I've been writing for a while now and i figued it was time to write something with some hidded messages and what not. If you think you can decypher it all (Good luck with that) Then take a crack at it. Some of the names will require some research if you're not too familiar with latin words, and another thing to know, is that i'm a total freak for greek gods and mythology. Hope you guys like it... If anyone actually sees it...

And i know the lack of indents is painfully annoying but it couldn't be helped, sorry.

This is a story about my survival after a catastrophic war. I'm not sure what happened to this world, but I can tell you, it's not pretty. The war has been going on for some time, and the result was sheer devastation. I hated the war ever since it had started, and yet everyone told me that it was for a better cause. I believed them thinking that everyone's opinions were greater than my own. Sometimes I feel like if I had believed in my own thoughts, I might have been able to change the outcome, maybe that's just me though. Either way, things are staying the way they are now, no matter what happens. The few people that were left have given up hope in survival because of all the radiation. No crops can grow, and even if they started to, they would get to them before we could.

I guess I should explain about them now. They never had a name; no word is horrid enough to describe them. These creatures were thought to be created from all the irradiation after the war ended about six years ago. They come out at night and prey on anyone stupid enough to be wandering outside when the sun goes down. I cannot begin to describe these things in detail because of all the memories that it would bring back, though after hearing my story I'm sure you'll get a good idea of what they look like.

Money is a bigger deal than it ever was before because it is so hard to come by. The only way the people in town can earn money is take up mercenary jobs for the public, or sell things. Unfortunately, not everyone is fit for these kinds of jobs, so they starve because everyone only looks out for themselves in this town. Teamwork died out as soon as everyone found out that the crops will never grow.

Most of the people around here are kind; they just won't stick their neck out for another. I might as well talk about the few that are still around. First, is the one who stocks the town with weapons. Hades isn't really one for conversations unless you're talking about money or guns. Other than that, he's not one that stands out too much. Bellum is kind of like the town's gossip. Anything that is new around town, she'll know before anyone else. She usually hangs out with Pestis. He's nothing really special, just your average guy, looking for salvation. Malice is a quiet girl; all she does day after day is tend to the food, at least what's left of it. She most likely keeps to herself because her childhood friend had fallen victim to one of them. I think she's just afraid to make another connection to another living thing in fear of losing them. The last two are the twins Polter and Geist, the both of them are almost like empty shells of humans. No emotions really escape from them; they speak at the same time in short sentences, usually in a monotone voice. Normally I would say that it was weird, or strange, but after everything that has happened, nothing really sparks those kinds thoughts anymore. By the way, my name is Cerberus. I don't really have any special features about myself, I work as a mercenary and I do my best to keep the town alive. Sometimes I feel like I'm the chain that's holding this whole place together. Now that you know the people that live in the village, I guess it's time to go ahead with my story. A friendly warning; this story isn't for those who believe that every story has a happy ending. I may have survived so far, but that doesn't mean everything wrapped up nicely.

I started the day like I have for the past six years. The second I wake up, I grab my gloves and scarf off the hook I built, toss it around my neck and start out the door. The second I step out of that door I head straight over to Hades' gun shop as I put my gloves on. I realized that keeping the same routine each day prevented me from getting back to the house after sundown, which kept me alive for another day. That's all that I really thought about after the war ended. Today was different though. I really hated that thought that started to float around in my mind; it made me think today was my final day on this planet. Regardless of those thoughts I continued to the shop. Why you might ask? It was so I could continue my day as I always did. I greeted Hades just like I always did. "Morning, got anything new in?" As always, he replied the same sarcastic way he always did, except he added something new after. "You never change, do you Cerberus? Anyway, I do have something new in, a nice rifle that I found when I was scavenging after closing time last night. " I stared at him in total disbelief. Hades never had anything new in his shop, at least not for six years. Concerned, he asked me "You okay there? You don't seem like yourself." Still in disbelief, I slammed all the money I had onto the counter and stated "I'll take it." without thinking.

Hades gave me the rifle without hesitation. I took it, slung it over my shoulder and began to walk home. This is something that I have never done after the war ended. Once I got home, I rested the rifle against the wall and sat on my bed and stared at the wall for about six hours. I was supposed to go work for the mercenary company, but I was in too much shock from what happened. What if something at the mercenary company was different? What if my entire day began to change? I simply couldn't deal with it. Again something new happened; I heard a knock at the door. I slowly curled up into a ball and sat on the bed waiting for the knocking to end. It never did, it continued on for about an hour before I gathered the strength to open the door. When I opened the door I realized why it never stopped, it was the twins. They slowly looked over my shoulder and saw the rifle. "Something strange is happening." That was the only statement that they made.

