by David Shiels
Prologue
The true story of how the world came to be this way has been lost to time.
I hear tall tales of how people used to be able to communicate with each other across the planet in less than a second, that there were many countries, and that most of them spoke a different language.
The few books that remain tell us of a wondrous place where it was easy to get food, that there was magic that would light up rooms, or even entire cities, and that you could fly across the planet and see of all its wonders.
But best of all, most people lived in peace and safety.
Now beasts roam the planet and we live in constant fear; it’s suicide to leave our encampment.
But one thing in this world is for sure:
They will come for us; it’s just a matter of when.
Just how did this all happen?
Before they come again I just wish I knew how it all began, and what happened to destroy our apparently once beautiful planet…
The Beginning
It was a clear night; the sky was a dark blue canvas waiting to be painted on. Not even the moon painted itself this night.
Below, slowly shuffling through the ocean was a sole boat. It was a medium sized boat, something a small family would use for a vacation; it was brown in colour, looking to be recently painted as it gave off a new finish. The only sounds that could be heard were the motors of the boat struggling to send the boat floating across the calm sea.
From the boats rear double glass doors appeared a woman. She was tall with pale skin and had long shimmering red hair; it was swept at the front revealing only half a fringe. She was wearing a black sexy nightie and holding a glass of red wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She walked down the small deck of the boat, rested her arms on the railings and looked out into the darkened sea.
Claudia Deblonge, you’re getting too old for these adventures she thought to herself it’s only the second date and you have gone on his boat for a ‘romantic cruise’, and these are just not helping…
She tipped the wine from her glass into the ocean, the cigarette following soon after, but not before taking two large drags.
“Claudia, are you okay out there?” A male voice shouted.
Ugh, cute but so damn young and stupid.
Claudia herself was only 29 but had lead the life of someone double her age and had more relationships than if she doubled her age.
She turned and shouted back “I’ll be in soon, you just stay inside“
She turned back out to the ocean. She wanted a few more solitary moments. She doesn’t get to be alone very often. In the distance she could see a boat; if she didn’t know better she would have thought it was a pirate boat.
But you don’t get pirates around the oceans of Russia… she said to herself, hoping to believe what she had said.
But we have been out to sea for 3 hours going straight…
She picked up the nearby white binoculars and peered through them, the boat was large, black and dark. It was eerie; like something you would see in a horror movie. On the large deck was what seemed to be a crowd of people.
“Oh my god” Gasped Claudia as her vision became more focused.
On the middle of the boats deck were four peopled tied up; two male and two female, with four other men standing around them. Claudia could not make out too well who they were but if she was to hazard a guess she would say the people tied up were tourists, as they appeared to be Asian, and obviously not Russian.
The four men on the ship appeared hunched over and deformed but it was hard to tell from the distance.
The flamed haired woman could not believe what happened next.
The four deformed men started punching and kicking the male tourists without restraint. The shortest of the deformed men went berserk on one of the tourist and appeared to beat him to death with entirely intended lethal blows as his body quickly drained of life, slumping to the floor.
“This is why tourists should stay in their own countries” she muttered to herself, while continuing to look at the onslaught. After a few moments she decided that:
This needs to be seen by more people.
She quickly ran back into the boat and grabbed her mobile phone off the nearby small table. The room was large and of a very high quality, it had pictures of Swedish rulers from over the past 100 years scattered across the walls and the furniture was of expensive tastes. On the sofa sat a man in a pair of black boxer shorts, he was of medium build and had a ripped physique, he had blonde hair and blue eyes, a typical swede Claudia had thought to herself when they first met in a hotel bar just a week prior. Claudia did not pay him any attention as she grabbed her phone.
“What’s wrong, my little red candy floss?” He said to her in a romantic cheesy manner, with a grin to match.
“Shut up!” Demanded Claudia, then she ran back outside while opening the camera on her phone.
“Damn it!” grunted Claudia, “Typical! No signal” She thought that a live stream would have made this so much more believable, but a video would have to do.
What she saw next and what followed should never be seen by, or happen to anyone in their lifetime.
The still alive second male tourist was bleeding badly; his face was pure blood red. A sword then sliced across his neck, his head flying off his shoulders and on to the deck; it looked like a small brown and yellow football to Claudia.
The women screamed in deathly unison so loudly even Claudia could hear it from where she was viewing the horrible ordeal. Suddenly, something glinted in the view on her mobile phone which made her look up towards the top of the boat. It was another deformed man high up a pole with a pair of binoculars, both him and Claudia traded views and her heart sank faster than a weighted bag of lively kittens.
“Fuck” She said.
The man looked down at his fellow crew while shouting and pointing towards Claudia’s current position.
She turned around and the blonde man was behind her.
“Axel, quick we need to get out of here” Claudia said.
