light covered the world and screams replaced laughter. I felt like my body was burning and I passed out. When I woke up, everyone was dead. Just like that.

Ma and Pa and my older brother and his kids, the neighbors and their kids. Not just people though, animals too. Well, most of them. The insects, and little animals like rats and such seem to be in abundance still. And most of the smaller tougher plant life is unaffected as well, though the tall trees are already starting to brown.

I don't know why I was one of the few to survive, but I'm sure as hell going to make the grey bastards who did this pay. I won't let their mech-suits or weapons stop me."

~ Jessyka "Jess" Myers, age 23

[Love2Write]

Jess sat at the edge of the multiple graves she'd dug for her family and neighbors. It had taken a week to bury them all and she'd spent every moment cursing The Grey and wanting to put a shotgun to their faces. 15 people she'd buried, and every single one a precious life to her that couldn't be replaced. She wished she'd died with them, very seriously considered digging one last grave for herself, but she wasn't that brave. She'd live...live for them. Get justice for them.

The lights in the farmhouse a few hundred yards away flickered and went out as the last of the generator fuel burned away. She took that as a sign it was time to go. Taking a deep breath and wiping the last tears from her eyes, Jess stood, saying one last goodbye and entering the house.

It was hard walking through the quiet dark, saying goodbye to the saddles that would never be used again, the butter-churn her brother had gotten her as a gag-gift, the variety of farm tools, animal shears and other basic farm gear she wouldn't be able to use for a long time. Jess took her time packing the essentials, making sure she'd have everything she'd need for a long journey. There were no humans alive in her town...she'd checked, so she was going to have to go elsewhere and the gas in the truck was limited, even with the couple of extra cans she'd packed in the back. Who knew when she'd be able to come back here.

She tucked away a pistol and ammo into her bag, locking away the rest of the weapons and tools she might need if she ever came back in a safe in the basement and hiding the key away in a bag at the back of a freezer full of rotting meat. If anyone came by to scavenge, they likely wouldn't look there.

Once she'd packed everything she could carry she took the keys to the truck, locked the front door (lots of good that would do), and drove down the dirt road through the empty dead town. Despite the harsh Texan summer heat, and her limited gas, she kept the windows rolled up and a bandanna over her mouth and nose. The smell of rotting people and animals was eye-watering and gag-worthy. She wished she could bury them all, but that was impossible. She had to consider her own survival first.

Jess pulled out a map after she'd weaved her way through the stopped cars and obstacles in her way and looked San Antonio. If there were going to be any survivors anywhere, it would be there. It was a crossroads city for hundreds of towns in the surrounding region. With almost a two hour drive ahead of her, she settled back in her seat and put the petal to the metal.

[BrightBlade]

Two piles of freshly dug dirt marred the landscape of what had once been David King’s front yard. The piles of dirt covered the graves he’d dug for his wife and daughter, they had not survived the invasion. He didn’t know how he had, no one from his squad had either. Just him. He wished he could be dead with the rest of them, but he was filled with too much white-hot rage. No, he needed to get revenge. Now that his wife and daughter were buried properly, he could work on his justified retribution.

Inside his home, even though it didn’t feel like home anymore, he stopped in front of a mirror. He hardly recognized himself. He was wearing his military uniform, which for his unit had been urban camouflage, though it was now mostly black from being covered in dirt and dried blood. His normally short black hair had grown long enough that he was now pulling it back into a ponytail – he thought manbuns were stupid. His beard had grown quickly, hiding some of the scars on his face not all. His face had been battered and bruised after his run in with the Greys but was now just a variety of healing scars. He’d found an eyepatch to cover the eye he’d lost and was surprised at how well the look suited him.

He took one last look at his daughter’s bedroom, a pale pink that he had painted upon her request last summer. Her stuffed animals were sitting at her tea table, still waiting for her to return with their tea and crumpets. He picked up a small white teddy bear and stuffed it into his bag, he and his wife had picked the bear out together as their daughter’s first stuffed animal. He couldn’t let it go but now it was time to leave, this house held nothing for him but painful memories.

