On a Gehenna Wind.

Anyone wanting to read the entire story without interruption may do so HERE (www.onagehennawind.blogspot.com).

Chapter 1: Old Friends


Dust floated into the rays of light scratching across the dilapidated aluminum blinds, wisping down into the darkness as the morning sunlight began to cut through the room.

Al’s eye opened abruptly, his face half sunken into the yellow stained pillow, one eyes dark pupil contracting to a pin point of jet. He watched as the minute plates of the alarm clock fell over revealing the zeros that began to pull the hour plate to 7. The barely audible clicking of the plastic flap swinging over its old hinges became muffled as Al’s hand shot out from beneath the sheets, his index finger planting firmly and accurately unto the “alarm” button on the top of the clock just before the wretched thing clacked out in objectionable racket.

The sheets flung outward as he spun to a sitting position on the side of the bed, his bare feet touching lightly on the cold wooden floor. A hand reached out to the bedpost, grabbing his holster as the other pulled an old pair of faded jeans from the floor. Bare feet slapped against the floor as it cracked and flexed beneath his weight.

The one room home was equipped with a fridge that rarely worked properly, one lamp and a toaster, with only one standard 240 volt outlet for the entire room which Al's alarm usually took half of. A toilet lay in one corner, surrounded by a makeshift screen made from an old shower curtain.

As he walked to the single dresser, he skilfully grasped the wooden handle of the double action .357 revolver, his fingers danced around its steel frame as it was quickly ripped from its resting place, spun gracefully around his hand, gliding against his palm, stopping dead after three revolutions and then quickly spinning back in the opposite direction before abruptly and firmly returning to its holster with the brief yet satisfying sound of steel sliding against raw leather.

His right hand began once again to play with the revolver as he opened the dresser. It spun up and around, back and sideways. It seemed to break the laws of physics as he held it beneath his hand, it’s spinning mass hugging against his index finger which pointed audaciously to the ground.

He scratched day old stubble with his left hand as the swirling sounds continued to flow from his right. Behind him the sheets on the bed stirred as brown hair rolled over and onto his pillow.

He turned to her, the pistol slapping gracefully into the holster as his eyes cocked curiously to the bed. A second or two of silence preceded his words. “You awake? Or just rollin’ over?” He said. The sound bounced off the plaster walls in a dry echo and then silence came again.

“I am now, asshole” Astrid replied faceciously, her accusing blue eyes staring from behind her dishevelled hair.

He smirked and turned back to the dresser, the pistol already airborne.

A white cotton shirt slid onto his shoulders and he walked back to the bed, that quick sound of leather once again shifting through the air as he sat down on her side of the bed.

“You know I hate it when you twirl that thing around” She said, her words muffled by the sheets pulled up above her nose.

He smiled softly and with one finger pushed her hair from her face and tucked it behind one ear. “I’m sorry, it’s just a habit.”

Her eyes closed to his touch and her deep breath bubbled the sheets. “Ugh, you’re doing that face again.”

“What face?” Al said, his brow furrowed in exaggeration.

“Stop kidding, you know what face I mean.” she said, her lips still retreating behind the sheets. “It’s your “I’m leaving for a while” face.”

Al became serious suddenly and stared straight ahead, a slit of light slashing across his eyes as it squeezed through the semi open blinds.

“Yeah..” the words came short breathed. “I’m leaving for a while.”

Astrid turned over to her side, her back toward him, and silence filled the room.Chapter 1: Old Friends

Wow. That was great, Jaid. I'm glad Astrid and I could be some sort of muse for you. I await to see how this turns out. I shall let her know to read it as well.

“I know you want to come with me Astrid but I just can’t put you in that kind of jeopardy, you’re the only thing that matters to me and if anything would happen to you I would have no reason...” He stopped, his gaze still staring out to the light as it striped across his face. Small stars of light glowing in the corners of his eyes tumbled down as he blinked, their glittering shape rolling along his cheek followed by a tail of shimmer until they fell past the light and into the shadow where their sombre cascade dropped from his chin and splashed against the floor below.

Astrid turned back, looking at him from behind her shoulder. “I’m sorry babe.” She said, spinning over and sitting up to catch him as his head fell into the nook of her neck. “It’s just that you mean as much to me and when you’re not here I feel empty as this room.”

Al nudged his head up a bit, his nose resting on her shoulder, he spoke, his lips gliding against her skin. “ There are times when even if someone’s here with you, I worry so much that I just want to turn back, leave the men behind and come check up. I make myself fears, worries and scenarios that something’s happening.”

Astrid laughed, “Oh come on Al, even if something were to come near here you know I could handle myself.”

“You never know, with the stuff that’s been coming up lately, you never know.” Al said, finally getting up from her and wiping away at his cheeks.

“I’ll stay, I promise...” Her hand met his, and for a moment they simply looked at each other in the eyes.

Suddenly the bell rang, Al walked to the window and peeled open the blinds. The bells long string tracked nearly a quarter mile through small hoops resting on thin poles sticking out four feet or so from the yards dirt, and at the far end of the barren land, a fence stood erect, it’s sharp edges warding off anything who would dare enter. Above the planks of wood and sheets of steel, a red flag flew hither and fro.

“That’s him isn’t it.” Astrid said.

“Well it ain’t a dingo that’s for damn sure.” Al smirked as he turned back to her resting form.

She rolled her eyes and got up from the bed, wrapping herself in the thin white sheet. “Go on, get out of here.” She said, wrapping one arm around him and kissing him gently.

Al’s eyes stayed shut for a moment, then they opened and he looked into hers, now so close to his.“I’ll be back in no less than three days, you know what to do if that’s not the case right?”

“Yeah, saddle up and come rescue your sorry ass.” She said, walking back to the bed.

Al slumped his shoulders, “Yeah, something like that.” He said, while slipping into a pair of boots.

Astrid sat back on the bed then began waving him away. “Shoo! Get out of here, you’re making him wait!”

“He can wait damn it.” Al said, turning to the door. His hand reached into a hole in the plaster wall and from it a loaded bandolier slid down his arm and up onto his shoulder. “I’ll see you soon. Love you.” He said, his other hand grabbing a long leather coat.

“Love you too.” The door shut as she watched through the blinds, his dark form walking off into the desert.

Outside the wind blew coarse, it’s strong gusts whipping debris and sand from the flat land into it’s flailing arms.

As he walked to the stable, he pulled his hood over his head, and sunk his hands into an inner breast pocket, pulling a pair of gloves from it and slipping them on. His hands, for the very short time exposed, had already dried and split to the point where blood could be seen sliding between the cracked trenches of his pores. He pulled a pair of goggles from the other pocket and strapped them on. He heard nothing but the wind ravaging his cloak as he made it to the stable doors and opened them. Stepping over the bundle of electrical wires that fed into the solar panel array resting on the stable rooftop, he opened the cell gate.

A nicker sounded off from the darkness.

“Hey Bud, how you doin’?” Al replied.
As he pulled him out, the hazel Budyonny’s head raised, his ears picked in Al’s direction.

“Yeah, I’m happy to see you too Bud, let’s get her on eh?” Al turned to the side and pulled the saddle from the wall.

Bud blowed excitedly at the sight.

“Yup, we’re goin’ out.” Al said.

Dorothy, a brown and white Australian Brumby, in the stall across from them also blowed, and she began to fidget in her stall.

Al turned to her “Sorry Dor, Astrid’s staying and that means so are you.”

He saddled him up and lead him out of the stable into the dry desert air as Dorothy groaned in jealousy.

“Alright, now, behave damn it.” Al said as Buds head bounced in excitement, with a neigh followed by a nicker.

Al put his foot in the stirrup and his hand on the pommel and pulled himself up while Bud waited anxiously.

He got himself ready, slid back into the saddle and bent his knees forward, wrapped the reins tight and pulled himself in, he stood on the Stirrups and then gave the command. “Ok Bud, go!”

Bud blew out hard and his hind legs slid in the sand, his front hooves digging into the ground and pulling mightily forward. His hind hooves flashed from the back to the front at enticing speed and dug into the dirt just before the front hooves as they too sprung out to the fore and pulled again.

A trail of dust spun up behind them as rider and horse flew across the field toward the gates where the man awaited.

With practiced ease Bud leapt over hidden traps and trip wires as he bolted toward the gate.

Al got ready, one arm left the reigns and reached out in front of him as they swooped by a long arm with a rope dangling from it’s steel housing. As they passed it, Al grabbed firmly onto it’s knotted length and held on as their speed tugged it out. Suddenly the gate pulled open, Bud and Al just narrowly racing through it followed by a serpent of dust that soon got pulled away by the wind.

“Fuckin’ A” Al screamed, turning Bud around and heading back to the gate.

The man sat patiently on his horse with his arm resting on a lever action winchester rifle, his long black leather coat collar hiding most of his features.

He turned his jet black mustang toward them. “You’re going to infect Cracker with that ball of joy aren’t you Al.”

Al smiled inside his hood as he tied another knotted rope to Buds pommel. “Ed, Cracker needs some excitement, you bore him, I hear him sighing all the time. When Bud’s around he’s a lot happier.”

Edgar rode up beside him as Al signalled Bud to pull the rope back with a clacking of his tongue. The gate rose to it’s locked position once again.

Edgar turned to the east. “So you ready yet?”

Al turned too. “Yeah, so where’d you say it broke off at?”

Edgar looked at Al “Come on man, you know how shitty my math is, I know it broke off at the horizon, but calculating the arch is just too much for me, I wish I could have ran over here and got you, but by the time I had Cracker saddled I saw the damn thing break up and impact somewhere to the east of here.”

Al raised his hand. “ Alright already stop your whining. First of all, we know Gehennas orbit rolls sinusoidally, so if she came up from the south west and part of her broke off to the north east, it would have shifted its orbit before entering, hence making it look like it went straight east.”

“You’re hurting my head.” Edgar said, the wind still pummelling at both of them.

“Point is, if pi is still working in these crazy times, whatever broke off should be at double the distance that the meteor was from the ground at the point of breaking off, if of course Gehenna’s orbit hasn’t dropped since three hundred years ago.

“I can’t believe you actually still remember those numbers. Who even knows if they were right when they did those assumptions anyway?” Edgar said, his hand dancing about in an explanatory habit.

Al frowned and sighed. “Come on Ed, we both know the technology back then was still accurate, and they did mention that the orbit was stable. Unless the last few breaks changed that, it should still drop it’s offspring in the same pattern as before.”

“I don’t know.” Edgar said.

Al slumped his shoulders. “In the past two hundred years, have I been wrong?”

Edgar stayed silent for a moment. “... No.”

“Then let’s get to it. Before someone else does.” With that said Al began to walk Bud toward the corner of the gate. Bud suddenly nodded his head and blew.

“Aw shit, here we go.” Edgar repositioned himself on Cracker as he too blew and neighed.

Al smiled at Edgar and suddenly Bud took off full gallop and Cracker followed closely behind.

Cracker came up to the left and rode up beside Bud. Edgar yelled “You really have to teach bud speed control, and the rack gaits you taught him are gonna ruin the poor things back.”

Al yelled back in the furious gusts that were intensified by their speed. “ Your Fox Trot is for pussies, now eat my dust bitch!” Al dropped his head to Buds ear, trying to keep his weight even, “GO BUD GO!”

Cracker drew further away as Bud suddenly burst forward with tremendous speed, and Al pulled him to the left, their trail of dust and debris swinging over into Edgar’s Path.

