Hunt

Night, the city burns.

You walk alone down the main avenue. Bodies lie where they fell hours ago. Some still twitch. Most don’t. The New Republic soldiers have already moved deeper, kicking doors, dragging people out. Their shouts echo between the broken buildings. You keep to the shadows, rifle slung under a torn blanket, pistol in your belt. The golden watch you found on the opposing soldier earlier is heavy in your pocket. He won't be using it anymore.

Your sister is here somewhere. The slavers took her three weeks ago when our village fell. A neighbor saw the trucks head this way before the siege closed the roads. That is all you have. Three weeks, one place, and a name. The old cathedral on the east side your destination.

You reach the first checkpoint. Two teenagers in mismatched uniforms of the New Republic smoke beside a burned-out bus. Your allies? or is it time to relinquish your loyalty to this group.