The End War

[Cygnas Kain]

It's been a year since the war began. It's been a year since their war spilled into our streets, our homes and our lives. The world had been cradled quietly in the uncertainty that none of us really knew there was life that existed on another plane just a few steps away from our own. That uncertainty, that conjecture, was abruptly shattered, and the world was brought to its knees all just one year ago. The world of man had been caught unwillingly in a war between Heaven and Hell. It would be nice to think that it started not quite so suddenly, that we actually had a fighting chance. We never really did. It was only a matter of days before the chaos spread and the fires of Heaven and Hell's wrath consumed almost everything we knew. Thousands died every day. The vast legions of the warring armies swarmed our cities and rivers of blood soon flowed across the lands. Within weeks mankind was nearly destroyed. But, how did this happen you ask? How did it all begin?

It was a Tuesday that started not unlike any other day. For some, the day was just beginning, while others half the world away, slept quietly in their cozy beds. The living world continued to move the same way it always had. People talking on cell phones, e-mails being sent to and fro, traffic backing up, the moon rising, the sun setting, winds blowing across empty plains, men and women toiling about, all of these things all at once! Yet despite all of the knowledge at our fingertips, none of us had any knowledge of the catastrophe about to unfold. It started small, at first. A rift, or tear in what we know as reality, appeared around 6:04 am, near the edge of a cornfield in Iowa of all places. It was less than half an hour before the local media caught word and began covering the scene, explaining the dimensions of the anomaly as well as quickly spouting theories as to its origin. Many on the national scene assumed it was some sick Orson Welles like hoax, at first. Before long there were scientists and military personnel taking over the scene. Helicopters were buzzing about in the sky, swooping in and deploying soldiers and machines both. Men with guns stood guard, aiming at the gaping tear. The bursts of flashbulb lights, clicking of cameras and chatter of onlookers filled the air. The growing crowd was barely held at bay as so called experts weighed, measured and quantified every aspect. Have you ever seen one of those signs that read: “The End is Near!”? Have you ever really wondered: Maybe they were right? None of them suspected, including the innocent farmhand that spotted the thing, that they were about to become the first human casualties caught in the tide of another man’s war.

There wasn’t much footage of the next few seconds. How stupid we were to assume this would be an isolated incident. Without warning fire belched out of the rift and roared through the air. Everything within eighty feet was engulfed in white hot fire and incinerated almost instantly. Shrill screams of survivors rang through the morning air. Soon, they too were silenced. A host of grotesque creatures came pouring out of the rift. Each one looked like something ripped straight from a horror novel. Some were diminutive, winged, vicious beasts that took to the sky and rained down upon the crowd only to tear them to shreds with claws and fangs. A few were more canine in appearance, covered in moisture with lean agile bodies, but the head was nothing more than a huge, gaping, razor lined maw disproportionate to the rest of the body. These extraordinarily fast creatures dove headlong into the remaining crowd and began ripping bodies limb from limb. A large humanoid figure then stepped through, treading over the burning earth as though it were nothing. It looked simply evil with its large leathery wings and great ebony horns atop its head. Both its hands and feet ended in jet black talons that shined like steel in the light of the fire and the massive body looked like well toned raw muscle. Fire licked out of its mouth as it roared and turned the gaze of those horrific black eyes to what few people were left clamoring for their lives. Suddenly there was a brilliant light, white and blinding. It seemed to fill everything, every little crack until nothing could escape. In that moment everything went silent.

