Kin of Exile

by Tyler Bunyard

  Karrel cleared his throat, “What now then?”

  “Well,” Angel said, still seemingly disappointed, “Before I got knocked out and tied up, I was searching for one of my friends. She’s a little bit lost right now.” Angel pulled out a small device from one of his pockets. “According to this little machine, which I stole back from Mr. Jim, the bandits were traveling in the direction I needed to go anyways. There are a couple ruined cities nearby, so I figured I’d start my search there.”

  Somewhere, in the back of Karrel’s mind, he wanted to offer his help to Angel. He had enjoyed the short amount of time he had spent with him, even if it was being spent held prisoner in the back of a truck. Maybe he could offer his help to find Angel’s friend, and that would be the end of it. He wouldn’t join the Survivor’s Guild; he would just help a friend in need. That way he could spend a bit more time with his new companion, and not have to worry about getting inducted into some sort of group. But, Angel was heading in the direction of where the bandits were driving. Karrel’s instincts overcame his want to stick around. Though he had to admit, something in the back of his mind was telling him to do otherwise.

  “I’m heading in the opposite direction. So… I guess this is goodbye,” Karrel said. The two reluctantly shook hands with each other, and both turned to head off in their own directions.

  Karrel had only one thought on his mind, am I making the right decision? He looked over his shoulder, and Angel was gone from his sight. Karrel still had a thousand questions about the man he had just met. He would probably never have them answered now. He climbed a small, nearby hill and spotted, off in the distance, a few broken down buildings just opposite of where the bandits drove off to. Once again, Karrel departed to another ruined city, alone.

  Chapter 4

  Irony from the Skies

  What should have been a day’s walk, turned into a week’s worth of travel. The winds, which were deadly on an average day, decided to spit on Karrel’s already beaten bravado. He had not planned on being forced to camp underneath large rocks and inside the remains of unstable automobile wreckages. It was a harsh journey, but the nearby city, at least what was left of it, would hopefully prove worthwhile. Karrel was still out of food, and what was left of the water the bandits had not drank was starting to run low as well. Even though it was days into Karrel’s past, he found himself still asking questions about the young man he had escaped death with. What with the influx of demons, the little green book in his pocket, and the citizens of Earth bending to the will of a self-destructive government, Karrel had thought he had seen all of the inconceivables of the world. His time in the bandits’ holding cell had proven him wrong.

  Karrel shook his head and pushed his past behind him. There was no point in dwelling on these things. He needed to get to a more viable shelter and scavenge for sustenance. At the rate he was going, he might die of thirst before food ever became a problem.

  As Karrel continued forward, a sudden booming noise echoed across the sky. He felt his heart sink and his stomach clench. He swore underneath his breath and, what was a brisk walk, turned into a full sprint. The loud thunderclap above his head forecasted only one thing: rain. Unfortunately, Karrel wouldn’t be drinking the water that would soon be shooting down at him.

  A few drops started to fall, and where they hit the ground, the area sizzled. Tiny holes were being left in the dirt wherever water touched. Karrel was unsure of the science behind this acidic rainfall, but one thing was for sure; it was time to move.

  Mother Nature hadn’t liked what had become of her Earth, and this was how she dealt with her rage. The sprinkles of water, falling from the hellish clouds above, only lasted a few seconds before turning into a full-fledged downpour. Karrel shot towards the oncoming city as fast as his trained legs could take him. Acid-drops pitter-pattered all over his body, and where there was uncovered skin, there was the smell of disintegrating flesh. The acid was only strong enough to eat away at the very top layers, and only prolonged exposure to the corrosive water would prove fatal. However, it was incredibly painful feeling parts of his body corroded away by the greenish-purple liquid dropping from the sky. Karrel gritted his teeth and counted the seconds to his destination. The increasing size of the silhouetted buildings assured Karrel that he was getting closer.

  Another half-hour of travel, and he barely made it into the city. The winds had started to pick up, even more than before, and Karrel was forced to push himself even harder towards the closest wall of a tall building. He felt the wind shred through the bottom of his cargo pants, the acid still burning microscopic holes into his already worn out clothes, and in a final moment powered only by sweat, burns, and exhaustion, Karrel dove behind the wall of the nearest collapsed building. Tucking, rolling, and quickly hiding underneath a large, sturdy railing that was extending from the ruined structure, he finally had a chance to breathe.

  Sliding his back against the cracked wall, Karrel sat down and took a moment to catch his breath. His instincts told him to immediately do some recon, as he had no information on what could possibly be in his vicinity. But after sprinting for damn near an hour, he knew that if he found something hostile, he would not be able to fight back with the necessary force to stay alive. Rest was the best option. He threw his head back and let his weight fall on the wall behind him, listening to the gentle death-storm that encompassed the surrounding area. The sizzling of the ground and frayed metal provided a soothing white noise, while simultaneously causing a measure of worry. Karrel had never seen the acid-rain bring a building down, or melt through a significant portion of metal, but there was always the chance that it could. He took a deep breath, putting those thoughts aside, and gave a quick look at his surroundings.

