Chef in the Apocalypse

Before he knew it, the woman threw herself at him embracing him tightly.

"Jayce I was so worried. Where were you?"

Lianna began to sob, burying herself into his chest. They stood like that for some time while Jayce’s mind tried to catch up with what had happened. He was almost certain that he had seen her whisked away by those people.

It was then that realization struck him like a hammer. The relief that he had felt after holding his woman within his arms was instantly washed away by anxiety.

He broke away from the hug and held Lianna at arms length, staring at her deep green eyes.

"Lianna. I need you to stay calm and listen to what I’m about to say." He prefaced.

"Leah was taken by those people through the array."

Lianna just stared at him for a moment, confusion evident on her face.

"W-What are you saying?" She took a step back, unable to process his words. Her eyes turned dull as she dropped to her knees.

Jayce knelt down and grabbed her hand, using his other to lift her chin. He stared into her eyes with determination.

"Don’t worry. We’ll get her back." He declared with unbridled confidence.

Being met with such a gaze from the man she loved and admired, Lianna began to calm down visibly, nodding after a few moments. She trusted Jayce with her life, so why shouldn’t she trust him with her sisters.

"Ah. Quick, Colin is in trouble." Jayce suddenly remembered that Colin was currently in the middle of bleeding out. Now that he had located Lianna, they would be able to save him easily.

They quickly got up and headed to where he had left the big man. Lianna quickly knelt down and began to use her Law of Nature to heal him.

Meanwhile, Jayce scoured the area looking for more survivors. Among the bodies littered around he recognized many that he had interacted with during the Summit. For each person he saw, the burning embers of rage smoldered inside of him.

Not far away he spotted a man on his knees staring at the dark sky of the night. Although there was some distance between them, Jayce could recognize his features instantly.

"Zane!" Jayce called out, rushing over to his direction.

Yet even with his name called out, Zane did not react. He stayed unmoving, staring at the sky above.

Now that he had gotten a little closer, he could see that there was a body laying lifelessly within his arms. Her ginger hair was matted with dried blood which stuck to her fair and freckled face.

Jayce felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he stared at the harrowing scene. Yet he did not know what to do. There was nothing that he could say right now that could possibly help in this situation.

He could say his condolences, but no man would want to hear such a thing at this time. He was their leader, someone who was meant to protect them, yet he had failed. There was no excuse for such a failure.

But moping around would not fix anything. The only thing that could wash away this blood, was more blood...

Jayce slowly walked over and placed his hand on the unmoving Zane’s shoulder.

"We’ll find those bastards and make them pay..."

At these words, he felt a shiver run through the man’s stagnant body. Zane then turned his head towards Jayce. At first his eyes were empty, the sign of a man who had lost his meaning in living.

"They took away my happiness... They took her away from me."

Like a child who was voicing their grievances, Zane spoke to Jayce with deep emotion. His voice was strained, seemingly barely holding it together.

Yet in the next moment his eyes turned fierce, burning with rage and indignation. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"I’m going to f*cking kill them all."

These words came from deep within his soul, sending a shiver down Jayce’s spine. He had never seen Zane act like this before, which just showed how much Claire had meant to him.

Jayce nodded, "Yeah... I’ll come get you soon." He said, patting Zane on the shoulder once more before turning to leave the man grieving.

However, judging by the destruction of the surroundings, Zane would not be the only one grieving his loss. Jayce’s mood was bitter as he walked back to where Lianna was healing Colin.

The power of the Law of Nature was almost miracle-like. Colin’s arm which was missing earlier had now been replaced, albeit it was pale and undersized compared to his other.

His face also looked rosy, an indication that he was no longer anemic thanks to the healing.

Lianna stepped away from Colin and turned to Jayce. Using the Law of Nature to heal was a lot less taxing on the body compared to the healing spells that she used to use, and also much more efficient. Therefore she still looked to be full of strength after healing Colin.

"We need to search for survivors." Jayce said plainly.

She nodded in response before closing her eyes in concentration. Wisps of Qi began to float outside her body before shooting out in every direction as if searching for something.

The Qi had a green glow which illuminated the area where it passed. Lianna was using her Law of Nature to detect any signs of life within the debris and rubble in the vicinity.

Once it detected life, it began to flash, alerting Jayce to the position. He quickly ran over and began to dig through the debris in order to pull the person out.

The two continued like this for the next couple of hours. More often than not, Jayce would also come across dead bodies while digging for those who were still alive.

In the end, they found that of the original 300 or so people who were attending the feast, less than 100 had survived the encounter.