Prologue: Death of a Monster

I won't deny the horrible things I have done: the families I destroyed, the armies I have slaughtered, the innocent lives I have taken, and the countless acts of destruction that I have caused...

My ears are ringing, and I can feel the adrenaline starting to pump through my body. The dust around me starts clearing, revealing a dozen bodies. I can't see out my left eye, my left arm feels numb, and I feel blood dripping down my face. I've been hit, but I can't worry about it now. I need to leave now.

As my hearing starts to come back, I can hear people screaming and crying. I shove off the body that was on top of me and push myself up. Without even thinking, I start running and nearly trip over a body. With the adrenaline kicking in, I feel no pain, so I don't know how bad I've been hit, but I do know that I need to keep pushing forward.

This is my only chance... no, my last chance at getting out of here. I stop dead in my tracks as I see the helicopter circle around and get ready to do another gun run. Then some anti-air rockets start chasing after it as the helicopter pops flares and tries to evade. One of the rockets manages to hit the helicopter, setting it ablaze and throwing it to the ground. I hear a loud explosion, and then a tower of smoke starts rising from that direction. I start running again as I hear more helicopters in the distance.

...There is no excuse for the things I have done. I can't be forgiven, nor should anyone accept any atonement from me...

*Huff.... huff...*I can barely breathe after running away, but I think I am safe for now. My left arm is throbbing in pain, and blood is dripping down from the left side of my face, covering my eye. Reaching up to my face, I start tracing the blood until I reach a sizeable laceration just slightly above my eyebrow.

I try to wipe the blood out from my eye so I can see, but it isn't helping. There probably is sand or bits of metal stuck in my eye. Looking over at my arm, I see blood dripping all the way to my fingertips. I quickly grab a tourniquet from my belt and apply it to my upper arm. Squeezing the tourniquet tight, I am hit with shattering pain.

It's hard to move my arm, and it feels like something is lodged in it. Inspecting my arm closely, I see that there are a few holes in my jacket where blood is pouring out. I rip one of the holes open to take a better look. My arm is covered in small holes, with some of the bigger ones having sharp metal poking out. Gritting my teeth, I grab some of the larger pieces and yank them out. I bite my lip to stop myself from yelling out in pain.

Feeling light-headed, I decided to remove the other pieces later. Some of the shrapnel might have cracked some bones, or they are jammed so deep that someone else will need to remove them. I try to reach for the bandages in my bag, but I quickly realize the bag is missing. Damn it, my bag must have fallen off after I was hit. With the amount of blood I am losing, it's not looking too good. I might have to go ba... Before I could finish the thought, I heard gunfire and explosions behind me. *sigh* Damn it, this was supposed to be my ticket out of here.

Suddenly, a shadow quickly flies past me. Drone!!! I quickly run and hide under some concrete rubble. Crouching down, I try to stay still and keep hidden, hoping I wasn't spotted. This situation is only getting worse, and I'm running out of time. I need to keep moving. After all, this is my only chance to escape."Stop, Think, Observe, Plan. Panicking or acting carelessly will result in death." Looking back on everything, those words of wisdom have been keeping me alive.

*sigh* Ok, the plan failed, and now the army is hunting me, and my opportunity to escape is ticking away. My injuries are bad, but I can still move. There is a clearing in front of me that has some rubble I can use for cover. I don't hear any gunfire in that direction, so it's probably my best bet to push forward. I will wait for the drone to circle behind the ruins and then make a break for it.

I wipe the blood off my face and grit my teeth. The shadow fades behind the ruins. Now! I get up and run as fast as possible to get out of the open. Moving cover to cover and hiding when the drone flies by. I need to reach the other side before... *bang*

...For I am nothing but a horrible monster that sold my soul to devils, that killed and conquered without any care, that tossed aside morals for self-preservation. I will go to whatever hell will take me. I will take whatever punishment I deserve. After all, monsters like me don't deserve any peace...

Am I on the ground? I don't remember falling down. I try to stand up, but the most excruciating pain I have ever felt hits me. Turning back, I can see that my right leg is bleeding and bent in an odd shape. I grit my teeth and clench my fist as I try to push myself up to my knees. My vision is blurry, and my ears are ringing. I move my trembling hands to inspect my lower leg and see a hole where blood is pouring out. It's a gunshot wound, and the bullet definitely hit the bone.

With my broken leg and other wounds, it looks like I won't be making it out of here. No, I need to make it out of here, even if it means that I have to crawl. I reach out with both hands, grab the ground, and try to pull myself forward... "well, well, well, look who we got here." A shiver runs down my spine as I look up and see three soldiers heading towards me.

"If it isn't the Angel of Death herself. You know a terrorist like you has quite the bounty. My boys and I can retire early and live in luxury with all that money. I can only imagine the stuff they will..." On and on, they ramble like some villain monologuing. I guess this is the end, but I will not give them the satisfaction of capturing me. Luckily, they're stupid enough to ramble on in the middle of a war zone. Well, if I'm going to die, then I'm going to die the way I lived. I quickly grab the handgun that was hidden in my jacket and aim at the soldier in the middle. I squeeze the trigger *bang*

...There is no rest for monsters like me, only a never-ending struggle and an unforgiving fate...