The sun began its ascent over the horizon as it always did, breaking apart the darkness of night and the creatures that lurked within were revealed once again.
Soft rain fell from the sky as if the world itself was crying over what had befallen it. The remnants of what had been built over centuries were reduced to rubble in no time.
The soft patter of the rain pinged off the alloy frames of the broken buildings, running off the windows to collect as the morning dew.
The world has stabilised since the fall of society as they all knew it, if only by a little. With the rise of the awakened warriors of humanity, they had a chance against this terrible plague, which claimed the lives of so many.
Yet within the remnants of what was once an entertainment stadium for sports and other events, not a single awakened could be counted among the people who now called it home.
Elizabeth's life had fallen apart since the mur… disposal of her husband and his younger companion, Jasper.
Their leader was an older man set in the ways of humanity as it was back in the day, at the end of the dark times, and he believed that made the strongest generation of them all. He believed that the awakened were threats which needed to be eliminated before they could spread their plague to others.
His son was much the same, to the point that they enforced strict policies and rules to make sure nothing was beyond their control, and that everybody had a role to fill, even the youngest of children.
They had said it would make them stronger for when the world is rebuilt, but Elizabeth didn't believe a word either of them said.
Yet she didn't have a choice. If she decided to leave and take her daughter with her, then they would be alone in this world of Nightmares. No person outside of the awakened or the remnants of the military, perhaps, had a hope of surviving on their own. As much as she hated it, her best chance to live was following their orders.
They had travelled for months, stopping at places along the way to restock their supplies or attempt to fortify against swarms of the abominations. This place was no exception to that, no place was safe for long, and today was the day they would be leaving it behind.
They had travelled far in the months which had passed, and yet it wasn't enough. Many of the people who had first accompanied them had either been killed by a vicious beast or simply died from exhaustion along the way.
She got herself ready as she did every day, her clothes were mixed and matched from the various homes they had raided with no real sense of style between them, yet a tinge of the country style she was used to still managed to find its way to accent her standard attire.
Today, it was her duty to guard a section of the perimeter, so she grabbed the last memento of her late husband. His military-grade, custom-issue sniper rifle. The weapon had seen better days, however.
Damian had taught her how to maintain the weapon in the case of an emergency, but she never paid it much attention at the time. Why would she, after all? She had always imagined he would be by her side no matter what happened.
Still, she did her best to keep it in working order, heading out to the outer sections, and she began walking through the once great walkways of this colossal structure to reach her post, until the call to leave was issued.
Along the way, she saw a fight break out between some of the other members. The leader's son had a terrible temper and would violently lash out at anyone who dared to undermine his father's authority or leadership.
He didn't care who it was, men, women and even children were not safe from his wrath, and it always ended the same way, with the people who spoke out being found in a bloody puddle and not awaking for sometimes days at a time.
The man was scarily strong. Elizabeth shuddered to think how terrifying he would become if he ever awakened himself.
The thought calmed her nerves as she walked past the scene unseen, for she knew the fate for those who became infected by the spell in their group.
She didn't agree with the leader's actions in any measure, but she found it poetic that the very man who preached his own superiority would have to put down the one who embodied those ideals.
////
Her shift was rather uneventful. She mainly spent the time looking out over the ruined remnants of this once great city, the broken alloy and concrete frames of the shattered homes and businesses, the dying foliage, and the utter lack of creatures, making it look like a painting, a snapshot of time.
She had always wanted to visit this place, yet this trip was not the one she had in mind. It was once a grand hub of culture and acceptance. The history baked into its very essence had made it a dream come true for some.
Now it lay in ruin, destined to be abandoned and forgotten by future generations just like that, as if it never mattered at all.
After packing her rather short list of belongings, she went to pick her daughter up from where the children were being kept.
They had all long since fallen into place. They had seen what happened to those who spoke out after all.
Marisol was among the older ones, having just passed her tenth birthday, which meant she was made to help with more labour than the younger ones, yet she never complained.
She seemed to understand something that the others did not, she knew that holding onto an idea was sometimes more powerful than letting it be known, that belief could push her through anything, yet she never told anybody what that was.
The two walked side by side silently, each with a weapon in hand, as they journeyed through the terrible reminder of what the world had become. The broken PTVs, the splatters of blood, the shattered homes, all of it was a dark reminder.
By now, there were a little over two hundred survivors within their ranks, too many to move as one group. The monsters were attracted by the smell of humans after all. Instead, they split into two groups and marched down parallel streets until they reached the same location, where they regrouped.
