SELENE

If you'd have told me that this is what my life would have become a year ago, I would've laughed in your face. I wouldn't have believed a single word of it.

Because life a year ago was predictable. Mundane. Unfulfilling. And frankly, sad.

Life today is chaos. But it's also filled with adventure and love and King.

To start with, the love of my life is missing. Taken by my father as punishment for my leaving home. For me finding myself, finding happiness, and ultimately, figuring out the truth.

I woke up this morning and King was gone, which is weird in and of itself. King doesn't leave my side. He's protected me with his life since the moment we snuck out of the bunker in the middle of the night and began our traversal of the drylands.

He's stopped heinous from making me their dinner. He's killed red wings before they could swarm and infect me. He's slaughtered groupings of tainted and deathless in his duty of ensuring my safety at all times. He's held me in his arms when I've broken down, cradled me until I could breathe again.

My brother River was the first to wake and learn of his absence and when he shook me out of sleep, I knew we needed to go and find him. Luckily for us, they left tire tracks in the barren soil.

That's how I immediately knew it was my father and our people. They don't leave the bunker, they don't know this land like King, River, and I do. They don't know its secrets and dangers as well as we do and leaving tracks is something moronic. Something grounders wouldn't think twice about because they simply don't know. If we hadn't tracked them, the heinous would've eventually and they would be far less nice.

I can't leave King behind. I won't. Neither will River. Not when King helped to find and save him. Not when River is aware of how much King means to me.

King is like a raging fire and I'm nothing more than a simple moth—unable to stop myself from fluttering towards him. I need him beside me to navigate this life.

I've gone to hell and back with King and I'd gladly take a second trip for him.

"If you were mine, there's absolutely nothing that would keep me away from you, Luna. Especially not something as inconsequential as the world ending outside those bunker doors. There's nothing in this fuckin' world that would stop me from feeling you wrapped safely in my arms again. Nothing."

His words ring in my head. If he'd do all that for me, then what are a few miles of barren landscape filled with monsters and demons? If I have to follow King into the next life, I will. Without a doubt. When you love something, you protect it. Shield it with your life.

We followed the tracks for nearly a whole day, and River and I can clearly see they're leading to a dilapidated house in the middle of nowhere. Rage strangles the air from my lungs as I see buggies from the bunker, which gives me the positive identification that it was my father and our own community that took King.

The people I once lived alongside. Trusted with my life and secrets. The people that my father has subsequently turned against us, filling their heads with lies they're inclined to believe.

Instinct takes over from rational thought and I run up to the front of the building without inspecting its surroundings. I jog straight to it, with River following desperately behind me as he calls out my name, urging me to stop and think things through.

I can't. Not when it comes to King's safety. Not when it feels like my heart is pulling itself out of my chest because it recognizes the proximity of his.

I rush past the threshold to where a door once existed, coming to a stop just inside. The first thing my eyes land on is King—his hands and legs bound, his face swollen and bloody, his expression initially defeated, until his eyes meet mine.

They've tortured him in the time we've been separated. These are people we once considered family.

The area of the house they've been holding him in is large and open. Six guards flank my father and King, all gripping semi-automatic rifles. I recognize each one of them. I lived with them. Grew up alongside them within the confines of Bunker Zeta.

"Selene," my father's voice sounds surprised at my appearance. "You came for him."

"Of course she came for me, you fuckin' moron," King snaps. "It'd take a lot more than the drylands to stop her."

My father stares at me like he doesn't recognize me. Gun tucked in its holster and skin now littered with tattoos. To be fair, I'm not even remotely the same person I was nearly a year ago when King and I snuck out of Bunker Zeta—our home—against my father's wishes.

Even I barely recall the woman I was before King sunk his claws in me. I don't want to remember her. She was far too unhappy. Lost. Broken. She was the woman who naively believed that everyone around her was doing what was in her best interest.

There were dark moments in my life that I hated my mother for leaving us. I hated her for abandoning her family because I noticed the visible shift in who my father was as a person. It was as though she took him with her. His soul wandering the drylands with hers because the man I once called dad no longer existed.

However, I've since long ago been robbed of the innocent and incorrect beliefs I once held towards my father. Towards a lot of things.

"Let King go," I demand with a stern voice. "He has nothing to do with any of this."

"You and I both know that isn't true, Selene. He's the reason you went on your little adventure. If he wasn't in the picture, it would solve so many things."

"It wouldn't solve anything," I hiss. "I'm capable of making my own decisions. I left to save River," I remind him, just as my brother steps in behind me. My father's eyes go wide in shock. He didn't expect River to survive. "I left 'cause you didn't care if your son lived or died."

"I never said that."

"Not sending anyone after him is the same thing as leaving him for dead, especially when you knew who he'd been kidnapped by."

"The drylands are uninhabitable, Selene. After the last year you've spent in them, you should know that. Which is—"

"Do I look dead to you, father?" I interrupt.

"What?"