“You son of a bitch, you’re gonna regret that one.” Edgar said, covering his face as best he could as Cracker sniffled and pulled out of the cloud.

Two rails of dust blew off into the distance as the sun rose into the sky and Gehenna began to make it’s way from the south through the thinly clouded sky.

Awesome yet again. Others should read this just for the sheer descriptions of everything. Damn, this is getting exciting. I'm really intrigued.

You bastard! I was in the middle of a piece dammit. Bah, fine I'll start again, impatient fucker.
But damn, NMN's right, that's some seriously good descriptive work, loving it.

Alright, double post, get over it.

“It’s kinda beautiful isn’t it.”

Al looked over at Edgar as they slowed down to a walk. “Are you kidding me? That thing almost wiped out humanity and you’re saying it’s beautiful.”

“Well it is.” The two of them stared at Gehenna as it dipped over the horizon line again, the sun staining it’s vast surface with hues of pink and gold as it was the entirety of the planet, the clouds that veiled it slightly were almost red. As they watched the moon, full again and barely visible in the daylight, poked it’s face around from where it had been hidden a while behind the huge comet.

The two paused under the large spread of one of the few tree’s left on the barren plain. Bud strained against the bit, wanting to keep going but Al held him firmly. “Quit it you.” He looked up at the sky again “Mmm…I guess you’re right, in a really fucked up sense.”

A voice rose from behind them. “Don’t tell me you two are getting all sentimental all of a sudden. Not good for your macho images you know.”

Edgar spun around in his saddle, Al close behind him, both whipping out their weapons, both with equal amounts of pretentiousness as they did so.

“Show off’s.” Emma placed a hand on Cracker’s broad, black rump. “How do you put up with these two Crack?” The horse tossed his head and whickered with disgust. She laughed.

“Hey!” Edgar gently slapped the stallion’s muscled neck in mock anger. “You’re getting me in trouble here. Traitor.”

Emma looked over at Al. “How’s Astrid?”

“She’s good…” He paused at her raised eyebrow, “She wasn’t exactly happy when she found out I had to leave.”

“Do you blame her?”

“Not really no.”

“You’re going to have to settle down sometime, she won’t be happy till you do. It still amazes me you’re following this knuckle head around on his insane ventures.”

“I know, I know. And what would he do without me really? He’d be lost and not have picked up nearly as much debris as he has with me, and what would you do without my charm and insanely good looks to keep you occupied?”

The two laughed.

Al sighed tragically. “Everyone thinks I’m always joking, it’s a tough life being the genius comic relief.”

“So?”

“Button’s”

“Shut up Emma.”

“What? You were asking for it Ed. And to answer your question, it’s over there somewhere. I still can’t place where it was exactly, I thought this genius might be able to help.” She nodded at Al who was sliding off Bud’s roan back landing in a swirl of dust. She shook her head. “Ever the melodramatic one.”

Edgar laughed. “Alright Al, do your thing, we don’t have all day.”

Hah wicked ;). Right so Al, if you want to join in and post a part, you're very welcome.

And before anyone else does I'd like to mention that only those who's names have already been mentioned in the storyline are allowed to post parts, them being Al, Astrid, Myself, Emma, and others will be coming into the story later on. Writing order right now is Myself, Emma, *Al/Astrid* *if you're interested in writing that is. If not, let me know so Emma and I don't just sit here waiting for someone to write something, not knowing that you're not going to.

Thanks, and the next part'll be up as soon as we get things organized :D Hope we got some readers out there. If so, please, don't be shy, let us know how you like it, I'm very open to criticization, unless it's Al criticizing LOL jk :) .

The first criticization I have it the fact that you posted in blue and then red. What the hell, dude? With my post, this now becomes some American thing. Good job, you Canadian.

Anyjew, I was thinking about adding a little somethin' somethin'. Later in the day, perhaps?

I like blue, asshole
and the red is so that people read it.
Besides, it's spider man colors! Who doesn't love that?

Well done Jade and Eon. It was a good read and I look forward to the next installment. Your up NMN. Make mum proud.

Welp, here's my little bit then:

“Alrighty, guys, let’s see what we have here.” Al focused his attention at the dusty sky. He ran some calculations in his head, moving his fingers around in silence, marking an invisible trajectory from the sky down into the desert abyss.

Emma walked up to Cracker and Ed, whispering up to Ed, “Does he always do this?”

Ed chuckled slightly, “For as long as I’ve known him. You get used to it.”

Al marked a position on a grid he took from one of saddlebags. “Ok, lady and gent, we have a winner.”

Bud neighed as if to confirm Al’s calculations. The wind suddenly picked up, and the three quickly covered their faces so the shards of diamond hard dirt would no cut them up too badly. The gust died down after a few minutes, but out of the dust appeared a group of scavengers, five, maybe six, strong. They had large clubs and sticks for protection, no shoes, and makeshift coats to protect them from the harsh outside conditions. The leader wore some sort of hat that announced silently that the others would take you out first before he did any damage. He stepped forward. “It seems we have some competition, boys. Hello, my name is Thessalonius. My group and I scavenge this area, and we do not take too kindly to strangers. I’ll give you three a chance to prove yourselves, or otherwise, well, it won’t be perty.”

Al chuckled and went to his right side, grabbing Bonnie out of her holster. The group was startled a bit at his action, but as soon as they saw him grab a rock from the ground, they relaxed. Al threw up the rock, and brought Bonnie up and took a shot. It twirled in the air the opposite direction. He took another shot, sending the rock spinning back the other way. Two more shots rang from Bonnie, making it stop spinning as it floated in the air. He spun the gun in his finger, and launched it to his left hand. He took another shot, shattering the rock into tiny pieces. Al smiled as he holstered Bonnie. “Damn, I usually hit it 7 times.” Thessalonius smiled enviously.

Ed realized it was his turn, so he dismounted Cracker, grabbed one of his Winchesters from a saddlebag, the one with a sniper scope, and peered off into the distance with one quick aim. He looked back toward the group of scavengers and fired. Still holding a gaze at the group, he smirked. “Anyone want rabbit for breakfast?”

Thessalonius smiled. “And you, little lady?”

Emma cracked her knuckles. “Sorry, boys, but I don’t play testosterone games. You’ll just have to take these guys at their word… erm, skill.”

Thessalonius cleared his throat, looking a bit angry from her comment. Ed still had his gun in-hand, and Al could draw his in the blink of eye. They didn’t feel like they were in danger at all. Thessalonius must have known this. “Alright, we shall let you pass. However, we shall go with you. I know what you’re after.”

The trio agreed to these terms, not wanting to get into an unwanted firefight. Al mounted Bud once more. “I’ll lead. Emma, Ed, take the rear. Thessalonius, please, your group can hold out the center.” Muffled grunts and acknowledgments erupted. Al winked over to Ed, and he winked back. They knew exactly what they were going to do.

The group trotted off.

Another good installment. This is really turning out to be an entertaining read. The Spelling Nazi I see was in true form as usual.lol Keep up the great work gang. I do urge everyone to come check this out. The fanfic section is really starting to pick up. Well done.

Wind blew across their path, the sand kicked up by their travelling was quickly picked up by it’s strong arms. The sun glowed dimly through the clouds overhead, and a faint dustfall dropped from the grey overcast.

Edgar rode beside Emma, her white female Lusitano slightly uncomfortable with the stallion so close to her.

Emma turned to him, her tongue whispered in an ancient language as to keep the scavengers unaware of the contents of their conversation.

“Pourais tu me dire pourquoi on est entrain’d’les amener? Tu sais bien qu’on vas ce faire attacker quand on sera arrivez au meteor.” * Could you tell me why we’re bringing them with us? We know they’re just going to attack us once we get to the meteor.* She said, looking at him with accusing eyes.

Edgar turned to her. “Ton francais s’ameliore.” * Your french is getting better.*

She rolled her eyes and slapped him on the shoulder, “That has nothing to do with what I asked you.”

Edgar smiled and turned back to her. “Ses parce’qu’on sais ou ils sont maintenent, aussitot qu’il vont essayer quelque chose on sera dejas pres. Si on aurais decider de leurs laisser allez sais possible qu’il pourais passez d’une autre maniers pour nous surprendre taleurs.” * It’s because this way we know where they are and have them under control, if they try something we’re ready. If we had let them go, it’s possible they could have gotten ready for us and ambushed us later.*

Emma nodded. “Ah I see... by the way... “ She leaned closer to him. “Was there actually a rabbit?”

Edgar arched in laughter... “No, there wasn’t.”

Edgar fell silent, his expression becoming sombre and serious. He spoke once again in the old language. “ It just bothers me how these people are so ignorant as to think that we’re collecting them to become more powerful. I’m sure because of Al’s little display they know we’re immortals. I can’t stand to be doing something for someone’s benefit and the only thanks I get is to have to shoot the fuckers when they try and kill me for helping them.”

Emma turned to him, her eyes looking on to him with a sympathetic gaze. “You have to understand that they simply don’t know better. We have existed before Gehenna, we know how life really was, we were taught things they’ll never know. These people are like our own ancestors one hundred to two hundred years before we were born. It’s not their fault. Some know that we use the stones to fertilise our food, as much as it helps the plants grow in the desert they don’t understand that we’re immune to it’s disease.” She looked ahead once again. Watching the men before her, their bodies brutalized by the desert, their minds, infantile from lack of education. “I for one pity their ignorance. If they trusted us enough, perhaps we could teach them, but they stick together in their clicks, where more superstitions and misconceptions are brewed....” She turned to Edgar again, a tear rolling from her cheek. “ What bothers me the most is that by sundown these men will all be dead.” She quickly turned away as she realized the sentiment rolling across her lips.

Edgar put a hand on her back as she leaned forward. “And the others that may already be at the impact crater as we speak.” He replied, almost unsympathetically. “ Don’t worry, you’re only doing what you have to in order to survive, it’s what we’re all doing, even them, now walking before us, blinded by delusions of grandeur and hopes of immorality. Walking into their own demise, masked by the ignorance of their society. It’s unfortunate, yes, but it’s also necessary.” He pulled some hair from her face and brought it behind her ear then wiped a tear as it tumbled down her cheek as she sat up and looked at him. “ Something above us chose us to continue existing above the death that surrounds, we’re fortunate and gifted, but we have to do whatever is in our power to give a chance to those less fortunate. If that entails having to kill, even if it entails killing those we’ve sworn to protect. Then so be it.”

She nodded, with some resistance to the idea still tightly bound within her. “ I’m sorry.”

Edgar smiled and held the back of her neck as they both bobbed from the trotting horses beneath them. “ Don’t be sorry, I break down all the time, we all do, it’s normal, especially considering the fact of what we’ve been through in the past two hundred years, not to mention the first hundred before that. That transition point was probably the most emotionally stressed time of my life.”

“ But then you met Al.” She said, smiling softly as she looked forward to him as he rode ahead of the group. “ How did you meet him anyway?”

Edgar squinted . “If you’re gonna practice the damn language don’t switch from one to the next. Got that?”

Emma rolled her eyes and put her hand up in his face. “Fine then you bastard. How’d you meet him?”

“Well it was a long time ago.” Edgar’s eyes widened. “Right, a long time ago." He reiterated as Emma snarled at him. “It was almost two hundred years ago. Just before the great fall.”

Nearly two hundred years ago

A small bird landed on the dying tree beside him. Edgar watched it, it’s scrawny form, obviously much smaller than its ancestors once were. His mind raced, it had been the first living animal he had seen in a long time. “What have you been eating my little friend?” He said to it. His hand reaching out. It fluttered away as expected from fright. “Yeah I wouldn’t let anyone that close to me these days myself... Good luck little guy.”

