Location: Black Eagle, Montana. Year 2051
Miranda, beside herself with worry, paced up and down her living room, moving in between her twin white sofas that sat opposite each other and across her Persian carpet. The beautiful mosaic of birds flying through the cloud currents plastered on the wall beside her no longer able to calm her rapidly beating heart and slow her pulse.
She stared up at the classically-styled clock hanging from the wall above her while distant howls, gunfire, and explosions barely registered upon her distracted mind. Three hours had almost passed since Sam had called her and, no matter how she tried to run things through her mind, she couldn’t help but think that something bad had happened to them. It shouldn’t take him this long to get here from his place! Unable to help herself, she began to work through the worst possible scenarios, Sam getting into a car crash, monsters attacking them on the road, or worse…
She shook her head, trying to rid herself of all her doubts, hoping with all her heart everything was alright, yet fearing the worst.
She pulled out her phone from the pocket of her jeans and tried to call Sam again. But, once again, the phone went straight to voicemail. Frustrated, she tossed the phone onto the coffee table, causing Greg to look up at her with concern.
Seeing the questioning look in his pale blue eyes, she held up her hand. “I’m fine. I just wish I knew where they were.”
Greg nodded his head before thumbing back his glasses, standing up, and straightening his business suit. He walked past her towards the glass screen door that looked out over the balcony into town where smoke and burning fires still dotted the skyline. The fireballs that had come crashing down from the heavens had stopped for the moment.
Back turned towards her, Greg spoke softly, “Honey, I think it’s time we considered leaving without them.”
Deep in her thoughts, she scarcely heard what he’d said until he swung around to face her. “I think it’s time we considered leaving Mira.”
Miranda stopped her pacing and looked up at Greg in shock, her heart growing cold inside her chest. “What did you just say?!”
Stiffening his shoulders, Greg met her hot gaze with a look of desperation. “You heard the news reporter Miranda! We’re supposed to be packing our bags and heading towards the nearest school to be evacuated, not waiting here, hoping your ex-husband will come and save us! We can’t stay here, Miranda! It’s not safe, not anymore!”
A part of her knew that what Greg was saying made sense, that waiting here was risky, especially when Sam should have already reached them by now. But all she could feel was a white hot rage coursing through her veins at the very suggestion that abandoning her family was somehow the right thing to do.
Hazel brown eyes shining with intensity, she replied angrily, “I can’t believe what I’m hearing! I will not leave my family behind, Greg! I don’t care how long it takes for them to get here! I’m not leaving them! If you want to go, then go!”
Greg swept forward to grab hold of her by both shoulders. “Please, Miranda! See reason! It’s been three hours without a single word from them! Even calculating traffic, and congestion, it still should only take them one or two hours at the max to get here!”
Miranda thrust aside his hands, ignoring the hurt look in his eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving, Greg.”
Greg sighed heavily, his shoulders sagging and whispered, “If we stay here we’ll die, Miranda. You’ve seen what’s out there. We can’t stay here. We just can’t. I can’t.”
Unmoved by his words, she took a step back, her expression hardening, and pointed towards the door.
Sighing in resignation, Greg moved towards the front door, pausing at the doorway to look back at her. His eyes pleaded with her once more to reconsider, but she could never do what he wanted her to do. Before he closed the door behind him, she heard the faint words. “I love you Miranda. I always will.”
Drained of all her strength, she collapsed to her knees on the rug, hot tears spilling down her cheeks at the pain she felt wash over her, unable to comprehend how quickly her life had been turned upside-down. She stared at the door, half hoping he would come back and take her into his arms and tell her that he would never leave her. She could almost feel his strong arms around her, holding her tight, and pictured his warm smile that was so full of life…
Heart sinking at the realisation he wasn’t coming back, she wiped the tears away from her eyes and stood up. There was no point wallowing in her own self-pity. What’s done was done, and if Greg couldn’t understand how much her family meant to her, then he hadn’t really loved her as much as he said he had. With that stinging thought in mind, she resolved to ready herself for when Sam arrived. Moving toward the kitchen, she threw open the cabinets and pulled out any canned items before searching the house for any bottles to fill with water.
Miranda then packed a bag with three sets of clothing for each of them, framed photos of her family, and other items that would be needed on the trip, when abruptly she heard a loud scream emanate from the hallway outside her apartment complex.
Head whipping up at the anguished sound, she had only a second to think before the front door was blasted open and two hulking creatures in black-plated armor burst into the room. Their tusks dripped red with fresh blood, and jagged battle axes covered in torn flesh.
~ * ~
Location: Great Falls, Montana. Year 2051
The drive north for the most part was fairly quiet with cars streaming southbound away from the Canadian border to make their way deeper inland. Making quick progress along the highway, Samuel passed row upon row of cars, shouting and honking at each other in their attempt to move through a clogged bottleneck where a truck had overturned. With no law enforcement to control the situation, men and women jumped out of their vehicles to hurl abuse at each other while a few even went so far as to brawl with each other on the streets. Columns of black smoke billowed around them from the flaming wreckage on the road.
