Story Title: When this is Over - Nicknamed "100 ways to screw up reality while time traveling with your best friend".

Summary: Evelyn and Matthew are two fairly ordinary citizens living through the distant aftermath of the apocalypse. When a disaster drives them from their home, they accidentally come across an ancient being that offers to make a deal with the two travelers. The mysterious being can send them back in time to exactly 100 days before the apocalypse, but in turn, they are required to prevent the catalyst from ever occurring by finding the "immortal souls", four beings that wander the lands of Minecraft, and forcing them to work together. On their journey, they meet new people and experience the world of Minecraft before the destruction, slowly realizing that the world they thought they knew was far darker then they anticipated, and remaining completely oblivious to the fact that the beings they are searching for have been watching them all along.

Warnings: Violence. Occasional bloodshed and gore. Adult language (some characters swear quite a bit). Somewhat dark themes. Implied massacres. Occasional character death. Implied death. Incurable diseases and my grammar. (The story isn't as dark as it seems from the warnings).

Rating: T (For swearing, violence, and darker themes. Small children may be saddened if they think to deeply about the story)

Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. I have never owned Minecraft and I doubt I ever will. Oh well :(

When I was younger there was a book that I would read to myself every night. The book was ancient, dating back so far back that the title had worn away and most of the pages were torn and broken. Etched into the half decayed pages in blotchy handwriting are stories, ancient legends and adventures that I would reread every night with my dear brother. As a child, I wanted nothing more then to travel the world in search of these places, to search out the ancient heroes and to fulfill my own predetermined destiny. Now that I'm older the very thought of doing such a thing sounds absolutely ludicrous if not straight out insane. They were simply the fantasies of a young girl, still naive and lacking the full consciousness of a young adult.

It's actually quite painful for me to remember how oblivious I was back then, actually believing that it was possible to "journey across the land in search of adventure" and "become a hero", as if those were the simplest goals in the world. I physically cringe at the thought of me proclaiming such things as a child but I have more than a few memories of doing exactly that. In all honestly, I'd like to forget most of my childhood but it holds some of the few happy memories I do remember.

Growing up in a bunker somewhere deep beneath the earth isn't exactly the most pleasant way to spend ones life. Being trapped under a pile of ruble with twenty thousand other people who I don't care about and who don't care about me was and continues to be absolutely wonderful. Add in a couple thousand other kids who hate my guts and you've suddenly got a pretty decent description of my life. A place where practically everyone: looks, acts, and dies the very same way.

Despite my best efforts, it appears that "fitting in" and "disappearing into the crowd" so I can live out my pointless life span will also never be an option for me. I'll never be able to look like the others, never be able to have the dark brown or black eyes and hair of everyone else in the bunker due to the blatant lack of diversity. I will forever be that one kid that stands out from the crowd because of my blue eyes, tall height, and "do you really want to mess with me" demeanor. Well, that and the fact that I don't have the best reputation in the bunker. Let's just say that by now most people have figured out that messing with me equals a severe physical or verbal beat down.

As much as I'd like to say that these things bother me, or that deep down I know they're wrong and I'm being a complete moron, this part of my personality has never really bothered me. Considering how messed up my childhood was, I think I could have developed worth habits than a tendency to use violence to solve problems and a silver tongue. Actually, I don't even consider these to be flaws, I consider them to be survival skills.

Growing up as an orphan and an outcast was never really a big deal to me either. Every few years or so a plague usually sweeps through the bunker and kills off a decent chunk of people. Everyone who catches the disease dies within a few days and it almost seems to select its victims at random, sometimes killing off entire families while leaving a single member alive. These events have a tendency to create more then a few orphans who are then moved to the "orphanage", or the large stone brick apartment complex full of misbehaving and practically abandoned children.

It's really every man for themselves once you're there, and if you feel like eating you figure that out pretty fast. Surprisingly enough, it was there, among the cold stone walls and constantly bickering children, that I met my brother. I was only four at the time, still mourning the loss of the family I no longer remember, and tormented for being a "mutation" because of my eye color. Matthew had just turned eight and was already adjusted to the lifestyle I had been thrown into. With blonde hair and blue eyes, he to was tormented for being a mutation. Between the constant tormenting from the other children and our natural desire to survive, we ended up growing quite close to the other. So close that we eventually declared the other a sibling.

As the months passed, Matthew became my older brother, my partner in crime, and the only person I have ever placed my full trust in. In turn I became his younger sister, the foolhardy child who's bark matches her bite when it comes to fighting and can easily humiliate anyone with a few carefully chosen words. Our personalities still clash to this day, but we've both figured out how to deal with the other.

Unlike myself, Matthew has never been particularly fond of resorting to violence on any issues. He still believes that fighting should only be used as a last resort and that "talking it out" is a perfectly valid solution. I silently chuckle to myself and role my eyes in amusement. The day we solve our problems through talking will be the day I don't mistrust everyone around me, and it doesn't appear that day will be coming any time soon. He's also extremely idealistic and prone to getting carried away when it comes to anything involving the past. It was actually his book that I use to read as a child, but the days when I believed in such things have long since passed. Matthew still hasn't quite accepted that the book's an elaboration fairytale, but he'll have to grow up eventually. You can't live I the past forever, because eventually you have to face the future.

