---------Prologue
No one really remembers anymore. Nobody can dredge up an old memory of days past. Days when the world made some sense. Days where people could trust one another.

No one thought things would ever get as bad as they are now.

Words of casual denial floated through peoples' minds in an attempt to avoid the problems they never wanted to face.

"Oh, we're just in a recession, the markets always bounce back." muttered one person.

"These sorts of things happen all the time. Just give it some time." said another.

"No need to worry. Eventually they have to agree on something, right?" proclaimed someone else.

No.

Dark. Dank. Dreary. That was what the world was now. Torn apart by war and corruption, the fabric of society struggled to remain intact and keep itself together.

Cities were no longer hustling and bustling centers of trade and commerce. Rural fields were no longer covered in amber waves of grain. Suburbs had lost their family friendly atmosphere ages ago.

Everything was falling apart. Slowly, but surely society was decaying. Politics and rhetoric consumed any sort of diplomacy and the global economy was in shambles. Currency fluctuated sporadically and work was sparse.

The horrific sight of burning earth was sad to some and yet beautiful to others. Some saw it as the inevitable beginning of the end; the great Armageddon finally arriving. Others, however, believed it to be a purge of the world's defects and sins from which the world would be reborn from the ashes as a manifestation of all things pure and holy.

In this day and age everything had become a matter of perspective.

People did try to fix things. Philanthropic organizations sprung up all over the place like weeds as did resistance movements. The only issue was no one knew exactly where to start.

------------------ Chapter 1

Up in the air, an airship swayed as it was jostled by swirls of wind. Down below, the ground was no longer visible. It was completely engulfed by toxic smoke and was blanketed in raging fire. The devastation could be seen for miles and miles as most people have given up trying to quell the flames. They instead decided shelter was exceedingly more important than salvaging whatever mess would be left in the end.

On board the airship, a panicked steward rushed down the hallway to the nearest cabin door.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Miss. There's been a malfunction with the engine due to the heavy smoke and debris from the fires and although the danger isn't immediate, we would like to get you to the loading deck immediately. We have to make an emergency landing due to these dangerous conditions. I can escort you if you wish." The steward called urgently.

"...." There was no answer.

"M-Miss." He frantically called again. This time, he tried to be a bit sterner.

Yet again, only silence greeted his words.

"Miss. This is of the utmost impor..." The steward stuttered as he leaned in to see if he could hear anything coming from the room.

*Thunk* *Clang*

Sounds of rummaging and light footsteps could be heard from inside.

Suddenly, the door flung open, revealing a young, pale girl in her mid twenties. Her face showed no real emotion, just a plain expression of indifference with a hint of annoyance. Her clothes were fairly simple. She wore black shorts, a pair of well used boots, a white shirt and a grey leather jacket. She had long blonde hair with peculiar streaks of blue in it that paired well with her blue eyes. Although her most noticeable accessories would have to be the menacing assault rifle she toted over her shoulder and the little light blue cockatiel fluttering nearby.

"Miss! MISS!" The steward called, only to be passed by without even a slight glance. Stunned by the lack of recognition, he just stared at her. Then furiously, the steward stomped off to warn another passenger, while muttering something about quitting his job.

Nonchalantly strolling through the hall, the young girl assessed her surroundings. She was trying to get a grip on how she was going reach her checkpoint now. The delays that came with waiting to be rescued could not be added to the plan. She needed to make her mark on society now. Besides, Anoinette Sault was not one to be alarmed by such trivial inconveniences. She had more pressing matters to attend to and chit chatting about an inopportune rescue was less than worthwhile.

Her eyes soon locked onto a stack of new parachutes.

"Perfect." She smirked, while grabbing one for herself.

Locating the nearest exit, she swung open the door and stood steady in front of the whipping winds. She studied the land below in an attempt to find a somewhat safe spot to float down onto amongst the raging fury. Taking in a deep breath, she leapt out into the open air.

--------- Chapter 2

Two days prior.