He’d found he had a strange new “power” after his altercation with the Grey. He could create, and manipulate to an extent, fire. He conjured the flame in his hand, fueling it with his anger and pain before setting the house on fire on his way out the door.

All things considered he’d stolen his neighbor’s motorcycle instead of keeping his pickup truck. It got better gas mileage and could easily weave around the litany of obstacles he would run into. It wasn’t like his neighbor would need it anymore anyway. The fact that it would have pissed Bob off that David had stolen it made it all the more satisfying when he tossed his leg over the black motorbike and headed towards the Army base, Fort Sam Houston.

[Love2Write]

It was nearing night when Jess finally entered San Antonio. There were too many cars in the streets to continue driving her truck so she parked it on the side of the road, hiding away the keys and grabbing her backpack. The smell here was just as bad as it had been in her home town. However here rotting flesh was mixed with burning flesh. The bandanna around her nose and mouth did little to filter the acrid scent as she weaved her way through cars and far around piles of burning bodies. People were here, people who were alive. The grey wouldn't have bothered piling bodies for a gruesome pyre.

Jess kept her eyes wide open, noting lights in the distance. Lights meant electricity. She quickened her pace, following the road noting signs that pointed towards the Army Base of Fort Sam. She wasn't surprised. Of course people would gather at an army base. They'd just been attacked. People were going to go where there would be weapons and nominal protection. She wished she'd thought of it before abandoning her vehicle but it was too late now. She kept up a steady jog, aiming to reach the base before night set in.
She was not scared of the dark, not normally. But this wasn't the same world she'd known a few weeks ago.

It took over an hour of walking and jogging to reach the base, a decent sweat discoloring her collar and wetting her brow. She pulled off the bandanna as she reached the gate, noting several self appointed guards. They pointed weapons towards her as they heard her approach, and a flashlight shone in her direction. "Whoa! Easy, I'm human!" She called out, hands raised up to show she wasn't holding any weapons. Her shotgun was slung on her back.

"You got identification!?" One of them called to her, his voice trembling. Shit, he was younger than she was by the way his voice cracked.
"Easy there, Jace." An older man with wispy white hair stepped forward and waved Jess closer. "I'm Tucker. What's your name and where you from?"
"Jess Myers. I'm from Cotulla." She showed her driver's license.
"What was the population?"
"'Bout 5,000." Jess answered solemnly. "Small place..."
"Anyone else alive there?" He asked in a tone that was weary as he looked over her license.
She shook her head. "Far as I could tell, just me."
"Shit..." He muttered and handed back her license.
"How...how many here?" She nodded at the base behind him.
"Fifty-two. People are arriving every couple hours now but...the death count so far is in the hundreds of thousands." He shook his head. "Its the Apocalypse, no doubt about it. You encountered any of The Grey in person yet?"
"Naw." Jess shook her head. "Terrified I was gonna though."
"Yup, we all are, kid. Go on inside, get yourself a hot meal and grab a bunk. If ya need medical assistance ask the people with the red badges on their arms. Ya need information, ask someone with a blue badge. If you brought anything you can donate to help, like medical supplies, please do."
"Sure. Thanks." Jess nodded and slipped inside the gate, a shiver going down her spine. It was all so surreal.

The inside of the base was clean, organized and quiet. Too quiet. Those that spoke, did so in hushed tones as if speaking above a murmur would attract the attention of the Aliens. Ridiculous of course, but she felt the same fear. Most people were in a state of shell-shock, sitting on bunks and staring blankly into space. The people with red and blue badges were doing their best to help organize the refugees and answer questions, of which too many had no answers. She didn't realize she'd frozen in the doorway till someone with a red arm badge touched her shoulder. A women with flaming red hair and green eyes. "You alright hun? You hurt at all?"
"Mm, no. I..." The words stuck in her mouth as the reality of the situation suddenly struck her.
The nurse just nodded understandingly. "Men are bunking on the left, women on the right, families..." She grimaced slightly, revealing just how few families there still were, "Families in the back. Put your stuff on which ever one that's free. No one is gonna take anything. We've got guards watching closely for theft. And honestly..." She shrugged, "There is more than enough to go around right now."
Jess nodded. "Yeah, thanks." She noted several tables set up in the middle of the bunker. One had people with blue badges and paperwork. Even in the apocalypse there was paperwork. Another was a makeshift medical station where people were being treated and given medicine. Another had food that was being served out. She grabbed a bottom bunk in the corner, hiding her stuff under the bed but putting her coat on the pillow to mark it. She kept her shotgun slung on her back. It was Texas in the middle of an Alien invasion so of course no one stopped her. Everyone wanted to be armed. She made her way to the back of the line, waiting for her turn to get some food.

