Chapter 1 – An Early Morning’s Surprise

This morning started just like any other, Glen woke and began his morning rituals. Checking his gear first for any damage from the day before. He then checked his blade for any bends or cracks on the edge, and finally put his tea pot above the small fire pit in his room. His cooking fire was situated just right so that he could keep an eye on the pot, while taking in the peaceful view from the window of his room.

Just over fifty stories up, the view couldn't be beat from any other tower that remained standing in the ruins of the once great city. The glass may have been stained from dust built up over the years, but there wasn’t anywhere else you could see as far as from his home in the tower. This moment of silence was just what he needed.

Yesterday hadn’t been particularly demanding compared to some of their scouting trips, but the knowledge that later in the day his team would be exploring a new tunnel system had him a bit more nervous than he liked. New tunnel systems were a rarity these days, had they not been tracking a particularly large aberrant they wouldn't have found it at all. Aberrants moving in the daytime were too unusual to ignore but seeing them squeeze into a tight space that they were known to avoid was downright strange.

Since his party had been the one to track it, the glory was theirs to take for a successful execution. It simply couldn't be allowed to move so freely near their home. This is what he lived for; this is why he had joined the Greenmen. To protect his home and his people was the duty he chose, and it was more valuable to him than his own life. He knew today would be different, but what came next Glen couldn’t have been prepared for.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Glen began to hear shouting coming from below him. He was startled into alertness by the terrified screams of a woman on a lower floor, “Lauri! What happened?!” after a second of silence, “God, there is so much blood. How is she still standing?” He could only make out voices and sobbing after that, the distance preventing him from identifying the speaker or what was being said.

Glen knew the woman that had woke him from his relaxed state was one of the guards stationed at the single-entry point of the fiftieth floor. While looking out the window he could see the nearby area, but more importantly he could see the sun in the sky. It is far too early, no scouting parties should have even left at this time, much less be returning.

Something is wrong.

Glen began to rush to get his stiff leathers on as quickly as he could, it had become second nature to him after so many years. In the confusion caused by the alarm within the walls of Skytop he fumbled getting the clasps to lock in place, securing the protective plating to his gear. It would serve no purpose to rush to the sound, only to die because he had come unprepared. If they were under attack, he would be ready.

After what felt like a short eternity, only truly taking a couple moments, he had finished getting his equipment in place, and grabbed his Magnes-steel tipped spear. He pulled his long hazel hair back and secured it before exiting the room. Running to the nearest stairwell he began assessing the situation, thinking over the limited information he had.

It is early, someone has been severely injured, but there didn’t seem to be any sign that there was currently a threat. Glen didn’t have enough information, he detested being uninformed. He needed to know what had brought this chaos into their home. It was his duty as a scout to the community to warn against external threats.

He looked through open messy doorways as he ran, noting he wasn’t the only one to hear the commotion below. Members of various teams could be seen getting their equipment on, though none as quickly as himself. Before he knew it though, Douglas was at his side. The two of them running in step as they had many times before.

“Not the rest I had hoped for before our little trip today!” Douglas belted out, though seemingly unaffected entirely by the quick pace they were moving. Douglas was muscle bound with close cut black hair, and six foot three with an imposing figure. His natural gait alone could outpace most men. He dwarfed Glen in comparison who was half a head shorter.

“I was hoping to sleep in a little more myself,” Glen smugly replied though they both knew the potential danger they were moving towards. Although he wasn’t nearly as tall as his friend, his body had been made lean over time. Constant training had prepared him for extended sprinting, allowing him to match the larger man’s speed.

They reached the rotting door to the stairwell within seconds and threw it open. They practically flew down the stairs and past the flaking paint between the floors. Only three minutes had passed since Lauri had returned and a crowd had already formed. The crowd was indirectly preventing the two from exiting the stairwell to the security floor where the situation still unfolded.

“Out of the way! Greenmen of Team Artemis responding. We need access to the room.” Glen yelled with an air of authority he generally reserved for the field. He had trained for years, just recently he had been granted a title. This level of authority was still new to him and not something he had become accustomed to at this time.

Due to his shouting the commotion quickly quieted; the crowd parted as if from an unseen force. The Greenmen were legends in Skytop. They were highly trained forward operation parties that went out and braved the wastes. There wasn’t a single bystander who wanted to impede their approach.