Antoinette had received an important phone call from her boss, Louis Black. He had notified her that the circumstances surrounding her field of work were rapidly changing and that many positions were being reworked. He then mentioned that she would no longer just be a simple information specialist, who sat around at her own desk day after day, but a special field agent with new hands-on responsibilities.
Antoinette worked for the Mellifluo, one of the only standing financial firms left. They handled a variety of classified files and accounts for high ranking officials around the planet. Currency was tricky these days, because average paper currency was too easy to forge and often when the time came it was worthless. Revolts and political squabbles often overturned the standards for the evaluation of the cash. Currency thus has been an ever-changing entity for the last twenty years and the firms had to regulate how international trade worked in these desperate times. They were starting to become the new world powers now, because those who controlled the flow of money controlled the world. Mellifluo has often had to change its methods due to constant threats and hacking incidents, but this was the first time they had ever had to resort pulling desk workers out into the open field.

Excitedly, Antoinette responded "Finally, I've been waiting for years to get a chance like this. I can finally start to help fix this rotten world by doing more than wasting my time crunching some useless numbers."

Mr. Black just sighed, " Alright. Alright. Don't get ahead of yourself there. Anyways, I need you to report at the air port tomorrow at 5 a.m. for your first assignment. Don’t be late. That is all." He hung up.

"Sheesh, that's all I get? What does that even mean? Do I have to bring anything?" Antoinette grumbled.

"Knowing him, I should definitely pack a bag." She rolled her eyes and dragged out a worn-out navy blue backpack. She threw in anything and everything that was in her vicinity. As she packed, Antoinette day dreamed of her new life on the front lines. A special field agent for a large firm like this would probably be in charge of thrilling tasks like espionage and reconnaissance.

*ring* *ring*

The phone chimed throughout the apartment again. Fumbling over her backpack, Antoinette managed to answer the phone in time.

"Hello, it's me again." informed Mr. Black.

"Yo, what should I bring tomorrow?"

"Ah, nothing much. Just enough supplies to last you a few days, but that's not what I'm calling about. I'm to inform you that I've come into contact with your new partner. You need to find him when you land. I'll message you the details via text message as soon as possible. His name is Mark Eberstark. I've got to get going. Good-bye." He quickly hung up again.

"Mark Eberstark?" She thought. "Where have I heard that name before? Hmmm ....Oh, that guy. I remember him."

Antoinette had noticed him around her work before. He was at various company events, but was she was never formally introduced as they were in separate departments.

Mark Eberstark was a rather tall, muscular man with a cheerful and bubbly personality, if she remembered correctly. He was always seen laughing and socializing with other people. He had a stylishly friendly demeanor that seemed to attract a lively circle of acquaintances.

But to Antoinette, there was always something off about him. Something she never could quite place, which was why she never bothered to start up a conversation with the man. Being his partner would be interesting.

----------- Chapter 3

As Antoinette drifted down, she was remembered that phone call and began to wonder how she was going to meet up with Mark now that she abandoned ship.

"Crap. That was actually pretty stupid of me.... I really should have thought that one all the way through, huh, Ringabel." She grumbled to the small parrot clutching desperately to her shoulder.

"I just didn't want to be stuck on that forsaken plane any longer... sigh... I'll call Black when we land."

A few minutes later, the two touched land. The town around them was destroyed. The buildings that still stood were crumbling before their eyes. No people were in sight and the fire was inching towards them each passing second. Deciding to get out of there before anything exploded, Antoinette serendipitously stumbled upon an abandoned motorcycle with the ignition still working and sped off.

The adventure was short-lived; however, because the fuel soon ran dry after a mile or two.

"Darn it. Well at least it should be safe enough for me to call now." Antoinette informed Ringabel, who just cheeped in agreement.

"Hey, It's Sault. I jumped off that cheap plane you put me on and now I'm stranded on the outskirts of a burning city..."

"You did what? My word....Impulsive as ever...sigh… I should have seen this coming. Where are you exactly?" Mr. Black calmly asked.

"The street sign says I'm on the corner of Baker St. and Fructose Lane. I have no idea what city this is."