[BrightBlade]

David had arrived at the base to find it was being run mostly by civilians, not enough people had survived to really be picky about it now. As someone who had actually encountered the Grey in person he found himself talking far more than he would have liked. He didn't have any new information, no secrets, no previously unknown information. He was of no help and any hope he gave people by being the survivor of a Grey attack quickly vanished at his reluctance to talk about it. He was making sure everyone was situated after his shift on the gate had finished. His stomach growled and with a sigh he headed to the chow line.

"Hurry up and wait, welcome to the Army," David said to the shotgun toting woman in front of him.

Ordinarily civilians and any personnel not party of the Military Police Force would not be allowed armed on base. Their situation was anything but ordinary. As far as they could tell, they were the only operational base in Texas but it could just be that communications were knocked out. David hoped it was the latter, he couldn't imagine a world where the greatest military in the world was brought not to its knees but to its death in one fell swoop.

He was armed himself, a Smith & Wesson Shield .40, a series of knives and he even had a few grenades tucked away out of sight. He didn't know how long he would stay at the base, he wasn't entirely certain that it was safe to gather in large groups like this. Ordinarily, he would consider a military base a defensible position but that was with a fully trained and staffed military. Not civilians who had lost everyone they had once known or loved. Even he wasn't immune to the grief but he hid it better than most.

"Food isn't great but you won't starve," David said as he grabbed a tray and handed it to her before grabbing his own tray.

He wasn't kidding about the food not being great. They were served chili with ground beef, a smattering of shredded cheese and a large undercooked potato. There was no restriction on how many servings you could have, there was more than enough food to go around and people needed the calories.

[Love2Write]

"Thanks." Jess nodded at the man who'd handed her the tray. "Suppose we should be grateful. Good meat is gunna to run out real soon here with everythin' larger than a cat dead." She noted with a resigned sigh. At first she hadn't even been aware that he was talking to her. She felt out it, like being in some sort of surreal dream. It had been all to real as she buried her family but now that she was here, it just felt like some sort of strange nightmare. She waited for the volunteer to pile on the chili, beef and potato, finding a empty table to sit at.

After settling down, she rubbed her temples then stuck the plastic fork into the potato and slowly scooping out the innards so she didn't have to eat the bitter brown skin. She needed a shower. She could smell the smoke, ash and other particulates on her clothes. Her tired eyes cast over the man who'd given her a tray. "I'm Jess, by the way. How long you been here?"

[BrightBlade]

She had a point about the meat he thought as he combined everything into his chili. He hoped the heat of the chili would soften the under cooked potato.

"I'm David, I would say it's nice to meet you Jess but I really wish it were under different circumstances." He ventured a bite of his chili sopped potato, pleased to see that it had in fact softened some. "I've been here a few days. The fascination with me has died down, my squad and I were actually attacked by the Grey. I was the only survivor. Before you ask, I don't know some grand secret on how to kill them. I was lucky to get away, one of them kept my eye as a souvenir. What about you? Just arrive? Where from? How many did you lose?"

He knew better than to ask if she had lost anyone. It wasn't a question of if but how many.

[Love2Write]

"Shit." She muttered at the revelation he'd actually fought the bastards that had done this. By squad he likely meant he'd been military. Jess took a small bite of the chili but the ground beef reminded her of all the bodies and she couldn't bring herself to eat it. "Um, got in from Cotulla about half an hour ago. Drove about 100 miles per hour all the way here, terrified I'd run into...them."

