In the first six months since the army and settlers had moved into Willowborough, a semblance of order had been developed in the small settlement. The group had a collection of abilities that were crucial to ensuring that the way of life would be great in their new home. They had arrived with a large variety of specialists including tech support and farmers to eventually boost local food production because the long term goal for each of the settlements was autonomy. They would all have to be self-sufficient in order to survive the future. The larger settlements were there to provide support in manpower as well as training for the small to medium settlements. This was the future system that would be adopted in the world.
The country only had three large settlements, two of which were in the original capitals of Harare and Bulawayo and the final one was a large chunk of land in the teak forests around Mature. The first two were now densely populated with the survivors and plans were already pushing forward to occupy the forests and make a powerful central hub for survival and combat training for the eventual attack on the war zones. The whole world was going through something similar and it was odd that after such an apocalyptic change instead of people adopting each person for them-self type mentality, the world was pulling together.
The United States of America had come together with Russia, China and Japan to develop and disseminate their teleportation technology( which they had secretly been in a race to crush first and control before the invasions) and this had allowed for human settlements to possess a level of connectivity and freedom of movement all under the control of the governments of course. This was only the first of the co-operations to come from the Earthlings all around the world. It was funny that it took the end of the world for humanity to show its better side. Even some corrupt politicians that had once terrorised their people previously had risen to the challenge and become better.
However, this is humanity and where good can shine so bright, so too does evil become much darker and malicious. There were already people profiteering off the instability caused by excesses of the population as well as chaos all around. Add into the mix the myriad of skills and abilities that people had gotten and the situation became a real birth of those super villains that used to be on-screen and comic books in more peaceful times. This definitely wasn't the world that we used to know and whether humanity would persevere was going to take a lot of time to figure out.
Willowborough was a small settlement linked to the Harare LS(large settlement) and that was where most of its personnel came from including Luke Jacobs. Luke and his troop were only there to do initial settling and establish order before actual leaders and managers were sent over to take over control of the territory for more efficient governance. Or at least those were the orders that they were given. After the six months, the territory was quite stable and after reporting to LS, they were told to standby and await the territory managers, termed "Chiefs" to arrive. So Luke spent the time waiting while training his new legacy disciple.
Luke
He was quite pleased with himself at the moment. His grandmaster (aka his grandfather)had always preached to him about how he was impulsive and too concerned about his own personal glory and never about contributing to the clan. He could not wait to see the faces on all the old fogeys' faces when he introduced them to the "demon" level genius that he had found in what is quite possibly the most backwater place from a martial arts point of view.
The kid had taken all the tests and trials he sent to him like a champ. He was already at the level of external martial arts that Luke had been when he was 14. this was extremely insane because Luke had trained in martial arts since the day he could walk while he had only been with Leo for six months. They never talked about it but he was sure that the kid's ability had something to do with it because he improved too quickly to have normal. He was like a training robot that became more efficient as it went on( Luke had no idea how close to the truth he was when he thought this.) he had pushed him through the most gruelling training in order to push his body enough to gain the physique necessary to learn the Chi Techniques of his family.
Leo was now ready and it was time to get him to swear the oaths necessary for him to have the skills imparted to him and then they would be true brothers of one clan proudly. He couldn't help but grin at the prospect as he sat at his desk in his office at the police building that they had taken as an official base and we're working to expand. That was when one of his men Tyler came bursting in, "sir!", the man saluted him naturally waiting for his word.
"At ease soldier and report," Luke said in his casual drawl. The soldier dropped the salute swiftly. " the Chief is here with his entourage sir," the man said with a very visible sign of displeasure on his face. Luke knew something was up and had a premonition of what the issue was. " Don't tell me that the Chief picked for Willowborough is that snake," he said with open contempt in his voice.
The look on his subordinate's face was all the confirmation he needed for his fury to rise up at the audacity of the hire ups at the LS to send one of the men he hated most in the world over to the settlement that he had worked hard to prepare in hope for a good, qualified and fair chief. He rose from his seat and marched out to meet the snake face to face and see what kind of game he was playing.
He was led to what used to be the home of a very important member of the city council and saw that the "snake" Sean Gegwe was there already having his people move him in. The house had over ten bedrooms and was the definition of extravagance and it didn't appeal to Luke at all. But he had been saving such houses for when more refugees and talents were sent over from the LS. The snake looked at him as if just then noticing him even though his arrival had been quite visible from where the bastard was standing.
He smiled a dashing smile at him. The snake was a very handsome man. The picture of a distinguished politician but then what was hidden behind that smile was a cruel and vicious man who had all the slimy mannerisms of a serpent. Luke hated the man and wanted to kill him but he was unable to do so without alerting certain people of where he was. He had trusted in justice and had been proved wrong and had instead been short-listed in his career regardless of his talents. All because of Gegwe.
Two years before the fall when Luke was a rising star in the capital and impressing all the right people in military and government circles, he had been forced into an altercation with the "snake". Luke had been a young leader on the come up and was setting up his foundation well in the capital. That was when he met Chido Irene. She was a firecracker and a real ballbuster and she was one of the most talented operatives that the government had on its payroll.