The silence was short lived, shattered abruptly by a thundering and hateful roar. As the light fades a new figure comes into view. It was covered in a dark and blood spattered gold armor from head to toe. Large, beautiful, red feathered wings sprouted from its back and spread wide. The source of the second roar became quickly obvious. There stood both of the figures, perfectly still. The one clad in armor had plunged its mighty sword completely through the belly through of the horned one. As the sword slowly withdrew this ‘Angel’ pulled briskly up and cut the beast in half. The deep hum of battle horns sound in the distance and all goes dark once again. The End is Near the signs read…we should have been paying attention all along.
In the coming days, the face of our world changed almost entirely. More rifts appeared around the world and more battles erupted in their wake. Eventually, the influences of Heaven and Hell both; reshaped the land, sea and sky. The heavens displayed the first signs of change. At first all that beautiful blue was tucked away behind dark, ominous grey clouds. Soon, there was no longer a day or night as unnatural hues lit the heavens. Bursts of golden haze intermingle with crimson clouds around patches of sterling white and ink black blots were peppered throughout the sky as far as the eye could see. The seas were next to succumb. Much of the oceans vast were either burned away through hellfire or swallowed into giant chasms and sucked away into a deep nothingness.

Not long after, the earth itself became distorted, scarred or twisted. Initially there were earthquakes in the most peculiar of places that destroyed entire cities and ripped the land wide open. These massive, sickly black spires erupted from the earth and towered as high as any skyscraper. Sharp and pointed, all across the land they looked like giant teeth, gnashing against the hateful sky. Strange pockets of blue and green fire occasionally gush out of the ground and even open air in many places. They burn for hours and some even days though with seemingly no source of fuel.

Climates and environments began to change too. Before most communications were brought to a screeching halt there were reports of Texas being turned into a frozen wasteland and Greenland was stricken with a ghastly heat, worse than anything ever recorded. Even the wildlife became distorted with such chronic exposure to these influences. Some dogs, cats and other domesticated animals simply went mad. Other creatures, if not killed by the taint, we reshaped into something different and often much more hostile.

Angels and Demons wage their war on the ground, in the sky, everywhere and leave nothing but death and destruction in their wake! Battles can rage for days on in, the slaughter never stops. To even attempt passing by one of these battle zones is nearly suicide. Just walking down the street you risk becoming something else’s meal or worse. Day by day is a constant struggle to maintain one’s sanity and health. Food and water have become scarce and precious. This is the world in which we few live now. No, not live, we just survive.

There are a few that still have hope. Hope, that one day, the world might return to the way it was. One man had dedicated himself to finding a way. His name: Sergeant Sean Cleave Hawkins. A former military engineer finding himself fighting for his life just like the rest of humanity. But if there was one thing he was particularly good at, it was being a survivor. To him, it was all a matter of location, being in the right place at the right time, even if it was an abandoned underground military instillation. Not to mention having the proper tools for the challenge never hurt either. He had spent much of the last year working in solace. Ever since everything went to hell quite literally, had provided ample time to brush up on many things and take on a few new projects. When not busily hammering away to finish his new ‘toy’, or maintaining his exercise routine, Sean spent much of his time reading. Constantly he was plagued by the thought of: How did this happen? So he decided to do as much research as possible. He was broad shouldered, lean and strong to be sure and most thought that immediately would have pegged him as an imbecile. When able he would snag every book he could that had anything to do with religion, in particular with reference to the end of days. The main commonality, amongst many of the texts, he poured over was the mention of seven ‘seals’. When these seals break, the end of the world is neigh. When all are destroyed, so too will be the world of man, or so that’s what he’d come to believe anyway. But if the world is still here, what does that mean exactly? For months that very thought kept him awake at night that is until he finally decided to do something about it. Within a few days his project would be complete and he had vowed to find a way to set things right. An entire year of preparation and planning would finally see fruition.

