All Chapters of The Pales: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

It’s about noon and Zane is walking down a highway littered with decaying cars. As he approached a nearby city, most of the cars had cracked or broken windshields. Sometimes he saw the odd humvee or a tank, they made great shelters for nighttime. This is the western apocalypse and it has been hell. He is about 5 '7 with long blonde hair blowing in the wind, a sturdy build, blue eyes with a narrow face, He wears a trench coat to stay warm and has a backpack of limited supplies. He travels alone mostly, at the start he traveled in groups of survivors of twenty to thirty people but they all succumbed to becoming food of the Pales. Eight years ago, western society as we knew it collapsed due to the sudden appearance of the Pales. These terrifying creatures stood at a height of eight feet and were equipped with claws capable of tearing their prey apart. They initially swarmed cities in large numbers, feeding and causing destruction wherever they went.As time passed, the Pales separated

Zane wakes from a peaceful sleep; no shrieking, howling or screaming. He opens his bag, grabs his can opener from its pouch and selects a can at random. Minestrone. He opens it and drains the can’s contents into his stomach. He felt no need to drink water since soup was also water. He checked the first cupboard on the ground floor in the kitchen to find it empty, the second empty and the third had tomato soup.Zane took it and put it in his bag that was now noticeably getting heavier. He looks outside and sees rainy clouds. Fuck,he thought. Then looking around he noticed a closet he didn't see on the way in. Zane opens it and sees a dusty umbrella. My luck is too good. He chuckles to himself. He then exited the house with an umbrella in hand and began his trek down the highway. Ten minutes later it started to rain, so the umbrella went up. Looking up at the sky Zane guessed it's around noon at this point. He starts whistling a small tune while walking in the rain. For a few hours he w

Daniels POVDaniels walked towards headquarters and entered the door, he was greeted by a few people walking in. Two staff sergeants started to approach him upon entry, Mikels and O'reilly, it should be mentioned Staff sergeant is the highest rank on the base. They were both short men about 5 '5, Mikels had shaved brown hair with brown eyes, he was about 40 years old. O'Reilly was a shaved blonde man also around 40, with blue eyes. Both of them were in uniform as they walked up and I saluted them. Mikels then said,“At Ease Daniels.”“Yes sir!”“How was your patrol outside the city of the neighboring town?” O'Reilly asked with interest.“It was quiet sir.” Daniels responded. “But me and my team came across a civilian who has lived on his own for eight years, we have brought him to the base feeling his skills could be useful.” “Good eye Sergeant! We will process him later. We will also debrief you as well later on after the matter of the civilian is settled.” Mikels praised me. Danie

Zane woke to a loud ringing noise which was his alarm clock going off. He lay there a minute, his mind fogged, taking comfort in the presence the bed made, it was amazing for a cot. Zane got up and turned it off, he started to undress and put his old clothes on, strap on his sidearm, equip his dagger and put his sword on by his side. After this Zane added his trench coat and put on his combat boots, they were getting old. He figured he should ask for replacements at some point. From there Zane exited the barracks and went down the stairs to proceed to the mess hall. He leaves the barracks through the door and hastily makes his way to the mess hall. Zane could smell food in the air, it smelled like oatmeal and some kind of meat. His stomach grumbled as he made his way over there. On the way inside he ran into Daniels. “Hey after you’re done head over to the armory to get geared up!” Danioels said with authority.“Alright I will.” Zane responded.Zane went inside and took a look. The

Zane’s POV It was 9:00 PM now and Daniels had brought a crate of moonshine down from his room. Carl, David, Anderson and Richards were all drinking moonshine from bottles. They were more like jugs than bottles but that did not matter to them they were getting as wasted as they could to drown their pain out. They were all in the common room of barracks A. It was very similar to barracks J. Couches and chairs were spread out in the area. Everyone was all sitting down. There was a tv and a playstation and some games with movies near it. Anderson and Carl were sharing stories of Williams. They talked about his first deer kill. The time he got scared by a cockroach. The time he killed a turkey and how it was in mid-flight, like an old westerner cowboy. About another time that he got chased by a hive of bees. These stories made Williams seem like a badass.They told stories well into the night. Zane especially liked the story of him clearing Pales like a badass. Shooting them down as they