Flying Ashes / Dust Guardian / Bloody retreat / Forever Fortress /

























Flying Ashes

"I can't see."

That's all I can think of to say. All I have said for the past three days. At least...I think it was three days. How long had I been out here? I wasn't sure. And I didn't care. As long as I kept moving. Putting one foot in front of the other. That's all I can do.

The fact of the matter was, I could see. But It didn't matter. Dust, miles of dust. A vast ocean of it lay before and behind me. The wind picked it up and tossed it. I couldn't see but three feet in front and could barely hear myself pant over the roar of the wind.

This was a never ending hell. But I had to face it. I had to...to survive. All I'd been doing was surviving. Those Hell Hounds. Monsters, ghouls, demons. I didn't care what they were. It didn't matter. They killed us all the same. I realized we were shit out of luck when I saw one of them rip a tank in half like tissue paper. It's dark horns tipped with fire. It smiled, it enjoyed it.

They came at night. Every night. My God, they were everywhere. They came too fast. We weren't ready. For five months. Five months they attacked us. Winged ones picked us off and carried us off into the sky.

Then, they were gone...

From the ashes we rose. The few they left behind. We began to collect ourselves. That's when the others came. The ones they took away. They returned as warped souls. No longer humans. Their malice was overwhelming and their claws tore us apart. We were able to fight off a few of them with whatever weapons we could find but they came by the thousands. They were relentless. So I ran. For nearly a year. Hiding and running from these bastards. I did anything and everything to survive. I've killed. I've betrayed. But it didn't work. I've been running out of places to hide.

I felt a tug at my waist. The Rope! Even through the dark raincoat I was wearing I felt it. I realized my eyes were closed so i opened them. Dust flew at me and seemed to bounce of the goggles of my paint-ball mask. The rubber straps were biting into my skin. I was sweating profusely and my breathing was quick and sharp. It was a highly claustrophobic experience and I had the tremendous urge to rip the mask off my face and take a breath of "real air" as my mind deemed it. Then I felt a second tug.

The Rope! I stopped and turned. Izzy was behind me. She was very sluggish. I could probably say the same for myself. I walked towards her, the wind pushing me along. I tore my mask off,later I'd say it was so she could hear me but really it was so I could breathe. She had on a heavy coat and paint-ball mask which her long blue hair protruded out of. I pressed my face next to hers, my mouth right by her ear.

"You alright?" I yelled, my voice barely audible over the roaring wind. She stopped and the wind nearly tore her off her feet. She wrapped her arms around me for support.

"Yeah." She replied, her voice was very weak. We hadn't stopped in a while. I turned to see if I could find anything that we could use to get cover from the wind. I soon regretted this as dust was thrown into my exposed eyes. I cursed and dug at them, Izzy still holding on. I opened them again, facing away from the wind. I looked behind her. There was a rope tied to me linking me to her. Then a rope behind her leading off into nothingness.

"Where's Tom?" I cried.

"How the hell would I know?" She replied angrily. I saw her eyes through her mask. You could barely make out the green on them. She pulled away from me and turned.

"Where's Tom." She said turning back to me.

"I don't know. That's what I'm trying to figure out!" I replied, annoyed. I quickly scanned my surroundings.

"He might have been cut loose." I responded grimly.'

"Shit!" Izzy said, taking a quick glace behind her. She cursed again.

"We got to keep going." I Yelled. I wasn't sure if she heard me but I put my mask on and began walking. I didn't feel a tug so either she was walking with me or she was cut loose too. I was too tired to check. Had to keep moving.

Soon I began to notice things. The dust seemed to warp in certain places near us. It...bent is the best why I can word it. Then it hit me. Buildings. We were in a town. I was so excited I angled our path towards one of these "warps". As I neared one, I saw it was a stone shed. Not too pretty but it was better than being out here. Anything was.

I went to kick in the door and my foot got caught as it broke through the rotten wood. I pulled it out and saw a few trickles of blood. Just a scratch. I stepped inside. Izzy was right behind me. A wave of relief shot over me. I wasn't sure if she was still alive. I tried to run to hug her but collapsed after the first step.

"Sounds like a good plan." Said Izzy, and she collapsed next to me. I was able to sit up, so I began removing my excess clothing. I discarded it in a corner and laid back down. I watched Izzy do the same. Her long,blue hair flowed over her shoulders as she pulled her mask off. She quickly discarded the heavy coat as well.

"Let's pray we never have to wear those again." She said, smiling at me. He green eyes sparkled. The white shirt she was wearing was torn and stained with dirt,dust,and 1000 other things. She lay down next to me.

"I'd kill for a shower." She said closing her eyes.

"Izzy, you have killed for a shower. Remember Vegas?" I said with a grin.

"Shut up Rob!" She replied and shoved me playfully, grinning as well.

I didn't care how much I hurt. My pain vanished at the sight of her smile. She was the only thing that kept me going throughout all of this. It was a blessing to be able to hear her again. She rested her head on my shoulder and draped an arm around me as we lay there.

"Think we'll make it Rob?" She asked me, her voice so soft. I reached and held her hand to me.

"Yes ma'am, we'll make it." I replied, just as soft. She closed her eyes to rest. She smiled as she slept. My words had set her at peace. I thought about what I said. I looked at her sweet face nestled on my shoulder,breathing softly. I too closed my eyes. I hoped I was right. I'd hate to have lied to her.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

I shot up as lightning hit right outside. A red flash then the boom. I was breathing heavy. Nightmares, I'd been having them for weeks now. I glanced over at Izzy. The Lightning hadn't woken her. She lay, curled up next to me. She was shivering. I exhaled and was surprised to see my breath. It was freezing. The temperature had dropped drastically since we first arrived here. I got up to get Izzy's coat when I saw it. Through the dust. Red eyes.

