[arrowone]

The Earth is in a state of collapse. All governments have fallen to the ground, and been reduced to utter rubble. Where there was once law, there is now only the struggle to survive. Without a governing force anywhere on the planet, and resources becoming more and more limited each day, every man, woman, and child is fighting for a piece of land to call their own. While many fight only for themselves, some against even their own families, others have banded together into factions, so as to rebuild what was once known as order. In either case, if you do not fight, then you do not live.

Something has to change, or mankind will destroy itself. What will you do now? Will you join the struggle? Or perhaps you will search for an alternate solution? Or maybe, just maybe...You'll speed the planet down the path to destruction? It's your decision.

(Please, try to be as realistic as possible. No demi-gods or anything please, this is supposed to be brutal battle for continued existence...or otherwise. Other than that, do as you like! I'll be playing as myself, of course. The link to my character is in my signature.)

[KJ]

(This sounds pretty awesome Arrow! I'll be playing as Travis.)

[angelfire]

(Hmmm, sounds interesting so far. I wonder why the Metal Militia sounds familiar... Anywho, I'll probably join up! I just need to think of what character I should use...)

[arrowone]

(It's a song title, heh. Glad you guys joined in, I was hoping you would. Now for a setting... )

Dust rolled across a broken landscape. The crumbled remains of buildings crouched over ruined city streets, and a choking silence had taken old of the air. The sun was rising, and the ocean glittered in the distance. It was difficult to believe that such beauty could exist next to such desolation. People scuttled from one pile of rubble to the next, searching for water and other neccessities in utter vain.

A group of men in tell-tale olive uniform approached slowly from the distance, armed with heavy rifles and riot equipment. These people had had the sense to form a unit before things had gotten too far out of hand, and it had obviously paid off. Now, when everyone else was fighting tooth and claw for even the most basic materials, they were head and shoulders above. Streets cleared instantaneously before them. Had they formed a year ago, they would have been nothing, and been crushed as would be most fitting. But now, they were some of the strongest men and women on the face of the planet...as if that were saying much.

Many were sick or injured, and no one had eaten much of anything in days. it was difficult to keep themselves from snapping at one another, or worse...Only the sight of the others, outside the safety of their group, kept them together. Many disliked, even hated one another, but they knew there was no other choice if they wanted to go on living.

They were lead by two people: Nastasia, a woman who had been an officer in the russian navy, and a man who was referred to by his callsign, Arrow-1. He was an ace pilot in the U.S. Air Force. They led the unit because of their strength and expertise. The others were mostly untrained civilians who had only their wits to keep them alive.

It was obvious that these people had a very difficult journey ahead of them.

[angelfire]

(Oh, so mayeb that's why it sounds familiar! Well, I think I should use Razor for this one, on account of I haven;t used her in a long time! Now just gotta think of a way to enter the story.)

[KJ]

Among the several citizens, one of them really stood out, with him standing at six feet and five inches. Travis looked a little weary, and often had a hard time to hide somewhere in case he was attacked, due to his height.

[angelfire]

(Okay, now I got it!)

Near the back of the group of people, Razor lagged behind a little, looking over her shoulder every few seconds out of extreme paranoia. Her eyes were bloodshot and her tall, thin form made her look like she would collpase at any given moment. But she kept walking, wondering how any of this had even happened in the first place.

[arrowone]

Nastasia spoke. "We need to find food."

"I agree...but it doesn't seem as if there is anything to steal here...Everyone seems to be in pretty bad shape." Arrow replied.

A civilian shouted out. "WHAT?! No food AGAIN? I can't take this anymore man!"

A number of the others began to voice their own...vivid opinions on the matter. When things seemed to be reaching a head, Nastasia unholstered her weapon and fired a round into the air.

"SILENCE. If you feel that our way is not best, feel free to desert, but know that you will not find better on this Earth."

Not a word escaped from anyone's lips.

"Let's move on, there must be a place no one has reached yet." Arrow ordered.

Everyone began to shuffle forward, their next location completely unknown.

[angelfire]

Razor sighed and bit her lip. She wasn;t sure how much more of this she could possibly take right now. She was so lost in her thoughts, she tripped over her own fett and fell flat on her face on the broken, dry ground. "Ow, I'm okay," Razor whispered in a raspy, dry voice, scrammbling to her feet again and touching her now bleeding lip lightly.