The day was young, the night had been long and cold. Dust fell still, like snow but not. It’s flakes clotted and grey with impurity. People had gathered in this southern port, seeking refuge from the dust. In the United States and Canada it hadn’t stopped falling in the past three years. Dominant winds from the south pushed the dust into the ocean as it fell, keeping most of it out of South America.

For a while people migrated south, crossing through Mexico and further down into Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, past Nicaragua and Costa Rica and finally through Panama and into Columbia and the mainland of Brazil. Unfortunately Gehenna offspring broke off and impacted in southern Mexico at one of its narrowest points. The contamination spread quickly, millions upon thousands became sick and died. Just like the first two drops that hit the northern borders of the United States and South Western Canada. The disease was unexplainable. When the first drop happened in America, doctors could not identify the disease, and how it was spreading. Later on, some scientists had discovered, through the study of corpses, that the disease had been proteinaceous. This entertained the fact that Gehenna, the meteor that had fallen into a low yet stable orbit around our planet, was in fact, alive. It had carried life, from some unknown place beyond our solar system, and now it was somehow changing our planet.

Some believed that the mass of rock and glittering dust was in fact a being itself and not only an inanimate object that happened to carry some advanced bacteria.

Religions sprouted, and entire societies began to worship its majesty as it flew across their skies. They believed it had come to change our planet to its will, and in a lot of ways that seemed correct.

Edgar, and some others, found themselves immune to the proteinaceous virus, in fact, it was as if this same disease was helping their bodies.

Edgar sitting at a bench at one of the many ports of Marathon Florida, had been alive for the past one hundred and twelve years. His body, however, had remained visually in his late twenties, early thirties.

He was lucky to be here, the bridged highway crossing the archipelago of the southern florida peninsula had been badly damaged and completely destroyed at some points, It was nearly impossible to walk or bike to Marathon, and if you had been lucky enough to have a car that worked, let alone have the gas for it, the chances that you could drive unscathed through the mobs of refugees attempting to escape North America was very unlikely.

Edgar however had reached this point by sailboat. He had luckily saved an elderly man from looters and in return he was promised to be transported to South America. Jeffery however, wanted to stop off in Marathon for supplies. Edgar didn’t think it would have been a good idea, but they did so regardless.

At the docks he waited for Jeffery to return. It had been maybe half an hour, and the locals didn’t seem friendly, not like anyone would. Another problem was that he was Canadian, if someone were to discover this Edgar would be in a lot of trouble.

After the second fall impacted in South Western Canada nearly ten years prior to now, an immense number of Canadians, most of whom where infected, travelled south to escape the dust. They were shot down at the border, but many of them managed to get through at less protected areas where their sheer number simply overwhelmed the already skeleton crew of the patrols.

This incident automatically pitted all Americans against Canadians regardless of what the political bodies were attempting to convey, especially the north eastern states who had already taken the brunt of Gehenna and were still unable to recuperate.

A year after the second drop, the storms came. Precipitation had become next to nothing as the dust from the meteor absorbed the evaporated humidity and seemed to grow on it. What fell from the sky was actual living tissue, it looked and felt like dust, or perhaps one could describe it as mould.

Suddenly what seemed like cumulus clouds began to appear, growing high into the atmosphere. Some believed that the rain would finally come again, but they were wrong. Electric storms began to erupt from the storms, electromagnetic pulses blew out from the clatter of light and sound that shook the world over. The storms lasted for nearly six months and travelled the entirety of the planets surface in their lifetimes, suddenly they abated. Technology as we knew it simply ended. One could rarely find a radio that worked, because it had been off when the storms passed, however, towers and satellites used to power their signals were electronically fried.

The boat that Edgar and Jeffery had used to get to Marathon was wind powered, not one single electronic or combustible entity existed on it. It was, however, a rather large vessel, and the reason Edgar didn’t want to stop in Marathon is that those seeking to escape North America all together would be ready to do anything to get onboard, and perhaps even more to have control.

Finally Edgar could spot Jeffery. He was walking quickly in the boats direction, speaking rapidly to someone that remained unseen behind him. Then Edgar noticed the mob, hundreds of people were following him through the street and out of the parking lot into the harbour docks.

He got up from the bench and walked to the intersection of the docks and got ready.

Jeffery could be heard now, yelling to them. He turned around and stood his ground for a moment and put his hands up. “No one is coming there isn’t enough room or supplies, can’t you understand?” And suddenly a shot rang out.

Edgar dropped to a knee, the shock of the loud noise vibrating through his teeth and bones. His head shot up to see Jeffery fall to the ground, his eyes rolling back into his head as he went into a seizure. The bullet had grazed the top of his head and completely removed a portion of his skull. Edgar saw the pink of his brain through the flowing crimson that leaked from the wound. Even when times were better that sort of wound would be hard to heal. Jeffery was doomed, his last moments would be here, bleeding on the docks in convulsions.

The crowd scattered, leaving the gunman visible, who now ran toward the flapping body.

Edgar got up and ran toward Jeffery as the gunman did.

“STOP, DON’T MOVE OR I’LL SHOOT YOU DEAD” He said, kneeling at Jefferys corpse, his pistol aimed at Edgar.

“Just stay exactly where you are.” He said to Edgar, searching the body uselessly.

“It’s a sailboat.” Edgar said calmly. “There’s no motor, he has no keys on him.”

The gunman looked up at him, his eyes furious, his Glock 9mm still pointed at him. “You know how to sail?” He inquired.

Edgar shook his head. “No.”

“Then you’re no use to me.” The gunman said, and his finger began to squeeze the trigger.

Edgar suddenly rushed toward him, his face crunched by anger, the shot went off loud and strong, but the adrenaline suppressed the pain and he simply kept rushing. One hand grabbed the gun and his other went for his neck. The gunman, in awe didn’t have the time to stop his hand from striking at his throat. The gun fired several more times into the air.

Edgar turned him over unto his back and held his neck down, the man’s other hand was striking out now, pushing against Edgar’s jaw. The pistol was empty yet he still pulled the trigger frantically, but nothing came from the weapon but the clicking of the hammer.

As his hand crushed the mans throat he could see his own blood dripping onto the gunman’s face. The shot had cut into his left collar, it struck right through and he could feel warm liquid sliding down his back, pain began to rush through him as the adrenaline dropped, but the gunman’s face had become a pale blue and the dry firing of the trigger had stopped.

Edgar was breathing frantically through his clenched teeth, his hand was still crushing the mans throat, his other hand still wrapped tightly around his wrist.

The crowd had returned, how long they had been there, he did not know. How long he had been strangling the man, he did not know. One man stood before the rest. Edgar could see his feet in his peripheral vision.

The man stepped forward and removed the pistol from the gunman’s hand. He bent down and looked at Edgar, who was still staring into the bulging bloodshot eyes of his victim.

“You ok?” He said... trying to get his attention. “My name is Al.”

Edgar’s eyes shot up to his, his face still crumpled in near insanity. Tears falling from his eyes, his breaths still cutting strong and short through his clenched teeth, spittle flying from them as he exhaled.

His eyes began to roll back and the man before him quickly caught his falling body as Edgar lost consciousness.

The Present

"Yeah, similar things happened here" Emma said, as they carried on into the desert.

Edgar's head was low, his hand had found itself in his shirt, against the scar he received that day. "That was the first time I had been shot." He said.

Emma looked over to find tears rolling from his eyes. "Are you ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, just to show you Em, we all break down." He said, his hand wiping away some of the tears.

A whistle came from the front and they both looked up to Al. "Watch yourselves around here" He said. "Used to be a settlement to the east of the riverbed, we might get company."

Edgar turned to Emma. "I'll tell you the rest some other time."

"Yeah, it's probably good that you take a break anyway." She replied.

They rode on, into the opening of a small valley as the sun reached just passed noon, it's dim disk diffused by the grey clouds, and Gehenna reflecting in the northern sky, it's fast orbit bringing it to the horizon already.

"We'll see you in two hours" Emma said, speaking to Gehenna as it swiftly began to slide out of view.

What can I say...wow. Bloody awesome mate, grusomely so in parts, but damn.

Glad Al pointed this out to me, its fantastic. Maybe I will have a go at writing something, we'll see.

Man! I was reading through my last post and Chateau by Rob Dougan from the Matrix Soundtrack poped onto my list and the whole story lit up like a wildfire!

Jeez, I wish it was possible for me to convey the story I have in my mind in an audio visual medium.

Music can do so much to a story. It can literally make a shitty movie worth watching, or make a good movie that much better, it just gets the adrenaline pumping.

I did some reasearch today with Al and I've figured out some things about how objects orbit our planet. I'm actually quite surprised that the things I mentioned about Gehenna in the story already all fall together quite well.

Just to explain a few things outside of story telling.

I used Google Earth to simulate Gehenna's Orbit around our planet and I found something pretty interesting.

From where my character noticed the break off that fell unto south western Aus, it's orbit would dictate that it travels north easterly. I calculated distances and Al and I put markers on the globe showing our homes, the point where my character saw Gehenna at the horizon about 200 km above earths surface and 800 miles out to sea and also the point of the impact site of it's fallen debris.

The orbit of Gehenna brings her across south western Aus over to her nothern end and then follows the ocean until encountering North America, it rides the Canadian-American Border almost to a T until pulling back south, following the Atlantic ocean, dodging all other land masses before pulling north again and covering back over Aus, Making North America and Australia the only landmasses capable of being hit by meteor debris. However, debris can change trajectory dramatically on entry into the atmosphere, and at 17,000 mph it can bring some peices quite far, hence the impact in south Mexico.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Jaideska/Random%20Pics/Gehenna_orbit.jpg

On the globe the line of it's tragectory is straight of course, but if you open the globe into a map, like one you'd find on a flat peice of paper, her orbit would look sinusoidial, meaning it would dip south then back up north in W shapes.

The orbital velocity of the satellite depends on its altitude above Earth. The nearer Earth, the faster the required orbital velocity. At an altitude of 124 miles (200 kilometers), the required orbital velocity is just over 17,000 mph (about 27,400 kph).

Therefore, if it were moving at approx. 17,000 mph it would be visible in the sky for a very short time at any given position on the earths surface every two hours.

That means I had to do some changes to the way I had previously described her movement.

If anyone has any questions about this please PM me and I'll try to answer them to the best of my very minimal knowledge :p.

So the Meteor pretty takes out Perth then...well, if not Adelaide, then Perth. You and Al really put some though into this, I'd never be able to work that out. Great job, now I'm gonn have to work out what I'm gonna write.

This is an outstanding story gang. I am very proud of all of you. Keep up the good work and I will definately check back in here. This is too good to pass up. W00ta!

Emma told me she'd have Part 6 up soon, so anyone who's wondering what's up with the story, just hold on a little longer and we'll be on our merry way.

And while I'm at it, I made some modifications to my posts, particularly to Part 5 where I highlighted when the characters were speaking in french.

I also changed a few choice descriptive words I used that happened to be repetative in their respective sentences, nothing that you really have to read over again, but just to let everyone know.

And last but not least I'd like to add that I've created a blog for the uninterrupted reading of the story along with links to most of your blogs as well.

You can check it out HERE (www.onagehennawind.blogspot.com).

Alright short and sweet, I wanted to write a lot more, but homework's preventing that and I'm really pissed off about it all, but hey. Here we go.

