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Description
Fire, smoke and dust hung thick in the air, rusting and burnt out wreckage lay scattered around in a rough line, husks of skiffs, hulking trucks, gutted and smoldering, bodies lay, piled in heaps or left to rot in the open or under debris, many picked clean by scavengers, some of which remained. The small creatures scattered quickly as an engine roared and the Skiff, Debbie, rolled into the midst of the carnage, stopping just on the edge Carl shut off the engine, Dale stood and tied a wrap tight around his head, lowering his goggles. Picking up his rifle he motioned for BLACKLIGHT to stay in the skiff as he and William climbed out of the flatbed.

Jeremy stayed by the skiff, gun in hand, while the others began to explore the devastation. Dale had his rifle tight against his shoulder as he gingerly stepped over and around corpses, ducking under burnt metal, searching for survivors or clues as to what had happened here. It was William that found the first survivor, pulling a charred and twisted axel off the unconscious man, after him three others were found, one pulled free by Dale and the other two by Carl, they were all brought back to the skiff for Jeremy to administer to while Dale and the others, having found no more survivors, set about making a funeral pyre.

Thirty four dead were piled in the center of the devastation, soaked in fuels left over from the damaged vehicles before being lit. Without a backwards glance the four men returned to the skiff and the wounded survivors, three men and a woman. Dale reckoned that, from the number of people and vehicles and the lack of weapons discarded by the dead, that this must have been a village or community, moving for some reason, probably ambushed by raiders, who then looted weapons and supplies and left the people to rot.

As they sat a short way from the skiff, the girl and four men, Jeremy spoke, he voice was soft on average but now it was also tinted with regret, "Only two of them will survive, and even that is unlikely unless we can take them to a settlement. The man is as good as gone, his torso is crushed, his heart is barely beating, two of the women have bullet wounds, one will die from them, the other may survive, but the third woman..." he paused and glanced pointedly at his brother before continuing, "I don't know what caused her wounds, she'll survive, no doubt about it, but I don't know if she'll want to. Her brainwaves are wrong, distorted, I don't know how or why but I recommend protective custody until we're sure she isn't a threat."

Dale mulled this over, exploring various possibilities for the strange injuries. His father was asking Jeremy when they'd wake, "I've sedated them all, the man will be in such pain it wouldn't be ethical to wake him, best be merciful, I doubt one of the women will ever wake up, whether we want her to or not. We should keep the severely wounded woman sedated until we get to a settlement, but the last one... We could wake he soon if you wanted."

William nodded, "Good, we'll wake her in the morning." he turned to Carl and beckoned.

The two men strode, grim-faced towards the survivors behind the skiff. After a few moments two loud gunshots rent the air. Dale grimaced, shuddering slightly and Jeremy sighed, BLACKLIGHT glanced nervously at Dale but stayed where she was, hugging her knees, he didn't move towards her.

They remained at the ambush site for another day while they looked for any evidence that might hint at what had happened to these people, but they found little, damaged weaponry, old bones, but little else, nothing that really explained anything. Jeremy kept the two survivors stable and, due to a slight change by William, they woke the woman in the evening after they had packed to move out.

She moan and shifted before rolling onto her side and propping herself up on an elbow, William knelt beside her, "Miss, miss can you hear me? What is your name?"

She stared at him, wide eyed, Dale could see her muscles tensing and raised his weapon, she shivered and crawled away from the imposing man slightly, "Stuff its... Some vicious what! gun murder, weird, coming that... World-Shatter... Angels!" she drifted into silence, seemingly lost in her broken mind.

Dale glance at Jeremy questioningly but he simply shrugged and moved beside the woman, speaking to her in a soft, soothing voice as he sedated her again. After lifting her into the back of the skiff he turned to the others, "I don't know how or why but I do know what is wrong with her, there was a word for it back before the End but no one can remember, basically she can't find the right words, she knows what she wants to say but her brain gives her the wrong words. Maybe our ancestors could help her but we certainly can't. Best thing is to take her to a doctor or something."

Dale opened his mouth but William cut them all off, "Right, on the skiff, follow the trade lane, we'll reach a town soon enough." Dale frowned but did as he was told, giving the girl a boost first before climbing in himself.

The skiff rumbled and pulled away from the scene, rapidly gaining speed in a cloud of orange dust. Dale had never traveled the trade lanes but the rest of his family had, his parents didn't talk about it but Carl had hinted occasionally about life before Haven, from what Dale could piece together they may have been mercs. His mother didn't like to talk about her past and his dad just didn't like to talk in general. But the way William took control of the situation, they way none of them flinched at the carnage, the mercy killings, they'd done this before.

BLACKLIGHT sat beside Dale, but made sure there was a couple of inches between them, he didn't seem to want comforting or to comfort, she couldn't deny, she was in shock, the bodies, the death, the cruelty... And then what William and Carl had done... It was necessary, she knew that, but she couldn't ignore the fact that they'd killed to human beings. She'd killed before, sure, but only beasts, monstrosities of the wastes that would have killed her otherwise, it wasn't a good thing but it had t be done. She felt cold and alone, lost in the endless deserts of insecurity and fear... And there was no one there for her, she'd thought... She'd hoped that maybe Dale would... But she knew that was a foolish hope from the start, he was a wastelander, hardened, dirty and dangerous, his only interest was taking her home.