“But why babe, what’s wrong? Am I not pleasing you just right, just the way you like it? You sounded quite pleased 10 minutes ago”
“Silence you little shit, I don’t have time for your cheesy romantic bullshit; we just need to get out of here and back home right now”
The ‘pirate boat’ began turning to face Claudia’s boat and began speeding up. A big light shined straight over the bickering couple, the glow making Axel look almost like a ghost.
“Wha-what’s happening?” Squealed Axel, His confident exterior peeled away to reveal a very submissive interior.
“These fucking pirates are going to cut your head off unless you get us back to Russia NOW” Shouted Claudia in a very stern manner.
“Righ-right!” stammered Axel.
The pair ran back into the boat, through the extravagant room then into the main control room. It was a small room and not elegantly decorated like the rest of the boat; it just housed a few small tables in corners of the room and filling cabinets by the main control section which had a vast array of buttons and controls. But the main concern for Claudia and Axel right now was the steering wheel and the acceleration control.
Axel started to slowly push the acceleration lever up but impatient Claudia also frantically grabbed it, sinking her pristine red nails deep into his skin, and pushed it up to full speed. “This is no time to be messing about, this is life or death, did your daddy not teach you how to use this boat to escape from pirates?!” demanded Claudia
“No! Stop Claudia!” screamed Axel. The boat jolted and stopped. “You can’t just up the speed like that or the boat stalls!”
“Ugh, useless, you said your father was rich and ha
d one of the best boats in Sweden.” Said Claudia in a vile tone “When we are both in hell headless, tell him ‘Thanks’ for the useless boat”
“This is not my father’s fau-“Axel started to defend himself but Claudia sharply interrupted.
“Just shut up with your excuses and get us moving again” She looked out the side window as she said this and could see the pirate boat coming much closer to them; she could now hear the deformed shouts and cheers of the crew on the boat…they knew they were going to catch their prey, and Claudia knew this too.
The boat again jumped to life and started to gradually pick up speed “Hurry up Axel! I quite like my head, quite a lot actually” Claudia Snarled.
“It’s only a leisure boat, it’s not designed for chases” explained Axel. His whole body was now visibly shaking. Claudia was disgusted.
The boat finally ascended to its full speed but the pirate’s boat was much faster, catching up to them at a surprising rate considering the size difference. The cheers got louder and louder as the chase continued and the further the gap lessened.
Claudia thought about how she got herself into this situation, how she had lied to herself about not going on anymore dates with rich good looking guys as it rarely ever lasted and they were mostly immature and received their fortunes from a parents death. She too was guilty of this but she had deserved every penny of it. She had promised her Father that she would find a nice man to settle down with, but she could not resist the rich younger men. She couldn’t bear dating a peasant for starters.
“Where are all the police boats!?” Claudia demanded as she stared at Axel. “God damn the Russian police”
“We probably travelled too far out, this is my first time using the boat, I just wanted to treat you, and I don’t know my way around these seas” Axel said while looking away from Claudia.
“Well thanks a lot, best date ever, don’t expect a third one if we make it out of this”
The boat then suddenly shook violently as the pirate’s boat bashed into the back of them, the collision so violent that Claudia felt a sharp pain as she lost her balance and tumbled into a nearby cabinet. She could hear Axel’s muffled words as her vision slowly fought to get back into focus.
“Are you ok!?” Axel repeated as he left the wheel to attend to her.
“You idiot, you don’t leave the wheel unattended, I’m fine” barked Claudia as she held her hand to her head while slowly starting to get back to her feet, blood beginning to form from the wound.
Her attempts to recover were hindered as the pirates continued rough contact with their boat making her fall down to the floor, her balance and vision not yet fully restored.
“There is an island in the distance; maybe we can find help on there!” Axel said with a hopeful look on his face as he gazed back at Claudia.
Claudia nodded dozily as she continued her ascent. The collisions ceased for a few moments and then a thud was heard from the deck of the boat.
“They are on the boat!” Axel’s body was now shaking even more violently than before.
Claudia got back to her feet and stumbled to the cabin door, slammed it shut, locked it and held her fragile body strongly against it.
“We’re almost at the island!” whimpered Axel, his eyes full of thick liquid “About one minute away”
In the distance approaching rapidly was a large island, it was like a deserted island you would see in movies where the main protagonist would shipwreck and sit waiting around for help for weeks and weeks; but the duo had to hope that this island was different and had help to offer them.
Claudia turned her head and peeked through the small circular glass window on the cabin door: A big deformed man was approaching rather swiftly considering his towering height; he must have been at least 7ft.
His appearance was completely sickening up close and in the vibrant lighting of the boat. His eyes were asymmetrical; one drooped close to his nose, the other was too far to the left of his face. His skin looked like rough, cheap leather; the kind poor people wear who want to appear wealthier than they really are.
He began banging on the door. Only one hand was needed to cause Claudia’s body to bounce off the door with each singular blow.
