“Hello? Are you OK? Wake up!”, a voice called when Steven opened his eyes.
“Who are you? And where am I?”, he said while looking around his new room.
“My identity is not important. Now, could you kindly tell us who you are?”, the man said. “Call me Steven. Or, at least, that’s what I remember. I don’t remember anything at all. Everything feels fuzzy”, he said.
Steven got up from the bed and started to check the room. The nightstand beside his bed is filled with a backpack, 2 pieces of steak, a stone sword, and a gun. “I see that you’re very curious towards your new home. Come with me. I’ll show you around”, the man said.
Steven walked out of the room with this mysterious person and explored the area.
“This is our underground bunker. The population in this place is 200, most of them are scientists and refugees, and the bunker itself has different areas. The first one is the living quarters, the second one is the cafeteria, the third one is the water purification, and the fourth one is the shooting range”, the man said.
Steven entered the cafeteria to explore more about this bunker.
“The cafeteria is normal. We serve mushroom stew and, if we’re feeling generous, steak and other types of protein for those who are lucky enough to get it. You might be thinking why, well it’s because the new environment of Earth is covered with radiation. This means that there are no living creatures present in the outside world. So these are pretty much the last animals on Earth. We would breed them to conserve the food supply”, the man explained. The man and Steven continued their tour on the bunker. “This is the shooting range. We mainly use it to train people to use weapons to fend for themselves in the outside world. We have everything, from crossbows to guns”, the man said while two people are shooting dummies in the shooting range. “And finally, we have the water purification. The person in charge is someone named Scott Mills, and based on the name, this place is a purifier for water.”.
After showing the areas of the bunker, the man told Steven to follow him to the shooting range to learn how to use weapons. Steven, shocked with a sudden change, questioned the person about the sudden change. “It’s our rule here. New survivor, teach them the basics instantly.” he said. Steven was told to shoot with his pistol. Surprisingly, he did well with the target practice. After getting a few more shots, the person told Steven to get a gas mask and wear a hazmat suit. “Get these things on, kid. You’re going to go scavenging.”, he said.
Again, a sudden change, with Steven getting a bit worried this time. Steven was told to meet up with other Scavengers in the center of the bunker for their mission. Scott exited the water purification room to tell their mission. “Listen up, scavengers! We’re having a water crisis. Something or someone has destroyed the water purifiers filtering the water.”, Scott said.
“But, if I do recall, there are three extra water purifiers in the water tank in the Town of Walton. Your mission, is to get the water purifiers from the water tank. Unless you want us to move somewhere else, but I’m sure no one would agree on that.”
Steven was met with the leader of their group, Jack, and his second-in-command, Murph. Steven asked how things are in the world above, and Jack simply replied, “Two words. It’s crap!”.
The team put on their gas masks and wore their hazmat suits and climbed up the ladder leading to the outside world. “One advice for you, newbie,..”, Murph said. “Don’t die!”.
After opening the somehow automatic door (which was powered by solar panels), they were met with people searching for mushrooms to make mushroom stew. Then, they exited the compound, and into the dead and radioactive world.
They looked around, and saw dead trees and little to no life, even grass. The soil seems cracked, almost heated by the bright sun. “Remember. Shredders are nocturnal, so we’ll need to return to the compound BEFORE dawn. That means it’s roughly three hours left. So, stop standing still. Let’s move!”, Jack shouted while leading everyone towards the Town of Walton.
“Hello! I’m Derek. I’ll be your guide throughout this journey. It’s my role in this team anyways.”, a figure said behind Steven. Steven asked more about the Shredders, and Derek replied with, “They're basically dragons, but less fiery.”.
Murph told the group to cut down some dead trees to get their wood as an alternate fuel source. As the group started to cut down some trees, Steven spotted an abandoned hut in the distance. He entered through the door (although the window is shattered) and looted things he thought would be useful. He managed to find some coal, some books… and that’s the only useful set of things in the hut.
He returned to the group and continued their journey to the Town of Walton. They soon arrived to the town, with Steven in shock to see the condition of the town.
“What? Never seen a ghost town before? Well, here it is.”, Derek said.
Some of the building looked like they were blown up, and others collapsed.
