World Filter

Mark had heard rumors in the mess hall of how bad it was becoming to meet one's fellow man out on the open road. Corrupted were one thing; they would try and kill you and that was it. But other humans were a different story altogether. One never knew what a person wanted or what type of circumstances someone was surviving under.

It didn’t help that the people eager to step on other's necks were the types to thrive in this environment. The safe zones were peaceful because people were willing to work towards a common goal and even then problems could arise if things weren't handled correctly.

Out here who knew where this would go?

The three of them watched the Jeep crawl closer, as music blared inside as if to announce to the world ‘So what if its the apocalypse’.

Mark quietly began to spread [Sculpt Mana] around them, channeling Mana through the staff. His control over the spell had reached such a point that having it appear stealthily was not really a problem anymore.

As the Jeep came to a stop in front of them the sound of the music cut off and people started to climb out. Mark counted nine here and around seven on the rooftops, they wore simple outfits, and would almost seem normal if it weren't for the weapons and bulletproof vests or mismatched armor.

One of the men came forward wearing only one of the jackets with its sleeves ripped off and no shirt underneath, exposing what he must have thought was an intimidating bear chest.

He was an older guy and gave off a savage bear-grills feel, the kind of guy that probably trained wilderness survival for fun, even before the world came crashing down around them.

“Hey, squirts, just a hint: If you suspect there's a trap ahead, you might not want to reveal that you know. Nowadays, there are all sorts of listening skills,” he said smiling while tapping his ear.

The men behind him stifled snickers.

Mark, Sam, and Jonathan glanced at one another. There was a tactile sort of understanding between the three by now.

Sam stepped forward smiling.

“Thanks for the advice, we’ll be sure to keep that in mind. Is this the part where you attack your fellow humans, sir”

The man's smile relaxed from one of amusement to a more casual one. This was not his first time doing this and he had confidence in his abilities.

“Not at all little miss. Personally, I’d like to keep this as civil as possible. You help me sort a couple of things out and you can be one your way” he said in what he probably thought was a reasonable tone.

“Oh? And what exactly would that be?” Sam said asked.

“Well, put simply we’d appreciate it if you handed over all your Sp and any items you may have. Help me convince your two little boyfriends there that this is in your best interest and what do you know? You're free to go”

Some of the other men groaned as if they’d heard that joke a million times and he refused to stop using it.

Sam was smiling but it never reached her eyes.

“So you’re bandits. Well, say I can’t convince them Or we don’t have any points. Then what?”

The men around the leader suddenly lost their smiles and their body language changed from relaxed to a more threatening air, as hands began to rest on weapons.

“Ah, we prefer the term outlaws because it sounds much sexier but if negotiation devolves to that point then my hands are tied. A man’s got to eat you know?”

Sam had lost all pretenses of a smile.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Look at what we are wearing, we work for the military If you really want food then why not head to one of the safe points”

The man's smile remained on his face but venom entered his voice

“Hah! And let the government tell us what we can and can’t do again. Fuck no.”

He put two fingers to his lips and whistled loudly.

Mark had been keeping an eye on the group behind them and in addition to those on the roofs, more made their way out from the side roads. Adding another dozen people.

“Last chance little lady,” the leader said.

Sam gave it one more try, though her heart wasn’t in it.

“If you attack us, we will defend ourselves and we will not be responsible for anything that happens after that”

No one was laughing, they were all focused on Sam, waiting for something.

Mark wondered about the intelligence of these people. Three people traveling on their own in Corrupted territory and this raised no flags? Sure a small group could travel stealthily and probably didn't need much strength, but come on.

Mark could see this was about to get bloody and Sam seemed to have reached the same conclusion because she asked one last thing.

“Fine, then one final question, are you planning on doing this to the next group you meet?”

Her voice had taken on a dangerous quality and the leader stopped smiling and leveled his gaze at her.

“How about we talk again when you aren’t feeling so attached to your pride”

Mark noticed him subtly make a hand signal with his left hand.

The next second he felt two large penetrative forces smack against his construct from behind.

“So that's what a bullet feels like, huh?” Mark thought.

The shots were aimed low and if Mark had to guess the shooters had been aiming for the back of his and Jonathan's knees.

For a second, the force of the bullets dispersing throughout the barrier revealed the large construct that Mark had been slowly expanding into the area before it faded back out.