Soon that very day came and he was more than ready. After cramming down a chalky tasting MRE for breakfast and throwing on some fresh fatigues, he didn’t waste any more time and immediately took off to the underground hangar. Quietly stepping into the chasm-like room he stops momentarily to admire his handiwork: A very highly modified IAV Stryker vehicle, currently equipped with 0.50-caliber M2 machine gun, MK19 40 mm grenade launcher and four slightly modified M6 smoke grenade launchers. The main body had been extended to allow more room for comfort and storage, providing even a small enough space just for a bed even packed with water, food and ammo. The front had been altered as well to allow the attachment of a plow similar to the one found on the M1132 Engineer Squad Vehicle. Though he’d seen it over a hundred times before and worked hours on in, it’d never been used. Truth be told he was afraid it wouldn’t even run and hated the idea of being stuck in a damn hole for even another day. Slightly tilting his head, and fingers glide through dark brown hair as his brown eyes glace at specific points on the machine. With a nod to himself, like some pitiful form of self encouragement, he continues walking. Stepping inside, he then takes a seat at the controls. Flipping a few switches, mashing a few buttons, the door closes and the dim light of the monitors slowly brighten. He places his hand on the key and hesitates. “C’mon baby.” He states plainly. With a deep breath he squints and turns the key. Suddenly the Stryker roars to life, with the diesel engine bellowing and black smoke coughing from the exhaust. He cheers excitedly and takes the controls. With the depress of another button, the door beyond raises to expose the exit tunnel. A broad smile on his face he punches it, eager to see what awaits him on the outside.

 

[darkangel76]

Matilda Harris was curled up into a ball, taking a much-needed nap. The past several days had been hell, to say the least. One of the buildings in the destroyed city she’d been staying in had finally decided to collapse; its structure and support beams totally failing, falling on anyone or anything within or nearby it. She’d stressed her concerns to the people choosing to take up residence in the damned thing. But did they listen to her? No. They never did. And what did this mean? It meant hours and hours of trying to fix people up with a ration of supplies that were more or less crude and worthless.

“Matty,” came a voice, a whisper.

Matty let out a groan as she turned over to look at who was waking her up. She wiped at her green eyes and brushed a hand through her long blonde hair as if trying to straighten it out. “What?” she snapped. She was beyond cranky.

“Matty, it’s Jim. Something’s wrong.” The voice belonged to dark-haired man.

“Of course there is,” Matty muttered, trying to wake herself up. Jim was one of the many unfortunate souls who’d stayed in the building despite her warnings. His leg had been crushed by a fallen beam when the building finally had crumbled upon itself. She’d tried her best to set it, but without the proper equipment, doing such a thing was difficult. There were multiple breaks, and god knew what else going on inside his leg.

As if on autopilot, Matty stood up and followed the dark-haired man to where Jim had been resting. The guy looked like shit. His skin had gotten pasty, was covered in a thick sheen of sweat.

“He’s got a fever,” Matty stated more to herself than anyone else. “Fuck.” She wiped at her gem-like eyes once again.

“Is that bad? He don’t look so good.”

Matty eyed the dark-haired man. “Yes, it’s bad, Roger. You’ve no fucking clue how bad.” She was pissed off, tired and so ready to lash out at anyone who tried to cross her. She looked at Jim’s leg and heaved a sigh. It was purple, ridiculously swollen. She looked at Roger and frowned. “He’s gotta lose the leg,” she stated.

“What?” Roger shrieked. “You’re joking, right?”

Matty shook her head. “’Fraid not. There’s no way to save it. Not here, not like this. We need a hospital. God damn it!” She slammed a fist against the wall. She wasn’t a surgeon. She was a nurse. A good one, but still. But now? With everything gone to hell and back, she didn’t know what to call herself. All she knew was that any time there was a medical problem, she was the one they came to. In general, she didn’t mind this. She liked helping people. It was just that lately…

Roger sighed. “Well, the nearest one is miles away and all we got is what you see here.”

“I’m well aware of that, Roger,” Matty spat out. “Doesn’t mean I can’t wish for one.” Angry and frustrated, she bit down on her lip. She needed to remove Jim’s leg. It was the only way to save the guy. It was a risk. A big one. He’d probably die from the pain of having it sliced off. But he’d die anyway if she didn’t. So as far as she could see it, it was a risk worth taking.

