Dying Planet: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel

by C. O. Amal

  Eric and Ruben trained their guns at the infected.

  “Try to shoot at their head.” Ruben said.

  “I will try.” Eric said.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Ruben started firing. A few creatures went down. Now the creatures concentrated on the building in which Eric and Ruben are in.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Ron started firing from the bell tower.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Eric pulled the trigger. The assault rifle rocked in Eric’s hand by the immense recoil. Bullets sprayed from Eric’s gun, but most went astray. Eric tried hard to keep the gun in his hand.

  “Be gentle with the rifle, Eric.” Ruben said.

  “Okay.” Eric said.

  Eric and Ruben had to yell the words since most of their sound got lost in the sharp moan of the creatures. Sound of gun shots quickly overwhelmed the moans. And moans quickly decreased as the creatures started to go down one by one. Before long the town square got filled with bodies. Even though most creatures are down, they wriggled from the ground. The infected are actually like snakes. Even if they are dead their body continues to show movement.

  The sight actually horrified Eric. His stomach began to churn. Ruben fluently changed the magazine and he continued firing. Quickly all the creatures in the city approached the town square in front of Ruben and Eric, but only to get a bullet hole.

  Ruben and Ron shot down the last of the creatures with precision head shots. As the final creature went down, Ruben pounded on the bell with a special tone. Eric surmised that the special tone is to indicate that it’s safe for the people to exit their homes.

  Ron quickly climbed down the bell tower and the three of them climbed down the wall. Hundreds of bodies are scattered on the ground and some of them are still alive, but they are crawling. Eric must be the one who had done this to these crawling creatures. His shots must have hit them on the limbs. The crawling creatures’ legs are torn apart and it is incredible that these things are still alive with that kind of serious injury.

  Ruben and Ron exchanged a glance and they both nodded. Eric couldn’t understand what they meant. Quickly Ruben and Ron walked near the crawling creatures and they put them out of misery by head shots. Before long town’s folks surrounded the town square. Rest of the soldiers also came to the town square and they applauded Ruben, Eric and Ron.

  “Okay, people, we need volunteers to cart these bodies to outside our city. We need to burn them for good. It’s the only thing we could do for our lost people.” Ruben shouted.

  Even though Ruben is new here, people nodded at him. The soldiers in this place have no leaders and they all follow their own will. But, now, Ruben’s actions earned him a higher position, and all the soldiers are willing to follow him. Quickly some people came forward with carts. Before long they started their job of clearing the bodies from the town square. It took them several hours to move all the bodies to outside.

  Outside is extremely quiet, which isn’t usual after a fire fight. The volunteers piled the bodies outside, near the gate, and Ruben did the honor of pouring oil and setting it aflame.

  “The worst is over. Now it’s time to search for carriers.” Ron said to Ruben.

  “Carriers?” Ruben looked at Ron with confusion. Eric also stared at Ron with confusion.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 9

  Dojai

  The fire engulfed the dead bodies and the smell of burnt flesh lingered in the air.

  “So, what exactly are the carriers?” Ruben asked Ron.

  “Well, they are actually regular people, but, they could infect others with this walking dead plague. Some people’s body nature makes them more resistant to the disease even if they are bitten. Usually carriers are people who are bitten by the infected. But, in some occasions carriers are born by exposure to the body fluid of the infected. Transfer of body fluids usually happens during the intercourse with bitten individual.” Ron said.

  “Who would go and make out with a bitten individual?” Eric asked.

  “Well, some people won’t change that quickly when they have bitten.” Ron said.

  “Okay, go on.” Ruben said.

  “In some occasions, usually when they screech, their saliva gets sprayed into some distance from them and this saliva can also be a dangerous entity for transfer of this disease. The main thing is, people who caught sickness in this way won’t change and they could infect others. Even though this virus stays inert in carriers’ body, they will become active when they reach another body. Our leading scientist was very keen on finding this, but he was infected by his wife who was a carrier.”

  “So, how can we find these carriers? They could be anyone, right?” Ruben asked.

  “Before he ended up being a creature, our scientist developed a device which could find a lot more information about an individual. This device could easily detect carriers.” Ron said.

  “Then, let’s do this before people start to go for making love.” Ruben said smiling.

  Ron nodded. Ruben for a moment stared at the fire, and then he walked away from the scene. As soon as everyone entered inside the city, the sentries closed the gate and they sealed all the exits from the city. At the time Ruben, Eric and Ron reached the city centre, other soldiers had begun searching for the carriers. People are standing in a long line and one soldier is scanning the head of each person with a small handheld device. Ruben closely watched and saw some soldiers leading a few people towards the end of the city. Those people are crying and soldiers are forcing them to move.

  “Who are they?” Eric asked Ron, looking at the crying people.

  “Those are carriers. The device must have flashed red when they were being scanned.” Ron said.

  “So, what will happen to the carriers?” Ruben asked.