With a sigh, I kneel next to a farm cube and continue to pull misshapen vegetables out of the ground. I stare down the row of fields and frown when I notice the end is well beyond my field of vision. The leafy plant disintegrates under my hands as I pull out the potato plant and gather up the produce. Because we live underground, all food is grown in giant underground fields that stretch on for thousands of blocks in one direction. There's not nearly enough nutrients or lighting for the plants to properly grow, but we've learned to make do with what we have. That's what everyone seems to say anyways.

I shake my head at the thought and move to the next plot of farmland after placing the potatoes in my bag. I never wanted to become a farmer, actually it's probably the job i'd least like to have, but it's the job I was assigned to play. While farming, I get to put in a grueling amount if physical labor while being surrounded by people I cannot stand. Oh, and there's dirt and water, my two most favorite things in the entire universe! I shiver at the very thought of being near water. At least dirt makes potatoes which work pretty well as projectiles.

Speaking of projectiles- I sidestep as a splash potion full of water explodes next to me. Shards of glass and a few drops of water slash at my foot and I grimace as my leg is cut by a glass shard. The source of the distraction is easy enough to locate considering the direction of the object and I quickly retaliate by throwing a potato at the nearest smirking person. While it misses it's original target, the grubby vegetable strikes the boy behind him on the side of the head. The entire group turns to glare at me as the victim cries out in pain and clutches his left ear.

"What the hell was that about?" One of them calls out and the self imposed leader quickly steps forward from the others. My frown deepens as I recognize the person before me. Out of all the people to show their face it just has to be this ba- "What'd we ever do to you Evelyn?"

Well there's an open ended question! But where would I even start? The part where their tormenting and bullying alienated me from the other kids or the physical and mental abuse I've put up with since moving to the orphanage. Or perhaps I should start with the part where they've started attacking Matthew instead because it's the only way to get back at me. Thats what sets them apart from the other kids, it's not just basic childhood bullying to them, no, they went and made it personal by attacking my brother. Only a complete bastard would attack someone like Matthew who refuses to fight back just to get at the one they can't hit.

"Lots of things, actually," I reply, narrowing my eyes and reaching for my pocket. "I doubt I really have to remind you. Unless of course you managed to forget our past? Though that wouldn't come as a surprise to me considering your inferior intellect and lack of basic social skills. Especially you, Eric," I lock eyes with the man who stepped forward earlier, knowing full well that he's the ringleader. "Sometimes I doubt that you have a brain at all." His face remains emotionless, but I can see a twinge of rage in his dark brown eyes. There's a long scar running along the left side of his face from the time when his group first tried to harm Matthew. I don't remember exactly what happened next, but I know that upon finding out I must have attacked Eric with a piece of broken glass. I actually ended up waking up in the hospital wing with no recollection of the event at all.

We've never gotten along on particularly civil terms. Not that I would degrade myself to work with these assholes anyways. It's really a surprise that despite our constant squabbling neither of us has ended up dead or even gravely injured because of the other. Most people who are involved in the tormenting have taken a fair share of cuts and bruise, along with the occasional broken bone and such. I ended up with a concussion two years ago and Eric received a broken nose a while back. We kind of do take an eye for an eye a little too seriously.

"Really? What the heck is your problem?!" Eric drills out in reply. "So we spilled a bit if water on you, what's the big deal? It'll dry eventually, won't it." I glare down at my coat and wipe of a few stray drops of water that landed on it. Eric knows how much I despise water, to the point where I'm almost always dehydrated because of it, and he's rather keen on using my weakne- my dislike against me.

"What's your problem? It's just a small bruise..." I shoot a pointed glance at the victim of the projectile. "Perhaps the bruise will clear up in a month or so? That's not so bad." Let's see if it worked.

The entirety of the group is now dead set on attacking me. Those who were formerly mulling around are now entirely focused on the commotion happening a few fields over. If we fought here it would cause quite a scene. "Why you little-" One of the lackeys cries out when he's slapped by Eric.

"Stop it, all of you!" Eric growls out, trying to gather the others attention. "We're not about to start something like that here, we'd get in so much trouble!" Of course they won't fight me here. The authority can ignore a few reports and some unexplained injuries without taking any action, but they can't have a full blown attack in a public place. Eric frowns and shoves someone back a few feet when said person tries to move a bit closer to that action. We both know not to fight in public, but some of the others are unaware of the consequences. "I said no fighting!" He turns and glares at me. "This isn't over, we'll hit back when you're least expecting it and when we do-"

"I will beat your sorry asses for the third time this month and send you running for the medical wing?" I supply with a grin and roll my eyes. Okay so I really shouldn't be trying to aggravate them right now, but I can't really help it. My ability to antagonize people with words always backfires because I can't seem to control what I say with it. "Or is that not what you're implying? Hmm... maybe I'll even out your complexion and add a matching scar to the other side of your face. Now wouldn't that be lovely?"