The predicted company wasn’t long in arriving. Bud shied slightly, almost imperceptibly except by Al, so attuned to his movements it was almost like the pair were one.
He dropped back slightly to where Edgar and Emma rode, almost Ying Yang in their appearance, he clad in his usual black coat astride the powerful black Cracker, her in a white leather jacket, full length but cut off at the sleaves reminiscent of a fit of rage she’d had after finding it to be too restrictive caused her to hack away at it. The small boned Ischtar bobbed her head slightly as she trotted, almost dancing forward, still nervy about the stallion next to her.

Edgar raised his eyebrow at Al as he joined them and lapsed into the ancient language.“That close huh?”

“Yep, Bud’s getting a little nervy.”

“Glad to hear it, slightly I can cope with, shouldn’t be much hassle.” His hand slipped down to the gun that rested on his hip, hidden beneath the folds of his long jacket, following his action Al and Emma pulled out their weapons. The two men stared at Emma as she unhooked her crossbow from her saddle; it was usually hidden beneath her saddlebags to keep it from prying eyes and keep her sweet and gentle, but horribly deceiving appearance intact.

“Are you still using that old thing?” Al’s expression was incredulous.

She glared at him, plucking the string of her bow testing how taught it was. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Yeah, it’s bulky and if you loose too many bolt’s you’ve got a weapon that doesn’t work.”

She smiled sweetly at him. “Yes, but I can actually get my bolt’s back. You seem to have forgotten when both you lovely gentlemen ran out of ammo and there wasn’t a town around for miles.”

Half his argument destroyed Al tried to keep his point. “It’s still bulky.”

“Well then it’s a good thing it’s me carrying it isn’t it.”

“Bloody traditionalist.” Came the muttered reply followed by a cry of distress as she reached over and slapped him around the back of the head. Al looked up at Edgar, who was trying to hide a grin, rubbing his head in mock pain. “What?”

“Did I say anything?” He frowned slightly and spoke in an undertone in the old language. “It might be time to make use of these Neanderthal’s” He flicked his head slightly in the direction of the group of scavengers ahead of them, fingering his gun as he spoke.

Emma’s eyes lit up. “About bloody time too.” She nudged Ischtar into a trot, but was held back by Al’s arm being thrown in front of her.

“I thought you didn’t play these testosterone games.?” His look was smug. “I’ll talk to them.”

Hmm... this isn't showing up as the last post, Eon. It still says that Jaid made the last post.

Anyjew, great stuff. I'll see what I can get conjured up tonight/tomorrow/Friday. Maybe try using another color other than blue, though? Maybe? Perhaps?

Welly welly well, I finally read all of it. Good work, guys! Very descriptive, intriguing, and all those other nice adjectives. The colored font for the French talk is a nice touch, even though I don't like the French language and I have to highlight the text to see it. Bravo, I say! If you'd like another character in the story or another writer, beckon me at your will.

And pray tell why don't you like the French language TINM? It's a sexy language and if I wasn't so lazy I'd still be learning it...but I am so meh.
And don't blame me NMN, thats your buggy forum stuffing up there...and take the colour up with Jaid, he seems quite taken with it.

Cuz the French have small oui oui's. And Italian is a much more sexy language.

I beg your pardon the french are known the world over for being the best lovers ;)

And if you had to highlight the text to see it you're one blind mofo.

It's not black, it's navy, I can see it clearly, get your eyes checked :P

And as for an additional writer/characer sounds good to me if you're interested, Add me on msn at last_exile_luciola@hotmail.com and we'll work out the details I'll bring you up to speed on what's going on in the story and who's doing what and where your order would be in the writing scheme.

Here's the next bit:

Al rode up the group from Emma and Ed, to speak with Thessalonius, the leader of the scavenger group that had accosted them earlier that morning. “Excuse me, kind sir. It’s getting pretty late out here, and well, we should stop for the evening and set up camp. Get a fire going, you know. That whole entire thing. So we don’t freeze in this cold night air.” Thessalonius looked p at Al, menacingly, but looked back toward the group and agreed.

Al led the group into a small canyon, with a large alcove that would protect them from nightly gusts and breezes. The sun had already reached the western sky, and was quickly making its decent down to the horizon. Gehenna would be passing back around shortly, usually before the sun went passed the horizon, to form a bittersweet and slightly surreal sunset. If cameras were still around, it would certainly be a photo opportunity. The alcove also had a slight ceiling, so the heat from the campfire would radiate a larger area.

Al rode back to Ed and Emma. “Alrighty, guys. We’ll move a little bit over here and get our own fire started. I’m getting hungry too. Let’s be careful when we chow down.” The two nodded silently and dismounted their horses. Ed tied Cracker to a loose root coming through the ground from up above. He grabbed a couple of his guns from the pouches, silently slipping them into his coats’ many pockets. Emma brought Ischtar further into the alcove, letting the reins fall to the floor. “Be a good girl now.” Al had ridden up to the group of scavengers, informing them where to set up camp to protect themselves from the wind and air, but instead got an angry growl from the group telling him where to shove it and how they’ve lived in the area for a while and know exactly what happens at night. He rode back to Ed and Emma, who were setting up blankets and a fire.

“Damn, you try to be nice and all you get is animosity,” Al quipped as he dismounted Bud, tying him next to Cracker.

Emma giggled. “Well, it is you we’re talking about. Nicety is not really your strong point.”

Ed had a serious look on his face. “Well, I’d be angry too if I knew my death was imminent.” He released his stare, and his face lit up again. “I’m starved, let’s eat!”

The trio unpacked their food from their respective saddlebags, trying as hard as possible not to attract attention to the fact that they actually had food. The food they had could only be eaten by immortals. It was grown by them and for them. If anybody else ate the food, they would end up in violent convulsions, while their insides turned to jelly. It was grown in the soil that was tainted by Gehenna, and anyone not immortal, or immune to the effects of Gehenna, would meet certain death in a matter of minutes.

By this time, the sun was down, and both groups had their fires raging. Gehenna was also on its way down, ready to come back in another couple of hours. The trio was still snacking. A snap erupted from behind them. Al spun around with food in his right and Clyde in his left pointing straight at Thessalonius. “I demand to know why you are not sharing your food with us.”
Ed jumped in quickly to explain. “You cannot eat the food we eat. You would die if you did.” Al uncocked Clyde’s hammer and slid it back into his holster. Ed continued. “You see, we eat something different then what you would normally eat. We cannot share.”

Thessalonius sighed. “Then we must kill you and your horses. We too need food. The three animals should suffice.”

Emma stood straight up in a second. “Over my dead body.”

Thessalonius snapped his fingers and the other five scavengers quickly surrounded them. “That’s the point.”

Al, still with a mouthful of food, started to chuckle. He stood up slowly, winked at Ed, who too was standing slowly. He continued to laugh, wiping his hands off on his jacket. He unsnapped Bonnie from her holster on his right. He grabbed Clyde on his left. Still laughing, he grabbed both guns and spun them through the air. His fingers seemed to make the guns float through the air. The scavengers were all perplexed by the situation, watching this weird man laugh while spinning guns. Suddenly, two shots rang out, and two of the scavengers fell to the floor with holes directly between their eyes. Al stopped laughing, and holstered his two guns. He ducked as Ed pulled a short-barreled Winchester from his coat, taking out two more of the scavengers. Thessalonius and one other remained standing. The charged Al and Ed with their clubs high in the air, rage entangling their features. Emma kicked up her crossbow from the ground, firing two of her tiny arrows directly at the charging hooligans. The fell face forward, right before reaching Al and Ed. “That was for threatening my horse, bitch.” She walked over to Thessalonius, and spat on his now-lifeless body.

“That was quite a show you put on. I certainly loved the dancing guns while laughing trick.” The trio spun completely around to see three horsemen with large automatic machine guns. It was the big one who had spoken. Ed tipped his hat upward. “And who are you?”

“We are the people of the Hillup Lake. We three are scouts. We shall take you back to our settlements, because we do not trust you. But we do appreciate you killing those scavengers. We think they are pretty dirty.”

The three grabbed their stuff, but were not allowed to mount their horses. They walked for what seemed like forever, on the verge of exhaustion. They were forced to continue, however. The scouts had very ancient automatic weapons, and even though Al and Ed were very skilled with their weapons, they were no match for a streaming line of bullets if a firefight were to erupt or if they tried to escape. Al turned to Emma and Ed. “God, I hope Astrid comes around soon. Dorothy should be able to follow Bud’s scent if she were actually looking for us.” Ed frowned. “Here’s to hoping.”

The group kept moving well into the cold harsh night.

Very nice work guys....guess it up to me to keep up the flow of the story! I'll post it up soon.

Great job, yet again. Shoot me an IM and we'll chat.

Hey! That's my colour bitch, if you're going to change it then at least be creative about it.
Nice bit though mate, very nice indeed.

Great job Alex! I'm looking forward to seeying Astrid's part.

Take your time Ast, nobody is rushing you.

Right, I had some time to spare and knocked up something....enjoy!

Astrid’s eyes snapped open from her restless sleep. Figments of her dreams lay in her mind as she huddled up under the thin sheets, struggling to keep warm in the freezing desert night. Hating the fact that she was again alone in the bed, she rolled over to see the time on Al’s trusty alarm clock.

“Midnight. The witching hour comes,” She thought to herself. Rolling over, she willed herself back to sleep. But the feeling of restlessness would not leave her. Al’s words to her the morning earlier passed through her mind. “I’ll be back in three days…you know what to do.” She knew he could handle himself, as could Emma and Ed, but she could not shake the sense of unease stealing through her. This area was known for violent scavengers, none of who were scared to take on anyone they thought to be a threat. And the fact that they were Immortals did not endear them to all. Her thoughts went back to 60 years earlier when their home was attacked by settlers who didn’t agree with Immortals living in the encampment. They were both forced to flee, and the various trip wires and traps surrounding their house was a testament to the lengths they had to go to ensure their safety. Or a least, keep the undesirables out.

Sighing, she swung her legs out of bed, knowing that she wasn’t going to sleep at all. Her mind began to focus on one thing, that she needed to find Al, Ed and Emma. Bending over, she scooped up her pants and shirt and slipped into them, and reached for her riding boots and coat. Casting one last look around the room, she walked out, grabbing her hat and the bag she always had packed with all her essentials.

Walking out into the darkness, she picked her way through coils of wire and rope to the cell where Dorothy was sleeping. Hearing her come in, Dorothy’s ears pricked up, as if she knew what was happening.

“Yep, Dor, we’re gonna go save Al’s ass. You ready for a ride?”

Dorothy snorted in anticipation as Astrid saddled her up.

“Three days isn’t up, but I have to go. Something isn’t right.”

Dorothy looked at her with her huge brown eyes and tossed her head. Astrid leapt into the saddle, and felt more at home than she ever did in their one-roomed abode. Astrid nudged her in the side and Dorothy took the hint, cantering out of the cell, and leaping over the debris of their yard. Like many times before, Dor sped up to a gallop as they closed in on the gate, and with ease sped through the opening and into the night. Hunkered down against the biting wind, Astrid called to her trusty steed.

“Okay Dor, follow your nose. We’ve got a threesome to find.”

Dorothy snorted, and sucked in air for a trace of her stablemate. She immediately turned northeast, her hooves thundering against the sand. The pair rode through the night, slowing only to change direction slightly as Dorothy followed the scent of Bud. Hours later, they reached the alcoved canyon the group had stopped in. Astrid slowed Dorothy to a trot as they entered the canyon. The fires that had burned brightly were now smouldering quietly, casting a dim glow throughout. Dismounting, Astrid only took three steps before discovering the first body. Bending over to examine it, she saw the bolt sticking out of the corpses head. Looking over the scene, she quickly discovered the other bodies.

