The End Of Fate

“Run, get them back! Tell Red to get to the outer wall now, I can’t stop all them.” This wasn’t the first time we’ve had to pull everyone inside and defend what little we had. Would this ever end? Could we ever go back to a society that isn’t out of a Stephen King novel? The small band of mercenaries were very good at what they did, but up against a force of mindless degenerates who’s primitive instincts where the only driving force in them, the outcome looked bleak. “Williams how in the hell did they mast such a huge force this time?” Cried Red to his war-torn leader. “I have no clue man, it’s like they are beginning to think and form clans.” The scene has become more and more frequent since they settled here, the last of a once great warrior breed, and the remnants of a lost society. The world is now a post-apocalyptic place that has fewer humans than it did mindless freaks. “Hig, do what you can against their fore-runners, Red take out the right flank, I’m going to stop that mongrel in the middle”. Williams yelled over the fire of M-16’s and the roar of Red’s 240. Travis “Red” Spradlin, a fearless Texan, and Williams most trusted general. Once just a normal Marine, who’s only worry was getting to the gym and making sure he was in shape, was now a master of weapons. There’s nothing I couldn’t count on Red to handle, he was just what the ancient warrior races would have loved, strong, fearless, fighter, and a combat mindset unmatched. To bad we got stuck in this time period and not that of ancient Greece, or Rome where would could have lived like royalty. “Fuck, Higginbotham frag them bastards, its not like they have weapons!! Morgan see what you can do about the left flank, I left Cobra and Aylor over there, but I haven’t had radio contact with them for over an hour.” Morgan took his orders without complaint and grabbed his bike, god knows with all this machinery does that man still ride messenger bikes around. The mindless freaks were once humans, but after the nuclear holocaust that killed and mutated 80% of the world, they were nothing less than zombies with a hunger problem. This all started with complications with world leaders, seems history does repeat itself. After the conflicts with Iraq and Afghanistan ended, Korea started showing off their nuclear

weapons, and as usual the United States weren’t going to let that much power go unchecked. It started a cold war all over again, and don’t think Russia and China stood their distance, hell this might have ended better if they had. Korea was alone until Russia banded with us, and a band of rogue Russian agents decided to blow up a nuclear silo in North Korea. China started loading up, and when we asked them to choose sides, well let’s just say this time the world war wasn’t a two-sided battle. China surprised both sides by closing off trade and building up their own nuclear stockpile. When Korea threatened to attack China retaliated, but we made a fatal mistake in trusting Russia to stay out of it, they tried to join up with the Chinese and wound up killing two high families. China again took to the offensive and destroyed Moscow. Russia asked for our hand, Obama obliged and we blocked off China with three regiments of Marines, two Army regiments, and a heavy naval force, which turned out a bad idea for us. We asked for a truce from China, we got our answer when Washington was decimated. “Williams, that one in the middle is their leader, I say we rain mortar fire on them.” Red radioed over Williams. “Yea that would work, but where’s the fun in that?” Williams was respected by his followers, but talk about his brain being fried by the nuclear blasts had turned him psychotic were seeming more and more true. “I’ll handle him on my own, plus why waste ammo when we still have actual enemies with their own weapons?” Williams’ transmission ended while Spradlin watched as his leader jumped over the wall, swords drawn. Williams lived in his own little world, where medieval fighting was the only true test of a man’s ability to call himself a warrior. The mindless freaks, which couldn’t name themselves but were called shrieks because the only form of language they had was a high pitch yell, saw Williams and charged. His eyes gleamed as he lowered into a stance, swords touching the ground as he made his charge. “Ha ha ha, little fucktards, DON’T YOU KNOW I AM THE BEAST!!!” Williams ran slicing through the shrieker infantry like they were nothing more than cardboard cutouts. Thompson followed Williams ripping through the shrieks with his rifle. “Williams your going to get us killed why did I ever agree to