The tension in the room immediately peaks as Eric coils his hand into a fist, eyes narrowing in rage and a small amount of... fear? Strange, he's never been afraid of me before... eh, it's to early to accurately read someone's emotions so I'm probably just imagining it. Oops, I clearly struck a nerve with that last comment. I wait for Eric to make his next move only to notice a member of his group is finally enraged enough to attack me.

I blink in surprise, stepping to the side to narrowly avoid the sudden attack. Crud, I'm not completely compared to deal with this right now but I don't really have a choice. I slowly analyze my opponent, quickly recognizing that he stands well above my height and his natural physical strength is likely well beyond my own. Ugh, being a girl really sucks sometimes. The man recovers from his initial attack, turning back around and trying to land another punch. I stagger backwards, carefully eyeing the edge of the farming platform before jumping over an irrigation channel.

My attacker oversteps and nearly plunges off of the platform and into the pond but manages to regain his balance. He growls at my movement, taking a few steps back so he can jump the channel as well. As he starts to jump I remove a shard of glass from my coat pocket and move slightly to the right side. My attacker lands unsteadily on the ground and I choose this moment to run forward and push him backwards. He blinks in surprise, reaching out to grab onto me, but is unable to as he starts to fall backwards into the water. There's a small splash as he hits the one block deep water. I wait until he recovers from the shock and rolls over before I step forward and step down on the attackers throat.

Everything is calm for a second as his head hits the water again and promptly plunges beneath the surface. There's an outcry of rage from Eric and his group who immediately rush forward to try and help their friend. I simply hold the glass shard out in front of me like a knife while keeping my foot securely placed on the boys neck. By now he's realized his condition and is thrashing around in an attempt to sit up and breathe, and the group had reassembled themselves at the edge of the water, looking unsure if they should help him or not while sending uneasy glances at the shard of glass firmly held out in front of me.

While a broken piece of glass doesn't quite fit the criteria to be a weapon, it can be used to seriously injure anyone who comes close. In the right hands at the right time it honestly could be quite lethal, and when cornered I happen to be one of those people. My gaze moves back to the man struggling beneath my foot and I wait for the struggling to grow weaker. In a normal situation I wouldn't be able to keep someone who could easily overpower me down, but the idiot fell over the side head first- meaning that he was laying over the side of the farming platform and I can use his own weight against him. As the struggling finally comes to a halt I lift my foot and jump back on the the platform. I keep the glass out in front of me, warning the others not to approach me.

Two of the boys bolt forward and pull their half drowned friend out of the puddle. My previous attacker looks confused for a moment before doubling over and spitting out a mouthful of water. Eric glances at him in concern before turning back to me with an enraged glare. "Damn it Evelyn! You nearly drowned him- he could have died!" Eric is shouting, ignoring the onlookers who have started to gather. "What the heck is wrong with you! We didn't do anyth-"

"He attacked me and I protected myself. You hit me with water so I pushed him into the canal. An eye for an eye- we're now even so lets just leave it at this," I state, easily meeting he glare with my own. "Any future bloodshed is on your conscious."

"Like hell this is over! Let's see how high and mighty you feel when Matt-" One of Eric's lackeys cries out as a middle aged nurse enters the field to look at the nearly drowned boy.

"Only a bastard would hurt someone who refuses to fight back!" I shout back in reply, beyond angered by the comment. When I'm enraged its best to leave my brother out of the conversation. "You so much as touch a hair on his head and next time I'll-"

Something grabs the hand holding the piece of glass, pressuring a nerve so that it falls out of my hand and falls to the ground. I spin around at the sudden change of power, ready to attack whoever was stupid enough to approach me at this point. I draw my hand back for a punch but it collides with an open hand about halfway before it can connect with the newcomers face. "Wait- Evelyn it's me!" I pause at the voice, slowly withdrawing my hand as I recognize the newcomer. For someone who refuses to fight he's a bit too good at disarming people.

"Matthew? Wait! W-what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?" I ask, blinking in surprise as the elder relaxes. Wait- of course, Matthew's a doctor, the hospital wing was probably notified that a fight was taking place and asked to come help with any injuries. "Oh..."

He sighs in relief that I recognize him before replying, "I heard there was a fight going on and came to check on you- you are all right, yes?" He immediately grabs my hand again, flipping it over and looking for any sort of an injury. "You look a little off... but..." His gaze moves beyond me to where another nurse is carefully examining the boy in early drowned earlier. Eric's posse is gathered around him in concern but they each take the time to send unforgiving glares in our direction. "Oh dear Notch, what did you-"

"It's not my fault!" I growl back in reply, flinching when it comes out a little louder and angrier then I was planning. I shift my voice to slightly above a whisper for the rest of my explanation. "I was trying not to start a fight, I just dissed them a bit and hopefully deflated some of their egos but-" I'm starting to get off track. "One of them attacked me! I tried to move away but he kept coming at me! It was in self defense!"

