“We make a good team, huh?” Ariel asked.

Lincoln smiled, “We’re not just done, yet.”

Getting their horses, they made their way to the rendezvous point, which was their carriage. As they got there, they saw a little over seventy people there, scared and whispering in hushed tones.

“You guys are safe now. Get ready for a long way trip to your new home, “Ariel announced.

Holm Castle

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Morning - Apocalypse Month 4

"Bye, Dad," Sara smiled. Sara and Luis had packed up for the scouting mission for the past week ensuring that their travels would be safe and kind. The sun beamed down on them and the thick white snow reflected by the light making it even brighter than it seemed. The coldness of the season created steam every time their hot breath had made contact. Their bikes were beginning to get colder and colder as they awaited their journey.

"Bye, mi hija. Be careful and stay safe, I want to see you back before the snow melts away and the flowers begin to bloom," George smiled.

"I will, don't worry. Luis and I are ready for what's to come," Sara said matter-of-factly with excitement to see what's beyond Holm Castle.

Luis walked up behind them with his bike entail, "Dad, it'll be fine, and we're not even taking the worst route geographically,"

"The geography of these lands aren't what I'm worried about... it's the people," George sighed.

"We'll just be going southeast, the furthest maybe the border of Florida but nothing more. Trust me; we will be fine," Luis assured.

George nodded, " Where's the rest of your group going, Sara?"

"Well, we have four teams, Team one is going north checking out mostly Tennessee and parts of North Carolina, Team two is going west out to Alabama, and Team four is going northeast to South Carolina. We, Team three... well, you already know," Sara said like she was a commander of her own battalion.

"Calm down there, General Sara," Luis heckled.

Sara rolled her eyes and continued, "Come on, we have to leave now. It's gonna be a long day." With their packs on their backs, they rode off into the unknown cold, dark world.

"They will be fine, George. We have a lot of work to do, come on." Erik grabbed George's shoulder for reassurance.

It had been hours since they had ridden away from the castle. Sara and Luis were on their first journey together, and their mission was to gather the most information they can about the outside world. They were equipped with their personal weapons, clothes to endure the winter, dried food, and their natural instincts. A muffled woman-like scream was heard in the distance.

"Luis, stop!" Sara commanded, and in unison, their bikes skidded to a stop, "Did you hear that?"

"Yea, I definitely heard that.”

"That scream... it was like a woman screaming bloody murder," Sara said, still listening for some sign for another scream.

“It could’ve come from that way,” Luis said, pointing to the south.

"Shut up!" Sara said, still listening, and then a few seconds later, the sound hit both Luis's and Sara's ears; the sound of a shrill scream came from the direction Luis pointed.

"Okay... what was that?" Luis asked.

"I don't know... but we have to find out," Sara replied.

"I’ll lead. Stay close behind me and have your axes at the ready.”

"Come on!" Sara yelled, already running to the sound. They hid their packs under some leaves and snow and readied their weapons.

"We don't know what it is. What if they’re the cannibals people have been talking about?"

"I don't think so... Let's check it out. What could go wrong?"

"Famous last words..."

They slowly and silently trudged through the thick snow and avoided being detected. Moving closer and closer, the screams became worse and worse. Through the thicket of trees, they could finally make out what was in front of them. There were multiple women on the ground chained up while men were chained up against the lining trees surrounding them—five men with makeshift weapons and kevlar chest armor.

"What the fuck is this?" Luis asked in disgust.

Sara looked at him with a stern look telling him to lower his voice with her eyes, and whispered, "I don’t know but I don’t like the look of it. We have to do something."

"I don't know, Sara. These men have enough armor to stop all of them let alone us," Luis stated.

Sara stood there and pondered, "I have an idea, but you have to trust me."

Luis sighed, "This better work..."

It had been a few minutes after the two siblings scouted around to see what their new found enemies had. None of them had range weapons in sight and looked like they barely knew what they were doing. This could be an easy fight, Sara thought.

"Come on, y'all we have to get back quick. They're going to want the next batch as soon as possible," The man said, trying to quicken everyone.

"We're going as fast as we can, man," One of the men complained.

"It's not fast enough!" The man yelled.

"Uh... hello?" Luis walked out of the forest line and into the clearing, "Can someone please help me?" Luis had his coat on with his ax and shield in both hands.

"Holy shit... Daryl! Look over here; there's a kid!" The man said, walking up to Luis with a wooden spear in hand, "What're you doing here, little man. Where's your family?"

"Watch out! He could be sick!" Daryl said.