“That’s it Dor, they’ve been here. That’s Em’s handiwork,” Muttered Astrid as she pulled the bolts cleanly out of their ravaged foreheads. ‘But Em always gets her bolts back. They left in a hurry’

Astrid turned around to see her mount to see her wandering toward the entrance to the canyon.

“Oi! Where you goin’?” She called, as she jogged after her. Dorothy’s nostrils flared and she snorted.

“Oh, you got the scent, huh? Lead the way girl.”

Astrid slipped the bolts into the saddlebag and quickly mounted her, and they galloped out of the canyon and into the approaching dawn. Astrid’s hand reached to her hip to feel the comforting weight of her ever-present weapon, knowing that when they reached their destination, she was going to put it to good use.

Very awesome, babe! You're great at this. You should do it all the time. Excellente!

HOLY CRAPOLA! Wow I'm amazed!

I don't mean to say that I was under the impression that you weren't a good writer, but I had no idea of your caliber and DAMN I'm really glad to see that you're freaking awesome!!!!

Wow, talk about getting me in the mood to write too! LOL Great job, no ASTOUNDING job Astrid I'm thoroughly impressed!

OK so here's an update as to what's happened so far.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Jaideska/GehennaUpdate.jpg

On the map to the bottom left you'll see a yellow line. That line is the distance we've travelled in Day 1, the red dot to the left of the line is Alex's home (and Edgars too) The green dot at the other end is the canyon where we killed the scavengers and were intercepted by the scouts from Hillup lake which is the body of water highlighted about 20 km to the right of the canyon.

All the way to the right side of the map there's a small white pin with a black center, that is where we're headed, that's the drop point. It's another 250 km away so we haven't done much in the way of pregress yet.

Anyway, just thought you might want to see what it looked like from my research's point of view.

Joe's next to write so we'll see what he throws up then it's me up again and around the circle we go.

Thanks and see you all later.

I know I said I'd write in my backstory with this chapter, but I reaaaally didn't feel liking writing all that, since it's probably gonna be a bit lengthy. I'll fit it in somewhere else. Also, I hope my writing style doesn't clash too much. If it does, I'll stop!

________________________

North, South, East, West. East. Yes, that was the way. But was it? Who knew what way he was going… After all, he was a doctor, not a navigator. It didn’t matter, anyway. Oz had already picked up the scent, happily racing along as Joe cursed himself for not getting an earlier start. Night hit hard with a bitter cold that chilled him to the bone.

Silence. At least it was a peaceful night. No greedy cutthroats, hostile beasts, or otherwise unpleasant encounters littered his path. Unfortunately, it appeared that Joe would be flying solo for the night. He still hadn’t caught up with the others, and the night would be real interesting if he didn’t get a fire going soon.

Gunpowder really is a fascinating and useful component. Though Joe was inseparable from his sword cane, (http://store1.yimg.com/I/gyby_1858_42696436) he always had a fond respect for gunpowder ever since his introductory chemistry courses hundreds of years ago. Manufacturing of weapons, automobiles, and other technologically advanced products had ceased since the world economy collapsed years and years ago. One could still engineer all sorts of interesting items, however. To make gunpowder, simply mix potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal in a ratio of 75:15:10. The carbon from the charcoal plus oxygen in the air forms carbon dioxide and energy. Of course, the reaction would be slow if it weren’t for the potassium nitrate, which provides extra oxygen. You must be careful when mixing the ingredients, however, as the slightest spark will ignite the substance, creating a boisterous explosion much like the one Joe heard, piercing the night’s silence.

As quickly as the sound came, the silence returned.

Two shots from a Winchester rifle.

A “Giddy up!” and a neigh from Oz as he gracefully shifted directions and sped off to the source of the gunfire.

“We are the people of the Hillup Lake…”

As the voice became audible, Joe dismounted, deciding he would be better off walking the rest of the way. He strode towards the alcove, with his sword cane aiding him in step. Some believe his right leg was fine and he was merely putting on a show with the limp and the cane, and it’s easy to assume this after watching him swiftly dodge and parry in combat.

Joe found a nook behind the alcove to view the others from and took position. “… But we do appreciate you killing those scavengers. We think they are pretty dirty.” At that, the sextuplet began moving East, towards the lake that the horsemen spoke of. Joe knew it was time to step up to the plate. Now if only he had a plan.

Limping back to Oz, Joe climbed on the dark-haired beast. He lifted his cloak up, grabbed the reins, and trotted off, assured that Oz had already picked up their scent. As long as he remained a good distance behind, he should be able to follow them until the time came to strike.

When you ride a horse, you’re supposed to do just that--ride the horse. Unfortunately, after a prolonged period of riding that horse, the horse's saddle begins to ride you. As Joe rode the horse and the saddle rode him, he noticed the caravan in the distance stop. This perplexed him, as he was quite sure that the lake was still several kilometers away. Suddenly an abnormally strong gust of wind blew his cloak off his head.

Sandstorm. If you brave it through one Australian sandstorm unprotected, you’ll realize just how foolish you are. Luckily the terrain they were currently treading had become much more rough, allowing for alcoves and other areas of protection. As the group disappeared into a small cavern-like area, Joe directed Oz toward a nearby grotto. However, Oz came to a halt when Joe noticed a figure approaching through the increasingly dense sand.

“Astrid!”

“Joe!”

“What the shit are you doing all the way out here…? Hurry up over this way, the storm is picking up.”

Fascinating job, buddy! I especially like the intro to gunpowder making. Now to get pottasium nitrate...

Yeah, lets just blow he bastards up instead of shooting them. Much easier.

FUCKING A! Man I keep getting blown away! Wonderful job and a standing ovation from me!

Man with this talent we're sure to be rolling off and kicking some ass in no time!

My turn to write and I'll have it up soon , I promise ;)

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce MM's latest uncovered talent...Splinter, why the hell haven't you been writing before now! You're bloody unbelievable.
And TINM....bloody brillaint mate, it's always a pleasure to be writing with such great talent as you and the rest of these maniacs.

I told you hun, I'm a lazy ass. But now I promise to do it more often!

The wind blew harshly, its gusts filled with millions of blades striking ferociously at anything in its reach. Oz turned his head sharply as another gust threw grit into his eyes, Dorothy before him was already in the safety of the small grotto as Astrid turned her so that Oz too could fit in its confined cover.

Joseph pulled Oz up against the cold stone, the wind still swirled quickly through the small alcove but the majority of the sand passed them by, following the body of the wind serpent along the desert expanse. He tried to speak but the wind quickly robbed him of breath, its unmatched strength pulling it violently from his lungs and quickly filling his open mouth and nostrils with hard salty dirt.

His hand left the reins as he created formations with his hands. “This is a long shot, but do you know sign language?” he inquired with his hands.

Astrid frowned slightly and then put her hands to work. “Yes, but your signs vary from the style I’m used to.” she replied.

Joe watched her hands intently, squinting in the storm. “At least we can understand each other.” He said, “Ok we have to get to business, I say we strike now, just after they set up camp. The storm will confuse them, they won’t expect it.”

“Are you crazy?” Astrid motioned frantically, “The storm will rip us apart!”

Joes shoulders raised as he took in a deep breath, a handkerchief now tied in front of his mouth. “If we stay against the stone we should be able to make it there before the wind gets really bad, but we’ll have to leave Dor and Oz here.”

Astrid thought for a moment, “I guess you’re right, it would be easier now than later.” She got off of Dor and helped her squeeze further into the nook. “I’ll be back, just wait here.” she said, trying to comfort her weary steed.

Joseph got off of Oz and did the same before they both left their cover and entered into the storm.

The wind was fierce, even in its early stages, the difference from what was felt inside the grotto was unmeasurable.

Further along the ridge the trio were pulled into a much larger crevasse. The horses rode down into what seemed to be a box canyon, its smooth layered outcropping declaring that water once flowed from its now dry basin.

The wind could be heard ripping at the entrance to the deep crack, its narrowest point being were the three were shoved for the night.

Alex looked up, the jagged walls of the narrow box canyon disappeared into the sand swirling above. “Great.” He said, turning to Ed and Emma who were both squirming uselessly to find a comfortable position.

Edgar turned unto his side and attempted to pull his coat over his head, but in doing so he accidentally knocked Emma in the forehead.

“Ow!” She yelled, her hand rushing up to her head as her foot lost grip and she slid lower, her head dropping down to his. “Asshole.”

Edgar looked at her in a frown, “Just sleep damn it.”

The three men had set up a small campfire that was dwindling in the wind as they ate what seemed to be canned beans. One was missing, presumably in their tent which took up the larger part of the canyon that found itself only four or five metres from a howling monster at the mouth of their sanctuary. They kept the trios gear in the tent, and the horses were standing between the storm and the tent, protected to some degree but surely still tasting the storm.

“These bastards don’t care for their horses much do they.” Emma mentioned to the silence as Alex and Edgar both said nothing.

“Ugh, great.” She complained.

Edgar pushed his head up a bit, one eye squinting open. “Stop breathing on my face for Christ sake.”

One of the horses could be heard from behind the tent panicking from the storm.

One of the three scouts threw his can down in frustration. “God damn you Fisher why’s your damn cow always in a bitchy mood? I swear I shoulda’ shot her when we thought she broke her leg last moon.”

“Ah shut it Craimer, or I’ll shove that can where the sun don’t shine.” He replied, getting up from the fire and walking around their tent.

As he made it to the other side, their horses had been untied and where missing. “What the hell?” He said as another panicking neigh came out from within the storm.

The wall of wisping beige bore the faint silhouette of a horse who swiftly fell from its standing position in another yell of pain, its form then disappearing into the ever darkening haze.

The scout slid the SA80 (http://royalmarines.mine.nu/library/sa80_rifle.gif) from his side into a firing position, his arms shaking slightly from fear. His eyes shifted for a moment from something that seemed to have moved, then he fell to his knees and dropped the rifle. His hand shot up to his neck and he grasped it as blood poured through his fingers and down his arm.

The storm had concealed the whisper of sound that the sharp throwing star had made as it spun through the air toward its unweary target. He hadn’t noticed that the limber Astrid had been beside him nearly the entire time, hidden against the jagged walls of the canyon to his right. She waited until she saw the color of his eyes, and until he armed himself.

Joseph came out from the storm and into the shelter of the narrow canyon, his limp seemed to fade as he walked furiously toward the tent, his brow furrowed, his eyes focused on the silhouette of the man within. The mans shadow had been cast on the back side of the tent from the fire on the other end.

His cane split into two as the scabbard revealed a thin sharp blade. He always held the blade so that it ran along his forearm and pointed out the end of his elbow. He swung his elbow out and flicked his wrist, causing the blade to lash out against the tent. In a quick and accurate motion he stopped it perpendicular to his chest. With only a split second of pause he pushed the blade forward into the tent until blood splattered against the inside. He then pulled it out and flipped it around in his hand so that he could examine the blade as the silhouette of the man grasped at his neck which spewed more blood against the tent as he fell to the ground.

After looking at it for a quick moment he swiped it down in one quick motion stopping it dead at the end of his thrust so that the blood was pulled from its surface by the momentum and splashed against the bottom of the tent.