[KJ]

Travis was wandering around an alley when he saw someone in a white coat heading toward him, a grim smile spreading across his face. "Hey, man, you want some..." The man lowered his voice to a whisper. "Some food?" "F...Food? You have food?" Travis said unbelievingly, and the man nodded. "Just follow me, and you can eat to your heart's content. Whaddya say?"

[arrowone]

Something caught Nastasia's eye, and she started to turn her head. Arrow put a hand on her shoulder. "Let him go. He'll learn his lesson, and he'll be tht much better for it."

Nastasia protested. "And if he is hurt?"

"If he is not back with us in ten minutes, we'll go back for him." Arrow replied. "I doubt things will turn out too badly, I've seen that man before."

[KJ]

Travis followed the strange man, and the alley seemed to get darker and darker with each passing moment. "Uhh.. just how far is it?" Travis asked, feeling suspicious. "All in due time, my hungry friend, all in due time."

[angelfire]

Razor still walked behind the group, noticing vaguely that the tall man that had been walking in front of her was gone now. "God help us all," she mummbled to herself, her vision blacking out a little. She looked up from the ground she was staring at only to notice the people she was with were gone. "Wha-" she said, lookinf around frantically. "Where did they go?! Where am I?!" She tried to run, but she was all to weak. She fell over to the ground once more, passing out.

[KJ]

Moments later, the man pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Travis. "Looks like you were too dumb to believe me."

[arrowone]

"He is still gone. And now, we are missing another. Are you so sure of our safety now?"

"That is abnormal...We'll go back now."

Arrow stopped, and turned around, facing the remainder of the group. "ABOUT, FACE!"

"WHAT? WHY?!" A woman yelled.

"We are missing two of our number. This is a dangerous situation not only for those who are now missing, but for us as well. Before we move forward, we need to determine the cause of the situation. That being said, let's get moving!"

"Da." Nastasia replied. "And do not DARE complain, we would do the same for you. (No matter how miserable you all may be...)"

"Arm your weapons, and as always, prepare for the worst."

[KJ]

Travis quivered in fear, and raised his hands in submission. "Wha...? You're not gonna fight?" The man asked confused, but Travis didn't answer. Lon ago, before the disaster, Travis had given up violence to protect himself from harming others.

[angelfire]

(Heh, smart thinking on Travis's part!)

Razor, still knocked out cold, didn;t even hear when a few other people came around her. "She doesn;t look good," a short, heavy-set echidna with red fur and gold-orange eyes observed, poking Razor in the back. "No, she doesn;t..." a much taller fox boy with sandy brown fur and hazel eyes agreed, looking down at her.

[arrowone]

"There's the alley...She was with us when the tall one left. We must have passed her by." Nastasia said.

"That's correct. I'll go into the alleyway, you find the girl."

"Agreed."

After a few minutes of walking, something stood out in the darkness. It was white, and it looked like a trenchcoat, just barely visible.

"HOLD." Arrow barked.

The thing jumped, and a gun, only now visible, was leveled at him.

"Listen, you obviously don't know how to use that thing, so put it down, before I put it down for you."

"SHUT UP, THIS ONE'S MINE!" The trenchcoat shouted.

"Wrong answer." Arrow fired at the hand holding the gun, make a messy trajectory through the arm behind it. After the bullet went through, there was nothing left of it, only a nub protruding from the shoulder. Arrow moved closer, and noted that the trench coat was actually a lab coat.

"You make me sick." Arrow stomped hard on the man's chest, which emitted a sickening crack.

"You." The tall man looked up, slightly shaken. "Grab that, and carry it back with us. If we can't find food, we're going to have to use him. We just won't tell the others what it is."

He looked as though if he was going to throw-up.

[angelfire]

"Hmm, should we bring her with us?" the echidna girl asked. "Maybe, maybe not," the fox boy replied. "We only have so much food for our people, afterall." "Oh, come on, David!" the girl said. "She looks like she;s gonna die!" The boy, David, sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, then. Help me pick her up." He grabbed Razor and picked her up as the girl came over. "Nevermind, Heidi. This girl's around the same weight of a feather."

[KJ]

Travis hesitantly picked up the body of the man, then followed Arrow out of the alley.