Dying Planet: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel

by C. O. Amal

  By the time the professors reached there, the specimen was cut opened. Incredibly all the organs are still preserved but with a yellowish colour.

  “It seems that this specimen is not decaying at all. Its brain had destroyed. Supposedly only way to kill the host is by destroying the brain. The airborne variant may have destroyed the microbes that are responsible for the decomposition. The skin and all organs are like plastic. Tissue structure is similar to that of plastic. Alpha – 1 virus is capable of instant mutation. It must have mutated the body.” One scientist said.

  “What will be like if Earth is full of those things?” Lincoln asked Langton.

  “The airborne effects plant life too. Martians must have suffered a lot.” Langton said.

  “The Martian is similar to a human on Earth. But specimen’s skull indicates a larger brain. Supposedly it belongs to an advanced civilization.” One of the scientists said.

  “So much for an advanced species. This pandemic must have killed all of them.” Langton said.

  “What if some of them had escaped mars and came to earth. There are numerous archaeological findings which indicate the presence of an advanced civilization on Earth.” Lincoln said.

  “Where did you learn that?” Langton asked.

  “There is a book titled ‘Earth’s Forbidden Secrets’ by an ‘Igan’ or something. I usually don’t remember the authors. Anyway it contains lot of information about these topics.” Lincoln said.

  “I need to get one of those books.” Said Langton.

  Lincoln smiled.

  “Did you check the genome?” Langton asked through the mike.

  “Yes, we have. Genome test indicate that specimen is hundred percent human” One of the scientist said.

  Langton and Lincoln watched the dead human with mesmerized eyes.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 6

  City of Petra, Los Angeles

  Julie woke with a sharp pain on her hand. She looked at her hand and quickly drew back her hand. Alex was biting on her hand.

  “Alex! What did you do?” Julie said with anger.

  Blood is pouring out of her hand like a well. She screamed when she couldn’t hold back the pain. Suddenly Alex jumped at her and he tilted his head to bit her neck. Julie somehow held him at bay.

  “Honey, what are you doing? It’s me, your wife.” Julie cried out loud.

  Alex seemed to have not heard her. His eyes are dark as night. Bruises are all over his skin. His mouth is covered in blood from Julie’s hand. Julie struggled to keep him not to bite her. Finally she managed to push him aside. Quickly she ran for the door. She shut the bedroom door behind her from outside. Alex came back to his feet and ran for the door. He began to thrash at the door. The sound of the bell shifted her gaze to the front door. She ran for the front door.

  Julie opened the front door, and saw two copes standing outside.

  “Officer … My husband … He is sick … he bit me … he …” Julie struggled to say the words.

  One officer stepped inside and checked inside. Suddenly Alex trash opened the door and ran for the first thing he saw – the officer inside the house. Alex or what was left of him jumped at the officer. The cop didn’t get the time to turn away. Alex got hold of the officer and he bit in his neck. The officer’s scream filled the house and the street.

  People began to get attracted towards the scene. More people crowded outside Julie’s house. The other officer drew his gun and fired at Alex’s leg, to slow him down. But Alex kept his hold on the officer and he bit deeper into his neck. The other officer shot him again. This time on the chest.

  Alex suddenly shifted his gaze to the officer holding the gun. He ran for the officer. The cop fired several shots in Alex’s chest but that only slowed him down. Finally Alex reached the officer and he pushed him aside and jumped on him. He bit that officer also. This time he bit out a chunk of meat from the officer’s neck.

  People watched in horror. Julie cried out loudly. Officer’s scream filled the atmosphere around the house.

  Finally some people came forward and pushed Alex aside and helped the officer to stand up. Alex regained his footing and jumped at the crowd of people. He bit one more person. People quickly came forward and caught Alex. They restrained him.

  Some people shot the whole scene on their mobile phones. Suddenly the first officer stood up. A piece of meat is hanging in his neck. His eyes are vacant. He tilted his head in an odd manner. And then he ran for the nearest person. Julie suddenly became tired and fell on the floor. People started to run away from the scene. An odd pungent smell filled the atmosphere. People covered their mouth and nose with their hand. The other officer who was standing with the help of people also turned. He bit the nearest person. People pushed him aside and ran away.

  Suddenly Julie also stood up with her eyes vacant. She was without any emotion. Julie or what was left of her ran for the nearest person.

  The entire street got filled with scream and panic. More people turned, with dark eyes. Their skin is filled with bruises. People got in their houses and shut the doors.

  A strange gas began to emanate from their body. The street got filled with a pungent smell. People who are exposed to the gas also began to turn into monsters. The creatures ran for fresh meat. People of Petra began to surrender to the disease. People who got inside their houses also began to turn. They started to thrash at the door. Being the creature made them forget their basic human behavior. They forgot how to open the doors.

  The news spread like wild fire. Media began to come to the scene, but only to surrender to the disease.

  When the fresh meat ran out creature began to walk aimlessly on the streets. Some creatures sensed the people inside the houses and they began to trash open the doors. Being the creature made their ability to smell heightened.

  The street is filled with empty cars. Windows of the cars are broken. Cops started to wander around without knowing what to do.

