The apocalypse wrecked havoc on the earth, destroying almost all living creatures on it. With every plant burnt down; the ecosystem changed. The earth was filled with excess carbon dioxide and this was harmful to the remaining creatures that survived. The last of animals fell to this plague of poisonous gases, while humans in order to survive evolved into three species: Treetans, Sapiens and Cannibals. Treetans are human-plant species that evolved; they have irregular shapes and needs carbon dioxide for survival, Sapiens are leftover human species that survived while the Cannibals are species that evolved from starvation after the apocalypse.
Treetans and Cannibals share common instinct, hence they hunt for survival – mainly Sapiens. While Sapiens – the last of civilization – stayed away from Treetans and Cannibals by taking refuge in three cities: Beckon City, Vetali City and Neruda Camp.
**
"Darling, get the kids ready, we need to move!" James said as he dashed down the stairs.
"James, have you called your brother?" Amanda inquired.
"Yes, honey; he said he is on his way!" James yelled as the warning sound from the outpost blared continuously.
Amanda came downstairs with Josh and Angela. Josh is a six year old boy and Angela – an eighteen year old girl; with both carrying a bag strapped on their shoulders.
James kissed Amanda and Angela on the forehead and squatted before Josh, staring into his eyes,
"Little man, we have to move!" James said.
"But I don't want to run away, outside is poisonous!" Josh said with a tearful tone.
"Don't worry my boy; you would be fine if you put your oxygen mask on!" James said handing him a mask and pressed his shoulder softly.
Then James motioned at Angela to put her mask on.
"Is Uncle Nathan coming?" Angela asked as she wears the mask.
"Yes, my love!" Amanda said as she held Angela's hand.
"He would be here – in …" James said staring at his watch.
Then a frenzied knock erupted from the door. James quickly pulled a short gun out from his pocket and walked towards the door with the rest of the family cowering and trailing behind him.
"Who is there?" James asked.
"It's me – Nathan! Open up!" Nathan blurted.
As James swing the door open, Nathan rushed in with both men forcing the door closed simultaneously.
Then James hugged Nathan compassionately;
"Where is Mrs. Wood and Abby?" James asked.
"Sarah was de-carbonated by the Treetans while Abby – oh! Little Abby was torn into threads before my eyes by those motherfucking Cannibals!" Nathan said as he tries to fight back tears.
"So sorry; man!" James said touching Nathan's shoulder. Then, Nathan burst out in tears.
"I am a coward! I just couldn't stand and fight or even die for my family! What am I living for?" Nathan yelled weeping on James shoulder.
"Put yourself together – little brother! Everything would be ok!" James said as he stands Nathan up.
Behind the two men were Amanda, Angela and Josh in tears.
"Bro, you brought the stock?" James inquired.
"Yes – I did!" Nathan said bending to unzip an oblong bag on the floor and at that instant a spear impaled the door and missed his head. With Amanda and the kids screaming, James shouted;
"We need to move now; through the back door!" Quickly they all ran towards the back door.
At the garage close to the back door, they stacked their bags into the car.
"Now listen everyone, outside this garage is chaos and we need to escape it. Beckon City – our home – has been invaded by Treetans and Cannibals and our defense has fallen. So I need everyone to be brave!" James said and paused staring at everyone's faces.
"Nathan! You would cover up for us! Angela – you and Josh would seat at the backseat and once Uncle Nathan clears the way, you would open the door for him. Amanda – you would sit beside me; ride or die, baby!" James said as he pulled Amanda towards himself and kissed her.
"Gross!" Josh said looking away.
"Trying to make me jealous lover boy? It's time to go!" Nathan said tapping James on the back. Everyone got into the car except Nathan. Then, James drove out of the garage brushing aside the door; Cannibals rushed the car with Nathan shooting at them from his hideout in the garage.
At the centre of the compound, James turned swiftly and halted;
"Come – on! Nathan let's go!" James shouted beckoning on Nathan.
Nathan ran towards the car swiftly but was stopped by crawling Cannibals, he quickly pulled his gun out and shot but another pushed him down from behind and they engaged in a scuffle on the ground. James quickly came down, rushed towards them and cut off the head of the cannibal. He pulled Nathan up and both men ran into the car and zoomed off.
**
"Where are we heading to?" Nathan asked.
"We are going to Vetali City; there we would take refuge." James replied.
"You brought the Map and compass – huh!" James inquired.
"Yes, look out!" Nathan shouted.
