Garth's Battle (My Dear World)

A short story, written for an environmental writing competition under the title of "My Dear World", for which I won the bronze medal.

Garth was hiding under a collapsed building. The dense shadows concealed his dark clothing and hooded face perfectly. He watched as the cortege of infected people was led through a fenced passage into a massive air-tent. Poor sods, Garth thought to himself as his eyes skimmed the wide street over and over again. Next to the fences, armed soldiers were keeping a watch. They wore thick, plate armours on top of skin-tight overalls that kept their bodies insulated from the contaminated air. Their helmets were redesigned gas-masks that now provided firearm protection as well as air filtration. Each one of them carried automatic weapons that fired large-calibre bullets. The men that led the cortege towards the tent wore hazmat suits and all of them were obliged to have a firearm on them at all times. The task of bringing new infected individuals to their facilities was risky. There was a high probability that out of nowhere, an infected individual would mutate and turn into a “biter” and try and bite off the head of the nearest human being.

“GET UP AND MOVE, OR I WILL PUT YOU DOWN!” Garth’s attention was now focused on two men in hazmat suits that were pointing their guns at an infected that was face-down on the concrete. “I SAID GET. UP.” Said the man in the hazmat suit. The gas mask muffled his voice, but it was loud enough to sound as serious and threatening. The infected man on the ground was making guttural noises and hissing while violently twitching. Suddenly, his body limped. The two men in hazmats’ were nervously holding their guns pointed at the infected. “Rookies”, murmured Garth. Wind was howling between the buildings and all attention was focused at the situation that was developing. The cortege stopped and even to soldiers held their guns at ready. All of a sudden, the infected man sprung up from the ground and jumped onto one of the hazmat men. Muffled screams were heard from the gas mask, as the infected man tore open the hazmat suit and gnawed and bit into the man’s neck. Red blood sprayed from the bite wounds and stained the white hazmat suit. The other man started firing his weapon and bullets tore open holes on the biters back. The biter seemed like it didn’t notice it and continued to gnaw on the neck of the dying man. One of the soldiers ran near them and aimed his shotgun at the biter. BLAM. Everything went quiet again. The man that was attacked was gulping his last breaths while lying in a puddle of his own blood. On top of him lay the biter. The soldier blew his head off and filthy blood gushed out of its neck. Garth saw this happen a thousand times before and he, himself managed to kill a few of the biters. It was unpleasant knowing that those horrid, hungry mutants were once human. They once had families, jobs, houses… They had a life. But since that horrible event that occurred a year ago, the “dear world”, as Garth called it, was gone. All that was left was a battle for survival on the streets ridden with plague, mutants and death.

They called it the “Starfish Plague”. It all started when starfish started dying in abnormal numbers on the western coasts of the USA. The unknown virus caused the limbs of starfish to rip off their own limbs and die from tearing themselves apart. It was a horrible death, even for animals. Soon, the virus spread to the oceans and entire water bodies were left without starfish. That ravaged the ocean ecosystems all around the world and soon, no one knows how, the virus mutated and began to spread by air. The first infected were animals on the land. Mostly coastal areas. Dogs, cats, lizards and various other animals were found with their limbs missing and their insides turned into a messy mush of organs and blood. Humans started being infected.
It would start off as a harmless cold, then, an infected individual would cough out blood and soon enough, their nails, teeth and even fingers started falling off. The skin turned pale, and as the virus reached its peak, the heart inside the infected individual would beat so fast that eventually, it would break off from the arteries and implode. Two months after the first infected human, the world was in a state of epidemic.

Today, the world is in a state that we could call as “the apocalypse”.

Garth took out two arrows from his quiver. He waited for the cortege and the guards in hazmat suits to enter the tent and so he aimed at the first guard. He drew his bow, and heard the bow string tighten and he held his breath. The arrow was now whistling through the air and in a second, it was sticking out of the guard’s throat. The guard put both is hands around his throat, trying to contain the blood flow, but it was all in vein as his life force left his body and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. The guard that was next to him put his gun to the ready and nervously looked for the shooter. Garth drew his bow one more time and released another arrow. The second guard now fell to the ground and a crimson-red puddle of blood spread on the dusty ground. Garth took off from under the shadows but quickly returned back into his hideout as soon as he saw the third guard approaching with his shotgun drawn. Garth sheathed his bow and unsheathed his two daggers. He never really resorted to firearms, so most of his arsenal consisted of blades and arrows. He had a handgun, but he used that only in the worst emergencies. Garth darted out from his hideout and ran towards the guard. He was turned away from Garth, so all Garth needed to do is run as fast as possible and land a deadly strike. The wind blew and had risen up a large cloud of dust. Damnit. Garth cursed and as soon as he was dangerously close to the guard, he lunged himself in the air. The guard saw a shadow overhead and turned around, only to be startled by the sight of Garth jumping towards him with two large knives. The guard blatantly fired his weapon, missing of course and Garth smashed his torso with his knees. Both of them were on the ground, and as soon as the guard recovered from the hard impact, Garth violently stuck his blades in the openings of his hard armour. Garth heard a gasp through the guard’s helmet and his body gave one last kick. He pulled his dagger from the guard’s corpse and a few drops of blood fell on the armour, leaving red splats on the black steel.

