Remnant Saga S1: by Nick Venom (read after txt) 📕

“Who is Lutz?”

“You’ve heard of William Bedford?” Blint nodded. “Lutz is his apprentice. Rumors say he is just as crazy.”

“Ha! I’ll be the judge of that.” He said before strolling towards Lutz’s house, nearing it within a few minutes as he moved from one end to the other.

As he got closer, he noticed an eye disappearing from the front door’s window. He smirked as he took steps closer and closer, his breath now fogging up the window.

“I will shoot if you get any closer!” Emerald shouted from the other side, the pistol in her grasp. She turned off the safety but didn’t raise it past her waist.

“I thought Lutz was a boy name, didn’t expect it to be a girl.” He licked his lips. “Looks like I’ll enjoy this house more.”

Emerald’s eyes widened. He’s going to rape me… maybe even Lutz’s mother and sister. This sick bastard. She thought, raising the gun to the window.

Similarly, Blint raised the baseball bat over his head. He waited a few seconds before letting the bat fly down, cracking against the window. Emerald let out a yelp as she dropped the pistol. 

She scrambled to grab the gun while Blint began bashing at the door quicker. He put all of his weight into the strikes, aiming at the window before moving to the doorknob. He grinned devilishly while breaking the door down, almost chuckling at how much fun he was having. I get to have fun with one girl, maybe even two or three. Ha, those siblings really thought that I would listen to their pacifist order and not have my fill? They’re idiots if they think that. He thought as he took several more strikes before stopping; the door was seriously damaged by his hits but wouldn’t crack yet. 

However, that wouldn’t be his largest problem as Emerald had grabbed the gun and raised it to the window, pointing it at him. This bastard! She thought before pressing the trigger, nicking his cheek.

Blint staggered backward out of surprise. She has a gun? A FREAKING GUN! He thought, taking a few steps back. His surprised face swiftly changed into a face full of glee. “I’ll be back for you… very soon, Lutz.” He said before retreating.

Once she was sure he was gone, she laid her back against the beaten door and slid down, creating an ‘L’ shape. Where are you, Lutz? I was able to stop him, but he said he’ll be back. I need your help… I can’t protect the house if more come. Please, Lutz.

***

Sam wandered through Taken, passing by the remains of downtown before entering the suburbs. He saw the same drastic change of color as the first time he had entered the town. However, this change in scenery was followed by something new - bandits. 

As he got farther away from downtown, he witnessed several trucks doing donuts or raiding houses. They were stealing food and water but never hurting anybody.

Damn, now I gotta deal with bandits. Plus, they aren’t the normal stupid bandits… they have some type of discipline if they can raid houses without murdering anybody. This is annoying. I better be getting paid overtime for all of this. Sam thought as he moved closer to the bandits.

“We got new prey.” A man declared as a truck pulled up to Sam. All of the eyes of the inhabitants were drawn to Sam’s arsenal. “And he got some goodies.”

Sam took out the cigar in his mouth. “Who you working under?”

“New Citizens of Taken,” One of the bandits responded.

“Hey, don’t be saying anything. Blint will kill us.” Another person said.

Sam took in the information as quickly as he grabbed his assault rifle, pointing the barrel at the truck. “What else you know?”

The driver raised his hands in a surrendering pose. “Aye, we don’t know anything. We’re just looking for food and water.”

“By stealing?” he questioned.

“We gotta survive, right?”

Sam didn’t answer, taking the gun off its safety. “What happened downtown?” 

The driver shrugged his shoulders. “Nobody knows,” His eye glanced at somebody else in the truck who slowly made a move by popping the door open as a diversion while another person jumped out and attempted to flank Sam. 

“Idiots.” He remarked before pressing the trigger, spraying into the driver before making his way down the others. He killed the flanker next before the diversion maker, then the others in the truck. They were all killed within seconds, none of them able to put up any type of resistance. 

“I could’ve used them, but... Who cares.” He said turning away. He put his rifle on safety and brandished his still-lit cigar. “Why do I get stuck with these strange missions? The government just wants to kill me.” He said as he trudged forward with the cigar in his mouth. He moved far away from the blood-stained truck in search of a live person for the experiments.

TBC…

Lutz headed home after leaving Mr. Greene’s pharmacy. He now held the medicine for his mother, enough to last them some time. It’s not a lot, only two weeks, but quarantine shouldn’t last too long. He thought, believing in his thoughts. 

He pushed forward, hoping to arrive home as quickly as he could. He trusted Emerald to a degree and was unsure when the bandits would make a move on his house. His name and connection to his Mentor were enough to push them back, but it wouldn’t last long - Lutz was sure of it.