James quickly swerved; dodging a handful of foot Cannibals feasting on dead Sapiens, but he ran over one at the hind and the car jerked as it climbed over it.
At a bend, they were joined by other motorists – survivals of Beckon City – trying to escape out of the city. James and the other motorists drove towards the city gate in columns of three. At dispersed area's sight of Treetans sucking air out of their prey – Sapiens – was visible with the lifeless body being feasted upon by Cannibals. At the sight of the line of escapees, the host of Treetans and Cannibals gave an ululation.
With James and the host of motorists drawing close to the city's gate, behind them was a handful of Sapiens fighting against the Treetans and Cannibals; Angela quickly shut Josh's eyes with tears rolling down her cheek as the carnage was unbearable.
Few feet's away from the city gates was a host of Treetans and Cannibals barricading the gate. Then James and the other motorists stopped, the last car on the line was picked up and smashed on the ground by a giant Treetan. The host at the gate gave a loud cry, Treetans and foot Cannibals charged towards them from all directions. Then engine roared with many motorists turning around and dispatching in diverse directions.
James quickly turned right and sped off. James maneuvered from Treetans and crushed Cannibals as he tries to find an alternate route out of the city.
Treetans started shooting spikes from their body which killed many motorists. With James triggering the shield mechanism on his car; the windscreen and all other screens on the car was shielded with aluminium and the tire shield of aluminium was also activated.
Nathan quickly used a small outlet close to the boot of the car to shoot down Cannibals. With James trying to escape, the number of motorists with him was now a handful.
Then close to an opening in the city wall was a Treetan accompanied by a large number of venomous Cannibals.
"Nathan! Once I get close enough, you know what to do!" James said flashing a glance at Nathan who nodded.
Then, James sped towards the Treetan and Cannibals, with some Cannibals running towards him and hopped on top of his car. He charged very close to the Treetan and screeched; swinging the cars behind at the barricading Treetan, and then Nathan quickly pulled out a grenade and threw it at the Treetan at that instant James moved the car away and parked at a safe distance. The Treetan, the wall and many Cannibals blew up in flames.
Nathan withdrew his gun from the opening to reload it, then a venomous Cannibal crawling on the roof of the car, pierced Nathan's hand with a spear. Nathan shouted in pain struggling with the Cannibal and Amanda quickly crawled through the car and blow the Cannibal's head open. Nathan fell on the seat writhing in pain as James roared the engine and drove through the broken wall; he was followed by three motorists with the others being trapped by venomous Cannibal.
**
"The invasion of Beckon City is a great threat to the existence of the Sapiens specie…
Any surviving Sapiens – escapees – from the fallen Beckon City should find their way to Vetali City within the next seven days after which the city gates would be locked permanently. From Vetali City; Jane brooks, Sky news." James hesitantly switched off the stereo.
"Dad, I am hungry!" Josh cried out as Angela yawns.
"My little man – we won't be able to eat like before out here, but I promise you once we get to Vetali, we would!" James replied assuringly.
"Hey buddy! How are you holding up?" James asked.
"Trying not to lose an arm!" Nathan responded as he adjusted his position carefully with his left arm bandaged and strapped from his right shoulders.
"We are running out of fuel! Honey, the map! Any fueling stations close by?" James said flashing a glance at Amanda.
"Yes; some 8Km away!" Amanda replied.
At the fourth bend on the highway, a little further, was the sign post of a fueling station. James pulled over at the station and himself and Nathan stepped out.
"Nate! I think this place looks odd!" James said darting his eyes around the premises.
"Yeah, look at that!" Nathan said pointing at a sign post; on it was written "SAPIENS ZONE – KEEP OFF" with a corroded red paint.
"James; may be the Sapiens here has fled to Vetali."
"I hope so!" James exhaled.
James pressed the operating lever of the dispensing machine, but it was jammed, he exerted more force and the operating lever trigger jerked backwards and broke with fuel rushing out from the nozzle.
After some minutes, a sound of scampered feet's was heard at the station's house.
"James; you hear that?" Nathan asked as he cracked his gun.
"Yes – I did!"
From the front door of the station house, a large number of foot Cannibals charged towards them; Nathan shot at them, while James positioned the nozzle of the discharging fuel towards them and he and Nathan quickly ran into the car. At a safe distance, Nathan shot at the station; James drove out of the station and behind them were flames engulfing the station.
After the day's journey, the car got down with a punctured tire. James managed it to a safe distance and pulled over. Everyone alighted from the car.
