Apocalypse 2012

lol yes another version of an over told story.

The air had chilled if almost instantly. I could feel there hungry eyes peering down at me. A mist had formed on the horizon just before sunset.  Marcus told us this meant the time was near. I didn’t believe in ghost stories. Of course that was until I became apart of one. A war had broken out between the states. Texas threw the first punch. But what started out as just another civil war, turned into the bloodiest war the world had ever seen. Russia and China backed most of the larger states, hoping to keep some kind of trade agreement after it was over. But the U.N. wouldn’t stand for it, and so all the worlds powers divided into four parties. We had the Arian Knights, the Divided United, the United Empire, and what we liked to call the Severed Legion. Of course there were still smaller parties moving in and out of territories, but for the most part these four ruled.

             It all started when the Aztec calendar ended. This day was believed to be the end of the world; well when that day came and went all hope went with it. North Korea broadcasted a message to the world saying that they would be releasing their nukes at nightfall. I was on my way to work when the panic started. Looters swarmed the streets, breaking windows and setting fires to cars. I avoided the mobs as much as I could but when the riot police showed up I was caught in the cross fire. As I laid there wounded and bleeding, I caught the glimpse of little girl crushed beneath the feet of the mob. My heart burned with rage. What had gone wrong, that we, a civilized man could act out in our most natural of ways? The animal had finally broken out of its cage and only death could free us. I was rescued by Marcus, who at the time was a detective for the N.Y.P.D. He had seen me go down and quickly made his way over so that I too like the girl wouldn’t become a place mat for madness. When we got to a small storage facility in Brooklyn Marcus cleaned my wounds and turned on the TV. He had a small group of men already assembled and waiting for orders. A solid image of colors returned to Chris Barns, our evening Anchormen on the channel Twelve News. The room fell silent.   

            “The worst has come. I wish I could sit here today and read to you the message provided to me by our government but I can’t. As you all know this morning North Korea declared war on the world. As of eight tonight all of North Koreas nukes will be launched. Ten will be targeted at the United States. It is uncertain as to where these missiles will land but our military forces inform us they are doing everything in their power to prepare for it. How ever it brings me great regret to inform you that the time has been moved forward. Texas has launched an assault on North Korea. As of ten minutes ago North Korea has been wiped from the face of the earth. I am also sad to report that Alaska and parts of Canada have fallen victim to the few nukes North Korea got off before there demise. We will be going off the air now, I wish you all the best of luck and may what ever god you worship have mercy on your soul.”           

            I was numb. The thought of nuclear war had never crossed my mind. I waited for a reaction in the room but nothing came. The end had finally come, and I was here to see it. We spent little time gathering what food and ammo we could. We hot wired some Hummers at the ROTC building near the airport and made our way south. Marcus said we wouldn’t be safe in the open, that the nuclear aftermath and radiation was the least of our problems. As we made our way towards St. Louis I fell victim to mankind’s ugliest habits. Bodies’ lye about the earth, torn and mutilated. Children, women, young boys all things we saw as innocent and undeserving of torture polluted the landscape we once called home. The land of the free was nothing more now than a barren wasteland, a feeding ground for the crows. We called ourselves the Saints. The last of the crusaders, justice by violence, and the only protectors of the weak left. I had never killed before in my life. But after the first few it became a lot easier. I didn’t know who I was anymore, I’m not really sure if I even wanted to. I began to write down everything I saw, a kind of message to those who would come after us. Marcus told us of a time when man would rebuild the world. A united world under one ruling power, that of the people. History has shown us that even a few given power by the masses could not reframe from corruption. Money was the devils poison and a deadly one it was. He said the new world would not consist of money. We would all be equal in our lives. We work together and share the benefits of our work. And if any man or women dare try to spoil our new world, we would cut them down where they stood.