  The entire city fell under the disease. Few unfortunate people inside the house got exposed to the pungent smelled gas. After twenty minutes or so, they also began to turn.

  Rayan watched the whole commotion through the glass window of his house, with panic. He switched on the Television for anything about it. He flipped through the channels until he reached the ABC news channel. It showed live images of people killing each other. An old man around in his fifties appeared on the channel.

  “Everyone must stay indoors, avoid contact with the infected. It appears that the disease is spreading quickly. Always wear mask which cover your mouth and nose. I repeat, do not come in contact with the infected. Do not try to reach your loved ones. Stay indoors.” The man said.

  “Doctor, is there any plan to control this outbreak.” The news lady asked.

  “We have positioned teams in various places. They will do everything they can to control this outbreak. It appears that the airborne variant doesn’t survive in the air too long. Also it is found that the saline water destroys the virus completely.” The man said.

  “So, doctor, what do we call this disease?” News lady asked.

  “We called it as Marselia and the virus as Alpha – 1.” Doctor said.

  “So, people, government urge you to stay indoors. And wear a mask if you’re planning to go outside. Sorry! Wear the mask all the time” The news lady said.

  Ryan watched in panic. He ran for upstairs, to the closet. “There it is.” He said himself while grabbing a face mask from the closet. Suddenly a thrashing sound emanated from the front door. They had found him!

  * * * * *

  Chapter 7

  NASA Research Division, Los Angeles

  Langton and Lincoln drank their evening tea while watching the experiments taking place inside the laboratory. They were tired after the TV interview about the outbreak on the city of Petra. The scientist cut opened all parts of the specimen. Scientist took out the yellowish organs separately and labeled them for later usage. It seems that all the inte
rnal organs of the Martian are yellow in colour. May be it is due to the disease or maybe it is a property of the Martian’s body. Anyway the Martian seemed to be not decaying at all.

  Lincoln and Langton are expecting a lot of things from this experiment, after hearing the outbreak on the city of Petra. They should quickly find a cure to this disease. Langton himself instructed the team went to the city of Petra about this disease and what they should do to prevent a major outbreak. He also told them to clean the area with common salt.

  “The micro-organisms responsible for the decaying of a corpse, decomposers, are not acting on this specimen.” One of the scientists said.

  “Okay, take a break now. Your tea is ready at the cafeteria. Go and refresh first before continuing.” Langton said through the mike outside the laboratory.

  All scientists went out of the laboratory and walked towards the cafeteria, after disinfecting their hands.

  Suddenly a thrashing sound emanated from the room where John is restrained. Langton and Lincoln ran toward John’s room. When they reached there the site in front of them made them puke. John’s both hand are torn apart, possibly happened when he pulled free out of his restraint. The missing limbs lay there in the bed, still in between the ropes. The infected person’s body indeed acts like plastic.

  The creature or what was left of John is thrashing at the glass with its head. Cracks began to appear on the glass. The creature abruptly jumped out of the room through the broken window. It then regained its footing and jumped on to Langton. Langton kept the creature at bay by his hands. But then a pungent smell hit his nose hard. He tried to push away the creature but it kept on coming. The creature is biting the air hard. It couldn’t get hold of Langton.

  Lincoln quickly took a chair on the far corner, and smashed it on the creature’s head. The creature lost its balance and it fell to the side. Lincoln helped Langton to his feet. Langton and Lincoln ran away from the creature to the nearest exit.

  Scientists on the cafeteria upon hearing the commotion taken place on the hallway ran toward the origin. But then suddenly the creature regained its footing and ran to the nearest person it saw. Scientists ran away from the scene with a scream. The security guards quickly came with a large net made up of steel. They threw the net at the creature. The creature got trapped in the net. It swayed inside the net. Scientists stopped running and watched what the security guards are doing.

  The guards tried their best to restrain the creature, but then the creature jumped on to the nearest guard and tried to bite its way through the steel net. Other guards quickly got hold of the corners of the net and wrapped the creature inside the net.

  The creature finally surrendered to the might of the steel threads. A pungent smell filled the hallway. Scientists covered their mouth with their hand realizing it was too late. Tears ran out of their eyes. They don’t know what to do. Panic filled the very atmosphere. Knowing that they will soon die made them cry. They began to run out of the building. But then, suddenly some men in biohazard suits came with automatic guns in their hands, and they stopped everyone from leaving the building.

  “All of you, just stop there at once or we will open fire.” One of the men in the biohazard suit said.

  Langton and Lincoln came to the scene.

  “People, we can’t let you leave. We have to contain this outbreak. There is already an outbreak in the city of Petra and we had sent samples to WHO research facility. They are working their best to find a cure. Meanwhile we all must stay under quarantine and wait for the cure to develop. WHO scientists will find a way to reverse this and they will make you normal again.” Langton said.

  “Sir, I have kids in my home, their father lost his life in a car accident. I am the only person to look after them. I have to return to my home.” One of the female researcher said, crying.

