#VisDare 48 : Beneath

The films showed me what I’d learned from the books and journals I’d read. They told the history of the end of the world that was.

The cities went insane, with men hunting women, using them as sex toys, then discarding them. The military tried to restore order, but they had too few guns, and too few members.

The women fought back, shooting men on sight. Blood ran through the streets of the cities. The chaos spread from the cities, to the towns, through the world.

Surviving city men formed gangs and became “The Hordes”, collecting women for recreation, and population management.

Surviving countryside families found caves to live in. And started digging deeper underground, becoming the cave dwellers.

Small groups of survivors became cannibalistic, formed hunting packs, and became “The Wraiths”.

Isolated survivors gathered in small camps, and started over. Jessica lead the first small camp.

146 Words
@LurchMunster

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This is part 31 in the continuing story I’m working on for Angela Goff’s Visual Dare. Please read the other entries in this week’s Visual Dare challenge.

The entire story, from part 31 to part 1, is located here.

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#VisDare 21 : Diverge

I fired the gun until it stopped working. I hurled myself at the remaining Wraiths, my knives slicing through the air. The fight end.

I remember fire in my ribs as we helped Leighla and the children down. Blood coated Leighla’s side. A boy leaped from the top of the tree. His neck snapped sickeningly as he struck the ground.

I don’t remember how we got to the train. I don’t remember anything else until I woke up two days later in Alice’s home.

I cannot forget the boy’s funeral. We rode a carriage into the forest, pulled the casket out, set it on the ground. Animals gathered and carried it away.

I will always hear Alice as I stared at Leighla encased in bandages. “Countless centuries ago, humans diverged down different evolutionary paths, becoming the Wraiths, the cave dwellers, the hordes, and the new humans of Phoenix.”

148 Words
@LurchMunster

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This is the 17th piece in a continuing story I’m working through for Angela Goff’s Visual Dare. Please read the other entries in this week’s Visual Dare challenge.

#VisDare 20 : Climbing

Before we left the house I heard Alice in my head, “Leighla! Where are you?”

“Here! We’re here!” I saw Leighla looking down on a group of Wraiths.

“We’re on our way, Leighla.” Alice raced from the house. I followed through the dark, to a large tree in a nearby field. Several children were in the tree. Leighla was on a large branch, clinging to the tree.

Alice stopped, pointing to the area around the tree. I saw six Wraiths around the tree. Alice shook her head, “We’ve never fought that many before.”

I smiled at her. “Doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”

She pulled out her gun, flipped a switch on it. I heard it hum. I did the same. Alice went to the left, I went to the right. I heard her in my head, “When I say, start shooting at the Wraiths.”

145 Words
@LurchMunster

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This is the 16th piece in a continuing story I’m working through for Angela Goff’s Visual Dare. Please read the other entries in this week’s Visual Dare challenge.

#VisDare 19 : Mirror

That night I slept on the sofa again. During the middle of the night, Alice woke me. “Leighla’s in trouble.”

I didn’t let her ask me, “How can I help?”

Alice hugged me, “We have to hurry.” She grabbed my hand and we raced back to the train station. We got on the same train that we’d ridden before, but this time there were supplies and weapons in the car. Alice started arming herself. I did the same. “These aren’t guns like you think.” I pulled out a gun. It’s barrel was solid, with no hole bored in it. “They shoot beams of particles.”

As we rode, I asked, “Is it Wraiths?”

Alice nodded. “They have her trapped outside the shack. So far, her shield has protected her.”

When the train stopped, we retraced our steps to the shack, this time stepping out of the mirror, into the room.

149 Words
@LurchMunster

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This is the 15th piece in a continuing story I’m working through for Angela Goff’s Visual Dare. Please read the other entries in this week’s Visual Dare challenge.

#VisDare : Unanswered

The wall turned white. “No, to your unanswered questions.” New scenes started. “Fossil fuels became scarce.” Alice paused, “Countries fought for what was left.” There were huge explosions that left ruined cities everywhere. Dead people were stacked like wood. More people that I could imagine. “Then food became scarce, and people started fighting for what food was left.” People fought for water, meat, fruit, vegetables. “Almost everyone died.”

 

“Some of the survivors moved to the caves.” I saw pictures of a cave like I lived in. “The rest stayed above ground, where they evolved.” There were different kinds of people on the wall. Some like Alice and me. Some were huge, with huge muscles, sharp claws, and nasty, sharp teeth. Some were small, like rats. And some looked like ghosts, with evil, hungry eyes. “The worst are the wraiths. They prey on everything and everyone.”

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This is the 12th piece in a continuing story I’m working through for Angela Goff’s Visual Dare. Please read the other entries in this week’s Visual Dare challenge.