1.1 Disaster

This is not a story of tragedy. The story may start with it, but it is not its main focus. This is a story of humanity’s determination to survive and prosper against the endless adversities and challenges hurdled at it. A story of the despair that a civilization encounters, and its response to it. This is the story of a species that is given a chance to start over, or give up…

MAYHEM ON EARTH

Chapter 1: Disaster

The result of the Space wars of the '30s had changed the world. As with all wars, the only victor was death. But this one was so expensive for every party involved, that none could rebuild back their military nor country. This forced the world into a treaty making human space travel illegal. It was followed by a period of peace and prosperity; not economically, but socially. But as peace came, so did other problems. Soon, people started rumoring about an impending apocalypse.

As problems stemming from overpopulation caught up to age, certain groups of people started discussing how these problems would pile up into one huge mess we wouldn't be able to solve. This would apparently lead to an ‘Apocalypse’ that would result in a great number of deaths. At first, no one paid attention to these people, but over time, their number rapidly grew. Conspiracy theory became fact. It became a serious matter that was discussed by renowned scientists from across the world. The mania surrounding this proposed event reached a point where one couldn't find a news source that wasn't discussing it at least once a day. Climate scientists and statisticians were brought onto television programs to debate about possible dates for this seemingly inevitable event. The Apocalypse became a field of study—an industry. Everyone wanted to be right, so much so that it felt as if they almost wanted for the Apocalypse to occur. And what would happen if or once they were right? Would they feel satisfied then? Or terrified…?

* * *

"…According to recent estimates, the human population has reached 15.51 billion people. As experts from across the globe warn, this will lead to some severe repercussions. So tonight, we will have psychologist Professor David Murray and environmental scientist Dr. Sandra Evans discuss their proposal for the date of the coming Apocalypse. Be sure not to miss it…"

Drake turned off the television. It felt like the news was always broadcasting depressing content, but it had gotten worse in recent months with their hot new topic—one they wouldn’t let go of. All this rambling about an Apocalypse… everyone worried about the bleak-looking future… Drake preferred to focus on the present.

He was living a relatively happy life in a peaceful town with his mother. His father occasionally came back from his trips across the country that work demanded. They were all nevertheless close.

Drake stepped outside his home, a typical two-storey house located at the edge of town. He looked at the clear sky. On his right, the sun was beginning its descent behind the trees on the horizon. It was the evening of May 5th, 2151. He had drudged through yet another boring day at school and was now waiting for his mother to come home. The Vandigg family lived in the town of Beil. The location was a compromise between Drake's father, who liked peace and quiet after coming back from work in the city, and his mother, who preferred liveliness.

Watching the evening sky, Drake knew that there was tons of space debris orbiting the Earth, accumulated during the Space Wars, when many spacecraft were destroyed. Any piece could fall down from the sky at any moment and cause significant damage, but people didn't care. They subconsciously didn’t believe that could happen because they couldn't physically see the danger. Drake stared intently, almost daring the sky to hurl something towards him. But nothing happened.

I'm doing it again. Drake thought. He was often bored and wanted something interesting to happen. Sometimes, he would imagine unrealistic scenarios happening, and his mind would drift into thought with the never-ending possibilities of life. Yet when reality faced him, ordinary life was what he returned to. Nevertheless, he still hoped that someday, one of his fantasies would play out.

A crow landed on his porch in front of him. It stared at Drake intently.

“Shoo,” Drake waved his hand at it. It didn’t budge. Is it just me, Drake thought, or have birds evolved to stop seeing humans as a threat?

It was obviously an exaggeration, but the truth was that they had such great courage to be near creatures much larger than them with no care in their mind.

Drake ran at it while intentionally stomping loudly on the wooden boards. It flew away hurriedly, confirming to Drake the obvious fact that it did still have its natural instinct of fear.

Drake sighed. I guess that’s about as interesting as my life gets…

A bit of time later, Drake's mother returned from work, and the two went inside. At the dinner table, Drake’s mother brought up the topic of Drake skipping school again recently. He tried to avoid the topic as usual, but when she pressed on, he had to give a response.

“Well, I don’t really see a point to it. There’s nothing there that I’m interested in…”

“Even so, it will be important for your future.” She was determined to secure her son’s life.

“Mom, have you seen the news? The predictions for the Apocalypse are getting closer and closer.”

“So, just because you think that everyone will die soon, you don’t need to work?”