"When I came to you to tell you about River's abduction, you told me that there was no way River would survive. That, if the heinous hadn't already killed and eaten him, that he'd never survive the drylands. King, River, and I have spent nearly the last year in them. Do we look dead to you?"

His jaw tics.

"My whole life you told me that survival outside the bunkers wasn't possible. It was all lies. It is possible and the people of Bunker Zeta wouldn't believe the things I've seen and learned in my absence." My anger gets the better of me and I draw my pistol before I actually think it through. It causes sudden movement that surrounds River and I, as my father's people raise their weapons out of reaction.

"Do you honestly think they'd believe you, Selene? You abandoned us and now you're aiming a weapon at your own father." He doesn't seem fazed by it, simply pointing towards it as if I'm holding a toy. "There are residents here that have seen your behaviour and they can speak upon it."

"I have evidence of what you've done."

He shakes his head dismissively, as if what I've said isn't even worth discussing. "Now drop your gun before it gets any worse."

Someone steps forward at my left and I twist my neck to see Tess. He looks the same. Like the man I once thought I loved. The only difference is that this is the first time I've ever seen him holding a weapon and I have to admit, he looks threatening with it.

King thrashes on the chair he's on. That's when I realize his torso is also tied to the chair. "Tess!" He yells out my ex-boyfriend's name, glaring at the man and his close proximity to me. "I swear to God, if you harm a single hair on her beautiful head, I'll fuckin' end you, Tessticles. I'll slit your fuckin' throat and dance in your blood."

I drop my weapon to the floor slowly, raising my hands as I kick it forward.

Tess laughs at what King has said, telling him, "I'd much prefer to spend my time on more important things, King."

"Like making a fist?" I bite back, watching as the one side of King's mouth lifts in a smirk.

"That's my girl," King's unable to hide his amusement.

"Why don't you come home with us, Selene?" My father offers. "We can forget all of this happened. Clean the slate. You can have your room back, see Melissa. I'll give you any job you'd like within the bunker. It's safe there, sweetie. We can protect you."

I swallow with difficulty, trying to ignore the feelings that bubble to the surface at the mention of the people I once saw daily. I've often wondered how Mel is doing, but I honestly can't be sure I'll ever see her again. I steel my nerves, straightening my back as I meet my dad's gaze, "A prison is still a prison. No matter how physically safe it is."

"She couldn't wait to get away from you, Kellen," King speaks up.

"Because she loves you," my dad points out.

But King shakes his head, "she hates you more than she's ever loved me."

That isn't true. King can't possibly believe that. I love him so much—so intensely—that it feels impossible to contain it all within the confines of my chest.

"We can't keep doing this," he warns.

"Just be honest, for once in your life. Give me that memory card. You can't keep this hidden forever." The memory card that he keeps on his person at all times because he doesn't trust anyone with the information on it. The one thing we came back for.

An expression flitters across his face for just a second—one I can't say I recognize. "I disagree."

Truthfully, I'm not sure he sees his role in any of this. Won't admit to any fault, because in his mind, it doesn't exist. How could you apologize for something that you feel like you weren't involved in? Of course, his mind has deluded himself into thinking that. He's the main reason for all of it. I'm sure there's more I'll discover once I have access to his files.

"Then why are we here? Why bring King here? Why take him?"

"We can't simply stand by and allow you to destroy everything."

"Do you even know where we are?" I'm taunting him at this point, but I don't have much else. I'm weaponless. We have to be more creative to get out of this.

"What are you talking about?" My father seems confused and frustrated with me. He already doesn't like that I'm challenging his authority, but now I'm questioning his motives and intelligence, which will piss him off even more.

"We're near a deathless nest, Kellen." I can't be certain if they knew this or if they're really this ignorant. Over the time I've spent with King, he made sure to teach me the locations where the deathless gather because it's considered suicide to fuck with them.

He doesn't say anything, which makes me think—because he never leaves the bunker—he's not entirely sure what I'm talking about.

"Y'know the red veins on their skeletons? They use them to feel. Like nerves," I continue to explain as he raises an eyebrow. "And if you're stepping on a particularly sensitive area, it'll alert them to where we are. If that happens, we're all fucked."

He pauses and this flicker of surprise flashes across his features as if he doesn't believe me. He's never had experience with shit like this. He doesn't know what it's like to survive out here. As it is, King and I only just discovered how sensitive these deathless nests and their veins are. There's no way he could know about it because King and I believe this is a newly developed part of their evolution. He's far out of his league.

Using his apprehension against him, I urge, "Go ahead. Try it. See if we survive or if we're consumed by a horde in a matter of minutes."

When I meet King's eyes, he noticeably flickers them over to his left before moving back onto mine. I wait a moment to see what he's hinting at before I glance in that direction.

He's pointing out the fact that the tiniest bit of red vein is spider-webbing its way out from the far corner. He's hinting at me to hit it. To alert the nearby deathless to our presence.

Our gazes connect and I hesitate, concerned at what would ensue.

