When All Is Lost, Still We Shall Stand [Open][Jump In]

Government, law, and safety are things of the past after a two-year war that ravaged the nations of the world to a point of total governmental collapse.

Everyone thought the world we know would be destroyed by nukes and superweapons, but they were wrong. It was destroyed by itself. Discontent, greed, and a state of incredible ethical decline led to open warfare between the nations.

Yet the wars of the nations were not the cause of the Collapse. The wars sapped each and every nation beyond its breaking point. Law enforcement was soon overwhelmed and overrun by the fighting in the streets.

Neighbor turned on neighbor, father against son, and brother against brother. No one was safe from anarchy.

Now, the only ones who can last in this new world where nothing dictates the actions of men and women are those with the will to do whatever it takes to survive.

In this world, there are no rules.

Jace stared daggers into the eyes of the man confronting him in the alley. The man held in his hands a large metal pipe and held it above his head, ready to strike at any moment.

On the other hand, Jace gripped his machete tightly and waited to see what the man would do.

"Get out of my way. Now." Jace ordered. He had been scavenging for materials all morning before the goon showed up.

OOC:@SparkSoul Just curious here, but spoons? How does she use them? Oh, and you're accepted, btw.

IC: "Not in this lifetime, chump. Drop everything you've got and I'll let you walk away." The man challenged. He was much larger than Jace, both in height and in muscle. There was no way he could be overpowered by the young man he was confronting.

"I guess that's a no, then." Jace sighed. He slowly bent down and picked up a fist-size piece of debris, keeping his eyes on the man at all times. "One last chance to let me go."

"Ha! Or what? You'll give me a paper cut!?" The large man threw his head back and laughed at Jace's threat, making the mistake of exposing his throat.

With a feral cry, Jace hurled the small stone at the man's throat, hoping to crush his trachea. The rock struck and the man lurched forward and began to cough seemingly uncontrollably while clutching at his throat.

Jace frowned and charged the man, machete raised above his head as he let out another angry cry. The man recovered just before he reached him and held up both his arms in a feeble attempt to defend himself.

But Jace brought his machete down once, twice, three times upon the man's arms, hacking them to the bone, yet the man kept his arms up despite the pain. So Jace circled the man quickly, slicing at his sides and the inside of his knees to immobilize his opponent.

The man yelled with each strike and collapsed when Jace severed many of the tendons in his knees. But the younger man kept striking, hacking and slashing the writhing man who, just a minute before, had cornered him and threatened to take all he had.

"Die! Die! Die!" Jace screamed, striking the man three more times before realizing that he had stopped screaming and writhing. Now Jace stood over the mutilated corpse and dropped his machete, looking down at his shaking, blood-soaked hands and the crimson pool in which he stood.

"W-what did I... What did I do?" He stepped back and stared at the hacked-up body of his adversary.

Was that really necessary? He wondered, Or have I fallen so far as to murder without reason?

His mouth hung open and he stared in horror at what he had done in the alley.

OOC: Accepted! Jump in whenever you feel like it.

OOC: I'm seeing quite a diverse set of characters here! This ought to be a good one. Everyone is accepted. Jump in when you feel like it.

IC: "No, I've not fallen so far. Not yet." Jace said, clenching his fists and refusing to believe that he was too far gone. "I won't allow it!" He growled determinedly.

With that, he turned and left the alley and the corpse behind. That man was not the last he would kill, he knew, but it was the last time he killed on impulse.

As he walked down the road, blood still dripping from his hands and blade, he noticed a girl crying on the sidewalk.

Jace moved towards the crying girl but stopped, remembering his current, bloody condition. He sighed and turned to an alley off to his right and walked towards it, intending to use it as a shortcut.

He rounded the corner and walked right into another girl. This girl had with her a small shih tzu. He jumped back, startled, and held his crimson-streaked machete in front of him.

He stood there for a moment before realizing that it was just a girl and probably wouldn't attempt to attack him. He sighed and lowered his machete but kept a weary eye on the girl, waiting to see what she would do.

"I'd ask you the same but, seeing as how I'm covered in blood, I guess I should be he first to explain." Jace said plainly, eyeing the girl cautiously and getting himself ready to punt the small dog across the alley if it tried to bite him.

"My name is Jace Rand. I'm a scavenger. I was confronted by a man in another alley about a mile back who threatened to kill me and take all I have. I killed him instead." He spoke grimly and lifted his machete to show just what he meant.