The New Order of Things

A post apocalyptic "What if" story based off of The Golden Shadow.

There wasn't much but gravel and blasted sand outside the small tavern that Tyler sat at next to his brother and his wife. There was a mug on the table, his hand wrapped around it and he stared out the window with nothing but a sense of longing. He wanted to get moving. There was a small sigh, and it came quite loudly from him. Isaac looked up at him and shook his head, drinking down some of his water. Stacey merely looked at Tyler, and kissed his cheek, feeling bad for him. Rain pounded on the busted down shack that the "villagers" called a tavern. In essence, this was nothing but a group of shacks put together for people to live in. It was in this way that most of the world lived, at least in the states. It was the new order of things, and Tyler's heart was heavy with the regret that he couldn't protect it from falling to that fate. He'd basically sworn off magic, and relied on nothing but his combat skills to get him, his brother, and his wife through the days. There were more of those original mages out there somewhere. But Isaac's wife had disappeared after they'd gotten separated in the collapse of the base, and Tyler and Stacey's daughter was currently back there still trying to patch things up, hoping to get their old ways operational again.

"We should get moving," Isaac said in a low voice, sliding the mug back toward the bartender. The man gave them a look as if to say, "What? No booze? Who comes to a bar and doesn't drink booze?" But he took the mug, cleaned it out and put it back where it belonged, nonetheless.

Tyler finished his water and did the same, Stacey following suit wordlessly.

"Yeah," came the choked reply from Tyler.

Stacey only looked at him with worried eyes and was the first to walk out the door into the pouring rain, swinging her cloak over her shoulders as she went. The men did the same, after shouldering their rifles and tipping the bartender.

It was much more of a downpour than they'd expected it to be, and people were still running about trying to take care of whatever they could before they went back to their leaky, shoddy shacks for shelter. Flashes of light rippled through the sky, and thunder claps roared overhead.

"It's going to be a nasty storm! Take shelter or keep going?" Stacey called over the thunder.

"I don't want to stay in this run down piece of s**t town any longer, let's get the f**k out of here!" Tyler replied, looking back at Isaac only only gave his brother a brisk nod.

"Which way?" Called Isaac.

"North! It looks like the storm is rolling in from the south, and I don't know how far it goes, but it's where our destination lies. So that's where we're going."

"We've got to be half way to f*****g Wisconsin by now!"

"I doubt it..." came Tyler's sullen reply.

They walked through the rain and away from the little village of shacks. Ahead of them was a freeway littered with broken down cars. Some of the supports had given way and a whole segment of it was crumpled to the ground below, but this was no obstacle for three of the highest ranking people of the former Golden Legion.

"So..." Stacey began over the thunder and rain. "Down and around or jump the gap?"

A slow smile crept onto Tyler and Isaac's face at the same time as they exchanged glances. Stacey rolled her eyes. "Oh god... what grand scheme do you guys have planned now?"

Five minutes later, Tyler stood atop a vehicle's roof, hands on the frame of the windshield. Isaac stood behind said vehicle.

"I can't believe you're about to do this!" Stacey called.

"Why? We gotta have some way other than decapitating Shadow Walkers to entertain ourselves in this f*****g wasteland." Once again, Stacey rolled her eyes.

"Alright, fire away, Izzy!"

"Avec plasir, miseur!" Isaac responded, hopping onto the trunk and launching a powerful fireball in the opposite direction, then hopping off just before the vehicle launched forward. There was a good fifty yards of clear freeway before the vehicle slammed into another, sending Tyler flying over the gap in the road only to slam through three more. In the end he stood up and let out a whoop of joy.

"Whoo hoo! That's what I'm talkin about!"

Stacey, on the other hand, looked flabbergasted. "Wh-what... What the f**k?!" She sputtered as Isaac walked past her, laughing. "I'll never get used to your games! Not even after a hundred and two years I haven't gotten used to it!" Stacey called again.

--------------------

"Are you sure he's hiding in there?" Isaac asked, looking straight up to the top of the enormous building. It was at least fourteen stories tall with enough office space to house a whole company.

Stacey had a small device out that held a layout of the building which they stood before. It put the image up in a green holographic form, with a Shadow Walker symbol in a back room on the fourteenth floor. "That's what it says..."

Tyler was in the process of un-slinging his rifle and loading a clip into its well, then cocked back the receiver and let the slide come forward, loading a bullet into the chamber. "There's only one way to find out," he said with a chuckle, clicking a button on the bottom of the weapon to start up its laser targeting device.

"You know, brother, I like the way you think. Heavy resistance?" He offered, loading up his own rifle of the same model.

A smirk made its way onto Stacey's face as she un-holstered her two ten millimeter barettas, loading a clip into each and cocking them. "No doubt... Ready to get started?"

Tyler kicked the door in with one swift motion. "Let's do it."