REVELATION OF RAELIA
Charleston, SC
www.PalmettoPublishing.com
Revelation of Raelia
Copyright © 2020 by Tammy W. Pechin
All rights reserved
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64990-017-3
REVELATION
OF RAELIA
BOOK ONE
TAMMY W. PECHIN
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 HOW DID I GET HERE
CHAPTER 2 ALL OF THIS FOR SOME BREAD
CHAPTER 3 NEIGHBORLY LOVE
CHAPTER 4 NO MORE PEACE
CHAPTER 5 HEARTLESS NATURE
CHAPTER 6 COMING TO TERMS WITH MY FEELINGS
CHAPTER 7 GIVING BIRTH TO CHAOS
CHAPTER 8 OUTSIDE THESE GATES
CHAPTER 9 POLITICS EQUALS PROBLEMS
CHAPTER 10 ANGER MY OLD FRIEND
CHAPTER 11 EXPLORATION AND DISAPPOINTMENT
CHAPTER 12 BLACK GATES OF HELL
CHAPTER 13 DEFINE HOME SWEET HOME
CHAPTER 1
HOW DID I GET HERE
I
t's the year 2041 and here I am, walking for days now alone, tracking footprints through the woods in hopes that it will lead me to another village, tribe, or anywhere with thriving people. I have been constantly on the move from one village to the next since the day that I lost my parents. I'm beginning to feel discouraged, because I haven't seen another living person for about a week now. When I say a week, it's an estimate because days start to bleed together when you have no concept of time anymore since there is no convivences of cell phones or smart watches to obsessively check. Everyone was so dependent on devices that ran on electric, which seems weird to me now that I'm looking back.
Sadly, I ran out of what little food I had stashed in my backpack yesterday, and my stomach is starting to consume itself, or at least it sounds that way. Finding food is challenging outside of the city, but if you attempt to stay inside the city then you are in a constant battle to stay alive. If you can hunt, and you have some type of weapon then that's the only way to survive without living in the city, villages, or a tribe. Guns are well desired, but they make noise and attract problems. I myself keep a cross bow for that reason, it's quite and I do not have to get close to anything I have to kill. I have heard that the city has an abundance of salvageable food, but gangs of rebels are hoarding the food supplies and they have total control over all of it. Of course, there is gangs that fight for territory from other gangs as well…it's just a bad scene all together. I haven't been into the city since before the war, but my father did venture into the city once and I remember his warnings that it was not safe to ever go back for supplies, even with his military training he barely made it back himself.
My father's name is Ethen, he just turned 60, and I didn't think it was a good idea for him to ever to try to go into the city in the first place. My father was in the military when he was young but left after an injury. He has the tendency to be stubborn, which I guess explains why people often say I am so much like him. My father tried to indoctrinate his military skills on myself and my mother, but we both were more passive and tried to avoid conflict; doesn't help that I have anxiety. Enough about that, let me tell you about my mother Emma; she claims she is 45 whenever anyone asks, but dad said she has been 45 for the last 4 years and she has this glow about her that I can't really explain. Mother loved her job as a pediatric nurse, and she spent all her spare time outdoors hiking and in the garden. She has an extraordinary green thumb; she could drop a seed and ignore it and it would still grow like magic. Mom always new how to grow anything and the children she worked with adored her, she has a nurturing personality and always was emotionally my rock. While I may be stubborn like my father, I would like to believe that I have my mother's nurturing and adventurous spirit.
I digressed for a bit from explaining about the city, so I will continue trying to describe why the city is such a disaster. First, the water supply in the city isn't safe, so city dwellers must go outside city limits to obtain spring water to boil for drinking. They use slaves they capture to obtain large amounts of water like donkeys, since there isn't much availability for finding gasoline to run vehicles. Also, those nasty people that have obtained absolute power in all this chaos and destruction have hoarded most natural resources like gasoline for their own uses. It might sound crazy, but there is already a socioeconomic status amongst those that live in the cities. The highest in the socioeconomic status have people that work under them to control those that are rogue and present a risk to their position in power. Cities are littered of rival gangs that fight for territory, food, and well anything they want, this includes a fast-growing human slave trade to gain a position under those who have more power.
If you manage to avoid all the gangs inside the cities, then you still need to worry about coming across ‘Will'ers'. Of course, you're probably wondering, what's is a ‘Will'er’ anyway? Basically, a ‘Will'er’ is what happened to some unfortunate people after WWIII. The people that didn't die from air and land attacks, but instead were infected by biochemical warfare. The dreaded nick name comes from William Ernhurst, the man who created a biochemical for the ongoing war that started in 2036 and continued for over three years until it eventually ended with our country in total isolation. When I say it ended, it has at least here in the United States, after this biochemical was released into almost all major city water supplies here by an unknown source. Ironically William Ernhurst himself was found dead shortly after the news had spread of the incident. ‘Will'ers' are much worse to come across then gangs, because they are unpredictable, they may appear normal, but when they have a glitch then they become undomesticated, violent and impulsive.