Jess took a breath, offering the beef patty to the soldier across from her. He'd need more than she did anyway. "There were 15 of us all gathered for July 4th. I was...the only one." She stated slowly, taking care to try and not start crying again. Time for tears was over. "I've got some cousins in Washington...don't know about them but...I'm not hopeful. You?" She questioned, looking up into his singular eye. She chided herself for thinking that he'd be an awfully handsome pirate. Stupid tired brain.

[BrightBlade]

"I lost my wife and daughter," he said matter of factly though he couldn't meet her gaze. Instead he was very interested in his chili for a while before they were approached by one of the few remaining military officers.

"King, think you can round up a partner for some perimeter scouting? It's making us all a little uneasy that we haven't seen the Grey. Considering your experience with them I figured you'd be the best man for the job." The officer didn't so much as acknowledge Jess. His eyes were bloodshot and his uniform looked like he'd been wearing it for days, smelled like it too.

"Yeah," David grunted. "I'll finish my meal and see if I can get a volunteer to go with me. Any particular spot you want me to check out first?"

The officer shook his head no before walking away briskly, undoubtedly having a million other things on his mind.

David finished his chili with no added haste, he wasn't looking forward to asking these people to volunteer to go looking for the Grey with him. He looked around the room, the men and women around looked like the pictures he had seen in old history books of Holocaust survivors - haunted. Permanent circles were forming under everyone's eyes, no one able to sleep soundly after what they had been through. He made a mental note to suggest they outfit everyone with the surplus of uniforms the base had, it would be better suited to the weather and might save lives in the coming days if they had to leave the base for any reason.

His gaze finally returned to his dining companion. He gave her a calculating once over, noting the shotgun she carried. "Any good with that thing?" he asked. "I don't suppose you'd want to go on a scouting run. You look like you can move quick and quiet but if you don't want to for any reason, I can find someone else."

[Love2Write]

"Bastard Grey..." Jess had muttered as he spoke of the loss of his wife and daughter. They'd all lost someone here. Everyone was hurting. Losing a child seemed like the worst thing that could happen though. To live with the knowledge you hadn't been able to protect your own innocent kid. The thought made her sick and she was glad that she'd never been married nor lost a child.

While he ate at his food silently, Jess did the same until the military officer came over asking for volunteers to scout the area. Shit...if they encountered the Grey around here they were all screwed. None of them had a rat's tail chance in surviving. Well, David had. Maybe he was the lucky sort...in a terrible luck sort of way.

She tore herself out of her thoughts as he nodded to her shotgun. Jess nodded. "I can shoot a pair of geese in flight from two hundred yards." The brag seemed weak but it was something. "Not much good with a pistol or rifle though." She admitted. "But I can be stealthy when needed, if my theft of Ma's pies while they were coolin' under her nose..." Her small smile at the memory faded as she remembered once again every last one of them were gone.

Jess cleared her throat and wiped her mouth. "Sure, I'll come with ya. Nothin' better to do round here than waiting I reckon. Might as well do somethin' productive." She stood from the table, going over to a desk with blue badge and picking up extra ammo for her gun along with a water bottle for herself and David. She offered the extra water to him. "Any chance we can patrol where the bodies arn't burnin' or rottin'?"

[BrightBlade]

David's eyes softened when she mentioned her Ma's pies. The losses were the toughest things to deal with in his experience. He hoped they wouldn't need to test how well she could shoot that shotgun. He nodded when she asked if they could patrol where the bodies weren't burning or rotting. He understood, the smell took a while to get used to and he hoped no one else would have to get used to the smell. To him, it smelled like barbecue now.

"We can check out the Northern gate, it's been a few days since we checked out that way anyway. Most of the burning is to the East and the wind should keep it South of us anyway."

David showed her to one of the working jeeps they used for patrol, no top gave them 360 degrees line of sight. He hopped in the drivers seat after holding the door open for Jess on the passenger side. He quickly explained any hand motions he might make to her while on patrol, he was a man of few words to begin with but found himself talking more through this tragedy than during other time in his life.