When the leader saw this his face changed and he shouted.

“Fuck! They’re too dangerous, kill them!”

Mark was impressed at the speed with which the leader responded, but it didn’t really matter at this point, they’d brought this on themselves.

Sam took off in the air and faced the marksmen up on the buildings. Seeing her rise fifteen feet into the air they began to open fire in earnest. Mark could feel an array of different calibers peppering his construct, and each one that hit the dome caused a small ripple to show in the pane of force. Mark was impressed by how the staff improved his control and efficiency.

Two large balls of earth appeared above Sam’s palms and shot toward the buildings, stopping above them. A second later they detonated in massive waves of shrapnel, raining down on the sniper’s nests and people below.

At the same time the group of men charged at Mark and Jonathan. Mark could have kept them out but he allowed them to approach. The moment they entered his range, they suddenly slowed drastically, as he applied force to anyone entering his field. Mark could actually get a decent feel for their strength as they rushed in, by getting feedback on how much it took to slow them down. To be honest, none of them were very powerful, but then only six of them had actually charged. The leader along with two of his men hung back, he was using his own men to test them while they backed up toward the Jeep.

Jonathan took a steadying breath and his Aura began to resonate around him. It was nothing compared to what he had used against the Guardian, but even so, the very world seemed to sharpen around him. Mark assumed it was a new skill because it was ebbing and flowing as if he were testing it.

Dashing forward Jonathan had not drawn his blade and instead punched at one of the approaching men. The man in question saw Jonathan coming at him with incredible speed and chose to block with a police baton. This turned out to be a mistake because as Joanthans fist broke straight through the man's guard and connected with his chest, not only did the man go flying but a deep cut appeared along his side as if made by a blade.

Jonathan began to take out the others in much the same way. At the same time, the Jeep roared to life.

During the confusion, two men got past Jonathan and went for Mark.

They came at him with their weapons raised and death in their eyes. They weren’t giving him much choice. It was him or them. Two shards of stone appeared over Mark's shoulders and launched themselves at the men's heads. One of them managed to dodge but the other took a small spear of stone to the eye socket. Mark then reversed the other stone and pulled it into the back of the other man's skull. They both died instantly, it was the best Mark could do for them.

Mark heard another of Sam’s explosions go off behind him.

Glancing toward Jonathan, he saw him catch up to the retreating Jeep and draw his blade, the sound of the car spluttered out as he cut clean through the engine block. The leader and his men escaped the vehicle and attacked Jonathan as one.

Mark moved to backup Jonathan just as Sam turned back to them and focused on the leader, showing no signs of having just carpet-bombed a good portion of the area.

As it turned out the leader was decently strong, but nowhere near Jonathan. The reason Jonathan hadn’t finished the fight right away was because of their teamwork, the other two were alternating and interrupting Jonathan whenever he went in, then backing off, they worked incredibly well together. Though even with this Mark could see all they were doing was stalling, each encounter with Jonathan’s Aura weakened them and soon enough he’d catch them. To speed things up Sam launched a bolder at one of them and Mark brought his construct forward and wrapped the other in a mass of force bands. Jonathan caught up with the leader and with no one to help he dropped soon enough.

Sam took a step forward and looked down at the beaten leader and with a serious voice asked him.

“This had to have been a possibility you thought of, however unlikely. You had to know that if you continued, someone might come along that you couldn’t handle. So why keep hurting others, why not just join a safe zone or survive out here alone.”

The leader swallowed a mouthful of bloodied phlegm and grunted. His casual smile was gone, replaced by a vicious scowl.

“Because… It hurts less to live free of rules. To live as I see fit, fuck everyone else. If I’m stronger, then I have the right to get what I want”

Sam pursed her lips and looked back at Mark and Jonathan.

Mark looked down at the leader, Sam was right. They’d had enough people here, they could have hunted Corrupted and easily made enough to survive peacefully. These men chose to attack people because they could, who knew how many lives they took.

Mark tried to value life as best he could but they made it hard. Letting these men go would mean that others out there would suffer because of his choice. It was a simple equation when you put it that way, though that did not make Mark any happier.

Jonathan nodded towards Sam and after a moment so did Mark.

Seeing this she turned back to the leader and said softly.

“Living as you want is your right but when you use that right to hurt others, then you get whatever coming to you”

She swiped her hand forward and a blade of wind claimed his life.