Leaving Our Only Home

In a week, the giant battle was going to take place. Neither side was going to give up all this land so easily. Especially with all the advantages they can get.

Since the announcement, the entire town packed what they could. Scouts plotted exits and check points. Phantoms held down the checkpoints. And Warmonger hired a small army for the attack.

The sight I saw just days before we left was unsettling. No one dared to step outside. It was an empty town before we even left.

If anyone knocked on a door and was welcomed in. Residents neatly cleaned their houses. Tables, chairs, beds, all looked clean.

Food wasn't much of an option either. Because of our decision to move out, some people have gotten scared enough to not eat.

Stress was building inside, but what about on the outside?

Edward ordered his scouts to make a clean route out of the region. Specific orders were, must not be in the open. Each checkpoint must have its own supply of food and water.

To confirm each checkpoint followed the same criteria, other scouts and Phantoms stopped by and examined what resources each checkpoint had.

If it was out near open roads, then the checkpoint had to have a valid reason. Like the ground deeper into the trees was too muddy or unsafe to travel on.

Warmonger's connections to her most loyal workers struck her an offer too difficult to pass. Especially during this time.

The exact offer is too hazy to tell for sure what it is, but from what I can tell. We're offering ourselves in exchange for a team to fight back any attackers.

This hired team will also help us attack during the battle. If we move everyone out before it happens, of course.

Some of us weren't too happy with the deal. Edward joined the DRT, knowing he was going to serve the Disaster Recovery Team, not to serve a random group of outcasts.

Specter was also very against that decision, but not enough to confront Warmonger on. They understood she made a decision she would never make if the situation wasn't this dire.

Now it's the day we pack our bags and say goodbye to our last him, for probably the last time.

My task was to march ahead of the group. To ensure no one was going to attack us. Edward stood alongside me. He was there to lead us from one checkpoint to another.

Defender was deep in the crowd. She was there to boost moral. To make it seem like everything was okay. No one took the bait, everyone still looked serious or shaken.

It was quiet. I know I shouldn't be thinking to myself, but the future is something I always looked forward to.

Fighting deep into enemy lines and seeing half of your team get ruthlessly tossed around and picked off one by one, taught me to look at the good in the bad and the bad in the good.

There never was something completely bad. And there was never something completely good. Where something lies, the opposite rests right under it.

In a sense, I'm also looking back. We, my family and I marched together when the Calamity first happened. Going through the main roads was our biggest mistake.

Each of us got attacked, I wasn't prepared. Me, my dad, and brothers needed to keep danger away from us.

There hasn't been one male in our family that hasn't gone training and fought under our own heart since my grandpa. And how the future is looking like right now, it looks like it ends with me.

But if that's the case, I'll hatch a plan to take back this region. A plan crazy enough to make people remember the name Finch Bulwalks.

How will I pull that off?

Specter and his Phantoms will rush in with the hired army and the scouts from the West. Taking Downpour by surprise. They'll not be able to recognize who was attacking, but when they see the giant skeletal figure and a chaos-happy scout, they'll think of us.

I'll lead my own team, a special one. Each member who joins will be there under my word. Together, with Defender, we'll stomp out the East side of the region.

Warmonger will be her own army. She'll send Wildmen scrambling to the outskirts of the region. Where we'll take them all out.

After we run through each base and outpost, we'll all circle the center. Where the heaviest amount of fighting will take place.

Yes! Right here, where our victory waits. Between Downpour's vicious stare, and the Wildmen's starved smiles.

We'll make it rain fire, metal, and rage. By the end, this entire region will be reborn. In our arms, we'll hold the child of hope.

For the future of this region. For the future of the people. For the future of every DRT member.

With that child, we'll nurse it into adulthood. A signal of inspiration. Something to show all other DRT sub-branches that it's possible to power through it. The only weapon you need is the heart to see change.

"...Finch!"

Someone broke my train of thought. I looked all around to see where the voice came from.

Everyone around me either held up a weapon or braced themselves.

I didn't waste time to do the same. My hand quickly reached down to my dagger. I flicked it into my hand and prepared for whatever was threatening us.

No one was around us, I was confused. I turned to Edward and asked. "What?"

"There was some giggling around these parts. And slight chanting. The usual stuff Savages do to scare other people away from their territory." Edward shakingly answered.

I could feel a switch go off in my head. Suddenly, I had the urge to go outside of the people's view. My dagger weighed my hand down enough for it to be noticeable.

I began marching away. If history repeats itself, then that's what's happening right now. The reason most of my family didn't make it was because I was too afraid to step away.

Too afraid to sacrifice myself for the rest. My march encouraged the rest of the group to continue.

All of this time to think to myself. In silence. The future doesn't promise, that's why I do. And my promise is the security of the people that stand behind me.

That promise is one I'll hold up, no matter the cost.