"Eve, by the looks of it you nearly drowned the poor boy," Matthew replies, glancing back at the victim from the earlier attack. Oh sure, take 'his' side on the matter and just ignore your little sister who was completely.. eh... well, 'mostly' not at fault for the matter. You're not suppose to sympathize with the people who have tormented you your entire life, your suppose to hate them, despise them, and hope that karma takes its revenge! Stupid Matthew and his stupid morals... "Evelyn? Evelyn! Did you hear me? This is going to far- you could have accidentally killed him!"

"So what? That bastard deserves to-"

"Evelyn!" Matthew blurts out in surprise, staring at me with a mixture of disappointment and horror. "How can you say something like that!" He frowns at me before grabbing my hand and half escorting, half dragging me out of the farming platform and into a stone brick hallway. I blink in confusion as he slams the wooden doors open, both them slamming against the walls of the hallway, before closing the doors behind us. I wait for his comment. "Evelyn, what the heck came over you? You can't just nearly kill someone because you feel like it!"

My eyes narrow at the comment. He's blaming me for this? "I already told you, I wasn't trying to start a fight!" I growls back in reply. "They struck first, they insulted 'me' first, they tried to harm 'me' first! I was acting out of self defense!"

"I don't care who started what, I want to know why you almost killed that boy," Matthew replies, not backing down despite my increasing emotions. He's one of the few people who can deal with me when I'm like this. "This isn't like you, Evelyn, you never fight to kill. I don't want you to have to make that sort of a choice." I can sense the concern in his voice as he places a hand on my shoulder but I turn away. "Will you stop moving away from me? I'm trying to help you, but you're acting like a freaking child!"

"Says the man who still believes in fairy tales," I reply with a scathing remark. Even after all these years Matthew still believes in the stories from the ancient book. He's so idealistic and naive that he actually holds onto the thought that maybe, just maybe, the stories of the book might hold some truth to them. He's like a little boy refusing to grow up. "If I act like a child I don't even want to know what that makes you, so stop treating me like a child."

Matthew frowns at the comment but he doesn't get angry at it. He had an unusual tolerance when it comes to getting angry, the emotion from earlier was probably just him worrying about me. I immediately regret the comment and avert my eyes, focussing on the now absolutely fascinating crack on the floor. "...Sorry... I'm just... " I sigh. "I'm just a little upset right now, okay? Sometimes I... I just get so... angry, you know? I hate how they're targeting you to get back at me, I wish they would just leave us alone." Why do I have admit to this? I never have to say I'm sorry.

"Don't we both?" Matthew adds with a slight smile. "You know, if you just ignored them I bet they'd leave you alone. Science has proven that bully's want attention and by ignoring them they'll eventually get bored and give up." He smiles at me with knowing eyes, his arms extend as he walks forward and I find me self enveloped in a hug. "I'm just glad you're alright." I sigh at the sudden affection but don't pull away. He was probably really worried about me so it'd be rude to push him away despite my dislike of physical contact.

"I'll try not to fight with them," I reply, ignoring how blatant of a lie that is. It's in my nature to aggravate people and I seriously doubt that something that's been so deeply routed in my being is going to change overnight. Besides, this has gone well beyond bullying, and I'm afraid that this has changed over into full fledged discrimination. Unfortunately, that comes down to human nature, not an easily fixed social problem. "I can't promise that it'll work, but I'll try."

Matthew pulls back, and quickly notices that there's blood running down my leg. He blinks in surprise before jumping into action as a doctor. "How in the world did you do that?" He asks, kneeling down and pulling a roll of spider string and a piece of carpet out oh his bag. "You managed to cut your leg up pretty badly. It's not to deep but there's a lot of blood." I frown and glance down at my leg. Now that I think about it, my leg is stinging a little, but it's mostly the bottom of my feet and my ankle, not the cuts on my leg.

He quickly mops up the blood with the piece of carpet, discarding the bloodied piece of wool on the side of the hallway. Reaching back into his bag, he pulls out a potion and carefully reads the label before opening it. I flinch when the liquid touches the cuts, burning away anything that may have infected them. "You could warn me next time," I mutter unhappily, waiting for the pain to subside as the potion's effects to dull. "I'm rather tempted to kick you."

Matthew just laughs. "And I'm tempted to replace the healing potion with spider venom," He places another sheet of carpet over my leg and ties it in place with the string. "But I won't because you're my little sister... and i'd have to listen to you complain about it for weeks if I did. He grins when my frown deepens and my eyes narrow. He steps back from my leg and stands back up. "There we are, in a few hours it'll be good as new." I sigh and glance at the injured lim unhappily. I hate being injured, having to limp around the bunker all day is such a burden.

"Thanks," I reply quietly, shaking a bit of water of my boots. Jumping into a puddle, even with boots on, probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had. "We should probably head back though, school starts in an hour for me and you've got to get back to work."

