A tribe of savages.

The buildings were quiet; only the wind wailed in the broken windows and a nearly inaudible sound of dripping water was heard in the distance. As you walked along the empty corridors, you hoped the place would turn out to be deserted and safe to stay the night. Kay kept a close distance while she followed you with her gun in hand.

You weren’t here to kill everything that could live in this environment but it was necessary to scout the area for any hostile entities before setting up camp in the vicinity, lest you might have ended up like Dan and his friends. In your current situation, though, you wish you never stopped here in the first place.

You never heard when they’ve taken Kay. One moment she was right behind you, the next moment she was gone and you were left alone in the ghastly silence of the old factory. Scared and worried you crept through abandoned offices, laboratories and processing plants. The setting sun’s red light cast long shadows which seemed to move in the corner of your eye. You knew you were being watched. Someone or something lurked to get you somewhere out there... and it already had Kay.

What if it was some kind of animal? What if Kay was dead already?

Panic slowly seeped into your heart; a mind-numbing fear like a poison to the soul. You began to run, calling your friend’s name and shouting curses at the enemy you could not see. You searched the whole facility and found nothing. Only when you returned to the parking lot you were “greeted” properly.

At least three dozen people, mostly men, were waiting there. They wore tattered remnants of ancient clothes. The bodies of the few who had no clothes were adorned with bone piercings or tattoos; sometimes both. Their skin was dark; an effect of everyday exposure to the sun rather than a hereditary feature. Spears and clubs improvised from the factory junk were their only weapons but there were too many of them for you to even think about getting out alive, should you start a fight. They also held Kay hostage. The fact that they hadn’t killed her yet meant that they could be reasoned with so you gave them your weapons when they asked you to.

Your petite friend hurried to embrace you when the savages had you disarmed and she quickly began apologizing for getting caught so easily. You held her close, hoping you would yet make it out of this mess unharmed.

The throng of savages made way for a grey haired man. You could tell he was about fifty but, surrounded by people of whom few were over thirty five years old, he had the looks of a true veteran. He was well built for his age and the multiple scars that covered his body along with the intimidating tattoos clearly marked him as the local chief, in case anyone had doubts.

Before he even approached you, both you and Kay were **** to your knees and the very moment you opened your mouth to speak one of the barbarians nearly knocked you ****, hitting the back of your head with his staff. As the world was spinning before your eyes and as you struggled not to fall to the ground, you heard the chief giving a short speech (his words seemed completely unintelligeble in the state you were in) followed by an enthusiastic cheering of his people.

Another man with an aura of authority walked over to take a closer look at you. This one was young; probably younger than you were. His dark eyes matched his jet-black, shoulder length hair. His dark skin was flawed by only a few scars and the tattoos gave him a rather exotic look, as opposed to the intimidating image of the leader. He was accompanied by a young woman who looked quite like him apart of her stunning, very feminine hour-glass figure and gentler facial features. You thought they had to be siblings, maybe even twins. They had a similar spark in their eyes as well; a magnetic, captivating gaze. In other circumstances you would probably find both of them attractive. Right now, though, you only felt a soothing emptiness slowly replacing your thoughts.

You closed your eyes. The last thing you heard was your friend’s voice, calling your name, quickly muffled by the chanting crowd.

When you wake up, you find yourself in an emptied cellar. The dark room is spacious and poorly illuminated by oil burning in a metal brazier. In the far corner you see a bucket – the toilet most probably – and next to you there is a makeshift bed with some rags acting as sheets. You are lying on a similar “piece of furniture” with a splitting headache when you hear Kay’s voice next to you.

“Oh, thank God. You’re back.” the girl says as she gently removes the loose strands of your hair from your face.

“Kay? Where are we?” you ask as you try to get up. “What happened?”

“They hurt you pretty bad back there.” your companion answers quietly; the happiness in her voice is replaced by sorrow. “Their priest... or something... He said something about some ritual.” She pauses for a moment before adding “This isn’t good, John! We're supposed to be a part of it! I mean...”

You silence her with a wave of your hand. Your head is killing you and it’s difficult to gather your thoughts. You try to make a plan of some sort, you even have a few good ideas but a solution is always one step too far and your thoughts race back to the young warrior you saw earlier and his sister. Or were they only a dream?

You begin to feel warm inside. Now, of all times.

"Alright. Listen up, girl. Here's what we'll do..." you break the silence, finally, but just then the door to your cell opens.