Starter Scrolls: by Nick Venom (best ereader for graphic novels txt) 📖

neared the pick-up; its faded red paint still holding out. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “May you have a better life next time.” He raised the knife high into the air, closing his eyes, before denting the window. The knife nearly bounced out of his hands after making contact, emitting a loud thud into the air. 

“Oh no,” He whispered while swinging his hip to look at the nearby Roamers. They were all staring in his direction, turning their heads like dogs to the smell of food. 

He raised the knife again and launched it into the window, piercing it. The glass cracked, threatening to break apart, before fulfilling its threat. It broke apart and the alarm blared. The alarm caught the attention of the Roamers already interested in Justin’s first attack and Roamers far from him. They all headed in his direction.

Justin shifted to his left, distancing himself from the pick-up. He didn’t want the Roamers to switch their target and attack him. He watched as the Roamers surrounded the pick-up and trash it. They flailed their limbs around, bashing the pick-up to parts.

While watching, he wondered what would’ve happened if he was standing alongside the pick-up, his body being broken by their limbs. His blood would’ve flooded from many wounds; pieces of his organs and his heart would jump out of his body, in the literal sense.

“Hey,” He heard a muffled voice asked from behind him. He spun on his heels to face the voice, noticing a girl his age. A black-haired teen stood in front of him, her clothes bloodied and tattered. She looked like she had gone through the wringer. Her hair was messy and knotted, her tanned skin was stained by blood and dirt, and her beautiful blue eyes---which were brightened by the sunlight---appeared gloomy.

“Who are you?” He whispered as he crept closer to her, his knife ready to attack.

“You’re Justin, the guy helping with repairing houses and stuff?” She asked. Justin nodded. “Can you fix a broken family?” She asked, her face not showing any emotions. She was a blank slate.

“I’m afraid not, but let’s, for the moment, talk in a different location. The Roamers are going to get rid of the alarm and then us.”

“I killed my family.” She blurted out. Justin was caught off-guard, a cat grabbing his tongue.

“You… what?”

She nodded her head as if a simple nod was enough to answer his question. “I killed my family.” She took a step forward towards the pick-up. “I must repent.”

Justin grabbed her before she could take another step. A bloodied knife rattled in her pocket, falling out for no apparent reason. “Did they turn?”

“Turn?” She looked at him, her eyes glossed over. “Become like them?” She pointed at a nearby Roamer. Justin nodded, repeating his question. “Yes, they did. But I dealt the final blow. I killed them.” She said loudly.

Justin shook his head, shushing her. A nearby Roamer nearly had its attention directed towards them. “I know a way you can repent and it’s not dying.”

She looked at him, tilting her head. Justin stared deeper into her blue eyes, taken aback by the deepness of her eyes. Almost as if he was staring into an ocean, bottomless and grand.

“How can I repent if it isn’t death?” She questioned him.

Justin snapped out of his daze, focusing on the situation at hand. “By helping people. You could help me and my family. Maybe even find other survivors.” He told her. “That’s how you repent. Do more good deeds to snuff out the bad ones.”

Her eyes returned to normal, as if whatever was possessing her was suddenly gone. She stared at Justin strangely before realizing her current situation. The alarm of the pick-up had vanished, destroying their distraction. The Roamers had crushed the alarm earlier than expected.

Justin grabbed her hand and led her to the sidewalk, stopping momentarily to wait for the Roamers’ next move, before continuing down towards his house. 

“Why aren’t they attacking? Can’t they see us?” The girl asked him, asking from over his left shoulder.

“They gorged out their eyes; they’re blind.” He told her. “They can hear us, but they can’t see us.”

“How did you find that out?” She asked.

“I was taking my time to get to the side of the block when I noticed that they could hear me moving. When one turned to face me, I noticed it gouged its eyes out. So, I, simply, tested out a theory. Stood in front of a pack of them and waited to be attacked, yet nothing.”

“Wow, that takes guts. I would’ve stayed hom-” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t want to think of her dead family, their bodies rotting where she left them.

“We’re nearing my house, so we’ll be able to freely talk there. No need for whispering---no shouting, though. Oh, I’m Justin, by the way.” He said.

“Blake, nice to meet you, Justin.”

“Likewise, unfortunate that it was due to these circumstances.”

“Yeah, but I’m glad to meet you, Justin. I’m not sure what was wrong with me. I was in a daze.”

Justin shushed her as they neared the front door. “No worries, Blake. That’s in the past. Right now, you’re apart of my family. No need for any past worries. It’s a new chapter for you.”

Blake smiled at him, a toothy smile. “A new chapter? That sounds good. My new life in the apocalypse.”

“Welcome to the family.” He said, pointing at the front door. “Your new family awaits you inside.”

***

The day the world broke, tectonic plates shifted and entire cities were devastated. Cities near the sea or any bodies of water were flooded almost instantly. Chicago, for example, was one of these cities, being devoured by Lake Michigan.

People tried to escape the floods but were caught off-guard. They weren’t prepared as the water swept through the streets. Homeless people and anybody working underground was killed first while those with proper shelter survived the initial chaos. 