He seems confused for a moment before the information sinks in and he begins to panic. "Ah, I almost forgot!" Matthew blurts out, quickly repacking his bag and glancing into one of the pockets. I smile slightly as the Matthew I'm used to slowly emerges from slightly overprotective older brother mode and back into his usual optimistic and time management lacking self. "Huh- oh, I'm almost out of spider string, I'll have to get some later." I blink at the comment and immediately smile

"Wait! I could go to the surface and get some for you!" I blurt out, immediately excited by the prospect of going to the surface. The surface, despite being inhospitable to human life and filled with hostile and blood thirst mobs, has always fascinated me. Even as a child, I would sneak up long forgotten stairways and disappear into the unknown world above my home. There are certain rules in place for those few individuals brave enough to travel to the surface, so I can only stay out there for a few hours and I have to wear a face mask because the air is so poisonous. Despite this, the surface has always served as a secret place for me, somewhere I could escape to when stressed or enraged. Being a mutation myself, I don't really mind the though of being contaminated by some crazy chemical or even being killed by one of the mobs that walk the surface. Besides, other than Matthew, I don't really think anyone would miss me if I disappeared.

"Your injured, and you've for school in an hour, remember? You can't just skip class whenever you feel like it," Matthew replies with a sigh. "Why don't you put more effort into school? You're a pretty smart kid, if you actually applied yourself you'd-"

I scowl at the comment and cross my arms in annoyance. Of course I don't apply myself in school, there's really no reason for me to know about the "history of the bunker society" or "advanced farming techniques for the modern worker". I don't really care about this place, and I certainly don't care about its long and boring history. Honestly, they teach us nothing about the world beyond the bunker and NOTHING ever happens within the bunker. It's been several thousand years since they replaced the floors, much less had some huge cultural or historical shift occur. Besides, I have to sit next to a certain... person during homeroom, and at this point blood will be shed by the time class is dismissed if I go to school today,

"But all I would miss is homeroom and maybe a bit of math," I supply hopefully. Matthew already knows how much I despise those two classes in particular. "And it's not like I can't walk or anything- I can move around just fine!"

Matthew pauses, obviously weighting his options before sighing and nodding slightly. "I- I guess it's alright If you go... but you have to be back in an hour, alright? And you have to be careful so that you don't run into any mobs-"

I just laugh and cut him off. "I'll be fine. I'm not a kid anymore, remember? Besides, I sneak up to the surface all the time so it's not like it's anything new for me," I add with a grin, not even slightly ashamed of admitting how many times I've broken the rules. It's not like anyone is going to hold me to them, anyways. Matthews the only parental figure I can remember and he's more like a brother who I can usually trick into accompanying me. "I'll back back before you know it!"

The blonde sighs, muttering a quick prayer under his breath as I start to leave only to run back and give him a quick hug. "Thanks bro." I smile at him, before backing away and quickly racing back through the doorway while throwing one of the wooden doors open. Matthew says something along the lines of a goodbye as I disappear, but I don't completely catch what he was saying. As I grow closer to the farming platform I slow my movements and tuck a few strands of black hair behind my hair. When I was younger I use to have long, straight black hair, but I cut it short a few years ago and have kept it that way ever sense. It's not exactly "feminine" for a girl to keep her hair at chins length, but I've never given a lot of thought as to how others view me. If they want to judge me then they should just say it to my face; otherwise it doesn't matter.

My smile slowly slips away and I straighten my back to proudly stand at my full height. A few pairs of eyes follow me as I enter the farming platform, but they eventually slip away as their owners return to work. I walk back towards the farming block I was at before I was rudely interrupted. A pair of nurses and a doctor have gathered around the area and they appear to be looking over my attacker and the victim of the projectile from earlier. Eric glances up from the proceedings as I approach, his face drawing back into a snarl. "I thought you we're running away?" He adds, his hatred thinly layered into every word.

"What exactly would I be running from?" I ask sarcastically, rolling my eyes as I reach my discarded bag. I squat down next to the leather shoulder bag and slide the strap over my head so that the bag rests at my side. "Not from the likes of you I'm afraid." I stand up and grip the strap of the bag with my right hand.

Eric frowns at the reply, his disdain for me is clearly written on his face. We stand for a moment, silently acknowledging the others presence before I turn and leave. There's a few murmurs of "coward" and a few other names I don't necessarily find to be befitting of myself, but I don't bother to glance back. I promised Matthew I'd try not to provoke them and I'll try and hold to that promise... well, at least for a while... maybe later today would be an appropriate time to break it? Matthew knows I'll never truly stop fighting with Eric.

I exit the farming platform through another doorway and easily slide through the crowd of farmers heading to their shifts. While people don't exactly form a clear walkway for me to exit through, but they move slightly to the side as I pass. The feeling is similar to that of a fish swimming upstream, but I can slip through the current of people with ease. Once I'm past the initial crowd, I turn down one of the less occupied hallways and sink back into the shadows. A few people still pass by, sometimes acknowledging me but usually not while they hurry on their way. I suppose we're all too caught up in out own lives to worry about those we pass by. Not that I mind, anyways, but it's always seemed just a bit cruel that we don't even care about the people around us. I frown at the thought and shake my head softly in annoyance. There I go again, letting my pity get the best of me.

