The Beginning: Breath of War

by R. Malak

  It felt like he only just closed his eyes, when he felt a steel capped boot kick him hard in the ribs.

  “Wake up, my pretty,” growled a voice from above him. “It’s time to go.”

  Wincing from the pain, he gingerly got up holding his stomach, fuming with anger. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  The green haired merc sneered, exposing yellow crooked teeth. “Why nothing at all worm, now get your arse up!”

  He spat on floorboards beside him spraying with flecks of saliva, and moved on to wake up Connor who still lay asleep a few feet from him. Leaping to his feet, Jay grabbed hold of the mercenary by both shoulders.

  The merc lashing out instantly, thrusting him up against the wall, and pressing a knife to his throat.

  “You wanna start something, worm?”

  Jay’s eye flashed angrily, but he bit down on his tongue and looked down. “Sorry, just let me wake my friend up.”

  The merc cackled and spat on Jay’s boots and walked away laughing. Blood boiling with pent up anger, he bent down and tapped Connor lightly on the shoulder.

  “Wake up.”

  The old man gazed up at him with watery eyes and asked, “Are we leaving?”

  Jay nodded.

  The door cracked open again and Jackson re-entered the room a scowl on his hard face, carrying a duffle bag. He waited till all eyes were on him.

  “Our first leg of the journey will be difficult, so you will all need to wear these.” He tossed the duffel bag at their feet, spilling shiny metal I.D. tags onto the floorboards. “These fake tags will allow us to pass through most checkpoints, as new recruits of the United Nations Military.” Seeing no one move he continued, “Well? What are you waiting for? Come and grab one.”

  Jay waited until most of the people in the room had picked up and id tag, before bending down to take one for himself and Connor. Connor gave a grateful smile and pocketed the id tag.

  Jackson gave one last baleful glare at everyone. “Remember my rules or something bad might happen to you.”

  The green-haired punk laughed and stared directly at him. He then turned and waved at them to follow. They made their way out of dark, gloomy basement and back out into the sunlight.

  Jay sighing with relief at being out of the small confining space, took in a nice long deep breath, and gazed about the backyard. A trestle table lay overturned not far from him with long green grass growing all around it. A steel grey shed in the corner of yard was coated in cobwebs that hadn’t been cleaned out in a while. Suggesting that the people had lived here had long since moved on, which wasn’t really that surprising. Most people had fled southwards away from the fighting or were forced to relocate by the military to secure locations.

  After standing around for what seemed like hours, Jay scratched his head, and turned to see what the holdup was.

  Jackson quietly conferring with his companions by the small metal gate was busily giving instructions to his men. His dark foreboding eyes shooting brief glances at the huddled group of people to make sure they weren’t eavesdropping. With nods of their heads, the mercs finally broke apart and repositioned themselves to the sides and to the rear of the party. Jackson waving his hand forward, led the way out of the backyard, through a hole in the back fence and into a secluded alleyway.

  They moved through the deserted residential homes, cutting their path through neighboring backyards. Every now and then Jackson would hold up his fist and pause to listen.

  Tony, sick of the silence, stepped out of line. “Why are we always st--”

  He didn’t get a chance to finish his question. The closest merc, a long-haired giant carrying a semi-automatic shotgun with three barrels, smashed the butt of his gun into the base of his skull, knocking him out cold. Hearing a whimper of fear, the merc turned to glare at Kara and stepped towards her. Not liking where this was going, Jay moved to slide in front of her, holding his hands up. The huge merc glowered at him and raised his shotgun.

  Jackson, who had been watching the entire interplay, shook his head side to side and pointed to the limp body. The long haired merc growled and walked away from him, picked up Tony’s body and slung him over one shoulder.

  Jay gave a sigh of relief and felt a soft hand touch his own. Eyebrows raised he looked at Kara, who mouthed the words, ‘thank you.’ He moved away and went to stand beside Connor; Kara however, had no intention of leaving her savior’s side and followed right after him. Jay rolled his eyes with annoyance. This was going to be a long journey.