  He was definitely in another ghost town, but a larger one at that. This city probably housed hundreds of thousands of people back in its heyday. Now, the only mementos of life were the bones scattered across the streets. There was not a single building in this city that still had its entire structure holding together. Most were either missing entire walls or had large holes where doors were supposed to be. Some unfortunate ones could only be called half of a building now. A few were still ablaze, and the ones that weren’t were painted black, their colors singed away by the previous flames. Every single window had been destroyed. This, consequentially, had littered the areas around the tall structures with shattered glass. Most of the buildings were from four to seven stories high, with their roofs caved in as if someone had dropped a gigantic boulder on top of them. The streets were filled with scrap. The black metal was primarily composed of what anyone could only assume used to be the frames of various vehicles. The carnage was devastating to the point that no construction truly resembled its former self. In short, there was lots of cover, and tons of places to hide. It would serve as a temporary home.

  These barren cities served as a reminder of how dangerous civilization was now. It was one of the main reasons Karrel tried to avoid most of the populated cities. Having a large number of people living close together once served as a benefit to mankind. There was safety in numbers, and it made selling your trade easy as could be. Now, if there were more than a hundred people cooped up in the same area, it was as if they were advertising for a breakfast buffet, with demons as the clientele. The larger cities did seem to have less demonic troubles, but Karrel chalked that up to luck. They weren’t doing anything different. They just hadn’t been hit yet. Numbers never scared those monsters.

  The majority of these towns had turned toward the world government for protection. Karrel was not alive at the time, but he had learned from his history classes that with the arrival of the demons, came the unification of mankind. Mankind used to be divided by countries and fought with each other constantly. However, for once, humans had a common enemy, and in order to deal with this new threat, the countries around the world saw fit to establish a protective government: “A body of people that could make the military and societal decisions necessary to pr
otect all of mankind.” The world government, under the name of the Unified World Protectorate, was formed. With the UWP created, and the armies united, the people of Earth felt like there was a fighting chance.

  Unfortunately, even with a common enemy to guide humanities righteous defense, nothing is safe from the corruption that power brings. The people who were oh-so-democratically voted into the few leadership positions, began to become afraid to lose their new-found power. At least, that was how Karrel interpreted the history texts, because over the course of 200 years, most laws necessitating the need for a reoccurring change in leadership were slowly abolished. At first, it was only the heads of the government that held a life-term in office, but soon even the people who were in charge of the smaller areas found their job security raise infinitely. Following suit, the united militaries began to protect only selected areas. The apocalyptic weather, brought forth by new demonic presence, was the favorite excuse for why the UWP would not mobilize the armies, even when the most populated towns were being overrun by Earth’s new monsters.

  The amazing thing was most of the population believed these lies. Karrel could never believe his ears when he heard people using this excuse. They would argue for the government that had turned their backs on them, saying that the hellish climate was enough of a deterrent to stop the UWP from sending in a rescue force where it was needed. He knew how deadly Earth’s environment could be now. He had survived this long because of his knowledge of it. However, he could not possibly imagine that genocide was being allowed, all because of some bad weather.

  Meanwhile, the people who ran the Unified World Protectorate sat safely inside their superdomes, using the forces, which were supposed to protect mankind, to protect themselves. The irony that befell the superdomes was hilarious in itself. They were being built, before the demons had arrived, in order to provide a living space for Earth’s rising problem of over-population. All around the world, large cities with structures hundreds of stories high were being constructed. The finished projects were covered by a gigantic dome, encompassing the whole city. They were capable of many things, like climate control and environmental simulation. However, when the demons arrived, it was not the basic citizen that was transferred to these new, technologically advanced cities. The UWP had deemed it necessary to use the new structures to facilitate its precious members. Nowadays, the superdomes were the most protected points on Earth, being reinforced with steel plates and shield generators. The armies were stationed inside of these domes, never too far away from the precious ministry officials. For these reasons, it amazed Karrel that so many people would back the current government. While the rest of the world burns, they live in luxury.

  “Acid is pouring down from the skies and I’m thinking about politics,” Karrel scoffed at himself. However, to his delight, the rain died out in a few hours, and Karrel had felt he had spent enough time reflecting on history. He wasn’t placing blame on anything, he just understood that he was born into an unfortunate era. His clothes were still bathed in the aroma of smoldering cloth. He thought to himself, what I wouldn’t give for a shower, then paused for a moment. He found a nearby piece of broken wood and knocked on it a few times, then looked to the skies, hoping that he hadn’t just incited another wrath.

  Karrel picked up his backpack and began searching for a better place to camp. All of the buildings in the city seemed too unstable to stay in. He had learned from his previous mistakes to never take refuge in anything that did not look sturdy. Having an apartment complex collapse on you while you slept wasn’t as fun as it sounded. He was, by happenstance, very close to an old parking structure. It used to have five levels but was now reduced down to three. The top most areas had caved in and punctured through the lower levels, leaving large pieces of rubble and debris so big, they had formed new walls for the lower floors. Fortunately, parking structures were usually large and built to withstand a lot of pressure and weight. The raid on this city had done a number on the building, but it looked sturdy enough to stay in.