The hallway leads to a series of passageways that I disappear into with ease. When Matthew and I were children, we were constantly looking for ways to get away from the other kids, and we often ended up exploring the abandoned areas of the bunker in out spare time. Because of our "adventures" as we called them at the time, I know every corner of the underground settlement like the back of my hand. The next hallway is only one block by two and looks more like a crack in the wall then an actual hallway. I have to duck my head to fit through the passageway, but it's a shortcut to one of the main staircases.

As I turn the last corner, the walls move away and the ceiling is now several blocks overhead. I sigh in relief and stretch out my neck. I've never been fond of tight spaces either, sort of ironic considering where I live, but the thought of getting crushed to death by some falling rock isn't a pleasant one. Matthew once told me it was perfectly normal to fear something like this and had a medical term for it that I can no longer remember. "Claus-... clausto... phobic... clausro-..." Wonderful, I'm now talking to myself. I wonder what that means for my mental state? Not that in necessarily matters of course. "Whatever, I give up."

I reach the stairway after a few moments and silently grin to myself as I reach it. Wonder if I can make it up all four flight of stairs in... a minute, yes, a minute sounds about right. I approach the first step and immediately start to run up the steps. My feed adapt to the sudden movement, choosing to skip steps in order to move faster. The staircase lays out in front of me as I jump, and I grab the railing to turn the corner before suddenly coming to a halt. What the heck am I even doing? Racing myself up a staircase like a child? I glower at the floor and regain my movements up the stairs at a much slower pace. I'm not a child anymore, I don't have the time or energy to race up the stairs like this anymore. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if someone saw me like that.

After several minutes of waking, the stairway dips away and I walk out onto a stone room. The pressure in the air has dropped significantly and I find myself breathing just a bit easier. I don't know what it is about the surface, but despite it's deathly climate and carnivorous mobs, I've always felt at peace up here. I fling my bag at the wall, not caring when it slams against the stone surface with a thickening thud, and continue to walk towards the side of the room. When I reach the wall adjacent to the staircase I pull my glass shard out of my pocket and plunge it into the crack between two stone blocks. With a bit of effort, the block comes lose and I pull the block from the wall with little to no effort.

As the block falls to the floor, I reach into the hole and quickly open the chest concealed behind the wall. I rummage through random supplies for a moment before finding the gear I was searching for. Ancient weapons have been banned for thousands of years in the bunker because they're supposedly "dangerous to the defenseless masses" or something like that, but more than a few still floating around. My hand grasps the weapon, pulling the leather casing of the sword out of the wall and placing it on the floor beside me. The weapon itself was given to me as a child by the parents I don't remember. Judging from the craftsmanship the weapon itself must have been made before the apocalypse, meaning that it's probably been passed down through my family since the end of the world.

The ancient iron blade is in many ways my prize possession, being the only reminder of my unknown lineage. Despite the fact it's practically a historical artifact by now, the dull iron blade still works and there's the outline of a family crest on the handle. It also allows me to feel a twinge if pride that I'm breaking one of the most well enforced rules in the bunker system. I smile down at the weapon before reaching back into the hidden chest. After a few moments of rummaging through the supplies, I pull out the rest of my supplies and lay them out on the ground beside me.

I slip off my usual navy jacket, quickly replacing it with a thicker dark gray jacket to protect myself against the elements. Folding up my coat and placing it on the ground, pull a face mask over my mouth and nose. The surface is still highly toxic to humans, and to survive on the surface one has to be prepared to deal with just about anything. The final thing is a pair of medical gloves and scientific goggles that Matthew leant me a while back. If I come into contact with any poisonous or plague infected mobs, I'll be able to touch them without being affected. This is especially helpful considering that I'm going I the surface to go spider hunting.

With my gear in place, I attach my sheath to a loophole on my belt and slide the sword into place. My eyes move to the doorway, a simple iron door leading to an airlock chamber. I press the button to open the door and step into the iron chamber. The door snaps shut behind me as a walk through the sealed room, and I wait for a few seconds before opening the other door. Beyond the chamber is a misshapen stone cave that leads to an alcove on the hillside of the surface. Torches line the bare passageway to prevent mobs from spawning within the small walkway and trying to get into the bunker, but past the mouth of the cave, mobs have free reign.

I clear the final few steps of the cave and step out onto the hillside. For a few seconds I'm blinded by the sunlight filtering through the gray clouds, but I slowly adjust to the change. The light on the surface, despite it being heavily blocked out by a sort of smog, has always seemed much nicer than the artificial lights of the bunker. After my eyes have fully adjusted, I notice the wind picking up through the small valley beneath me. My hair is blown in various directions by the invisible force, but I can only smile and laugh slightly. Sure some aspects of the surface are annoying and deadly, but it still seems realer than the world beneath my feet.