William looked over at his son for a moment, sighing to himself he turned back to the wastes. He loved his son, but, like most genii, he really could not see what was right in front of his face, or if he did he didn't trust it. William knew his son well, better than Dale knew himself, and he knew that he pined for someone to care for, he also knew that he was as paranoid and cynical is his dear mother, while William loved his wife he knew she had a tendency to trust nothing and no one, her son had inherited this trait. But William knew also that he could not interfere, it was Dale's business, but he could always nudge things in the right direction when the time came.

Carl sat in the cabin of his life's work, he'd spent a good twenty years scavenging parts from ruins and wreckage then piecing them together into his machine, his wife had never approved of the project, and he missed her so much that when he finally finished he named it after her. Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered her, they'd been going to have a child, but she'd been injured while pregnant and they lost both in childbirth. He'd never seen his child. His normally cheery demeanor faded when his was behind the wheel, no one could see him in there, no one would worry.

Jeremy was quiet, but then again, he was always quiet, his wife and kids had left him more than thirty years ago, they'd left Haven and headed east, towards, what they hoped, was a better place to raise children... And Jeremy hadn't realised they'd gone until two days later. He was a genius, no one could deny it, but with genius also comes a touch of madness. He was so quiet because he could barely hear himself speak over the torrent of voices and ideas that filled his head, the things he knew all crowding for attention, rearranging themselves and sometimes, mixing and creating hitherto unseen possibilities. Now he couldn't even remember his wife's name, the overload of information and possibilities driving all else from his mind.

***

Like every civilisation, religion has followed the survivors of the abandonment, The End, legends abound of a great event, a day when Angels and Demons will walk the face of Hades and fight great battles to decided the fate of humanity. These legends also tell of a single human that is not, the one person who can, when Demons roam free, call the Angels down from Heaven to fight for humanity. But then again, there are legends on Hades that say the world is a box and we live inside it, so few people believe the legends anymore.

In fact, many people doubt there was ever a galactic civilisation at all, that humanity never "came" to Hades, but that they had always been here, that they simply abused their power and destroyed themselves, leaving us to clean up their messes. Then of course there were those who believed that, like it's name sake, they truly were in Hell, to be punished eternally for sins they could not remember.

Description
Fire, smoke and dust hung thick in the air, rusting and burnt out wreckage lay scattered around in a rough line, husks of skiffs, hulking trucks, gutted and smoldering, bodies lay, piled in heaps or left to rot in the open or under debris, many picked clean by scavengers, some of which remained. The small creatures scattered quickly as an engine roared and the Skiff, Debbie, rolled into the midst of the carnage, stopping just on the edge Carl shut off the engine, Dale stood and tied a wrap tight around his head, lowering his goggles. Picking up his rifle he motioned for BLACKLIGHT to stay in the skiff as he and William climbed out of the flatbed.

Jeremy stayed by the skiff, gun in hand, while the others began to explore the devastation. Dale had his rifle tight against his shoulder as he gingerly stepped over and around corpses, ducking under burnt metal, searching for survivors or clues as to what had happened here. It was William that found the first survivor, pulling a charred and twisted axel off the unconscious man, after him three others were found, one pulled free by Dale and the other two by Carl, they were all brought back to the skiff for Jeremy to administer to while Dale and the others, having found no more survivors, set about making a funeral pyre.

Thirty four dead were piled in the center of the devastation, soaked in fuels left over from the damaged vehicles before being lit. Without a backwards glance the four men returned to the skiff and the wounded survivors, three men and a woman. Dale reckoned that, from the number of people and vehicles and the lack of weapons discarded by the dead, that this must have been a village or community, moving for some reason, probably ambushed by raiders, who then looted weapons and supplies and left the people to rot.

As they sat a short way from the skiff, the girl and four men, Jeremy spoke, he voice was soft on average but now it was also tinted with regret, "Only two of them will survive, and even that is unlikely unless we can take them to a settlement. The man is as good as gone, his torso is crushed, his heart is barely beating, two of the women have bullet wounds, one will die from them, the other may survive, but the third woman..." he paused and glanced pointedly at his brother before continuing, "I don't know what caused her wounds, she'll survive, no doubt about it, but I don't know if she'll want to. Her brainwaves are wrong, distorted, I don't know how or why but I recommend protective custody until we're sure she isn't a threat."

Dale mulled this over, exploring various possibilities for the strange injuries. His father was asking Jeremy when they'd wake, "I've sedated them all, the man will be in such pain it wouldn't be ethical to wake him, best be merciful, I doubt one of the women will ever wake up, whether we want her to or not. We should keep the severely wounded woman sedated until we get to a settlement, but the last one... We could wake he soon if you wanted."

