Dear Erin,

Do you remember the day your first day of school? Do you remember how excited you were? I do. I think about it a lot these days. No one gets excited like that anymore. I think that’s what I miss most. The way people used to smile when something new came along. Nowadays everything is compared to the hellish state of the world. Some people can hardly find happiness at all, but I still find comfort in memories. Likewise, the little things still provide me with joy, and when I look at how some have it I consider myself to be very lucky.

I spoke with Father Saul about my encounter with the female a few days ago. He says that our survival was a work of God, and that he had decided to spare me because my role in his divine plan is not yet complete. It's thoughts like that which give me comfort. I asked him what that purpose may be and if I would know it when it came and he reassured me that it would come and I would be ready. I’ve never been good at waiting, you know that better than most, but with Father Saul’s teaching I think that I can persevere.

Silo and Brass still chide me over my devotion. They say that God either has gone or was never here at all. I notice that fewer people fill the pews in the chapel back at camp and I grow worried that we may be losing God’s favor. As of yet though, nothing truly terrible has befallen us. I also agree that my encounter with the giant is a sign that we are yet favored. I don’t care what the others say.

Nevertheless, things remain hard, but today is different! For once, Colin, Silo, Brass, and I have been given a real assignment. After endless weeks of scouring the forests in our Jeep I welcome any change of pace. I am almost as excited as you were that first day all those years back. This time it’s a matter of security, as it would seem a whole mess of scavengers plan to come down out of the hills to take our resources and our land. Right now I’m sitting  at the edge of the Legion’s zone of control and I must say the wide brushlands leading out toward the valley are so magnificent. It’s amazing that I never got the opportunity to really see it all before.

Do you still suffer from nightmares? I would have hoped that maybe they might have passed but to be fair I’ve been suffering from them as well. Last night I dreamt that I was captured and tormented by their kind. I am ready to die for my people but I do not know if I have the strength to resist their tortures. Pray for me in that regard, as I pray for you nightly. I will visit sometime within the next week and I will tell you so much more that I cannot express in writing now.

Until then I must work. The people are relying on me and my comrades to protect them from the barbaric tide of fodder coming from hills. I know they are vicious and they will not hesitate to rip us to shreds. Why, I still remember when Heron was shot, do you remember Heron? Poor bastard got a heavy round through the leg, completely shattering his femur. I don’t know whatever became of him but I promise that if things get out of hand today he will be avenged.

    As always I am your brother,

Enoch

The shallow world seemingly shook imperceptibly. It was enough though to wrest Soren from his focus. The small, cracked bobblehead duct taped haphazardly to the dashboard gave him an unnervingly enthusiastic nod. It begged him onward. To write and write and write as though all his words would make something happen. There existed a second of thought where he actually thought that perhaps these letters would solve his problems, but such preoccupations were dismissed when a sudden rapping at the window broke his concentration.

With a jolt he turned and met Silo’s eye. The long jagged ashen smudge crossed his face contributed to his startle.

“Hey let’s go, the captain wants us!”

“Right, yeah, sorry...coming.”

Soren emerged a moment later with his gun in hand. Silo placed a hand on his shoulder and lead him on with an amicable smile. The Jeep was parked next to an aged hickory tree on a gently sloping hill. The edge of the forest sweeped out a few yards beyond it, marking a stark boundary between the lush arboreal terrain with the tall rain-slicked grass that populated the adjacent field. All along that border at least fifty other vehicles were parked, each with their own tetrad of militia milling about around them. Soren took a deep breath, letting the scent of pine needles flood his body. The ground was soft and sticky, saturated with the previous night’s rainfall. He hated the squishing sound of his rubber treads pressing into the earth. Luckily for him the steady murmur of the gathered soldiers drowned it out quickly.

“Enoch”

“Yes sir, sorry sir!” Soren replied robotically to his addresser. His eyes searched the assembled, tired faces for the speaker but could not tell who uttered his name. It didn’t matter anyhow, for just as he raised his head he saw them coming across the field. Two hundred at the very least, all dressed in a multitude of colors. Even at that distance it was clear that there were people of every age, sex, and condition traversing the cold morning waste. Many huddled together, perhaps out of nervousness or to find ease from the early chill lingering in the air. Those Soren was with began to spread out, taking their positions behind vehicles, trees, or mounds of soil. It wasn’t until the mob had made it half a league that the message went out.

