Prologue
Adam Harkins gambled with his life on a daily basis, it would be no surprise to him when his number came. Evelyn was a different story though and since meeting her he took fewer chances for fear of never seeing her after the empty void of death took him. Whether love or lust he couldn't be certain as his life up to this point had only consisted of fighting. Like a child that had never had candy, he didn't have envy for those who had it as the concept of anything else was out of his reach, until now.
"Adam, we have to leave they're coming!" Evelyn screamed as she tried to use her keycard to lock the door but found her access revoked.
"What's going on?" Adam asked as he raised himself off the freezing metal table. She had used his first name, something she'd never do as the Bastion would grow suspicious of their relationship.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you sooner but I didn't know who to trust!" Sweat beaded on her forehead despite the Venator Lab being freezing and her voice cracked as she struggled to keep her head clear. The lab technicians that had been removing shrapnel embedded in Adam's leg looked puzzled as Evelyn ran to every computer in the lab trying to find one that would accept her keycard.
"Damnit!" Evelyn yelled as she slammed her hands into a keyboard after the computer refused her access again.
"Evelyn?" Adam asked as he still waited for an answer as to why she was so distraught. She jumped up from the computer that offered her no support and ran to Adam, putting a hand up to his face and caressing his cheek. Adam's eyes grew wide, she would never touch him with others around. Whatever was happening he wasn't going to like.
"I need you to trust me, Adam." She struggled to whisper as her voice was hoarse.
"Whatever you need." Adam replied, putting his hand on top of hers and feeling the soft skin under his own broken calloused grip.
"The BDF are trying to kill me." Adam's skin turned white and the hairs on his body stood up. The BDF was the Bastion Defense Force and ran the entire facility, he could never hope to protect her. Before he could ask any questions she continued.
"They're going to purge the facility and a lot of innocent people are going to die. We can't save them all but we need to get as many as we can out of this place, now." Her words were strained and she never took her eyes away from Adam's. Before he could reply he heard footsteps coming down the hall, heavy footsteps like from the boots BDF wore. He sprinted to the door while Evelyn looked at him confused as she lacked the enhanced hearing he did.
The door was thrown open just as Adam reached it and a man dressed in a blue uniform with a rifle stormed in. Adam's hand enveloped the man's entire head as he shoved it into the nearby wall where it shattered like a fragile vase. Evelyn and the technicians looked on in horror as Adam stripped the man of his rifle and bloodied body armor. Adam was only wearing a hospital gown and the shrapnel was still lodged in his leg but he gave it no mind, he had one purpose now. He had been outside their home in the safe rock of the mountain and knew what it meant to be violent, to survive.
Before he could adjust the small set of body armor to fit his enlarged torso he heard a faint clicking sound.
"Down!" Adam screamed as he recognized the sound of rifle safeties being disengaged just before gunfire pierced the walls.
"Adam!" Evelyn screamed and he turned to see if she was okay but could only see a painful white light.
"Captain Baron, are you alright?"
Adam's body ached and his head was throbbing. He moved as if confused by his own limbs and struggled to open his eyes from the white light that filled the room.
Was I dreaming, did that happen? He thought to himself.
"Captain Baron?" The voice was that of an overly articulate man with a background hum.
"Gabriel?" Adam finally replied through a groan as he recognized the name given to him by the Bastion, Baron.
"Ah, there you are. You're being activated for a surface deployment...Are you suffering from cryo sickness? I'll have the technicians prepare a stimulate for you." The voice sounded genuinely concerned but Adam knew better. It was the Bastion Artificial Intelligence, Gabriel, programmed to mimic human emotion.
"No, I'll be fine." Adam struggled to shake the vivid dream but didn't want Gabriel to grow suspicious. His memories were a precious commodity if they were indeed memories and not something more serious wrong with his mind.
Adam pulled himself out of the Cryo tube he had been sealed in and the cold metal floor stung his bare feet.
"How long was I out?" He asked seemingly no one as the room was empty except for the body-less voice.
"Just 2 weeks, relatively short time really. Shall I begin activating the rest of Pale Horse?" Gabriel replied through the speakers lining the walls. Adam looked around at the rest of the Cryo tubes containing his team, Pale Horse, his family. They were the only thing he had of value in this broken world besides the fragmented dreams.
"Get them up and start the briefing." He growled as he began getting his gear out of the locker attached to his Cryo tube. The time for dreaming was unfortunately over as he was a Venator and had a job to do.
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Hi Dustin Shay,
I just finished reading your story Venators and I loved it so much. Your writing is amazing, and I kept thinking how cool it would look as a comic.
I really loved the scene where Adam wakes up from cryo-sleep and is immediately thrust back into the chaos, his confusion and raw determination as he prepares his team, Pale Horse, is so vivid and intense. Also, the moment in the lab when Evelyn desperately tries to warn Adam about the purge, her fear and urgency mixed with Adam’s protective instincts really stood out. These scenes are ideal for making a comic because they combine emotional tension with dramatic action, creating perfect visual storytelling moments.
I’m a commissioned artist, and I’d love to draw your story into a comic/manga. No pressure though, I just think your work would look awesome in comic form.
You can check out some of my recent work on my DeviantArt (Username - Ev3Verse). If you’re interested, please message me on Discord (Username - bennett_lol) so we can bring the story to life visually. I'll be waiting to hear from you!
Regards
bennett