"HOLY SHIT!" I roared. Izzy awoke,startled. I fell down shaking. Cursing myself for yelling. I'd just announced my position to "IT". I felt it's footsteps. It was moving fast. Then nothing.

"Izzy, we gotta go now.." I whispered.

"What's Wrong?" She said, sensing my fear.

The door burst open. I had my back to it. It was breathing heavy, but was still. Izzy Stared over my shoulder right at it, then at me. I gazed into her eyes. Her lovely eyes. Emerald Green. They still sparkled in this light. She stared back into mine. A thousand words were said without a noise. I knew what I had to do. And so did she. A tear rolled down her cheek. I was absolutely sure now. I gave a slight nod.

The Beast Growled and raised it's claws in the air, preparing to strike.

I bolted towards the bastard at full speed and tackled him off his feet.

"RUN!" I roared at Izzy. She ran full speed out the door, into the roaring wind. I lost sight of her. The thing was on it's back, kicking and slashing like a dying bug. It's claws tore into my flesh. Minor wounds, I'd take care of those later. It wriggled free from my grasp and towered above me. It smiled at me. And I returned the smile and kicked with all my might and drove It against the wall. It Howled at me as it staggered to its feet.

I ran out of the shed and slammed the nearly nonexistent door. I took off towards Izzy with such speed, someone might have guessed my ass was on fire. The dust tore at my exposed flesh, as I did not have my heavy attire. Hardened clumps felt like bullets when flung at me. I kept running. Had to get to Izzy. Had to make sure she was safe. Had to put some distance between me and IT.

Then something amazing happened. The dust seemed to be sucked away from me. I ran a little faster without the wind pushing against me. I also began to see clear and all I could hear was the soft sounds of my bare feet running across the sifting ground. Then I saw why...

"HOLY MOTHER F-" I cursed as loud as I could. The dust was being pulled towards the center of my field of vision. And then it began to spiral upward. A Tornado.

Someone hates me today...

I started to run for the nearest building when I saw her. Crumpled on the ground. Izzy. I turned towards her. But something was moving faster. IT. It was hauling ass towards her. It was close. It would get to her before me. But I wasn't running towards her anymore.

I sideswiped it at full speed.

"HOW DARE YOU, YOU BASTARD!" I cried, I punched it once. "You try to kill ME! ME!" I punched it twice. "WELL FUCK YOU!" My fists were pulverizing every inch of It's body. Anything I could reach was pummeled. It stopped growling. I stopped wailing on it.

My hands were burning with pain. I'd be surprised if all the bones in them weren't broken. I rose and looked for Izzy. She was crawling towards another shed. I hurried over to her side. She was in bad shape. Her clothes were so tattered they barely covered her. Fresh blood covered her exposed legs. I hated seeing her like this.

"We're getting out of here Iz. Hold on." I said, taking a glance at the advancing twister. I got down and scooped her up in my arms, ignoring the pain. She looked so frail. I tried to stand but I couldn't. The adrenaline has been drained out of my body. I was so tired. The twister got closer.

I stared down at Izzy's face and stroked her cheek lovingly with my hand. She looked up at me. Again her eyes sparkled. The twister got closer.

"I'm sorry...I..." I couldn't find the right words. She smiled up at me.

"I'm not," she said softly. She then leaned in and pressed her lips against mine. We held a gentle embrace. Our eyes locked, tears flowing freely as we parted. The twister was near.



"I love you Izzy" I said, and I held her close. My arms tightly around her and her's around me. Her head rested on my shoulder. Her gentle, warm breath reminded me of how cold it was. And how glad I was to have this beautiful woman pressed against me. The twister was feet away.

I stared up at the gusty giant with disgust. How dare it take this away from me. And right as I thought this, The tornado weakened. It's dust settled as it was inches from us. I was awestruck. we were still holding onto each other. I began to see light as more dust fell. The sky. It was morning. The sun's light cut through the sea of dust.

"Look Izzy." I said. I felt her head rise from my shoulder, now wet from her tears. She gazed at the now open sky. She was silent. Just as shocked as me I guess. I can't remember the last time we'd seen the sun.

"It's beautiful." She said.

"I know it's..." I couldn't think. Something didn't feel right. Then a tremor hit. It shook us both. Izzy shrieked. Another tremor, closer. we tried to stand, but our energy was gone. Another. Dust began to be sucked down into the earth. The falling dust spread wider. Then something solid appeared. Beneath the dust. Something Dark Red, almost black. Light didn't seem to reflect of of it, but rather bend around it. The solid figure grew larger as more dust was pulled away.

Shivers shot down me. I recognized this type of thing. Only I hadn't seen it in a year.
The figure shot upward. It was A hand! DEAR GOD! A mile of sand parted for just a hand. Another hand shot up out of the dust. It was bulky and enormous. It had the same red tint as the first one. Both hands shot down, causing Izzy and me to be launched into the air. We hit the ground hard. Wait, dust wasn't hard.

Shit...

The Two Hands pushed down and a third figure appeared. The beast's head. It's red eyes glared down at us. It slowly rose out of the dust. It must have been two hundred feet tall! It was looking down at us. We must have looked like fleas to it. It's Long Horns were tipped with fire. It then did something that will forever haunt me. It Smiled. It's teeth were yellow and brown and were each the size of a truck. It's mouth opened wider.

"BlooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooD Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuusssssssst
Flooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow"

The Beast roared it's threat. We were petrified. We held each other and stared. That's all we could do. It swung it's fist back. Even if it misses, we'd be crushed by a wave of dust.
It brought it's fist forward. We closed out eyes and could hear nothing but the roaring wind behind his nearing fist. Then, somewhere behind us. An angel said these holy words...

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"


To be continued...