The Fall
Page 5
Wild animals might also be a hazard for those who are not armed. Hungry wolves get bolder once winter comes and bears don’t hesitate to fight for the best shelters. Snakes, spiders and other venomous creatures defend themselves when they have to.
The list of risks compromising the survival of mankind is now endless. With no more hospitals, even the smallest problem can become a matter of life and death. A twisted ankle means no more foraging for food or running from danger. A common flu can degenerate in a lethal pneumonia without the correct medicine. A simple burn or scratch or cut can get infected and once gangrene settles, the only issue is a hole in the ground.
Yes, it’s almost certain that those who were not prepared perished quickly.
However, others succeeded in finding shelter and organizing a new life. Just like me, they stored goods, generators, medicine, weapons, seeds… Those in a small community likely handled it the best. They might have brought doctors who could heal the minor wounds and prevent the spread of disease. They could have engineers able to make machines and tools.
I am convinced they thrived, and even managed to rebuild some small settlements.
This would have been their mistake.
***
The aliens are methodical and the Dark Shadow is obviously decided to exterminate all life on earth. He will not stop. After having ravaged the main cities, the small towns and the tiny villages, he will go after the fugitives.
This might seem like an impossible task to hunt every single human, but he has the resources to do so. Hundreds of millions of wyverns, and as much time as he needs.
Once the most important urban areas were destroyed, his troops spread. Erasing Pastezu required maybe two thousand of those ugly flying snakes and a hundred canons. Wrecking a village would take only a couple of cannons and two dozen minions. And a single alien can easily wipe out a settlement where some families gathered in tents to subsist.
They wouldn’t even know what struck them. In less than a minute, all of them would be dead.
Years of military training taught me that my only chance of survival was to hide alone and to remain unnoticed. I could have brought some friends and neighbors here, but we would all be dead already.
Twice, I saw one of those despicable flying monstrosities come close to my cabin. I call them scouts.
The first one was months ago. It went up the ridge and turned above the forest when he reached mid slope, heading straight towards my shelter. Another than me wouldn’t have noticed anything and would have kept on working in the garden until invisible teeth lacerated him out of the blue. But I can See, and I ran inside the hut with Parashootix.
The wyvern had no cannon, and the wooden construction was strong enough to withstand an assault. We were safe inside. Nevertheless, I checked that all my guns were loaded and made sure they were at hand.
They were not needed this time, though, as the creature just flew over the roof of the cabin without even slowing down and went further until it disappeared behind the mountains.
Following this incident, I didn’t sleep well for a week, wondering if I had not made a mistake. We never had any clue on the way they communicate between each other, or what their level of intelligence is. Could it be that I had been spotted and that the wyverns would come back in numbers—and with canons—, leaving me no chance?
They didn’t.
Months passed until another scout came to visit me.
***
The bastard came by night. I woke up when the ground started to tremble. Parashootix was barking madly. Then another loud thump shook the walls of the cabin and I understood that the enemy was upon me.
Without any Dreamer to warn me, I had been caught by surprise. I didn’t know how many of them surrounded my shelter, nor if they had brought canons. I couldn’t assume that my refuge was safe. It was strong, but wouldn’t resist repeated assaults. And a single cannonball would mean the end of it.
I took my gun and went out the front door, followed by my loyal barking dog.
I was prepared to face dozens of those monsters and to give them a hard time. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to. I saw only one of them, bumping fiercely against the walls of the wooden hut. It hadn’t noticed that I was out. I raised my gun and aimed at the creature, taking my time.
I had been trained, and knew perfectly how to kill them with a single shot.
I fired, and the wyvern fell on my stock of cabbage, ruining them with its gooey blood. I waited for a few minutes, my pistol still oriented towards the monster, until I was convinced it was dead. I remained outside a bit more, listening, scanning the horizon, looking for other enemies, but they were none. And it was cold, so I went back inside, close to the hearth.
In the morning, no trace of the body could be found. Even the blood that was splattered all over my provisions had disappeared. I wondered if it had been brought all the way back to the rocks at the tip of the Karabia Peninsula, or if they were now only vanishing wherever they fall. This was a rhetorical question that had no answer, and I didn’t burden my mind with it.
I burned the spoiled cabbage, and life went on.
***
Every man needs a purpose in life, and I’m not different. I can’t survive endlessly without any objective; my very own existence would seem useless to me.
In the moments of quiet introspection I enjoy when isolating myself in the toilets, I came to the conclusion that this is the reason why I took Parashootix with me in the first place. I needed a companion to protect, and I found the ideal one. He’s happy, totally unaware of the situation, and seeing him running wildly in the woods is worth all the efforts I do.
I crave for more than this, though.
Helping a dog is fine, but I wish to be useful for my own kind. Hope is the last thing to die, and I do not want to believe that I’m the last survivor. Somewhere, men are fighting to stop the invasion and repel the aliens. Perhaps the story of those people from Keeroonah escaping aboard some secret spaceship was true. Maybe they will return one day, and defeat the monsters, claiming our world back.
That’s the reason I decided to write. I gathered old documents that were hidden deep in the archives of the fort and transcribed them. I made copies of the letters sent by a young sergeant to her lover, unaware that her messages were intercepted and brought to me before being forwarded. And I chronicled my part, as nobody else is here to tell the last days of Worldsend Garrison and the annihilation of the human race.