Annabel, exhausted from the journey, lay curled up in the back seat sleeping, jerking awake every so often in a panic, searching for him.
Nearing the bridge out of Great Falls, Samuel twisted his head to check on her, when he heard a distinct popping sound. The steering wheel became difficult to control and the left side of the car began to make a weird screeching sound, forcing him to make a pit stop at the side of the road.
Annabel, shaken awake by the noise, gasped out, “Daddy?”
“Easy sweetie, it’s nothing, just a blown-out tire. You stay here and take care of the car. I won’t be long, I promise.”
Lip quivering, she nodded her head and gave him a salute, which made him smile fondly at her.
Clambering out of the Rhino, he stuffed the Beretta into the front of his cargo pants within easy reach, and knelt down in front of the blown-out tire.
His knee firmly planted on the hard, rough surface of the road and gritting his teeth, he leaned forward and tugged free a jagged piece of metal that had lodged itself in the wheel, letting out the air. With no way to patch up the tire and refill it, Samuel stood back up and went to the back of the black SUV. Grabbed hold of the spare tire attached to the rear, freeing it from its locking mechanism and rolled the cumbersome wheel over to the side of the car. He then tapped the back door handle to open up the door, peered inside, and picked up the jack and tire iron. He then walked to the front of Rhino where the deflated tire was and went work.
Around ten minutes passed by in the relative quiet with the sun gradually sinking below the horizon, before he was finally able to unscrew the lug nuts and replace the front wheel.
Sweat dripping down his back, he moved to stand back up, when he felt the cold hard barrel of a pistol pressed up against his skull.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Freezing in place, he prayed that Annabel was asleep in the car, before whispering softly, “Listen, I don’t have much money, but whatever I have you can have it. Just leave me be.”
The man replied with a dry, nasty chuckle. “That’s a nice-looking car you have there. You wouldn’t mind if I took it for a spin would you?”
Feeling the barrel of the pistol press harder against his skull, Samuel grimaced, trying to think of a way out of this situation, but unable to come up with anything. Not without first learning more about the man behind him.
Somehow reading his thoughts, the man leaned forward so Samuel could feel his hot breath against his neck and snapped in a dangerous tone, “Now, now, I wouldn’t do anything stupid, if I were you. Now get up! And open the door!”
Swallowing the bile rising up at the back of his throat, he looked at the car, which appeared like a moving fortress with its square edges and contours. The tinted windows gleamed. He knew he couldn’t allow whoever was behind him inside. As long as his daughter was inside, she was safe from harm.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that,” he replied.
Samuel could sense the man contemplating his next move, when he felt the side of the pistol strike the back of his head. Rolling with the blow, he whipped the Berretta out of his belt in one practiced move and fired upwards. Two rounds to the chest and one to the head.
The man touched his fingers to his bleeding chest before stumbling backwards, collapsing onto the side of the road, blood dribbling out from his mouth.
Breathing harshly, Samuel hauled himself back up onto his feet, rubbed the cut on his forehead and walked over towards the dying man. Perhaps thirty years old, the man had thick black stubble along his jawline, a crooked nose that had seen one too many fights, coal-black eyes, and slicked-back hair.
He stared down at the man, wondering who he could have been, before leaning down to pick up the 9mm Glock that had fallen out his grip, catching a glimmer of something out from the corner of his eye. Curious to see what it was, he checked the man’s coat pockets and swallowed back a gasp of surprise as he pulled out a police badge.
Shocked and appalled by the revelation, Samuel backed away from the dead body and turned towards the car, trying to grasp what he had done and found Annabel, her face drained of all color, staring at the dead man through the car window.
Rushing to block her view of the corpse, he hid the pistols behind his back and unlocked the car door, causing Annabel to scream and recoil away from him in terror.
Raising his arm up to try and calm her down, Samuel inched closer to her, but she shrunk away even further from him, her eyes filled with fear that cut through him like a hot knife, forcing him back a step. ‘So this is what my daughter thinks of the real Samuel’ he thought sadly. And though every part of him ached to comfort her and find someway to take away her fear, she was right to fear him. He wasn’t the same man she thought he was, something he’d hoped she would never learn.
Shoulders sagging beneath the weight of his thoughts, he opened up the glove compartment to store both of the pistols and got back into the SUV, his head bowed with guilt as he started the car back up and drove towards the bridge in the solemn silence hoping and praying that Miranda would know what to do.
The sky darkening, Samuel switched on the headlights as he drove across the narrow bridge, the river below bare of all life, before exiting the highway onto Montana Avenue and stopping in front of a newly built apartment complex that looked out on the river.
Sighing, he switched off the engine and spoke without looking back at his daughter, “I don’t know if you remember this Anna, but when you were a little girl I would read you bedtime stories about good men and evil witches. Brave princes and wicked monsters. Well, sweetie, that is what the world is like right now. There are good people and bad people…”
After a few moments Annabel finally replied, “…Was that a bad man?”