After they said what needed to be said they wandered off back towards their house. I sat at my door wondering why all of this was happening today. I was scared of change and it was happening all around me.
Slowly I came to the realization that I couldn't keep little things from changing. As long as nothing major changed in my life, I would be fine. After I decided that, I figured I might as well go to the mercenary company and earn some cash. I grabbed the rifle that I bought and strolled out the door. Almost as soon as my foot hit the outside of my house, I was stopped by Bellum. Another new event had started to take place.

She was excited with news, something I really didn't like. "Did you hear? Pestis found one of them just outside of town, dead." This wasn't some small thing that was of no importance, this is the first time that any of them have been seen dead. I was a little curious, but I set it aside to prevent anything else different from happening. I simply hung my head down and responded. "No, never heard anything about that. Either way, I have to get going." I strolled past Bellum and headed for the mercenary company. When I arrived, no one even bothered to ask why I was late. They just handed me my assignment for the day. As I read the paper, I slowly sat down on the chair behind me. The mission was completely different from what I usually got. Normally I would be ordered to clear out a thief's camp, now I have to take their leader out.

When I asked the manager about the change in plans, he shrugged his shoulders and said "Things are starting to get out of hand with them. If their leader is gone, then the trouble will stop." I told him to get someone else to do it. I handed the assignment back to him and walked home shivering from the strange feeling of change that was coming over me. I felt like I would never be able to live a standard day in my life again. As I approached my house I saw Bellum again, sitting in front of her house crying. I really wanted today to be over, but I decided to talk to her. I sat down next to her waiting for about twenty minutes for her to calm down a little bit. After her cries slowed to sobs I simply said "What's wrong?" She clung to my arm and tried to explain her sadness. "A couple of hours after Pestis had gotten back after checking out one of them, he passed out. I brought him to the doctor, and it turned out that he got really sick. The doctor told me that he might not make it." I couldn't believe what was happening. Disease wasn't really anything that our town worried about, what could it have come from? Perhaps this is what the twins were talking about; they did say that something strange is happening.

Why did they choose to tell me this, or did they tell everyone? I decided to try to figure it out, so I asked Bellum. "Did the twins talk to you at all today?" She looked up at me, confused about why I would ask her something like that right now. She rubbed her eyes, sniffed, and responded "No, why do you ask?" Disregarding her question, I began to wonder why the twins told me what they did. I decided to go ask them myself. As I approached their house, I realized that my day had been changing drastically ever since I bought the rifle; even the twins noticed it before they said anything to me. Could the rifle have anything to do with all these changes? Before I had the chance to knock on their door, it swung open. They both stared at me waiting for a response. "What is happening to the town?" I asked, almost in a panicked voice. They looked at me for a while and told me the same thing that they said last time. "Something strange is happening." and shut the door. Feeling hopeless, I decided to visit Pestis thinking that he may have some answers.

I walked to the clinic, though you couldn't tell it was one because it was in shambles, it looked like it was abandoned. I saw Malice sitting in a chair in front of her store on the way there. Taking a side route, I figured I should be able to trade something for a bite to eat. "Morning" I said as I approached her. She looked up at me with the same hopeless stare that she always did. "Do you have anything to eat up for trade?" I said, getting to the point. She held up the brightest red apple I had ever seen in my entire life. "Where did you get that?" I asked her in awe. She slowly pointed to what seemed like a small pile of dirt with multiple objects protruding from it, it almost looked like it could have been alive.

I dug through my pockets, but I couldn't get anything to trade for it, so I moved on to the clinic. I walked up to the front desk and told the girl sitting there that I was here to see Pestis. She hesitantly pointed to the door that he was in. I knocked on the door and heard a raspy voice call out from behind it. "Come on in." It was almost incoherent. I turned the handle of the door and poked my head into the room. "I expected it to be Bellum. She lost it when the doctor told me I might not make it." When he said that, I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach; it was something I was unfamiliar with.

Pestis broke the concentration of my thoughts. "You know, the doctor told me that he might have found out what it was that got me sick." This piqued my interest more than anything else ever has. "What was it?" I asked. "Well, when I was checking out the body of one of them, I found an apple near its body. You know how hard it is to come by free food, so I ate it. After that I came back to the village and passed out. He thinks that the apple might be the reason that I got so sick. You and the doctor are the only ones that know this, and I'd like you to keep it that way, if you don't mind." The story shocked me because I remember seeing Malice holding that bright red apple. I shrugged the feelings off and said my goodbyes to Pestis. He told me to visit again sometime, but I don't think I ever would. Not because I didn't care, but because it stirred up too many emotions that I wanted to deal with. I decided that was enough change for my day, so I headed home to end these changes.

