Tenebris' Light (Part 1 in Telestai Timeline)

Chapter 7

WARNING: HEAVY PROFANITY

I cling to the dusty pillar as I try to keep my balance on bits of rubble, waiting until the horde ceases. Right now, I'm in Ruin London, hiding behind a pillar in the old destroyed clock tower building, hiding from the creatures in blind daylight.
They're vicious monsters with no restraint. They've wiped out nearly half the humans on earth. I'm alone, just me and my rifle. It's much too much for a fourteen year old to handle.
I've been out in this wasteland for just about a year, raiding, hunting, but mostly running from those scary motherfuckers. I lost my parents when the creatures came, and my friends died off pretty fast. They didn't have the kind of luck I have. I'm unbelievably grateful for how long I've lasted. I feel like that's the only thing keeping me alive, my undying courage and resilience, but it's almost gotten me killed a couple times too. One time I saw a creature in some kind of alligator form, and when I shot at it, like ten more came out of the water behind it. Most people run, but I took them all out with the price of a fingernail. Thank god my aim got me out of that pickle. Maybe that's what's keeping me alive, that seems more likely.
I poke my head out, looking for any more dangerous types lurching around the tower. I've had hundreds of encounters with these things, but I've met a few forms that seem to be pretty common among my encounters. Those are Biters, Jumpers, Flyers, Crashers, Runners, and Hunters. Those aren't the technical names, but never once heard what the technical names are, so I've
come to call them those names.
There are about three little drone monsters, they don't pose any threat to me, but it looks like there's a Runner. Needless to say, Runners run, which makes them fast, so I'll have to take it out first. No, wait. There's a Crasher too. Those guys have armour, and a shit load of muscle that could probably throw me into orbit on a good day. But because the armour will be hard to break after it's alerted, I'll have to give it my first shot. But if I shoot it first, the Runner will get startled and run after me and tear me limb from limb. Which do I shoot first? I smirk. Why not both?
There's a desk next to me, I'll use that for cover while I load up the rifle. I duck down and shuffle to the desk. I can look through the gap between the desk and the pillar. Then I'll take my shot.
I stick the barrel in the gap and look down the scope. I'll shoot the Crasher first, then the Runner.
I place the crosshairs in the middle of the Crasher's face. I suck in a breath and pull the trigger. The Crasher's head explodes and it falls, dead. I yank the bolt back, popping in a new round. Frantic screams of alarm and confusion erupt from the crowd of monsters. My aim darts to the Runner and I pull the trigger. The drones turn my way, and yell in a way that sounds like barking. I reload and put bullets in each of them before they make up their minds and come over here.
I stand up. The horde is dead. A horde of five, not much of an achievement, but at least my aim was on point.
"Gunfire came from here." Someone shouts.
Fuck.
I drop to a crouch and look through the gap. I watch two men come in through the smashed in wall. They've got some kind of gear, it's heavy. They're sporting some kind of machine guns.
I've never seen these guys before. I barely ever meet anyone out in Ruin London, and when I do they die off within days. Looks like these guys are prepared though.
"Five dead Dark Matter creatures, looks like a firefight." One says.
Dark Matter? These things have a name?
"Think whoever it was made it out?" The other asks, staring at the creatures on the floor.
"I don't think so," they walk around the purple mangled mess on the floor. "Those shots were pretty recent, barely a minute ago. Probably still here, most likely watching us." I slowly put my back to the desk, trying not to kick up any rubble and make noise.
Alright I think I can take care of these guys. If they're decently smart, they'd stick together, so it'll be hard do separate them. I wanna keep one alive, so I can ask him where the hell they came from. I need to get into a position where I can take one out and get the next one. Lucky for me I have a suppressor. If I'm careful, I could shot whoever is in the back and the one in front won't know until the other's body hits the floor. He'll turn around and I can get him from behind.
I can't do that unless I move, and if I move I'll make too much noise. I'm gonna need them to get into position. Either I wait until they get into a position on their own, or I lure them somehow.
I reach forward, grabbing a piece of rubble. If I chuck this at the wall in front of me, they'll run to the wall. So I could get them into position.
I chuck the rock at wall and it cracks in two, falling to the ruined floor.
"What the fuck was that?" One says. They spin around, their eyes running frantically around the wall.
"Came from over there." The other points, taking his hand away from the barrel of his gun. "Stay quiet, we'll go around and corner em'" he whispers.
Shit. That's not supposed to happen, they're supposed to walk over here and check it out, not stroll around the sides and corner me. I guess some plans change.
I watch them separate, coming at me from both sides.
"Fuck it." I whisper.
I grab my rifle by its handle and get on a knee, slamming the rifle on the desk.
"Shit! Look out!" The right one screams. I pull the trigger and put a round between his eyes. His head explodes in a bloody mangled fashion.
The other gasps and looks at his dead friend.
"Connor!" He yells. I swing the gun around and shoot him in the leg before he can lift his gun.
He yelps and drops, his machine gun falling from his hands a couple feet away from him. I drop the rifle and climb over the desk. He reaches for his gun, but I kick it away.
"Damnit," he says. I pull my switchblade from my back pocket and pop out the blade. His head rises to me and his gaze drops to my switchblade. "Wait, no. No!"
Put my knee on his chest. He scrunches his eyes shut and winces. I put the blade to his neck.
"Who are you!?" I yell. He gasps for air, trying not to cut his throat on my knife.
"My name's Isaac. I came here with my group to look for supplies and ID more DM beings." He grumbles.
I shift my weight. "The hell is a dee em being?"
"One of those things you killed earlier, or I'm assuming it was you." Ian says. "How do you not know? Those things rule the world now."
I turn and look at the pile of bodies, my head piecing it together. "You mean Dark Matter beings?"
He scoffs. "No shit, Sherlock."
My eyes fall back to him, and I swipe the blade along his cheek, creating a nice clean cut that glistens with scarlet.
"Ow! Fuck!" He cries. He tries to get up, but I put the knife back against his neck.
"Where did you come from?" I growl.
"Hey kid, don't be thinking I'm telling you anything else." Ian laughs.
"Then this might not work out so well for you."
I pull the knife away from his neck and plunge it into his shoulder. He lets out a pained scream.
"We came from Amsterdam, and we originate from all around France." He weeps. "We're raiders. We sweep towns, homes, government bases, anywhere we want."
I keep my hand on the knife and lean back a little. "Then I suppose you've had your fair share of human kills."
He coughs, strained. "No, n-not really." He pauses and gulps. "I've only killed once. An-and it was after he almost threw me off a building."
I feel a psychotic smile tug at my my lips. "I like the thought of that."
He frowns and spits in my face. I furrow my brow, disgusted. I wipe my face with my sleeve and twist the switchblade around as it still sits in his shoulder.
He throws his back and screams.
"Fuck!" He curses. I smile, but it fades to an angry scowl.
"Tell me again that you've only killed once." I lean in.
"I-I've only killed..." he gulps again. "On-once."
I yank the knife out, and he cries out. "You're a fucking liar." I whisper menacingly. "Let's do this again. And you're gonna tell the truth, or your whole fucking shoulder goes."
"Fine."
"Perfect." I smile.
"We're murdering thieves. We go through towns and steal everything we can find, and drop anyone in our way." He sighs. "We're called the Jade Army."