"Oh, that's good. You're actually pretty close to your destination. The town just south of there is where you should have landed.... You couldn't have waited 20 minutes. Really now…"

"Hey! The steward told me they were going to evacuate. I didn't want to have to deal with that mess. Emergency landings and check-ups take way too long. Plus I didn't want to be late for this momentous occasion that marks the start to my path to glory."

"Well, whatever. It should be a day's walk if you head south. You're in decent shape. I'll tell Mr. Eberstark you'll be arriving late."

"What!? Can't you just tell him to pick me up? Or at least call me a cab?"

"Hahaha I was wondering if you'd fall for that."

"Cut it out."

"Sheesh, I get no respect these days. Just stay where you are and he'll be over shortly. Good-bye."

"Alright...Thanks, Bye." She replied unenthusiastically, now sitting on the crumbled curbside.

----------------------------------- Chapter 4

After about thirty minutes, Antoinette spotted a jet black sports car speeding down the road. It skidded to a screeching halt right in front of her.

"Yo." The man in the car spoke as he rolled down the window revealing him to be none other than Mark.

"Took you long enough." She sneered as she moved to get into the car while gathering her stuff.

"Traffic was rough today."

"Oh, I'm sure it was. Abandoned roads are just stop and go aren’t they."

"No need to be so sassy. Well, anyways it's nice to finally meet you. I might as well brief you on the situation in the car, since there were some unforeseen delays." He smirked at her.

"Hey, I did what I had to!"

"Yeah. Yeah. Umm by the way, what's with the bird?" Mark questioned as he pointed to Ringabel sitting on her shoulder.

"He's my partner, Ringabel! He's great and very handy in certain situations. Whenever my phone dies he can send a message or he can also distract enemies and well..." Antoinette happily rambled on, not noticing the complete lack of interest from her new acquaintance.

"Umm, well that's... ahem... nice..." He interrupted. "So, the current plan is to deliver some important documents to the governor and receive a package to bring back to HQ in exchange. We’ll just drive directly there. I don’t think there should be any problems with people targeting us for this one. Nice and simple for your first time out."
"I jumped hundreds of feet out of a plane into a burning city for a measly mail run? How boring..."

The drive to the governor's mansion was long and boring. The surrounding area was torn up and barren, so sight seeing was pointless. Dry dirt dusted anything and everything outside, giving the scenery a monochromatic hue.

"So, how long is this ride going to be?" Antoinette inquired.

"Hmmm, I'd say about fifteen, twenty-ish minutes." Mark responded.

"I see."

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Mark just focused on driving and Antoinette daydreamed about her future days in lime light.

"We're here." Mark spoke.

Shaking her head to ward off her daydream, Antoinette quickly followed him out to the trunk to pick up a medium sized package. Carrying the precious cargo, the two strolled up to a grey and white mansion.

The lawn was perfectly trimmed and the hedges were done up into fancy shapes. The structure itself was grandiose. Ornate carvings covered the outer walls and the doors were gigantic. It was a stark contrast to anything they had seen along the way. The surrounding town was quaint and quiet. The giant building just did not match.

Mark and Antoinette were greatly impressed. People these days just did not have the resources or time to maintain a house like that. It made them ponder just how powerful this man really was.

Mark knocked on the door and waited for the someone to greet them and let them inside.

Stepping inside, the mansion was luxuriously decorated. It gave off a sense that if one moved too much they would break everything and have to pay up a hefty sum.

"The two of you wouldn't happen to be from Mellifuo with the package, would you?" The butler asked.

"Ah, yes we are. Do you mind if we go speak with him now?" Mark answered.

"But of course. Right this way."

The butler led them up a flight of stairs and across the mezzanine up to another stairwell. At the very top, they were led into a very large room.

The room was framed with elongated windows and accented with mirrors. It was a very bright place during the day. At the center, there was a fancy desk and an obnoxious looking arm chair facing the window.

Antoinette whispered to Mark, "This is just like those cliche spy movies with the evil villain petting his fluffy white cat. Don't you think?" She giggled.

Nudging her in the side, Mark glanced at her and smirked. "Shush. We need to act professional."

"Hello, sir. We've come to drop off your papers and relay to Mellifluo headquarters your latest requests." Mark spoke.

