Marcus Fellow:
Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I then shake my hand clean. From high up, I keep a close watch on the soldiers guarding the motor pool. Looking at the old commander's building, I smile and nod my head when the bunker's bell rings.
"Midnight," I say. "Finally."
Inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I prepare myself and push myself up. Biting my lower lip as my waist burns, I fight through it and walk toward the others.
"Hey," I say, lightly kicking Rebecca on her leg. "Hey!"
"What," Rebecca says, her eyes snapping open.
"It's time," I answer. "Wake up the kids."
Rebecca rubs her eyes and cracks her neck before getting up. She walks over to where Nicholas and Bailey are and lightly shakes them awake.
"Hey, kid," Rebecca says as she shakes Bailey. Not responding at first, Bailey slowly opens her eyes. She moans as she places some fingers on the bandage around her head. "
Jacob: I scream as I pull back my head. My cry echoes throughout the bunker as I look down and see myself bleeding. "Ahhh," I yell. I slam my hands on the bullet wound and push down. I stop screaming and bite down on my lips as I try to endure the pain. While enduring the pain, I look up and see the barrel of a handgun pointed right at me. "Why were you trying to steal food," Jim yells. I try to answer him but when I open my mouth, all that comes out are screams. Jim shakes his head as he shoots in the leg. I scream even louder as blood pours out from my leg. "Why were you trying to steal food," Jim yells again. He aims his handgun at my head. I can't answer him. I want to answer Jim but I can't. It hurts too much. My body is on fire. Everything burns, and all I can do is shake uncontrollably. "Come on," Jim says, waving his gun in front of me. "Say something! Why were you trying to steal food?" I look around a
Rebecca: I scream as I crouch down and cover my head. "Fuuuccckk," I yell as the soldiers keep shooting at us. They keep Marcus and I pinned down, not giving us a chance to fire back. Among all the gunshots, I can still hear footsteps quickly approaching. "They're advancing," I think, crouching down even further when a piece of the wall comes off and almost hits me. Still hiding behind the wall, I stick out my hand and blind fire. I fire two shots and then pull back my hand. "I'm not even sure if I hit anyone but at the very least, I stop them a little." I look down at the handgun. "I can't waste shots. I only have half a clip left." Listening to the footsteps as they keep advancing, I look at Marcus who had his back slammed against the wall. He keeps trying to fire back but is always forced back into hiding. "Marcus," I yell, cupping my mouth. "Marcus!" Marcus looks at me and I point at the two of us before swinging my hand. Marcus stares at me for a few seconds before finall
Marcus Fellow: "Get down," I yell, jumping over Rebecca and shielding us. A second later, gunfire destroys the wooden pallets, and wood chips are raining down on us. Staying on top of Rebecca, doing my best to protect her, I look behind when the wood chips stop raining. Pushing myself up, I look through the wooden pallets and see the soldier who was shooting at Rebecca dead on the floor. As I look at his dead body, I see his weapon, an assault rifle, lying beside him. "Rebecca," I shout, "There's an assault rifle! Grab it now!" Rebecca nods her head and hands me her double-barrel shotgun. "Cover me," Rebecca says. Running directly into the line of fire between the bunker people and the traitorous soldiers, I do my best to cover Rebecca. Runni
Rebecca:"What the hell are you talking about," I ask. "Marcus, come on! Get over here.""How," Marcus asks. He lifts his camouflage shirt and shows me his bloody chest."Son of a bitch," I say, covering my mouth as I step back. Marcus's stab wound is worse than I expected. Even though it's wrapped, there is still blood flowing out of it. The area around the wound is black. Looking at Marcus, I finally notice him. He is barely standing straight. His body and face are drenched in sweat and he's as pale as a ghost.Biting his tongue as he pulls down his shirt, Marcus looks to the right."There," Marcus says, pointing at one of the bunker's walls. "That, over there, is the maintenance tunnel I mentioned earlier. 20 years ago, when the bunker was being built, the construction workers used it to move supplies and vehicles in and out of here. Afterward, the bunker was constructed and they sealed the entrance.""They sealed the ent
Tristan Harlow:"Get out of here," Marcus screams before swinging his hand. Looking right at me, I stop sneaking toward the soldiers and look closer at Marcus. He's holding up his hand, and I can see something small and silver hanging from his finger.Just as I realize the thing hanging from his finger is a pin, an explosive kicks me into the air and knocks me back. Screaming as I hit the ground, a loud ringing sound pierces my ears."Ahhh," I say, slamming my hands against my ears. "Fuck."Despite the ringing sound in my ears, the overwhelming headache, and the aching chest, I still push myself up."Marcus, what the...hell?"As I push myself up and look, I don't see Marcus anywhere. Instead, I see three dead soldiers lying on the ground near me."These are the three soldiers that surrounded Marcus," I think, "But where the hell is Marcus?"About to run to where I last saw him standing, I stop
