The Final Hour

Chapter I: Inigo

    Ever since the Cleansing, I've figured out that the key to survival was sticking with the right group of people. I already had Tommy by my side, but there was greater strength in more numbers. Throughout our constant quest for survival, Tommy and I came across all kinds of people from all walks of life. There were Scavengers (or Scavies as I like to call them) - cowards who'd abandon their families and friends to save their own skin - and there were Mercs - brutes who'd kill and cull and t*****e their own kind. Tommy and I try to avoid those sorts in particular. They rarely ever travel alone, and getting caught by them isn't exactly the best thing to ever happen to anyone out here (unless you really like getting your guts pulled out of you).

    But the living were hardly a challenge compared to what the Cleansing brought on Earth. The undead - the Revenants - were our greatest foes. They travelled in "packs" and were often led by a much tougher Revenant called a Master Revenant. These Revenants came with the Cleansing and were not originally human like the common Revenant. They were, what I would call, demon-spawns. Not of this world, if you must. So you can understand why it's a common law of survival to actively avoid a Master Revenant as much as possible. It's an agreed contract for an instant death.

    Three months into the Cleansing, Tommy and I exhausted all of our commissary food and resources. This forced us to leave the safety of our makeshift underground shelter and search for food ourselves. We were vulnerable, and only had small melee weapons to fend for ourselves. If I had known from the start that life would turn out this way, I would have made more preparations. But no one saw this coming. Maybe except Charlie. 

    I wonder what ever happened to that poor bastard. If people had listened to him more, the death toll wouldn't be so high. But that was then. I can't change the past.

                                                                            ---------------------

    Tommy and I came across an abandoned supermarket during our scouting. We figured it was the best place to look for food (or whatever was left there anyway). We hadn't eaten properly in days, and at this point, we'd eat pretty much anything. We cautiously made our way towards the building - our senses incredibly heightened. We couldn't afford running into any Mercs or Revenants the way we were -weak and starving.

    "It's awful quiet, isn't it?" Tommy asked me, his voice hushed. 

    "It is, but keep your guard up." I replied, firming my grip on my machete. 

    The entrance doors were glass, and they had been shattered by whoever was here before us. This only heightened our paranoia.

    "Okay," I muttered as I turned to face Tommy. "The plan is simple: we go in, grab something to eat, and we go out. No unnecessary pickings, alright?"

    Tommy nodded. I could see the fear in his eyes. 

    We narrowly escaped from Revenants the last time we risked going into closed spaces like this supermarket. We couldn't afford another big leap like that. But we were getting desperate. We had to try.

    We made our way inside the supermarket, and I tell you, I wished I had packed a flashlight. The whole space of the building was dark - with the only source of light coming from the shattered windows and doors near the entrance. I shivered inwardly. The thought of going around the aisles in this dark wasn't my idea of safe. 

    The thing about Revenants is that they are quiet. They never make a sound when they're idle. Not even a growl. So coupled with this near-total darkness, they'd have the upper hand if they were ever in the building with us.

    "I don't think we should risk this, Inigo." Tommy whispered. "Let's just try our luck somewhere else. Maybe somewhere...less dark?"

    He was right. But a frustration boiled inside me. We hadn't eaten for days, and just when the opportunity of finding food was put in front of us, we were just gonna quit? 

    "Are you kidding me?" I retorted. "We've got the whole place to ourselves, Tom. There are no Mercs or Scavs here. We would have seen them by now."

    "The Mercs and the Scavs are the least of our concerns!" he retorted back, almost infuriated. "We don't even know for sure if there's still food here! I'm not taking this risk!"

    "Well, fine then!" I spat back. "You can wait outside. I'll find us something to eat myself."

    Tommy stared at me incredulously. 

    "Are you serious?" he cried. "You're going to gamble with your life?"

    "Yes, since clearly you won't do it for us." I countered as I prepped myself.

    I was just about to leave when Tommy pulled my arm.

    "I can't have you do this, Inigo." he begged.

    Normally, I would have listened to him. He was always the more rational one in our little partnership. But desperation is a powerful feeling. It disobeys nearly all logic and sense.

    "Tom, let me do this. We're not spending another night hungry and cold." I told him, hoping to give him reassurance.

    I saw the hope die in his eyes as I slipped away into the darkness. I relied on the faint light and the shelves on the aisles to navigate around the space. Along the way, I grabbed whatever I could get my hands on on those shelves. Jars, cans, boxes - anything that felt like it still had some meat to them. I stored it all in my pack bag. 

    The whole time I was scavenging through those aisles, all I ever about thought was finally getting that relief we'd been robbed off. We could finally eat right (assuming the food I grabbed isn't soiled by now). 

    Once I felt liked I had gotten enough to last us days, I slowly made my way to the entrance - which wasn't that difficult since all I had to do was follow the light. But this was where it all went wrong.

    There was an empty can in my path. I didn't see it, and I accidentally kicked it all the way across the floor - it's tin metal scraping noisily against the cold marble floor. I winced. If there were Revenants in this building with me right now, that noise would surely attract them. And I wouldn't know where they'd come from. I contemplated about how I'd make my next move from here on out. On one hand, I could still sneak around undetected. But that would leave me very open for sudden corner surprises. On the other hand, I was almost to the entrance. I could make a run for it.

    I decided on the latter and made a beeline for the entrance doors. I could almost taste the satisfaction of getting to eat again. And just when I thought I could finally make it outside to Tommy, a piercing pain pricked my back; it was followed by the most unholy roar a mortal could ever hear. 

    It was a Master Revenant.

    I had been impaled by the claws of a Master Revenant.

    I felt my life slip away as its claws pulled out of my body. Tommy came running in.

    "Inigo!" he cried out.

    I grasped my open wounds as I teetered over towards him. I grabbed the pack bag and begged him with what was left of my dying breath to leave. 

    There was so much devastation in his eyes, but I was in too much physical pain to bother processing the emotional pain. The Master Revenant behind me chuckled demonically. It wasn't done with me.

    I watched as Tommy ran. All my hopes of ever seeing another day were slim to none. This was it.

    Large, claws grabbed me from the ground and pulled me up to the Master Revenant's head. These things loved to see their victims die firsthand. It very likely feels like snuffing out candlelight for them. Too easy.

    As I was accepting my imminent and very violent death to this demon-spawn, I glanced at its wrist. There was that white metal band on it - complete with the  symbols and stuff. Just like Charlie's.

    I figured I was gonna die anyway, so I gathered what was left of my energy and decided to pull it off from the Revenant's wrist - a final act of rebellion and foolishness.

    The next thing I knew, there was a flash of bright light.

    I felt nothing. 

    I saw nothing.

    There was nothing.