After the World Ended (Among the Stars Volume 0)

by C.O. Amal

  But I can’t go in the south direction. According to the woman there are big crocodiles in the south. I disobeyed Evelyn and followed the crowd.

  Suddenly people in the front row began to scream and they all started to rush in different directions. I looked in the front row and saw a big crocodile eating people. I rushed in the south direction. Suddenly a crocodile appeared in front of me and it bit me in my head. My world went blank.

  I woke up in the house panting. Sunlight slowly started to seep inside through the windows.

  A few moments later everyone woke up and we continued our trek in the south direction.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 18

  A.D. 2087, Path to Sanctuary

  We walked through the farmlands. The only road present here is a muddy path. We paced through that muddy path to the south. In the south we can see a mountain now, which is increasing our hopes of finding that waterfall.

  A moment later the muddy path ended and the dark road began which leads to the mountain through a forest covered area. We are about a kilometre away from the forest. We increased our pace.

  Suddenly a big wolfish creature jumped in front of us. We were walking absent minded and we didn’t even saw the creature coming. The dog growled showing its sharp teeth. It is several feet away from us, and a moment later it walked towards us. We all stopped moving. We don’t know what to do. My arrows are useless against this mighty creature and also the bow is on my back.

  When it reached near me it smelled me and growled at me. Drool oozed down from its mouth. Tears of fear oozed down from all of us. Also our legs shook with fear.

  Pop!

  Suddenly a gunshot erupted from our right direction and the wolfish creature dropped dead with a wide hole in its head. Blood sprayed in my face. I wiped away the blood from my face using the sleeve of my shirt and we all looked in our right direction with curiousness.

  A moment later a tall man in military fatigues came out of the jungle shrubs with a sniper rifle. There is an ammo belt strapped around his chest. He waved at us and walked towards us. We stood there. Now panic and fear flew away from us.

  “That was a hell of a shot.” Danny said to the man.

  “Thanks.” The man said.

  “Thanks for saving us.” I said.

  He smiled. “So, what are you all doing here?” He asked.

  “We are on our way to the sanctuary. We believe that we are near the sanctuary.” I said.

  “Sanctuary?” He said. “In this place? I doubt there is a sanctuary here.”

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “Can’t you tell?” He asked. “I was with the military before the war.”

  We all looked each other in the face.

  “Military?” I asked. “We were actually looking for one of you guys to know why the hell did the war started.”

  “That’s a long story.” He said. “And I don’t like it even a bit.”

  “Well as citizens, we have the right to know it.” I said.

  He smiled. “So, you said you’re going to sanctuary?” He said changing the subject.

  “Yes.” I said.

  “How do you know there is a sanctuary here?” He asked.

  “Well, I have this strange dream and according to the dream we have to head in the south. And so far, all the things the dreams had told me came true.” I said.

  “Then, I am coming with you.” He said. “I am Ray.” He put forward his hand.

  I accepted his hand and I shook. “It’s pleased to meet you, Ray.”

  We slowly continued our trek to the mountain.

  “So, can we get the answer to why the war started?” Melissa asked.

  We all curiously looked at Ray’s face.

  “Well, our military went on crack and they started shooting down everybody.” Ray said.

  “How?” I asked.

  “We don’t know. One day most of our officers started telling stories about enemies in our country. They said that all other countries had declared war on us and we should go to war. We don’t know why. We marched into the neighbouring country and we saw no resistance there. We started shooting down everybody we saw. I didn’t knew what else to do. Before long more countries came to the war. Officers were actually on crack. I knew that what I am doing is wrong. Some of us thought the same thing. We then escaped from the war and retreated into a forest.” He said.

  “Then what happened?” I asked.

  “Then they started air strikes. Some of the soldiers declared we are enemies of the state. They shot down my friends. I somehow escaped everything. Before long the war ended since everyone killed each other.” He said.

  “Did you saw those aliens?” I asked.