Turning his chair, Marvin Whitman, the governor stiffly addressed the two. "Salutations. I do hope your travels were not an inconvenience. I appreciate your efforts to see me. Well, may I look over the stuff. Please."

Handing over the package, Mark studied their customer. He was a rather rotund fellow with sparse patches of curly grey hair topping his head. He had glasses and was not the most pleasant thing to look at. His mannerisms came across as grumpy and unsettled.

As Marvin sifted through the papers, the Mark looked around the exquisite room taking in every detail. A pretty green book on the floor, however, caught Antoinette's fleeting attention. She quietly picked it up and shoved it into her bag, completely unnoticed. She had a bad habit of "borrowing," as she liked to call it.

She thought to herself. "I could get into a lot of trouble for this...Oh well. It was on the floor, who really cares about it if they don't eve bother to put it on a shelf. I'll read it on the long car ride back." She smiled happily to herself.

"What's gotten into to you?" Mark asked.

"Nothing."

"Ahem." Marvin glared at the two. "Could you please forward this letter to Mr. Black. I have no further business for you. Ever. Now, Sebastian, please escort them out."

"Yes sir." Sebastian, the butler from earlier replied.

Mark and Antoinette were quickly dragged out of the mansion.

"How rude! What is going on lately? Nobody tells us anything! I'm going to punch that Louis Black in the face next time I see him! How dare he anger a patron and send us to take the heat for him! Why I have never felt so insulted. I could just!" Antoinette raged on.

"I know exactly how you feel. This has never happened before. Something seemed off about that Marvin Whitman too. Don't you agree?" Mark said, interrupting Antoinette's loud harangue in the yard.

"Huh, something off? Other than him being an irritable and crotchety old man, I didn't notice anything."

"Really? His demeanor changed after reading that letter. He had a fake pompous act going on at the beginning, but towards the end it was replaced by pure anger. I just wish we could have been informed about the contents of that package."

"Ugh, I agree... At least I found a nifty souvenir."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"This neat-o book I stumbled upon on the floor. I thought nobody would miss it and I mean it has such a pretty green cover. I couldn't resist."

Mark just gave her a look that said "Are you kidding me?"

"Do you even know what's in that thing?"

"Nope. I haven't even checked the title. Let's look at in the car!"

"Fine." Mark sighed as he walked over to his car.

Once inside, the two flipped open the book that was titled in shiny gold letters, "Thanatos."

"Hmmm, wonder what that means."

