Into the Darkness: Chapter One
#1 of Into the Darkness
"Sergeant, we need to get them out of here. I've got a bad feeling about here." I said, looking around the dark sky. "You and your hunches. The bus's tire is almost fixed, and the driver said he will get us back on the road. Trust me, I want out of here just as fast as you do." He said, and then stepped closer, saying quietly, "Especially if we can get to the safe zone." I nodded, and told him I was going to go pull security, and he nodded. Once I had set up my M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, or SAW, I thought how in the hell I got to where I was. Six months ago they attacked the world. They took down governments, military's, terrorist groups, anybody who opposed them. They made all of us fear the sky, and the dark. Dragons.
It started a month ago, while I was finishing up basic training. We had only a week to go, and were just cleaning up gear and talking about seeing our families again. One of the Drill Sergeants busted in the room, and yelled for us all to move downstairs immediately, and to drop everything. We ran down the steps, and I held on to my weapon, getting a bad feeling in my gut. It was the same SAW I still had. They told us about how we had been attacked, and that we would be shipped home immediately to defend our homes. We all looked at each other, with mixed looks of horror and determination. I was ready to do what I had trained for, and was on the first train home, the airlines having been deemed too unsafe for passage. For the next two weeks we had fought hard, trying to defend what we had grown to love and take for granted; freedom. We learned that there were two different kinds of dragons, feral and walkers. The Feral dragons ranged from anywhere to the size of a small dog when they were just hatched and to the size of houses or larger. They were armored, and hard to bring down, with the ability to breathe fire. I had lost many to them, and I had killed 4 of them, with one of their claws hanging around my neck. Not a testament to what I had killed, but a token to remember what I had survived. The walkers were huge as well, but they looked more like humans, if that was possible. They stood at 8 feet tall, not including horns, and they were usually just walls of muscle. They carried swords or axes of some type, plus side-arms and rifles. They were just as deadly as their feral cousins, but twice as cunning. But they did have mercy. They had created a safe zone up in Canada; figures the Canadians don't fight because they never seem to have any enemies. We were headed there, my family on the bus. It was just my mom, dad, and sister. The sergeant, Sergeant Raymond, had his wife and newborn son on the bus, and he was just as edgy as getting us out of there safely. The bus driver waved over to me, and Sergeant Raymond came over the mike and called on the comms to come back to the bus. I had just picked up my SAW and started to move when I saw a look of horror on the bus drivers face, and I saw a shadow loom over me. I dived to the ground, and flipped onto my back, pointing the weapon up. A huge feral dragon looked down at me, his muzzle closed, and he was close enough that when he exhaled his breath gently touched my face. I gulped, but didn't move. I motioned slowly over to the driver to get everyone out of there. "Russo! I'll cover you, get out of there!" Sergeant yelled. "Get them out of here. I'm sorry, but it looks like you'll have to get my family there safely." I whispered. "Tell them I love em, would ya?" I asked. "No! You tell them yourself! You're 17 for God's sake!" He yelled. "Not going to happen. Now go!" I yelled, kicking back, sliding out from under the dragon and taking off in the opposite direction. The dragon took off after me, enjoying the persuit I assume.
After 5 minutes of running, I was out of breath, and the feral was right on me. I saw my opportunity in an overturned city bus. I dived forward, smashing through the windshield, and glass scattered around, and I landed heavily on the roof of the bus. I looked behind me to see where the dragon was, but I didn't see it. "Sarge?" I called, but all I got was static. "Anyone?" I asked, hoping for any response. The dragon came crashing down, and gazed at me from 50 meters away. It laid down, and laid hits head on its' paws. "It is just me and you human." I heard, and I fell back in surprise. The voice had come FROM INSIDE MY HEAD. "You really didn't think that we couldn't communicate? Are you all that foolish?" I shook my head, and got back up, my weapon still on the ground. I reached down to grab it, but the feral lifted its head and glared at me. "Now would that be wise? You are trapped in a tin can, and I can breathe fire." It rumbled in a deep voice, very masculine. I was guessing it was a male. He was a slight bit bigger than the bus, and was all black, with golden eyes. "And what else am I to do? Fight you hand to hand?" I spat. "Why would you fight? You can't possibly think you can win human. It is no dishonor to admit who is superior." "Trust me, I get it. You are bigger, faster, and stronger. So why stop and bother with me?" I asked, grabbing my SAW, and stepping out of the bus toward him. I put on my strap, and hung the weapon down at my side. I raised my hands, and glared at him. "Finish me, eat me, and burn me to a crisp, whatever makes you happy. Because as you said, there isn't a damn thing I can do." The feral tilted his head to the side, and gave me a curious stare. "You are interesting human. All other humans have begged for their lives. And I have granted them that." He said, as if nudging me in the direction of begging. "Does your pride hold you back from begging?" "No, it doesn't. But if I beg, if I plead on my very knees, what difference does it make? I figure another human is nothing to you, you could have all the slaves in the world, ones who would be more than happy to please you in any way that you could possibly imagine, but what is one more? And at this point what use is pride?" I asked, getting heated. "So you do not fear death then?" He asked. "I do not fear death, but I do fear living as a slave. But that doesn't mean that I go out seeking death, or trying to get everyone killed around me." He sat there, looking at me with curiosity. I put my hands down and sat down, resting my arms on my knees. We stayed like that for a good five minutes, before he stood up, and walked over to me. I stayed still, not moving a muscle. "I will let you go human. But on one demand." "And that is?" I asked, looking up at him. "When the day comes that you have a dragon down the sights of your weapon, you offer them the same gift I am giving you. Life." I nodded, and got up. He followed me with his eyes, and I started to walk away, when I turned around. "What made you let me live?" "Because you did not once think of killing me, and you did it so that the others could escape to the safe zone. I have been following you the whole time, and I saw my chance to strike. My goal was to weed out any who would be violent when they reached the safe zone." He reared up, ready to fly, when I called out, asking what his name was. "I am the knight of Callahan, Lord Hrothgar." He called, and leaped into the air, pushing the air with his powerful wings. The wind buffeted me, and I crouched to get out of the wind. When I looked up again into the dark sky, he was nowhere to be seen. And that left me as I had been many times before; alone.
