Party like it's 2012, New Fic!
Hi kiddies! I feel like I'm spamming everybody with my fics, sorry ;) I hope you'll enjoy this new fic. I'm also still working on the third chapter of Dark Side of the Moon, but real life is being a bitch so I can't write as much as I want.
Title: Party like it's 2012.
Pairings: Can be read as Ian/Anthony, but isn't really. Anthony/others.
Ratings/Warnings: R, violence, mentions of non-con, mentions of underage non-con, mentions of suicide, nothing graphic though.
Summary: It's the end of the world, and Ian is looking for Anthony.
A/N: This story is an AU action/adventure. I've never written that before that so I hope it is any good. I wrote this for the monthly challenge: beginnings/endings, and this story has a little bit of both.
Previous Chapters: None.
Everything ended the day They came. They destroyed everything, hacking and slashing, slicing and burning. Ian watched his house burn, his neighborhood, his city. The whole world burned, and Ian burned with it. There was a fire within him, fueling his determination to keep going, keep looking. He could never give up. The world was already broken, he couldn't afford to break too.
He had no idea how he had made it out of California alive. They had taken both coasts of the United States first, the most densely populated areas. The had set fire to the whole of Europe, destroyed Asia, and killed millions in Africa. Ian had heard rumors about what happened to Australia, but he didn't want to know about it. He already knew the truth about Latin America, that was more than enough. Besides, that was not where Anthony was.
The problem was, that was about as much information he had with regard to Anthony's whereabouts. When They had come, Ian had been home alone. Anthony was out getting milk, of all things. Chaos had reigned for days, weeks, months, after the first attacks, and Ian was forced to fled east. He had no idea what had happened to Anthony, if he had made it out alive at all when so many hadn't. Ian had found an abandoned farm during his flight, where he had stayed for several days, living of the food he had found in the cupboards. Eventually he decided that he would go look for other survivors, if there were any. The phones were down, as were the radio and television stations. Even the internet was down.
Those first few weeks on the road had been hard. He had run out of fuel for his car in the first week, and he had been walking ever since. He had met other people, all of them looking for their loved ones. Through the stories they told Ian had been able to piece together what had happened, and what was still happening. Apparently they were under attack by aliens. Aliens. If he hadn't seen the destruction they had caused with his own eyes he would have laughed at the insanity of it all. Who would have thought that the end would come in the from of extraterrestrials? To Ian, this whole thing felt like a horrible cliched disaster movie, and he wished someone would tell him this was all just a very realistic 3D experience in a new video game or something. Unfortunately no one did, so Ian was forced to believe that this was really his life now.
He was currently sitting in an abandoned bomb shelter from the Cold War, together with several other people. He was munching on some stale bread, but it was all they had, when he heard someone outside call for help. Ian looked over at a tall, bald guy who had become their leader. No one had really decided who was going to be in charge, but this man seemed to know a bit about survival, so they usually listened to what he said. Their leader, Jake, stood up and nodded at Ian, who grabbed the shotgun standing next to the door. It turned out that Ian was the only one of their group who had any experience with guns, so he was the one who had gotten the gun one of them had found in an partially burned down store.
Jake and Ian slowly moved towards the door. Ian held the shotgun ready while Jake carefully opened the door. It was a young woman, holding a small child in her arms. Ian lowered his gun and stepped back. Jake stared at the woman, who licked her lips nervously before asking: “Can I please come in? We've been on the run for two days, and Maddie,” she briefly looked down at the little girl in her arms, “isn't doing very well. Please let us in?” Jake stepped back without hesitation. The group had long ago decided that they would never turn people down, how low on food they might be.
Ian had returned to his spot again, finishing his bread. He didn't speak much anymore these days, focusing his energy on finding Anthony. He knew they others would ask the new woman for information, and if she would say something about California or Sacramento then Ian would pay attention. Otherwise he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. Sure enough the woman began to speak. At first Ian didn't pay attention; she had come from Montana, and they were in Idaho now. There was no way she would have been in California. But then she said something that had him sitting up and actually pay attention. “I'm sorry, but could you repeat that?” He interrupted her. The woman blinked at him, but repeated what she had just said. “I said that we came across one of the slave camps, but because it was night we managed to sneak past it.” The others in the group were whispering frantically among themselves, all of them curious about this new development. “Slave camps? What do you mean by that?” Ian asked the woman quickly. The woman looked surprised. “You don't know about that?” At everybody's negative answers she ran her hand through her hair. “I'll tell you then, I suppose. The aliens have build huge slave camps in the places they destroyed. From what I've heard they've targeted the densely populated areas and then build the camps there. The want slaves that worship them. By killing most people they can start anew on this planet with the children of the survivors, who they hope will see them as gods. They are now on the planet looking for healthy survivors who they are gonna use for reproduction. Then they'll kill them.”
Ian felt sick. Aliens had wiped out most of the planet just so they could use the survivors to reproduce and then brainwash their children. This was beyond anything he had expected. He suddenly missed Anthony so much it physically hurt. Trying to push his sadness away, he asked the woman: “Do you know if they built a camp in the Sacramento area?” The woman nodded. “I met a girl who had seen it being built. It is not very big though, it will probably only hold fifty people.” “Thank you,” Ian mumbled. This information really changed the game. There was a good chance that Anthony was in the Sacramento camp. He had asked anybody he had met on the road for signs of his friend, but no one had seen him. There were very few groups of survivors, and Ian was sure that if Anthony was able he would have joined one. The groups exchanged information freely, so Ian was pretty sure Anthony hadn't joined one. At least not in one of the states near California. This meant that Anthony had to be in a slave camp. Ian refused to think about the other option, even though that one was far more likely. Ian was aware that Anthony could also be somewhere else entirely, but the Sacramento slave camp was all he had to go on, and he was willing to take any lead, how small it might be.
Ian waited till the morning to tell the group that he was leaving them. He knew they would never come with him to California. It was far too dangerous there. He had already taught another member of the group how to use the shotgun so he did not feel too guilty for leaving. The wished him luck with his search, and they even gave him a bottle of water and some food. If Ian rationed it he could probably make it last for two days. It would not be enough, not by far, but hopefully he would find more food along the way.