  Jackson spat on the ground and started moving again, sticking to the backyards. The green haired merc who for some reason had it out for him sidled up alongside him.

  His blue eyes glinting with mischief. “I think you got the boss mad.” Leaning in closer, so he could smell his bad breath, he continued, “I’m going to enjoy seeing him tear you apart.”

  Jackson overhearing chatter going on behind him, turned and glared at the pair of them, shutting the merc up. Smiling, the merc raked a single finger across his throat and pointed at Jay before stalking off to link up with the long-haired mercenary, with both shooting him death stares.

  They walked for what felt like miles, when Jackson all of a sudden called a halt and indicated a building across the road. Jay, familiar with the area, recognized it as George’s Saloon. Climbing over another backyard fence, they made their way across the stark road and into the tavern. The saloon, as expected, was empty with knocked over chairs, empty shelves, and shattered windows.

  Jackson swung ’round to face the group. “Mace, Jax secure the entrance, and keep a lookout for any military drones. The rest of you wait here, except you.” Jay, startled, looked up to see Jackson pointing directly at him. “Follow me.”

  Swallowing the bile that had risen at the back of his throat, Jay moved to obey. The tall well-built merc led him up a set of stairs and into an office on the second floor.

  The office garishly decorated with floral pattern wallpaper had paintings of women in various stages of undress hanging on the walls. Jackson laid his Styr Aug assault rifle on the solid white marble desk in the center of the room and took a seat behind the table.

  “My men tell me you’re a troublemaker, is that true?” he whispered softly, his brown eyes glinting dangerously.

  Jay shook his head fervently. “No.”

  Jackson leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. “Then why the fuck do you keep interfering with my men?”

  He opened and closed his mouth unsure how to respond.

  “Well?” The mercenary’s fingers touched the rifle on the desk, nearly causing Jay to instinctively reach for the revolver hidden in his coat pocket. Jackson sneered and picked up his rifle and pointed it at Jay’s chest. “If I hear of one more incident…well let’s just say, you won’t need to go anywhere.” He dropped the rifle back onto the desk. “Now, get the fuck out of here.”

  Jay dashed out of room and slammed the door shut, breathing hard.

  The more he saw of these men, the less he liked the situation he had gotten himself into. His chances of getting through the safe zone alive and well seemed to be dropping with each passing minute. He would need to tread carefully and keep an eye out on the mercenaries. Drawing a deep breath, he lumbered down the stairs, checking both ways before entering the restroom door. Eyes watering from the stench of piss and shit, he neared the cubicle at the far end to see if anyone was in the restroom with him before stepping inside the cramped space. He then pulled out the pistol and box of ammunition from his pocket and with practiced ease, slid open the gun barrel and loaded the weapon. Done, he stuffed the box and weapon back into his coat pocket and walked out of the restroom, breathing much easier. Having a loaded gun in his pocket, made him feel much safer. While he did believe Jackson, when he said he would take them outside of safe zone, a part of him wondered: what would happen after?

  He strode back out into the hall where everyone was gathered. People had split off in all directions to take seats ar
ound the tables and eat food they had brought with them.

  Kara, seeing Jay’s return, immediately rushed to his side. “Are you okay? I hope that big ugly brute didn’t do anything awful to you?”

  He shook his head and took a seat beside Connor at a one of the round tables, Kara following close behind. He found Connor busy fiddling with his X6-phone an older phone model of the X620 series, which was able to send video messages via holograms.

  The phone sparked to life and a projection of a young man in his early teens with white hair appeared on the table. “Good Morning Connor, how may I assist you today?”

  “What’s the latest news from the battlefront?”

  The image of the man fluttered briefly for a second, and then changed to display a grim-faced man with white stubble on his chin wearing a military uniform with dozens of medals pinned to his lapel.