When my head hit the pillow, usually sleep simply enveloped me. This time, I couldn't even close my eyes. Because of this, I stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come to me for the rest of the night. It never did. Once six in the morning hit, I got up without hesitation and started to walk out the door. As I opened my door, again I saw Bellum crying. This time, her eyes were blood shot from how much she had been crying. Hesitantly I walked over to her again and sat down to talk to her. I knew it was pointless to wait for her to calm down at this point, so instead I just asked her right away. "What happened?" She looked over at me and started bawling. "The clinic was attacked by one of them. I heard that there were no survivors." For some reason, the news went right through me. I didn't seem at all surprised or upset about what happened. I tried my best to cheer her up; after all, she and Pestis were the closest of friends. "Do you need anything?" I quietly offered. She shook her head and told me that I should stick to my schedule. The problem is, I never had a schedule on the days that I didn't have work. This was the only time I did whatever I wanted, though I usually stayed at home and cleaned my gun.

I thought maybe it would be interesting to check out the clinic since they never went into buildings, even at night. On my way there I saw Geist, possibly the first time I have ever seen him alone. I was confused at this sight, and slightly afraid. I slowly approached him and calmly asked him. "Where is Polter?" He slowly turned his head and responded in the same monotone voice that they used to respond in. "Gone." Could he mean that Polter left, or maybe something similar to Pestis' case? I don't think that either of them ate one of the apples, if they had, they would have both gotten sick because they share everything. "Where did he go?" I asked him as he started to walk away. He slowly turned around again. "Gone." I could see tears forming in his eyes, after I saw them, I knew the answer. I didn't want to push him any further on the details, but I had a feeling that they had something to do with it. It seems as though when they told me that something strange is happening, it wasn't a lie. I decided to let Geist grieve alone and headed towards the clinic. When I got there, I was surprised to find that it was coated in deep scratches. Regardless, I walked into the clinic without giving it a second thought.

The clinic looked just about the same as it was last night, aside from the scratches all over the walls. I found it rather strange that there was no blood. Whenever one of them attacked, there would be blood wherever you looked. They were the most violent creatures you could ever imagine. Keeping the thoughts of the creatures out of my head, I decided to check in Pestis' room first. I opened the door as quietly as I could, and peered inside. I couldn't believe my eyes, one of them were resting in his room. I was too afraid to move in fear of waking it up. I should have brought my rifle with me, but I was too used to my standard schedule that I forgot to bring it along. I began to close the door back over when I noticed that it started moving, so I ran down to the operation room, still trying to be quiet. I could hear it behind me running on all fours. This is the tactic that they use when they are chasing their prey. They usually walk on two legs when doing anything else. I have a feeling that I won't be making it out of the clinic alive. I sat behind the operating table for a good five minutes before I heard the creature enter the room. I could hear its breath as it exhaled from the thrill of hunting, as I sat behind the table looking for a weapon to defend myself with.

I found a small scalpel sitting on the table above me. I grabbed it and clenched it as if it were the last piece of food on the face of the earth. The creature gradually began to pick up my scent as it shuffled across the marble floor. It figured out where I was and looked around the side of the operating table. I slashed at its face and made a dash for the door as it screeched in pain. As I bolted out of the clinic, I could still hear the massive claws scratching across the ground, chasing me. I knew that I couldn't lead it into the town, but that's where all the weapons are stored. I charged near Hades' weapon store calling his name out like some kind of maniac. He poked his head out of his shop and saw me running towards his shop. "What's with you, boy? You look like a bat straight outta hell." His sarcasm was always inviting, no matter what the situation. I charged up next to him and began to explain what happened.

After I finished with my story, he looked down the road and told me that it wasn't behind me anymore. That wasn't a good sign, no matter how much I didn't want to believe it. If that thing wasn't behind me, then it was wandering around the town somewhere. What I don't get is that the sun hasn't set yet, why is it out looking for food? I told Hades that I would be back, and to keep a weapon near him at all times. I sprinted home and grabbed the rifle sitting against my wall. I needed to stop the creature from causing any chaos in the town; it's all that we have left. I burst out the door and almost trampled over Malice, who was standing right outside my door as if nothing was happening. As I stopped, I decided to ask her some questions. "Did you see any of the creatures wandering around here?" She looked at me confused and started speaking. This was actually the first time I ever heard her talk; her voice was soft and gentle, but quiet. "Why would one of them be around at this time of day?" Her response didn't really surprise me all that much, but I didn't have the time to explain. I simply nodded my head and ran past her. I decided that the next best place to look was around Bellum's house. She lived the closest to the clinic, so the creature might have broken off to search around her house.

