Chapter One : Cast Out

Ari ran as fast as he could, eyes blurring with tears as his legs carried him along, away from that horrible sight. He could feel a pain in his chest, as if his heart itself had shattered.

"Why?!" Ari slammed his hand into the wall besides him, his eyes wide and bloodshot as he thought back to the scene a few moments prior.

His bully Andrew was laying in bed with his girlfriend Melinda. His girlfriend which he hadn't even gotten a chance to touch was romping in bed with someone else.

"Damn it all! Why do I even care anymore? Love is a prickly thing." Ari wiped his eyes and looked around, only realizing now that he had entered the boundary of the camp.

A chain link fence seperated the inside from the outside world that had drastically changed in the past two weeks. Ari didn't dare to think about going outside anytime soon with the world being as chaotic as it were. Now, humans were against humans while they cowered in the face of a bigger threat... The Devourers.

Ari hadn't seen one. In fact, no one who had seen one lived to tell about the encounter. Ari simply regarded them as demons given flesh due to the effect they had on the world simply by arriving.

The skies were a shade of gloomy gray, constantly looking as if it would rain. Ari took a shaky breath and started walking back to the camp's center when a group of young men cut in front of him.

"There he is!" Andrew shouted as he rushed over angrily with a fist raised, only for Ari to evade and step back to avoid being encircled by the boys.

"What do you want?" Ari looked at Andrew with cold eyes, making the latter feel fear for a moment, but when he remembered his status and importance, he puffed out his chest.

"You tried to force yourself on Melinda even after she dumped you! If I don't teach you a lesson today, I won't be satisfied!"

Ari looked at Andrew as if he were looking at a fool. After seeing them together, he came straight here, how would he have the time to force himself on her?

Seeing his contempt, Andrew gestured and Melinda dressed in clothes that were messy came out with tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Yo-" Melinda didn't speak because a few men walked over, each wearing black clothes. Seeing the men arrive, Ari crossed his arms.

"Why are you all making a ruckus here? Do you want to lose your dinner?" The leader wore dark sunglasses and had a scar running from his ear to his chin.

"This scum tried to force himself on my girlfriend! They're all my witnesses!" Andrew spoke loudly as more people gathered around them.

"What's going on?" A clear voice cut through the discussions around as a beautiful young woman walked over elegantly.

After James explained the issue, Anna looked at Ari with a cold look. Seeing her believe Andrew's lies so easily, he couldn't help but lower his opinion of her.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Her words were cold as ice, but Ari simply shrugged in response. He saw no reason to grovel before someone who wasn't going to believe him anyway.

"I saw those two in bed together and decided to go for a run. That's about it. Maybe they're embarrassed?" Ari sneered as he looked at the girl without any expression on his face.

"Liar! You tried to force yourself on me and-" Melinda fell silent when she saw Ari gave her a look of undisguised disgust.

"Since you want to lay in bed with someone else, don't pretend to be a virtuous saint." Seeing him berate the girl made Anna scowl unhappily.

"Silence! You tried to force yourself on someone and now you want to curse her as well? This camp doesn't need someone like you!"

Seeing their young mistress red in the face, the bodyguards in black looked at Ari with a dangerous glint in their eyes.

"Doesn't need me? Then I'll leave." Ari turned and walked to the entrance calmly, feeling his inner rage simmering just below the surface.

"Y-you!" Seeing him leave so decisively, Anna felt flustered while Andrew started yelling about Ari feeling guilty. Melinda's face was a bit pale as she watched Andrew walk away as well as she didn't expect Ari to be so decisive.

...

Ari stepped on to the paved road, leaving nothing behind as he owned nothing in the camp. Walking with his teeth clenched, Ari wondered why life seemed to be against him.

With the sun obscured by the clouds, Ari had no way of telling how far he walked before he came upon the wreckage of a large truck tipped on it's side.

Walking over carefully, Ari looked into the cabin and found it empty with no one inside. After managing to pry the door open, he looked inside for anything useful.

Aside from a long wrench placed behind the driver's seat, the truck was empty.

After making a decision to stay in the shadows of the trees, Ari kept moving, passing by abandoned cars more frequently the further he went.

...

"So they lied to me?" Anna looked at the young man who gave her an apologetic look and found that her chest felt uncomfortable.

"Ari didn't try to force himself on Melinda, I saw him go to his tent and then leave without entering. Andrew and Melinda came out a little while later."

Anna felt her face sting when she recalled Ari's words and realized she made a mistake. Her first thought was to send someone after Ari, but an hour and a half had already passed since he left.

"Bring them to me! I'll let dad decide what to do with them. As for Ari, it's unfortunate but we can't send anyone after him now... If he comes back, then we'll compensate him accordingly."