My mind snaps back to attention as something begins to move in the valley beneath me. I glance down at the dip in the earth, searching for the source of the movement within the decaying grass and occasional petrified trees. My eyes slowly zone in on a creature hiding behind one of the trees towards the edge of the valley. I pause for a second, wondering If I should go for it or look for closer prey. On one hand the mob appears to be a spider, meaning I could have an easy kill and spend the rest of my time enjoying the surface, but traveling so far into the valley could be dangerous. If I was to get cornered by one of the more dangerous mobs too far out I wouldn't be able to flee to the bunker- not that I would need to flee from some pitiful mob!

I frown at my last thought, deciding to go for the mob at the end of the valley just for the heck of it. What type of a mob hunter would I be if I have up because I was scared? Not a very good one, that's what. I shake of my momentary fear and jump onto the hillside beside the cave entrance. With a firm grip on the sword by my side and my senses on high alert, I take off across the hillside towards the edge of the valley.

My feet race across the rocky surface, the well worn hunting boots gripping the half decaying surface with practiced ease. I can't stop the smile that overtakes my face as I leap over a small ravine and continue on my way. It's moments like this that I finally find myself feeling like me again. I reach the edge of the valley within a few minutes and sink into the rocks along the side of the mountain. Just beyond the edge of the mountain is a small hill that separates the valley from the outside world, and it's become the edge of my hunting grounds in recent years because neither Matthew nor I have ever passed it.

For a few moments I stare at the hill, wondering once again what's passed the valley but eventually turn my attention the the mob from earlier. I grin slightly upon finding that the mob is not only still there, but is indeed the spider I've been searching for. The mob is sheltering under a petrified tree, likely trying to hide from the small amount of sunlight slipping through the smoggy skies. I slowly examine the area surrounding the mob, searching for any other mobs that may cause a problem, but there doesn't appear to be any. With a slow nod I break off a piece of stone from the hillside and chuck it slightly to the right of the creature. Four red eyes open in alarm at the sound, quickly sending the mob into a frenzy of trying to locate its attacker. With the mob confused, I toss another chunk of stone onto the hillside, but this time much closer to my location. The mob practically jumps at the noise and immediately scurries towards the noise. I wait for the mob to grow within a few blocks of my location before carefully tossing a sharpened piece of glass at the creatures eye.

There's a moment of silence before the mob practically erupts into a state of rage. With the glass shard piercing one of its eyes, the creature is howling in pain. I slowly approach the mob from my hiding spot on the hillside and position myself on a rock a few feet above the mob. As the creature turns towards the imaginary attacker, I jump down from the rock and kill it with a simple plunge to the heart. The creature pauses for a moment, shaking slightly, before collapsing to the ground in an awkward heap. I sigh in relief as the mob stops moving and lays silently. Just another successful hunt for me I suppose, because I don't necessarily pity the creature. If our roles had been reversed it would have killed me without any sort of pity so I react the same.

Leaving the mob to rot, I quickly gather the string from the quickly degenerating body and cut out two of the eyes. Within a minute the body has completely disintegrated, only leaving a dark red stain in the dirt where the mob had lain. I step back from the creature and turn back towards the cave entrance, but I notice something in the corner of my eye.

My eyes lock on something laying on the hillside a few blocks away. Whatever it is, it's submerged beneath a later of rock, but I can just make out what appears to be a skeleton. I freeze at the thought, wondering if the skeleton was still alive and had access to a- no, there's something off about the body, it doesn't appear to be a normal mob.

Cautiously, I step down from the hillside and approach the body. If the mob was dead it should have disintegrated by now, meaning that the creature must be alive but... it doesn't appear to be. But surely that's not possible? I eye the creature carefully and slowly move closer to the body. At first glance the corpse appears to be a simple skeleton mob, much like the handful of dead- living- er... half dead creatures I've faced before. My previous assumptions are tilted slight on their head when I realize that the skeleton is far too tall to have belonged to an actual skeleton mob. I continue to stare at the creature as my mind comes to a rather odd realization that I, in fact, have never seen this species of mob before.

"But that's impossible," I mutter under my breath while moving around the mob for a better look. "And the body should have disintegrated by now." My curiosity starts to get the better of me as I step closer to the mob against my better judgement. I can't shake the fact that it almost looks human despite the unusual height- not that mob skeletons don't look the same way, of course! Of course I've never really taken the time to examine a mob skeleton before, if I have to kill one it usually disintegrates within a minute.

I continue to inch closer to two creature, knowing full well that it could still be alive and I could be in great danger. Why can't I turn away from this thing? It's almost like I'm being drawn to it... eh- but that's impossible! It's a skeleton, it has no power over me whatsoever! I think.

My feet start to move away from the mob, refusing to get any closer to the strange creature, but my eyes lock on something else, something that makes my feet pause. Laying in the middle of the the broken ribcage are the shattered remains of a dark purple object. My eyes are immediately fixated with the strange object, watching as the deep purple color swirls around the fragment. Wait, it's swirling? Is that even possible? Ugh, this is not the time to consider such things!