I decided to hoof it to the local town, to see if I could scrounge up some wheels, or if there was anybody at least willing to get me a lift to the next town. As I trudged along, burnt out cars and military vehicles scattered the highway which I found myself upon. I didn't look into the cars, because I knew what I would find; burnt carcasses. But I could still smell them, so I avoided large vehicles, because they smelt the worst. I kept walking, keeping a lookout for anything suspicious in the skies or on the ground. I was about to walk around the corner of an overturned semi when I heard somebody whispering harshly. I quickly ducked behind the trailer, and tried to listen for what they were saying, but it was in vain. I crouched down, and removed my assault pack, which was a little larger than your average backpack, and I rooted around in it to see if I could find... "Mirror, perfect." I said, and zipped up my pack and threw it on my back. I used the mirror to look around the corner, and saw two humans in jeans and sweatshirts standing at the edge of the elevated highway, and looking down off a broken edge. One had a machete, and the other a metal baseball bat. I pulled out my entrenching tool, and screwed it down tight, ready to take them down silently. "Hey you two!" I heard called from down below, and I froze as they looked down. "The Boss wants you to look around before we get these ferals on the move." "Got it. We'll have a quick look around." The one with the machete said, and tapped the other on the arm, and they both turned to start walking my way. I quick pulled the mirror back in, and crawled back so I was out of sight. They split up, and I quickly got up and looked over the edge. What I saw made my blood boil, for an unknown reason. They had multiple cages of feral dragons, all much too small for them, laid out on the back of semi-trucks with flatbeds. "Hey, who are you?" I heard from behind me, and I turned to see the one with the bat had come back. "A soldier of the United States Army. And you?" I asked, getting ready to use my SAW. "Just your average guy. Say, that's a nice weapon. Why don't you just hand that over and I will forget about ever seeing you, okay?" He grinned maliciously. "That isn't going to happen. While I am not happy with this, I am just going to move on." I said, and started to walk by him. He grabbed onto the chest strap of my body armor, and said menacingly, "I cant let that happen kid. Not while I still breathe." "Have it your way." I said, and kicked him in the knee with my combat boot, and he collapsed downward. I swung the entrenching tool, which collided with his head, making a sickening crunch. I grabbed the body and dragged it out of sight, and quickly looked around for the second guard. He was just about on top of me, and I hide around the corner, and once he passed, I whacked him in the back of the head, and he fell unconscious. I put him with the other, and put his machete and sheathe on my belt, and put my entrenching tool away after wiping it off. I hoped down to get a closer look at the camp, and see what intelligence I could gather before making a decision on what I was going to do. After about 5 minutes, I had figured out that there were only 5 of them, and three where in a small shack sleeping. One of the others was in the cab of the large semi which held one feral the size of a car, and it had the door open, and the other was near the other semi, which had two smaller ferals, each in their own cages. I snuck around to one of cages, and looked at the lock. It was a cheap looking lock, and I am surprised that the feral didn't just push against it. It would have broken, and he would have been free. I just shook my head, and hoped that the feral wouldn't try and take my head off as I let them both go. I crept up the cage, and I could see that both were watching me intently. "Shit." I muttered to myself, as the guard walked over to where I was. "What are you mongrels looking at?" He said scowling, spitting at them. One of them, a light brown feral with golden eyes, and whose horns had just began to form growled at him. The guard took a pole with some sort of electrical power and poked it at the feral, and it leaped back as the pole crackled evilly. I crept forward and knocked him over the head with the butt of the saw, and dragged his body under the trailer. I got back out, and smashed the lock, breaking the first feral out. I ran over to the second, and did the same, and I backed up as the broke out of their cages, and both immediately took off into the sky, roaring happily. Great, they just gave me away. The other driver ran over hollering, and I could see the others stirring, and one of them yelled something from the hut. I dashed out and over to the other truck, and hopped in the cab. I started up the truck, and slammed it into gear, the whole vehicle lurching forward, and starting to slowly gain momentum. I heard yelling from behind me, and then a round pinged off the side of the truck, and then another took off the driver side mirror. I ducked down, and slammed through the gears, and after another few minutes, I was well on the road toward the safe zone. But I still had one major problem; the massive and very unhappy dragon which still sat on the back of the truck, caged up.