  Jay recognized the face from the news as Commander in Chief Paul Hagen. “Earlier today, the United Nations military with supporting conscript forces after heavy fighting have retaken Cliffpoint and Badgers bay. Unfortunately, this has come at a great cost in lives and many sacrifices.

  “As the fighting continues, we urge all people of the United Nations to come to together and help us in destroying this threat once and for all, thank you.”

  The image cuts out and the young boy reappears on the table. “We also have a stored phone message, from your wife, would you like me to play it for you?"

  Connor shook his head and turned off the phone. “Good news, for once I suppose,” he muttered with a sad smile.

  Jay, however, wasn’t so sure since the commander had appeared utterly exhausted in that video.

  The old man turned to Jay and asked, “You bring any food with you.”

  Jay shook his head, with strict rationing enforced in the quarantine zone he had decided to leave all the food he had for his wife and son. Connor stuck his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a plastic bag with two sandwiches. He broke the sandwiches in half and offered a piece to him.

  Jay raised his hands to refuse, but Connor pushed it into his hand. “Here take it. You’ll need your strength.”

  With a grateful smile, he took the slice and bit off a piece and almost groaned with pleasure at the wonderful taste exploding in his mouth.

  “This is amazing, Connor. Did you make this?” He asked.

  Connor shook his head, a big grin on his face. “’Fraid not.”

  He offered a piece to Kara as well, who hungrily gobbled it all up, while Jay savored each bite.

  Finished, he licked his fingers clean. “Thanks, old friend, I really enjoyed that.”

  Connor nodded. “Glad to hear it.”

  Tony and Peter sidled over to their table, both looking pissed off. Not sure, what’s gotten them mad he stood up to meet them.

  Face in a rictus of hate, Tony stood face to face with Jay and pushed him in the chest. “Where the fuck, do you get off stealing my girlfriend?”

  Jay almost laughed aloud at the moronic accusation, but seeing how that would look, held it in. “Listen, I didn’t steal nothing. I’m a happily married man.”

  “That’s not what she says. She says you two are kindred spirits, that you two are meant to be.”

  His jaw dropped open and he looked over at Kara, who shrugged her shoulders innocently.

  Connor his face flushed red with anger stood up to defend his friend. “Jay’s a married man, he would never do anything to sully his marriage.”

  Peter sneered and shoved the old man to ground. “Shut up, you old fool, we weren’t talkin’ to you.”

  Jay his blood boiling now, thrust Tony aside, took a step towards Peter with clenched fists, and nailed him with a right hook hard in the face, breaking his nose and spraying blood in the air. Peter cried out in pain and bent over clutching his broken nose. Tony seeing Jay’s back turned grabbed a chair and swung it at him. He dodged the blow, and rushed in to tackle him to the ground, his fists swinging.

  The mercenaries laughed and circled around to watch the fight, a few of them taking bets on who would win. Jay, using his height and weight advantage, pinned Tony down and kept punching him in the face and throat when he felt something solid hit him in the side of the head. Dazed and bleeding from a cut to his temple, he looked up to see Peter his nose covered in blood, wielding a baseball bat. He tried to stand up, but Peter came at him again and again, swinging the bat into his arms, chest and head. He dropped to the ground and curled up to protect himself from the blows raining down on him. He thought he heard bones breaking and a voice crying out for someone to do something, but he was too delirious with pain to know if it was real. Close to passing out, his thoughts shifted to his son Tally all alone in the world and almost wept with frustration. Finally, the beating ended and he felt something cold and wet hit his cheek.

  “That’ll teach you to fuck with us.”

  Then darkness…

  SIX

  “Mom? Dad? WHERE ARE YOU! George’s dad hasn’t come back and George won’t stop begging me to go outside and look for him. I keep telling him it’s too dangerous, but he keeps shaking his head. ”

  “Sorry, the person you are calling right now is unavailable, please call back later or leave a ten second message after the beep……beeeep”

  …..Thirty minutes later…..

