Fallout

Dear Readers, this book contains very graphic fighting. This is the first chapter in which I want to lay down the plot and conflict and characters. SO, please bare with me. Also all characters that are involved sexually are of age 18 or older.

The sound of boots walking across rubble echoed through the empty town. One man walks with his head lowered, but fully aware of the savages hiding behind a blown up car. Michael sniffed loudly. 'Cannibals' he thought. Most of the savages he ran into were cannibals. You could smell the mixture of blood and rotten flesh from miles out.

He reached under his overcoat and touched the butt of his revolver. Michael had nightmares of being eaten by other humans. Sure, he could have taken all five out with a knife but he would like to stay far away as possible. Even if it ment wasting a few bullets.

He continued to walk until the car was a couple yards in front of him. "Step away from the car." Michael commanded.

Three men dressed in scraps stood up and slowly walked around the car. Each was holding some makeshift weapon made of wood or plastic.

Michael could have sworn he heard five men before he stepped out of his little shack that was composed of cylinder blocks and sticks. 'I hope they sharpened those things' he thought. He started imagining the three of them trying to stab him and not being able to kill him. 'Whenever I die, I pray that it will be quick'.

"I am impressed!" The first one said. He walked with his chin up and showed his molding, blackened teeth. "How did you know we where back there?"

Michael was silent for a few seconds. He was trying to hear if one was trying to sneak up behind him. He knew there was two of them still out there. As if realizing what Michael was doing, the second man said,"What's your name, soldier?".

Michael stiffened and replied, " Do you always ask a man for his name before you eat him?" The three of them chuckled.

"Well, it would be rude not to!"

Michael tightened his grip around the revolver.

The second man looked at Michael's coat and said,"What yah got under that?"

'He must be the leader' Mike thought, 'He is older than me'. Anyone who lived to an old age was greatly respected. It either showed they were very dangerous or very smart.

"I doubt you would believe me if I told you." Mike said.

"Ahh, a gun perhaps? Bet it isn't loaded" the third man said jokingly.

In one motion Mike pulled the revolver from his vest and shot the leader in the head. Red mist sprayed over the shocked faces of the other two men. Michael said with a grin,"You'd be surprised!"

He must have looked pretty scary grinning insanely and having some of the blood from his first victim running down the side of his face.

Michael, pulling his knife from it's leather sheath, stabbed the man in the throat who had first addressed him. Using the knife to help hold up his new human shield, he fired his second bullet into the third man who was just watching him with awe. He let out a prolonged groan and collapsed on the ground on top of the leader. Mike spun around just in time to see the two hidden attackers hop out of their cover. One threw his wooden stake at him but embedded itself into Mike's human shield with a THUD! Mike dropped the fourth man with a headshot.

The last man ran with his metal pipe and yelled defiantly, "Rrrraaa!" His voice was stopped suddenly by the bullet that went through his wind pipe.

Michael released the man he stabbed and started to control his breathe. He scavenged the four bodies while the last man's neck was spraying blood and making a hissing sound. The helpless soul was rolling around trying to stop his bloodstream but started to quiet down from blood loss.

Michael felt pity while he walked away. How could he take their lives so easily. They were just trying to survive. 'Stop it, Mike! It isn't your fault. You killed them so you would survive' He often tried to reason out all the bad things he did. Which usually resulted in more pity and sorrow.

Mike walked for hours down the streets of what had been once called New York. He heard that there were twice as many of the skyscrapers before the Fall. There were very few still intact and Michael would have to walk over mountains of bricks and steel that were once one of the colossal beasts. As Mike descended from one of the mountains his foot hit a metal bar and scent him sprawling. He fell hard onto the ground with a great CLASH! He cursed his tired legs under his breathe. He unsteadily picked himself up with shaky legs. He looked down at what he landed on.

It was this great, big mirror. His fall shatter the glass and he was pretty sure his knees were bleeding. He picked up on of the shards and examined it. He was almost startled at his appearance. His eyes were the scariest part of him. They looked wild and blood thursty, the irises of his eyes were two different colors, the right, was solid gold that darkened the closer it got to the pupil. His left eye resembled shining silver. His face was a little scarred from one two many fights.

His hair was a dark brown which glistened a little in the sun. He angled the mirror down and saw a full grown beard of the same shade as his hair.