They pulled up to the gate and David turned the engine off but left the keys in the ignition, those precious few seconds could mean the difference between life and death during a chase. It also prevented a corpse from being the one with the key in the event things went south.

They walked out of the gate and he took point, his gun already drawn and pointed at the ground in front of him. There weren't any signs of the Grey as far as he could tell. There wasn't really signs of anyone. They continued in silence for about a half mile before David's blood ran cold. He held up a fist to signal for Jess to stop. He spotted two bodies in the distance and judging from the size they were kids. His head whipped around as he scanned the nearby treeline for any sign of the Grey.

"If anything moves, don't shoot just run back to the jeep." He instructed before he took off at a light jog.

He was almost right about the bodies, they were teenagers, maybe 14-15 years old. He tapped them lightly with his foot even though he could see the telltale signs of a Grey attack. He bent down and closed their eyes. He rifled through their pockets, a few granola bars, a lighter, some cigarettes and their IDs. He pocketed the IDs before returning to Jess.

"Kids. Maybe a day or two they've been lying there. We'll have a patrol get the bodies in the daylight tomorrow."

[Love2Write]

Jess looked sick as David reported back but managed to keep her cool, a part of her still numb from the horrors of the last week. Her expression turned to one of concern and dread as she looked around, half expecting them to get ambushed as well. "If The Grey recently killed these kids..." She murmured. "We're not that far from the base, David. With their level of technology, they must know we're here. So...why haven't they attacked us and destroyed us yet?"

To her credit, Jess stayed calm though her voice had risen in pitch slightly. She cradled her shotgun, finger resting over the trigger, ready to defend herself at a moment's notice. There wasn't much to see in the dark, the moon casting an eerie glow around the world. Her already on edge mind, turned shadows into alien shapes that disappeared as she blinked rapidly. Stay calm. Stay Calm. She ordered herself, taking several slow deep breaths.

[BrightBlade]

David holstered his weapon and marched up to Jess, grabbing her gently by the shoulders. "Just breathe," he reminded her softly. "You're alright. We are going to head back to base. Just breathe. I won't let anything happen to you." He waited a moment before letting her go and drawing his pistol again.

The way back seemed to take too long and go by super fast at the same time. David got Jess a cold water and checked on her before reporting their finds. They didn't need anyone having a panic attack because of the proximity to the base but everyone had a right to know. To decide if they should stay or head out on their own or in small groups. David wasn't sure what he was going to do. He opted to just sit, let someone else make the decision - he was drained. It was never easy seeing a dead civilian but they were just kids. They had been on there way here either for help or because they knew someone here. There was no telling if the person they might have been looking for was even still alive.

The rage he felt caused a spark at the edge of his fingertip. He shook his hand like he'd been burned but really he was just trying to calm down.

[Love2Write]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka_96MHzdGw&list=PLYQHMwP5Y65raCDjEKBvgHiVje8acjVL9&index=24&t=0s

Jess sat numbly on her chosen bunk, the cold cup of water in her hands that David had kindly given her. She drew a knee up to her chest, resting her cheek on it and quietly weeping at the thought of those kids surviving the massacre only to get killed days later. It reminded her, that even though they'd survived, the grey still might very well wipe them out. What hope was there for them against an advanced race of intelligence.

The conversation in the bunker was taking on a fevered pitched as people heard of what she and David had discovered only miles away outside the gates of the city. Several were already packing up and forming into small groups to take their chances outside the city. She wondered if they'd have a better chance separated or together. There were advantages and disadvantages in both options.

With a sigh, Jess set her water down and walked over to where David was sitting on his bunk, looking just as sullen, and angry. She couldn't blame him for being angry. They'd all lost so much to the Grey. She stepped forward a hand reaching out then froze a spark, like the flicker of a flame appeared on the tip of his finger. Just as quickly as it had appeared, he shook out his hand. Had it just been her imagination? "What was that?" She questioned, forgetting why she'd originally come over for a moment. "Your finger..it..." She didn't know how to explain it without sounding crazy.