join you!!” Thompson yelled as he killed the last few around him. “Because if not you’d still be sitting in that bunker trying to defend yourself.” “Well hello there, I’m Derek Williams and today you picked the wrong fort to send your little lackeys to attack.” Derek said as he stood in front of the nearly seven foot shriek leader. “Grrrr.” Was all the leader mustered out as it picked up a tree limb and started towards Williams in a blind less rage. These damn things are starting to regain thought, well I’m actually happy, and killing a thoughtful enemy will be way more fun than wasting another knick in my blade on a useless opponent. Just hope this ends before actual fighters show up and get us before we can regain defenses. Derek grinned as he decided how to take out this brute. The leader charged and swung the limb at Derek, with grace Derek dodged and sliced the left leg of the leader. It let out a deafening bellow and stood up broke the limb in two and ran at Derek again. Thompson had the brute in his sites, when he got a call over his headset. “Thompson, we need you and whoever you can muster over on the left flank, it seems Aylor was overwhelmed, and we have A.J taking him to med. These things might be mindless but they are strong as fuck, and they don’t know pain.” Morgan yelled over the gun blast pouring through the radio. “Williams, I know you heard that, end him and let’s go!” Thompson said as he started running back to the fort. “Thompson, Red’s finished the right flank, radio him and tell him to leave a small force there and to head to Morgan’s position.” The leader said as he took off his radio and put it on the ground. “It’s just me and you now big boy, how it should be, leader’s fighting one on one, like the good ole days.” The shrieker brute almost seemed to register what it was being told. It stood there, let out another growl and charged again, Williams slid under it slicing off both legs. The brute leader laid there, trying to reach for his weapons, as Derek flipped him over. “Seems like your done my friend, well valiantly you fought, and for that I’ll give you a warrior’s fate.” Williams quickly put both blades on opposite sides of the beast’s head and cut it clean off.

“Why in the hell do you insist on using those blades instead of a practical weapon?” Red tossed Derek a towel as he questioned his friend. “Practical, I think you have it messed up here, mine will never jam, never-ending ammo, and the satisfaction of letting your enemies know who their grim reaper is. Can your guns give you that kind of practicality? I think you can mark that on your list of shit not to ask me.” Derek laughed as Red cleaned his machine-gun. The mercenaries all sat back in the command center of a make-shift fortress, well more or less a base that once was Camp Lejuene, an old Marine Corps base in North Carolina. Maybe their right, maybe this entire dark god-forsaken world has gotten to me. Maybe I have lost it, but who can blame me? I’m doing all I can to keep these people alive just until I can get them back to some type of civilization. Derek’s band of mercenaries, The Black Vikings, as their banner would tell you, were once a group of legal Marines who’s only job was to help military attorney’s, now were warriors for hire helping those who they deemed good. “So how’s the arm Frater?” Derek asked his TKE brethren Aylor as he stood next to his bed. “Well it works, thought I killed them before they got up the wall, but pain means nothing to them, unless you shoot them in the head they just keep coming, lil’ bastard took a nasty chunk of my arm before Hig boot-stomped his ass.” “A.J. make sure he isn’t infected, can’t lose anymore men.” Derek walked away from the bed, while A.J followed him. A.J. was a nice girl, one you’d never think of being in a war. Derek found her in Illinois while looking for his family. Right after the final nuclear blast had settled, and the Marines exited the shelter Derek took off in a hum-vee heading for home. Some of his merc’s think that was when he started losing it, because he went searching for his family and friends back home, only to find a hellish looking land that had once been filled with lakes and farmland. He couldn’t find his mother, only hoping that his brother somehow got there and got her to safety before Illinois was leveled, and most of his friends were dead or mutated. A.J was the only survivor of a person he knew during his search, he picked up another five wanderers as he headed back to North Carolina.

