The Southern Brotherhood

This is an introduction of the main characters in the story. I do not claim to own any copywrited material that is in the book.

Chapter One: The Southern Brotherhood

I set my journal down and went out to check out the remnants of Poplarville. It was in remarkable condition. Contrary to popular belief, this apocalypse didn't destroy everything. Buildings were only covered in graffiti, and roads were cracked a little bit due to people not knowing how to tend to it. Justin was right about his surveillance. I strolled by a store with a wooden sign that read: George's Exotic Pharmacy. I decided to check it out. My friend George was giving a bag of weed to Cory, another person I knew. I asked George how things were and instead he showed me his valuables. Well there were lots of drugs and pills I've never even heard of. The prices weren't too shabby either. About five dollars for a brick of weed. Deflation hit this place hard as it's usually about 50-100 dollars. I took the ones that were supposed to be painkillers and went to see if any other people I knew opened up any stores. Dillan opened up a Liquor Store (of course),  Ashlynn started a prostitution gig, and Matthew opened up a weapons shop. I went up and looked around. I found some brass knuckles and I liked them so I bought them. Then I saw two Alaskan cutting knives so I bought them. I was amazed as the total cost was about $50 for a $120 deal. Weapons had the highest value out of everything though. He had a welding torch that he let me use for free so I welded the blades of the cutting knives to the brass knuckles. I went to the school to see what was going down there. It had graffiti all over with the words Brown Recluse. I went to the gym and saw a bunch of gang people training. I met with their leader (a friend named Justin Dugas) and asked about the Rattlers. He was shocked and asked what I needed to know

I said "I killed a trio of Rattlers and am going for the head because they killed my brother."
"Well that is pretty bad, but doing it yourself would be suicidal and we are busy with a war with the Garters" he replied
"Can you give me some info?" I asked
"Yes, the Rattlers are a branch in the Serpent gang, which is the political head of the Southern States. Mean mother fuckers. There are nine branches including the Rattlers: The Cottonmouths, Copperheads, Corals, Kings, Pines, Greens, Racers and the Garters. At first, the gang seemed to bring stability to the Southern States, but this is not the case. They are evil and banned guns as the head can't shoot for s**t and didn't want anyone out classing him in something. He is very skilled with other weapons though. They also demanded VERY high taxes which most people couldn't even pay. So when this dispute with the Garters is over, I will help you one hundred percent. Your best bet is to find a group of people who have danger ratings of about 3.9 and above. But that is very hard to find. Also If you took out a trio of Rattlers I would clock you in at about a 4.7 danger rating. I would be proud as my gang has a danger rating of about 3.4 as a whole with me as the majority as a 2.1" he explained
"What's the danger rating?" I asked
"Well that is how dangerous you are. it is measured from 0-10. Most people average at about 0.5 and don't even survive a skirmish with Greens or Garters." He answered
"Ok thanks and if you need me to, my new gang will help y’all." I said walking out

I stumbled upon a wanted poster and read it:

 

Wanted:
Two males aged 15 and 16 danger rating combined: 10. Individual: 4.9 and 5.1. Wanted Dead. No prisoners. Charged with killing a platoon of Cottonmouths. Top dollar to any who kill them and present a local Serpent gang the heads. Last seen in Lumberton

"Huh well I know who I'm looking for." I said to myself as I walked up to the truck

I made it to Lumberton after a good drive and decided to look for some old friends of mine: Aaron and Samuel. When I got to their house, they weren't there so I checked their barn. It was practically a fortress. African Blackwood covered the outside as a low-budget wall as their grandparents owned a lumber business and food was plentiful as his grandparents were also in the livestock industry. The roof was thick layers of steel, pounded down and nailed to stay on the roof. I knocked on the African Blackwood door and had another familiar face started talking to me. It was Aaron. He noticed me right away and asked if I needed a place to stay.

"Well I would need to get some of my stuff but this s**t is crazy you fixed this place up!" I shouted
"Yeah, but why are you here?" Aaron asked breaking his nice gesture.
"I want you to tell me if you can find the two that took out that platoon of Cottonmouths." I said
"You've come to the right place" He said
"You can help me find them?" I asked
"No they're looking for me and Samuel" he replied
"HOLY F**K!" I shouted "Well I want to assemble a team to destroy the Serpents, Rattlers in particular, so can you help me?"
"Yes we have problems with the Serpents as well as you can see." He said laughing
"Ok come with me I got to get my stuff." I said starting up the truck.