I assess the situation. I'm unarmed, as is River. We're surrounded by a half dozen armed guards who are still currently aiming said weapons at us. King has his hands and feet bound together. He's helpless over there unless one of two things happen—we free him, or there's enough of a distraction that he's able to free himself.

However, his expression reads that he's serious.

It's foolish, naive, crazy—every synonym of stupid possible—and yet, I trust King. There isn't a single ounce of doubt in my mind when it comes to him.

There isn't a single doubt that our love for one another will give us the power needed to take on anything in this world. There isn't anything we can face that we can't handle when we're together. If all else fails, it'll be fun as hell dancing in the flames as we burn it all to the ground.

I give King a single nod to confirm I'll do it.

Kellen shakes off the nerves. "This what you've come all this way for?" My father mocks us—me, especially—as he lifts the memory stick we've been after into the air between us. "You weren't told enough on your journeys together? Fed enough bullshit and lies?"

I shake my head, "I was fed nothing but bullshit and lies growing up. Escaping the bunker rewarded me the truth in so many fuckin' things."

My father laughs. It's forced. A display of his authority.

"You are so naive, sweet Selene. You really have no idea."

There's a rock a few inches to the right of my foot. One good kick—one super good shot—and it'll hit that vein and trigger absolute chaos. I'll have to run for my gun in front of me and charge the rest of the way to King to save him.

I'm dancing a line of danger that has serious consequences. Playing with fire that might very well consume us.

I can do this.

"Then help me. Give me the memory stick and prove to me that I'm wrong."

I act nonchalant as I close the distance between myself and the rock, and then I line up my boot and kick it as hard as I'm able to. I hold my breath as it sails towards the corner. However, it hits too high, bouncing off the wall.

I think I've failed. Until it ricochets off the wall and lands directly on top of the nerve.

The floor instantly trembles.

"Larvjeren, Luna," King tells me in Aerdesh, the language of the heinous—I love you, Luna.

"Larvjeren," I reply back, unsure how we're about to survive this.

The ground beneath our feet rumbles and shifts. Noise echoes in—what I assume is—a cave somewhere underground. It doesn't sound far because I can hear the sounds of multiple deathless stirring.

"What the fuck is that? What happened?" My father is oblivious to what's been done. He has no idea what's on its way. "What did you do?"

Suddenly, a massive crack forms in the flooring, not far from me. It essentially cracks the dilapidated house in two, sending me teetering on unsteady ground.

Once I've regained my footing, I put a hand behind my back and give River our hand signal to indicate get ready to run.

The floor trembles again, causing the crack to open further. And then the sounds begin—the sickly moaning, breathing, yelling of the deathless as they react to the disturbance.

It happens so fast that I'm barely able to process. The noises get loud, the crack opens to split the ground in two, and the back half of the house literally breaks off and crumbles into nothing but dust. It opens us up to the world, and then our half begins to do the same.

I launch for my gun, in preparation to defend myself from whatever horde we've risen, but just as I grab hold of the grip on my pistol, someone kicks my abdomen. It knocks the air from my lungs. However, I'm able to grab my weapon and just as I'm spinning to shoot whoever assaulted me, the flooring gives out and the world begins to spin as I plummet to God knows where.

When I finally hit the ground again, everything goes black.

A/N:

hello! i'm going to do my best to leave this short, but i'd like to introduce myself a bit (especially if you're new here) and give a bit more important info on TTOL!

so, my name is Lisa. i've been writing on wattpad for a little more than eleven years and have approximately 1.5million reads across my stories. if there are some things to know about me it's that: i love to foreshadow, i adore cliffhangers and symbolism, i'm somewhat known for my smut and its explicitness, i tend to write longer (usually 4000+ word) chapters, and comments are my favourite thing.

TTOL has been an idea that i've been creating and twisting in my mind for about four years. i haven't had the courage to post it bc i've never truly believed there's any strength in my writing, but i've decided to go for it. hopefully i can create something worthwhile out of it.

other than that, i understand that this first intro chapter is a bit shorter and can be somewhat confusing. especially with terms you may not be aware of! it's for this fact that i've chosen to include a glossary for this book! i hope it helps you learn something more about this world i've spent four years creating! i urge you to check it out because it holds some important easter eggs and whatnot!

other than that, i'll warn that this story will have sex. it'll be explicit (again, i'm somewhat known for it). there will be intense and coarse language. quite possibly gore (somewhat hard to avoid in a zombie-like story). and violence. i'll do my best to warn if there are any potential triggers that i'm aware of.

i ask that you please be kind. no hate of any kind will be tolerated. remember please, that i'm human and i'm admittedly sensitive.

i'll be trying to post this story elsewhere. so hopefully it can drum up an audience. of course likes, shares, comments, tweets/retweets, etc are always appreciated. i'm not the type that likes for people to be forced to read something so "advertising" my own works is something i struggle with.

i'm thinking of posting each thursday and making it TTOL thursdays :)

anyways, please let me know what you think!