“Shit! He’s going to get through” Screamed Claudia “I can’t hold it much longer! He’s too strong!” The blood from her wound was now racing down the side of her face, matching her vibrant hair. Suddenly the pirate boat levelled up with their boat. A small deformed man was standing on the deck, his face was infested with boils and scars, his eyes were not visible due to them being so clustered together, and he was wearing brown ragged clothes. He stared intently at Claudia while licking his lips when he pulled a small old fashioned handgun from his holster and aimed it at Axel.
“Axel, watch out!” Claudia shouted in a hiccupping kind of fashion, as her body was continually flipping off of the door. Axel was oblivious to his surroundings, his panic stricken body hindering his senses.
A shot was fired. It pierced the glass of the cabin then hit Axel in his shoulder; he recoiled in pain and fell back while he still had his grip on the wheel, causing it to turn, moving the boat from the location of the island.
“No!” Claudia got up fast, barely thinking, and flew past Axel and grabbed the wheel to set it back on course when suddenly the door burst open and the big ugly man barged into the room; he was very muscular and could probably snap Claudia and Axel in two with such little effort. He was dressed exactly the same as the smaller deformed man except he had a large Japanese style sword in one hand.
The mangled faced man, without hesitation, charged at the duo with a surprising amount of speed.
He took a strong horizontal swipe at Axel who swiftly ducked to avoid it; the sword swing from the deformed man was so intense that he slightly lost his balance after the avoided attack.
The man stumbled into a small filing cabinet next to Claudia who was still trying to steer the boat back onto the path of the island, which was now very close. Claudia remained unfazed by the deformed man’s nearby assault, focussing hard on getting the boat to the island.
Axel regained his form after evading the attack when another shot was fired which caught him in his leg. He fell to the floor clutching the aching wound, letting out small cries as he rolled around the floor. Claudia looking back to witness this and her keen instinct of understanding when to abandon ship, released her hold on the handle and made an attempt to run for the window on the opposite side of where the pirate boat currently was.
The large man, with now unsurprising agility, reached his long arm and halted Claudia’s escape by grabbing her tender shoulder and giving her a severe backhand across her face which sent her flying to the floor, her hand holding her now painful jaw. The blow was so powerful that her mouth was pouring with blood. She felt that a few of her pearly white teeth had become dislodged.
The horrific man loomed over Claudia; he had a creepy grin on his face, like he had just caught his prey and is now about to enjoy the spoils, then kneeled down over Claudia, ripped her nightie at the bottom revealing her bright white knickers then moved his horrible, rough hands all over her body, caressing her soft pale skin while drool dripped from his mouth. Each drop of bile was like acid to her delicate skin. This was a scene she was familiar with from her past.
She tried her hardest to push him away by kicking and scratching but his skin and body were so impenetrable that he felt none of the abuse. He ungracefully slammed his full body weight over Claudia, squashing her slender frame and pulled down his pants with one hand. Claudia let out a whimper and closed her eyes, unsure what to do next.
All of a sudden the boat shook violently and the man tumbled off of her; his pants down by his ankles aided this collapse. The boat had crashed into a large rock in the sea just before the island which had caused a hole in the boat to rapidly fill with water.
The pumping adrenaline in Claudia’s body caused her to jump to her feet and instantly put behind her what may
have just happened to her; she looked at Axel writhing in pain on the floor and then back towards the deformed man getting back to his feet.
“Claudia…help me…” muttered a weakening Axel as he reached his hand out towards her.
Claudia, without looking back towards Axel, said in a breathless manner “I have a business to run” followed by her jumping out of the window of the boat; the glass shattered and pierced her skin as she dived into the sea below.
The deformed man, dissatisfied that he had lost his ultimate prey turned his attention to Axel. Axel attempted to throw a punch but the man grabbed his fist with his hand which was almost three times larger, and then snapped the Swedish man’s wrist.
He followed this up by using his Japanese sword to slice off his arm.
The boat slowly started to submerge. The deformed man ran back onto the deck to reunite with his fellow deformed men.
Claudia emerged from the water and witnessed the boat sinking. She knew Axel was dead; If only he had bought a better boat then this would never have happened. She then noticed the moon reflecting off of the surface of the water…but it was far too bright to be the moon. She looked towards the pirate boat and noticed they were using a spotlight to find her in the water; she used all her strength to swim to the nearby island, preparing to duck under the veil of water if the light came close to her.
“Come on Claudia, you can’t let these ugly bastards get the better of you! You’re strong, beautiful and intelligent!” she repeated as she swam for what felt like an eternity.
She eventually reached the beach of the island; it was filthy and unkempt with lots of junk washed up upon it. It then dawned on her that she is not going to find any help on this island and it may even be home to these ugly freaks.
In the near distance she heard shouts and jeers and looked to find the pirate boat docked not far away and four deformed men racing towards her with their weapons in the air like an angry mob in a racist village; she did not hesitate to run into the nearby forest; she knew it was in vain but she was determined to not let these people easily rape and kill her.