The first group was led by the older man, Nyx, whilst the second, the one Elizabeth and her daughter found themselves in this time round, was organised by his son, Somnus.
Somnus was a rather large man, standing close to six feet two and easily weighing close to two hundred pounds, with a build that screamed he was once a professional athlete, at least if he didn't like to brag about the numerous championship titles he had won during his rather short career.
His hair was raven black, contrasting with his ivory skin, as his eyes shimmered in the light, appearing purple under certain conditions.
They had spent days travelling like this, day in and day out. Only spending short periods to rest and recuperate until they were back on the road again, Nyx's group had fallen behind as Somnus forced his group to keep up a frankly insane pace.
The group were all tired, and some had even been left behind as they could not move any longer, yet the man still seemed full of vitality.
They had found an abandoned farm from a vantage point a few hours away and had finally made it here, planning to make it their new temporary compound, yet what they found was not what they expected.
Survivors. A small group of others came out of the structure, their bodies covered in strange armours pulled from various points in history, with the weapons to match.
'Awakened',
Elizabeth thought to herself, they had met a couple of others along their way, all of which came to a disastrous end.
Somnus walked to meet one of the strangers at the edge of where the farm's fences met the fortified defences crudely shaped from alloy as he spoke in a rather jovial tone,
"Good evening, fellas. My followers and I have been travelling for days in search of shelter, and we didn't realise this place was already occupied when we saw it from afar. Could we trouble you with… staying here a while to regain our lost strength? We'd be happy to supply you with labour if there's anything to be done."
The group stared at each other before one spoke up,
"I'll go ask the Captain, I'm sure he will be fine with it, but just wait here until I confirm. Is there any more of you, or is this it?"
Somnus' innocent smile lit up as he continued,
"Ah, thank you for your generosity, and yes, there is another group just a little further back. Tell your 'captain' he has my thanks."
The young man in beautiful armour quickly moved inside as the survivors stood outside, taking strange glances at the awakened warriors in front of them. Elizabeth was no exception, but whilst most were dazzled by their beauty or felt uneasy by their presence, her emotions were different.
The sight of the awakened prompted memories of Damian, making her feel deep sadness and a longing to see him just one last time.
Soon, the man returned and waved them in. Whoever this 'Captain' was seemed like a nice man to let so many people come in under his care, but little did he know that this would become a grave mistake for him and his men.
/////
Hours later, mundane and Awakened soldiers sat around fires, telling one another stories of their lives. The Captain had come to join in the festivities, yet Elizabeth wasn't in the partying mood; she had seen it all before and knew how it was going to end.
There was nothing she could do to stop what would happen in the next few days, but she at least would keep her own hands free of blood, or so she hoped.
Her daughter had gone to play with some other kids. This was the only time they were allowed to, after all, so they might as well enjoy themselves whilst they could. Meanwhile, she sat around a small fire eating her meal in silence.
Soon, a small group of the awakened approached her. They tried to include her in their conversation at first, but she simply ignored them. They respected her to stop trying, yet they still stayed around the fire as they ate and spoke about recent events.
The men were all covered in beautiful metal armour or strange reflective furs she had not seen before, so she was curious to listen to what they had to say, even if she pretended not to be listening.
Their conversation was rather simple at first, logistics, small arguments and rather basic things that didn't really matter to her all too much until one of them suddenly changed topics,
"....by the way, have you heard the news? Warden wants everyone in the Americas at the moment to be on the lookout for someone known as Immortal Flame. Apparently it's important and anyone with valuable information will get some custom made memories!"
Another looked over as he continued on,
"Yeah, I heard about that. I also heard he sent the two squatters south of Bastion in search of another Citadel under the control of somebody called Nightwalker."
Another nearly spat out his food as he spoke with his mouth full,
"Hey! How dare you disrespect those two like that, for shame. If it wasn't for Damian, we would have all been killed by those undead freaks. Put some respect on his name. It's not his fault they can't return to the Waking World. As for the other one…"
The laughter erupted quickly as they all tried to think of the most impressive thing Jasper did. Sure, he was a nice enough man, but he didn't really stand out all too much. At least he was better than Jest when it came to bad jokes.
Yet despite the high spirits of these awakened, they all quickly stopped as they noticed something.
The young woman who had been silently sitting by their side had stopped eating her food as tears were falling from her face, yet there was a glimmer of something in her eye, a fierce emotion which screamed to be let out as she suddenly turned her face up to face them and demanded;
"Tell me, tell me everything you know about Damian!"