Garth entered the small guard house and as soon as he saw another guard sitting by the monitoring section, he took one throwing knife and finished that one guard as quick as possible. He searched the cabin, hoping to find some water, since his supplies were running low. Soon, he found three bottles in a drawer and quickly stashed those in his bag. Garth’s looting was interrupted by a crackling sound on the radio. RESCUE CONVOY ENTERING THE CITY PREMISES, ETA 15 MINUTES, PLEASE REMOVE GUARD POSTS AND PROVIDE UNONBSTUCTED PASSAGE. I REPEAT, LET THEM PASS. OVER. The radio stopped. Garth came closer to the dead guard whose blood was spreading all over the console. DO YOU COPY? The radio sounded once again. Garth took out the radio from the guard’s belt and pressed the speaking button. “C-copy that. Let the convoy pass. Over.” He said, with a trembling voice. COPY THAT, OVER AND OUT. The radio finished, and Garth took the radio with him, now eager to see what was happening. He ran out and headed towards the city’s guard checkpoint in order to see the convoy.

As he was jumping over rooftops, he saw a large shadow move quickly between the ruined buildings. Probably another damned mutant. Garth thought. They’ve gotten more daring in the past few months. He hissed as he jumped over an air vent.

Garth was now standing atop of the guard checkpoint. He saw a dust cloud and in the distance, he could barely recognise the dark dots that were in fact, military Humvees. He could hear the growling of their massive motors very well. The convoy was nearing very quickly, and the guards that were waiting on the checkpoint started to clear up the road. The Humvees trundled through the checkpoint and Garth could now count them. The convoy was moving in a straight line, all of them were armoured Humvees and there were at least six of them. Garth heard a couple of gunshots in the distance, and he turned around to see some soldiers killing biters in an alley nearby. Then, something happened that scared Garth to the bone. A loud, horrible growl was heard and a massive creature jumped on the convoy, destroying their line and wrecking two vehicles. Garth has seen it before, but only from afar. He’d hoped he would never have to cross paths with the creature, but this was different. The radio said that this was a rescue convoy, and that could mean only one thing. The cure! Gasped Garth, and ran into a nearby building roof entrance.

By the time Garth managed to get out of the building, the mutant had already wrecked the whole convoy. Overturned Humvees were scattered on the road, and two of them were mangled and torn in half. What the hell is that thing? Garth was so scared that he barely found the strength to go and check if there were any survivors. He quietly moved toward the vehicles but ran back as soon as his eyes caught a glimpse of the large creature. Garth drew his bow and stared blankly at the large creature that was not so far away. It was inhumanly large, and its physique was similar to that of a dog. Or maybe even a wolf. Garth couldn’t tell. What he could tell is that there was blood dripping from the creature’s snout as it growled and sniffed the air. Garth couldn’t let himself away, so he took a deep breath and flattened along a nearby wall. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. He thought, but suddenly, he felt the gaze of the creature on him. He closed his eyes, but when he opened them, the creature was gone. Garth sheathed his bow, took out his gun and quietly moved towards the vehicles.

Three of the Humvees were ripped apart, and the only thing Garth found inside were dead bodies. Car parts, debris and body parts were scattered around the convoy, or what’s left of it. But, at the fourth Humvee, the one that was flipped on its roof, Garth heard whimpering and something that sounded as a call for help.
In the flipped Humvee, lodged between the seats, Garth saw a man that wasn’t dressed as a soldier. He reached down and separated the seats that were crushing the man. Garth pulled him out and let him catch his breath. “Are you okay?” Garth asked him, while holding him so he doesn’t fall down. “I…I am a scientist that hopefully developed somewhat of a cure for the starfish plague. We were heading towards the Research Centre, and this…this CREATURE…” the man coughed. “it attacked us, and now I don’t know if I’ll ever make it. Thank you. At least for pulling me out of there.” Garth looked at him. “The Research Centre is not far away from here. Come, I’ll get you there.” The man’s eyes widened with surprise and sudden joy. “REALLY?” he asked. “Yes, indeed. Come now.” Garth threw the man’s arm over his shoulder and they started limping towards the Research Centre that was a few buildings away.

“You’re bleeding.” Garth said, as the building of the Research Centre now stood in front of them. “But that won’t be such a problem. I’m sure they’ll take good care of you there.” The man looked at him. “What about you? Without you I would never have been able to come this far.” Their conversation was interrupted by loud clamouring behind them. Garth sighed painfully, knowing that it must be the mutant. It must’ve followed them up until here. Without hesitation, Garth picked the scientist in his arms and threw his torso over his shoulder. “WHA- ARE YOU INSANE?” The man asked in utter confusion. “SHUT UP. And be calm. You’ll be safe soon.” Garth ran as fast as he can and as he reached the Research Centre, he dropped the scientist down on the ground. He looked at the scientist and his mouth bent into a gentle smile. “Go. Do what you must. Bring peace to this world ridden with madness.” The scientist wanted to say something, but he jumped when he saw a large creature standing and growling in the middle of the street. “You can’t. You mustn’t.” He tried to get Garth to go in with him. “My friend, I have my own battles to fight. You have yours. Right now, yours is more important than mine. Go and cure our dear world from this plague that’s tearing it apart.” He looked the scientist in the eyes and then slowly started walking towards the mutant creature. He took out his pistol and abruptly threw it aside. Then, he took out his daggers. He started running. My own battle. He thought once again.

The scientist gave Garth one last look and then disappeared in the long, empty hallways of the Research Centre. Good luck, friend.