Volume 8 Bonus Content:

“Help!” Melissa Price screamed.

Her lower body was stuck under rubble. The destruction brought by the giant Mayhem had caused a building to collapse. She’d been running on a sidewalk nearby when the edge of it had fallen on her.

Now, one of her legs was numb. Everyone had fled the area by now, and the odds were looking slim that someone would come to help her. Nevertheless, she tried, clinging to any hope that was left.

“Someone, help me!”

She waited a few seconds and gasped for air. She could feel herself slowly losing consciousness. Though she didn’t want to believe it, she must have had a wound and lost a lot of blood. Giving up, she broke into tears.

Until earlier that day, she’d had a boyfriend, but they’d broken up. There was no chance that he would come searching for her at a time like this, even though he lived nearby; that was the type of person he was.

It was at this moment that Melissa realized that there was no one she could depend on or trust to help her; she had no family in Rencia. She wished she’d made better friends. She wished there was even one person who truly cared for her in the city.

Just when Melissa had given up hopes of surviving, she heard a voice.

“Hold on! I’m coming.”

She raised her head. She shouted to give the new voice an idea of where to find her. Eventually, he arrived.

He was an obese, middle-aged man dressed semi-formally and wearing a government badge.

Upon instantly understanding the situation, he said, “Hold on, Miss. I’ll getcha outta there.”

He turned and shouted: “Medics! Get ova’ here!”

“Please don’t go,” Melissa requested in desperation.

“Don’t worry, Miss. I’m stayin’ right here. Looks like your legs are stuck under all that rubble. Lemme see if I can get that off ya.”

The man moved over to behind her and started lifting heavy chunks of cement and tossing them aside. Melissa could feel the weight on her lower.

“Here we go! A beam’s the source! Liftin’ this oughta set you free.”

There was a long wooden beam that was on her back. The man grabbed one end and tried to lift it. He grunted as he slowly raised it.

“Y’know… it’s at times like these… oof… that I wish I worked out more. Aargh!”

He lifted it up.

“Now, get outta there!”

Melissa couldn’t move her legs. She tried to pull her body forward using her arms as if her life depended on it, for it might. She knew the man couldn’t hold the beam for long.

Fortunately, a group of medics arrived as if on cue and pulled her out. The man let go with a heavy grunt.

“You good?” he asked.

The medics examined her and declared that she had a broken leg. She was indeed bleeding profusely. The team applied first aid to her, wrapped the wound in bandages, and were about to take her away.

“Well, I gotta go and help out others,” the man said as he pointed behind him.

“Um… can you tell me your name?” Melissa asked.

The man smiled. “Joseph Striker, second-in-charge at the Department of People’s Opinion and Welfare, but you can call me Joe.”

* * *

Joe ran through the streets of Rencia’s outskirts, where Steve’s mutation had occurred, searching for people in need of rescue. He didn’t know how this situation had come, but he’d stopped what he’d been doing and ran there immediately after gathering personnel from a nearby hospital. He was only focused on saving people at the moment.

“Dang, I need to get fit.”

He was getting tired—his age and health weren’t helping—but he pushed himself, knowing there were lives that depended on him.

He hadn’t always been this way. In his school days, he’d been some bully’s henchperson. He’d throw his weight around. He hadn’t been strong or anything; he’d used the bully’s notoriety all the while trying to impress him. It was all meaningless.

After high school, he didn’t know what to do in life and ended up shifting between various part-time jobs. He’d lived this meaningless, depressing life for close to thirty years—just trying to get by.

Then, the Apocalypse happened. That night, when the whole city was burning and everyone was dying, he couldn’t accept his fate. I can’t die yet, he’d thought, I haven’t accomplished anything.

He’d used this justification to commit an unforgivable act that allowed him to get a seat on the helicopter that took him safely to Rencia. When everything settled, that was when he’d realized he’d gone too far

Joe stopped running and panted. Down the street, he spotted a little girl who was standing in the middle of the road and crying. Joe swallowed to hydrate his parched throat and gritted his teeth. He then ran over to her.

“Hey, there, Miss. Where're your parents?”

The girl looked at him and continued to sob.

“Well, wherever they are, this place is dangerous. Follow me. I’ll take ya somewhere safe.” He smiled while continuing to sweat.

He realized he’d make for a good clown, or someone far creepier.

When Joe had come to Rencia, he was a hollow of his former self. He’d done violent things before, but for the first time in his life, he’d become a true criminal. And for what? The city was decorated to provide a false sense of ease and security. Just outside the Walls was a world ravaged by monsters—one that would never return to the weak humans.

There was no longer any point in living. There was no happiness—no value that could ever come of it.

After failing an attempt at suicide, he’d become angry and reckless. He wanted to direct his anger at something; he’d felt he deserved judgment for his actions, not the blind eye that the city gave to everyone. So, he attempted a robbery.

Suddenly, Joe saw a movement from the corner of his eye. He quickly turned to look. Appearing from another street was a giant, mutated human.

“…the heck?!”

Its head turned and it spotted the two. Joe looked at its dark eyeballs, filled with the usual unjustified hatred. He immediately grabbed the girl, carried her, and started running away. The Humayhem’s afternoon stroll through the miniature town turned to a jog.

“Ain’t no way I can outrun that thing! What do I do?!”

He spotted a trolley on the tracks in the middle of the road nearby. An idea struck him. He ran into the first compartment. There were controls for the trolley’s movement. Usually, it would be automated by a computer, but there was still a manual option.

“Yes!”

He tried to power the system on. It failed.

“Come on.”