"He doesn't show any symptoms. He could be fine... maybe even a good new recruit," The man smirked.

"A group of cannibals attacked my family," Luis shuttered, fake crying, "They came out of nowhere and attacked us, I-"

"It's okay, son. We’ll take good care of ya… just give me your ax and it’ll all be over with," The man stretched out his arm towards him in an inviting gesture.

Luis looked around the clearing and saw people on the ground looking tired. Clothes torn and dried tears and dirt on their faces. A man with a small child was shackled up against a tree, "What's happening here?"

"Don't trust them, kid! run!" One of the shackled men yelled.

"Just a little operation, young man. Nothing too big of a concern, eh?" The man assured.

Luis shook his head and took a step back, "Why are you holding these people hostage? Who are y' all?"

Silence fell over the camp until a sudden bellow echoed, "Get him!"

The men in and around the camp rushed towards Luis. Although before they could get close, Sara jumped from the shrubbery behind them. Using her axes, she slit the throat of one of the men before they could react, leaving the man to choke on his blood on the ground. One of the other men started sprinting to Sara.

"What the fuck!? There’s another one!" One of the men yelled. Instantly the two men in front of Luis advanced towards him with their metal bat and spear with a knife at the end. Luis tightened the grip on his ax and brought down his shield in front of him as taught.

"Shit… I thought I’d get one more," Sara hissed, lowering her stance in front of the man. The man in front of Sara eyed her down, pushing his spear out to hit her. Easily, Sara dipped out of the way and pushed forward, slicing off his arm. The man screamed in agony for seconds before she silenced him with a stab to the head.

"Come on, big boys. Let's tango!" Luis provoked. One of the men screeched as he readied his metal bat, pulling it back to swing down on Luis, leaving his front wide open. Luis had his chance and took it; he brought his shield up and slid the bat out of the way, and slashed against the man's guarded torso. Only creating a deep cut against the armor but not through it. Shit! Armor!, Luis panicked. Right after, the other man kicked Luis to the ground. Being cornered, the man walked up to him, laughing.

"Watch out, dumbass!" Sara yelled, throwing her ax at one of them, cornering her brother; it made its mark, causing one of the men to bleed at their backs. Both of them turned around in anger.

Luis glanced at her sister as her clothes were splattered with bloodstains. Luis got up and rushed forward, howling with his shield in front of him and his ax in position. He bashed his shield against the man without the ax in his back, causing him to fall over, and finished Sara’s job by cutting an even deeper wound in the other man’s back, causing him to die instantly and lay flat on the compact snow. As he looked back at the man, he pushed down. He saw the man on the ground with his hands in the air. His sister was looking at him with a smirk.

“Are you okay?”

“Yea, I’m fine. That was scary for a second.”

"Come on Luis," She nodded towards the man.

"Wait, how'd you get these people free?" Luis asked, confused.

"While you were distracting them I went around the forest line getting who I could. Who knew if you freed captives, they’d listen to you?"

Luis grunted and walked up a little bit closer to the man pleading for his life on the ground, "Who are you and why were you holding these people captive?”

"We're your worst nightmare... you're going to regret doing this, kid!" The man spat.

"tsk tsk tsk, don't do that, now. I just wanna be your friend. All of us do," Luis sighed and squatted to their eye level, swinging his ax around in a slow and mesmerizing way, "Now, answer my question."

"I ain't tellin’ you nothin, you won't do shit," The man said.

Sara pulled her ax from the man’s back and practiced aiming straight at his head, "Choose your next words carefully or you'll be like your friend over there, pendejo!"

The man's entire ego dissipated immediately, "What do you wanna know?”

“These people. What’re you doing with them?”

"We were going to take them back to Atlanta and use them. They were going to be our workers," the man said quickly.

"Like slaves?" Sara shuttered, “What’s wrong with you?”

"You gotta do what you gotta do to survive in this world,"

Sara started fuming and walked up to the man until Luis stopped her, "Wait, I think I have a better idea." Luis released the guy to warn their leader that they would stop them at any chance they get. Sara then scavenged the place for anything valuable. Realizing that some of the two of the kevlar vests they had used hadn’t been pierced, so she put it on. It didn’t fit but would get the job done. Looking closer, she saw a branding on one of the men.

“Is that a laurel leaf crown? Like the one our dad mentioned?” Sara asked.

“Looks like it why?” Luis asked.

Sara groaned, “This might be worse than we thought.”

After scavenging what they could, they went back to their stuff with the people they had helped and gave them some spare rations and directions back to Holm Castle to be safe from whatever or whoever those bandits are.