Beyond Darkness: Chap 1

...Humanity is lost;

So beware,

Beware...







...  Roughly 90 years later  ...

The world had turned to shit there was no doubt about that, it had turned into dust and barren land. Only a few places of green survived and even then those where hard to come by, and if you were lucky enough to come across them, they were heavily guarded by those who had found them before hand. The Free City was one of those places. Raised from the ground almost 100 years ago by those who had survived the horror of the old world, the skeletal remains of the city lost still remains littered around this safe haven.

Inside its walls, a two headed crow pecks at the dried remains of a cow at the edge of a slaughter yard, one of the few lucky enough to still be consumable. A breeze blowed dust and tumble weeds through the cramped streets, the sun bleached bones of other animals littering the slaughter yard creating a boneyard, the crow squawked and carried on, proud of the food it had found, oblivious to the commotion going on around it, happy at the slim scraps of food in this form of civilisation.

People started to come out of their shops or stalls that littered the streets, dressed in rags or any form of clothing from the old world, old fabrics stitched together, shirts, hoodies or even jeans, trying to keep what left of humanity alive, selling or trading things of worth, scrap metal or parts for the mechanics still trying to keep some of the machines running, chains or even (if they were lucky) jewellery to some of the stall merchants, any way they could to make a living. Everything halted this day though, the whisper's started through the crowd, coward, traitor, failure  just some of the things mentioned as armoured guards made their way through the mounds of flesh, creating a path before them as they shouted. Their quarry? A child. One of many in this Citadel, it screamed and cried out at the top of its lungs, squirming against the guards as hard as they could, little bits of blood dropping on the dry earth as they made their way through the surrounding crowds, the screams of the child reaching deaf ears as they made their way closer and closer to the gate, disturbing the crow from its meal, flying and squawking into the air it flew. Where it got a birds eye view of the punishment that was to befall the child once through the gates.

With a groan and bursts of stale air as the old bolts gave way, the gates to The Free City opened, revealing the desolate landscape and the bones  what was left. Fifty metres away from the protection of those who survived outside the gates, was a cleared space, bloodstained from countless executions from other unfortunates.

The guards led the child, now defeated, to the pillar in the centre where old rusted chains awaited. No longer squirming, the child's limp wrists where placed in the shackles. The groans of the world outside the protection of The Free City started to creep, the ghostly sounds coming in on the breeze. The child started to shake, the guards quickly finishing off securing the chains. The shadows of night started to slowly eat up the ground, night was coming...

And with it... unspeakable horrors.

The crow circled the scene for a bit longer, noticing a small glint in the dying light, flying down, it hopped around the crying child. At its feet lay an ID of sorts... an old rusted circular piece of metal with a number stamped into it, the crow, curious, picked at it, jumping back when it made a slight noise, the child watched the animal with two heads as it played with the tag. A last piece of normality...

The child had heard rumours of what happened out here... whispers on the wind, bitting back more tears, it kicked out with its feet, shooing the crow as it took off with their tag.

Back towards safety...

Back towards the only home that they had...

The darkness of night had finally covered the desolated land, and with it came the creatures that haunted it.