---------------
Mark and Antoinette studied the first few pages before Mark finally spoke up, “Hey, Antoinette…This is a compilation f the bombings from twenty years ago isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is… You don’t think Whitman would stoop so low…or would he?” Antoinette responded solemnly.
“It’s our best guess for right now. We should report back to Black for the time being. You continue to look for any more clues in that book.”
“Alright. Sounds like a plan to me.”
They sped off into the sunset, wondering what lays ahead for them.
-----
Hours later the two arrived back at the Mellifluo headquarters. Mark and Antoinette wasted no time rushing into the building. Neither could stand to wait any longer to tell of their trifling journey. The contents of the book were eating away at them, Mark especially. Antoinette noticed an immediate shift in attitude when they learned of its true contents. He was all business now and no time was to be wasted.
The two agents bounded up to the elevator, hastily ignoring any inquiries given to them. Once inside, time seemed to drag on and on. With a ding and a swish the doors slid open to reveal Louis Black’s secretary.
Immediately recognizing, the seasoned employees, the secretary called them in.
Confused by the sudden rush, Louis attempted to speak, but could not get a word in before Mark started his rant.
In a frighteningly serious tone, Mark spoke, “What was the meaning of that mission? How could you send us in there, knowing how badly Whitman would react to that delivery? He looked like he could have shot us on the spot. I understand there are risks involved in our work, but at least give me a warning first! On top of that, this is Antoinette’s first time out on the front lines! What was going through your head when you thought you could just lie to us like that? Also, we found something that might interest you as much as it interested me.” Mark stepped back with a seething glare.
Louis not looking all too concerned responded with, “My word, all riled up aren’t we? I didn’t think you would have reacted so strongly to that or Whitman for that matter. He took it that poorly, huh. I knew there was a chance that might happen, but I was really hoping it wouldn’t…” Louis trailed off into his own thoughts after.
“Ahem, well until you can give a better answer than that, look at this.” Mark snapped, then motioned to Antoinette, who was no longer beside him.
Clearly distressed by the tense atmosphere in the room, Antoinette had retreated with Ringabel to the couch in the corner of the room. Upon seeing the Mark’s gesture, Antoinette awkwardly stood up and stiffly walked on over.
“Um, yo. I found this book lying on the floor of Whitman’s office…It looked interesting so I just um, borrowed it.” Antoinette admitted and handed over the item in question Black.
“Hm, Thanatos, eh? I wonder…” Black read aloud. Continuing to flip through the book his eyes widened. “This is…well… You two stay here. I need to make a quick phone call and then you guys are back on duty.” He quickly stood up and started walking towards the door. Antoinette retrieved her book and sat down.
An awkward ten minutes passed by where Antoinette and Ringabel failed to lighten the mood because Mark just sat there, silently contemplating something. Then Black finally returned to his office.
Seeing as it was time to finally explain himself, Louis Black sat down back at his desk with his two agents eagerly awaiting the news.
His usually chipper demeanor faded into a more solemn one and he spoke, “So, I just got off the phone with an old friend of mine. We had been speculating for awhile now that the government may have been splintering apart and affiliating itself with some darker organizations… and it appears that it’s true. Whitman’s hostile reaction paired with that book make it very obvious. I can’t tell you what we sent him, like I know you were wondering, but I can say this. He’s no longer a part of our network. He’s left to go join som….”
Suddenly, a cacophonous wave of screeches sliced through the air causing those in the building to cringe in pain. Moments later, jet planes zoomed past the windows dropping suspicious objects to the ground. Those who saw took cover on the floor and under desks.
They nervously waited for the objects to hit the ground and instantly combust; however, a minute or so passed and nothing was to be heard.
Confused Mark crawled towards the window to see what was happening. The last attack was miles away and he couldn’t fathom how the foreign aircrafts made their way to the city. Once he peeked over to see the street below, his eyes widened and lit up with the illuminating bursts of fire from below.
The objects were bombs, just delayed. The building would collapse and so would anything in the nearby vicinity. The explosives were scattered throughout the streets. A terrifying boom was heard and the rest was a blur.