The monster was right behind them. He tried again. No result. It was then that he realized the problem: the electricity lines were destroyed.

“Oh, shi—”

The trolley started rising up. The Mayhem was lifting it. Joe grabbed the girl and jumped out the door. He landed awkwardly five yards below. The girl had stopped crying by now.

“Ow, my legs! How’d they do it so perfectly in movies?!”

He limped forward. There was only one safe place for them now: inside a building.

The Mayhem peeked inside the trolley, realized they had fallen out, tossed it aside, and started chasing them again.

A few months ago, Joe had taken a knife and attempted to rob a woman on the open streets in broad daylight. In his mind, his excuse had been that he was unemployed and out of money. He’d subconsciously known that he’d get arrested for it. But halfway in, a boy had appeared and scolded him.

Joe had been surprised by his words. He’d told him that they were in the middle of an Apocalypse, and it was not the time to give up, but to unite and fight. The words had touched Joe.

For his whole life, he didn’t try to do anything good, and was angry at fate for not throwing anything good his way. He’d decided after that, to change. He’d take fate into his own hands and redeem himself. He’d stop lazing around, and instead, do good and help others.

Joe tried to push open the door to the nearest building. It refused to open.

“Darn. Must be locked.”

He moved back and turned to his side, ready to ram his shoulder to break through the glass. Before he could do anything, the girl pulled on the door handle.

It opened.

He blinked. “Oh.”

He turned back to see that the Mayhem was almost upon them, and then pushed the girl and himself inside.

The Mayhem hit the entrance of the building, obviously too large to enter. It tried to fit its head in. When that failed, it broke all the glass window walls and stuck its hand in. It tried to grab the two. They fled to the back of the dark lobby. There were no exits from there.

The girl closed her eyes and ears and crouched. Joe looked at the Mayhem’s face. Its skin was dark, but with black saliva dripping out of its mouth and completely black eyes, it looked creepy.

“I really wanna make a racist joke right now.” Joe reconsidered. “If I’m gonna die anyway, I might as well…”

Before he could continue, there was an explosion outside. The Humayhem’s face turned away, and it retracted its arm. Joe could hear some humans outside. The Mayhem seemed to be fighting someone.

“What’s with all the ruckus?”

He told the girl to stay put as he investigated. Outside, he found that two soldiers from the Defense Force were fighting the giant Human. One of them flew to him.

“It’s alright. You guys are safe now,” he assured him. “You need to head to safety, outside this region. We’ll take care of the Mayhem.”

“’Course. Thanks a lot for saving us… Are ya gonna kill it?” Joe asked.

“We don’t know yet. We’re just gathering them in one area for now.”

The soldiers left the scene with the distracted Human in tow, chasing them like a child would butterflies.

Joe stared blankly. “Huh.”

The girl joined him.

“I told ya to stay put, y’know?”

After having been granted freedom in Court (with periodic visits to a psychologist), Joe joined the Department of People’s Opinion and Welfare and tried to help others. He taught them his new perspective, inspired them through speeches, solved their problems, and encouraged them to fight for humanity. Over a period of a few months, he gained fame and rose ranks to become second-in-charge. Even now, he did everything in his power to save as many lives as he could.

“Bah, whatever. I’m tired. Let’s head to safety already.”

It was exhausting at times, but for the first time in his life, he felt like he was doing something meaningful.

General Information:

This section contains information not related to the story, such as fun facts about things mentioned in the story—like an appendix.

Exoskeleton suits:

Featured in many sci-fi stories and movies, exosuits are powered, robotic frames that attach to the human body. They consist of pneumatics and hydraulics that reduce strain on the body when one moves heavy objects. They are mostly used in the medical industry (for those who are disabled) and the military. The advantage for the military to use them is for transporting equipment by foot. This reduces fatigue and calorie consumption, allowing soldiers to travel for longer. The current problem with powered exoskeletons is a lack of power and sufficiently large batteries. Because of these, not much development or demand has arisen yet in the field. https://exoskeletonreport.com/2016/07/military-exoskeletons/

Mosquitos:

Killing more people than any other animal (including humans), mosquitos are considered the deadliest animal on the planet1. They consist of about 3,500 species that inhabit most of the world. Only females suck blood. In most species of mosquitos, the female requires the proteins found in animals’ blood to mature their eggs. Males mostly drink plant nectar. The eggs, laid on stagnant water surfaces, hatch into larvae, which swim around and eat algae. These become pupae called tumblers, which hand just below the water surface and breathe through tubes. Within a few days, they become adults, ready to fly. Studies show mosquitos are attracted to host animals by “moisture, lactic acid, carbon dioxide, body heat, and movement”2. Common host animals include amphibians, snakes, reptiles, and small mammals.

Gunpowder:

Gunpowder, or black powder (modern recipe), is the first explosive, invented by Chinese monks during the 9th century while searching for a life-extending elixir. It was spread throughout the world by the Mongol Empire. Traditional/basic gunpowder is a mixture of saltpeter (potassium nitrate), sulfur, and charcoal (carbon, but can ignite at lower temperatures). It turns into mostly gases when ignited, leaving little residue, and acting as a propellant for bullets in guns. Modern bullet cartridges use a bullet (the head), propellent like gunpowder, and a primer. When the primer is hit, it explodes, launching the bullet through the barrel of the gun. The barrel consists of spiral grooves to rotate the bullet when it’s in the air, giving it stability. https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/7687.html

1https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mosquitoes-kill-more-humans-human-murderers-do-180951272/

2https://www.britannica.com/animal/mosquito-insect