Prologue
STEPHEN
In the days of the dying world I never imagined my role in it to change beyond the perimeter of what was normal throughout the city limits of Brookside, Texas. It wasn’t known for anything. It had been rather small in the start but upon the last year – this one to be precise my eyes have been opened to something almost dark about it. There was something lurking in the shadows and it wasn’t any kind of monster that I should have feared. Instead it was just two girls and a lost history; their history and how it was soon to be interwoven with my own.
The town of Brookside was small. When I mention small I should also say that the majority of it is covered by trees. From the moment someone slips into the city limits of it they are met with the forest and is only on the outskirts that you can be free of them. It was within the rare sector of non-woods that I lived in my home, for a time at least. I was a scrawny kid who lacked stamina and courage unlike most of the boys I rolled around on the ground with wrestling (not seriously) or pretending like I wasn’t completely flustered when a girl like Lindsey Meredith Tanner asked if I would escort her to the Summer Fling on a hot day in June. I said yes to the proposal of course. You didn’t say no to Lindsey Meredith, nor would you want to.
“Stephen!” I felt the ground under me shift as I let out a groan of agony before those dark red eyes stared back at me gleaming with unshed tears or were they actually falling from Phoe’s face. I lost focus as I felt the weight of her elbow crushing into my shoulder as she held me down. It was only then did I register the panic that had crossed her face as she pressed into me more laying down on me fully. This was not the first time that the brunette had place herself on top of me.
Hey! Don’t think that way, I’m merely referring to how many times she’s put herself between me and some harmful phenomenon with her own flesh. “You have to stop daydreaming, soldier.” Her voice was trembling a little but I heard the slight amusement in her tone as she tucked her head into my shoulder. It wasn’t an intimate moment even though the way her nose grazed my neck at this point made it feel almost as if it was. This was Phoe’s way of checking to be sure nothing was out of the ordinary with me. There were too many things out here that could corrupt me even if I was unwilling.
“Your eyes still frighten the shit out me.” I told her. If there was a moment when I didn’t say this then she would know that something was amiss.
“Alright, Mr. Is Supposed To Be Protecting The Two Women. Get the fuck up and use your damn weapon before I completely lay out the field. I’m sure your commanding sergeant won’t appreciate the Wicked Ones giving his ass a good smacking.” The green eyes of Phoenx’s sister lit up mischievously as she pulled her sister away from me and I slipped into a sitting position.
Right. That’s what this was. We were about to bring down the center of all the pain and suffering I had seen since being sent for these two “wicked ones” beside me. I knew at this moment that there was absolutely no turning back now. There was currently a sea of live ones holding more ammo than my puny military issued handgun had to offer but they didn’t have what I had. That is was what sent me into the wild fire and into the war. The War To End All Things.