  “Yes. Those damnations are the real enemies. They are the one who started this. They must had released some kind of biological weapon which turns good men into crazies.” Ray said.

  “That’s exactly what we think too.” I said. “Not far from here they have a huge building. The crazies think that these aliens are their god.”

  “Damn the crazies. Damn the aliens. If there is a sanctuary here, that’s where I should be.” He said.

  We silently moved through the forest.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 19

  A.D. 2087, Path to Sanctuary

  We ate the oranges when we got hungry. We drank water from our bottles when we got thirsty. Before long all our food supply got expended. We walked deeper into the forest.

  A moment later we saw a violent stream flowing through the forest. The stream is filled with big rocks. There are gigantic boulders on the sides of the stream. There must be a waterfall somewhere here.

  We walked along the stream. We are near the mountain because the place now we are walking is a big hill. We slowly climbed the hill. Suddenly someone jumped on top of me and the person and me rolled out along the hill downward. Maria and Hanna screamed. After several minutes I stopped rolling and I found myself in the foot of the hill. Others are still on the top of the hill.

  “Ahh ...” A pain coursed through my head.

  I touched the back of my head and I found my hands wet. When I looked at the hand I saw it drenched in blood. I might have hit my head somewhere.

  I looked everywhere to see the person who is responsible for this. Then I saw him lying down near me. His clothes are torn and they are filled with mud.

  “Joe, are you okay?” Maria shouted from the top of the hill.

  Suddenly the man stood up and rushed at me. He head butted me in my stomach.

  “Ahh ...” I fell down. “What the hell are you doing, man?”

  Quickly the man took a knife from its sheath. “You all are gonna die.”

  The man rushed at me.

  Pop!

  Suddenly a gunshot erupted and the man fell down. Ray stood on top of a boulder.

  “You okay?” Ray asked.

  “Yeah.” I said.

  But a pain is still surging through my head.

  “That was a crazy, right?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Are you sure sanctuary is this way? The Sanctuary is supposed to be a crazy free area, right?” Ray asked.

  “It’s this way. I am sure.” I said.

  We slowly continued our trek. Before long we saw the waterfall we were searching for. It is very big and water heavily jumped from the top, splashing water in every direction. We all stared at the waterfall with joy. Finally we are near the sanctuary.

  Maria and Melissa helped me wash away the blood from the back of my head.

  “Ahh ...” A stinging sensation passed through my head and I winced.

  “Fortunately the wound is not that deep.” Melissa said.

  “Where did he came from? Will there be more of them here?” Maria asked.

  “There may be more.” Danny said.

  “Guys, there is nothing here. Where should we head to next?” Ray asked.

  “We should stick to south. Since the waterfall is real, the sanctuary can’t be far.”
I said.

  We drank some fresh water from the stream and then we began to climb the hill. Before long we saw apple trees and we collected apples in our back packs. We have been eating fruits for days now, but we got all the energy we needed from the fruits.

  Sun began to set in the horizon and darkness crept forward.

  “We need to find a place to stay for the night.” Melissa said.

  We all nodded. We finally reached the top of the hill and we crossed the stream. From here we can see the tree land below. In a distant we saw another alien building exactly like the one we saw before. This building is surrounded by trees and then we saw it in the sky.

  A gigantic ship or a machine is coming down from the skies. We stared at the thing for some time. It looks like no ship. It is more like a machine or a tripod. It have a ball shaped head and three legs. The tripod landed on the ground near the alien building.

  Maria took her binocular from her bag and looked through its scope.

  “There are aliens all over that place.” Maria said. “And there is those wolfish creatures on the ground.”

  Suddenly a hum sound came from the distant sky. We all looked at the sky and found a gigantic silver coloured space ship flying above us. The ship is moving towards the alien building. The ship have a long, almost cylindrical body. And the ship is flying in a very low altitude.

  In the horizon sun almost set and most of the places got plunged in darkness.