Somewhere down the line of vehicles, their commanding officer, a short, hot-tempered man named Scepter screamed into a megaphone. Soren and the others were used to the acerbity of his words, but even now, when he was directed at another target, they still cut into their skin.

“TURN BACK. YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO PASS. GO BACK TO THE HILLS, THIS IS LEGION GROUND. DISPERSE!”

None of the militia gave much thought to it at the time. The horrid ringing in their ears of their pledge of service was all they could hear. These were not people. They were scavengers. Aliens. Parasites that flaunted what order was left in the world. All that Soren could hear still pounding against the membranes of his nervous system was the single command so fervently preached to him throughout his time in the Legion.

‘Exterminate all the Brutes!’

              “Come on, what do you think Silo?” Brass suddenly asked perversely. Silo shook his head, all the while keeping his finger on the trigger of his rifle.

           “Oh they’ll try and run through, no doubt about it…”

           “I see it goin’ down that way…”Brass added callously, “what about you Colin?”

           Colin’s eyes darted back and forth across the length of the field, never straying from the encroaching mob. Even with his experience he was on edge. Anytime he was put in the direct line of duty he would anxiously await the moment to spring into action. This time was no different.

           “Colin? What you got shit in your ears?”

           “Shut up you two, we have a job to do here…”

           “Oh relax” Silo added, “Wouldn’t kill you…”

           “It just might…”

           All the while Soren stared at the ground, taking no notice of his squad-mate’s exchange nor the grievous roar of Specter’s megaphone. All the clamor of the soldiers and frightened murmur of the approaching crowd could not shake him from the slight tremor he felt. He watched as tiny blades of grass seemed to bob without the influence of wind. It crept up into his legs as well, giving the joints in his ankles a slight quiver.

           “Any day now…” another nearby militiamen muttered. Soren still did not take notice, he only felt the earth’s subtle quake, as though it was anticipating blood. The earth thirsted for it indeed. Perhaps somewhere along the way they all believed that the rows civilizations could be watered with more blood. Like crops, their skyscrapers would spring back to life, heralding a new age for humanity.

           The two waves neared, and Scepter’s words flew from his mouth with greater speed and ferocity. If you were to ask any of the soldiers who gave the order, none would be able to say for certain. Perhaps no one did. The only thing that was certain was, like a wildfire catching a puddle of gasoline, the whole battalion erupted. A heavy gunner down the way was the first that Soren heard. Its pounding barrel sending forth sprays of lead which cut through a dozen hapless bodies. At that range, with so many people, no one bothered to aim. It was just ceaseless courses of light and smoke that were spat viciously into the crowd. There was immediate panic. As the wave of hysteria came over the assembled militia, Soren found himself closing his eyes and squeezing the trigger.

           He felt his weapon’s barrel kick wildly for thirty seconds, he felt scalding bits of metal fly against his chest and then it was over. Amidst the dreaded chaos he could not for a moment hear his own weapons discharge, nor did he witness his bullets bite into the bones or flesh of those in front of him. For a second he didn’t even believe his gun went off. Then as his lids lifted once more he saw the carnage. The green fields were red and brown, pale bodies stacked themselves against each other in the puddles. Those that had escaped the stinging pellets ran back in the opposite direction, abandoning their belongings, their families, and some pieces of themselves. Survivors of the onslaught waited in the field but their voices could not match the rumble of Legion guns or the screams of fleeing refugees. Upon closer inspection Soren found that the cries of the wounded were muted not by gunfire or wails but by the blood that clogged their throats. The initial wave of rattling died out, leaving only a few stray bullets to twang about the plain, striking without purpose into the soft earth or into the bodies of those already slain.

           It grew quiet for a second, with the only sound coming from the retreating moans of anguish and terror. Then, the grinding of tires and engines joined alongside that terrible chorus. Scepter’s own vehicle began splashing down into the swamp of human fluid, ready to run down those retreating. It would seem the Colonel was not about to allow the scavengers another attempt. Some other vehicles roared up and joined him. Soren and the others stood frozen however, still drinking in the carnage to which they had contributed.

           “Shame” was all Silo said.

           “Yeah.” Soren concluded softly to himself. None of them expressed any outward regret or personal pain. They all put on the stoic faces handed out to those soldiers who have seen slaughter. Colin had already returned to the Jeep, stowing his rifle in the back, before finally emptying his stomach all over the ground next to the back right tire.