Ian started walking, heading west. He tried to stay off the roads as much as possible, but he didn't see anyone, friend or foe, along the way. That night he slept in a ditch under the full moon. The next day Ian was awakened by a soft noise near his head. He instinctively stilled, hoping that whoever it was hadn't noticed him. He cracked open an eye and saw a distinctly non-human thing staring at him. With a scream Ian jumped up and grabbed a stick he had been carrying with him as protection. Instead of attacking him, the thing ran away as fast as it could. It took Ian a moment to realize that the thing had not been an alien at all. It was a small horse that was now on the other side of the meadow. Still a bit shaky, Ian dropped the stick and attempted to lure the horse to him. If he could find a rock or something he could kill the animal and eat it. It would be to big for him to eat all of it, but maybe he could carry some of the meat with him and eat it the next day.
The horse whinnied and walked back to Ian, not stopping until its soft nose was nuzzling Ian's face. Suddenly Ian felt very stupid. Why eat a horse if he could ride one? He had never ridden one before, but a few months ago he would never even consider killing and eating a horse, but things changed. Ian himself had changed, and if he in the past would have hesitated to ride a horse bareback, now it was just another thing to adjust to. He took a few minutes to pet the horse and get acquainted with it. It? Ian ducked down and looked at the horse's lower belly. Him. The horse was a he. Ian wasn't sure why he cared, but if there was one thing that he had learned was that the weirdest knowledge could be useful sometimes.
Ian grabbed his backpack and took the rope out. He took a moment to study the horse's head and tried to remember how a bridle looked. After a moment hesitation he took of his belt and fastened it around the horse's snout. The horse didn't seem to mind, too happy that he finally had company again to care about what Ian was doing. Ian than attached some of the rope to one side of the belt and ran it over the horse's head and fastened it to the belt on the other side. He added more rope on the front and back to secure the makeshift halter, and finally added two long ropes that would function as reins. Ian had no idea if it would work, but the only way to find out was to try it. He grabbed all his stuff and led the horse to the fence. He carefully climbed the fence and swung his leg over the horse's back. The animal moved a bit, but didn't walk away. Ian slowly lowered himself until he was sitting on the horse. He petted the horse, speaking in soft tones to calm him. When Ian was confident that the horse wasn't gonna run he allowed himself to move around a bit to sit comfortable. The horse took a few careful steps and Ian grabbed his manes to steady himself. This was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated.
Thirty minutes later Ian was on his way to Sacramento, sitting astride the horse, which he had called Frank, after his old car. Over the next few days Ian learned how to properly ride Frank, as well as what Frank actually needed in terms of food and rest. He had picked up a real bridle in another abandoned farm, but he couldn't find a saddle. Ian was sure his balls would never be the same, but he was making good time getting to California so he didn't care. He came across some other survivors on the way who confirmed the existence of a slave camp in Sacramento. Ian wasn't sure what to do when he got there, but he hoped he could think of something when he actually saw the camp with his own eyes.
Ian had lost count of the days he had traveled but one day he stumbled on a high fence with barbed wire. The moment he realized that he had found what he was looking for he turned Frank around and galloped away. He hadn't seen any aliens, not that he knew exactly what they looked like, but he knew he needed to keep his distance. He had passed a dense forest a while ago, which he chose as his base camp. He found a small path which led to a clearing where he built a simple shelter. He took the bridle off of Frank but used his belt to make a collar for the horse and tied him to a tree with a long rope. He went back to the camp on foot, moving very slow and staying in the shadows. He found the perfect hiding spot, where he could see the camp, but where he was very well hidden.
Over the next few days Ian observed the camp, the alien guards and the prisoners. It really was small, only the size of his old primary school. There were two buildings inside the fence, one for the male prisoners and one for the female. In the middle there was a watchtower, which was also where the guards slept. It was the first time Ian saw what the hated invaders looked like. He was sitting fairly far away, so he couldn't really see their faces, but to his surprise their general appearance was vaguely humanoid, except for their two extra legs. They reminded Ian of centaurs, but with more clothes on. The prisoners themselves wore what seemed like hospital scrubs, green for the men and red for the women. Ian tried to see if he could find Anthony but he was too far away. The camp itself was not heavily guarded. The aliens must have assumed that everybody had fled the area and that no one would dare to attack the camp. Most of the attention of the guards was on the prisoners. Ian counted only five armed guards, and approximately sixteen female prisoners and twelve male prisoners.
He noticed that there were only two guards outside during the night, and that the rest was inside the watchtower, presumably asleep. He would have to try to free the prisoners at night then. Ian had decided to try to free everybody. He was still human, and he was not going to let innocent people hurt each other because some alien wannabe gods wanted devoted followers. He would only open the doors, than it was every men and women for him/herself. He was only going to find Anthony. His plan was simple: climb the fence, kill the guards silently and use their guns or, if he was lucky, their keys to open the doors. He would take Frank with him so they could flee quickly. His plan was dangerous, but he couldn't think of anything better that didn't involve him suddenly developing superpowers.
When there was finally a night without a moon Ian knew that it was now or never. He took Frank and rode quickly to the camp. He left Frank about two hundred yards from the camp, hoping he wouldn't wander off. Ian didn't have the heart to tie Frank to a tree. If Ian wouldn't make it out, then Frank would die of starvation. He wasn't that cruel. Ian had his light backpack with him, knowing that if things went wrong he might not have a chance to recover it. He was clutching the kitchen knife that he had found in a house one day, ready to kill everyone that was standing between him and finding Anthony. He sneaked up to the fence on the north side. One of the guards was patrolling the east side, the other the west side. Ian had chosen the north side because it was closer to the cover of the trees. Ian placed the knife between his teeth and as quickly as he could Ian climbed the fence, threw his jacket on the barbed wire and carefully climbed over it, before jumping the last few feet down. He crouched down immediately, heart beating fast, adrenaline coursing through his veins. This was it.