Matty walked out of the tiny room and began to search for something, anything, she could use for the so-called surgery she had no choice but to perform. She needed something sharp, ideally something that could slice off Jim’s leg in one go. Grumbling to herself, she suddenly remembered the chute. There had been a door on that was made of metal on it. And it slid open like a garage door. Immediately, she hurried off to find it.

After several minutes, Matty found the room with the chute. She went over to it and checked out the door. It slid rather easily, which made her smile. Finally, something useful. She inspected the door’s bottom edge. It was sharp and wide enough to cover the entire width of Jim’s leg.

“Nice,” Matty said to herself. Looking around the room, she saw a heap of wood, one of the pieces being rather large and thick. She picked it up and placed it underneath the chute door. “One, two, three,” she said as she slammed the door down upon the wood. It sliced through it cleanly. “Freakin’ excellent!”

Matty ran out to go get Jim. She had a ‘surgery’ to perform.

 

[Cygnas Kain]

Excitedly Sean pilots his new ‘toy’ up the long, winding tunnel, slamming from one gear up to the next as he swiftly ascends toward the exit. Moments later he spies the large concrete and steel door standing between him and freedom and steadily brings the Stryker to a drumming halt. With hands shaking, he eagerly reaches over and mashes the button intended to open the door. Even through the thick, armored hull he can faintly hear the whine of disdain as weathered, metal gears begin to turn and open the massive door at a glacial pace. Slowly, the light of red lit skies pour in, swallowing the darkness around within the tunnel inch by inch. Throwing his head back against the headrest, he sighs with impatience, fingers drumming idly upon the control panel. The shrill creaks suddenly stop and he snaps his head back down to look ahead. The door has stopped after only opening a few measly feet. His eyes widen in disbelief, having come all this way only to be denied by a damn faulty machine! “So..you want to be stubborn, eh?” He mutters quietly, a sly grin perching upon his lips.

Rapidly tapping away at the controls, he can’t help but giggle to himself like a kid on Christmas as he inputs the command for target acquisition into the console. Target Verified says an automated female voice as a crimson red crosshair reticule illuminates over the door onscreen. “I’ve wanted to try this out for so long!” He cackles with delight and mashes the corresponding button, the turret resting atop the Stryker complies and whirs to life. His eyes beam with excitement as he watches the monitor. With a dull thump the turret fires, propelling a grenade through the air with blinding speed. Upon impact the door is engulfed in flames, smoke and debris go flying through the air. Small bits of concrete plink against the armored hull as Sean stares at the screen in amazement. Soon the dust settles, the smoke begins to clear and vaguely expose the aftermath of the blast. Half of the door ahead, lie in shambles, the remaining half had nearly been torn away from its hinge, holding on by only narrow strip of steel.

Without pause he mashes another button and drops the plow into place. He quickly presses forward, the edge of the plow spitting bright yellow sparks as it scrapes against the concrete floor. Sean hammers the accelerlation down to gain as much speed as possible before slamming into the remains of the door. “When all else fails, use excessive force.” He mumbles under his breath just as he plow rams fiercely against the rubble. The plow cuts through the debris effortlessly and door is deftly heaved aside under the brute force as he bursts through the exit, trailed by a plume of dust and smoke.

He claps his hands and starts to cheer at this small victory, that is, until he realizes the landscape around him is not what he knew. Shaking his head in futile attempt to clear the cloud of confusion set upon him he reaches for the camera controls. Taking an unsure hold he twists and the camera slowly pans around to bring more of the surrounding environment into view. In the few short months since his last visit to the surface, almost everything had changed much of the familiar landscape was now somehow distorted even more. The twisting spires, vast ravines in the distance, mountains not where they once were, all of these things were new. Spying a something of a derelict city in the distance Sean nods to himself and quickly plots in a new course, unsure whether or not there is any decent human life it may be the only chance he has to find some very much needed answers.

