(Authors note: contents in this book may be disturbing to viewers. This story is meant to be a nuclear apocalypse themed book and will likely have dark scenes. Viewer discretion is advised: violence, weapon use, horror. 

Also note: The first two chapters will be in first person but the rest will be third person.)

The world is ending now

Tic Tock Tic

and the bomb is coming now

Tic Tock Tic

It crashed. Down. Into the green ground.

And every. One. Died.

That was a twisted song my brother always sang to me. It was our comfort song for this scary time. I don't know what happened back then, the bomb dropped at least one hundred years ago perhaps. The effects of the bomb still last to this day....so many horrifying effects. Me and him were always fighting to survive and live the next day, sometimes it doesn't feel like it's worth it. So many things go wrong in this world. Relationships don't last, Eventually people will leave you or kill for food. People weigh you down, they're just another mouth to feed and someone to look after. Sometimes I wonder why my brother didn't give up on me. Here, It would be considered mercy to just kill someone in their weakest state. The less people around here the safer it is.Despite everything that went wrong he always smiled at me and told me to put my chin up. 'Move forward', he would always tell me. I followed his word and pushed ahead despite everything I've faced.  As I grew up in this world I learned many valuable things. Rules...you could call them. They are important to me, as I follow them to survive.

First rule: Don't listen to the angels. They'll lead you to a gruesome torture and your death will be long and painful. You're lucky if it's quick. They sound sweet, they look somewhat normal from behind but, once you look at their eyes you can see its soulless and bleeding.Funny, their names are ironic...their names should be devils. What are 'angels'? Well, they are husks of people...their shell is left here and something else takes over. I heard radioactivity turned people's brains to mush, destroying their humanity. In turn, they turn into monsters. Their appearances change too. Aside from dripping eyes, they look skinny. Their skin or turn turns grey or a muddied dull color. They also walk as if they're limping. Easy to spot, easy to avoid. It's when they see you is the problem. Not all angels are the same, some are violent, others are a bit calmer. However all endings are the same if you don't escape: death. The first time I saw an angel was when I was young. My brother was pointing them out and told me to avoid them like the plague.

Rule two: Keep any food you find. Even if it's rotten...you'll never know when your next meal will come around. Mold can be scraped off, just eat whatever is untainted quickly. I wonder why my brother kept me around. We always were hungry. I think he kept me because of brotherly love. I'll admit, I am grateful for him feeding me but, most of the time he needed it more. I always felt bad for eating...my brother always looked away but I could still see the hunger in his eyes. I developed a habit to eat half of the food he gave me then later claim I 'found' some food, giving it to him. It made me happy when he ate something. I always snuck a little extra food onto his plate when he wasn't looking.

Rule three: Stay indoors or find a building to stay in at night. The angels get a little more monstrous at night. Turn off any lights too, it attracts them like moths to a lamp. I found this out when me and my brother stayed out a little later than usual. We were using flashlights and a horde was running towards a building we were crashing at. Thankfully, angels have poor eyes. When we turned off our flashlights they stopped and wandered off.  Needless to say, that night me and Sugar held onto each other as if the world was ending again. We were both scared.

Lastly, Keep a gun or knife on you. It isn't for your protection. It's a dark thought but...maybe it's better to use a knife or a gun on yourself before you suffer hours from an angel or something worse.

With these basic rules, I lived a long time with my brother. However despite our will to survive, something always ruins that. I lost my brother a long while ago. In the wasteland, raiders terrorize people and take what little they have. We happened to be unlucky victims. Enough said, while I was on my own I made a home for myself. It's the only place I feel safe. I have a good thing going for myself and had to learn a few things for the better. I made a rain catcher and a small garden. I learned how to craft some armor and traps for my home. At least I have a good place to sleep.

Despite people's lives changing, the dangers here, and fighting for survival, not everything is bad here. There are towns that bustle in an attempt to live a normal life. People adapt, things change. Hell, there is even a currency in the wasteland that developed the last couple years. Bottle caps and scrap metal. Caps are easy to find and carry around long roads. People primarily pay others with caps. Scrap metal is always needed here, either to run machines or to keep their place from falling apart. Whatever the reason, people will trade almost anything from scrap metal. There are other developments here that helped us. There is a group around here that go off and kill angels and help people solve problems. They're good people, met them once and they gave me food when I was starving. Too bad I can't remember what they're called...The Star Sanses I think? Whoever they are I won't forget them. 

Enough about my world and it's dangers, time for a quick story time. A long time ago I met an idiot. An idiot who looked like they weren't around here at all. They were so...clean and looked so healthy and full. Not even a rip on their clothes. However...they did have a wound on their chest, their hands held onto the wound as they stumbled through the wasteland. Their eyes were huge as they looked at everything around them. They murmured to themselves. 

