Snippet #1868651

Five years before ADV started - Twitch and Adem

First mistake? Taking drugs after my dad died, second mistake? Thinking Thanatos was a bad idea. I've seen some serouisly fucked up shit.

"Oh look it's you, the newest addition to our little family, a little twitchy aren't you?" The dirty, bearded man replied, leaning over a younger Twitch. Where were they? He didn't know, he just wanted to live in the past, take drugs and survive. "Haha, I'm gonna call you Twitch."

Twitch looked up, shoving the figure back as he got up, he'd been sleeping on a dirty mattress, the room around him was full of empty needles, mixed narcotics scavanged from stalls and supermarkets, he'd been in this drug den for weeks now. Why? To get away from this, fuck Loki's Kin, fuck everything. Why the hell was it him, him and his dad.

"Fuck you. Get out of my room." Twitch said, not trusting this guy. Wasn't he called Greg? "Aww come on, I was having fun." The guy replied, waving his arms about. What was this city called? Dunwich? ...Gregtown? Fucking hell, where was Twitch's memory?

That's when he was punched, the hit making him stagger back, jaw hurting. Oh god, this guy was one of those violent addicts, right? Twitch returned the punch, tagging him in the stomach, there it went, the two of them punching it out for almost no reason, ah fuck, now he remebered where he was.

Wasn't there a cult here?

Wait.

What family?

Oh...

Fuck.

The fight turned deadly in Twitch's head, this wasn't the drug den, this was the cult's base of operations, inside... Still can't remember, the drugs still had him, this guy wasn't Greg, this guy was someone else, maybe one of the cult members? What was it? Day three in Noman's land?

Twitch thought quick, grabbing a nearby needle, not something he'd shot up on and stabbed it in the strangers gut, yeah, not Greg at all, and looking at the bloodstained needle and then at his wrist, too large, he had to get out of here, wherever he was, now that he looked further around. What was that on the walls? Some ripped piece of fabric with some runes on it... Runes? Where'd he learn that, didn't his Pa tell him about the vikings or something? There was a gang a while ago his dad had been in? Thana- Thanatos? Something like that, but no time for memories, Twitch kneed the stranger and pushed him off, throwing the needle away and cupping his mouth around the stranger.

"The fuck are you?" The stranger simply smiled as blood gushed out of his chest, Twitch slowly let him down as not make any noise that could alert whoever else was here. "I st- Still win." The cult, that was familar too, weren't they trying to extingush the human race? Fucking scumbags. Fuck them. Fuck this.

Twitch stood up and violently stomped on the strangers throat untill he stopped groaning, this wasn't the time to shoot up, maybe this was a sign to stop fucking running.

"What was that?" A voice echoed though the corridors, Twitch rushed to the side of the doorway, closed the door, this was a ruin, maybe two stories high judging by the cracks everywhere and the pitter patter of rain on the roof, the door had it's glass window smashed, allowing the person that had heard the stomping a view though it, spotting the corpse.

"The hel-" Twitch spun around, slamming against the door and shoving his hands though the crack in the window, forcing his fingers around the other mans throat and strangling untill there was a few faint gulps and useless gurgles.

Twitch could feel the blood sugar pulsing though his veins, he slowly opened the door, pushing the body into the room with the other one, looking over it. Robes, red ones, this was the hotel turned cult church alright. Far from the drug den, what had he done to wake up here?

Twitch turned around, patting himself down, nothing but the clothes on his back, a ripped shirt and equally as ripped jeans, now judging from the place as much as he could remember from his slurred memory, there must be about seven...? seventy? cultists.

Fuck.

"What're we doing this far out?" Adem asked the older male.

"Hunting. Looking for anything that can help us out." He replied.

The man he was with would be seeing his twenty-fifth birthday in a few days time. He was already wrought with the deadly virus. The man was coughing up his lungs most nights and Adem was sure that the last time there had being a few small specks of blood mixed in with the mucus.

Neither talked about the virus though. They didn't want to talk about the death that his friend was going to be facing soon. This year was going to be bad. He would suffer a long and painful death. The virus wasn't a quick thing. It wore you down, bit by bit, making you suffer until the end. Your chest hurt, you limbs ached, your head felt like it would explode. And the fact that you could barely whisper a sound, due to the coughing fits you'd have...

It was too much to even think about it. He'd seen his mother and father suffer the same disease. In fact, most of his friends and family had died because of it. You didn't not see it. Even with the ruins of Thanatos and the limited people there, you witnessed the horrible virus.