Joseph then returned the blade to its scabbard, “One more to go.” He mentioned in sign language to Astrid. “Do you want him?”

Joseph simply needed to see her eyes to know she did, she didn’t answer him in any way but simply walked past him.

She turned the corner of the tent to see the mans back as he sat cross legged before the fire. “This is too easy” she thought, her right hand sliding back to Abletts handle, her aptly named sword. She walked up behind him in perfect silence, the blade still hidden behind her back and resting comfortably in its sheath. She stood behind him for a moment and watched the fire struggling to stay alive.

He watched it, oblivious that its state was much like his.

She put her tongue to the back of her teeth and whistled loudly.

The man jumped, scrambled to his feet and spun around.

Astrids eyes squinted as she peered into his. “They’re brown” she thought before speaking to her dumbfound prey. “I could have killed you six times before you got up and a thousand more before I whistled, you fool.”

His hand reached for a pistol on his side, and she waited. It seemed to take forever, he grasped its handle and began to pull it from its holster. She watched his eyes, his torment flowing from them in that one moment where he knew that it was over.

That gaze made her blood rush in a frenzy unknown to any who hasn’t killed by her code. It was fierce and flaming, bubbling through her pores and forcing its way into her mind with unimaginable ecstasy.

Just as it all started, it was over. Her hand whipped out from behind her back and its speed and force spun her entire body one hundred and eighty degrees. She stood facing the canyon wall, Ablett already sheathed.

The man fell to his knees and then to his side, as his shoulder struck the sand his head rolled off toward Josephs feet.

He looked down at the twisted face. “Poor soul.”

They duo turned to the trio as in that moment they became a quintuplet.

“Fancy seeing you here Joe” Alex said as he stood up, using the canyon walls to help him to his feet.

“Trust me you won’t be happy about me for long, I think I might have bloodied your things.” Joe replied.

Edgar frowned, “Oh damn it not my rifle! I just got the damn blood stains off of it!” He ran quickly toward the tent, jumping the fire as he did so. He spread the tent doorway and his shoulders dropped as he spoke into the tent. “Jesus Christ Joseph.”

“How’s my stuff?” Alex inquired, his head poking up as if he was trying to see over Edgars shoulder.

“Fine...” He said as he walked into the tent.

Emma got up and walked toward Astrid. “It’s good to see you hun, thanks for comming.” She said as she gave her a hug.

“You’re welcome, I hope your stuff’s ok.” She replied.

Alex looked at them for a moment, He put his hands up and pointed one at each of them. Then he motioned his hands together. “Now... kiss each other.” he said.

Astrid and Emmas smile simultaneously dropped.

Astrid simply shook her head.

“Men” Emma quipped.

A yell came from the tent. “I resent that”

“Well then.” Joe said, “Let’s get these bodies out of here.”

He leaned over and went for the decapitated bodies feet and then looked up at Alex in expectation.

“You want me to get the bloody end?” He said, his eyebrow cocked.

Joseph got back up, and put his hand out in explanatory habit. “Look, just grab the fucking corpse unless you want to take it to bed with you.” Joe began to kneel down again.

“Your mom.” Alex replied.

Joe sighed and looked to the ground as he knelt. “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Emma stood in as Al was just about to speak. “Al, make another fire, this one’s been drenched with blood, I’ll take care of the god damned body. Let’s go Joe.”

Astrid smiled at him as Emma and Joe left around the corner. “Hey babe.” She said.

Alex smiled back and walked toward her. They fell into each others arms.

“This would be so romantic...”, he looked down. “...If there wasn’t a head at my feet.” he said as he kicked the dismemberment into the coals of the old fire.

Astrid put her hand on his cheek. “Shut up and kiss me.”

Emma turned the corner and stopped for a moment, looking at the fire, then to Astrid and Al kissing. “Ok if you haven’t noticed, putting a head in the fire isn’t making us warm right now, I know you’re happy to see her but I’d rather not freeze to death.” She said as she turned and walked into the tent.

“Don’t you dare comment.” She said to Edgar as she walked into the bloody mess.

“What?” He said, confusedly.

She looked at him as he sat at the far side, his rifle on his lap with a torn piece of blood soaked cloth.

“I’ll be right there.” He said, as he put the rifle down.

“Not there Edgar.” She said.

“What?” He replied, again with equal confusion as the last time.

“Your winchester.” She pointed.

“Ah fuck you gotta be fucking kidding me! Jesus fucking Christ!” Edgar bent over and picked the rifle up from blood soaked sand. “Damn that spot looked dry when I put it down.” He complained.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Forget it, let’s get this guy out of here.”

“Yes ma’am.” Edgar walked over and grabbed the mans legs.

They left the tent and began to make their way around as Joe knelt at the fire with Alex.

“Why don’t we just make it somewhere else” Alex proposed.

Joe looked at him. “Find another place with sand that hasn’t been soaked with blood and I’ll be happy to accommodate you.”

Astrid turned the corner of the tent with Ischtar, Cracker and Bud as they each slid between the canyon wall and the tent.

“What’re you doing?” Alex asked.

“Emma wanted to bring the horses back, why what’s wrong?” She replied.

“...” Al looked at Joe before speaking “... Nothing.”

As Emma and Edgar turned the corner Joe had finally gotten a small fire going with kindling they found inside the tent.

“No that one’s wet too.” Al said as he picked a piece out of Joes hand and threw it over his shoulder as they both knelt beside the small fire.

“Well I’m going to bed.” Edgar said. He walked into the tent to grab more of his things. “JOSEPH I FUCKING HATE YOU!”

“You’re welcome.” He replied, still focusing on the fire.

Emma went in the tent after him. “Where’s my stuff?”

Edgar turned around pointing back to the other side. “Over there, where everything is fucking dry, along with Als stuff. The fuckers decided to put my shit in THIS corner.”

Emma laughed.

“It ain’t funny.” He said, turning back around to kneel down to his stuff.

She walked up behind him. “Here let me help you.”

The storm tore at the entrance and Joseph peered to it, leaning back and trying to see the severity of the storm. “Damn it Oz I hope you’re ok.”

The dark storm plowed against the bluff and nothing was visible but its large mass as it passed unabated across the Australian landscape, and within it, the quintuplet got ready mentally for the next day. Something in each of their hearts was warning them. None had confided to the other that they felt it, but each of them knew they did. It was a physical pit, its pulsing omen pushing against their chests in undulating rhythms like a black heart of destiny letting them know in a subtle fashion that "your path will be crossed, and crossed again."

Fucking hell, man, that was awesome. Another novel size piece. I absolutely loved the dynamic between all of our characters. Top notch display.

Jesus titty fucking Christ, that was amazing. Great action sequence and dialogue. I envy your patience with writing this stuff... I always get bored/frustrated halfway through what I actually want to write and end up cutting it off short or getting lazy with the details. Great job!

I vote Jaid write the rest of this just for the fact he's so fucking good at it. Mate I love it.

And trying is ALL you're gonna do cause without you guys I couldn't possibly have the motivation to write parts like that.

Now WRITE damnit!

Wow. I just got done actually reading the entire thing, and it's going along very well, numerous points I can see in the future of the story for wonderful plot twists. Good job everybody, especially Jaid! Can't wait to read more, you guys; keep up the good work!

Ladies and gentlemen I'd like to announce that part 11 of On a Gehenna Wind will be up shortly, please take a seat and enjoy the show ;)

Dang, my seat had gum on it. But seriously, this is great guys. Action! Adventure! Romance! You all have very different writing styles, but somehow it fits together perfectly. Now, the next part better be up by the time I get this gum off my pants, or else.

*TAPS FINGERS IMPATIENTLY*
Can I have some of that gum, Veradis?

Ladies and gentlemen I'd like to announce that part 11 of On a Gehenna Wind will be up shortly, please take a seat and enjoy the show ;)


It better be... or else. *cocks USP*

Here ya go ladies and gents:

Chapter 2: A Glimmer of Hope

The storm subsided early in the morning, just before the sun rose in the eastern sky. Gehenna had already made its third pass across the sky and was heading back towards the horizon. Al was the first one to wake, to tend to the water catchers. Since the water and moisture was so scarce in most of the world, the only way one could collect water was from the free moisture in the air roaming the night condensing as the sun went down. The reduced temperature caused the water to condense, and one invention was the water catcher, which could be attached to anything, and it would collect the fine water droplets in a almost opaque netting, and once the net got saturated, the cohesive nature of water would pull it down with the aid of gravity into a small canteen. Living in the harsh environment such as Australia now, this was one of a few ways to get water, so vital to the existence of everyone.

Astrid snuck up behind Al, as he sat concentrating on the water catchers, and looking at how much was ruined by the sandstorm from the night before. “Boo, babe.” He spun around quickly, to see Astrid smiling at him. “Hey hon, you wanna give me a hand?” She extended him a morning kiss, and sat down next to him. “What do you need?”

Al handed her the catcher from Cracker. “I need you to clear out all the crap from the netting. Last night’s storm really kicked our ass, and it looks like today is going to be scorching. A lot of the water supply was muddied.”

“How about you give this job to Ed when he gets up, because I’m gonna grab Joe, because we’ve gotta go get Dor and Oz.”

“Fine, I’d rather do it with Ed anyways. Ed, wake your ass up! We’ve got a large problem, bigger than your Win’s getting bloodied! Get the fuck up, you large piece of horse manure! No offense, Bud.” Bud neighed and snorted.

Astrid walked over to the tent. “He’s gonna get mad at you one day, and you might not like it.” She peered in. Ed was clamoring to his feet. “I was having a good dream, and your boy had to wake me up. I’d kill him if I didn’t owe him.” Astrid frowned, picking up Joe’s cane. She poked him. “No, mom, I don’t want to go to school. It’s Sunday!” He rolled over and continued to snooze. She poked him harder. He shot up, excited. “What? Who? I’m ready to fight! I’ll take you all on! Who?!” Emma stirred, woke up, and glared at Joe. Astrid giggled. “Joe, c’mon, we need to get our horses. Up and at ‘em.”

Astrid and Joe traversed back toward the alcove where Dorothy and Oz were tied the night before. As they made their way across the barren land, the sun shot up from horizon, and already sweat broke across their brows. “Man, it is hot already, and it’s only dawn.”

They grabbed the two horses, and headed back to the group. Emma has collected everything together, and got some food for everybody so they could start out the day. Al and Ed were still working with the catchers. Emma turned to Ed. “Hey, Ed, since we’re all here, why not finish how you and Al met, and we all got started on this adventure.”

Ed frowned, but then smiled, looking over at Al. “Alright, so the last thing I remember was passing out…”

Two hundred years ago…

Ed woke up in a strange room. He shot up, looking around. Almost immediately, however, a sharp pain reverberated through his entire body, stopping him suddenly, bringing a tear to his eye. A figure entered the room. “Whoa, whoa! Calm down there. You’re in good hands.”

“Who’re you?”

“Joseph. But you can call me Joe, if you like. A gentleman named Al brought you to me. I took the bullet our of your shoulder.”

Ed moved his hand to the patchwork. He vaguely remembered what happened at the docks, and that someone had talked to him before he went out. “Where is Al?”

“He’s in the other room. Al, he woke up.”

Al entered the room. “Good to see you up. That was quite a situation you had yourself in. You’re lucky I was there o take you to Doc here. I’m Alex, by the way. Everyone calls me Al though. Kind of a lazy nickname. The thing is, we don’t know your name.”

Ed was entranced, but quickly shook himself out of it. “Oh, right. Edgar is the name. I was on the way to South America.”