James was working on the right tire, when Josh shouted,
"Mummy, there is a stream over there!" Josh pointed at a valley.
"Can I have my bathe? Please, mummy – I am itching!" Josh pleaded expectantly.
"Finally – done!" James said raising himself up.
"James, can we?" Amanda asked flashing her gaze towards the visible stream.
James stood for a while and flashed a grin;
"Ok; Everyone to the pool!" Amanda mused.
"Yes!" Josh and Angela shouted running quickly down the steep.
"Nate! Are you coming along?" James asked.
"Nope! I think I would just stroll around the vicinity." Nathan said as he started walking towards the opposite direction.
"Ok. Remember to return in time!" James shouted. Amanda walked towards James, kissed him; he quickly scooped her from the floor and ran towards the stream.
**
As Nathan was crawling onto the highway, he saw some Cannibals around their parked car and he quickly hid himself.
After some time, the Cannibals left the car and walked towards the direction of the stream. Nathan quickly ran to the car; there he found that the compass and the stereo were gone. He took his gun from the car and trailed the Cannibals.
At the stream, James was tied clumsily; bundled on the floor, Amanda was being fondled by a Cannibal some feet's away from him, to his disgust, while Josh and Angela was tied together at a corner away from the encircled James and Amanda.
Jeers were erupting from Cannibals from the fondling of Amanda by their leader. The returning Cannibal scout joined the group and presented the recovered item to their leader.
He sniffed the items, bleated and roared with laughter and was joined by the other Cannibals. Nathan silently crawled towards Josh and Angela, freed them and ordered them to crawl to the car.
Then, Nathan took a good position behind a boulder and shot the leader on the head. The group was thrown into frenzy as they ran towards different directions. Nathan continued firing as Amanda and James took cover behind another boulder close to him. Then, the Cannibals started charging towards his direction, he threw two double barreled gun towards James and Amanda and fired gallantly at the on rushing throng, with Amanda untying James; they both joined in shooting down the Cannibals ad more Cannibals started coming from the valley,
"James, I want you and Amanda to go!" Nathan shouted.
"We can't leave you here – Nate!" James replied.
"If you don't, we all would die. Think about Josh and Angela!" Nathan said.
With that James and Amanda withdrew from the valley, at a distance away, they saw Nathan being devoured by the Cannibals as he fought gallantly.
When they got into the car,
"What about Uncle Nathan!" Angela asked.
James roared the engine – Amanda couldn't help a stray tear from rolling down her cheek and Josh and Angela burst out crying – and drove off.
***
After a three days journey, James drove towards a colossal gate and stopped. On top of the gate was written "Vetali City" and on both side of the gate were brick walls. From within stood a watch tower,
"Honey, we are here – it's Vetali City!" James said cheerfully.
"We finally made it!" Amanda replied.
"Dad – are we going to stay here permanently?" Josh asked.
"Yes – little man. This is our new home!"
"This place looks haunted. I have a bad feeling about this place. It's creepy!" Angela said looking uneasily.
"Oh, come – on Angel; stop imagining things!" James admonished.
"But honey – she might be right! This place looks deserted. Look!" Amanda said pointing at the watch tower.
"Remember, this is the sixth day! Maybe the city is throwing a party for survivors from the invasion at Beckon City!" James said smiling.
"Or maybe this place has also been invaded!" Angela scoffs folding her hands.
"Honey, don't be pessimistic! I know we are safe. It's just that it's hard to forget the horror we have been through these past six days!" Amanda said sobbing.
"Honey, everything would be fine." James said.
James horned for a while and no one responded.
"Honey, let me go and open the gate. Remember if anything goes wrong like what Angel predicts, leave without me. But hey! We are safe!" James said grinning as he winked at Angela.
"James – just be careful!" Amanda said.
James walked up to the gate, banged it for a while and then forced it open. He pushed the left arm of the gate backwards, and then moved to the right arm; then both arms of the gate were parallel to each other. He stood close to the right arm and waved joyfully to Amanda to drive in.
At that instant, a Treetan emerged from behind the gate unknown to James, took his oxygen mask off and sucked him to death. Then Cannibals ran towards him and started feeding on him.
Amanda screamed, and as she was about roaring the car's engine, a spear passed through the car's windscreen and pierced her chest and she died.
A throng of Cannibals and Treetans charged towards the car; Angela quickly held Josh tightly as they both screamed and cried with the leading Cannibal pulling Amanda out of the car…