The once fresh air was tainted with black soot and ash. The city, or rather what was left of it, was ominously reticent. Nothing stirred and nothing moved. The wind was stagnant and lightly wafted the scent of charred carbon. The only observable things were splotches of burning rubble. The fires lightly crackled as they started to fizzle out due to a lack of burnable substance to sustain them.
Antoinette slowly opened her eyes and peered into the night. She was laying atop a mountain of garbage and broken shards. Her back ached and she noticed a sizable laceration on her leg. It leaked crimson red onto her little mound of trash she sat on. Scanning her surroundings, she worried about her co-workers. They were nowhere to be found.
Ringabel let a out a tiny cheep to notify her that she was not alone. He fluttered onto her shoulder and her expression softened a bit.
Not long after, however she realized all her belongings were crushed under her weight. The only salvageable thing left was the mysterious book, Thanatos.
Panic setting in again, Antoinette called out, “Mark?! Where are you? Mark!? Louis? Louis Black! Are you guys alright? Someone answer me! Anybody at all? No? …Am I the least one left?”
No answer.
“Someone? ….Anyone?” She tried again.
Off in the distance she heard someone. “…toinette? Antoinette!”
Mark yelled her name and came running over to her.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you and Black! I’m so glad you’re alright!” He said, relief evident in his voice.
“You too! Now we just need to find our boss.” Antoinette replied.
“I’ve been searching the scene for about fifteen minutes now and all I’ve found is you… Hey. Your leg looks pretty bad. We should wrap it up.”
“Hmm, yeah that would be nice.” She responded as she tore a strip of cloth off her tattered T-shirt and tightly wound it around her injury.
“We need to take shelter.”
“Where? How about your car.”
“My car? My car?! Shoot, do you think it survived?! My poor car! She cost me an arm and a leg! We need to go find her now!” Mark sprinted off to where he had parked his car.
Antoinette stood dumbfounded for a few moments. “I’ll never understand men and their cars.” She muttered as she ran to catch up.
Running around the corners she heard Mark yell.
“What happened? Are you alright!?” She asked worriedly.
Ringabel tweeted in concern.
As Mark came into sight, they saw him flailing about his car throwing debris and chunks of metal off his car.
“Will it be ok?” Antoinette asked, less than amused.
“She better be! You should be more concerned too! We’ll never get to the bottom of this without proper transportation!” Mark snapped back.
“Fine. Fine. Let me help you then.”
A couple minutes later, the car was cleaned off. Mark unlocked it and hurried inside to try out the ignition. His vehicle made a few gritty noises then started right up. They all cheered for their serendipitous success.
“Thank the lord!” Mark smiled excitedly.
“Now that that’s all taken care of, where are we even supposed to go?” Antoinette asked.
“Hmm. I’m not all that sure. Do you still have the book from earlier, the one we showed Louis?”
“Yes, I do! Do you think the bombings are related? I bet they might make a pattern we can decipher!”
“I agree! I think I’ve got a map shoved in the glove compartment there.” Mark said pointing to the space in front of the passenger’s seat.
“I got it. Alright, let’s take a look at the records. They are extremely detailed, don’t you think? It’s almost a little too convenient, not that I’m complaining. Got a pen we can use?”
“Yep.”
About an hour later, Mark and Antoinette finished meticulously jotting down each point on the map.
“Looks like they form a circle around the capital city.” Antoinette pointed out.
“They do. Although, if you look at the date of each attack, they aren’t in order at all. There isn’t really any patter either. The attacks are just sporadically executed in what looks to be a circle. Do you think it could just be a coincidence?” Mark questioned.
“It couldn’t be. I’ll bet the culprits just didn’t want to be tracked or noticed.”
“Possibly, but why a encircle the capital?”
“I have a feeling they wanted to secure the perimeter to make overthrowing the capital easier. That’s the only feasible plan I can think of. Unless it’s just a coincidence after all, I just wish I knew.
“Any ideas where to head next?”
“Hmm, are there any cities still standing on the circumference of this circle?’”
“The only town left that intersects the circle’s path is right here. It seems to be called Salzton. I say we start there and see if we get any more clues.” Mark decided.
“Sounds reasonable enough to me. Let’s go for it.”
“Onward to Salzton!”