Once the water finished making its routes through the cities, it began to rise. People climbed to their roofs, hoping they had enough height to escape the ever-rising waters. The water reached the roofs of one-story houses, then climbed farther. They consumed two-story houses before three. 

By story five, the waters slowed down drastically. It reached a standstill, towering at five stories high. Many people, who were at story six and up, were amazed by the amount of water flooding their city. They looked down before shielding their eyes from the sight of red clumps of corpses, mangled by the water and the sharp objects lurking in it.

The water remained as high as they were, even with rifts consuming gallons by the minutes. Multiple rifts had formed after the dust descended after the meteor attack. The downtown portion of Chicago wasn’t affected too heavily by the meteor attack but the suburbs received the brunt of the worst. 

However, downtown wasn’t safe yet as the water from Lake Michigan flooded the street and killed many, almost instantly. The survivors, the very few people that escaped death, climbed skyscrapers and other tall buildings to escape the water.

Gage, a street rat living nearby a luxurious apartment complex, had been sleeping when he heard the water coming. He awoke and shook his fellow street rat to wake her up; Millie, his only comrade in arms on the dirty streets, awoke with wide eyes. She stared down the street---a mile from her current location----and nearly fainted with shock. Gage grabbed her and dragged her to the large apartment complex; a brightly painted eight-floor building with a fire escape connecting all of the floors except the first floor. 

“The water’s catching up with us!” Millie shrieked, pointing at the water surging behind them. Gage glanced over his shoulder, peeping at the water racing towards them. It was a mile away but had traveled quickly to be a half-mile behind them. 

Do we have enough time? Gage thought as they neared the fire escape. He noticed several other people climbing the ladder, the last person about to bring the ladder up and close off their escape route. 

“Wait!” He shouted. The last person---a skinny teenager---noticed them. He dropped the ladder, being shouted at by somebody climbing on the ladder.

“Leave them to die!” The suit-wearing man cowardly shouted as he raced up the fire escape.

The teen ignored his shouts, waiting for the street rats to reach him. When they did, he helped Millie up the ladder and reach the second floor. He then extended his hand out to Gage, helping him up the ladder as the water barged into the first floor of the complex. It ran around the entire first floor before swelling, rising, and taking over the second floor.

Fortunately, Gage, Millie, and the teen went farther up the fire escape and bolted out of the water’s grip. They stopped on the sixth floor, panting heavy, as the water swelled up to the fifth floor before stopping. For a mere moment, they were safe. 

“I’m Arlo,” the teen introduced himself. “Who are you guys?”

“Uh..” Gage wasn’t used to talking to people, especially kids his age. He had dropped out of school and ran away after his parents tried to kill him. Living on the streets wasn’t his goal in life, but it had treated him decently. He found Millie, acting as her guardian against anybody who tried to attack her. She acted as his light pillar, someone that brightened up his day. She was the reason why he kept moving forward.

“... G-Gage,” He muttered. He pointed at Millie, who had her head over the rail, and stared at the flowing water. “That’s Millie.”

“Well, nice to meet you,” Arlo said, motioning for them to follow him. He led them to the roof of the apartment complex, a mostly flat roof with the occasional air conditioner unit embedded into the cardboard-looking surface.

Sitting against an AC unit was Suit-Man from earlier, his eyes closed as he tried to daze off in the heavy heat of the day. The water flooding Chicago brought him some relief as the gas of evaporated fresh water filled the air. 

Sitting across from him, glancing at him every once in a while, was another teenage girl. She wore an oversize t-shirt that appeared more like a blanket than wearable clothing; joggers that stuck tight to her body, outlining her body, and sneakers with a large tongue and a weird blend of colors. Her choice of fashion was strange, not like a typical teen’s. 

However, what was stranger than her clothes were her facial expressions. She seemed overjoyed that people were dying everywhere. The quick screams of a man being pulled into the water made her break into a large smile. She enjoyed hearing people died all around the complex. Unlucky people that couldn’t escape to higher areas were swept away. Mothers separated from their children, couples driven apart, and friends trying to help each other before being taken away by the current. These incidents happened all around the complex, pleasing the teen. She licked her lips as she looked past Suit-Man and towards the street over, watching as a guy hung from the balcony railing. He tried his best to hold onto but his mass betrayed him. It grabbed him and dragged him into the current. He went all the way to the bottom, hitting his head on the concrete street and bleeding out. His blood and corpse were swept away.

Sitting a considerable distance from the girl was a couple, snuggling together next to an AC unit. Unlike the girl, they seemed worried about their race dying out around them. They heard cries and screams and shielded their ears. They wanted no part of this. The man---with tanned skin and a strong build---comforted his girlfriend. He embraced her tightly, shielding her from the screams, cries, shouts, desperate pleas for help, and the teen near them. They were afraid of her.

Arlo sat down at an AC unit, two down from suit-man, and motioned for them to sit down. They followed his lead, sitting down at an AC unit. They sat across from the couple. The