He pressed himself to one of the buildings, glancing around both sides to see which guard was closer. It was the one on the east side. Ian waited around the corner for the guard to come close enough for Ian to stab him. He heard the strange footsteps approaching, the guard was very close now. Ian knew that each guard only poked his head around the corner to see if there was something wrong before they moved back again. Ian waited until he saw the guard's shadow. The moment the guard looked around the corned Ian jumped from the shadows and jammed his knife in the guard's neck. Warm, purple, blood ran over Ian's hand. The guard, whose face looked also vaguely human opened his mouth. Ian didn't hesitate: he slapped his left hand over the guards mouth before fully sliding his throat. The guard's four knees buckled and he fell down. Ian, wanting to make sure he was dead, stabbed the alien a few more times in several different places, including the alien's chest.
Covered in alien blood, Ian stood up. That was when he realized that the other guard could be very close by. He crouched down and listened carefully. Indeed he could hear the footsteps of the other guard. Ian moved to the other corner. One alien bastard down, one to go.
Ian used the same trick he had used on the other guard. He moved a bit too slow this time though, so he missed the guard's neck, stabbing him in the shoulder instead. The guard let out a soft cry, too shocked to shout for help, but he did instinctively hit Ian in the face before reaching for his gun. Fortunately Ian was hardened by his forced survival on the road, and one hit to the head did not faze him as much as it would have done a year ago. Before the guard could point his gun at Ian, Ian had punched him in the face one, two, three times. Dazed, the guard tried to bring its arms up, but Ian was quicker. Ian grabbed the knife that was still stuck in the guard's shoulder and stabbed the alien through the chest, and then again in his neck. Ian moved swiftly to the side of the guard and slid his throat like he had done with the other guard. Soundlessly, the guard sunk down to the ground. Ian decided to stab this guard a few more times a well, just to be sure. When he was done he was shaking. He had just killed two living things, and even though they were evil it made Ian want to throw up. He couldn't afford to do that though. He needed to find Anthony.
Ian searched the guard, and found a strange device. It reminded Ian of a electronic car key. He hoped it really was a key, preferably to the prisoner buildings. He also grabbed the guard's gun. It looked remarkably like a normal gun, and Ian hoped it would work the same. He couldn't test it though, it would undoubtedly wake the other guards in the watchtower. Ian took one last look at the dead guard and moved back to the first one, taking his keys and gun as well. Ian took a deep breath. Time to free the prisoners.
Ian was standing closest to the women's building, so he decided to open that one first. Unfortunately he hadn't counted on the alarm that went off the moment he opened the door with the keys that worked exactly the same as a car key. Sixteen pairs of eyes stared at him from inside the building, startled awake by the blaring alarm. “Run!” Ian bellowed, before taking off to the men's building. He had done his duty in freeing the women, now they would have to take care of themselves. He sprinted back to the men's building, hoping he was on time. Behind him he could hear the women running from the building, all running the same way. Ian realized they must be running to a gate. He hadn't seen one from his hideout, but it could have been made to look like the rest of the fence. It had been impossible for Ian to get closer than he had been, but he still felt stupid for not knowing were the gate was. One of the women ran passed him, briefly looking at him. “Hold on!” Ian shouted, and threw her one of the keys. He hoped it would open the front gate as well. The women yelled her thanks and ran to the gate. Ian had reached the men's building and opened the door. The men were already standing by the door, having heard the commotion. Before Ian could see if Anthony was among them they had all wormed their way through the door and ran off in the same direction as the women.
Ian cursed and followed them. Behind him he heard shots. The guards must have finally left the tower and discovered the escape attempt. When he reached the gate he saw that the prisoners had not yet gone through. The keys must not work then. He turned around and came face to face with one of the guards. Instinctively he raised the stolen gun and fired. Ian was pretty sure the gun did not fire regular bullets, but it sure did its job. The guard in front of him crumpled to the ground and didn't move. This left two guards. Ian whipped his head around trying to find them, but he saw that he and his gun would not be necessary anymore. The prisoners had attacked the guards by themselves, months of abuse and anger finally finding a way out. They clawed and bit, punched and kicked the guards until Ian had to look away. He was absolutely sure that the guards were dead at that point.
He went over to the guard he had killed and quickly found his keys. The looked a bit different from the other keys, so Ian hoped they would unlock the gate. Otherwise he would just shoot the lock, he reasoned. The prisoners, who had now abandoned the dead guards milled around him, curious and grateful. They tried to thank him, but Ian didn't care. He hadn't found Anthony, that was all that mattered to him. Without a word he opened the gate and pointed to the fields that lay beyond. “Go.”
He was about to follow them when a warm hand grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Ian instinctively brought his hands up, but when he saw two chocolate brown eyes look at him he numbly dropped his arms again. Anthony was alive, and Ian had found him, or rather, Anthony had found him. He couldn't quite comprehend that he had succeeded yet, so he didn't move. Anthony, on the other hand, was all movement; he wrapped his arms around Ian, hugging him so tightly that Ian almost couldn't breathe anymore. Instead of pushing Anthony away though, he wrapped his own arms around his friend, allowing himself to be smothered. It was a full minute before they let go of each other, and then they were still looking at each other.
Ian didn't want to move, but he knew that the alarms had probably set off other alarms in nearby camps, so it wasn't safe to stay. He grabbed Anthony's hand. “We'll talk later, we have to go now!” Together they ran outside, Ian leading the way to where Frank was hopefully still waiting. After a hundred yards Anthony slowed down. Ian tried to urge him on, but when he saw Anthony looking at his feet, he understood. Anthony did not have any shoes on, and he had just run through a forest. Ian knew they had very little time left. He pressed his backpack in Anthony's hands. “Stay here and put the backpack on your back. I'll be right back.” He could have carried Anthony, but Ian had eaten very little over the last few days, due to his need to stay close to the slave camp. He was weak, and the fight had taken much out of him.
So instead he ran towards the clearing where Frank should be. Fortunately the horse had not moved very far and Ian was able to jump right on his back. He immediately galloped back to where Anthony was waiting. The look on Anthony's face was priceless when he saw Ian galloping towards him on a horse. Ian stopped near Anthony and held out his hand. Without hesitation Anthony grabbed his hand and moved to sit behind Ian. He wrapped his arms around Ian's waist before whispering, “Go!” Ian steered Frank in the right direction and they took off. Anthony held on for dear life, not used to riding a horse, especially without a saddle.