The car ride was excruciatingly lengthy. Four hours passed and they had only made it halfway according to the map. Gas was beginning to be an issue too. Mark believed there to only be a few more miles left that they could continue to drive. Once the fuel was depleted they would have to make the trek on foot.
“Maaaark, how much longer? I’m absolutely staaarving!” Antoinette whined.
“Do you think I know? I’m honestly surprised we made it this far!” Mark groaned in annoyance.
“I’m going to check the map again. Maybe we made a wrong turn.” Antoinette studied the map again.
“You know I think we’re a lot closer than we thought.”
“How did you figure that one out?”
“No need to be sassy! We just passed through what used to be Micheton City. Right?”
“Hmm, yeah I think we did.”
“That’s the town right next to Salzton! You’re an idiot!” Antoinette yelled at him.
“Woah there! Is it really? I couldn’t have made such a pathetic mistake…”
“Well, you did. See?” Antoinette shoved the map in his face, causing him to slam on the gas pedal.
“What are you doing!! You could have killed us!” Mark yelled at her, while regaining control of his vehicle.
“Hahahaha. No need to be so angry, Mr. GrumpyPants. Look there’s a town straight ahead. That’s got to be it! We made it with gas to spare! How great is that?!” Antoinette beamed at him.
Dumbfounded by his partner’s rapid talking, Mark just followed her out of the car and into the town.
------------------------------------------------------------
The town was eerily empty, even by desolate world standards. The buildings were all in pristine condition, but not a single person was present.
“Do you think there was an evacuation?” Mark inquired.
“I don’t see why there would be. It’s not like they could have possibly known that it may be a target for attack.”
The two of them stood questioning their surroundings. Meanwhile, Ringabel was off flying around the streets. He suddenly saw a rather shiny object in an alleyway and had to inspect what it could be. Upon closer inspection, the glistening object turned out to be a key. Ringabel picked it up and flew off to give to his owner.
“What’s this? A key?” Antoinette looked the shiny key over and turned it around in her hands. “Where did you find this, Ringabel?”
Ringabel cheeped in response and took flight once again. The two followed after the little winged creature. Once they all reached the alleyway, Mark and Antoinette attempted to deduce what the key could be for and realized they would have made extremely poor detectives. Sherlock Holmes would have been ashamed.
Ringabel on the other hand, was hungry and wanted to see if there were any food scraps or worms nearby. An old dumpster seemed like an ideal spot for a quick snack. Excitedly, he peeked inside and nothing was to be found, except what looked like a trap door. Disappointed it wasn’t food inside the dumpster, Ringable just sulked on top of the empty trash container.
A few feet away, Mark and Antoinette were getting increasingly frustrated with their search. Antoinette kicked a small stone in anger. It whacked against the dumpster which made a striking and shockingly loud noise.
“Antoinette! Why are you always doing this!? I’m tired of you being so useless all the time!” Mark complained in anger.
“Hey now. I don’t see you being helpful in the slightest! I’m going to grab that pebble and kick it again!” Antoinette stormed off towards the dumpster.
She saw Ringabel perched atop the ledge looking forlornly at the inside of the dumpster. Antoinette had to see what was making her friend so sad and looked in, only to find the trap door.
“Hey Mark! You had better come take a look at this. I don’t think I’m so useless anymore.” Antoinette smirked.
Mark jogged over and also peered in. He utilized Ringbel’s key and the door unlocked easily.
“Well, would you look at that. Nice job Antoinette. I owe you an apology I guess.” Mark said.
Antoinette removed the lid and unexpectedly the inside was completely lit up. There was a ladder extending to the floor, but nothing else was discernible at the angle they were currently at.
“Shall we go down?” Antoinette asked.
“Why not? We have got nothing to lose now that our town is destroyed.” Mark replied bitter sweetly.


Down inside the dumpster was a small refugee town. The two agents both gasped in awe at the sight. People were hustling and bustling from place to place. It was not graveyard like the world above. It was definitely less spacious and the artificial light was an odd hue of yellow, but the people seemed happy and healthy enough. There were stores and houses that lined the concrete haven’s pathways. It was a perfect hideout that they stumbled upon.

“Wow… Are there more places like this?” Antoinette wondered aloud.
A pedestrian overheard and walked over to them to talk. “Howdy, friends! You must be new around here, I’ve never seen you guys before. Where ya’ from?” He questioned them cheerfully, but cautiously.
“Um, well I’m Antoinette and these two are Mark and Ringabel. We’re from above as I’m sure you’ve noticed and a few towns over. Our home was destroyed and our boss went missing, so we’re trying to find him.” Antoinette awkwardly responded.
“Oh, I see. Escapin’ the terror like the rest’uv us. That’s just dandy. I’ll show you around if you like and what’s the name of your boss? I might have seen him around. A whole buncha new people have made their way to New Salzton. We may need a better hiding spot for that there entrance, huh. Oh! By the way, the name’s Russel.” Russel said sincerely cheerful.
“His name is Louis Black.” Mark answered.
Russel’s face turned pale and his smile melted away.
“Louis Black ya’ say?” Russel spoke.
“Hmm? … yes? What’s the matter?” Antoinette replied.
“You work for him!?” Russel exclaimed. “I’ve got to leave and you need to get going. We don’t need his henchmen here too!”
Russel started to walk quickly away, but Mark grabbed his arm and said,” Look, I think you are thinking of the wrong person. Black is a great guy. He may be a bit secretive, which is annoying, but I think he’s looking out for our company, Mellifluo. What about that name has you so scared?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Russel stuttered. “He’s the head honcho behind some of these bombings the past few years. He was discovered in this town, before we delved under the ground of course. He wasn’t called Louis Black back in the day though. Ten years ago, he was just plain ole’ Larry White. He was an upstanding citizen for as long as I could remember. Then one day everything changed. He started acting strangely and his anger management got out of control. He was always screeching at people and breaking things. This continued for a month or so, before the town decided that we couldn’t go on like that any longer. A group of us, myself included, visited him at his home. The only issue was that he wasn’t there. I think he knew we were coming…. There was a note nailed to his front door that said, “Come on in. Don’t be shy.” Creepiest thing… We all wandered inside. We had to get to the bottom of this mess.”
Russel took a deep breath and continued with his recollection. “His house was cesspool of filth. Trash layered the floor, like cheese in lasagna. Gibberish was scrawled across the walls along with disturbin’ drawings that I’ll spare the details of… We found his office afterwards. That’s when things got real weird. His laptop had recording on loop playing his voice. He said, “Larry White is no more. White fades to black. Black. Black! Hahahaha!” I was ready to sprint out of that house by that point, but my comrades wouldn’t leave just yet.”
Russel paused for a moment and sighed. Mark and Antoinette looked at him in shock.
Russel continued after a minute or so. “Sprawled across the walls was his new alias, Louis Black. The my buddy, Randy stumbled and tripped over something and the next thing we knew the house was on fire. Larry had planned to burn us alive that day. If it wasn’t for Randy smashing threw the window we’d have never made it out alive.”
Russel stopped talking, now lost in his own thoughts.
Mark then spoke up, “That’s terrible… but it still doesn’t explain his connection to all the attacks. Can you continue please, Russel?”