Finally, I decide to try to locate anything that could have caused this. I've never been this far away from the bunker before, and considering I rarely go halfway to the edge of the valley it's safe to say I've never been here before. Maybe there's a creature out here that doesn't wander further into the valley? Then again, that wouldn't make much sense and I probably would have encountered it at some point. Unless of course this is some sort of an ancient mob from before the apoca- hah, like that could happen! Honestely, what is with my brain and these far fetched ideas? Though I suppose it could be an ancient mob, and I do remember one of the stories in Matthew's book spoke of a humanoid creature that was taller then- I growl at the thought and repress the need to face palm. Since when do I trust the word of that book, it's a child's fairy tale book for goodness sake!

Besides, even if it 'was' the mob detailed in the book, it's body should have decomposed by now. I glare at the mob, a smirk sneaking its way over my features as my logic reaffirms my conclusion. There is now way this is the remains of a mob from the ancient times, and therefore the book is most certainly a fairytale like I already assum- knew! Hah, take that Matthew! Then again, I still have no clue what this thing is. As I continue to state at the creature, a small patch of fog shifts in the sky, allowing a larger amount of sunlight to breach the cloud layer and shine down on the valley.

I blink is surprise when my eyes latch onto another skeleton laying halfway up the hill. Unlike the first, the creature is laying out in the open. The first one looked like it was killed by a collapsing rock, but that wouldn't explain why there would be a body just lying out in the open. Not unless something, or should I say someone, came along and killed them. I stare at the hillside that leads beyond the valley and silently debate if I should- oh please, I am not taking the time to weigh the options. Matthew and his philosophy of weighing the dangers be damned, I am going to figure out what's going on here and no one is going to tell me differently!

It only takes a few moments for me to leap up the hillside and reach the body, and I'm immediately met with a very different sight. Unlike the first one, the body seems practically undamaged, but the bones are seared like they were burned by an acid or something. I'm not sure why, but upon seeing the second skeleton, my feet continue walking up the hillside towards the very edge of the valley. My mind screams at them to stop, to turn back and return home, to forget this ever happened, but they refuse to stop until they reach the top. My first reaction to the sight is a mixture of fear and pride. Beyond the valley and the mountains that have always contained me is a huge plain that leads off into a distant mountain range, and I have to marvel at the beauty of it. I never realized that the world was so... vast before.

My eyes sweep over the mountains in the distance, slowly shifting over to the forests of petrified trees leading back to- my second impression of the land beyond the mountain is one of horror. As the trees die off into a plane of small, bare hills, the landscape begins to fill with what appears to be grayish white blobs, but the closer the blobs are, the easier it is for me to identify them as the same creatures from before. My stomach drops as I realize that the bodies don't stop at the forest or the mountains, and that they are, in fact, scattered around the area as far as my eyes can see.

What exactly happens next is a mystery to me, but I know that i'm fleeing from the area. I find my self hallway down the hill before my mind has even begun to process what it just saw. If I was in a proper state of mind I would have been horrified by my reaction, probably cursing at myself for taking such a cowardly choice of action, but at this point I can't really help it. I want to get away from this place. Away from the bodies that won't decay and the skeletons that shouldn't exist. Away from to vast lands beyond the valley that can shelter such horrible things. Away from the things I can't and probably will never be able to explain.

I can't help but notice a sinking feeling in my gut, because in the back of my mind I can't help but sense that something is off. That somehow this moment is going to come back to haunt me later. That I just stumbled into something a lot bigger than I will ever be able to understand, and at this moment, I think I might just believe it.

So yeah! First chapter of my new story. *Cues streamers and fireworks* To commentate summer break I have finally decided to post this story. I've been working on the idea for just over a year now and I've been waiting to post this. I'm only about three or four chapters into the story but I have the plot line planned out. :D Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Hopefully?

Character wise, Evelyn isn't the easiest character to like and she's rather straightforward with her thoughts but she's one of my favorite characters. Also, sorry about how much swearing there is in this chapter. In most chapters there won't be that much swearing but there'a quite a bit in this one. Oh, and POV is going to switch off between Matthew and Evelyn every other chapter (for the most part). We don't learn much about Matthew in this chapter but he's the other main character.

So... yeah, please tell me what you think. Did you like it? Hate it? Anything I did well or should work on? If a few people express interest in the story I'll keep working on it. Updates will probably be every two weeks on Friday or Saturday.

Mysterious Person #1: Why don't I show up in this chapter? I'm too important not to show up in this chapter!

Author: Because you show up later! And you've been dead for 8'000 years like most of the characters who come in later.

Mysterious Person #2: We die? Guys! The author says we're all going to die before the story even starts!

Author: Wait, that's not even... ugh, I am not explaining the time space continuum to you right now. See you guys next chapter? *Goes off to deal with 4th wall breaking cast members*