When Ian deemed it safe he stopped near another small forest. He dismounted and held out his hand. Anthony grabbed it gratefully and Ian helped him down. Ian led Frank and Anthony deep into the forest, tied Frank to a tree and quickly built a shelter. Anthony had been very quiet, just watching Ian work. Ian was quiet too. What do you say to your best friend when you haven't seen him for several months while the world was ending? Ian took the time to build a small fire. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off he could feel how cold it was. He had also seen Anthony shivering in his thin clothes. When he was done he sat down by the fire and beckoned Anthony to him. Anthony sat down, still silent.
“Let me look at your feet, dude. Are you injured anywhere else?” Ian said kindly. After a moment hesitation Anthony placed his bleeding feet in Ian lap. Ian carefully cleaned his feet and bandaged them. He grabbed some of own, thick socks and put them on Anthony's feet to keep him warm. “Thank you.” Anthony suddenly choked out. It was the first time he had spoken since they had stopped to rest. Ian looked at him. Anthony was crying. Ian was unsure of what to do, but eventually he just hugged Anthony tight. “Do you want to tell me what happened to you?” Ian softly asked. Anthony shrugged, before mumbling, “Do you wanna hear it? I mean, it's pretty bad, and I have done horrible things. You'll probably hate me afterward.” Ian shook his head. “I could never hate you. Please tell me, maybe it helps.” At that Anthony let out a humorless laugh. “I doubt it. But you deserve to know. Then you can leave me.” Ian sighed. “After all the trouble I went through to find you, I would never leave you. Now stop thinking that and tell me.” Anthony took a deep breath and began speaking.
“I was in the parking lot of the Walmart when They came. The destroyed the Walmart, but left the parking lot alone. I ran away, hid in a nearby park. All the roads were blocked, so I decided to try to get back home on foot. When I arrived, I saw that our house had burned down. I tried looking for you but,” Anthony swallowed, wiped at his eyes before continuing, “I couldn't find you. I thought you had died. I didn't know what to do, walked all the way to my parents's house, but that was gone too. I tried to leave the city then, that was three days after They had come, but They caught me. I was brought to a makeshift camp, which was huge. Everyone they found was put there. They took our clothes and we were examined. The old and the sick were killed right away.” Anthony stopped talking, overcome by the memories. Ian stayed silent, only softly rubbing Anthony's back. Taking a deep breath Anthony went on with his story. “The healthy, young people were eventually separated, some went to camps in the south, others somewhere else. I got taken to one of the small camps on the outskirts, where you found me. They wanted us to...” Anthony stopped talking, just stared at the ground. Ian had an idea of what had happened. If those aliens wanted the humans to reproduce, well, having sex was going to be involved. And if the aliens forced the people... Well, that was rape in Ian's book. “They wanted you to have sex with each other, right?” Ian tentatively asked. Anthony looked up at him, surprised. “You know about that?” Ian nodded. “Yes.” Anthony hesitated, but continued with his story. “Well, since you know already I should just tell you the rest, I suppose. Yes, they want us to have sex with each other, get the girls pregnant, then take the babies away from us for something. I refused, of course, we all did. They threatened to kill us, that is, the men, if we wouldn't force ourselves on the girls, but we still refused. Then those bastards threatened to torture and rape the girls themselves if we didn't go through with it. I'm pretty sure those aliens and humans can't reproduce, but they could probably still really hurt the girls. So we gave in.” Anthony was once again crying, but he continued speaking. “I raped them, Ian, all of the girls they shoved at me. One of them was only fifteen, and she was crying the entire time and I did it anyway and-.” Anthony suddenly threw himself to the side before throwing up on the dark forest ground. When he was done he remained on his knees, facing away from Ian.
“You'll probably want me to leave now,” Anthony said in a detached voice, “That's okay. I wouldn't want to be around myself either. I would have killed myself a long time ago, but I didn't have anything to do kill myself with.” Anthony stood up, still with his back to Ian. “I'm gonna go now. Goodbye, Ian.” Before Anthony could take a single step, Ian had grabbed his arm, dragged Anthony back to fire and forcefully sat him down. He kneeled between Anthony's legs and forced Anthony to look him in the eyes. “Listen very carefully, you idiot. You didn't do anything wrong. You probably prevented a worse fate for those girls. You are as much a victim of this as they are. This sort of rape works both ways. Those alien motherfuckers are the criminals here, you are all victims. So don't you ever, ever think that any of this was your fault. And if I hear you say anything about suicide again, then. All. Hell. Will. Break. Lose. I didn't come all this way to lose you all over again. Got it?” Anthony sniffled a few times, but eventually he nodded.
“Good. Now come inside this lovely shelter I have built, and we'll sleep. Tomorrow we'll talk some more, alright?” Anthony nodded again, and followed Ian inside. That night they slept close together, sharing body heat. Ian knew they had still a long way to go. He might have gotten Anthony back, but his friend was broken in a million pieces. Now it was time for Ian to put those pieces back together, and to get the Anthony he knew back. Ian was gonna be by Anthony's side, there when Anthony would need him. Ian was fine with that. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to be when the world was coming to an end.
Epilogue.
“Go, go, go!” Anthony yelled. Ian galloped by, grabbed Anthony's hand which had been reaching for him and pulled his friend behind him. Frank never slowed down, just ran in the direction Ian steered him. Prisoners were running to the left and right of them, having been freed by Ian and Anthony moments before. “How many is this?” Anthony yelled in Ian ear. “Third this month!” Ian bellowed back, “last one in California!”
It had been two years since Ian rescued Anthony from the camp. The first few months were spent recovering, both of them. Ian had spent so much time trying to find Anthony that he had never properly mourned for all the other people he had lost. Now that Anthony was safely with him, he had a hard time making sense of his emotions. Anthony himself had been traumatized, but he was getting better and better. A year ago the boys had decided that they could not let other go through the same as Anthony had, so they started attacking other camps. It was always just the two of them, working under cover of the night, preferring stealth to brute force. Today they had freed the last prisoners in California.
Living like this was dangerous, but they both felt that it was the right thing to do. The prisoners they had freed over the last twelve month had united and fought the alien invaders as well. They did not always win, but at least they could go out fighting. Ian spared a glance at the man behind him. Tomorrow they would go to Oregon, begin their operation there. Ian felt Anthony wrap his arms around him. Yes, Ian thought, they were going to be alright.