Tristan Harlow: Sitting in the back of my family's old, light-brown minivan, I stare out toward the endless, empty field of Kansas's countryside. There's something about the beautiful, green grass mixing with the clear, cloudless blue sky that is giving me a sense of bliss. "Hey, Tristan," my younger brother, Josh, yells. "What are you looking at?" "Nothing much," I reply, "Just enjoying the scenery." "Oh, what's so special about grass in an empty field," ask my younger sister, Ruby. "You know you have plenty of grass back home. In both your front and back yard. " Sighing, I turn my head and look at my parents and siblings. My dad is busy driving while my mom is keeping him company. Josh is back to playing on his phone while Ruby is focused on drawing in her notebook. All the while, I have nothing to do but just look out the window. "Cheer up son," my dad says from the upfront. "Today is your birthday! You should be ha
As we soon started to call them, the chimeras came too fast, too unexpected, and too strong. Barely having time for a counterattack, their attacks spread all over the Earth. Appearing all over, some in cities, some in the counties, and a few even in the middle of the ocean, they move fast and within only a few months, entire nations are reduced to nothing more than burning trash. The chimeras' invasion was fierce. With their spacecraft and advanced weapons, no military in the world stood a chance. Hardly any rest or supply, soldiers were slaughtered like pigs, and very soon, the air itself became a weapon. The chimeras' spacecraft leaking some sort of poison into the air, the people and even the animals that breathe it in were horribly mutated, turning into monsters that attack anything and everything they see. What few of us survived both the invasion and the poisonous air had no other choice but to flee into underground bunkers. Located in onl
Tristan Harlow: Shaking my blood from my hand, I look at Rebecca. "Deals like the one I've just offered you are about as rare as an apple these days," Rebecca says, letting down her fist. "Come on, drifter. You're planning to get out of here soon, right? Well, can't you use one last payday before you go? One massive payday? With all the ration cards you got coming, you can buy whatever the hell you'll need and want; foods, water, gas filters, bullets, new guns. The list goes on and on." "A lot like this," I say, crossing my arms. "Fine! I'll go on your damn suicide mission! A smile growing across Rebecca's face, she nudges her head and begins walking. Following behind her, she fills me in on some missing details. "The warehouse is in Zone 10, so we'll have to go through a few checkpoints to reach it. Still got that fake ID I got you on day one?" "Right here," I reply, pulling the ID from my pocket. "Tristan Harlow, res
Tristan Harlow:"Get out of here," Marcus screams before swinging his hand. Looking right at me, I stop sneaking toward the soldiers and look closer at Marcus. He's holding up his hand, and I can see something small and silver hanging from his finger.Just as I realize the thing hanging from his finger is a pin, an explosive kicks me into the air and knocks me back. Screaming as I hit the ground, a loud ringing sound pierces my ears."Ahhh," I say, slamming my hands against my ears. "Fuck."Despite the ringing sound in my ears, the overwhelming headache, and the aching chest, I still push myself up."Marcus, what the...hell?"As I push myself up and look, I don't see Marcus anywhere. Instead, I see three dead soldiers lying on the ground near me."These are the three soldiers that surrounded Marcus," I think, "But where the hell is Marcus?"About to run to where I last saw him standing, I stop
Rebecca:"What the hell are you talking about," I ask. "Marcus, come on! Get over here.""How," Marcus asks. He lifts his camouflage shirt and shows me his bloody chest."Son of a bitch," I say, covering my mouth as I step back. Marcus's stab wound is worse than I expected. Even though it's wrapped, there is still blood flowing out of it. The area around the wound is black. Looking at Marcus, I finally notice him. He is barely standing straight. His body and face are drenched in sweat and he's as pale as a ghost.Biting his tongue as he pulls down his shirt, Marcus looks to the right."There," Marcus says, pointing at one of the bunker's walls. "That, over there, is the maintenance tunnel I mentioned earlier. 20 years ago, when the bunker was being built, the construction workers used it to move supplies and vehicles in and out of here. Afterward, the bunker was constructed and they sealed the entrance.""They sealed the ent
Marcus Fellow: "Get down," I yell, jumping over Rebecca and shielding us. A second later, gunfire destroys the wooden pallets, and wood chips are raining down on us. Staying on top of Rebecca, doing my best to protect her, I look behind when the wood chips stop raining. Pushing myself up, I look through the wooden pallets and see the soldier who was shooting at Rebecca dead on the floor. As I look at his dead body, I see his weapon, an assault rifle, lying beside him. "Rebecca," I shout, "There's an assault rifle! Grab it now!" Rebecca nods her head and hands me her double-barrel shotgun. "Cover me," Rebecca says. Running directly into the line of fire between the bunker people and the traitorous soldiers, I do my best to cover Rebecca. Runni