 

[darkangel76]

Matty had successfully cut off Jim’s leg with the chute door. She felt pretty fortunate that it did end up taking just the one slice like she’d hoped for. Despite her test on one of the many fallen beams, she didn’t know if it would indeed work. Jim’s screams had been excruciating. Though she knew they would be. She had no true anesthetic to give him and the chute door, though sharp, wasn’t the same as what could’ve been used in a proper hospital.

Though Jim survived the crude surgery, Matty still worried about his survival. The odds were not in his favor. More like she managed to prolong his life a few more weeks at most. There was always the slim chance that she was wrong in that assessment, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up. At least for now, he’d be fine.

Weary and satisfied that the others in their rag-tag group could watch over Jim, Matty decided she needed to get some more rest. She was tired and hadn’t had much sleep over the past week due to all the avoidable accidents she had to contend with. She was really getting sick and tired of telling these people that she didn’t trust staying inside a lot of the buildings around them, that she feared most of them were too weak to stand for too much longer. She’d chosen what she’d thought to be the strongest of the bunch for her pseudo-hospital, the place she tended to stay in as well, when not staying outside.

Lately, Matty had begun questioning the integrity of even the pseudo-hospital’s structure. It had been several weeks and she was starting to notice cracks and creaks that made her feel a bit nervous. With Jim’s surgery out of the way, she figured she’d let the people know her thoughts on that, not that she expected them to listen. They rarely ever did despite the fact that her track record for such things was pretty much impeccable.

Heaving a sigh and scowling, Matty turned down a hallway, not the one that led to the room she liked to nap in. Her nap would have to wait a bit. Her nerves were starting to get the better of her and that meant ‘take action now, don’t hesitate’. As she walked down the hall, she tucked her blonde hair behind her ears and then crossed her arms about herself, covering up most of the lime green tank top she was wearing. Suddenly, she came to a door and she swung it open.

Beyond the door sat a group of people. They looked at Matty with hopeful eyes. Roger was there too.
“Jim’s fine for now. But I’m freakin’ tired. I need to sleep.” Matty yawned as she looked out at everyone. “But I’m not sleeping inside the building anymore. And I suggest that you guys don’t either.” She looked over at Roger just then. “And I want you to help me move Roger outside.”

“Matty, you sure we should do that? You just cut the guy’s leg off,” Roger piped up.

Matty nodded, “I know. I was there,” she rolled her eyes, totally exasperated and very cranky. “But I don’t trust this building any more. I want out of it and I want my patient out of it.”

The people in the group started mumbling and muttering, which only added to Matty’s increasing aggravations. She heard them say that they feared staying outside, they feared the beasts from the sky.

“Look,” Matty finally said. “I’m not staying in here any longer. Do what you want.”

“Then we’re keeping Jim here with us!” a woman shouted.

Matty just shook her head. “Fine. That’s your call, I’m sick of making them and having them ignored.”

Matty wasn’t originally a member of this rag-tag group. She found them a couple months ago when she wandered from one of the city to finally this end. She was grateful to be in the company of humans again. Humans she thought would listen to reason. Never once did she think that these people would not listen to reason and plain old common sense. But it was how it was. Since she wasn’t originally of their group, they didn’t like her trying to step up and take command. She was the outsider. Even though she patched them all up at one point or another. And in some cases, even saved lives.

Turning on her heels, Matty walked out of the room and down another hallway. She had to get out of the building. She was getting the creeps and she knew that the building wasn’t going to last long. Her gut usually served her well and she wasn’t about to ignore it now. Besides, if it was wrong, it wouldn’t be that much skin off her back.

Reaching the entrance door to the building, Matty stepped outside. The city was a mess, desolate and destroyed. Most of the buildings had crumbled to the ground. The few that stood looked ready to crumble or looked totally unlivable. She sighed at the sight of it.

“This place is dead,” Matty said to herself. “I need to move on.”

