End Times: Bad Future

Debris lined the deserted streets, dyed a dark pale of brown, replacing the once clean, grey brick streets. Clouds of dust were kicked up by the occasional sharp wind, whipping a certain hedgehog's spines in his face occasionally. They were much longer, but they were clearly badly looked after. A scar marked the area around his right eye, and a purple scarf covered his mouth as he walked along. His coat was old, and dirty, with holes and rips all over it. 
Several others followed this figure, with all kinds of firearms hanging in there backs. They walked with equally solemn looks, occasionally looking at the skyline, for a foe of some kind. Some were almost... Bored. There had been no skirmishes for the past week. Was that because they had genuinely finished off every last one, or was there something else coming?


Finally, one of the group broke off, running towards the one leading them. “S-sir! Wh-what if we get attacked when we make it to the base? Th-there's been no fighting for so long! I-if they’ve been stockpiling robots, w-w-we'll be-“
“What did you say your name was?” Caen asked, stopping in his tracks as he cut off the other Mobian.
“T-Thomas, sir,”
“Thomas. I’ve said it to all of you before, and I will say it again. You are free to leave whenever you wish. If you aren’t willing to put your life on the line, who am I to judge?”
“B-because you’re our leader, sir! Wouldn’t you want all of your men to be one hundred percent with you?”
“I’m a leader by default, Thomas. It’s the... It’s the least I could do for causing all of this... I am the reason why Alastor was able to live this long, so I need to take him out by any means.” He looked up at the sky, the sun barely shining through the smog. “Tell me, do you have a family?”
“Why... Why, yes sir... C-Caen, I mean. A wife, a-and a son.”
Caen turned, putting his hands on the soldier's shoulders. “Return to them. Spend time with your child, while you still can, because there is no guarantee that we will survive; that we’ll succeed, even,” he said, his voice utterly serious.
The Mobian blinked for a few seconds, before finally shaking his head “no. I... I need to stick by my allies. Th-thank you, Caen... Sir.” He nodded, before turning to rejoin the group.
Caen sighed, turning to the rest of the group, consisting of roughly twenty Mobians, including himself. “Let’s set up camp for the night! Dylan, make sure our rations are evenly portioned.”


Soon, they had all holed up in an old office block, the glass panes barely transparent, due to the amount of dust and grime on them. Everyone else slept, while Caen sat against a wall, holding a picture up. The picture was quite small, but featured Caen, a female cockatiel, with bright white feathers, an equally white fox, wearing a purple scarf, and a small Chao floating above them, its tiny little body mostly orange and red in colour. Caen reached up instinctively, grabbing the cloth wrapped around his neck “Rai...” he whispered to himself, before gritting his teeth, and whispering “Cinder... Winter... We're almost there... Once this is over... I hope you’re all waiting for me, wherever you are...”

Before long, the hedgehog had fallen asleep, his back against the wall, and he was snoring softly, almost in unison with everyone else who had lay down for the night. They were all exhausted, that much was clear. The sun had fully set, and night had come. It was dark, and the wind howled through the empty hallways of the dilapidated building. The faint sound of crickets chirping could be heard.

The faint crunching of boots across rubble disrupted this constant sound, and it crept closer and closer to the sleeping Caen. When it was mere inches away, Caen awoke with a gasp. His facial features softened once again as he discovered who the intruder was, before they suddenly tightened back up into a frown again “Ember! I asked you to stay at home base!” Caen whispered at the female hedgehog in front of him. She was dressed in all black, though her long red spines barely shone through the pitch blackness. 

Ember reached behind her, taking off a bag 'I can’t leave you alone for the final battle, Dad. You must know that, right?” she finally replied, pulling out a blanket from the bag and putting it over Caen “here, you’ll catch cold.”
Caen pushed away the blanket, shaking his head “it... It’s okay... I’m supposed to be on lookout, now, anyway... Here,” he said, handing the blanket back to Ember, who stuffed the blanket into her bag and threw it back on her back. 

Caen stood up, brushing the dirt off of his coat and turning to the doorway. He silently moved between the sleeping soldiers, with Ember following close behind. Soon, they climbed a stairwell, that led up to the roof. A soldier was sat on the edge of the roof, and looked behind him when he heard footsteps. “Ah... Commander Caen...” he said sleepily, looking at Ember and raising his eyebrow “di’n’t we leave the girl back at the base, sir?” he asked, before realising he hadn’t noticed the girl creeping in. “F-forgive me for not noticing, sir!”

Caen raised up his hand “it’s fine. You’re tired, get some rest.” With those words, the soldier headed downstairs, to join his comrades. Caen took off his own bag, taking out a metal cup, a bottle of water, and a teabag, as well as some sugar, of course. He looked over at Ember, “tea?”
Ember laughed “never knew you drank it,”
“It’s the only caffeinated thing we have other than coffee. You and I both know my hatred for coffee,” he replied, laughing back as he put some water in the cup, as well as the teabag. He summoned a flame in his hand, using it to gently hear the water until it bubbled. 

He breathed in slowly, blowing away some of the steam rising from the cup, before taking a sip. With a sigh, he looked ahead, and spotted, just on the horizon, a small fiery light.
“Look... The sun's rising...” Ember said quietly. “Does this mean...?”
“Yes, Ember. It’s almost time.”