  Karrel traversed the half-destroyed stairs up to the second level. There were a few cars– the remains of the cars at least, that were resting by a nearby elevator shaft. They looked as though they had been thrown across the room, smashing into the decorative tiles placed along the walls. There were large cracks and dents where the vehicles were now resting, and the majority of the metal frames were laying on their sides.

  His instincts kicked in, and Karrel did a quick survey of his surroundings. The elevator shaft was a nice get away point, if he were to run into trouble. The second level of the parking structure was not all too high from the ground level, so he could jump off of the sides if he were in a desperate enough situation, though landing on any glass would be painful. The debris and wrecked cars would do for cover if he were forced into a fight. It was as perfect a place to call it a night as any other spot.

  Karrel chucked his bag against the wall, closest to what used to be an elevator, and collapsed down to the ground. Putting his head on his bag, he tried to catch some sleep. It wasn’t the most comfortable pillow, but he was too tired to set up camp. Besides, he was still new to this area, and building a fire would give away his position. He pretended that the large orb in the sky was the moon, not the sun, and let his heavy eyelids fall into place. He fell asleep within seconds.

  Chapter 5

  Breaking Records

  Karrel shot to attention as he unexpectedly awoke. His heart was pounding, and the burning sensation of adrenaline coursed through his veins. He quickly sat up and scanned his area, carefully searching for any detail that was out of place.

  He had heard something. That, he was sure of. He never second-guessed himself in these situations; the hesitation usually leads to death. He silenced his actions and didn’t move an inch. The only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat, pumping blood a hundred times faster than it should be. For a moment, there was nothing but the thumping of his chest.

  Suddenly, the winds began to pick up, smashing their currents against the walls of the parking structure. A cacophonous roar filled the city, ending in an ear-piercing shriek. The bloodcurdling screams of a woman could be heard in the distance, followed only by more terrified cries for help. Karrel froze. He could not recognize the manner of creature that had bellowed into the night sky, but he was sure that it was more powerful than anything he had ever witnessed. Human screams of agony once again filled the air. He could hear how close they were, and the thought of rescue came to Karrel’s mind. He buried it. Whatever creature those poor souls were facing, Karrel wanted nothing to do with it. Besides, he forced himself to think, there’s no way I would reach them in time. With that final lie in mind, Karrel rested himself back against the wall, hiding himself as best he could while he listened to the crashing of the winds inevitably die down to silence.

  A dull, patient hour passed before a small and insignificant noise filled Karrel’s ears. Over by a staircase, the one that lead to the second level of the parking structure he was resting in, there was a ticking noise. It sounded like a small handful of rocks were rolling and bouncing along the floor.

  The area went silent once more. Karrel, as quietly as he could, maneuvered toward the staircase. Terror had embraced him, but he did his best to not let it affect his actions, as he carefully avoided the glass and loose debris surrounding him. Several hours had passed during his nap, and it was dark now. The only light that was being provided was from the full moon, shining down on him through the holes in the third level of the parking structure. His eyes adjusted to the low light, and he maintained focus on the approaching staircase.

  As he crept closer to the doorway leading to the stairs, he once again heard pebbles moving across the stone floor. There was no doubt in his mind now. Something was on the other side of the wall, and it was climbing the stairs. Karrel reached into his pocket and pulled out his little green book, desperately hoping that he was not about to become face to face with the creature he had heard an hou
r before. He flipped through the pages, coming to a familiar section containing one line of red symbols. The rest of the runes on the page were pitch black, but Karrel knew that this particular set of glowing text had the meaning “Discharge.” It was his go-to attack, useful in most any situation. He held the green book in his left hand and placed his right near the pages of the literature. He was almost to the doorway and needed to ready his attack. He focused on the little green book and a copy of the lit-up runes started to lift from the pages and surround Karrel’s now-glowing right hand.

  The room was dead silent now. His back up against the wall, Karrel was preparing to turn the corner and attack whatever awaited on the other side. He took a deep breath and swung his right leg around to dart into the room.

  BOOM! The sound of cracking cement and exploding tiles filled the room, and Karrel felt his feet leave the ground. For a moment, he could no longer breathe, and a sharp, intense pain shot through his entire frontal body. It was as if a wrecking ball had collided with him. As Karrel had tried to round the corner, something had burst through the wall. The cement had been shattered like glass and a dust cloud filled the room. He was now flying through the air and was no longer alone. There was a creature above him, mid-air, smiling with teeth as sharp as knives.

  The monster had no arms and looked to be about 4 feet tall with four powerful legs. It was easily 5 feet long. The skin bunched as though it was coated in a strong leather, with bumps and spikes randomly distributed around its round body. Fluorescent orange-red streaks moved slowly around the pudgy body like flowing lava. Its glowing eyes were a shade of yellow as sharp as its numerous teeth.