  “We give them two choices. They can either get a bullet in their head or they could leave the city. We can’t afford to keep them with us. The virus have high kill rate and it will spread in a blink of an eye. Carriers are very dangerous and some of them won’t go away from the city boundary, so, sentries usually kill them. You see, this disease have made us take hard decisions. We can’t actually afford to show sympathy. We have to do all we can to stop the humans from ending up extinct.” Ron said.

  “Emma,” Suddenly Eric ran near the end of the line where he saw his wife. David and Zorin are also with her.

  “We should stay in the line and let’s get it over with.” Ron said.

  Ruben nodded. Ruben and Ron quickly stood at the end of the line. Ruben waited for about two hours for his chance. Fortunately he and his friends were green. Soldiers found thirty four carriers and they led them to the end of the city. Eric and Ruben closely watched the disposal procedure for the carriers. Only a few accepted bullets. Rest of the carriers exited the city and they moved away from the city. As soon as every carrier exited the city, the sentries closed the gates. Some soldiers were positioned to look after the carrier movement. When carriers went out of sight, those soldiers also walked away from the scene.

  A few hours later Eric and Ruben took a shower. Later that day some specialized people in white dress cleaned the city by spraying some kind of antiseptic. In the evening some engineers made the fields more secure by adding one more line of barbed wire.

  For Eric and Ruben that day ended pretty well. But not all was fortunate. Some people got immersed in mourning for their loved ones. Most people lost one or two relatives. It was very hard for the relatives of the carriers. Knowing that their relative is alive and at the same time very destructive made them morn very deeply.

  It’s certain that the fight against the walking dead plague have only just begun.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 10

  Tongdo, Planet Nibiru

  The morning sun rose in the horizon, and after a light breakfast Eric and Ruben started walking towards the ship yard. At the time they reached the ship yard, it was full of farmers who have brought vegetables and other food material
s. Here and there rests carts full of vegetables.

  “Did the market happen to shift to here?” Eric asked.

  “I don’t know. Let’s head to the office.” Ruben said.

  Ruben and Eric slowly started towards the small office building. As people saw Ruben, they made a path for him to pass. Ruben and Eric smiled at the faces and they pushed through. A few minutes later they reached the office and they found soldiers standing just outside. Ruben looked for Ron and found him inside.

  Ruben approached Ron. Ron is very busy writing something.

  “Ron, what is going on?” Ruben asked.

  “Oh, we need to make a delivery to the city of Tongdo. We deliver vegetables every month.” Ron said.

  Ruben nodded. “Where is it, exactly?”

  “It’s on the other side of this planet. Just a few hours of flight.” Ron said. He put down his pen and stood up. “Are you interested in coming?”

  “The hell, I am. I am getting bored here. I brought Eric with me. He is also a strong man. He need some practice, though.” Ruben said.

  “Okay. We will leave in a few minutes.” Ron walked outside and signaled at the soldiers outside to start loading the flying saucers. The soldiers and few farmers quickly began their job.

  A few minutes later everyone finished loading. Ron quickly led Eric and Ruben towards a flying saucer. Soldiers loaded two flying saucers with food materials and five soldiers got inside one flying saucer and they closed the boarding ramp. That flying saucer readied to fly away. Ruben, Ron and Eric got inside the other flying saucer with two other soldiers.

  “So, Ron, tell me about Tongdo.” Ruben said.

  “It’s a small city and it’s famous for its architectural beauty, and they make good building materials. They have an isolated forest which is filled with redwood trees. The city is protected by a tall barbed wire fence with zero gaps for the infected, but, they are not much of fighters and they don’t have flying saucers. Actually it’s one of the last and isolated cities in the middle of these infected creatures.” Ron said. Ruben nodded.

  A few minutes later the boarding ramp closed and the flying saucer flew up. Everyone sat on the seats on the side of the cargo area and they strapped on their seat belts.

  “So, all flying saucers have only two rooms?” Eric asked Ron.

  “Yes. The cargo area and the control room. All flying saucers are designed to transport goods.” Ron said.

  “So how do you travel to long distances without sleeping pods?” Eric asked.

  “We don’t need sleeping pods. Flying saucers are designed to travel fast by means of worm holes.” Ron said. “Inter-dimensional travel is actually very easy with these ships.”

  Eric nodded.

  Even though the flying saucer was very fast, hours passed since they departed from Dojai. A few more hours later the flying saucer landed on the ground with a heavy thud. Eric and Ruben took a deep sigh of relief. Travelling in this flying saucer without any external view is actually very tiresome, but Ron and the Dojai soldiers are not showing any dislikes. They must have good experience with this kind of travel.

  Eric and Ruben quickly unstrapped the seat belts and they stood up. Ron and the two soldiers did the same. A moment later the ramp opened and a wind carrying a rotten smell blew inside the cargo area.

  “Is this normal?” Eric asked.

  “What?” Ron asked.

  “The smell.” Eric said.

  “No.” Ron said. “It must be from the infected outside the fence.”

  They all slowly pushed the carts outside and before long they all exited the flying saucer. The other flying saucer is also here, but there is no one near it and all the vegetables are still in the carts. Eric and Ruben for a moment analyzed the ship yard.

  “It’s so deserted.” Eric said.