  “Guys, I found a cave. We can spend the night in there.” Ray said.

  We all followed Ray and Ray led us to the cave. The cave is pretty big and it is perfectly fit for the night. Maria lighted a candle and she fixed it on top of a rock. We all cuddled on the floor in a sitting position.

  “I will stay on guard.” Ray said.

  “Call me when you’re sleepy.” Danny said to Ray.

  Ray nodded. Hanna, Melissa and Maria quickly began their slumber on the cold floor.

  I leaned on to the rocky wall and I slowly closed my eyes.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 20

  A.D. 2087, Path to Sanctuary

  As usual I woke up in the green field. This time I saw Evelyn standing by the stream. And what peculiar about today is, there is that alien tripod we saw before, resting in the centre of the field. I slowly approached Evelyn. Something is wrong about the way she is standing.

  When I reached near her, she abruptly fell into my arms. Sweat uncontrollably escaped from her body. I wiped away sweat from her face.

  “What is happening?” I asked.

  Her small body perfectly rested in my hands.

  “I am dying ... They are killing me.” She said.

  “What? How?” I asked.

  “Heh ... Did you saw that tripod like machine over there?” She asked pointing to the tripod in the field.

  “Yes.” I said. “What does it have to do with you?”

  “That machine is draining my energy. You have to stop it or all I have worked for billions of years will be in vain. All my children will die if you don’t stop that machine.” She said.

  Suddenly pale spots appeared on Evelyn’s body.

  “How do I stop it?” I demanded.

  “You’re near sanctuary. Not far away from the cave there is a building. It is hardly a Sanctuary. I led you to a place where you could find the things which can help me from these abominations. Destroy the machines or you all are gonna die. If I die, you die.” She said.

  Suddenly light seeped in from every corner. I had to close my eyes due to the high intensity of light.

  “Please, help me.” Evelyn said.

  “I will do what I can.” I said.

  Suddenly light covered everywhere. When I opened my eyes all I saw was dust clouds. The place where I am standing is devoid of greenery and there is only dust here. There is no chirping of birds, there is no pleasant sound of forest. There is no sound! I can see the sun glowing at high intensity in the horizon. The whole land is nothing but a barren wasteland.

  Suddenly the place I am standing disappeared and dust covered everywhere. I began to free fall through the dust clouds. I quickly closed my eyes.

  “If you don’t destroy the machines this will be the result.” Evelyn’s voice reverberated in my head

  “Machines? There are more machines?” I asked.

  Suddenly I fell hard almost knocking the wind out of me. I woke up in the cave floor panting.

  Sunlight seeped in through the cave entrance. I found everyone awake. They all are standing outside the cave. I walked towards them.

  “Thought you might be dreaming. So we didn’t called you.” Melissa said.

  “I know where we should go.” I said.

  “So, where to?” Ray asked.

  “There is a building not far from here and Evelyn said that the tripod thing we saw yesterday is killing her. We have to destroy that machine.” I said.

  “Hold on there. Who is Evelyn?” Ray asked.

  “She is the Mother Nature. She is the one who is calling me in my dreams. The aliens are here to kill her. If she die, we die.” I said.

  Ray nodded. No questions from anyone. Silence fell between us.

  “So where is this building actually?” Finally Danny asked.

  “She said it is near here.” I said.

  “Okay we will search around the cave.” Ray said.

  We quickly began our search. Before long Danny called everyone and he showed us the building. It is right inside the mountain and there is no one near the building. We slowly approached the building.

  There is a picture of our country’s flag drawn at the entrance.

  “I know this building.” Ray said. “It’s our military bunker.”

  Ray swung opened the big metal door. We all slowly got inside. There is darkness everywhere inside the bunker. Maria quickly lighted one candle and she fixed it on top of a table in the corner. Now everything slowly started to become visible. There are empty tables all over the big tunnel. We all walked through the long tunnel which is directly in the heart of the mountain. Before long we found a door which leads to another part of the tunnel.