Luckily, they were able to find the water tank, just near the coast line. “Now be careful. Shredders like to sleep and nest in the dark, so turn on the lights inside your gas mask!”, Murph said. Steven was a bit scared, but he continued anyways. Jack opened (more accurately, pushed and destroyed) the door and entered the dark abyss. The group followed, and noticed that the path in front of them is flooded. Steven searched the chests to find something useful, but found raw fish instead. One of the group members, named Lee, went into a dark corridor and heard some growling inside. Jack noticed this and told Lee that they won’t come after us at day if we don’t interrupt them.
Derek found the map of the water tank. The team read it to pinpoint a rough idea on where the water purifier might be. However, the map doesn’t help on that since this map was made in 2070, which could mean that some things could’ve changed, from ravines to floods. But, they kept it anyway. Steven looked in shock as he saw that the sun is going down. Jack told the team to break the window to get to the water supply. Just as the team exited the main building, a Shredder is heard shrieking. A Shredder swooped down from above and snatched one of the team members. Blood and flesh dripped from above with screams in agony. Another Shredder ran towards another member and started to shred them. Jack finds a door leading downwards. Three Shredders were now rushing towards them, shrieking to alert other Shredders. The remaining survivors managed to close the door, with the Shredders trying to break in, but all went silent after that.
They went deeper towards the basement to find a shattered glass ceiling, which was right above the place they were attacked. Dread filled the team, knowing that the Shredders must have smashed the glass to get inside. They quickly hid inside a locker as soon as they heard a Shredder shriek. Unfortunately, one of the members couldn’t find a hiding spot and is killed by the Shredders. After their death, the Shredders stopped shrieking and the remaining people exited the locker. Murph found a room for them to hide in, and stayed there until sunrise. The team grouped up in the room. They’ve lost three members. Derek looked out at the window, seeing the Shredders shredding a member to pieces.
“You said you found some raw fish?”, Jack asked to Steven. Later, the group cooked the raw and definitely expired fish and used the wood they’ve gathered from before as fuel sources. After having a suspenseful dinner, the team finally rested before starting a new day to find the water purifier.
While he was sleeping, Steven dreamt about his past. The dream was about Steven and his little sister were in a bus with their parents. Steven looked out the window to see the military escorting them. But, their bus stopped abruptly because one of the soldiers heard a rustle in the bushes. The soldier started to go near, but the soldier was dragged into the darkness and all of a sudden a Shredder appeared and knocked the bus in front of them. Two Shredders landed next to Steven’s bus and they started to knock the bus. The bus was knocked sideways, with the Shredders smashing the glass above them and started to kill the passengers. Steven’s family managed to get out, but his dad was limping horribly. “Go. I’ll just be a burden for you three if I continued. Just go!”, he said. Steven’s mom told Steven to run straight forward and not look behind. The family was split to two groups because the Shredders were catching up to them. Steven ran with his little sister, but everything went dark after that.
Steven was woken up by Jack, saying, “Come on, Steven. I don’t want to spend another day in this damned place!”. The group exited the room and back to the dark abyss.
They tried their best to find the room containing the purifier, but before they abandoned all hope, Murph spotted something. It’s a room with a sign above the entrance saying “Purification System”. Six members ran into the room, only to get killed by a Shredder.
The remaining four tried to plan out a way to get the chest inside and distract the Shredder. Murph decided to light up a flare to attract the Shredder as it hunts with thermal vision.
The Shredder shrieked and exited the room, and went closer towards the flare.
The group used this to get inside the room and get the purifier. The team managed to find not one but THREE purifiers. However, the Shredder came back in the wrong moment for the team. The team exited the room and ran as fast as they could. They managed to climb back up in the surface, with the Shredder refusing to chase them because of the sun.
Steven, Jack, Murph, and Derek all sighed in relief. They were finally able to finish the mission. The team returned to the bunker with pride, with the leader of the colonist saying, “Well done! I see that some of you… didn’t make it. Also, call me Mr. Green.”, the leader of the colony said. Steven was given a time to break and rest for the day. But, the dream that appeared in his mind won’t stop bothering him. How did he survive? And where is his sister? Curiosity begins to flow in his mind. Maybe, someday, he’ll find out…
To be continued....
Coming Soon Part 2: Egg Heist