Wiping a stray tear from her blazing green eyes, Matty walked further away from the building she’d dubbed her pseudo-hospital. As she walked, she heard a strange groaning sound. Eyes widening, she hauled ass away from the building. It was going to fall!

Running as fast as her legs would go, Matty hoofed it as far as she could get from the building. She could hear the beams buckling, cracking, snapping. She ran and jumped over blocks of concrete and other things littered about the streets. She ran up the road and dove inside an open manhole. It wasn’t the best place to go, but it was a hell of a lot safer than being out in the open. Then she heard it, the loud crack of the building falling. Her thoughts reached out to the people who wouldn’t listen to her. To Jim.

“Fuck!” Matty shouted.

When the noise settled and Matty was sure that it was relatively safe to go back to the surface, she climbed out of the sewer. The building had indeed fallen. No one was around that she could see and the air was thick with dust and debris.

“I’ve gotta get out of here,” Matty whispered to herself. “This place really is dead.”

 

[Cygnas Kain]

Sean continues to examine the surroundings in attempt to regain his bearings against this foreign landscape. “Damn this place, we might as well be in hell!” Sean spats heatedly with anger, feverishly looking for a more suitable route. Fingers rap away swiftly, thudding dully against the interface as he continues to calculate his intended course, providing room for many more unforeseeable topographical changes.

Suddenly he spots a potential path, brown eyes focus their gaze to carefully examine a ramp leading up to a dilapidated highway. With fingers idly drumming against the armrest he takes a brief moment to consider. “What other choice do I have? And, it looks like it may lead right to the city but that road….” Groaning with frustration at his own indecision, with a quick shake of the head he reluctantly surrenders and listens to that ‘gut instinct’.

That lifeless female voice rings out from the speakers ‘Destination Confirmed’ and he immediately mashes the pedal to the floor. The back end of the Styker fluidly whips around, tossing a cloud of dirt and dust into the air as wheels initially struggle to grab against the loose earth. The engine groans in disdain briefly before the Syrker lunges forward, finally taking traction and blasting off like a rocket toward the highway.

Moments later, speeding down the disheveled remains of what was once a busy highway, Sean can’t help but feel the sharp stab of remorse gripping at his soul. Barreling through the scattered debris peppered recklessly about the scene that now stands as a silent remnant of what life used to be like. The power of the Stryker more than enough to effortlessly toss aside husks of cars and trucks as they smash against the plow. The hollow metallic clang hapless clutter slamming into the plow grows distant as his mind can’t help but wander, skipping erratically from memory to memory, remembering a time before now. Such needless thoughts are impulsively swept aside as Sean spots a massive cloud of dust and smoke bellowing into the air up ahead. A free hand reaches for a knob just below a secondary view screen. “What the...” He exclaims upon realizing the source of the gloomy haze.

One of the small monitors to his left flashes a burning red accompanied by that same emotionless voice as before. ‘Life form detected, foreign life form detected’ it states plainly. Sean snaps his attention to the thermal imaging, taking note of the rapidly closing distance between the two figures, furrowing his brow with confusion as eyes attempt to focus, before suddenly it hits him ‘foreign life form’. Immediately fixing his attention back upon the main screen, Sean slams his foot down on the brake just in time, grinding to a stop mere feet away from the nameless humanoid figure now standing in the middle of the road. Fingers nimbly dance across the controls and red crosshairs fix upon the winged silhouette diving swiftly through the thick cloud.

Without another second of hesitation he slams his palm down on the button, the turret above turns and launches a single shot deep into the cloud. A thin bead of sweat drops from his brow as he trails the shot with his gaze, he can’t help but pray that one shot is all it will take as there won’t be time for another. As Sean watches intensely, exhaling a ragged breath, that one half second seems to stretch on forever before the grenade finally connects with its target.