Rebecca: I scream as I crouch down and cover my head. "Fuuuccckk," I yell as the soldiers keep shooting at us. They keep Marcus and I pinned down, not giving us a chance to fire back. Among all the gunshots, I can still hear footsteps quickly approaching. "They're advancing," I think, crouching down even further when a piece of the wall comes off and almost hits me. Still hiding behind the wall, I stick out my hand and blind fire. I fire two shots and then pull back my hand. "I'm not even sure if I hit anyone but at the very least, I stop them a little." I look down at the handgun. "I can't waste shots. I only have half a clip left." Listening to the footsteps as they keep advancing, I look at Marcus who had his back slammed against the wall. He keeps trying to fire back but is always forced back into hiding. "Marcus," I yell, cupping my mouth. "Marcus!" Marcus looks at me and I point at the two of us before swinging my hand. Marcus stares at me for a few seconds before finall
Jacob: I scream as I pull back my head. My cry echoes throughout the bunker as I look down and see myself bleeding. "Ahhh," I yell. I slam my hands on the bullet wound and push down. I stop screaming and bite down on my lips as I try to endure the pain. While enduring the pain, I look up and see the barrel of a handgun pointed right at me. "Why were you trying to steal food," Jim yells. I try to answer him but when I open my mouth, all that comes out are screams. Jim shakes his head as he shoots in the leg. I scream even louder as blood pours out from my leg. "Why were you trying to steal food," Jim yells again. He aims his handgun at my head. I can't answer him. I want to answer Jim but I can't. It hurts too much. My body is on fire. Everything burns, and all I can do is shake uncontrollably. "Come on," Jim says, waving his gun in front of me. "Say something! Why were you trying to steal food?" I look around a
Marcus Fellow: Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I then shake my hand clean. From high up, I keep a close watch on the soldiers guarding the motor pool. Looking at the old commander's building, I smile and nod my head when the bunker's bell rings. "Midnight," I say. "Finally." Inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I prepare myself and push myself up. Biting my lower lip as my waist burns, I fight through it and walk toward the others. "Hey," I say, lightly kicking Rebecca on her leg. "Hey!" "What," Rebecca says, her eyes snapping open. "It's time," I answer. "Wake up the kids." Rebecca rubs her eyes and cracks her neck before getting up. She walks over to where Nicholas and Bailey are and lightly shakes them awake. "Hey, kid," Rebecca says as she shakes Bailey. Not responding at first, Bailey slowly opens her eyes. She moans as she places some fingers on the bandage around her head. "
Marcus Fellow: Pushing Rebecca and Bailey into the empty apartment room as fast as I can, I turn around and slam the door shut. Grabbing a nearby plank, I place it underneath the doorknob. "Marcus," Rebecca says as soon as I turn around. "What the hell happened here? I mean, we weren't gone for that long! A few hours at most!" "Yeah, well," I say, putting my handgun in my back pocket. "A lot happened in those few hour--" As I walk toward the kitchen, a sharp pain kicks me to my knees. I cry out and slam my hands over my stomach as I drop down. "Marcus," Rebecca yells. She runs to me and helps me back onto my feet. As she helps me up, she must have noticed the bloody bandage around my stomach. "Okay seriously," she says, lifting my shirt up to see the bandage. "What the hell happened here?" "It's that damn soldier's fault," I answer. Taking in many deep breaths, I limp over to an old, rusty table and chair in th
Tristan: As the soldiers open fire on me, I keep running while keeping my head low. "Crap, crap, crap," I shout as I run for my life. Having to jump left and right as bullets hit the ground and throw dirt into my face, I reach the city and turn a corner. Crouching down as the soldiers keep shooting, I cover my head. "Ahhhh," I scream, squeezing my head in between my hands. As the gunfire dies down, I look around the corner and see the soldiers all reloading. They switch the empty magazine for another magazine and run toward me. "Crap," I shout again as I look around. In what looks like a small neighborhood with makeshift houses, I turn around and see myself against a small house, not even half my height, made from sheet metal and broken wooden posts. I look through a nearby window and see
Tristan: As I slowly push the manhole cover up, I look out and scan the surrounding area with my pistol. Thankfully, I don't see any more infected wolves. "It's clear," I say, looking down at Rebecca. Rebecca nods her head and I push the cover off entirely. Throwing it to the side, I climb out first before turning around to help Rebecca up. Wiping her sweaty forehead after climbing out of the damn hole in the ground, Rebecca looks around and sees a very familiar forest with red smoke everywhere. "I can't believe I'm going to say this," Rebecca starts, "But I've missed this place." "You know what? So have I." I take a few seconds to enjoy the peace and forget about the damn sound of howling and gr