“You know if you would actually listen to them I wouldn’t have to worry so damn much about you.” You have to love A.J., even with all this shit I pull she still cares for me, mean she could’ve stayed in Missouri, settled down and happy with some man there, but yet she follows me and my band as a healer. Could I show her the love she deserved, when my heart was still hoping that Mi Amor is still alive? “Well if I did that then you might not stay around.” Derek laughed as he turned and put his arms around her. A.J. pushed him away. “God you’re so stupid sometimes, and to think you still try to joke around with a war going on.” She turned folded her arms. Derek walked up behind her put his arms around her and kissed her cheek from behind. “Do you expect anything else from me?” She turned and kissed him back. “God knows I’d be lying if I said yes.” A.J. truly cared for Derek; during these times it’s hard to believe that people could still love one another. “Hey have we gotten any contact further out than the safe haven?” Derek directed to Morgan as he walked into the room breaking up the moment. Morgan was a great friend; thank God he wasn’t stuck in Okinawa when this shit went down. To look at him you wouldn’t see a fighter, more of a jokester who was a little nerdy, and a good sense of humor. I’m glad he got held at the base with us, without him we probably would have never made it this far. Morgan’s my strategist, very creative with battle plans, probably from playing WOW to damn much. “No, it’s that damn Brotherhood, they blast their transmissions so high, and we can barely contact the haven.” “It’s ok, just keep me posted on your progress, I need to speak with the haven ASAP, today’s attack made me consider getting these people out sooner.” Derek said as he walked into his little office. The Haven was located in the mountains of Missouri, where the blasts did little damage, founded by the Chosen. The Chosen where brothers, three of them to be exact, untouched by the war including their wealth. The Chosen had set up two havens, one in Missouri, one in Canada, Derek had never been to the one in Canada and it was pure luck that he ran across the one in Missouri. After finding A.J. he was chased by shriekers, he tried escaping, but ended up in Missouri, with little means of defense. Barricading himself and the others inside the old Anhueiser Busch factory, he awaited death when he ran out of

ammo, when a small detachment showed up and wiped out the creatures. Had it not been for those Haven soldiers, we would have been killed, Arithiel was there to greet me, damn near took his head off with a ball bat, right before his guard slammed me to the ground. He approached me and offered me a life of peace, in this crazy world I thought he had lost it. But his Haven was a paradise, I thought I had died, people where actually living their lives like nothing had ever happened, it seemed like civilization lived on. I learned of his other brothers Lolinden and Daxces, who had took a regiment of soldiers and made a similar Haven in Canada. He offered me a job as a General for his troops, but I had to go back and get my boys, if they were still alive. A parting gift was my blades, Narcil, and Arthanc, he said it would be more affective than my ball bat, gave us some supplies and a few soldiers and told me to make contact as soon as I made it. “A.J. why do you follow me around?” Derek said as he looked grimly down at his desk. “Because you need me Derek, and I need you. I feel safe around you, nothing bad will happen with you close to me.” A.J. put her arms around him trying to comfort him. “How many did we lose today?” Derek shook her off. “Only three, nothing we could do, those things flew out of the trees, only one soldier, and two civilians.” “Dammit, I got to get them back before Arithiel loses his patience with me and finds a better mercenary.” “Who is better than you? Your pack has saved over a thousand lives since you took the job, yea we have lost a few but we knew that in the beginning.” Derek rose shivering at the thought of losing more lives. He takes it hard losing just one, he made a promise to himself that he would never risk other’s lives for his own gain, that his job was more to help rebuild than to profit. “Those three were three to many, I can’t keep losing bodies, make sure we don’t charge the Haven for them.” Derek’s expression was cold as an Alaskan night, it was hard to figure him out, and he could turn from the biggest clown to the coldest statue in mere seconds. “Derek, there was nothing you could do, they knew the risk just like you did, they chose to go outside the walls.” “But I should have stopped there, or gave them an escort, they shouldn’t have to live in fear, none of us should, our job is to protect them.” A.J. walked up to him and rubbed his arm, then turned and walked out of the office back to the medical facility.

