The Ravaged

Homecoming

Chapter 1

FOR MOST PEOPLE, silence was golden. Virtue.

Silence was a means of relaxation, discovering one's inner self. For Samantha this type of silence was a good indicator that something was amiss.

The city of Fredericksburg was always bustling with people. The downtown area was teeming with locals and history buffs alike 365 days of the year.

No sounds of cars, children laughing or even animals. The stillness was all together unsettling for the woman, who had returned home for that exact reason, silence. Peace.

A break from the sounds of death and rapid fire machine guns.

She moved through her childhood home on Cherry Blossom St; the craftsman style home was well furnished and even more so, well loved. There was southern rustic decor hanging in every room, overshadowed by pictures of Sam and her younger brother, Danny.

All stages of life, kindergarten and up. Athletic games, award ceremonies, Sam's return from boot camp and her first tour. She paused in the hallway and examined the newest framed version of herself, taken by a fellow soldier.

She was surrounded by a group of children, beaming and who had been fascinated with her blemish free skin and infectious smile. She was gripping the shoulders of two teenage boys, her face split in a wide smile and eyes sparkling.

She wondered the fate of those children now. The warfare tearing apart the Middle East had only gotten worse in the last 6 months before taking her leave. She couldn't wait to get home to her family and at the same time, a fire burned under her skin to return.

She was the sheepdog of the family. Protecting the sheep and chasing off the wolves. Her father's brief stint in the Army had inspired her own enlistment despite her mother's tearful protest and the sight of her dad's arm, missing from the elbow below.

Returning from her third tour, at the ripe age of 28 felt almost like some strange form of semi retirement. But upon her return home, there was no one to greet her.

The Uber that dropped her off thanked her for her service and sent her on her way, warning her to watch out for crazies.

Over the last few weeks, a virus had been spreading across the world. It had generated in Asia and spread east, causing pandemic and genocide to worsen.

Last she had heard, it had spread further until it was breaching into Hawaii. US Government officials were holding press conferences left and right saying that the US had it contained and they were setting up quarantine camps for those coming in to the West Coast.

But when she had arrived, the airport was nearly dead. There was little going in and out, which wasn't that big of a surprise. Who wants to come and go from Virginia ?

Her arrival home was just as uneventful. There's a note on the kitchen counter for her brother that her mother will be working a late shift at the hospital and that their father has left town to check on their grandmother. Nothing looks out of place. She falls into her brother's bed, attempting to ignore the stench of sweaty clothes and that smell teenage boys get around 15 that they stifle with Axe body spray.

Sam's on the cusp of sleep when she hears what sounds like gunfire, a rapid popping sound and a scream, before she falls under she attributes it to the nightmare's that have plagued her since joining the military and with that - she goes under.