            I remember in September of that year we were posted in the hills of the Ozarks. We had taken shelter in what use to be a Burger King. The nukes had made the storms violent and you wouldn’t want to be outside when the thunder came. I sat close to the furnace which was now nothing more than a rusted hollowed out fireplace. We burned some wood from the fence surrounding the rear of the building. It always amazed me how we ran from the fiery pits of hell but also found comfort in it. I had almost finished my tale. I had run out of ink about a month past and had written the last four chapters with anything I could find. Currently I was using toilet paper that I had hardened with tooth paste and was dipping the wet end into a mixture I made from charcoal. It wasn’t perfect or by any means convenient but it worked a lot better than grease or cigarette ashes. So there I was curled up in a blanket that had seen too many winters. I hadn’t shaved since the nukes went off and my beard had started to become a problem. Those that did shave mainly used razor blades from box cutters or knifes they’ve found sharp enough to cut. I would have joined in but after what happened to Howard I wasn’t in a hurry. You see the radiation has made it a lot easier to get infected. And something as simple as a cut from shaving could lead to your ultimate demise. Hints what happened to Howard. My fingers where thin and my stomach churned. I hadn’t eaten in three days. The last place we stopped for food was outside of Buffalo Missouri and the Flag bearing the Severed Legion Seal was good enough reason not to take any chances. A horrid bunch they were. Mutated by the radiation and infected with pure rage. These men and women were nothing more now than cannibals. Slain a children’s home in Iowa they did. We stopped in to see if we could help but we were quickly over powered. They were mad you see. Like crazed dogs, running at you full speed with no care in the world. I shot one ten times before he stopped. And for my count that’s nine too many. We lost thirty men there that day. All left for dead or taken for food. Our numbers grow everyday, but with every encounter we find our bravery failing. Not Marcus though, no he’s still just as alive and willing as he was when he pulled me from the streets. Yea, good old Marcus. I don’t think we would be alive if it wasn’t for……………..

            “Gabriel get your f*****g head out that book man their here!” a voice called out. I quickly returned to my senses and rushed to the window. Surely enough they were. The horizon was filled with burning red eyes. They had finally caught up to us.

            “Gabriel, Mark, Leo, and Justin I need you guys on the roof now with the fifty calibers!” Marcus ordered while he popped a magazine into the chamber of his five hundred tactical shotgun. I turned and made my way up the crowded stair way to the roof. It had started to rain and the mist grew thicker every second. I gripped my hands around the cold steel and took a long careful peek through my scope. “Un f*****g believable” I said aloud. Leo was manned next to me and turned his attention to me.

            “What is it Gab?” he questioned. I took a moment before I answered. I knew he wouldn’t like the answer. Hell I didn’t like the answer and I was the one giving it. “They don’t have any weapons” I said as softly as I could. Leo glared at me with dreadful eyes. I could smell the fear in him, s**t I could smell my own. I took another look into the scope as to prepare for the siege. Marcus had lined the hill with mines so we didn’t have to worry about the first wave. Now the bullet that comes out of a fifty caliber sniper rifle is no tiny matter. This bullet is designed to pierce the armor of a tank and if you want a better example it can go through ten brink walls back to back and still pierce the armor of a tank. So if you haven’t guessed it yet I’ll tell you. The idea is to shot the ones in lines. Take out whole rows of them with one shot. The impact alone is going to tear their bodies apart anyway so there’s no point in wasting one shot on a single target. 

            “Get ready men their coming!” Mark yelled from the far end of the roof. I watched as they flooded the hills. Just like a bottle of ink spilled over a white piece of paper. Their cries could be heard for miles, even after they hit the mines. They just kept coming. I watched a boy who couldn’t have been any older than seventeen get his entire lower half blow off. It had to go about fifty feet into the air. But when he landed he didn’t just die. He started to crawl until the last drop of blood had evaded his body. It was hard to watch, but I had a duty to the innocent people in this world. I took aim and fired. Shot after shot I leveled entire groups of people. People who just nine months ago where normal people like you and me. Their flesh torn from their bodies and not even a tear spared for the pain. They just kept coming. When they got close enough for scatter shots the ground beneath us was lit up like the fourth of July. My hearing was tuned in but the ringing made it hard to hear the cries coming from down stairs. Leo grabbed me in a panic and pulled me from the edge. Thinking it was one of them I quickly threw him off me and got to my feet.