We arrived at my shed. I packed up all of my clothes; I got PeeWee in the truck and packed the sugar gliders. I also packed up all of the blades that I kept. We then drove back and stopped in town to see if we could find anything. We found another friend. Robert Reeves. He quickly realized it was us and started talking to us about how he was doing. Well like the latter of us, he was wanted for messing with the Serpents. He had a little battle with a Coral and barely got away. We went to the Exotic Pharmacy and saw a wanted poster of Robert. We figured out that he is a 4.5 which is pretty high it seems. We took the poster down and burned it. Didn’t want him getting worried over it. We got back to the barn and we fixed up our rooms. We souped it up with some crazy s**t too we have a shower, electricity running to it and everything. And without people to cut it, we're not getting billed. That might change when get to a point to where the fuel source is dry but that would take a lil' while. I got out the computer and stuff and hooked it up. We had a way to contact other people that had access to tech now. Most people's computers broke because of lack of experts, but I'm pretty good with computers so I could keep mine running. Then another eerily familiar face shows up. It was Aaron and Samuel's cousin, Kayla. Should've known she'd be there. Me and her were dating for a while then broke up and ain't seen each other since then. She slapped me then said that she accepts my apology. Good that she got down to the point at least. While I was getting ready for bed, I had my sugar glider out playing with her. She jumped around a bit then jumped back in her cage. Me and Aaron decided to check out one of the grocery stores the next morning. We bought some painkillers and other pills, and some weapons for anybody that would need them. I decided to go hunting with a bow that me and Aaron made. I waited for about an hour then a deer started running so I quickly shot it. Then I figured out why it was running. A big ole grizzly ran up and looked at me. No guns so I was fucked. I ran over and climbed into a tree. Bears can climb trees I know, but if when it gets up, I make it fall, the fall can hurt it then I can jump off and stab him with extra impact. It started to climb up and as soon as he got 20 feet in the tree, I jumped on the limb and instantly jumped to another limb as the one it was on fell. I then climbed down to about 6 feet up and jumped on its head to finish it. I caught a glimpse of something horrible. A camera attached to it and a Copperhead sign painted into its fur. It was a search bear. I broke the camera and searched for any tracking device. I couldn't find one so I skinned it right there and drug the meat from the bear and deer to the base. After a good meal and some beer, we were getting ready for bed.

I walked around outside when I saw something I didn't like. A guy about 100 feet away with a bloody face, mangled body, and was limping towards us. I quickly ran to him cutting knives in hand in case it was a trick. When I got to him it was my friend Taylor Miller
"Miller! What the f**k happened to you?!" I asked
"About 10 garters. But their lack of training made it easy to escape." he replied
"Well let's get you fixed up" I said giving him a shoulder.

We got back to the base and left him in the infirmary for a while. We didn't have high-tech equipment but we did our best. Me and Samuel decided that we should go get some equipment from the hospital to use. We drove down there and found that the hospital was a greens training base. We called Robert and Aaron to the scene and when they got there, we walked in and just took out guards one by one quickly and silently. We finally got to the supplies and there was a Coral hanging around. He saw us and didn't see any tattoos so he attacked. Samuel pulled out a katana and cut at him but he jumped over the swing only to be hit with a sledge that Robert had packing, suddenly sending him flat on the floor. I then stomped on his face and slit his throat. We then got the stuff and got out. Then, Aaron and Samuel started carving BB into their foreheads.

"Samuel, Aaron what’s that for?" I asked
"That's our sign." Aaron said
"THAT COULD LEAD THEM TO US!" I shouted rather loudly
A guard came in "HEY! What was that!?"

I quickly advanced and sliced him to pieces. Aaron threw his knives at him then ran and stabbed him in his solar plexus with his dagger. We loaded up the rest of the supplies and set them up at home so Miller could heal faster. We went to the Exotic Pharmacy and found someone there. He was different though. He was dressed like a Roman soldier wearing a wolf pelt.

"Braxton?" I asked
"NO! My name is Caesar (Pronounced Kie-sar). Leader of the Legion."
"Oh God, you were knocked out playing Fallout New Vegas weren't you?" I asked
"What are you talking about? I hold a vast army of Legion soldiers." He said with a serious gaze


I punched him in his jaw, knocking him out, and then brought him back to the base. He woke up and started yelling at us, so I started talking to him.