“Well…”

“There is no guarantee that that will happen within your lifetime. Even if it does, we will survive. Who knows? Perhaps we’ll end up in that government sanctuary everyone’s rumoring about.”

“Only the rich will survive, with their survival shelters. Project Ark is nothing but a rumor.

“Speaking of which, we should probably prepare for the Apocalypse ourselves. It is a better use of time,” Drake tried to change the subject.

“That’s beside the point. Everyone is going to die at some point. It’s what we do during our lifetime that matters.” The mood suddenly got existential.

“I’ll be able to find some work and get by until the Apocalypse. Going to school isn’t worth it to me. I’m better off like this.”

“Okay. Let's say you can get by. You say you’re better off like this. You don’t seem very happy right now to me.” She got him. It was true: he found everyday life boring. His mother naturally saw it. “At least at school, you can explore hobbies and learn life skills. I know you well. You’re usually all lazy and get distracted easily, but when you find an interest or set a goal for yourself, you diligently work towards it.” This was one of the things Drake’s mother noticed about him as he grew up under her watchful eye.

Drake didn’t know himself well enough to tell whether this was true. He dismissed it as a mother’s inflated sense of pride in her son. Even if it were true, he was too lazy to find any interests, and they would become boring in no time. But Drake didn’t bring this up. He didn’t want to argue further.

He found an excuse and left the dinner table. When she heard the bedroom door closing upstairs, his mother, Emma, sighed. “I don’t know what to do with him. When are you coming back, Bill?”

Drake’s father would often leave on business trips. The one he was on currently was confidential, but even he didn’t know when he’d be back from it. The only communication the two got from him was the occasional voice call—a practically ancient method. Despite Emma’s hopes, she knew that he wouldn’t be able to help with the situation even if he were home. He was undeniably quite liberal with his parenting, self-evident from the way Drake turned out.

Later that night, Drake stood in his bedroom, looking out his window. He wasn’t too tall, about five-foot-six, but he was at a growing age, at 16 years old. In most other respects, he was your average teenager. Black hair, dark brown eyes, a lazy yet sometimes adventurous personality. He wasn’t too rebellious, save for being a truant. He was an average kid, and he felt like one too. He was nothing special, so how could he distinguish himself? What did he want to become in life?

Drake sat down on his bed to contemplate. He put his cheek on the windowsill and looked up at the dark night sky. He clutched his necklace. It was a birthday present from his father. He had always told him that there was always something out there that he could become, and he just had to change his attitude to find it. “Look for a goal that means something to you. When you find it, work hard and achieve it. That’s when you’ll be content.” Every time, Drake would think: Is there really something that will change my life like that? He didn’t want to search, fearing it would all be a waste of time and no such seemingly life-changing interest existed. Maybe it was all wishful thinking.

Drake's eyes moved drearily across the stars above. Maybe if something interesting happened, he would think differently. Right now, everything was too boring to expect a drastic change, but it was time he needed one.

Drake paused from his thoughts. There was something different about the sky tonight. Could it be his imagination again, saving him from boredom?

A small, bright dot appeared in the sky. It slowly grew.

Am I imagining things? Drake rubbed his eyes and looked again. The light source was still there and growing exponentially bigger by the minute. It had a tail now. A meteor shower? I didn’t see anything on it in the news. Of course, no computer could predict every meteor to enter the atmosphere.

“Mom,” Drake called his mother, and they went outside to take a closer look. They turned on the television in the background. There was no news on it yet, despite it seeming like a pretty big deal, at least compared to the trash they normally broadcasted.

Beil was a relatively small town, with no other settlements around it apart from the city of Cyll. Perhaps that explained the lack of attention on local meteorological events.

By now, a few curious neighbors had come out as well. “That’s strange. You don’t see a meteor very often,” one of them, Mr. Baker, said. “It’ll be fine,” he waved off caution, “Most meteorites disintegrate in the atmosphere. We should enjoy the show. Honey, can you get the camera?”

Mrs. Baker refused to comply. “Why me? I want to watch also, you know.” And the two started bickering, with neither watching the show.

Drake knew that what Mr. Baker said was correct, but looking at the thing up close, it didn’t look like it was getting smaller or would stop. He could now hear it. The friction it created with air at high velocity caused a rumbling noise. The bright red glow was due to the burning-up of the air around it, for that was how fast it was. Usually, the meteorite itself would burn up in the process in the mesosphere, but this one was already only a few miles high.