Now with a clear line of sight Glen could see a young woman, who he believed to be Lauri, collapsed on the ground bleeding from a long gash below her left ribs.

There was already a pool of blood soaking in to the gray carpet beneath her, but the medical team on duty had already begun attending to her wounds. Along with the cut beneath her ribs she had defensive cuts on her arms and wrist from where she had tried to protect herself. It looks like the wounds were possibly bite marks. There was no way to tell what happened without speaking with her, which clearly wasn’t a possibility in her current state.

“What happened to her?” Douglas questioned, while looking her over. He thought to himself she couldn’t have been more than sixteen. Her hair was an earthy brown, that oddly had a tint of green to it that didn’t appear natural to him. As a result of this observation, he decided to make a note to ask her about this fact once she had been stabilized. He had to learn what caused these injuries before he could address them.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

As the medical support provider for team Artemis Douglas had been supplied with the best training possible during his indoctrination to the Greenmen. This information had become limited to only what could be recovered from the old-world textbooks that were rarely found, but still far more advanced than many of the common people had access to. His knowledge was at least equal to that of the medics kept on site.

It took him by surprise when he saw the bleeding wasn’t slowing even after an elastic bandage was applied. He knew if they couldn’t stop the bleeding soon, she would die. Even though the wound that was visible did not seem as though it should be fatal.

The leader of the four-person medical team with the name ‘Davis’ stitched in to his loosely fitting brown shirt spoke first, “We’re not sure what happened. She came out of the stairwell leading to the lower floors. For her to be able to climb the tower while bleeding she must have been injured nearby. The only thing she was able to say was ‘It looked like a dog. I thought he was hurt. I tried to help him. I was only trying to help. That was when the man—'

“She didn’t manage to finish her sentence before collapsing to the floor. Luckily, the carpet cushioned the fall. From what we can tell it was a combination of exhaustion and blood loss.” Davis pointed to the cut along her ribs before speaking again, “That is the only cut that hasn’t stopped bleeding. We don’t have medicine on hand to force the blood to clot, even if we did the elders would never give us permission to use it on someone that has broken the law and put us all at risk. The cut isn’t deep, and we don’t believe it hit anything major. There appears to be a resin preventing the blood from sealing the wound.”

Glen and Douglas exchanged a look of worry. They both knew what it sounded like, but neither of them had seen bone dogs this far south. The only time they saw those creatures was when they went on extended scouting trips lasting days to the north. With a grimace, Glen whispered to Douglas, “If it’s the dogs, you know what you have to do, but the people here shouldn’t see it.”

“Let’s move her in to one of the medical stations. I can do it there without so many prying eyes.” Douglas replied, knowing the looks they would get if a commoner saw what was going to be done next. There was nothing that could be done about the smell of burnt flesh that was to follow, but some things just could not be avoided.

While Douglas was examining Lauri, Glen hadn’t been standing around idly. He had taken the time to meet the guard officer in charge. Her name was Mary, she was an older woman in her late forties. It was rare to see someone make it to that age given the state of the world. It was seen as an accomplishment. The guard officer position was supposed to be one to show her station, while allowing her a chance to relax a bit.

For the most part that was the case, today was the first time in years that something like this had occurred. Although members of scouting parties sometimes came back worse for wear, that was something for the medical team to worry about. She was out of practice at trying to direct a crowd. Which is why it took Glen giving her the order, “Tell these people to disperse and return to their daily work.” To bring her out of her shocked state.

“When the people have all been returned to their task, join us in the medical area. We may need your help.” Was the last thing he had said to Mary before walking back to Douglas’ side to help him carry Lauri. She was a small framed woman, but he knew that they had to keep her as still as possible so that none of her wounds would open any further.

Douglas looped his arms under her neck and knees lifting her easily, while Glen supported her head and held hers arms in place. They carried her in to one of the exceptionally large side rooms navigating around collapsed tiles that fallen to the floor. The group was surrounded by cubicles where ancient computers had once set on long abandon desks.

Glen knew that at one time this office could hold over a hundred workers and did so regularly. Nowadays though the space was mostly picked clean of the old-world tech that used to occupy it. The same tech that was mostly useless now compared to then. No power meant it was only worth the material it was made of. The usable material had been salvaged several years ago, what remained was packed tightly into the stairwells on the lower floors preventing any outsiders from easily ascending the tower that they called home.