I said "If you have a vast army of Legion soldiers, then you can help us defeat the Serpent gang, right?"
"Yes I will get my army prepared for the fight. But you must first accept the mark of Caesar and swear allegiance to the Legion." He said
"We will have a very prosperous alliance." I said
"Well it's a deal. The Legion is now allied to... What do you call yourselves again?"
"The Southern Brotherhood” I said
"And what is going to come out of this alliance may I ask?" asked Braxton.
"We will give you all of Baxterville when we get the serpents flushed out" I said not thinking he really had a huge army

Braxton then pulled out a walkie-talkie and signaled in some people. There actually was enough for a small army, having around 50 people. They all made a camp near the base and stayed there. We kept Miller around to guard the base until we could truly trust the "Legion Army". We were in town getting some gas when we saw another wanted poster: there seemed to be many wanted criminals in the Southern States. The criminal's name was Cade Smith. Seemed familiar so I looked at the danger rating. He was a 4.6. We decided to look for him. I asked Aaron if he knew anything about this Cade guy.

Aaron shouted "JEREMY!"
"What?" I replied in an agitated voice
"Cade was one of our BEST FRIENDS!" he yelled
"OH S**T! Now that I think of it, he was a good friend. Didn't he live in Dixie?" I asked
"Yes he did. So let's go" said Aaron

I started up the truck and started up for Dixie. We made it and went to the busiest part of town. We saw a commotion down by their stores. It was Cade fighting some bounty hunters. Aaron threw his spear and hit one as I ran in and punched the second with my cutting knuckles. Cade took care of the last with a kama sickle. I wish I could have got a pair of those, but I like my cutting knuckles.

"Aaron? Jeremy? I thought y'all were dead by now. I'm honestly surprised I've survived this long." said Cade
"Yeah so we saw your poster. You're wanted by Serpents?" I asked
"Yes. I killed a pair of Cottonmouths." said Cade
"Ok! Time to go now" said Aaron

We left and headed back to the base. We got out of the truck and about five Rattlers where running over to the base. I ran after them holding my cutting knuckles tight as Aaron threw some knives at the attackers. Out of nowhere Robert runs out and smashes one's skull and cripples the legs of another. I make it to one of the other ones and pull off a sweep kick. He hit the ground and I dropped a knee on him and started unleashing hell on his face. I slit the crippled one's neck and before I made it to the fourth, Aaron pulled the attacker's head into his knee and stabbed his back repeatedly. Cade used his Kama sickles like scissors on the last one's head. We buried them. Leave no evidence behind. We drove over to my old house to see how the horses where doing. Yeah, I can't ride that good but I'll get the hang of it and traveling by car will be fucked when gas runs out, so yeah looks like horses are in. I checked on my horse Chilo. Looking a little thin since there isn't any horse food, but in good health. I also got my brother's horse Gunner. I looked for where we used to spill horse feed all the time and found some oat plants. We took a bunch and decided to plant them for food. Me and Cade rode the horses back and Aaron drove the truck back. I went to my room and sat on the cot that I had made. I turned on the CD player and had some 2pac playing. Cade came in and we decided to make some weapons for horseback. I'm using a Halberd attached to the end. Cade is using a cavalry sword. Later that night, I decided to go to the museum to see if there was anything cool there. I stole a pair of gauntlets and went to Matthew's shop. I cut the blades off of the brass knuckles and welded them to where they were on the gauntlet's knuckles. I then was talking to Miller and he got my IPod to play whenever I started to fight.

 

Then I talked to Braxton.

“Yo Braxton!” I shouted

“Caesar! My name is Caesar!” he yelled

“So can you help us?”I asked

“What do you need?” He asked

“I need a help with a war” I explained

He agreed and we all went over to the school with a majority of the Legion soldiers and we kept Samuel at the base to keep the rest of the soldiers in check. I arrived and started some conversation with Dugas.

“Well what brings my lost friend to my base?” he asked

“I came with a small army to take out the Garters once and for all.” I said

“Well s**t let’s invade their main camp right now.” Said Dugas

We went to the camp and shot fire arrows at all of the buildings. They swarmed out and then started to run at us in retaliation. I signaled Braxton to send his soldiers in a full-scale attack and the Brown Recluse attacked so me and my gang ran down in the crossfire and saw a horrible sight. A King. Guess he was the head of this operation. He grabbed a Recluse and threw him into a group of Legion soldiers. I ran over and threw a punch at him. He dodged with incredible speed and threw a kick at my head. I dodged grabbed the leg and sent him to the ground. I got one punch on his chest, causing a deep bloody gash, before he kicked me off and advanced again. He was losing blood giving me an advantage. As soon as he started going light headed, I struck one last time, killing him.I went to the main building and broke all of the communications equipment to where they couldn’t call for help. Then when all of them where killed or ran, I told Dugas that I could let his gang hang around the base.

Author's Note

Don't hold back, tell me any problems you might have.