Over the noise of the rapidly descending hunk of space rock, Drake explained his thoughts to his mother. “So you were paying attention at school. See, that knowledge is quite useful, you know.” Drake didn’t respond. He didn’t want to waste time explaining that it was actually general knowledge you could find anywhere. More importantly, the object was hurtling straight at them. Shouldn’t they leave the area because it was dangerous?

Drake looked at the people around him, who appeared unconcerned and were leisurely watching the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle before them as if they were at an amusement park watching fireworks. Was there no need to worry? The object, as far as he could tell, wasn’t too large—probably the size of his bedroom. And it wasn’t as fast as he had thought it would be: it had been a few minutes since he’d first spotted it. It probably wouldn’t cause much damage, and that was why there was no notice of it from the government.

Drake’s mother was concerned, however. “We should move away from the area,” she tugged on his arm, as if expecting him to answer her doubt of whether they were in danger.

“Even if you say that,” Drake said, “it’s too late to travel far now. The meteorite is nearly here.”

They watched as it approached them. It was so bright that they might as well have been staring at the sun. Any neighbors that weren’t outside before, were now wide awake and panicking in confusion. The neighborhood crazy person ran outside in her pajamas, screaming that she had been correct and China was dropping a bomb on them. When pointed out that it looked nothing like a bomb, she instantly changed her theory and started spouting something about government UFOs being tested nearby.

A few seconds later, the meteorite crashed into the nearby woods with a deafening sound. Everyone instinctively covered their ears with their hands. Drake’s house was next to the woods, so he and his neighbors were the closest to see what happened. Smoke could be seen from the crash site one or two miles away.

That was too close. Everyone realized that, and all stood still, wondering why they hadn’t done anything. The only sound was that of birds flying away from the epicenter in panic.

A few minutes later, Drake spotted movement in the woods. He was expecting to see more animals running away from the site, but what he saw instead took his breath away:

Large beasts stepped out of the shadows and into the well-lit streets. The first thing Drake noticed was their size: they were huge. The next was their color: they were all dark-colored. The last thing was their species: Drake recognized them as normal animals that he’d seen many times before. The main difference was that they were scaled to a size much larger than they were supposed to be. There was a squirrel almost the size of a car with unusually dark brown fur, a deer the height of the trees around it, also with dark-brown fur, there was a dark grey goose taller than a van, some child-sized black ants, a rabbit, a badger, a spider, and so on…

Unbelievable! Drake thought. “What are these things?!” he said aloud, though he knew everyone else was just as confused as him.

The creatures moved towards them, with frighteningly evil-looking eyes. A completely black badger made its way over to the Bakers. The wife and husband were too scared to move. It bent down and chomped on them. When it pulled its teeth out, their heads were gone. Their bodies fell limply to the ground.

“Wha-” Drake was too confused to process what was happening. Two people just died before him and it was due to some creatures he had never seen before. A human scream erupted behind him, as the person came to realize the same thing. The remaining creatures also started moving towards humans, their mouths open and ready to eat. No one knew what was happening, but everyone knew what they had to do: run.

Everyone started running in the direction opposite the forest: into the town. The animals followed. Their instincts and massive size helped them outrun, capture, and eat their prey. The town was suddenly in chaos. Drake didn’t know what to do. As far as he knew, these things were hungry enough to eat everyone, and there was no way to outrun them. Should he just give up and die?

“Watch out!” his mother yelled.

Drake turned his head in time to see what seemed to be a giant crow swooping down after climbing over a nearby house. It was aiming its beak at him. He took a step back but knew that he wouldn’t be fast enough to escape its open mouth.

Just as the jaw was about to close on him, Drake’s mother pushed him aside. The crow bit into Drake’s mother. Drake fell to the ground and looked up at his mother. The middle half of her body was encompassed by the giant’s large beak. Blood was gushing out of her body where the beak met at a seemingly unrealistic rate.

“Run!” his mother said with her dying words.

Drake gulped, unable to register what had happened.

“Drake, RUN!!!”

Drake was too shocked to process anything. But he knew what he had to do. He suppressed his emotions, got up, turned around, and ran. He heard the crunching of bones and didn’t dare look behind him. Dang, it! Drake thought, What is happening? Why is this happening? He repeated these phrases in his mind, unable to think anything else.