William nodded, "Good, we'll wake her in the morning." he turned to Carl and beckoned.

The two men strode, grim-faced towards the survivors behind the skiff. After a few moments two loud gunshots rent the air. Dale grimaced, shuddering slightly and Jeremy sighed, BLACKLIGHT glanced nervously at Dale but stayed where she was, hugging her knees, he didn't move towards her.

They remained at the ambush site for another day while they looked for any evidence that might hint at what had happened to these people, but they found little, damaged weaponry, old bones, but little else, nothing that really explained anything. Jeremy kept the two survivors stable and, due to a slight change by William, they woke the woman in the evening after they had packed to move out.

She moan and shifted before rolling onto her side and propping herself up on an elbow, William knelt beside her, "Miss, miss can you hear me? What is your name?"

She stared at him, wide eyed, Dale could see her muscles tensing and raised his weapon, she shivered and crawled away from the imposing man slightly, "Stuff its... Some vicious what! gun murder, weird, coming that... World-Shatter... Angels!" she drifted into silence, seemingly lost in her broken mind.

Dale glance at Jeremy questioningly but he simply shrugged and moved beside the woman, speaking to her in a soft, soothing voice as he sedated her again. After lifting her into the back of the skiff he turned to the others, "I don't know how or why but I do know what is wrong with her, there was a word for it back before the End but no one can remember, basically she can't find the right words, she knows what she wants to say but her brain gives her the wrong words. Maybe our ancestors could help her but we certainly can't. Best thing is to take her to a doctor or something."

Dale opened his mouth but William cut them all off, "Right, on the skiff, follow the trade lane, we'll reach a town soon enough." Dale frowned but did as he was told, giving the girl a boost first before climbing in himself.

The skiff rumbled and pulled away from the scene, rapidly gaining speed in a cloud of orange dust. Dale had never traveled the trade lanes but the rest of his family had, his parents didn't talk about it but Carl had hinted occasionally about life before Haven, from what Dale could piece together they may have been mercs. His mother didn't like to talk about her past and his dad just didn't like to talk in general. But the way William took control of the situation, they way none of them flinched at the carnage, the mercy killings, they'd done this before.

BLACKLIGHT sat beside Dale, but made sure there was a couple of inches between them, he didn't seem to want comforting or to comfort, she couldn't deny, she was in shock, the bodies, the death, the cruelty... And then what William and Carl had done... It was necessary, she knew that, but she couldn't ignore the fact that they'd killed to human beings. She'd killed before, sure, but only beasts, monstrosities of the wastes that would have killed her otherwise, it wasn't a good thing but it had t be done. She felt cold and alone, lost in the endless deserts of insecurity and fear... And there was no one there for her, she'd thought... She'd hoped that maybe Dale would... But she knew that was a foolish hope from the start, he was a wastelander, hardened, dirty and dangerous, his only interest was taking her home.

William looked over at his son for a moment, sighing to himself he turned back to the wastes. He loved his son, but, like most genii, he really could not see what was right in front of his face, or if he did he didn't trust it. William knew his son well, better than Dale knew himself, and he knew that he pined for someone to care for, he also knew that he was as paranoid and cynical is his dear mother, while William loved his wife he knew she had a tendency to trust nothing and no one, her son had inherited this trait. But William knew also that he could not interfere, it was Dale's business, but he could always nudge things in the right direction when the time came.

Carl sat in the cabin of his life's work, he'd spent a good twenty years scavenging parts from ruins and wreckage then piecing them together into his machine, his wife had never approved of the project, and he missed her so much that when he finally finished he named it after her. Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered her, they'd been going to have a child, but she'd been injured while pregnant and they lost both in childbirth. He'd never seen his child. His normally cheery demeanor faded when his was behind the wheel, no one could see him in there, no one would worry.

Jeremy was quiet, but then again, he was always quiet, his wife and kids had left him more than thirty years ago, they'd left Haven and headed east, towards, what they hoped, was a better place to raise children... And Jeremy hadn't realised they'd gone until two days later. He was a genius, no one could deny it, but with genius also comes a touch of madness. He was so quiet because he could barely hear himself speak over the torrent of voices and ideas that filled his head, the things he knew all crowding for attention, rearranging themselves and sometimes, mixing and creating hitherto unseen possibilities. Now he couldn't even remember his wife's name, the overload of information and possibilities driving all else from his mind.

***

Like every civilisation, religion has followed the survivors of the abandonment, The End, legends abound of a great event, a day when Angels and Demons will walk the face of Hades and fight great battles to decided the fate of humanity. These legends also tell of a single human that is not, the one person who can, when Demons roam free, call the Angels down from Heaven to fight for humanity. But then again, there are legends on Hades that say the world is a box and we live inside it, so few people believe the legends anymore.

In fact, many people doubt there was ever a galactic civilisation at all, that humanity never "came" to Hades, but that they had always been here, that they simply abused their power and destroyed themselves, leaving us to clean up their messes. Then of course there were those who believed that, like it's name sake, they truly were in Hell, to be punished eternally for sins they could not remember.