“Well, thanks to you, we’re on a ship to SA right now. Joe worked his magic getting us a room. Said you were in urgent need of some surgery, which wasn’t a lie, but you got us a sealed spot. Thanks for that.” Al chuckled. Ed looked at him, and saw two revolvers on his belt.

“Well, thanks for saving me then. I guess I owe you. Nice guns. Where’d you get them?”

“They were a gift from my grandfather. Look, you should get some rest. We’ll be in Colombia shortly. Then we’ve got some running to do to get to the Pacific Ocean.”

“Why the Pacific?”

“We’ve got to get to Australia.”

“Why Australia? Isn’t that one of the major places where Gehenna destroyed? Why would you want to go there?”

“To be honest, my girl Astrid is there. I’ve got to get to her. And you’re gonna help me.”

“…Right. Sounds like fun, I guess.”

Al and Joe left the room, leaving Ed to himself.


The Present

Emma wiped her face off. “Wow, guys. That is a great story.” Astrid was sitting next to Al, and even though she heard the story many times, she always got teary-eyed. “Al, I love you.” He stared into her eyes. “I know.” Before they went into a kiss, Joe stood up. “Sorry to break up the love fest and story time, kiddies, but we’ve got to get a move on if we want to make any progress. Al, I took a look at your grid, and from the position you marked, we’re still about 2 days out from the site, and we lost some valuable time with those scouts. Now, the way I see it, we’ve got enough water to last us for the rest of the day, and hopefully we can refill some when the moisture condenses tonight. But that’s a good twelve hours off.”

They all stood up, and mounted their horses, leaving the camp a rotting, bloody mess.

The quintuplet tracked the desert landscape with careful precision, not stopping for much of anything. Astrid, Al, and Joe took up the front, while Ed and Emma took up a trailing rear. By high noon, they hadn’t covered much ground. The horses drank most of the water, and the blaring sun was evaporating some of it. The group had run out much quicker than they had expected. Slowing down to a near crawl, they reached the top of a hill that led into a valley. They lined up, ready to go down the slope, but stopped suddenly, as they saw that there was large settlement. “That’s Hillup Lake, isn’t it?” Emma asked. Al nodded. Ed smiled and resituated himself on his saddle. “You guys ready for a little fight?”

Awesome shit, duuude! Very nice work!

Wicked job Alex! Wicked as hell!

Impressive. Most impressive.

Update to the Gehenna Blog.

I've made a few updates to the Blog aside from Alexes recent post.

You can now find a short synopsis to the story under the main title of the blog that reads as such:


On a Gehenna Wind

Ordinary men and woman, cursed by Gehenna with unnatural life, vow selflessly to safeguard the destiny of a diminished human race whom seek to destroy them.

Each step they take in this world ravaged by poverty, starvation and violence brings them closer to the salvation of mankind.

Come walk the agelong path that hails on a Gehenna wind.

=======================

In other news the "Extras"SPOILERS area has been added only to the Blog section. If you're at all interested in surprises I'd suggest that you do not go through it if you haven't read the entirety of the story, and even if you have, I may put plot sensitive material in there in the future, enter at your own risk, there may be spoilers.

At the moment the contents include a timeline of 100 years from 2004 to 2109
and previously posted research on the story that already exists in this forum thread.

Splinter writes next, and it should be up in the next little while so hold your panties everyone.

Thanks for reading.


EDIT: LOL to Novus \/\/\/

What if we don't have panties?
Wait, never mind, I found some.
Forget how.

The group picked their way silently down the ever-steepening valley, with the only spoken words being in guidance to their horses. Each of the quintet were lost in though, whether it the impending fight at Hillup Lake, or what lay ahead of them at the crater. Astrid reigned Dorothy in slightly to drop back Emma and Ischtar, who was having a bit of trouble negotiating the sharp slope.

“Your girl having a bit of trouble, huh?”

“Yeah,” Emma frowned. “Its been a while since she’s tackled slopes. Once we’re in the valley she’ll be fine. Which might be useful, ‘cause when the settlers find out we wasted their scouts, they’re going to want to return the favour.”

“Hmm. Oh, and by the way, heres something you might be missing.” said Astrid, reaching into her saddlebag and fishing out her missing bolts.

“Thanks, it was killing me that they made me leave them there,” She said, pocketing them. “So you think we’ll be in for an icy welcome when we get down there?”

“Personally, I don’t care what kind of welcome we get. We need water, or the horses aren’t going to make it much further. Or us, for that matter.” Astrid replied.

They continued their decent into the valley, the sun burning into any uncovered skin. After what seemed like hours, the group reached the outskirts of the settlement. Ed pulled Cracker up, and turned to them.

“Okay. Just keep quiet, and they won’t even notice us. Hopefully. Then we can get our asses out of here and to the crater. I don’t know about you guys, but this little trip is starting to wear thin.”

“Damn right. Why the hell can’t anything ever be easy?” Joe lamented.

“We’re Immortals,” said Al, a weary look on his face. “Nothing’s meant to be easy for us.”

“Aw, quit bitching. Lets just get this done.” Emma called to them, her and Astrid already trotting toward the township.

The boys quickly turned their horses and urged them onwards, quickly catching up to Emma and Astrid. They fell into their usual travelling pattern, which not only made easier conversation, but made sure that their weapons were evenly spread and each of them had clear shots at any advancing adversaries. A few minutes later, they reached the town, and were making their way down the quiet main street.

“This is going to sound like a really bad movie cliché…but I don’t like this. It’s too quiet.” Muttered Joe to Al

“Maybe that’s a good thing, we can get in and out quicker. And you’re right,” He looked over to Joe “That did sound like a bad movie cliché.”

Turning down a small lane that led to the once massive lake, the group unhooked their various canteens and bottles in readiness to refill them. Finally reaching the waters edge, the group dismounted, their mounts gratefully drinking their fill.

Squatted at the shore, filling her canteen, Astrid cocked her ear.

“Al. You hear that?”

“Hear what babe?”

Then he heard. The unmistakeable sound of footsteps. A group of footsteps. They both stood quickly and turned toward the source of the noise, the laneway that had lead them here. By now, Ed, Emma and Joe could hear it, and their hands drifted toward their concealed weaponry.

“Immortals! IMMORTALS! Stop right there!”

A group of men burst forth from the laneway, armed with pitchforks, knives, anything they could lay their hands on. Their leader, a hulking beast of man, stepped forward, brandishing a roughly hewn club.

“How dare you come here? This is our water! OUR town!

Ed stepped up to meet him.

“How do you know we’re Immortals? We’re just getting some water for our horses.”

The man pointed toward Cracker, two automatic weapons hanging from his saddle.

Ed followed his gaze. “Shit,” he swore under his breath.

“Those belong to our scouts. You could only get them by killing them. And only immortals could kill like that.” The man spat. “So now we will kill you, you deserve to die for murdering innocents.”

The group sprang toward the quintet, swinging their weapons. Ed reacted first, pulling out his Winchesters and firing, taking out two of the advancing men. Their leader screamed, and raced toward Astrid, who seemed unarmed. She waited until she cols see the green of his eyes when she reached behind her back and unsheathed Ablett, swinging it through the air and cleaving his arm from his body. She swung again, and his head rolled across the yellow sand. Around her, the battle raged. Al was firing Bonnie with pinpoint precision, Joe going on one on one with a slender man carrying a pitchfork. Another settler ran for Astrid, who took him out as easily as she had their leader. She looked around to find her next opponent, and saw the boys fighting the remaining settlers. But she could not see Emma. She spun around, then spotted her, being held to the ground and choked by a hooded man, her crossbow thrown aside in the dirt.

“NO!” She screamed, running toward her, but before she reached him, the man was felled by a shuriken, cleanly embedded in his temple. He fell atop of Emma, who was coughing and wheezing. Astrid pulled him off her, and she rolled over, desperately drawing oxygen into her lungs. Astrid helped her up, and dusted her off.

“What the hell happened?”

“He came up behind and knocked my feet from under me,” She coughed. “Thanks for taking him out.”

“I didn’t,” she said, bending down and pulling the shuriken out of his head. “This isn’t even mine.”

“That’s because it belongs to me.” replied a deep voice behind her. Both girls turned their heads toward the unknown figure walking toward them, twirling a knife in his fingers. Ed, Joe and Al, who had since finished off their adversaries, walked toward them, still holding their weapons wearily.

“Well, I guess I owe you a thanks…um, what’s your name?” questioned Emma.

“I’m Jake. And don’t worry,” He said, looking at their unholstered weapons. “You can put them away. It’s not like an Immortal to kill one of their own, is it?

“You’re Immortal?” Asked Al. “Well, I guess not many people can throw like that.”

“Yep.” Nodded Jake. “But I can explain later. There is some things you need see and some things you need to be told. Lets get out of here.”

Great work, babe! Very nice dialogue and action sequence. This story keeps getting better and better.

Woot! Another great installment! Very nice work, Splint!

Splendedly done! I'm really proud, once again!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Time to update the blog ;)

Yeah, im new to this site thanks to Jaid, but I love this story guys. He sent me a link to the start and I have been following along the whole time so far, its uncanny how so many writers can be in such harmony.

Trust us mate, it's taking a lot of coordination to do, but it's fun...I'll be damned if I let school get in the way of my writing my next bit though.
And Splin hun, absolutely superb, yet again babe. I'm so proud of you :P.

Very nice work so far guys, one of the best collaborative pieces I've read since, well since collab. This is great.

Very nice work so far guys, one of the best collaborative pieces I've read since, well since collab. This is great.

SWAMPEY!!! HAHA, what's up man?

Nice to see you around ;)

Back from the weekend. Nothing new?

Forgive me for not coming in here and reading this sooner. I'm taking the kids to school now, then I will come home make a cuppa and devote all my time to this story. And seeing it's eight am here now and I expect to be fully immersed in this story by nine am, brb lol.

EDIT: Holy fucking shit. I'm more than impressed with you guys, I'm more than in awe. I'm emailing this to my mother in law so she can print it out for me (as my printer is dead due to hammer, long story) and I KNOW she is going to be blown away by this as much as I am. This: http://www.matrixmania.com/showpost.php?p=197362&postcount=17 is fantastic Jaid and Al. And the attention to detail is incredible. The gifs showing the weapons give the reader that edge to make them addicted also. This is one hell of a gripping group collective here people. If I had to grade you, you all would be getting an A+ with extra credits.

MORE!

Is it worth a sticky :D :D :D :D :D

LOL

Sorry about the lag folks,

We'll be up and running soon.

comeone please someone write something im die`n here. :(

Joe's part is just being polished and appoved, it'll be up asap.

Sorry for the wait, I hope there's still readers out there.

_______________________________________________

Evolution. If Darwin only knew the magnitude of his discovery. From bacteria, to multi-cellular organism, to mammal, to mankind. Survival of the fittest. It’s happening right here, right now. The red butterflies become some bird’s lunch, while the green ones blend in with the foliage and procreate. The majority of humans whom interact with Gehenna’s debris meet a slow and painful death, while the few who possess a slight genetic deviation achieve evolution’s goal: survival. There is no God, there are no aliens, there is no creator. The only thing that matters is chance. And all you can do is play your cards right and pray to a non-existent being that the random processes of the universe will work out in your favor.

