Alternative Beginning, I'm scraping the "Cane's still alive" bit and starting Part II over.
Prologue
The moon shone brightly over rolling fields of grass. Two figures, a man and a woman, stood alone in the barren place, together. The image was familiar, tranquil almost. They stood hand in hand, just staring out across the waving grasses. She leaned closer to the man, head lying on his shoulder. Her hair was a soft brown, eyes sparkling emerald against the night sky.
She turned, brushing her lips against the man’s cheek before whispering, “I don’t blame you, for what you did.”
The man sighed slightly, “You don’t, but I do. I can never forgive myself.” He sighed again.
“You shouldn’t beat yourself up, it was an accident, nothing more. I forgave you, is that not enough reassurance?”
He shook his head, “No, it doesn’t excuse what I did. I’ll never forget what I did to you.” He paused for a moment, staring into her eyes. “I’ll never forget you, Susan.”
She smiled contently, “I want you to…” With that, she leaned over and kissed the man passionately, absorbing the touch of their lips. Then she vanished.
The man leaned over, sobbing slightly. He looked up just as a blinding light came down from somewhere near the horizon. The horizon burned, slowly moving towards him. Instinct urged him to run, to hide somewhere, but he didn’t. He stood and began walking toward the oncoming inferno. He laughed deeply as the flames surrounded him, burning. He laughed, and cried out for the one he lost… the one he must forget…
And the world continued to burn…
You get hit with a heavy object.
-2 DXT
-5 STM
-200 INT
You are dead.