The resulting blast briefly illuminates the air, piercing evenly through the smoke and dust. Sean swiftly leaps to his feet and darts to the rear of the Stryker. One hand smashes against the button to open the side door while snatching up a gun with the other. Thrusting the butt of the gun against his shoulder Sean runs down the small ramp and takes to the street. Bringing the sights of the gun up evenly with his gaze, with slow and silent steps he winds around the front of the vehicle. When met by those blazing green eyes, Sean stops suddenly in his tracks, tipping the barrel toward the ground. “Are…are you hurt..?” He stammers with soft tone.

 

[darkangel76]

Matty stood there looking upon the recently fallen building, her pseudo-hospital, and shook her head. It was a shame. So much death, so much injury. And it was all so very avoidable. It pissed her off that no one had listened to her warnings. But she couldn’t dwell on such things. They’d made their decision and she’d made hers. There was no turning back now. With slight reluctance, she turned away from the building, not even wanting to see if anyone survived the incident. She knew if she heard any sounds of life she’d be compelled to stay. And she couldn’t have that. Not now.

As Matty slowly walked away from the scene, the dust and debris thick in the air, she coughed. Breathing in such air wasn’t good. She needed to get as far away from the area as she could, for her health’s sake, if not for anything else. Coughing and walking, she suddenly heard the sound of something beating against air. Like strange sounding drums hidden behind the clouds up high in the sky. She looked upwards, squinting, desperately trying to see what was making the sound.

Suddenly, Matty gasped. She caught sight of the silhouette and knew damned well she needed to run, to hide. Anywhere. Immediately, her feet began to move and she started running down the road. Just then, her way was barred, causing her to have to stop dead in her tracks.

“Shit!” Matty shouted.

Matty looked up and saw the angel. She didn’t know if it had seen her or not, but ultimately she didn’t care. Regardless, she had to hide from it because eventually it would spot her. They always did. She then looked in front of her. A strange sort of vehicle – definitely military of some sort – was heading right for her, showing no signs of stopping. Trying not to panic, she began to let her mind race through her options. Unfortunately, given her situation, things were not looking good.

Matty had nowhere to run. The vehicle was large and taking up the entire expanse of the road. There was nowhere to go except back in the direction she’d come from.

“Damn it!” Matty screamed as she turned around and headed back toward her pseudo-hospital. She looked up and saw the angel clearly now. It was flying lower. It had spotted her. “Fuck me!”

Suddenly, the vehicle came to an abrupt halt, just barely in time, almost having crushed Matty right where she was. Thankful that the vehicle had at least stopped, but still fearful of the beast diving toward her, Matty just shouted out to anyone who would hear her cries. Just then, a turret atop the vehicle hissed and squealed as it turned. She looked over at it, her heart racing, hoping. It fired. And within moments the angel above her was gone and all that was left was the brief flash scorching the sky.

Matty wanted to collapse right there in the road, but her instincts told her to keep it together. Just then, she heard a loud creak and saw the back of the vehicle opening up. A man stepped out from it, gun in hand, ready to fire at anything that crossed him. She stared at him, worry and fear in her eyes when he suddenly lowered his gun.

“Are…are you hurt..?” the man managed to get out.

Matty blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened. “Yes,” she said finally, telling herself to keep it together. That this was no different than dealing with the bad odds she’d faced helping all the people she did back at her pseudo-hospital. “Thanks for that,” she added, looking up toward the sky. Tucking her blonde hair behind her ear, she approached the man and extended her hand. “The name’s Matilda, but please…” her voice trailed. “Call me Matty.”

 

[Cygnas Kain]

Sean breaths a quick yet silent sigh of relief, relaxing briefly and letting the gun fall against his side.”Sean..” He utters pointedly “..don’t mention it.” . Instincts and thorough conditioning begin to take over once more. He casts his gaze back up, scanning the sky, his eyes darting back and forth in attempt to peer through the steadily clearing smoke. Tipping his head back down, his eyes fall upon her. A gloved hand slowly extends out to her, gently taking her hand into his own.