Then, he held the mirror at an arm's length and saw how big he was. 'I must be somewhere around 6'2!' He thought. He examined how his chest was wide and how his biceps bulged a little out of his shirt. He was wearing a blue long sleeved shirt with a bright yellow outline. He was wearing matching pants and shoes. 'That's a little weird!' He thought, it looked a little like a jumpsuit. 'I wonder why those savages didn't fall over laughing at my appearance!'

He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his reflection. He would always get a mind splitting head ache when he tried to remember anything earlier than when he turned sixteen years old.

After what must have been an hour heading west he saw smoke rising behind a ruined factory building with those big, towering smoke stacks. He could hear laughter and shouting. Afraid, he crept inside the factory, which smelled very musty. He could see a great assembly line that ran down to the very back of the store. On the conveyor belt, laid weirdly shaped metal pieces. While looking around he gathered scraps of metal and added them to his small book bag. Metal was always a great find. Even though he couldn't heat it up and smelt it, it was still valuable. Going over to a broken window inside the factory he looked out. Further down the road, which was filled with impact craters, a giant gate blocked his view from further down the road. The gate looked like one of those tin roofs that are wavy. Mike could tell that someone wielded a fence with several metal pools across it to help reinforce it.

Mike walked out the only exit/entryway. He slowly rounded the corner to get closer to the gate.

"On the ground, now!". Mike jumped and just realized that on the smoke stack there was a ladder and a metal walk way that connectes all the towers. The walk way was reinforced with sheets of metal.

'Probably so it would be bullet proof' Michael thought.

"Ok, I don't mean any harm!" Mike shouted."I am a traveler and I'm looking for a safe place to stay." The man in the watch tower was dressed in camo and had a rather dangerous looking sniper rifle.

"Take off the coat and lay down any weapons that you possess!"

Immediately after the watchman said this, two armed guards opened the gate and searched Michael. They placed his knife and a revolver in a burlap sack.

Michael walked through the gate after he had been thoroughly searched.

One of the nicer looking guards came over and said,"These will be cleaned by the blacksmith and with be returned to you after you speak to the king."

With that a woman came over and led him through the streets. Mike had never seen so many people before. He must have looked pretty goofy gawking at everyone. He remembered how scary he looked in the mirror and lowered his gaze. Most of the people stared at him with a confused and almost repulsed look. The woman led him up a hill and Michael couldn't help but look at her ass moving up and down. 'Its kind of hypnotizing' he thought then chuckling to himself.

The woman looked over her shoulder with curiosity at what he was laughing at and realized that Mike was checking out her ass. Michael saw the corner of her mouth turn up with a smile. She was a beautiful lady. And the fact that she was wearing a tight fitting dress that emphasized her curves didn't help Mike from staring at her toned ass.

'He looks kind of cute' the woman thought,'I could get off at the thought of waking up and seeing those eyes!'

She stopped eruptly in front of a large hotel and Michael almost ran into her. He looked at the nicely kept building, it had a shiny exterior that was black as night.

"Go inside and talk to the man at the desk. Tell him you are here to see the King." The woman said interrupting his thoughts.

After a couple seconds Mike responded, "He must not be a very busy man."

She smiled which caused her to look even more graceful and pretty. He could tell she was several years older. The way she walked displayed confidence and she acted in a reserved, mature manor.

Mike walked through the door and saw great, marble pillars holding up the ceiling. In the middle of the room there was a large wrap around desk that was also made of marble. To the sides of the desk were large, wooden stair cases covered with a red carpet. Hanging from the ceiling was a great crystal chandelier. He walked nervously to the desk where a man and a woman sat. The man looked up and was surprised, probably by the image of a teen that was covered in blood.

"M-may I uh... help you?" He managed to say.

"Um yes, I was sent here for an audience with 'the king'."

Mike looked over at the woman who was staring at his eyes. Which made him more self conscious. He lowered his gaze to the desk.

"Uh up the stairs and its the room with the double doors."

Mike looked up and saw what the man was talking about. "Thanks" Michael said as he began his ascent.

Michael knocked at the doors and hesitantly opened them. He saw a man with gray hair and moustache that was wearing a suit with the same shade of grey. His cheeks were a little red and there was some tension in the air. Mike looked around and saw a young woman that was probably his age and a much older woman with graying hair. He guessed the older lady to be the old man's wife. But the young lady didn't look like either of them so he doubted that she was their daughter.

Michael stuttered,"H-hello? I'm a traveler from outside. I was wonder-" he was cut off by the old man. "Wondering if you could stay? Well we have already have quite a few under our roof. I have been giving free hand outs to everyone who comes knocking at my gates. The real question is can I use you?"