            “Gabriel they f*****g flanked us. The south entrance has been breached. We’re f*****g dead Gabriel, F*****g dead!” I marched over to him and with the firmness of the back of my hand I knocked the foolishness right out of him. Mark and Justin and fortified the entrance to the roof. I could hear Marcus giving orders to blow the corridor but no one responded. We all knew how fast they killed. Marcus had told me of our back up plan had the main army of the Severed Legion find us and we couldn’t defeat them. About three months back we found a thumb print of god, a nuke. We planted it in the center of the building so if we ever needed to fall back we would meet at the nuke. Well I had no way of getting there now and I sure as hell wasn’t trying to convince myself I was getting out of this alive. Leo had given in to his emotions and knelt before me as he sobbed. I wasn’t judging him. We all face death differently and theirs nothing wrong with crying. I simply placed my hand on his shoulder and knelt down beside him.

            “Leo……Leo guess what?” I whispered. He looked at me with tear filled eyes. His breathing had quickened and his speech was slurred but he answered. “w-what?” I smiled at him and squeezed him as hard as I could. “I thought of a title for my book.” I answered. He smirked and tried to laugh but it didn’t last long. “Yeah, what’s that” he responded. I took one long look up at the rising sun and said “Apocalypse 2012.” He grew quite as I looked back at him. I stood up and released the strap to my rifle. I drew from my side two desert eagles that bore a Celtic cross on each handle. I approached the edge of the roof and peered down. Martinez’s body was flung out into the open and a group of fiends were currently feeding on him. I took a deep well concentrated breath to calm my nerves. I could feel the wind brushing against the back of my neck. Since I only wore my hair up in battle It was always a pleasure to feel the sensation of one of the earth’s greatest beauties. Mark and Justin hollered from behind me. The door was breaking and the Legion would be upon us at any minute. Crack! The sound of Leo’s pistol went off. I knew it was him when I heard the thud against the cement. I knew my time was short so I attempted one last time to get in contact with Marcus.

            “Marcus come over this is Gabriel” I yelled. At first I heard nothing but static but just as I was about to pitch my radio he responded.

            “Yea I know, the roof fallen and so has the whole dam base. I got five left down here Gabriel. We’re at the check point. I’m going to assume since your not down here you wont be joining us.” I laughed. Even now facing the very death we had been avoiding for twelve months he was calm.

            “Yeah I won’t be joining you. I like the looks of things out here anyways. Beats being around your ugly a*s.” I laughed “just give me one minute before you do it ok” he said ok and cut the line off. I pitched my radio at one of the legion who was trying to climb the wall. He fell awkwardly to the ground and groaned. I drew from my shirt pocket a whistle I had acquired from a bird trainer in Rhode Island. Along with it though came a silver falcon I called Alex. He came to me then awaiting the smooth stroke of his neck feathers. I gave him his last pleasure and took from my bag the book I had been writing. I took from my belt a hunting knife and carved in the leather cover the title of my book. I tied it to Alex and sent him of his way. I wasn’t sure how far Alex could get before the nuke went off but I figured it was better off in his hands then at the point of contact. He took off, soaring high above and jetted for the safe zone I had shown him. When he out of sight and the final seconds came I lunged off the roof with pistols blazing into the roaring fires of life and ultimate salvation.                                                              

 

Reviews

[ToRnBaByB]

Oh my gosh. This is one of the most amazing things I have ever read. My eyes never once left the page until I finished reading. It's very well detailed and I loved it, it's just too bad that there wasn't more. Lol.