# Interlude ## Daze *There’s no possible way she’ll be here*. David warren thought. He sullenly drummed his fingers on the truck wheel. He’d only met her a month before. --- It was after school hours for David. He’d gotten out of his engineering class, and had volunteered to help the professors clear out a recently acquired warehouse. It was to be used as the new HVAC warehouse, as the class had outgrown their antebellum one. They were going to be reimbursed by the school, but David would have gone anyway, he had nothing better to do. “This place is weird, man.” A classmate of David, Chuck Griswold said, stoned out his mind, but correct. “Shit man. Look at that piece of ass, though.” He was pointing to a pretty brown haired girl cleaning junk out of large supermarket open-top coolers. She was beautiful, shoulder-length brown hair, tied up in a loose bun. She wore tight-fitting denim jeans, and a white tank top. *Crude bastard. She must be a cosmetology major. What would a dime be doing here?* The warehouse had been locally owned by a Dixie war vet, who had passed away two years earlier. Athens Tech was finally putting it to good use. Homeless had been using it as their own little hangout, but the police had cleared the building and removed all the paraphernalia, as well as those living there. David got to work away from the dime piece, but near enough to glance over at her. He noticed her strong legs, tanned arms, and dozens of freckles on her face. After several hours of hard work, he mustered up the confidence to approach. “Gotta say this now, before my brain tells me not to. I think you’re pretty, and I wanted to get your number.” She shifted, hands behind her in an open posture, she leaned back onto the edge of the newly cleaned open-top coolers. She chuckled, dimples revealing themselves on her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I don’t give out my number.” *What have you done you fucking idiot!* He ignored that part of his brain, instead going to the crafty side. “You don’t happen to have a Choas Tag by any chance?” “Shit you got me there. I actually do. DJ8102#jackson.dixie.” “Lets talk sometime,” David said, simultaneously walking backwards and typing her info into his mobile client. Then he tripped. *Fuck!* She giggled, covering a smile. David got up and dusted himself off. “I’ll shoot you a message. We’ll talk,” She grinned. --- The power outage across the city completely wrecked David and Dixie’s conversation. The Chaos servers were all locally hosted, both Dixie and David ran their own domains for it. They’d been talking back and forth for weeks, and the day before they were going to meet up at the Athens tech library at 2. It was now 4. He held out hope, but there were so many dead lurking around. She didn’t have family nearby she needed to worry about, just herself. He grinned when he saw her pass around a corner at 4:30, running toward his truck. Her face was covered in dirt and blood, mixed among her freckles. He leaned over and popped the passenger door open. She slammed it shut before the dead started to beat on the glass. He rammed it into gear, taking out a half dozen dead, leaving the parking lot for the highway full of abandoned cars. “Gods above. I am so happy to see you.” Dixie said, hands shaking. She pushed his gear into neutral, and pulled him into a kiss. --- ## MEMO 731 DDCC Memorandum 731 Alias: Undead 731 Chestnut, Ida CODE 731 This is our final memo. Evacuate your occupations, find shelter. The DDCC is no more. Our continued efforts in this investigation have proved fruitless. We can now prove this *thing* is not a virus, mutation, infection, or parasite. Frankly, we don't know what the hell it is. As this is the end of my employment, and likely my life as I know it, I will speak freely. As far as I am concerned, this is all a curse from god. The rapture is here, we are the forsaken. Code 731. Evacuate all premises, find shelter. God give us mercy. ## Rage “You are telling me, that *Twelve* got away from you? Fucking twelve!?” Victor slammed a wraith blade into his table. It sunk deep, the new adamantium metal was very strong. It granted him the powers of Thanon and Arex, in addition to his current powers of Haylus. “Y.. yes sir.” A son of koryph, Victor didn’t care who, said to him. “Get out of my room, before i take out your eyes.” The young man obliged. Victor sat alone, well, as alone as he could in his mind. Wrath snarled, “You did this. You should kill him.” “Don’t shoot the messenger.” Wisdom warned. “You’ll get no messages.” “Leave.” Victor told the young man, who quickly did as ordered. “How many rebels are there?” He asked as Callum Hanes entered the room. Callum was a lifelong friend of Victor, they’d grown up together in mythborn. He was a shortish, stocky man, with brown eyes and black hair. Much like Victor himself. “Killed 13, 12 got away today, of 16, so lets call it 80.” “80!?” Wrath screamed inside him, audible only to Victor. Chaos smirked, “Need that surprise variable.” “I hate this. It’s the end of the world, and we can't quash a rebellion.” Victor said. Callum nodded, “We could have them lead us to the new Ironsoul location, they’re bound to have moved after the slackjaws began.” “Good idea,” Wisdom commended. “That’s a good idea.” Victor said, touching his growing beard. “What if we quashed this one silently, or pretended we couldn’t catch them.” Callum’s eyes lit up, “Then the others can out themselves, and lead us to Ironsoul.” “Once they do, we quash them,” Wrath and Victor said as one. After a pause, Callum asked, “How’s the wraithblade working for you?” “Incredible. If the cost was lower, I would have you make thousands. Till then, we need to keep this to ourselves.” “That’s true.” Callum sighed, “In the hands of the enemy, they would be dangerous.” The blades were rather simple, a sword of adamantium, in a sheath. Just like a regular one, but wielding it gave unmatched power. All the powers of another bloodline, no drawbacks. Genius. Before Callum left, Victor spoke once more. “Get me more of these, if you find any rebels.” “Will do sir.” --- ## Broken Dearest Laura, I love you. I always have. If i survive, I will return here, and we can crack open that old bottle of wine we kept putting off. I hope you get to read this, I waited, I tried. The truth of it is, love, one of those corpses bit me yesterday. I went out to find survivors, but was unable. The only thing i found is a horde. I don't know if this virus is like what we used to read in school, but i will, in all likelihood, succumb to my injury. I love you with everything inside me. I love our son. I love the life we lived together, even if for a short few years. You are my everything, Laura. I love you. -Jacob --- [[15 Mall]]