I know, the plot is a bit of a cliché, but I have not seen many action/adventure stories here so I thought some people might like it. Please comment, even if you didn't like it ^^
Title: Party like it's 2012.
Pairings: Can be read as Ian/Anthony, but isn't really. Anthony/others.
Ratings/Warnings: R, violence, mentions of non-con, mentions of underage non-con, mentions of suicide, nothing graphic though.
Summary: It's the end of the world, and Ian is looking for Anthony.
A/N: This story is an AU action/adventure. I've never written that before that so I hope it is any good. I wrote this for the monthly challenge: beginnings/endings, and this story has a little bit of both.
Previous Chapters: None.
Everything ended the day They came. They destroyed everything, hacking and slashing, slicing and burning. Ian watched his house burn, his neighborhood, his city. The whole world burned, and Ian burned with it. There was a fire within him, fueling his determination to keep going, keep looking. He could never give up. The world was already broken, he couldn't afford to break too.
He had no idea how he had made it out of California alive. They had taken both coasts of the United States first, the most densely populated areas. The had set fire to the whole of Europe, destroyed Asia, and killed millions in Africa. Ian had heard rumors about what happened to Australia, but he didn't want to know about it. He already knew the truth about Latin America, that was more than enough. Besides, that was not where Anthony was.
The problem was, that was about as much information he had with regard to Anthony's whereabouts. When They had come, Ian had been home alone. Anthony was out getting milk, of all things. Chaos had reigned for days, weeks, months, after the first attacks, and Ian was forced to fled east. He had no idea what had happened to Anthony, if he had made it out alive at all when so many hadn't. Ian had found an abandoned farm during his flight, where he had stayed for several days, living of the food he had found in the cupboards. Eventually he decided that he would go look for other survivors, if there were any. The phones were down, as were the radio and television stations. Even the internet was down.
Those first few weeks on the road had been hard. He had run out of fuel for his car in the first week, and he had been walking ever since. He had met other people, all of them looking for their loved ones. Through the stories they told Ian had been able to piece together what had happened, and what was still happening. Apparently they were under attack by aliens. Aliens. If he hadn't seen the destruction they had caused with his own eyes he would have laughed at the insanity of it all. Who would have thought that the end would come in the from of extraterrestrials? To Ian, this whole thing felt like a horrible cliched disaster movie, and he wished someone would tell him this was all just a very realistic 3D experience in a new video game or something. Unfortunately no one did, so Ian was forced to believe that this was really his life now.
He was currently sitting in an abandoned bomb shelter from the Cold War, together with several other people. He was munching on some stale bread, but it was all they had, when he heard someone outside call for help. Ian looked over at a tall, bald guy who had become their leader. No one had really decided who was going to be in charge, but this man seemed to know a bit about survival, so they usually listened to what he said. Their leader, Jake, stood up and nodded at Ian, who grabbed the shotgun standing next to the door. It turned out that Ian was the only one of their group who had any experience with guns, so he was the one who had gotten the gun one of them had found in an partially burned down store.
Jake and Ian slowly moved towards the door. Ian held the shotgun ready while Jake carefully opened the door. It was a young woman, holding a small child in her arms. Ian lowered his gun and stepped back. Jake stared at the woman, who licked her lips nervously before asking: “Can I please come in? We've been on the run for two days, and Maddie,” she briefly looked down at the little girl in her arms, “isn't doing very well. Please let us in?” Jake stepped back without hesitation. The group had long ago decided that they would never turn people down, how low on food they might be.
Ian had returned to his spot again, finishing his bread. He didn't speak much anymore these days, focusing his energy on finding Anthony. He knew they others would ask the new woman for information, and if she would say something about California or Sacramento then Ian would pay attention. Otherwise he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. Sure enough the woman began to speak. At first Ian didn't pay attention; she had come from Montana, and they were in Idaho now. There was no way she would have been in California. But then she said something that had him sitting up and actually pay attention. “I'm sorry, but could you repeat that?” He interrupted her. The woman blinked at him, but repeated what she had just said. “I said that we came across one of the slave camps, but because it was night we managed to sneak past it.” The others in the group were whispering frantically among themselves, all of them curious about this new development. “Slave camps? What do you mean by that?” Ian asked the woman quickly. The woman looked surprised. “You don't know about that?” At everybody's negative answers she ran her hand through her hair. “I'll tell you then, I suppose. The aliens have build huge slave camps in the places they destroyed. From what I've heard they've targeted the densely populated areas and then build the camps there. The want slaves that worship them. By killing most people they can start anew on this planet with the children of the survivors, who they hope will see them as gods. They are now on the planet looking for healthy survivors who they are gonna use for reproduction. Then they'll kill them.”
Ian felt sick. Aliens had wiped out most of the planet just so they could use the survivors to reproduce and then brainwash their children. This was beyond anything he had expected. He suddenly missed Anthony so much it physically hurt. Trying to push his sadness away, he asked the woman: “Do you know if they built a camp in the Sacramento area?” The woman nodded. “I met a girl who had seen it being built. It is not very big though, it will probably only hold fifty people.” “Thank you,” Ian mumbled. This information really changed the game. There was a good chance that Anthony was in the Sacramento camp. He had asked anybody he had met on the road for signs of his friend, but no one had seen him. There were very few groups of survivors, and Ian was sure that if Anthony was able he would have joined one. The groups exchanged information freely, so Ian was pretty sure Anthony hadn't joined one. At least not in one of the states near California. This meant that Anthony had to be in a slave camp. Ian refused to think about the other option, even though that one was far more likely. Ian was aware that Anthony could also be somewhere else entirely, but the Sacramento slave camp was all he had to go on, and he was willing to take any lead, how small it might be.
Ian waited till the morning to tell the group that he was leaving them. He knew they would never come with him to California. It was far too dangerous there. He had already taught another member of the group how to use the shotgun so he did not feel too guilty for leaving. The wished him luck with his search, and they even gave him a bottle of water and some food. If Ian rationed it he could probably make it last for two days. It would not be enough, not by far, but hopefully he would find more food along the way.