“Look Matty, we need to get outta here, now, before more show up. Trust me, get in and we’ll sort this out later.” He takes a slow step back, leading her along the way, jamming the butt of the gun into his shoulder. Turning away, quickly he raises the gun to look down the sights, cautiously surveying their surroundings as he guides her back toward the door. With a light tug of the hand, he pulls her around, stepping in front of her and backing slowly up the ramp leading in.

After climbing inside Sean swiftly lifts a hand to mash against the button next to the entrance, the metal creaks and pneumatics his as the door soon draws to a close. He places the rifle back on the rack and pivots on a heel around to face her. “Strap in.” He states firmly, pointing to the chair next to the driver’s seat.

Without another word he strides that short distance to his seat and plops down. Fingers quickly and nimbly dance across the board, lighting buttons up here and there along the way. Cameras respond and silently turn, panning across the immediate landscape. Having taken note of the sheer speed with which that ‘thing’ blasted through the air, he knew that escape wouldn’t be an option should more of them arrive. Sean watches closely, carefully glancing from screen to screen with desperate hope that they can make it out of here without further conflict. As the cameras gradually return to their starting position he slowly exhales a ragged sigh of relief.

Tossing a glance over his shoulder to her, watching as she fastens the belt across her waist, ever so briefly it snaps into his mind with utter clarity how cute she is. Quickly, tossing his head side to side to shake free of the thought, he curses under his breath and returns his attention to the matter at hand. “Not now..” He mutters nearly inaudibly, digits clamoring about the board as he plots a new course. Confirmed. States that autonomous voice and the engine immediately rumbles to life. The Stryker quakes idly and begins rolling forward, accelerating steadily until achieving an optimal speed given the conditions.

After gaining a comfortable distance Sean glance back over his shoulder to Matty once again, contemplating what he should say if anything given the solemn expression on her face. It was painfully obvious that she’d just lost something or even someone. “I’m sorry..” He says softly, not knowing even really why he did or if it even makes sense to her. Slowly he turns back around to face the screen in silence.

 

[darkangel76]

Matty followed Sean into his military-style vehicle. She quickly glanced around and found her seat. As she buckled herself in, she noticed him glance over his shoulder quickly to make sure she was set. When he turned back around, his fingers began to fly over the buttons and controls. It was clear to her that this man had quite a bit of know-how when it came to electronics and the like.

‘Useful,’ Matty thought to herself. She smiled a little as she watched Sean. ‘Finally someone putting their skills and knowledge to use in this fucking god awful situation we’re all in.’

Matty continued to watch Sean work the controls when a computerized voice suddenly sounded.

“Confirmed.”

Immediately, Matty felt the vehicle lurch forward, moving away from the scene and down the street. They moved for quite a while in silence before Sean turned to look at her once again. “Sorry,” he said as his eyes went back to the controls and screen before him.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Matty spoke. “You saved my ass and I thank you for it.” She smiled as Sean glanced back at her once again.

Matty couldn’t help but notice how Sean looked, his face, his build, his everything. He was very pleasing to her eyes; she couldn’t deny it one bit. He was definitely her style, the sort she’d have gone for back before she knew that angels and demons truly existed. But she pushed those idle thoughts aside. She’d just met the guy and now wasn’t the time. Angels were in the area and they needed to move out. Besides, she needed to size him up first, figure him out. From what she could tell, it seemed more than likely to her that his personality was one she was going to like. He seemed a lot like herself in many ways. One who wanted to survive and one who would do their damnedest to make sure that they do something useful, something to actually help themselves.

“There’s a hospital about ten miles from here,” Matty suddenly said, interrupting the silence. “Before the shit hit the fan, I was a nurse. So, if we have some supplies on hand, it would make things easier.” She paused. “I can make do with crap, but it’s a lot nicer when you have the real deal to work with.” She smiled, hoping that Sean would get where she was coming from. The practicality of what she was suggesting. From the looks of him, he seemed reasonable enough. Though still… she could only hope.