  “Dad! George ran outside. I can hear him crying in the front yard. I have to help him… ”

  “Sorry, the person you are calling right now is unavailable, please call back later or leave a ten second message after the beep……beeeep”

  …..Ten minutes later…..

  “He’s…he’s dead…George found him out on the pavement. There was blood…blood everywhere and …parts of him missing…”

  “Sorry, the person you are calling right now is unavailable, please call back later or leave a ten second message after the beep……beeeep”

  …..Three hours later…..

  “We buried him in the backyard, I tried to say the words like in the movie to make George feel better, but he’s gotten really quiet and won’t talk to me. He keeps staring off into the sky”

  “Sorry, the person you are calling right now is unavailable, please call back later or leave a ten second message after the beep……beeeep”

  ~ * ~

  Location: Lewisville, Year 2061

  Rollo, bored of searching the motel for supplies, plopped down on the couch to watch his older sister Lucy sitting at the kitchen table, working her magic on an X7 series watch she had found hidden in the closet.

  “You gonna be done soon? It’s getting dark out there.”

  Lucy swung around to face him, her violet-colored eyes brimming with anger. “Shut up, and go do something useful.”

  Rollo sighed and lay down on the chair, placing his arms beneath his head. “There’s nothing left to do sis, we’ve checked every room.”

  Her nostrils flared again. “Then just sit there and shut up,” she snapped and went back to work on the watch.

  “Jeez, no need to get snippy,” he muttered underneath his breath and casually got back up onto his feet and looked out the dust covered windows.

  Might as well check the rubbish bins outside, he thought with another sigh and walked towards the door.

  He walked out onto the balcony with its view of an empty pool down below him and scanned the skyline. The sun was low in the sky, and the clouds were thin. It wouldn’t be long before night came and the demons returned. He was about to head downstairs, when he caught sight of something. A half-naked man covered in blood was stumbling along the road in torn jeans, talking to himself and waving his arms around in the air like a crazy person. It was like he was trying to push something away. Well, that is strange. He whistled to let his sister know, they had company. Lucy charged outside, her greasy brunette hair flying side to side, carrying a desert eagle.

  “What is it?”

  Rollo shrugged his shoulders and pointed down. “I dunno, could be just another
roamer, he looks hurt pretty bad.”

  Lucy bit her lip and looked down to where Rollo was pointing and stared at the strange man. Then just as quickly she turned around, headed back into the room, swung her knapsack onto her shoulders and came back outside.

  “We are done here, let’s go.”

  Rollo froze, watching the man bump into light posts and signs. He understood why they avoided strangers, but a part of him felt ashamed at abandoning people like this.

  Lucy swiveled her head around to see if he was following her and found him standing there like a statue. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

  Rollo looked up at his sister with sad brown eyes. “We can’t leave him like this. He’ll die without our help.”

  Lucy raised her hands to the air. “Are you being serious? You don’t even know who he is Rolly? The man probably killed a bunch of people, with all the blood he has got on him.”

  Rollo knew she was making sense, but his stubborn side decided to make an appearance. “What if he was attacked? And that’s his own blood?”

  Lucy shook her head furiously and replied, “Then, he’s already a dead man, so let’s go already!”

  The man on street collapsed onto his knees and was struggling to get back up. Blocking out his sister’s voice, he raced down the steps, taking them two or three at time and dashed towards the man. He could hear his sister screaming at him to come back, but he ignored her. He ran through the vacant car parking lot and out onto the street, where the man had stopped moving.

  He raced to the man’s side, and winced inwardly at the amount of wounds the man had on him. He had dozens of cuts and scrapes on his arms and chest, wide burn marks on his back and a large gaping wound on his shoulder that was oozing white pus.

  “Jesus! How the fuck are you still alive?”

  The man looked up at him with blank eyes. Gripping him by the shoulders he tried to lift him up, but he was too heavy to carry alone. Hearing footsteps he looked up to see his sister running towards him with a thunderous expression on her face.