Ian started walking, heading west. He tried to stay off the roads as much as possible, but he didn't see anyone, friend or foe, along the way. That night he slept in a ditch under the full moon. The next day Ian was awakened by a soft noise near his head. He instinctively stilled, hoping that whoever it was hadn't noticed him. He cracked open an eye and saw a distinctly non-human thing staring at him. With a scream Ian jumped up and grabbed a stick he had been carrying with him as protection. Instead of attacking him, the thing ran away as fast as it could. It took Ian a moment to realize that the thing had not been an alien at all. It was a small horse that was now on the other side of the meadow. Still a bit shaky, Ian dropped the stick and attempted to lure the horse to him. If he could find a rock or something he could kill the animal and eat it. It would be to big for him to eat all of it, but maybe he could carry some of the meat with him and eat it the next day.
The horse whinnied and walked back to Ian, not stopping until its soft nose was nuzzling Ian's face. Suddenly Ian felt very stupid. Why eat a horse if he could ride one? He had never ridden one before, but a few months ago he would never even consider killing and eating a horse, but things changed. Ian himself had changed, and if he in the past would have hesitated to ride a horse bareback, now it was just another thing to adjust to. He took a few minutes to pet the horse and get acquainted with it. It? Ian ducked down and looked at the horse's lower belly. Him. The horse was a he. Ian wasn't sure why he cared, but if there was one thing that he had learned was that the weirdest knowledge could be useful sometimes.
Ian grabbed his backpack and took the rope out. He took a moment to study the horse's head and tried to remember how a bridle looked. After a moment hesitation he took of his belt and fastened it around the horse's snout. The horse didn't seem to mind, too happy that he finally had company again to care about what Ian was doing. Ian than attached some of the rope to one side of the belt and ran it over the horse's head and fastened it to the belt on the other side. He added more rope on the front and back to secure the makeshift halter, and finally added two long ropes that would function as reins. Ian had no idea if it would work, but the only way to find out was to try it. He grabbed all his stuff and led the horse to the fence. He carefully climbed the fence and swung his leg over the horse's back. The animal moved a bit, but didn't walk away. Ian slowly lowered himself until he was sitting on the horse. He petted the horse, speaking in soft tones to calm him. When Ian was confident that the horse wasn't gonna run he allowed himself to move around a bit to sit comfortable. The horse took a few careful steps and Ian grabbed his manes to steady himself. This was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated.
Thirty minutes later Ian was on his way to Sacramento, sitting astride the horse, which he had called Frank, after his old car. Over the next few days Ian learned how to properly ride Frank, as well as what Frank actually needed in terms of food and rest. He had picked up a real bridle in another abandoned farm, but he couldn't find a saddle. Ian was sure his balls would never be the same, but he was making good time getting to California so he didn't care. He came across some other survivors on the way who confirmed the existence of a slave camp in Sacramento. Ian wasn't sure what to do when he got there, but he hoped he could think of something when he actually saw the camp with his own eyes.
Ian had lost count of the days he had traveled but one day he stumbled on a high fence with barbed wire. The moment he realized that he had found what he was looking for he turned Frank around and galloped away. He hadn't seen any aliens, not that he knew exactly what they looked like, but he knew he needed to keep his distance. He had passed a dense forest a while ago, which he chose as his base camp. He found a small path which led to a clearing where he built a simple shelter. He took the bridle off of Frank but used his belt to make a collar for the horse and tied him to a tree with a long rope. He went back to the camp on foot, moving very slow and staying in the shadows. He found the perfect hiding spot, where he could see the camp, but where he was very well hidden.
Over the next few days Ian observed the camp, the alien guards and the prisoners. It really was small, only the size of his old primary school. There were two buildings inside the fence, one for the male prisoners and one for the female. In the middle there was a watchtower, which was also where the guards slept. It was the first time Ian saw what the hated invaders looked like. He was sitting fairly far away, so he couldn't really see their faces, but to his surprise their general appearance was vaguely humanoid, except for their two extra legs. They reminded Ian of centaurs, but with more clothes on. The prisoners themselves wore what seemed like hospital scrubs, green for the men and red for the women. Ian tried to see if he could find Anthony but he was too far away. The camp itself was not heavily guarded. The aliens must have assumed that everybody had fled the area and that no one would dare to attack the camp. Most of the attention of the guards was on the prisoners. Ian counted only five armed guards, and approximately sixteen female prisoners and twelve male prisoners.
He noticed that there were only two guards outside during the night, and that the rest was inside the watchtower, presumably asleep. He would have to try to free the prisoners at night then. Ian had decided to try to free everybody. He was still human, and he was not going to let innocent people hurt each other because some alien wannabe gods wanted devoted followers. He would only open the doors, than it was every men and women for him/herself. He was only going to find Anthony. His plan was simple: climb the fence, kill the guards silently and use their guns or, if he was lucky, their keys to open the doors. He would take Frank with him so they could flee quickly. His plan was dangerous, but he couldn't think of anything better that didn't involve him suddenly developing superpowers.
When there was finally a night without a moon Ian knew that it was now or never. He took Frank and rode quickly to the camp. He left Frank about two hundred yards from the camp, hoping he wouldn't wander off. Ian didn't have the heart to tie Frank to a tree. If Ian wouldn't make it out, then Frank would die of starvation. He wasn't that cruel. Ian had his light backpack with him, knowing that if things went wrong he might not have a chance to recover it. He was clutching the kitchen knife that he had found in a house one day, ready to kill everyone that was standing between him and finding Anthony. He sneaked up to the fence on the north side. One of the guards was patrolling the east side, the other the west side. Ian had chosen the north side because it was closer to the cover of the trees. Ian placed the knife between his teeth and as quickly as he could Ian climbed the fence, threw his jacket on the barbed wire and carefully climbed over it, before jumping the last few feet down. He crouched down immediately, heart beating fast, adrenaline coursing through his veins. This was it.
He pressed himself to one of the buildings, glancing around both sides to see which guard was closer. It was the one on the east side. Ian waited around the corner for the guard to come close enough for Ian to stab him. He heard the strange footsteps approaching, the guard was very close now. Ian knew that each guard only poked his head around the corner to see if there was something wrong before they moved back again. Ian waited until he saw the guard's shadow. The moment the guard looked around the corned Ian jumped from the shadows and jammed his knife in the guard's neck. Warm, purple, blood ran over Ian's hand. The guard, whose face looked also vaguely human opened his mouth. Ian didn't hesitate: he slapped his left hand over the guards mouth before fully sliding his throat. The guard's four knees buckled and he fell down. Ian, wanting to make sure he was dead, stabbed the alien a few more times in several different places, including the alien's chest.