Drake headed towards the center of town, hoping to hide among the numerous large buildings there, but, unfortunately, the voracious monsters were headed there also. Drake stopped somewhere the creatures wouldn’t be able to see him—in an alley behind a dumpster—to catch his breath. He could feel his heart pounding and the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He couldn’t stay here for long. He had to move to safety. But where was safety?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of an animal sniffing nearby. They can’t smell me, can they?! He couldn’t take his chances. Animals did have a strong sense of smell. Peeking, he could see that the animal was a not-so-red fox the height of a one-storey house. It looked at him, its eyes full of unwarranted hate. Oh, no.

He ran out of his hiding place, where he would have been easily cornered. The fox gave chase. Drake had to think of a plan, fast: it was closing the distance with enormous leaps. He thought of an idea and prayed for it to work. He led the animal onto a street, where he was now fully exposed for all his enemies to see, not that it made a difference, since he now knew they could smell him, apart from psychological discomfort.

The unclever fox, not knowing what it was running into, hit a power line running along the side of the street. The electric current shocked it for a few seconds. It stayed still while the current passed through it and into the earth through its body, unable to move. Drake knew that electricity had such an effect. The nervous system, which communicated information through small electrical pulses, was now overloaded with it. Drake’s risky plan had actually worked. The poor thing collapsed onto the ground in front of Drake eventually. It couldn’t move, but still looked at Drake fearsomely and growled. Drake shuddered at its motiveless persistence.

He then turned and continued to run. He now had an idea about where to go: the woods. These mutated animals for some reason wanted to eat humans, and could find them through sight and smell, so the solution was clearly to go to where there weren’t any humans. This made the woods the best bet, being far away from society. He couldn’t go in the direction of the source of the mutants, however, since there could be more over there. So he had to go to the opposite side of town.

A large boom disrupted his thoughts. What now? He thought. He looked up and saw an expanding blue ring in the sky. That was the only way he could describe it. It was a giant blue circle of sparkling liquid that seemed to originate from the direction of his home. It was fast and left a curtain of mist trailing behind it. This blue mist gently fell upon Drake and his surroundings. He couldn’t waste time thinking about what it was, however. He moved on.

In his journey, Drake saw all sorts of terrible things. The town was overridden with chaos. People were being eaten everywhere. The power went out at one point, and Drake knew it wasn’t coming back. He was just glad it had been there when he was being chased by the fox. Despite the darkness of night, where he couldn't properly see his foes, and his lack of weapons for self-defense, he continued. He had to. Staying there wasn't an option.

Something he noticed was that the creatures were getting bigger. That made it a huge problem. The things would continue to grow, so they have to kill them as soon as possible. Otherwise, the problem would, quite literally, get too big.

A man nervously drove his convertible on the road, frequently checking the rearview mirror. He went as fast as he could without hitting any obstacles on the road. Drake wondered if he should call him out and ask him if he could join him.

Before he had the chance to, a mutant cat jumped out of a nearby building onto the road. The man, understandably surprised, turned the wheel to pass around it. It jumped onto his car and sank its teeth into the upper half of his body. It then walked away, as if the limp body dangling out of its mouth was a rag doll. Drake couldn’t have done anything in the situation, but he still felt bad for the victim. He felt bad for everyone who’d died. He felt sorry for himself and everyone experiencing this nightmare. What had they done to deserve this situation?

Drake took the still operational car and drove it in the direction of the woods. He kept the lights off, but couldn’t do anything about the noise of the engine. At one point, a combination of the engine being too loud, and the road being too blocked by debris made him abandon his vehicle. But he was now closer to his destination. Some people hiding nearby ran for the car as soon as he left it. A few minutes later, he heard an explosion behind him. He thought it best not to think about it.

Eventually, Drake reached the woods on the other side of town. He traveled a hundred feet in and then collapsed on the ground. There was no noise here; no sound of screams and destruction of buildings, there were no mutants either, as far as he could see. Only a man and a child, who seemed to have had the same idea as him.

“Alright,” Drake thought as he sat on the ground, exhausted and distressed. “Time to think. What the heck just happened, and what the heck am I going to do now…”

* * *

In the early 2150s, many knowledgeable people argued about an impending Apocalypse and when it would take place. Yes, it felt like a far-off, almost daydream, of a future to everyone, as if they wouldn't live to see it. But none had even remotely considered that "that day" could be today, May 5th, 2151. This day would mark the beginning of an apocalypse that would destroy all that had been built by humanity over thousands of years, in just a few days.