Samuel nodded his head. “He was a very bad man, but that doesn’t mean I wanted to hurt him.” He twisted his head round to face her. “That’s why we have to be more careful and watch out for each other. We don’t want the bad men to come and get us.”
Annabel bit her lips pensively before asking, “Are you one of the good people?”
Samuel let out a small sigh at her innocent question, disliking the idea of lying to her, but at the same time needing her to trust him. After thinking for a moment, he replied, “I try to be. Now come on, let’s go see Mommy.”
Pulling out his Beretta from the glove compartment, he got out of the car and waited for her to come out, taking her slender hand in his and walking together toward the apartment building. The moon rose high into the sky to light their path as they entered the vacant foyer and made their way toward the elevator across the white marble tiles.
He pressed the button, waiting for a few seconds before he heard a whooshing sound and the elevator ding as it opened up to let them inside.
Picking up Annabel in his arms, he let her push the button for Miranda’s floor. The elevator doors gliding smoothly shut as they ascended rapidly before it let out another ding when they arrived at their destination.
Hairs prickling at the back of his neck at the overwhelming silence, he tightened his grip on Annabel’s hand and readied his pistol.
Hallway lights flickered on and off and a cold breeze blew in through shattered glass windows. His footsteps lightly tapping against the red carpet as he walked towards her apartment. His legs taking him through corridors covered in claw marks with smears of blood darkening the walls.
Samuel tried to cover Annabel’s eyes so she wouldn’t see the blood and opened his mouth to lie but snapped it shut when he saw the knowing look in her eyes as she too recognised the blood stains for what they were, displaying the same keen intelligence that had led him into falling in love with her mother. However it still did not lessen the blow at the thought of his daughter having to see such gruesome things, forcing her to grow up.
Saddened by that thought, he continued on down the hallway, whispering another prayer under his breath for Miranda and felt his pulse quicken as he neared her apartment.
Heart thumping loudly in his chest, he turned the last corner and felt a metal fist slam into him and grab hold of his heart. The door to Miranda’s penthouse lay in tatters, its hinges twisted up in a mangled heap and it’s frame shattered into a thousand pieces. And for a briefest of seconds Samuel did not know what to do, all his training and experience gone in an instant of panic that blinded him with fear. Even after all these years apart from her, Samuel still needed Miranda to be okay, he needed her to be safe, he needed her. The mere thought of her gone from this world, left alone to raise Annabel punched a hole right through him that he couldn’t fix.
“Daddy?”
Broken out of his stupor by her voice, he looked down into Annabel’s eyes which closely resembled Miranda’s and somehow conjured up a smile. No, Miranda couldn’t be dead, she was one of few women he knew who would keep cool under pressure, she would survive this, she could survive this.
He knelt down to squeeze Annabel to his chest, hoping she hadn’t seen his momentary lapse, before pulling her gently back and brushing her soft curly hair. “Listen honey, I need you to wait for me right here. If you see anything, shout as loud as you can and come get me. Okay? I need you to be brave. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded her head furtively, but still held tightly onto his hand, her small fingers grasping his as though it were a lifeline.
Ears hot and heart pounding like a drum, he detached himself from her grip, and gave her another hug, feeling how small she was in his arms and turned away. He had to know.
Samuel stepped over the shattered door and walked inside. “Miranda? Are you here?”
Hearing no reply, he edged his way forward, gun raised in both hands and saw bloody drag marks on the carpet floor leading toward the living room.
Filled with a heavy sense of dread, Samuel followed the trail of blood before collapsing to his knees and releasing a groan of despair. Miranda, her chest torn open, lay splayed out across the carpet, her body torn open from bowel to stern, her mouth gaping open in a silent scream that didn’t quite come out.
Sickened to his core, he crumpled up beside her, head shaking from side to side praying this was all a figment of his imagination when he caught sight of her hand lying a few feet from him. The wedding ring he had bought for her years ago still on her finger, and even after all these years she still wore it, his mother’s wedding ring.
He stared at the ring for what felt like an eternity, the pit of his chest empty, and eyes full of unshed tears that just wouldn't come. He felt so lost and alone, and yet he couldn’t let it all end here. Annabel was waiting for him, and no matter how he felt right now, he couldn’t abandon her to this world.
Standing back up as though still in a dream, he headed towards the bedroom and returned with a blanket to place over her.
He gazed one last time into those eyes he had spent so many years staring into, falling in love with, remembering fondly how he had wanted so desperately to spend the rest of his life with her and kissed her forehead in farewell.
A part of him was dead and gone, but there was still one piece of her that still remained. “I’ll keep her safe Miranda. I swear it. I’ll keep her safe,”he whispered before getting up, looking back one last time and heading for the doorway. I love you Miranda, and always will...
The End
Thank you for reading The Beginning- Edge of War. If you'd like to read more you can purchase a copy of The Beginning: Breath of War on Amazon. You can also show your support by donating through the Patron link below, leaving a review or following me on my facebook page: The Beginning - Breath of War. You can also read History of the Orcs or Decide your fate Games - Survive on Coroleya, which can also be found on here. Thank you for reading!