Covered in alien blood, Ian stood up. That was when he realized that the other guard could be very close by. He crouched down and listened carefully. Indeed he could hear the footsteps of the other guard. Ian moved to the other corner. One alien bastard down, one to go.
Ian used the same trick he had used on the other guard. He moved a bit too slow this time though, so he missed the guard's neck, stabbing him in the shoulder instead. The guard let out a soft cry, too shocked to shout for help, but he did instinctively hit Ian in the face before reaching for his gun. Fortunately Ian was hardened by his forced survival on the road, and one hit to the head did not faze him as much as it would have done a year ago. Before the guard could point his gun at Ian, Ian had punched him in the face one, two, three times. Dazed, the guard tried to bring its arms up, but Ian was quicker. Ian grabbed the knife that was still stuck in the guard's shoulder and stabbed the alien through the chest, and then again in his neck. Ian moved swiftly to the side of the guard and slid his throat like he had done with the other guard. Soundlessly, the guard sunk down to the ground. Ian decided to stab this guard a few more times a well, just to be sure. When he was done he was shaking. He had just killed two living things, and even though they were evil it made Ian want to throw up. He couldn't afford to do that though. He needed to find Anthony.
Ian searched the guard, and found a strange device. It reminded Ian of a electronic car key. He hoped it really was a key, preferably to the prisoner buildings. He also grabbed the guard's gun. It looked remarkably like a normal gun, and Ian hoped it would work the same. He couldn't test it though, it would undoubtedly wake the other guards in the watchtower. Ian took one last look at the dead guard and moved back to the first one, taking his keys and gun as well. Ian took a deep breath. Time to free the prisoners.
Ian was standing closest to the women's building, so he decided to open that one first. Unfortunately he hadn't counted on the alarm that went off the moment he opened the door with the keys that worked exactly the same as a car key. Sixteen pairs of eyes stared at him from inside the building, startled awake by the blaring alarm. “Run!” Ian bellowed, before taking off to the men's building. He had done his duty in freeing the women, now they would have to take care of themselves. He sprinted back to the men's building, hoping he was on time. Behind him he could hear the women running from the building, all running the same way. Ian realized they must be running to a gate. He hadn't seen one from his hideout, but it could have been made to look like the rest of the fence. It had been impossible for Ian to get closer than he had been, but he still felt stupid for not knowing were the gate was. One of the women ran passed him, briefly looking at him. “Hold on!” Ian shouted, and threw her one of the keys. He hoped it would open the front gate as well. The women yelled her thanks and ran to the gate. Ian had reached the men's building and opened the door. The men were already standing by the door, having heard the commotion. Before Ian could see if Anthony was among them they had all wormed their way through the door and ran off in the same direction as the women.
Ian cursed and followed them. Behind him he heard shots. The guards must have finally left the tower and discovered the escape attempt. When he reached the gate he saw that the prisoners had not yet gone through. The keys must not work then. He turned around and came face to face with one of the guards. Instinctively he raised the stolen gun and fired. Ian was pretty sure the gun did not fire regular bullets, but it sure did its job. The guard in front of him crumpled to the ground and didn't move. This left two guards. Ian whipped his head around trying to find them, but he saw that he and his gun would not be necessary anymore. The prisoners had attacked the guards by themselves, months of abuse and anger finally finding a way out. They clawed and bit, punched and kicked the guards until Ian had to look away. He was absolutely sure that the guards were dead at that point.
He went over to the guard he had killed and quickly found his keys. The looked a bit different from the other keys, so Ian hoped they would unlock the gate. Otherwise he would just shoot the lock, he reasoned. The prisoners, who had now abandoned the dead guards milled around him, curious and grateful. They tried to thank him, but Ian didn't care. He hadn't found Anthony, that was all that mattered to him. Without a word he opened the gate and pointed to the fields that lay beyond. “Go.”
He was about to follow them when a warm hand grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Ian instinctively brought his hands up, but when he saw two chocolate brown eyes look at him he numbly dropped his arms again. Anthony was alive, and Ian had found him, or rather, Anthony had found him. He couldn't quite comprehend that he had succeeded yet, so he didn't move. Anthony, on the other hand, was all movement; he wrapped his arms around Ian, hugging him so tightly that Ian almost couldn't breathe anymore. Instead of pushing Anthony away though, he wrapped his own arms around his friend, allowing himself to be smothered. It was a full minute before they let go of each other, and then they were still looking at each other.
Ian didn't want to move, but he knew that the alarms had probably set off other alarms in nearby camps, so it wasn't safe to stay. He grabbed Anthony's hand. “We'll talk later, we have to go now!” Together they ran outside, Ian leading the way to where Frank was hopefully still waiting. After a hundred yards Anthony slowed down. Ian tried to urge him on, but when he saw Anthony looking at his feet, he understood. Anthony did not have any shoes on, and he had just run through a forest. Ian knew they had very little time left. He pressed his backpack in Anthony's hands. “Stay here and put the backpack on your back. I'll be right back.” He could have carried Anthony, but Ian had eaten very little over the last few days, due to his need to stay close to the slave camp. He was weak, and the fight had taken much out of him.
So instead he ran towards the clearing where Frank should be. Fortunately the horse had not moved very far and Ian was able to jump right on his back. He immediately galloped back to where Anthony was waiting. The look on Anthony's face was priceless when he saw Ian galloping towards him on a horse. Ian stopped near Anthony and held out his hand. Without hesitation Anthony grabbed his hand and moved to sit behind Ian. He wrapped his arms around Ian's waist before whispering, “Go!” Ian steered Frank in the right direction and they took off. Anthony held on for dear life, not used to riding a horse, especially without a saddle.
When Ian deemed it safe he stopped near another small forest. He dismounted and held out his hand. Anthony grabbed it gratefully and Ian helped him down. Ian led Frank and Anthony deep into the forest, tied Frank to a tree and quickly built a shelter. Anthony had been very quiet, just watching Ian work. Ian was quiet too. What do you say to your best friend when you haven't seen him for several months while the world was ending? Ian took the time to build a small fire. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off he could feel how cold it was. He had also seen Anthony shivering in his thin clothes. When he was done he sat down by the fire and beckoned Anthony to him. Anthony sat down, still silent.