  Maria kindled another candle and she fixed it near the entrance. Ray opened that door and we all entered into another tunnel. Here leaning on to the walls stood rows and rows of guns. Ammunition lay in a corner. We found several heaps of ammunition there and there. Our mouth widened at the sight. A moment later we saw boxes of TNTs neatly stacked in a corner.

  “Yeah, this is what I am talking about, baby.” Ray said with joy.

  “Now we are going to destroy those machines and kill those bitches.” I said.

  Everyone nodded.

  We are the only one who reached this sanctuary. We had seen hundreds of people seeking this sanctuary when we were living in New Soberfield but it seems that those people had lost their path.

  * * * * *

  Part 5 – Destruction

  Chapter 21

  A.D. 2087, Sanctuary

  After eating the fruits we had collected for breakfast we immediately began our study on the guns. Ray taught us everything we need to know. Back when everything was normal I was not much into guns. In fact I entirely hated the idea of war, but now things have changed. If you can’t keep up with this change you can’t survive here.

  I hadn’t used to the names of the guns and Ray told me these guns are advanced assault rifles which are fully automated machines which shot high calibre bullets. And this guns are fed with magazines having 30 bullets.

  I filled my bag with magazines for my gun and also Ray taught me to use revolvers. I took two revolvers with me. Revolvers are very short hand guns and according to ray these are very essential in a close combat.

  After we have done with our study on guns we all armed to the teeth and readied ourselves for the war. Maria will be staying with Hanna in this compound. She is also armed to the teeth. I told Melissa to stay with Maria but she is not ready to do that. She says that she want to kick some alien butt. Can�
�t blame her. These days every human thing who have still normal mind left in their body wants to kick some alien butt.

  After everything was done, the sun began to set in the horizon and darkness began to conquer the land. This is the time we have been waiting for. We planned to take those aliens out in the night.

  We all are equipped with night vision helmets and Ray is our sniper. With silenced shots he will clear a path for us and the three of us will lay TNT everywhere. We really are going to kill those fuckers and we are gonna send them straight to hell.

  The four of us marched towards the exit. Suddenly we stopped. In front of us stood one, two, three ... Ten people. We don’t know they are crazy or not, so we immediately raised our guns at them.

  “Speak.” Ray commanded.

  They looks scared. Chances are they are sanctuary seekers.

  “We are looking for the sanctuary. Evelyn ... Huh ... The dreams told us the sanctuary is here.” The leading man said.

  In the new group there are three men, two women and five children. They all looks strong. Must have gotten through a lot.

  “Yes. This is the sanctuary.” Ray lowered his gun.

  Rest of us including me, quickly lowered our guns.

  “Did Evelyn told you that you’re here to save her?” I asked.

  “Yeah. She did told us everything including about those machines.” The man said.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “I am Berry.” He said.

  “So, Berry, do you guys know how to shoot a gun?” Ray asked.

  “Of course.” Berry and the two other men produced their revolvers tucked under their shirt.

  “Sweet. We are going to destroy the machine and a building tonight. Are you guys going to join us?” Ray asked.

  “We would like to if we have some ammunition of course.” Berry said.

  Others in Berry’s group nodded.

  “Come with me.” I led them to our armoury.

  At the time we reached the armoury, as I have guessed, Berry’s and his men’s eyes widened.

  “Take everything you need.” I said.

  They quickly took many ammunition and assault rifles and revolvers. I also showed them TNTs. They filled their bag with TNTs. They seemed to know everything about guns and explosives. I gave them a lighter to light the TNT and Berry accepted it.

  Berry and his group are just here but we need to hurry or there won’t be anything left here to enjoy.

  Berry and team told me that their path was very tough and they went through a lot. There isn’t much people coming to sanctuary for sure. The mission to save the world is in the hands of a handful of people. We need to succeed tonight. The longer we wait, the stronger the enemy gets.