In the snowy wastelands of Elkhum, an uncommonly light blizzard would blow every now and then eroding the graupel that thatched the layers upon layers of snow cementing the ground. A figure, feminine in curvature and covered from head to toe, with dark-green and black garments ran across the fields ineptly. Her head was sheltered under a black hood while her face was encased under a dark-grey plague mask. On her back were twin blades extending from the sides just behind her head down to the sides of her hips. On her right hip was a silver revolver with a green glowing cylinder and on her left hip was a grappling hook with a rope coiled above it.

Each stride she took was prolonged by the fact that her boots sank about six inches into the snow making each step more sapping than the last. She could hear them...those things were approaching, and fast. They did not seem to be restrained by the snow, after all, they were not human like her, thus they did not share her weaknesses. Up front however, just a few feet ahead she could see the edge of a cliff, her lifeline.

On her tail, about ten meters back and rapidly approaching were three grotesque humanoid creatures. Unlike their target, they easily navigated through the snow, effortlessly like it was fluid gas. The three had Caucasian skin and pointy ears. On their skin though, were red, huge and malignant lumps bulging out, clear causing some aberrant mutations. Their mouths foamed as they drooled slinging strings of viscous saliva through the air. They had homodont dentation with oddly spaced fangs. Their eyes for the most part had become bloodshot with their pupils turning greyish white. Grunts of ferocity blasted through the air almost rhythmically accompanied by the crunch of stomped now as they dashed for her.

Their target took out the grappling hook by her left hip as she got closer to the edge and began swinging the rope tied to it. The closer she got, the closer her chasers were but just before they could get a hold of her, she jumped over the edge, simultaneously throwing the grappling hook which tied and hooked onto the branch of a tree. Her pursuers fell over the edge trying to get a hold of her, down about five meters under but cushioned by the snow. The target's escape was short lived as the branch she had hooked onto was rotten, it snapped and she fell a few meters ahead due to the momentum she had gathered.

Her trackers wasted no time and immediately dashed for her, at that point she had no time to try and run. As she gathered herself off the ground, one of the three that seemingly had a sort of torn dress on and resembled a woman lunged at her, claws spread out like daggers. She however saw this coming and countered monster with a right spin kick right across its lower jaw, plummeting her face hard on the trunk of a tree by her right. The collision had so much force the creature bounced back, she then unsheathed one of her twin blades by her right side handling it by her left hand. A quick twirl switched the grip from a conventional hold to a reverse grip. Swiftly, she swung the blade across its neck beheading it. Its head almost ejected off by the blood jetting from its neck.

The second creature pushed the headless and falling carcass aside with its right arm throwing it a short distance away while it swung its left arm at her like a back handed slap. This one almost caught her off guard, her reactive response was to block the blow with the blade but the force overwhelmed her by a mile. It hit her so hard she flew across the dense air flipping a dozen times before falling four meters back.

Slowly, she began collecting herself, still disoriented and her vision blurry like misty glass, she spotted a small figure knelt and bowing over something she could not quite make out. Her vision cleared a moment later and she saw the smallest of the three wailing over the body of her first kill. Quickly turning to her right, the raging brute dashed towards her. Her blade was plunged into its left forearm half of it poking out on the other side of it. The left lens of her mask was completely shattered and her pretty brown eye exposed. She took out her revolver and aimed it at the advancing beast but upon pulling the trigger, nothing...

"Shit!" She yelled pulling the trigger a couple more times at the creature yet no bullets were fired. It was jammed! The smaller one also taking pursuit of her, she tossed the gun at the much closer brute hitting its head before the gun span above its head. She dashed for it as she unsheathed her last blade and jumped into the air, side stepping on the smaller one's face as it had already reached her, and used this attack to elevate herself higher into the air above the brute and above her still spinning gun that was about an inch off the creature's head.

Forcefully and wielding the blade with both hands, she drove it through the gun's cylinder and into the creature's head causing a minor explosion. The brute's head was completely blown into charred bone and burnt flesh. The shockwave from it however, once again threw her back falling onto the ground. The last one, having recuperated pounced onto her before she could get up. It was small, even smaller than her yet it easily pinned her down.

Now face to face, she could make out every detail on it. Its right eye bloodshot and demented while its left was...human. It had a hazel eye and a tear streamed down its cheek. The tear fell onto the right lens of her mask. Was it crying? She could not quite tell but wondered. No matter, she could not afford to be distracted, not at such a dire moment. Using her flexibility, she slid her leg onto its torso and ejected it off of her.

The creature, having fallen back got up spotting her holding one of her blades, a half-melted sword. It shrieked at her before she drove the weapon through its chest ending its life immediately. Its body dropped dead while she stood above it, huffing loudly.

"Girl!" Called a man's voice from above. She turned towards the edge of the cliff she had earlier descended from, spotting a rather large figure who just like her wore a plague mask. " Hmm, so you survived."