“Let me look at your feet, dude. Are you injured anywhere else?” Ian said kindly. After a moment hesitation Anthony placed his bleeding feet in Ian lap. Ian carefully cleaned his feet and bandaged them. He grabbed some of own, thick socks and put them on Anthony's feet to keep him warm. “Thank you.” Anthony suddenly choked out. It was the first time he had spoken since they had stopped to rest. Ian looked at him. Anthony was crying. Ian was unsure of what to do, but eventually he just hugged Anthony tight. “Do you want to tell me what happened to you?” Ian softly asked. Anthony shrugged, before mumbling, “Do you wanna hear it? I mean, it's pretty bad, and I have done horrible things. You'll probably hate me afterward.” Ian shook his head. “I could never hate you. Please tell me, maybe it helps.” At that Anthony let out a humorless laugh. “I doubt it. But you deserve to know. Then you can leave me.” Ian sighed. “After all the trouble I went through to find you, I would never leave you. Now stop thinking that and tell me.” Anthony took a deep breath and began speaking.
“I was in the parking lot of the Walmart when They came. The destroyed the Walmart, but left the parking lot alone. I ran away, hid in a nearby park. All the roads were blocked, so I decided to try to get back home on foot. When I arrived, I saw that our house had burned down. I tried looking for you but,” Anthony swallowed, wiped at his eyes before continuing, “I couldn't find you. I thought you had died. I didn't know what to do, walked all the way to my parents's house, but that was gone too. I tried to leave the city then, that was three days after They had come, but They caught me. I was brought to a makeshift camp, which was huge. Everyone they found was put there. They took our clothes and we were examined. The old and the sick were killed right away.” Anthony stopped talking, overcome by the memories. Ian stayed silent, only softly rubbing Anthony's back. Taking a deep breath Anthony went on with his story. “The healthy, young people were eventually separated, some went to camps in the south, others somewhere else. I got taken to one of the small camps on the outskirts, where you found me. They wanted us to...” Anthony stopped talking, just stared at the ground. Ian had an idea of what had happened. If those aliens wanted the humans to reproduce, well, having sex was going to be involved. And if the aliens forced the people... Well, that was rape in Ian's book. “They wanted you to have sex with each other, right?” Ian tentatively asked. Anthony looked up at him, surprised. “You know about that?” Ian nodded. “Yes.” Anthony hesitated, but continued with his story. “Well, since you know already I should just tell you the rest, I suppose. Yes, they want us to have sex with each other, get the girls pregnant, then take the babies away from us for something. I refused, of course, we all did. They threatened to kill us, that is, the men, if we wouldn't force ourselves on the girls, but we still refused. Then those bastards threatened to torture and rape the girls themselves if we didn't go through with it. I'm pretty sure those aliens and humans can't reproduce, but they could probably still really hurt the girls. So we gave in.” Anthony was once again crying, but he continued speaking. “I raped them, Ian, all of the girls they shoved at me. One of them was only fifteen, and she was crying the entire time and I did it anyway and-.” Anthony suddenly threw himself to the side before throwing up on the dark forest ground. When he was done he remained on his knees, facing away from Ian.
“You'll probably want me to leave now,” Anthony said in a detached voice, “That's okay. I wouldn't want to be around myself either. I would have killed myself a long time ago, but I didn't have anything to do kill myself with.” Anthony stood up, still with his back to Ian. “I'm gonna go now. Goodbye, Ian.” Before Anthony could take a single step, Ian had grabbed his arm, dragged Anthony back to fire and forcefully sat him down. He kneeled between Anthony's legs and forced Anthony to look him in the eyes. “Listen very carefully, you idiot. You didn't do anything wrong. You probably prevented a worse fate for those girls. You are as much a victim of this as they are. This sort of rape works both ways. Those alien motherfuckers are the criminals here, you are all victims. So don't you ever, ever think that any of this was your fault. And if I hear you say anything about suicide again, then. All. Hell. Will. Break. Lose. I didn't come all this way to lose you all over again. Got it?” Anthony sniffled a few times, but eventually he nodded.
“Good. Now come inside this lovely shelter I have built, and we'll sleep. Tomorrow we'll talk some more, alright?” Anthony nodded again, and followed Ian inside. That night they slept close together, sharing body heat. Ian knew they had still a long way to go. He might have gotten Anthony back, but his friend was broken in a million pieces. Now it was time for Ian to put those pieces back together, and to get the Anthony he knew back. Ian was gonna be by Anthony's side, there when Anthony would need him. Ian was fine with that. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to be when the world was coming to an end.
Epilogue.
“Go, go, go!” Anthony yelled. Ian galloped by, grabbed Anthony's hand which had been reaching for him and pulled his friend behind him. Frank never slowed down, just ran in the direction Ian steered him. Prisoners were running to the left and right of them, having been freed by Ian and Anthony moments before. “How many is this?” Anthony yelled in Ian ear. “Third this month!” Ian bellowed back, “last one in California!”
It had been two years since Ian rescued Anthony from the camp. The first few months were spent recovering, both of them. Ian had spent so much time trying to find Anthony that he had never properly mourned for all the other people he had lost. Now that Anthony was safely with him, he had a hard time making sense of his emotions. Anthony himself had been traumatized, but he was getting better and better. A year ago the boys had decided that they could not let other go through the same as Anthony had, so they started attacking other camps. It was always just the two of them, working under cover of the night, preferring stealth to brute force. Today they had freed the last prisoners in California.
Living like this was dangerous, but they both felt that it was the right thing to do. The prisoners they had freed over the last twelve month had united and fought the alien invaders as well. They did not always win, but at least they could go out fighting. Ian spared a glance at the man behind him. Tomorrow they would go to Oregon, begin their operation there. Ian felt Anthony wrap his arms around him. Yes, Ian thought, they were going to be alright.
I know, the plot is a bit of a cliché, but I have not seen many action/adventure stories here so I thought some people might like it. Please comment, even if you didn't like it ^^