#thelastwinter

Author: @gavinisnotavanbutheissexylegs Editor: @gracelovely

16 year old Thomas Arbiter lay under some brush on the forest floor. Shotgun in hand, he quietly waited for something edible to pass. This was his first year alone after “The Freeze”, as it was called. His parents had died last year, leaving him alone to hunt for his meals. Thomas had to hunt every day, because there was no working refrigerator to store the food, and leaving it out would only attract wolves. No time to focus on that, though. Right now, he was hunting. Thomas began listening intently to the forest around him. Then, he heard it. The distinct crackling of dead leaves and the soft crunching of snow. He watched as a buck emerged into a clearing, about 40 feet in front of him. Slowly and carefully, he took aim. The deer perked his ears at the sound, but before it could run, Thomas took a shot.

Author: @gavinisnotavanbutheissexylegs

Editor: @gracelovely

[This is the unedited version of Chapter Three]

“Run!” , yelled Thomas. Bullets flew through the room, peppering the walls and furniture in holes. Thomas, with the 10 year old girl and her dog, scurried out of the room just in time. Thomas lead them all out of the cabin.

“Hey, where are we going?”, the girl asked.

“I have a car hidden nearby. It still has fuel in it, too.” Thomas replied.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the vehicle. It was a rusted red Ford truck. It had the initials “J.P.” etched into the left door. On the back were the words “rest in peace”. The girl couldn’t help but to remember her great grandfather at the sight of that. After they all got in the truck, Thomas pulled a key out of his pocket, put it in it’s slot, and floored the gas. But nothing happened.

“What are you doing?”, the girl said. “Go!”

“It won’t go!”

Then, they saw the mysterious armored man with the minigun approach into visible distance. Out of pure miracle, the truck came to life. Once again, Thomas floored the pedal and this time, the truck reacted. They drove out of the woods, heading for the closest road there was.

It wasn’t long before they found an interstate. Since there were no one traveling any more, the trip along the unkempt highway was much easier. Thomas turned to look towards the girl.

“Hey, who are you?”, he asked. “You must not be the normal scavenger if people like that are after you.”

“Right…”, the girl said. “I’m pretty sure the maniac back there was hired by the government. I’m the last one that knows about the Incursion. Besides them, of course.”

“Wait. The Incursion?”

“My parents were a part of the army. They were one day given orders to shoot a group of civilians in a small town. But my parents refused to do that fiendish act. They were standing in front of a group of people, with rifles in hand. As soon as they heard the gunshots go off around them, they dropped their weapons and ran. Apparently, someone decided to shoot them before they got too far. He must not have wanted the secret to get out. A good friend of theirs, Randy, sent me a letter explaining everything and that he was so sorry that this happened. He also wrote of the Incursion in the letter. It’s some sort of religious purge. Basically, just think of the Holocaust, except it’s directed towards everyone. Randy said that they’ve already put who they want alive in some sort of bunker, and they’re killing off everyone else. We, together as what’s left of a nation, could fight back.”

Author: @gavinisnotavanbutheissexylegs

Editor: @gracelovely

It took Tomas a few seconds to comprehend what he was seeing. After many years, Tomas was seeing another human, aside from his mother and father. It was a girl, about 10 years old, in a raggedy leather jacket with a leopard print inside. Though small, she was kind of intimating. Everything about her reminded him of his older sister, who left to live in some large city about a decade ago. The young intruder wielded a tomahawk ensnared in bristles. Despite the fact that she held much bigger weopen, she looked like a deer in headlights. Standing next to her was a large bulldog, barking at Thomas with drool dripping from it’s lips. Thomas had grown to fear canines over the past few years, so he was on the verge of shooting the dog just by the sight of it.

“Who are you?” Thomas yelled, eyeing the dog. “Why are you here?“ The girl knelt down cautiously and calmed her dog. It stopped barking, but somehow still seemed to be glaring at him. Tomas kept an eye on it.

“I didn’t know anyone still lived here. Sorry,” she said, “but I really need help.”

“And why should I help you?”

“Because if you don’t, we’re both going to die.”

Thomas was bewildered by those last few words. “What?”

As if on queue, something burst into the already crumbling wall. Snow began to blow up into the house as a man walked in through the hole in the wall. He was huge, and dressed completely in body armor, like someone from those old action movies. If his appearance wasn’t threatening enough, he was also holding a massive minigun.

This can’t be good, Thomas thought.