Thanatos had been ruined in a battle years before. No one was sure from which area the attack came from, some said North, some said South. East were their allies though and for the past few weeks they'd been in talks about how to try and fix up their compound so it was at least liveable inside.

But his friend, for some reason had dragged him out into No Man's Land currently. The reason for this he was unsure about. One thing he knew was that they didn't have to hunt like he was claiming. Something else was wrong.

Duncan led him into a building that was derelict in No Man's Land. There were a few corpses scattered around the big building. Noises could be heard echoing throughout the place. Adem looked around confused and now slightly worried. Had his friend gone insane?

"What are we doing here, Dunc?"

"I need to ask you a favour, Adem."

The boy, barely sixteen years of age frowned. "What favour?"

"First off, how's things with Fiona?"

"She's fine. We're fine. What's going on?"

"How's Leon?"

"He's okay too. You know this. You saw them both a few days ago." Duncan was referring to his two year old son, and his girlfriend who he was aiming to marry soon, as soon as the church was built. "Now, stop with the bullshit and tell me why we're here."

The older man sighed and looked around. A look of recognition and resignment passed over his features, like he was giving up on things. Adem frowned, wondering where this conversation was going to lead. He had a pretty good idea suddenly and felt his stomach sink.

"You've seen me lately." He was interrupted by a coughing fit. "The virus is taking a hold of me. I'm twenty-five in a few days. It all goes downhill from there. We've both witnessed what the virus does to people-"

"Dunc-" Adem started but was interrupted by the man's hand.

"Shush, let me finish." He spoke. "I noticed blood in my mucas the last few days. I'm entering the first stages of death. The virus is active in my system, coarsing through my veins, attacking my cells, taking over my body..." He shook his head, coughs making his chest heave as he fought to stop so he could continue talking. "I can't let it take full control of me. I can't let my friends and family witness this."

"I can't..." Adem started knowing what his friend was asking without saying the words.

"Please Adem."

Duncan produced a 9mm Buretta M9 and let his fingers glide over the grip of the gun and then the barrel, admiring the weapon he'd chosen to end his life.

"Dunc..."

"Please Adem. I know you'll do this for me. I need you to do it. I can't let this virus take me." The man frowned. He held the gun out to his friend who didn't move for a minute. When Duncan thought that Adem really wasn't going to help him, Adem took the gun, silent. There was a painful expression on his face. A dark acceptance.

They said no more. Adem moved closer to the man, contemplating life and the virus. Contemplating the choices people made. Contemplating what he was about to do. Without warning, Adem moved the gun to the back of his head and shot, only after muttering the words: "Goodbye, my friend."

The gunshot caused the ruins to become a flutter, giving Twitch time to run, pausing to step back and look at one of the walls, there was a reinforced two by four pole built onto the wall with nails, he curled his fingers into a fist and punched it a few times as the cultists scurried out of the walls and doorways downstairs, oh thank god, a distraction. The timber split loose, slinging it onto his back and running down the stairs, he wasn't right in his assumption, realisticly there were only a couple compared to his number, about thirty or so.

As reckless as he was in real life, he woudn't leave the guy who caused the reaction alone, it wasn't something Twitch would do, he pulled the nail timber from his back and hoisted it his hands, rushing down the stairs and jumping, hauling it over his head and smashing a cultists skull with it, attracting the attention of two more, who had wickedly curved blades made out of random scrap metals chunks and ecetra.

"HELP!" shouted Twitch, hoping to get some help, clearly.

Adem held the lifeless body of his friend, mourning over the life of the man he'd known for years and mourning over his decision to take that life. The pain was over now. The man was free to live where ever you ended up after death. He was free. And Adem was stuck here left to deal with the fact that he'd killed his friend.

It was as good as being a cold-blooded killer. A murderer. Adem didn't cry much, but he cried now. Until he heard someone shouting for help. At first he thought he'd imagined it, but people running and scattering about - some in fear, paying no attention to the fact that it was him with the gun that had just killed a man, indicated that maybe something else where.

Adem moved in the direction that he'd seen everyone come in. There he saw two men attacking another. Without thinking, Adem lifted the gun and shot them both. He hadn't thought to check the chamber to make sure bullets were there. But them dropping like flies to the ground indicated that their had being more than one bullet, thank God.

"You okay?" He asked the man that had been attacked.

"I don't know." Twitch replied, nail timber lowered, revealing the needle marks all over his hand, representing his desperate effort to restore the past... in a cowardly manner. Twitch was different, way different from his future self, who'd never resort to such a thing, but this is different, another time.