I was glad to find Bellum sitting in front of her house, which meant that the creature never came near her. I still don't understand where it went though, the path between Hades' shop and Bellum's house leads straight through the town, so I should have seen it by now. Something isn't right; this creature was different from the others. Now that I think about it, it had very similar fur color to Pestis' hair. An idea sparked in my head, the apple that he ate must have had to have something to do with this. I remembered that Malice was near my house, so I began to head in that direction. Before I could reach my destination, it came back. It was so stealthy for its size, it moves around without anyone noticing it. This time I was prepared, I had my rifle at the ready, waiting for its next move. Instead of charging at me, it sprinted away, almost like the rifle was scaring it. Perhaps it was some kind of ward to prevent them from getting into town. I was kind of glad that I didn't have to fire the gun yet, I never figured out what kind of rifle it was. I realized that I never really looked closely at it before, the strange patterns and shape of it, just where did this rifle come from?

I brushed the questions that were rushing into my head aside and decided that it would be best if I checked on everyone else. I headed back to see if Bellum was still at her house; of course she was, sitting in front of her door sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't stand to see her so upset, plus, it's probably not a good idea to leave her alone, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. "Bellum, you should stick with me, a creature is ravaging through the town. You don't have proper protection." She looked up, her eyes shining, and stated. "okay, but you have to promise me one thing." I was puzzled about her request, but it was the only way to get her moving. "Sure, anything." I told her. "You have to promise me that you won't die." Obviously I had no intentions, so I promised her. The next place to check up on was Malice's shop. It was a short walk, but I felt a little crowded with Bellum clinging onto my arm.

I knocked on the door and waited for a couple of minutes. I figured I should check inside, so I told Bellum to wait outside. I peered into the store's back room; I saw a bloody mess sprayed all over the walls. My heart sank as I realized that the back door to the shop was open, leaving easy access into the store. When I came back outside I told Bellum that she was fine. I didn't want her to worry. The next stop was to see if Geist was okay. Again I knocked on the door, but this time, I got an answer. The door opened with Geist cowering behind it. "Is everything okay?" I asked him frantically. "I saw it." He responded quietly. "Come out with us, we're leaving this town, it's gotten too dangerous to stay here." Geist shuffled out of his door holding a shotgun across his chest.

The last stop that we had to check on was Hades' gun shop. As we approached the store, I noticed hundreds of bullet casings scattered across the floor. The next thing that I saw was a trail of blood leading to the back of his shop. I cautiously followed it with Geist, leaving Bellum in the back. We got to the end of the trail to find Hades sitting in the corner coughing up blood. "Well, look who it is." As always, his sarcasm was warming, even in the most dire of situations. "What happened?" I asked in a total state of shock. "Well, I found out that normal bullets are useless against them. And that a claw to the chest really isn't that pleasant. I'm guessing you're leaving town, leave me, I'll just be dead weight." I nodded my head and started out the door, then Hades stopped me one last time. "Good luck out there kid, don't ever change." He smiled a little bit as we headed out the door.

The last thing that we heard before leaving town was a gunshot coming from the back room where Hades was. We carried everything that we could to a point that we wouldn't be slowed down and began to leave the town. "Cerberus?" I heard Bellum's scared voice ring out behind me. "What is it?" I responded. "It's almost nightfall, the rest of the creatures are going to be out soon, where are we going to camp out?" I stopped walking. The thought never even surfaced in my head. If we stay in the town, we'll be eaten by the day walker, if we stay out here in the open, the other creatures will tear us to shreds. We didn't really have much of a choice; either option would cause us to die unless we got lucky. As I was in the process of thought, I heard a loud crunch come from behind me. I turned around to see Geist eating away at a bright red apple. "Where did you get that?" I nervously asked. "Store." He bluntly replied. I was running out of options fast, if what happened to Pestis is what I think it was, then Bellum and I were the last ones with hope left. I heard a piercing howl in the distance. It was the call of the day walker, when it was in the middle of its hunt. I drew in a deep breath and did the last thing that I could. Think.