Chance was like Jake’s maniacal older brother, always playing nasty tricks on him but deep down, still loving him. Jake was born to a rather wealthy family in New York City. Unfortunately, his birth occurred only a year before the first fall of Gehenna in December 2013. Chance is a bitch like that. A mere baby, he fled with his family south to their vacation home in Panama. Months passed, and as the dust from the impact site in Michigan drifted further and further, thousands contracted the disease. Robetson-Speilt Disease. RSD if you’re slightly dyslexic, or lazy.

A person in a northern province of Canada steps into a hospital displaying ailments of a cough and chest aches. It’s nothing. Take two aspirins, the doctor says. Tomorrow arrives, the patient returns to the hospital, and suddenly he’s diagnosed with pneumonia. Take these antibiotics, the doctor says, handing him the prescription. A month later, he’s lying in a casket.

The great thing about discovering the disease which will go on to eradicate humanity is that you get to name it. Someone sees a star in the sky, calls an 800 number, and names it after their son. An explorer sails his ship in the opposite direction of everyone else, finds a new landmass, and his name ends up in your high school geography textbook. These guys have nothing on you. Not if you’ve named THE disease of all time. The black plague was a pussy compared to this.

As more and more cases like this popped up, the mysterious disease gained more and more attention. People began to realize this wasn’t your everyday case of pneumonia. The dementia and loss of motor control that soon followed the pneumonia was, of course, a big indicator. Dr. Andre Robetson of London and Dr. Orus Speilt of Germany had the pleasure of identifying the disease, thus achieving immortality. Figuratively speaking, of course. Their names would never be forgotten. The discovery came about as they studied the corpses of those early victims of the plague.

People used to think AIDs was the disease that would do us in. After all, what’s everyone’s favorite past time? Sex. A perfect method of transmission. Add the fact that the virus itself can mutate and evolve to live and resist treatment, and you have a pretty devastating disease. Too bad people breath more than they have sex. Guess RSD wins.

It wasn’t long after the First Fall that Irish medical researcher Alain McArthur found that RSD is a member of the Prion family of diseases, a group of small proteinaceous infectious particles which resist inactivation by procedures that modify nucleic acids.

Soon, a cure was found. Vaccinations were given. People around the world rejoiced. Jake’s parents rejoiced. Several months after their arrival in Panama, Jake’s father developed symptoms of RSD. Rich people don’t die, however. Not if they can help it. Using their financial resources, Jake’s father, William, was able to receive treatment for his RSD. The price of the medication sky-rocketed as demand soared after the First Fall. They were lucky, remaining a happy, healthy family. Until Jake turned six. At that point, evolution kicked in, and chance bitch slapped Jake.

Nothing can scar a child quite like watching your own mother deteriorate from the inside out, slowly losing control of her body as large vacuoles form in her cortex and cerebellum. Then one day you tug at her sleeve from the foot of her bed and realize she’s never going to wake up. Such was Jake’s childhood. After his mother, Linda, was diagnosed with RSD, his father did everything in his power to cure her. They tried dozens of different medications, but by that time it was too late. Evolution. Like HIV, the virus had evolved and evolved and evolved. It was to the point where as soon as a new cure was engineered, the virus had already mutated to resist it. With all of the previously successful antidotes exhausted, there was nothing left for William and Jake to do but watch Linda rot away. Then Jake discovered her dead in her sleep.

It was that day in Jake’s life that he knew what he wanted to be. He knew what he wanted to do when he grew up. He knew his calling in life. A cure. He would engineer a cure. Not just any cure though. Fuck mutations and evolution. He would create THE cure. Years later he moved to Mexico City, one of the newer major cities of the world, to study biology. His lifelong journey had begun.

“Shit… I’m speechless,” said Ed, breaking the silence that followed the conclusion of Jake’s story. Ed, Al, Joe, Emma, Astrid, and a few townspeople of Hillup Lake sat around the campfire. Chance made an appearance shortly after the group’s brawl earlier in the day, when a town elder came running up to the group. He explained to them that the assailants were part of a radical group bent on exterminating the immortals. The elder then invited them to re-supply and stay for the night.

“Jeebus… To think, evolution, the reason mankind exists, is also the reason for its demise,” stated Al, solemnly.

“Well, not exactly…” trailed Jake. “Hell, we’re part of it. We’re prime examples of evolution. There’s a very minor genetic deviation in our DNA. While others meet death when they interact with Gehenna, we meet life. We achieve evolution’s main goal. On a long enough timeline, if nothing is done about Gehenna, it will be us that make it out alive. Unfortunately, evolution is a slow process. While our lives are prolonged, our reproductive systems still age at a normal rate. Another bitch slap I suppose. From bacteria, to multi-cellular organism, to mammal, to mankind, to immortal. Survival of the fittest. It’s happening right here, right now.”

Very nice. I loved the back-story. Keep up the good work.

Well done! You do really beautiful descriptions (even when you're just talking about a simple alarm-clock! wow), the story flows ... love it.

I just found 2 things that might help to make it perfect:

a) Please dont start any sentence with "Suddenly" anymore, those are the only awkward ones in the story...

b)The french sentences are full with mistakes, if you want help with corrections you can drop me a pm

Excellent again guys, background only makes things more believable. Keep it coming please. Now who's up next?

I believe Ed's next.

Damn fine work everyone. :thumbsup:

Well done! You do really beautiful descriptions (even when you're just talking about a simple alarm-clock! wow), the story flows ... love it.

I just found 2 things that might help to make it perfect:

a) Please dont start any sentence with "Suddenly" anymore, those are the only awkward ones in the story...

b)The french sentences are full with mistakes, if you want help with corrections you can drop me a pm

Thanks for the compliments, I apreciate them, and I love a critique, but just to defend myself ... ;)

a) Suddenly is a transition word, I use it cause it exists. it may be awkward but hey, awkward is awkward and we still use it.

b) The french I used is slang, phonetic, and not meant to be correct, (Basically net french) and trust me if you think you know french better than I do then please help me study because I'm studying it in University and it's really annoying. It's my first language but there are way too many exceptions and ways to conjugate verbs, and different verbs and blah blah blah.

*falls asleep* huh? what? oh there is something there? oh right. *starts reading and falls back asleep mid story* "wow how exhilerating :wtf: ". And yes I know im an asshole.

Didn't your Mother ever tell you? If you don't have something nice (or constructive to say), Don't say anything at all!

Bring it on Ed, can't wait to see what you come up with.

*falls asleep* huh? what? oh there is something there? oh right. *starts reading and falls back asleep mid story* "wow how exhilerating :wtf: ". And yes I know im an asshole.

*Shocked look*
How can you say such a thing??? This is one of the best fanfics I've ever read!!!!

*Shocked look*
How can you say such a thing??? This is one of the best fanfics I've ever read!!!!


I think he was reffering to joe's actual peice.

Carpe likes action more than backstory, but come on Carp... don't give the guy attitude, he's a good writer. and I know you like your freedom of speech but if you abuse it here you'll have to start reading the story only from the blog cause the administration won't find it hard to boot you.

They can be asses too.

Thanks for the compliments, I apreciate them, and I love a critique, but just to defend myself ... ;)

a) Suddenly is a transition word, I use it cause it exists. it may be awkward but hey, awkward is awkward and we still use it.

Of course it is, but it reads like a school homework word, not like something that should pop up in a story. There are other attention-getters around and ... oh forget it, it's your story lol :D

b) The french I used is slang, phonetic, and not meant to be correct, (Basically net french) and trust me if you think you know french better than I do then please help me study because I'm studying it in University and it's really annoying. It's my first language but there are way too many exceptions and ways to conjugate verbs, and different verbs and blah blah blah.

uh uh... I know all about net french...look where I live... and I'll be glad to help out a bit with the story but I'm NOT going to play online Great Teacher Onisuka from Paris here, dont you even go there :lol:

...administration won't find it hard to boot you.

They can be asses too.
Boy, can I... I mean, we.

*crappy dialogue*

BAM!

*fight scene*

POW!

BOOM!

*car chase*

VROOM!

*car flips, daggers fly through air, gas tank explodes, people die, etc.*

uh uh... I know all about net french...look where I live... and I'll be glad to help out a bit with the story but I'm NOT going to play online Great Teacher Onisuka from Paris here, dont you even go there :lol:

My net french is very different than yours in that particular case. Canadian french and European french differ remarkably.

*crappy dialogue*

BAM!

*fight scene*

POW!

BOOM!

*car chase*

VROOM!

*car flips, daggers fly through air, gas tank explodes, people die, etc.*
That's got to be the best piece I've seen yet, bravo, lmao.

TIMN, dood! u r so l33t! u r0x0r the big one!!!!11!

But seriously. You keep this up, you're gonna have a Pulitzer Prize sitting on your mantlepiece.

My net french is very different than yours in that particular case. Canadian french and European french differ remarkably.

Oh ok. Sorry then, I don't know canadian french...I only wanted to help
:(

Oh ok. Sorry then, I don't know canadian french...I only wanted to help
:(

No worries, you're very welcome.

My cousin is in love with a man from France, and recently he was here in Canada with her. Him and I got alot of talking done and the difference not only in the language but the lifestyle is terribly vast (and interresting).

He'll make a good Canadian someday though ;).

Yes there are certainly a lot of cultural and lifestyle differences... hey, what do you mean one day he's going to make a decent Canadian? Perhaps it's your cousin that'll become a decent french girl lol

a decent french girl lol

On the subject of language lessons, thats what we call an oxymoron. Other examples include rap music, political party and common sense.

Yes there are certainly a lot of cultural and lifestyle differences... hey, what do you mean one day he's going to make a decent Canadian? Perhaps it's your cousin that'll become a decent french girl lol

She already is a decent french girl ;) ,

He came camping with us and it was so funny to watch him go fishing and cut wood and he'd always joke around about how he's becomming a good Canadian.

He's the best, I wish he could stick around he's probably one of the most respectful and interesting people I've ever known.

BUT anyway back to business.


In recent news, we've got a new author that might be jumping in to help us write, that hasn't been confirmed yet.

Also I'd like to mention that my part. Part 14 of On a Gehenna Wind is written and in the middle of Pre-Post Review.

When all the bugs are weeded out she'll be up and ready to read so hang tight.

Just for a teaser I'll throw in an exceprt.



The quintuplet lined up outside as Jake entered the scene. “Alright, is everyone here?”

Joe got in line. “Al might have forgotten his decency back at his ranch but he’s here. Yeah we’re all here.”

Jake pointed back to someone who was making her way toward the group, “I’d like to introduce someone.”

See you all later :)

Hmmm......a new author? This could be good. Wonder who it is...
On a side note, very good job on the story so far. I'm interested to see where the group'll go next. The group in the story, that is, not the group of authors. Well, them too, but, well, oh you get my meaning, lol.

sorry for being the designated asshole who is the only one willing to give some constructive criticism around here, yeah I love the story and all but its takeing a nose dive in a downward spiral. Not to an exctreme but slowly its going down, and I dont mind back story I like all storyline, but in my opinion all the writers except jaid are seemingly loosing interest and heart.

Ban me if you wish, but you cant go through life with everyone praising everything you do and putting you on pedastals. I will continue my reading of the story and I wish the best of luck.

“Heh...” Alex laughed to himself inside the small tent as he lay on his back with his hands crossed behind his head.

Astrid, who lay beside him snuggling up to his warmth, felt the laugh from her left arm which was draped over his chest. “What’s funny?” She asked with her eyes closed and her words muffled slightly by the fact that her head rested against Al’s rib cage.

“It’s the third night since we left the ranch.” He replied, unlocking his gaze from the top of the tent and looking down at her as she turned up to him.

Their eyes met and that flame between them exploded once again