Working together the two men aided by the medical team gently laid her on top of a desk that had been converted to an impromptu operating table. Usually, they would have supplies at the ready, but they did not typically have to worry about returning parties until much later in the day. Now they only had access to a small assortment of tools, while some of the other medical assistants moved between workstations gathering what they thought the two men might need.

In truth only Glen and Douglas knew what they were about to do. Glen pulled out a knife that he had strapped to his left hip and began to cut away the clothing around the gash below Lauri’s ribs. “How much cloth do you think I need to cut away?” he asked.

“Only enough so that the heat doesn’t catch it on fire too.” Was the quick response he got in return. He continued to cut away at the fabric until it had been cleared an inch from the wound in each direction. Looking up he saw Douglass reach into a pouch secured to his right leg, that could be quickly reached in an emergency.

Douglas pulled out a small bronze shaped capsule. It was shaped like a long cylinder, with a flat base and a rounded head. Bullets were rare these days, the fact that Douglas was about to use one only confirmed the severity of the situation. Using the edge of his own knife he found a seam in its casing towards the tip, and carefully popped off the rounded end. From where he was standing Glen could see a fine black powder inside, which he knew was capable with the slightest source of ignition rapidly producing an intense fire.

Everyone tensed up as Douglas slowly emptied the container of black powder evenly across the length of the wound. He placed the emptied container back into his pouch and grabbed a small grey rod from a separate pocket. Putting the knife at the base of the rod angled towards the fine black line, he looked up to match eyes with Glen. He was ready for what came next, a nod from Glen was the only signal Douglas needed to know they were ready to begin.

Glen held Lauri’s arms in place at her sides, as he told Davis, “Hold her head still, this next part is going to hurt. It will likely bring her back to consciousness, and it’s going to be a lot worse than that little cut she has now.”

Davis, though nervous, did as he was instructed, understanding there was little time for more explanation. He watched not knowing exactly what was about to happen, only that he didn’t have a good feeling about it. After the description given by Glen, he did not want any part in this procedure. Although helping wasn't a choice if he wanted the woman before him to survive.

Now was the moment of truth, Douglas slid the edge of the blade along the grey rod. The edge produced a single white spark. That is all it took to ignite the black powder currently in Lauri’s body. That single spark turned in to a blinding orange and yellow fire that surprised Davis, but the two more experienced people present were ready and reacted accordingly.

As soon as Douglas saw the fire flash to life and die just as quickly, he knew at least that part was a success. He was worried there would be too much blood and it would prevent the powder from igniting.

Mary walked into the cubicle just in time to see the flash, seeing Lauri’s eye go wide in shock, and hear her scream in pain. That wasn’t the worst of it though, suddenly the area smelled of severely burnt meat. “What is going on here! What the fuck did you do?” she exclaimed while looking between the men and Lauri.

“Only what we had to. The thing that did this to her, we’ve seen it before. Its claws have a toxin on them like a snake bite, preventing the wound from sealing itself. She would have bled out.” Glen said calmly, while lifting his pant leg to show a similar burn mark that ran from his right ankle up towards his knee. “Trust me, it is terrible. But I am sure she would prefer to be alive with a scar, rather than dead.”

Lauri now laid wide eyed, awake, and began looking around in horror before whispering, “That man. He isn’t human…” She slumped over just a bit before finishing, “He is coming for us. This is all just a game to him. I am alive because he wanted me to be. He let me go laughing telling me to ‘warn the rest of your people’ before calling his dog back. The rampant that were near even listened when he yelled at them to stay back. He is a monster!” As she yelled this last line her body couldn’t take it anymore, passing back out she fell flat on the table.

Glen looked between everyone in the makeshift workstation before looking at Mary again, “I don’t know what the fuck that was about at the end, but I know I sure as hell have some questions for her when she wakes back up. I am going to report this to the Commander, the elders need to know.”

With the situation diffused for the moment he began to walk away before calling back to Douglas, “When you finish up here get with Pirah. After she is up to date the two of you meet me in the Greenmen’s Hall.”

Without any more hold ups Glen walked off to find Commander Maxwell, they needed to be ready for whatever happened next.