Can I fight them all… without killing anybody? He asked himself. Killing small rodents and deer was easy, but humans were something else. Will I be able to press the trigger? He thought before he ratted all of his thoughts out of his mind and pressed onward, passing by a few blocks with ease. However, as he neared the last two blocks to his house, he witnessed a truck parking some distance in front of him. Five men jumped out and four of them rushed to the house on Lutz’s left while the last one lingered behind; he was the driver. He heard the sounds of sneakers brushing against concrete, turning towards Lutz. He grinned devilishly as he brandished a crowbar. 

“Hey, we got a good catch here!” The driver shouted, alerting his friends and attracting their attention. They glanced at him from behind a corner, all armed with melee weapons. “First one to kill him gets the sniper!” He said, motivating the four men into charging towards Lutz.

Lutz reacted by taking several steps back in hopes of creating distance between the men and him, but they were quickly closing it. As he retreated a few steps, he brandished his crossbow and pointed it at the incoming men. He released the bolt, striking the ground in front of them. They stopped, their momentum gliding past the bolt, and stared intensely at Lutz. 

“He can’t aim, get him!” The driver shouted, turning back to the car. He looked under the seat and took out a hand pistol, turning around to face Lutz. “He’s an amateur, so overwhelm him with numbers.”

Lutz bit his lip. They think I’m an amateur at shooting, not that I don’t want to hurt them. Now… What do I do now? He thought as the men were closing the distance and approaching him quickly. He tried to reload the crossbow, but they were getting too close. Instead, he decided to brandish the sniper rifle and aimed at their feet, pressing the trigger. The bullet made contact with its target, tripping the man before making him react to the pain.

Fortunately, this lone bullet de-motivated the men, who all grabbed the wounded men and pulled him backward. Lutz, meanwhile, reloaded the hunting rifle quickly before pointing it at the bandits. “Back away before… before I shoot you again.” He threatened, glancing behind him to find that he wasn’t being flanked yet. He had expected that there were men behind him, ready to pounce. However, they weren’t there.

“Leave me alone or else I’ll-” He started before a gunshot rang out. Pain immediately followed the sound. What happened? Did… Did I just get hit? He questioned himself as he glanced down at where he felt the pain in his shoulder. A small bullethole was planted slightly above his armpit, blood threatening to spill out.

“Now he’s wounded, get him!” The driver remarked, showing off the pistol. “He’s shot!” He declared, aiming the pistol at Lutz. “Get him before I claim the kill.” He said, re-motivating his men. They charged forward, discarding their wounded comrade, and swung at Lutz, who counterattacked by firing the hunting rifle blindly. The bullet missed entirely, leaving him defenseless. 

He attempted to create more distance and prepare the next bullet, but they refused to grant him the space needed. They charged forward together, swinging their melee weapons and landing a few hits. 

I’m going to be overwhelmed soon… I need to find a way out. He thought as he parried a strike with the hunting rifle. With the crossbow on his back, he was being weighed down and wouldn’t be able to run away easily. He also needed to pull back the bolt and load the next bullet in to use the rifle, leaving him with only one choice.

As the men beat on him, he used the rifle as a melee weapon, hitting them with it and parrying their blows. He aimed at their legs, hoping to topple their balance and create distance. 

After several moments of finding opportunities and striking at them, he toppled two of three men. For the third man, he waited until the men struck before grabbing at the weapon (a crowbar). He missed the first try but managed to get it on his second. With the weapon now in his hand, he kicked at the man’s leg and toppled him. He was now free of them for the moment, falling to the ground in front of the third man to avoid being in the line of sight of the driver. The driver, who had been awaiting an opportunity to shoot Lutz, clicked his tongue as Lutz dropped to the floor. Damn kid, giving us problems. Why can’t you roll over and die for us already? He thought as he pressed forward, hoping to get a good angle and press the trigger when he could.

Lutz, meanwhile, brandished one of the crossbow’s bolts and stabbed the man in front of him with quick speed. Fortunately for him, the man in front of him had hit his head harshly when falling, granting him a good opportunity to strike before jumping up and sprinting towards the other men. 

As he ran, the driver pressed the trigger, most of his bullets missing. However, one of them had hit the target, striking at his right arm and dropping the bolt in his hand. Unfortunately for the driver, however, Lutz didn’t collapse or stand still. Instead, he pressed forward, loading the rifle as quickly as he could by pulling the bolt and chambering the next round. Once it was ready, he dove to the ground, behind some bushes lining the house’s side, and aimed it at the driver.

By this time, three of four men had risen. The fourth man, the unfortunate