I didn’t make any duplicate of this book. I thought of it, but do not have the strength to do so. I would exchange half of my stock of provision for a working copy machine. This is the only existing version, and I will not make any other.
If it is destroyed by wyverns, rain or time, everything will be lost forever.
If one day this book is found by survivors, or space explorers, then the future generations will know.
This is my legacy.
Simon Liu
Chapter 9—Epilogue
So far, I stuck to the facts that happened. In those last lines, allow me to do an effort of anticipation and write some fiction.
I do not know how my story will end. The only thing I hope is that Parashootix will be wise enough to run for his life and escape. He’s no great hunter, but he could make it on his own in those mountains. And he could always come back to the destroyed cabin to get some kibbles, once the danger is gone.
I know the wyverns will attack, it’s only a matter of time.
And I will be here to meet them. I will defend my life bravely. After so many easy triumphs, they might have become overconfident. They will realize their mistake, while I take them down one by one.
The Dark Shadow thought he had won the final victory when the fort was destroyed, but he was wrong. Worldsend Garrison is not only a fortress, it’s about soldiers committed to do anything to fight the invaders and protect mankind.
When he will understand, he will be coming for me. I have no doubts about it.
He did so in the past when he took a personal interest in a Commander of Worldsend Garrison named Giorgio Sigalvo. He will leave the place from where he’s monitoring his minions, and will travel to the Karpi mountains to face me.
He will bring wyverns and canons with him, for sure. But he will want to destroy me by himself when he understands. He will have to finish what started such a long time ago. This will be the final battle.
There, in the shadow of those snowy peaks, a Commander of Worldsend Garrison will stand against the enemy one last time.
I will fall in the line of duty.
Colonel Liu
Commander of Worldsend Garrison
Worldsend Garrison
Lost in the southern lands of the Empire, Worldsend Garrison lies in the desert. Soldiers sent to this stronghold have been reported dead and are long forgotten, as there is no way back from this doomed place.
Burning heat, lack of water and venomous scorpions are a constant reminder that life there is hard. But the real danger comes from the sea… For centuries, an unknown enemy keeps on attacking, and only the fort stands between their savage lust for blood and the peaceful citizens of the Empire.
In this series we discover the evolution of Worldsend Garrison through the ages, from its construction in a bloodbath in a medieval setting to its unexpected end in a futuristic world.
The Fort
Punished for loving the wrong woman, Giorgio Sigalvo ends up in a place from where nobody ever returned. Isolated from civilization by miles of burning deserts and the raging waters of the ocean, Worldsend Garrison is a prison where soldiers meet a fate that could be worse than death.
Soon, Giorgio, now Lieutenant of the fort, discovers that strange things are going on there. Did everybody get mad, or is there really an unbelievable threat?
In his nightmares, monsters are attacking the garrison… But those are only dreams, correct?
Or could it be that the horrors awaiting in the mist are real?
The Rise
Gruesome events placed a totally unprepared soldier as Commander of Worldsend Garrison. Decided to prevent further massacres, he turns to science and technology to get a critical advantage on the alien monsters.
However, his discoveries bring more questions than answers and the enemy doesn’t seem to accept defeat that easily…
The victories are there to show that they are going in the rightt direction, but can they keep on overlooking the price they have to pay for it?
Is Worldsend Garrison really winning the war, or does the dark shadow looming above the rocks try to trick them?
Could it be that they underestimate the enemy?
The Invasion
The village of Worldsend has always been a peaceful place, where only some fishermen dwelt by the sea. When they fail to pay their taxes, Kahid, Bailiff of Karabia, discovers that the small settlement became a bit too quiet. Not a single living soul is to be seen.
His investigations will soon reveal great dangers and many will lose their life in the process…
All the signs point to an attack from the Valkyan warriors from the southern continent, but why are they nowhere to be spotted?
How can so many people vanish in the middle of the desert without any apparent reason?
Could it be that the enemy is something else?
The Construction
The Emperor couldn’t keep on turning a blind eye on the massacre happening in the Karabia Peninsula. Under the commandment of Colonel Laval, an entire regiment of the Imperial Army is ready to defend this lost stretch of beach, where there is nothing but sand and rocks.
They soon realize that the invader is not the one they expected, and proves to be a bigger threat than they thought…
If there is no obvious attacking force to fight, how can they win the battle?
Will a fort be strong enough to protect the soldiers against this invisible threat?
Could it be that the wild rumors are true?
The Truce
Sergeant Greta always considered that there is no greater honor than protecting her country, and this is the reason why she joined the Army. But she also loathes violence and is a strong believer in negotiations and compromises. Then, she is sent to Worldsend Garrison, where the Government is killing thousands of intelligent extraterrestrial life forms for centuries…
Her boyfriend already knows, and she starts to understand as well, but how could a single woman change the course of History?
Will she find a way through the bureaucracy of this testosterone-fueled organization to uncover the truth?
Could it be that the aliens are not our enemy?
The Fall
Life is good in the beautiful scenery of the Karpi mountains, and Simon is enjoying a well-deserved retirement there. He spends his time foraging in the woods with his loyal dog, or savoring the peace of his garden. But he also writes…
He writes, because he has to.
He writes, even if he doesn’t think anyone will ever read what he had to say.
But you never know what could happen… So, he writes, because he has to tell the story.
He must narrate the last days of Worldsend Garrison.