“He ok?” Red asked A.J. “You know him, beating himself up for losing people; I just don’t understand how he has that much compassion for protecting, especially in this world.” The whole room stopped and listened to the conversation between Red and A.J. “He has always had a big heart, always trying to make the best of a bad situation and he cares way to much, you know he actually stopped me from killing a soul eater? Said he could sense good left in em, what the hell does that mean?” Red looked puzzled as did the rest of the room. Aylor struggled out of bed and walked over to Red. “Derek might be weird, but he saved us and takes care of us, maybe he might have an ability to sense that shit, who knows, in this world anything is possible, mean you’ve seen what the radiation did.” Aylor was referring to the shriekers, soul eaters, animals of the world, mutants, and the feared hunter killers. Most of the radiation off the bombs killed people and wildlife as soon as they breathed it in, but those that didn’t mutated, some turned into the shriekers, some into super-humans with destruction on their minds which we called mutants, the animals were the same only bigger and more dangerous, and soul eaters, humans that were more like demons. They can talk and act like humans, but don’t be fooled, they don’t only kill humans, but they eat them, in a ritual they refer to as “soul consumption”, makes me sick, they keep the teeth or skulls or bones and make jewelry out of them or shrines. The worst of these creatures are the hunter-killers, massive nine foot beasts that resemble mutants but without the voice, they only know destruction, and somehow they learned how to design weaponry, turning regular rifles into machine guns. They were worse than anything I ever dreamt of, and beyond the strength of anything, I’ve seen these things lift tanks and hurl them. If there is a God, he is testing our faith to the max. “Ok men, start gearing up, Captain Morgan got through to The Chosen, they are awaiting our arrival in three days, I want everyone to be on high alert, the Coven will be out, and every damn creature this world has created will be hunting us.” Derek shouted orders as he came out of his office. One thing that kept the team’s spirits up was seeing their leader and all his determination. Derek never showed weakness in front of anyone but his closest companions. A trait that kept them fighting even when the odds where up against them. “You heard the boss get your asses in gear, we ain’t got time, you pussy-foot around and

you can find your own way to the Haven.” Red shouted to the crowd of on lookers. This pickup consisted of the Black Vikings and about a hundred and twenty civilians. The Haven somehow before the war or maybe after stockpiled supplies, food, medical supplies, and vehicles they even had helicopters, but Arithiel would not lend those to his hired help. Derek, as much as he trusted The Chosen, kept his guard up around them; he never trusted those in power which is why he always asked for the help of his friends. Friends, all I got left, yet sometimes you judge people the wrong way, friends ca be your worst enemy one day if they get the chance. For some reason I gave them the opportunity to step in and hurt me and some took it, and they only added to the anger. I just hope I can control it, because it’s not safe not now, if I lost, God knows what I would do to those I actually cared for. The mercenaries were a weird bunch, each having a unique style and background. Spradlin, a Texan who had a good heart, but a temper like a caged tiger, Morgan good guy funny as hell, always wanted a bike or some foreign made car, but never saw him without a book or a computer around him. Claxton, a fellow Midwest boy, he and Williams went to boot camp together, good soul but a maniac on the battle field. Higginbotham, a weird character in himself, always smiling and having a good time, but he was in sorrow, searching for his wife, not knowing what happened to her, maybe why he turned to exotic drugs to cope with. Thompson was actually higher up than all the gang, but once the apocalypse started he followed Derek in every order, funny as hell but to find a more loyal man, there was none. Then there was Aylor, biggest jokester around, without him insanity probably would have set in by now. “I think taking the main road would be the best bet, of course we will run into a lot of trouble but it’s fast and nothing that we can’t handle. Spradlin’s truck should tear through most of everything in the road, and if we get stopped our task force will stop everything but an army.” Morgan was explaining to Derek as they prepped for the evacuation. “Damn right, Chevy 2500, on twenty-five inch tires, raised with a plow from hell on the front? I’d like to see what gets in my way.” “We know Red, how many times you going to explain to us how glorious your truck is?” Derek laughed as he gave Red a playful shove. “Just

until you get something better.” Red gave Derek a shove back. The convoy was pretty well set, with Red’s beast in front, followed by Thompson’s Charger, three tanked out buses, two humvees, and Derek’s Chevelle trailing. I loved big trucks but once I saw the ’69 Chevelle sitting there just as I dreamed she would be any price Arithiel asked I would pay. Only took me picking up his nephew from Georgia to get the keys. This guy have been some type of billionaire before all this shit happened. Red’s engine roared to life, shaking everything around the truck, he stepped up into the driver seat with his shotgun and cowboy hat, flipped the radio to life and country blared throughout the base. “Why in the hell do you have to play that shit? Need to get some good music in your stereo.” Aylor cried trying to be heard over the stereo. Derek laughed as him and A.J. entered the maroon Chevelle. “Should I let him play country or should I show them what good music is?” Derek asked A.J. as he grabbed the Ipod and shuffled through songs. “Well you know it wouldn’t be right if we only had one type of music playing on a trip.” He found a song he liked and clicked play. The whole convoy turned as the system in the Chevelle came to life, as