  “Where is everybody?” Ruben asked.

  “They may be in the city centre. Soldiers must be having a good meal.” Ron said. “Come on, let’s head to the city centre.”

  “I don’t know, man, but this is not right, I think.” Ruben said. He tightened his grip on the gun. They left the carts full of vegetable there and they all slowly moved towards the buildings. Buildings are very colorful, but the streets are all empty. Then the rotten smell filled the very air. They covered their nose with their hand and moved forward. They reached in front of the first building when all of a sudden a series of screeches and moans came from deep inside the city. A sudden panic struck all of them.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 11

  Tongdo

  A group of infected arose from the corner of a building. Ruben trained his gun and pulled the trigger.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Bullets sprayed out like a jet and before long others also opened fire. Suddenly the whole place exploded with screeches.

  “Fall back.” Ron yelled.

  They turned towards the ship yard. Then they saw it. A wide hole is on the fence, on the backside of the ship yard, and a sea of infected are rushing at Ruben and team. Within moments, the whole ship yard got filled with them. Ruben and team broke into a sprint. They ran deeper into the city.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Stray creatures arose from here and there from the city, and Ruben and team shot down every one of them. In this city, buildings are arranged in the form of grids and there are streets running through everywhere. Creatures arose from here and there from the back of the buildings and from the far away streets.

  Eric and Ruben desperately looked at the buildings. Most buildings’ doors are broken and near the good looking buildings, there are groups of creatures.

  “Ahh ...” One of the soldiers with Ron cried out loud.

  Ruben and Eric stopped running and they looked back. The sight horrified them. About four creatures have leapt on top of a soldier and they started to devour him. His stomach has already clawed open. Ron and the other soldier are nowhere to be seen.

  “Oh, crap. Where the hell did they have gone to?” Ruben muttered.

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Ruben and Eric opened fire at the creatures that are devouring the soldier. Then they ran again.

  “There.” Eric said pointing at a good looking building on the far corner of the street they are now in.

  Ruben and Eric ran towards that building. Suddenly two creatures lunged at Ruben and Eric from the back of that good looking building.

  Ruben and Eric trained their guns and pulled the trigger. But both of their magazines were empty. The creatures rushed forward. Ruben acted fast. He punched at the first creature’s head using the butt of his rifle. That creature dropped. Ruben quickly kicked at the fallen creature’s head hard and the creature stopped moving. Suddenly the second creature leapt on top of Ruben. Eric for a moment stared at Ruben without knowing what to do. Then he clubbed at the creature’s head using the butt of his gun.

  The creature’s grip on Ruben loosened and Ruben jumped to his feet. Suddenly more moans exploded from nearby. Ruben and Eric both took all their might and kicked at the second creature’s head and they ran towards the building. They rushed inside the building through the already unlocked door. They are about to shut the door when Ron rushed inside the building. Eric quickly shut the door and he dead bolted it.

  Suddenly creatures began to pummel at the door from outside.

  “Where were you? And what happened to the man with you?” Eric asked.

  “He is dead. They dragged him towards a building. I followed them and I killed them. And ... And I also had to kill him.” Ron said. A few drops of tear oozed down from Ron’s eyes.

  Ruben patted Ron’s shoulder and he quickly began to drag chairs and tables to the door. Before long he fully barricaded the door. The creatures stopped pummeling and they wandered away, but some creatures are still outside looking at the building with bloody face.

  Eric for a moment analyzed the outside view through the window.

  “What would we do?” Eric asked.

  “Everyone inside must
be dead. We need to get to the flying saucer. It’s our only way out of here.” Ron said.

  “No offence, but how are we going to do that?” Ruben asked.

  “I ... I actually don’t know.” Ron said.

  Eric covered the window with the curtain and he slowly walked away from the window.

  “They are still outside. I am checking upstairs.” Eric walked towards the stairs.

  “I am coming with you.” Ruben followed Eric.

  Ron for a moment stood there with his own questions and worry. Then he too followed Eric.

  Upstairs is a mess with broken windows, and tables and chairs are upside down. And the floor is filled with blood.

  “Poor people.” Eric said looking at the blood. “Based on the looks, it has been days since this blood coagulated.”

  “It must have happened earlier this month. Last month we checked every fence. This city was well protected.” Ron said.

  “Then, how on Earth ... No ... How on Nibiru did this happen?” Ruben asked.

  Eric looked at Ruben and his mouth widened. “I actually miss Earth, my mom, my friends. I … I miss everything.”

  “Yeah. I too miss Earth.” Ruben said and he fell in thoughts.

  “Look. I am sorry about Earth. Earth is beyond help. That virus is very well beyond the limit. But, focus on this situation. We have a chance to rebuild a civilization here. If we escape from them, of course.” Ron said.

  Ruben and Eric said nothing. They went near the windows and looked outside. There are infected here and there on the streets and most infected walked away from nearby. But, some creatures are still near the front door staring at the ground floor.

  “We need weapons.” Ruben said thinking about something.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 12

  Tongdo

  Before long, night fell. Ron pressed a switch and the room they are now in got filled with light.