           “Hey, you better not be getting any of that on my seats!” Brass bellowed back to him.

           Then Soren felt it again. The violent shake. This time though, it was far stronger. It was about that time the others noticed  as well. One nameless militiamen down the line, closest to the distant mountains, screamed something. A few others joined him. All eyes turned in their direction, and, as they did, they caught sight of the tremors’ source.

           Suddenly, one of the vehicles went soaring through the air, finally crashing down onto the ground some three hundred feet out. The mangled corpses of its occupants went flying out as it rolled to a stop. Soren ducked behind a sapling and stared out at a dark shadow between the conifer boughs.

           There, at the edge of the clearing, looming high above the tree line, was the same dark-haired giantess from a few days earlier. Soren tried to suck in a breath of oxygen, but found that something obstructed his esophagus.

The chaos only mounted. The remaining migrants suddenly turned away from the new threat, funneling through a gap in the trees on the field’s opposite edge. The militia closest to the female broke immediately. Many fled into the woods, while others tried desperately to push past one another in their vehicles.

           The titaness wore a scowl on her face, as though she had been personally offended. With one swift movement she brought her left leg back, before quickly bringing it across the row of escaping Jeeps. Two of the vehicles were pushed into the nearby trees. Those on the ground, stumbled wildly, firing their weapons crudely as they retreated, even striking some of their own in their struggle to get away.

           “Fuck, fuck, fuck, come on!”

           Soren reeled around and saw Silo’s hand gripping him by the collar. His entire body went limp as his comrade began dragging him toward their vehicle. Brass had already started the engine by the time Soren’s head smacked against the upholstery. The wheels’ axles squealed as they spun out into the field. Brass had no direction, he was only focused on moving and being fast about it. The entire car jostled and bounces as they sped over the crumpled bodies, steering left and right to avoid those dispersing on foot.

           “Watch out, what the fuck!”

           Soren sat up and saw only the blur of grey and green through the windows. Then, just as quickly as they had started up, they screeched to an abrupt stop. A thunderous shockwave rocked the entirety of the valley. Blinking through the bloody spray and mist Soren saw the monstrous heel of their adversary not twenty feet in front of them, right where another car had just been. More screams, both of pain and terror, wafted in through the shattered Jeep windows. Another vehicle was swept up into the air. Arching his neck up, Soren looked on as the colossus lifted the crumpled metal shell up toward her face. A pair of flailing figures, leapt from its back, careening down into the ground in a conjoined symphony of distress and spasmodic reflex.

           “GO!”

Many froze in place when the deafening voice echoed out over the valley. Soren opened his door in order to run, but as soon as his feet touched the ground his legs went completely limp, causing him immediately to collapse.

“LEAVE HERE NOW!” the giant bellowed further. The voice was so loud and angry that it left an awful ringing in Soren’s ear. As he lay dazed and stupefied he found he could only move his neck so that he could see the gargantuan figure standing over him. She looked out over the plain as more people fled. Somewhere in the corners of his perception, Soren heard the faint crackle of Scepter’s voice through his megaphone. The words were jumbled and incoherent, but it was apparently enough to seize the giantess’ attention. Her head swiveled to face the Colonel’s overturned truck. Both eyes narrowed on the acidic character and her mouth melted into a forced frown.

“These are my lands, I’ll not have you contaminating it with your presence. And as for them…” she growled, pointing at the last few scavengers disappearing into the wilderness. “Only I may lay hands on them! They will die if I say they die and they will live if I see fit, this is MY valley!”

With that the massive heel suddenly reared up, before finally planting itself back down a good ways to Soren’s right. The giantess continued to scan the field with her eyes, looking on with disgust at the mutually created carnage. One hand went up to her mouth, as if trying to hide an expression or perhaps to stave off vomit. Soren tried not to look at her as she passed back toward the direction from which she initially came.

Both of his hands were clasped tightly together. It wasn’t until Colin’s face appeared in his field of vision that he regained some feeling in his extremities. Even as the others gathered him back up into the vehicle his attention lay on the receding giant, all the while wishing the myriad of horrors around him would just disappear.

“Come on, get him in, somethin’ happened to him!” Colin cried to the others. They could hardly hear him over the cries of a dying woman nearby.