A while later the two were in some sort of compound, the Plague Medical School and Training Center. Amidst them and running all over the place like ants were students in their scrubs and lab coats. Some had their plague masks on and even the full-on field suit like Ayaan's. At the furthest front was a rather tall building with a pointy peak on top that rose like a stone giant. It had snow build up forming manmade sun cups. A relatively dark energy loomed around it but then again, the entirety of the country, Elkhum was rather dull that season so it may as well have been the climate's fault. Its granite walls, though maintained had been slightly weathered and darkened by centuries of rain. An ancient ivy stretched its tendrils along its length claiming territory through to its tip, it made the building more aesthetically pleasing thus they only trimmed bits that almost covered the windows. The cobblestone covered compound had word a bit shallow due to years of studded boots stomping on it. Regardless, the brain that came up with the blue prints for it was an architectural master.

That school was no ordinary medical school. It was a training ground for the most elite human specimen to hone their minds and bodies into the peak of human prowess in the medical field, combat, survival and art of war. Only the one percent, of the one percent of humanity survived to graduation. Ayaan, Eli's protege was a resident, the initial stage leading to surgeon, and at that point she had about two years left before she could officially graduate.

"You'll get your results tomorrow morning," said Eli who had supposedly accompanied her in her previous escapade. His full name was Eli Jones. Her instructing surgeon. The man had maintained the same facial expression from his residency years, his eyes never betrayed emotion. One could tell these portals to his probable soul held depths of careful thought behind them. Even in the most chaotic of days, when crisis struck hard, he would get even quieter, spreading like still water in troubled oceans. He bore victory and loss with the same granite composure like a carved sculpture.

She could tell she had performed poorly, Eli was also as strict as they come, would casually fail most residents that came his way. And why not? There was no room for mediocre performance, that line of work required nothing short of perfection, something Ayaan fell short of. It stressed her deeply to think about the grade he would assign her for the test she had just taken. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could more except wait for the next morning. "Shit! Shit!" She thought to herself her breathing coming in short and hitching gasps. Her sore hands shook as she tried to clench them into fists. A tingly, floating sensation made her heart beat even faster, though one could not tell if it was the fear of failure or her body adapting to the cold that was slowly but surely sipping into her damaged attire. She then realized that he could tell she was losing her cool, and so like settling snow she began to sort her thoughts and slow her breathing.

Eli then walked away as Ayaan indolently dragged herself to her dorm room. Upon arriving she dropped herself onto her bed. Her room was shared by another individual, her roommate, this was the norm across the student quarters, every room would have two occupants. She occupied one half and both were neat and tidy individuals. Her closet was well kept with her scrubs on hangers next to any official outfits she had. The drawers underneath contained her nigh perfectly folded informal garments. Next to their drawers were two desks adjacent to each other. On both were lamps and thick biology, chemistry and physics books. In the backgrounds were of course their beds and Ayaan was fast asleep on hers.

The next morning, she was woken up by a knock on her door. It took her a short moment to orientate herself from her slumber. Quickly, she approached the door and opened it.

"Ayaan Glassman?" asked a lady in an official suit on the other side of the door.

"Yes," Ayaan answered wondering who she could be and why she was looking for her.

"You're needed in the Chief Surgeon's office," she said to her before leaving.

"Uhm...okay," she said staring at her messenger leaving. The Chief Surgeon was the highest-ranking surgeon and head of the school's administration. It was no common occurrence to be requested for by them. However, her questions had to wait for the Chief Surgeon, she could not afford to keep them waiting. Quickly, she put on her scrubs and took off.

A short while later she was nervously standing outside the Chief Surgeon's office. The door was large and made of high-quality mahogany. Its dark color contrasted the silver door knob at its center. She hesitantly knocked on it and a moment later, a rather welcoming male voice granted her permission to proceed inside.

Upon entering, she found Eli seated on one of the chairs in front of who could only be the Chief Surgeon. "Shit he's here!" she thought knowing it was definitely bad news. The Chief Surgeon comfortably sat behind his desk as they both watched Ayaan approach them. She had never been this close to such authority and it made her nervous. It was a rather fancy office with shelves behind the Chief Surgeon full of files and books. To the right was a rather large window that let in some dim light, the dominant illuminant however, was a chandelier in the middle of the ceiling that also warmed the room with its radiation. The Chief surgeon was in his light blue scrubs while Eli was in his field suit, the plague doctor garments yet he did not have his mask on.

"Have a seat," said the Chief Surgeon politely referring her to a seat opposite Eli. Ayaan slowly approached, the whole room felt rather, tense. She could hardly tell if she was getting good news, bad news or merely just news. However, the latter was improbable, the Chief surgeon was no typical informant, there were employees for that job, if he called for you it had to be something of importance.

"Ayaan Glassman, you are hereby discontinued from this institution," he said to her calmly handing her an envelope.

These words hit her with such shock that her only response was, "Wait, what?!"