Long ago to Twitch, by only 5 years. "We gotta get out of here, I have no idea where this is, but I'm too fucked up to fight more of these... guys."

Adem nodded. "Come with me."

With that, he turned back and headed back down to the room where he'd murdered his friend. Making sure the man was okay, he checked the belongings, wondering if he'd left anything for his wife and children on him. Nothing. Sighing, he pulled the body out of the building.

When they'd come into the building, Duncan had motioned to the hole dug outside. Adem hadn't known what he'd meant then. Now he did. With that, he laid his friend to rest and made sure to cover the hole. He didn't speak to the man he'd saved from death for a moment, he didn't even look at him until he was done.

"I'll take you back to Thanato's," the worn down Adem, who was covered in blood stated.

"Why'd we bury them?" Twitch replied, dropping the plank of nailed wood atop one of the holes. "We've only got about twenty years to live, why waste hours of it?" Twitch didn't know much back then, Adem... Adem had been his guide as much as he'd been a guide to Adem. "Thanatos?"

"Thanatos is dead, right?"

"He's my friend. It's respect to bury friend." Adem wasn't going to admit to killing him. He wouldn't tell a soul. It would go to him with the grave. He was embarrassed and ashamed by what he'd been asked to do and the fact that he'd done it.

"Thanatos is in ruins. We're trying to build it back up. We've got East on board to help us. There are only a few of us, 200 or so, but we're starting. That's the important thing."

"Why?" Twitch asked. "Forget it." Twitch then added and scratched the back of his head. "Let's go then, thanks for the help, but I think the others if theres more in there might jump out if we don't start moving." Twitch looked at his feet, no shoes, only lots of fabric rolled over his feet dozens of times.

Why? That answer would be answered when he led.

Adem started moving. "Why'd I have respect to bury him or to rebuilding Thanatos? It's just my morals to the first. And to the latter, we need to get ourselves up and running. There are three other factions all good and strong, but they don't have spirit. They want to find the Key for their own personal use and stuff. They're focused on fighting, not on saving humanity. They don't care about the others with them. They don't know a thing about the relationships between loved ones and friends... That's what Thanatos used to stand for, and that's what it's going to stand for again."

"Forget it, I said. I don't join factions, so much bullshit." Oh how Twitch was wrong.

"We're not like the other factions. We care about each other. We're like brothers and sisters to each other. We watch out for one another." Which is why I killed Duncan like he wished, Adem thought, a wash of pain coming over his face. "So, where are you from?"

"Forgot. Can't remember. Don't want to." Twitch replied, shaking his head and putting his hands into his jeans pockets. "Sounds like a great faction, like a real gang, something that Dad might've been proud enough to live for." Twitch muttered the part about his father, grunting and then saying.

"You?"

"Thanatos born and bred." Adem answered. "Name's Adem." He added at the end, not sure how to continue the conversation. The man wasn't exactly talking in buckets. "And it is a real gang. We're the only real gang." Adem confirmed.

"It seems like all the kids these days are in gangs. Not that I'm implying you're a kid." Twitch replied, pulling up his shirt as the dust kicked up on their walk, tying it over his neck and mouth.

"Got guns?"

Adem looked back at Twitch. "We're doing what we need to, to survive as best we can. I have a kid and a woman back West." He told Twitch. "We have a few guns. Hopefully East will supply us with stuff when we get up and running. They're a useful ally to have technology and gun wise."

"Better hope you keep them, put on a mask or do what I did with my shirt unless you want to be coughing blood, there's a sandstorm or whatever you call it incoming. They're frequent, as I've seen in the distance at... A place near here." Twitch said behind the shirt wrapped around his face, raising his arm. "Is it far?"

Adem moved a cloth to his face. "It's an hour or so this way." Was all he answered. And he continued to walk until they made it through the ruins of the Thanatos ruins and into the territory. "Welcome to Thanatos..." He trailed off waiting for the name of the man he'd brought in.

"Looks like shit." Twitch nearly replied with his real name, no, he'd left that behind. "Names... The names..." Twitch paused and pulled the cloth down, spitting onto the dirt ridden floor. "Twitch." And on that day, the legacy of the new wasteland legend started, the man called Twitch who lived and... died for his brothers and sisters in Thanatos. The legacy that'd shine brighter than the stars itself and who'd inspire Thanatos to survive and persist like it always had.

"Everything looks like shit nowadays, though, right?"