Snapping out of his reminiscence, Russel spoke, “Hmm, uuh, what? Wait! Sure, sure.
Well after his attempts were foiled by our brilliant escape, he went missing for a week or so. We were all on edge, until one day he showed up and started blowing up buildings. One a day for quite some time, this happened. Nobody who was alive in Salzton that year will ever forget. Things were really bad. Though I gotta say, the weirdest part was when he confronted the whole city via loud speaker and gave a speech about how he was going to purge this world of its issues. He left and never returned to Salzton. About two years later we noticed towns were being bombed left and right. They all had one thing in common. It’s Larry’s signature style we all figured, because the exact thing had happened to our town. He destroys the middle part of the city and then sets fire to the outskirts of the city. Seeing this on the television in combination with the pathetic state of our planet we decided to build this here refuge, New Salzton. It took awhile, but we’re finally safe.”

Russel smiled sadly at the end of his story. “You’d better hope he died in that collapsed building.”
Mark and Antoinette didn’t know what to say, but thanks. Russel showed them to a small cottage that they could rent for a few days. The two settled down inside and had a long discussion about how the recent events fit into Russel’s story.
“Do you think he just had enough of his charade and gave up? That’s why he basically committed suicide back at HQ?” Mark wondered.
“I don’t know… He always seemed so business as usual… who’d have thought he’d had such a rough past… or that he would just use us like that. We were nothing, but pawns in his game. That’s why he never let us in on any details. It all makes sense now. We don’t need to look for him anymore…. I just couldn’t bear to see him anymore.” Antoinette sadly said. Not long after she started to cry.
“To think all this time, I’ve been working to hurt people. I never knew. How could I not have known? That’s why that governor was so mad, he knew! He had to have known! We’re idiots, Mark! God, why?” Antoinette sobbed.
“Hey, hey. Don’t cry. That won’t do either of us any good. There was no way we could have known….there couldn’t be….” Mark said as he tried to comfort her.
“You saw that building… only our floor survived and barely at that. Louis must be gone. Long gone. We just need to move on now… maybe even live here since it seems to be safe from the tyranny outside...” Mark trailed off.
“Our homes are destroyed, our boss is a serial killer, and the world is deteriorating… what a wonderful life…” Antoinette continued to cry.
“Nothing to be done, but move forward. Things always look darkest before the dawn. Isn’t that how the saying goes?” Mark said.
“Yeah… it is… I guess we have no choice, but to start our lives over… Do you think Russel will let us buy this cottage?” Antoinette said, cheering up a little.
“I sure hope so.” Mark responded.