Why am I talking about him? Well, he became a part of my life by accident. We just happen to be two different souls that came together. I was out hunting for animals: rats and rabbits. Around here they're a little mutated. Sometimes they're big, or have an extra foot but meat is meat. I found a few rabbits that dug at the floor, maybe making a burrow or something? Whatever they were doing, I raised my crossbow and was about to pull the trigger when I suddenly heard a loud screeching. Metal grinding together, it was the type of sound to make you twitch and have shivers sent down your spine. Instinctively I ducked for cover, I didn't know what that sound was at the time. I Peeked over a hill of dirt looking over, Far down the road was a cave. That was where the screeching came from. Not many people know this but in that cave is some sort of vault. What's inside? I don't know! I didn't know what was inside there but I heard it was something good.  Raiders and travelers try to get inside, each one failed. I even went there once, the door was made out of metal and had thick walls. I left quickly once I realized it was useless trying to get in. Yet, that damn door just opened up one day and someone stepped out of that cave. 

Since he was so far, I couldn't tell what was happening. He was running away like his life depended on it. I got curious and went to investigate. He happened to be running in my direction, as he came closer I got a good look at him. I couldn't believe it, he looked so clean and healthy. He looked as if he stepped out of pre-bombing times. A slash was on his chest, getting his clothes lightly bloody. The stranger was panting and looking around for...I guess anything to help him. He unbuttoned his shirt and looked over the wound. It wasn't so bad, a light scratch if anything. it can easily be fixed with some pressure to it. I guess he didn't know that or he would've fixed the wound already. As the stranger looked around he saw an abandoned town nearby. At the time I suppose that the best option was to go there and find someone. Trouble was all he found. I followed him but kept my distance. I was so curious about him. Why would anyone leave a vault to be in a world like this?

The stranger walked down the street, looking at the broken houses and twisted buildings. Glass was on the floor, buildings looked like they sunk into the ground, and the air was stiff here. He went into a bar, calling for help. 

"Hello? Is anyone here? I need help, please!", if someone didn't know he was here they do now.  I would've left him at that bar if I wasn't so curious. I peeked through the doors, for a second I thought I saw my life flash in front of me. He was standing right in front of an angel, talking to it. He clearly didn't know they were dangerous. The angel was staring at the other, its head bent to the side. The poor soul used to be a rabbit monster, now they just look like a walking corpse.

"I don't know where I am, I need help out of here!", the stranger's voice was desperate with a quiver.

"We all need help out of here. I can provide that.", The soulless being reached up to the stranger's cheeks, softly holding them. I knew what would happen if I didn't step in. His head would've been twisted and killed instantly. I felt bad to let this go one. I usually don't save people, not my thing. I prefer to save my energy but at that moment I felt a bit of a shift in me. I stepped into the bar and raised my weapon.

"Hey! Get down now!", I snapped. The stranger looked behind him, his eyes going wide as he pushed the angel out of the way and hid behind the bar's counter. Before the angel could react I squeezed the trigger, an arrow flew through the air and killed it. The angel problem is done but now I have a new problem. What do I do about the stranger? He peeked over the counter and stood up, his hand clasping his mouth. I would've said he's being dramatic but he probably never seen death up close before.

"Your welcome by the way. That thing would've killed you. You stay far away from them, got that? Anything that's extremely thin and has dripping eyes you stay away from. Where did you even come from?", I asked him.

For a few moments he was quiet, just starring," I came from a vault. I came out here for something important. "

"Something...important? Whatever it is, you should've stayed inside that nice paradise you got. I heard it was a good place to be..."

"Yeah... yeah it was a nice place. However I need to find someone out here, they're all I have and they're so valuable to me. I need my brother."

I have a soft spot for siblings, especially brothers. I guess it's because I lost mine. While looking at him up and down, I can tell he isn't going to bring any harm.

"Look, do you know anything about survival? How to get food, what to avoid. How long to boil unknown water?? Anything?"

"I never had to 'survive'. I just worked in the vault. However I have extensive knowledge on gardening, crops, and irrigation."

Good enough, I have a small garden anyways. Maybe I can use his knowledge to help me produce better food. The most I'm doing is keeping them alive well enough to produce food. However lately my plants have been dying off and I don't know why. I need some sort of source and food if I want to think about surviving winter. The thought of no food scared me the most.

"How about you come with me? You're not going to make it out here. You've been out here maybe thirty minutes and you almost died already. I have a place you can temporarily stay at. Just don't expect special treatment, outsider.", I turned and went to leave. If he follows he follows. If he doesn't, I hope the best luck for him. Even though he might not last another minute out here.

He ended up following me,"Hey! How did you know I was outside that long? Were you watching me?!", his voice had a bit of a bratty tone. Ooooh no. How dare I watch him, an outsider, come out of a vault and almost get killed.

"Yeah I was.", I scoffed ," You're some outsider from a vault, of course I'm going to be curious and follow you. So what's the deal with you out here?"

"Well...my brother left the vault, I suppose last night. This morning, the vault went crazy when we found out he left. I went after him but got a little hurt. All he did was leave me this backpack before he left."

"If you ask me, it seems like he prepared you. Like he knew you would follow. Still, stupid choice. If either of you were smart you would've stayed. I would kill to always have a meal and be clean like you."

"Hey! Don't talk about me or my brother like that! He's smart and built many things for us in the vault. Also, sure we always had meals and stuff, the vault is a safe home. Who are you anyways? Your talkin' a lot and I don't even have your name."

"Me? Well....my name is Horror."