I know what you're probably thinking, and I've seen some of the same cliché movies myself, but no were not talking zombie like behaviors at all. If it were that simple, then they would be much easier to deal with. I mean if you killed a zombie you probably wouldn't feel any guilt because they don't appear to even be truly human anymore; not in the moral and emotional sense anyhow. Will'ers are very different, and can attack in groups, hunt food in groups, and have great primal instincts one moment and then suddenly can't even care for themselves. I am no scientist, but it almost looks like some type of virus of the brain like Encephalitis but maybe genetically altered. There are theories, but it was so devastating that no one could figure out what it was. It doesn't kill a person quickly unless your immunity is already at question, it's more of a slowly attacks the brain over time. Deaths are often from the behaviors of the people that have the virus, like they decide to attack someone or commit suicide because they are delusional. Also, there has been stories that during the glitches that they are often their true personalities without the boundaries of what appears at time to look like a disease. Which is strangely terrifying, because imagine a family member that tries to kill you one moment and then the next is asking you why you look upset. Will'ers can also trick you, lie to you, and hunt you for sport, although some aren't bad, they clearly had a good heart before the biochemical warfare, which makes you feel for them when they are lost and confused, but it's still extremely dangerous to interact with them. Seriously, it just isn't worth the risk, if it's a kid… its best if I just don't even think about that. I have seen one child that wondered out to our home, and my father did what he thought was kind and I am still plagued by nightmares. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes it's heart breaking to wa
lk away, but this just isn't the world you knew and some like my father is able to end what he believes is suffering, I prefer to walk away then take a life that isn't mine to take unless I have no other choice.
While the war killed off almost half of the worlds' population, we still had some technology. We were able to live our lives without being nomadic, and still had some comforts, but after the city water supply was ruined it all went downhill much faster. It took over five thousand known cases of death related to tampered water supplies here in the states before our government even reported to the public to not drink the city water supplies. Which with such a delay of public knowledge, by then the amount of contamination was completely out of control. Within months almost another quarter of the population in our country was dead or contaminated, and our entire county was quarantined by the rest of the world from fear that we were contagious and would cause others to become infected. Shortly after, we went offline, no phones, no TV, no more electricity, goodbye worldly technology comforts, not that we had much left to begin with. People were already in a depression and so was our economy, we left our political position as the superpower we once were. We were outcasts due to fear that we were contagious or that it wasn't just in the water.
Lucky for me, my parents were those crazy ends of the world preppers that everyone always joked about, including myself. I was only sixteen when WWIII started and I was still living with my parents in an off the grid home in the middle of the woods far from the city. My parents were adamant about living outside the city after it became clear to them that war was inevitable. In 2034 when I was fourteen, they decided it was time we relocated our family and became off the grid for our safety. We had well water and collected rainwater for our garden, and we had a small stream on our land that we could filter water. Which is the reason we survived this long, also being isolated from the city helped. However, when technology went down, the power struggles started for territory, they also started collecting people to create a world that once again was nothing more than a disturbing reoccurrence of our history.
Herds of people were gathered and turned into slaves for people that had materials, food, water, strength and power. Progress in the nation just stopped and it was shocking to watch people revert to such violent and regressive ways that I had learned from history books and never thought I would have to experience for myself. My parents isolated us, and they thought I didn't know how bad things were in the city during the war, but as I aged, they prepped me for survival in many ways. I kept up with friends through technology until the loss of technology all together, they kept me informed and I lost some friends to the war as well as the virus. Which made me become more realistic about the world.
Like I said, true isolation here didn't happen until the Will'ers became known and the states became a plague to the rest of the world. Transportation in and out of states was banned. Shortly after Canada and Mexico also refused to let anyone in as people flocked both up and down in order to escape the states. The chance of someone drinking water before a flight and developing Will'er's symptoms was severe risk and after a couple of flights crashed, flights halted.
Welcome to the rebirth of society, animal instincts, and true survival for those of us left to fight for our lives down here on ground zero. I don't think we have been abandoned by the world like my parents felt. I want to believe the rest of the world is just trying to protect their people the only way they know how, and hopefully they are working on a cure or a way to rescue those of us still fighting for survival. My parents are not optimistic about the situation, they said we were on the wrong side of the war and that other nations will not feel sympathetic to help us anytime soon. I really want to believe they are wrong, but considering the United States were responsible not only for initial trigger for war but also that William Ernhurst was being paid by our government for the creation of this biochemical warfare, I know my parents are probably correct.
Okay, that's enough with the heavy and depressive, but this is how I ended up here… one day I went for a walk to the stream near our house just to wash some clothes, meanwhile my parents were preparing food at home. When I returned, they were gone, it was clear that there was a struggle, and what little fresh food we had was now gone as well. They also took most of the food they could carry from the garden.