He had met her on an assignment where he had to be a bodyguard to the then Minister of finance for a short period and she happened to be working with him. He had made a quip along the lines of her being at ease because a macho man was there to take care of everything. That was a mistake he paid for dearly when she gave him a tongue lashing that would make a nun blush and a penis shrivel up. He was on her bad side for a while after that, but he also began to notice her even more. He then realised just how amazing the lady was
Chido was extremely beautiful with the kind of caramel brown skin that men loved in this country. It was not a stretch that she turned heads where ever she went but she did not thrive on such attentions. She was extremely dedicated to her job and had a genuine belief that she was working to protect the men and women who would lead the country to excellence. Her love of her duty and her honour greatly appealed to Luke. Her demeanour was the best amongst all the women he had ever known.
So he chose to step up and show her that he was her equal and worthy of her attention. He began to show a level of seriousness and ability in his job that started getting people buzzing about him once more. Unfortunately, this had an inverse effect when it came to her impression of him. She got the idea into her head that he was brown-nosing in order to elevate his career and popularity amongst the officials. So she began to look down on him.
They worked together on that assignment for months that year and then they even accompanied the minister to the middle east when there were talks of securing finance for the government and that was the turning point in their relationship. There had been attempts on the minister's life because of some shady dealings that he had been doing under the cover of brokering the deal with the government of Saudi Arabia.
One minute the small motorcade that the minister was allowed had been travelling safely towards the Zimbabwean Embassy and then the next they were under attack and the cars were forced to stop. They fought and shot their way out of there and Luke and other operatives covered her as she retreated with the minister. Luke used his chi enhanced physique to take down the hostiles and with his heightened eyesight it was quite easy to shoot them down when they were distracted by the other guards. Then he made his way after Chido. When he finally caught up to her, he sensed danger and then rushed over and tackled the two of them with the power of his body.
He managed to save them both but the bullet had also grazed his shoulder and he was bleeding. Chido was distraught with all the blood but Luke pushed through the injury and dragged them out of the line of sight and then had their allies find and take down the sniper. Since that moment Chido and Luke had been great friends. They became very close but the barrier of romance was never broken for some reason. They would meet each other regularly and do stuff together even after Luke finished his time as a bodyguard and returned to the army. These little dates of their's were the heights of each others' weeks.
One day Chido had been assigned to one of the most popular young politicians the country had to offer. He was nephew to the President and had many friends and family in high places of government in the country. He also was quite a talented orator and seemed to have many new changes that he wanted to bring into being in the country. He was after the kind of change that the country had not seen since 1980. in short, he was ambitious and well-loved. That was the snake.
He had been campaigning to be the new mayor of Norton and was a shoo-in to win and thus a new security detail had been put in place for him. Chido was actually excited at the prospect because she actually bought into what the guy sold. If only she had known what kind of snake he was. Luke actually remembered the night when she told him about the assignment. He had taken out for a drink and then drinks had led to dancing and the moves she had pulled on the dance floor had totally gotten him excited. Then when she started to lose herself he realised that she had drunk one too many. So he stopped himself from going too far and took her home, put her bed and kissed her forehead as she fell asleep.
That was two days before Sean won the election. he had invited his guards out to celebrate, ever the charmer treating them as if they were his friends and equals and they ate that shit up. Toasting him in glee. Chido also toasted him although she still kept her propriety. But then the bastard offered to get the next round. Instead of seeing through the obvious scheme, they all saw it as humility and generosity, the fools! He came and placed their drinks on the table and he led a toast to the future, as Chido drank she didn't notice his odd stare in her direction. And a few minutes later when she didn't feel so well, they didn't suspect when the snake offered to take her home.
The events of that night were a blur and flashes of memories that she still repressed to this day. Suffice it to say that Chido was broken that day. And that monster either had done it before many times or something like that because he covered his tracks too well. Chido hid from everyone and retired from the job she loved so much, her patriotism shattered and her trust broken. Luke had to break down her door, to be able to see her and founded the woman he loved defeated and afraid. When he tried to comfort her, his touch made her flinch. When he learned what had happened he became so angry and bloodthirsty.
He went out to try and get justice for her using the little power he possessed but there was zero evidence and the other guards on Chido's team had been bought off in some way. It was purely their words against the word of the rising star in the political world. The battle was over before it even began. He knew that he could so easily kill him but then he would be brought back to the clan since he would have broken one of the oaths he swore when he left. He would be unable to see Chido. Thus he had swallowed his rage and chose to take care of his woman above vengeance.
And now that conniving snake was there giving him a smug smile which did little to curb the murderous impulses in his mind. He knew that he couldn't kill Sean because he was bound to have some hidden bodyguards with the abilities necessary to protect him let alone his own abilities.
" Hello, old friend. I see you kept it warmed up for me. So ill make sure to take good care of it just like old times," the snake said in a smooth voice. Luke began to visibly shake and his fists clenched but then he activated his chi and connected to the world around him and felt the rage seep out and his central balance in the universe return to him.
"Welcome to the settlement rapist, I see you are still profiteering off the efforts of others. Well bravo," he said and gave him a slow clap before turning around and walking away with the last word. The look on Sean's face was so dark it could eclipse the light. It was a mystery what cruel ideas he had churning in his head.