Michael wasn't really sure what he ment but he said, "I only want to stay a couple days... I uh, am traveling west." The man stared at him for what seemed like hours.

The Ruler's eyes narrowed and he said,"There isn't anything West but a pile of glass."

Michael knew that. That's why he wanted to go there. A new start, where no one could bother him. He could build a new empire to restore peace and hope.

"When I look at you, I see an opportunity. You have the blood of your foes plastered to your clothes. I know a good fighter when I see one." The old man said.

Michael was a good fighter but he didn't want to be just some soldier, a useless pawn for a guy he didn't know.

"Yes, I suppose that could work. But just so you know I'm not interested in staying her forever."

The Ruler nodded as if he didn't really care about what Mike just said. The Kind rang a bell and someone, who must have been waiting at the door, came in and stood behind Michael. "Find this boy a room to stay in" A familiar voice answered, "Yes, my lord"

The same woman led Michael downstairs back to the desk and went through a hallway that he didn't see the first time he was there. He looked at the woman leading him. She had these big, brown, innocent eyes. Her hair was a light brown and was about shoulder length. She was wearing an earring in each ear. They were small gold loops and attached to the loops by a chain, were real feathers. They looked like hawk feathers but much smaller. He could remember her face from the first time they met. She was tanned a light brown and had light pink lips. Her lips were perfect shape and size. He nose was perfect length and was soft and slightly upturned.

'So we pretty much look nothing alike' Mike thought. Mike's features were mostly sharp. His nose and chin followed that pattern. His eyes were intense unlike Julia's.

As they passed through the hall, Mike saw a pool with a couple families splashing around and laughing.

"Your room is right next to the pool. Hopefully laughter and water constantly splashing around doesn't bother you." The woman said with a smile. She opened the door and showed him where everything was. On the table laid his coat with his two weapons.

"Well I bet you've had a long day so I will leave you..." Mike noticed some hesitation in her voice. He looked at her for awhile. She seemed a little sad but he couldn't think of what he could do to help her.

'Please tell me to stay' she thought. She didn't know why she was so entranced by this young guy. He seemed like a nice and well mannered. He also seemed a little mysterious. 'I need to be with him'

She turned and started for the door but was interrupted by Michael.

She was relieved when she heard his gravely voice say "I didn't catch your name, Miss."

Her face lightened and she turned around very fast, obviously glad that he said something.

"Julia" she said, "But my parents used to call me Jules when I was a little girl. The few friends I have call me that too! What's your name, anyways? You have beautiful eyes. And I like your beard, it adds character."

Michael tried not to laugh. He hadn't been around girls a lot but he could guess that Julia liked him.

"My name is Michael Damik. I didn't really know until I opened that book bag."

"But anyways, thank you for the complements. That was very nice of you." Michael said.

Julia quickly said,"Your welcome." And just stared at him for a couple seconds.

Michael didn't really know what to do but he finally said, "I haven't seen very many women but you definitely seem to be the most beautiful thing I've ever saw. Your smile lights up the room." Mike said.

Julia's eyes widened and she had a big smile on her face, she was very excited now. She brushed her light brown hair out of her face. She then looked at the ground and bit her lip. Michael was pretty sure his heart was doing parkour on his ribs.

"Hey Jules? Do you wanna visit for awhile or something?"

She quickly stepped back into the room and said, "I'd love too!"

Julia was about to say something when the man from the desk passed by and yelled, "Miss Julia, you still have to do your chores!"

Julia's face went back to it's sad state.

She slowly walked out the door, she looked around and gave half a smile and left. 'Damn it' Mike thought, 'I want to be with her'. He then took off his vest and shirt and revealed his muscular chest. He looked down at the mysterious pattern tattooed to his arm. It looked like a skeleton of... Well he didn't really know what it was. It had wings and a tail. At the skull of the weird creature were four horns protruded. He was always a little frightened by it and tried not to look at it. He then proceeded to take off his pants and lay on the bed with his cold revolver resting on his stomach.

He raised his arm to look at the device that was attached to his wrist and forearm. He touched the screen a couple times and set an alarm. He stared at the device and his finger traced the symbols that were etched into it. He kind of remembered getting this when he was 16 years old. Someone gave it to him for his birthday. He then fell asleep. And began to dream about Jules.

**Thank you for reading this, I really hope you enjoyed this. This is in fact my first story. I want to thank spearmanernest for editing and working with me. Please leave a comment! I need feedback. Try not to bash me completely! **