This happened about two months ago, and I stayed home for a few days in hope that they would be able to gain their freedom and return home to me, but with winter approaching in just three months and with the lack of supplies I felt it may be time to search them out, or any other human that wasn't power crazed or a Will'er. My parents weren't weak, they were skilled in combat, father was retired military and he taught my mother and myself well. Although, I did not take training as seriously as I should have, which I know regret but let's be honest I would most likely have a panic attack during any type of physical altercation. The idea that they lost in combat tells me that they were probably outnumbered. This leads me to believe they were taken by a group of slave traders and thieves. So, I have been walking from areas that I knew would be most likely for humans to create villages outside of the cities.
Anyone with any common sense abandoned the cities after the reported increase in deaths and headed to recreate life in the wooded mountain's, where they could hunt and find fresh water. I have camped out three villages and two small tribes so far, with no success in finding my parents or humans that act, well that act like humans should act. It appears that each village is either ran by a tribal leader, or by an elective system. If you have talent that the village needs then they can vote you in, or a leader makes all decisions on who is allowed in, who is enslaved, or who is banished. Most villages or tribes are easy to penetrate, some allow visitors that buy their way in, while others aren't secure, and you can just sneak in with a little energy. At the last village, I overheard people ranting from inside the wooden gated walls that boarded them. They were speaking about rumors of a village just a few miles north that is huge, has solar power and high stone wall borders. They said they had plans to find this solar powered village and offer their skills to become as citizens. One having engineering skills by my understanding, and the other I couldn't tell. Once you abandon a village, then you are usually not allowed to return, which is risky move. Banishment for some is a death sentence since they have no idea how to live outside of these walls, and they lack even the most basic survival knowledge. I must admit I am intrigued, and now I had to know, is this the place with solar energy real? My hope to find some civilized humans that existed without an active human slave trade and some type of liberal freedoms. Worst case scenario, they could own or sale slaves, which may lead me to my mother and father. My curiosity consumed me, I had to know if this is true, sounds more civilized than anything else I have come across so far and it would be the best place to stay during the oncoming winter. After what I heard, I headed north, but it's been much more than a couple of miles. Being able to only able to carry so little with me, supplies are used up and my enthusiasm is exhausted at this point.
I know you must be wondering how I have managed to survive this long on my own considering the dangers that I face, but my parents taught me to hunt, fish, grow food and gather wild herbs. If they had not, then I don't think I would have survived, which really gives me some perspective now. I was always so hard on them growing up, teasing them for being so pessimistic about humanity and their views on the world. Before the war, the world seemed pretty great in my eyes. Technology was at its highest, the economy wasn't great, but it was still enough, and somehow it just went all wrong almost overnight and turned into this almost five-year nightmare filled with patches of continuous death. Tensions between many countries finally cracked and the war began. Honestly, it feels like our home got the worst of it, but that couldn't be more far from the truth. Being completely isolated from the outside world by my parents over the last year means that I am unaware of many things that were occurring, by who, or how many people are stil
l alive at this point, other then what they told me since they wouldn't even allow me to listen to the radio the last couple of weeks before the broadcasts finally stopped. They informed me of the things I had to know, and I knew of what my friends told me before I lost all my connections with the world outside of my home. The loss of friends and family was devastating for all of us, but they wouldn't let me dwell on it.
The last news I heard across the radio was regarding the quarantine of our entire nation, the large outbreak of the contaminated, and that other nations are not allowed to enter or help anyone leave the country until the quarantine has ended. This means no support, no hope and no escape, every person for themselves. The quarantine felt like a death sentence to those of us left alive, what little spark of hope dissipated immediately. This news gave birth to the final burst of true chaos. What was once disorder, riots, theft, and crime; was now unspeakable behavior. What was a World War has become an isolated fight for survival for those of us left on land, and while I am thankful to still be here; it's a harsh environment that I did not ever want to be forced to live in. It's not my choice, but I want to fight for my life and a better future.
It's getting dark outside, and I know that I must find shelter soon. It is too dangerous to be on the move after dark, because I may be found by Will'ers, wild animals on the hunt, or slave traders that may cross my path. I've no idea if I am getting close to this village, if it even exists. I have no choice but to keep walking in hopes that going north will lead me to civilization soon. As I approach a tight grouping of trees and bushes, I decide that this is where I will camp out for the night and try to get some sleep.
Then as I start to sit down, I hear the snapping of twigs on the ground off into the distance. I toss my bag down onto the ground behind a tree and quickly pull out my bow and arrow in hopes that it is an animal approaching. I'm starving and as much as I hate taking life, I know there isn't a choice as I am in serious need of food. I crouched down by the tree just waiting, my hunger beginning to take control. After a couple of minutes without hearing any sounds, I decided it was time to start walking towards the area that I thought I heard the noise coming from, which I normally wouldn't take that kind of risk. I tried to stay low to the ground as I searched cautiously, but after a few minutes of looking it was clear that if it were an animal, then it has moved on. My stomach growled at me with rage, as I lowered my bow. I'm pretty sure if it were a bear my stomach growled so loud that it would scare it away at this point.
Revelation of Raelia: Book One Page 1