  “Do you realize that if you go near your children they will also become infected? Is that what you want? Social service workers will worry about your children. You don’t have to worry. You all must stay in the quarantine area until a cure is developed.” Lincoln said.

  “We don’t have time to lose. Everyone, move to the basement of this building. Jimmy, lead the way.” One man in biohazard suit said.

  Another man in biohazard suit came forward and led the people to the basement. On the way one of the scientists fell down possibly due to tiredness. One of the men in biohazard suit came beside the fallen scientist and helped him to his feet. Suddenly the fallen scientist turned into one of the infected creature, with dark eyes, the creature jumped on top of the man in biohazard suit. The creature bit on his hand through the suit. The man screamed with pain. He finally balanced his gun in his hand and fired at the creature. The room erupted with panic. People started to run in all directions. On the way some scientist fell down and after a moment they arose from the floor, reborn to kill.

  Gun fire erupted inside the building. Men in biohazard suit quickly fell down under the might of the creatures. Lincoln ran to the nearest exit and closed the door behind him. He looked around the room for any sign of the creatures. But some movement caught in his eyes. Someone else is also in this room. Lincoln looked closely. It was Johana.

  “Johana, how did you end up here?” Lincoln asked.

  “I was on my way to tell you guys about the outbreak in the city of Petra. Then one of those ill men came at me. I barely escaped from them. Then I got in here. What happened out there?” Johana asked.

  “Our paleontologist, John, somehow managed to break free and he got outside by breaking the glass window. Our scientists were exposed to the gas, including me. I may change in to one of those creatures in any minute. It looks like the virus has begun to mutate. Some of the exposed men quickly turned. It is not safe for you here. I haven’t shown any symptoms but soon I will. So please run away from here.” Lincoln said.

  “I can’t go outside. Those things are out there.” Johana said.

  “Did you come near any of them?” Lincoln asked.

  “No.” Johana said.

  “Did you felt any pungent smell?” Lincoln asked.

  “No.” Johana said.

  “You are fortunate, Johana, you must get out of here. Here wear this.” Lincoln handed her a face mask.

  “But how am I supposed to get out of here?” Johana asked while wearing the face mask.

  “You must wait until the creatures move far away from here. Meanwhile you must restrain me.” Lincoln said. “Look for any rope …” Lincoln didn’t get the time to finish; he suddenly fell on to the floor, unconscious.

  “Oh crap!” Johana screamed. Some kind of bruises starts to form in Lincoln’s body. Johana quickly opened the door a little to see whether the creatures had moved on. When she saw no sign of the creatures, she quickly got out of the room and ran towards the front of the building.

  “Please, god, save me.” Johana prayed while running.

  She somehow got outside the building. She ran towards her car which is parked in the driveway. The entire place is extremely quiet. Blood stain is everywhere on the road. Johana finally got inside her car and she started the engines. Suddenly a creature came out of nowhere and began to thrash at the front door of the car. Johana nearly jumped. She put the car in reverse. The creature followed. Then Johana drove the car through the abandoned road. She accelerated towards the city of Petra, only through there she could get away from this place.

  Abandoned cars are littered on the road in all directions. There is no car whose window is intact. Johana’s car rushed through the road. Trees are on both sides of the road. Some people are running through the wooded landscape, possibly in search for a sanctuary, away from the creatures.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 8

  City of Petra, Los Angeles

  Rayan watched the fall of the men in biohazard suits. They tried their best. But the creatures are stronger and faster. They easily takeout the men who came to prevent the outbreak. He’s afraid that this is happening everywhere. He chec
ked the news for more information. It seems that all plane services are delayed and government is trying their best to contain the outbreak. Marselia is still roaming free through major American cities.

  The sound of thrashing on the front door seemed to have stopped. Rayan checked downstairs whether the creature have gotten inside his house or not. The front door appeared to be intact. Suddenly a creature smash opened the door and rushed towards Rayan. Rayan quickly went upstairs. The creature followed. Rayan shut the bedroom door behind him.

  Panic began to stir inside him. He still wore the face mask. Rayan quickly packed the essential things in a small bag. He wore the bag on his shoulders and he opened the window in the bedroom. The creatures have moved on to somewhere else. No creatures are on eyesight. Suddenly the creature inside his house began to thrash at the bedroom door. There is no time to waste. The creature will smash open the door in any minute. Rayan got outside his house on to the concrete shade of the house through the bedroom window.

  Based on the sound, the creature is already inside the bedroom. Rayan blamed himself for not having a car. He quickly jumped from the roof on to the bush in front of his house. The bush broke his fall and Rayan safely landed on the ground. Rayan walked away from his house towards the woods. Suddenly a car stopped in front of him. Inside the car sits a young woman. The woman looked at Rayan with panic.

  “Hello, can you take me with you?” Rayan asked with desperate eyes.

  The woman looked around the place for any creatures. The woman is also wearing a face mask.

  “Did you come in contact with the creatures?” The woman asked after sliding open one of the driver side window.

  “No. I have been wearing this mask ever since I saw the news.” Rayan answered.

  “Then, come inside.” The woman said.

  The woman unlocked the door for him to get inside.

  “I am Johana by the way.” Johana said.