The Wastlings

The world has been in a post-apocalyptic state since March 23, 2020, everyone thought the minor two weeks of school would be fine and the Covid virus would dissipate. However, it mutated, turning people who caught it into flesh-eating monsters. They would look completely normal until they attempted to talk, which would be groans of someone who is no longer there. They attack you and attempt to get under your skin, you can survive a bite from one, however, if you die, you will immediately get the virus. The monsters are most famously called wastlings. They are called this since they consume everything they can find and it becomes dust that cannot be recycled.

The first few days that it mutated, everything seemed normal except for a few people. When people started to take off their masks, the virus would infect their bodies. Places with a dense population were the first to collapse, the wastlings ate through the entire building’s walls and collapsed on themselves. Since then, the only known way to dispose of the wastlings is to burn them or cut their hearts. If their blood is not circulating, they die. New York City had the first case and was also the first to fall.

The way I have lived through this is through a government bunker called Security Permanency. It has blast-proof walls with a 10-layer metal door. The first day was entirely too difficult, we ran out of room in the bunker and had to leave over 100 people to die of the virus. Recently, the wastlings were able to reach the weakest point in the wall, they have been eating through the wall. The workers here have been prepping us for the worst-case scenario, we have finished gun training and now are doing regular workouts to keep us in check. They say we have about one and a half days left here, then we are stuck in the real world. But now, it’s time to rest.

“Get out of the bunker now! I will lead you out, you have everything, right?” says Lieutenant Walker through an earpiece.

“Yes! Of course, I have everything, they have been training us for weeks now. Why aren’t you coming with me? You need to escape as well!” I say with urgency.

“The information that is downloaded on your tablet will guide you out and show you the nearest place with supplies to help you survive the next few weeks, then you’re on your own,” replies Lieutenant Walker.

I check my tablet and see a map with my location on it, I quickly run out of the building and notice no one was behind me. I try to ask Lieutenant Walker if he made it out, but it is only muffled screams coming from the inside of the bunker. No one else made it out. I walk outside of the last barrier and see a baby blue sky with the sun shining in the distance. It seems without humanity, the world became a better place than before. I see a wastlings in the distance, he is gnawing on a car and making a trail of dust behind him. I look at the city, which to my surprise is still standing after all this time, an entire 3 years of wastlings walking around with no choice but to eat everything in its path. I began to walk to the city of Houston, Texas. I walk towards the road and see a run-down car with keys attached to it. It has a note from Lieutenant Walker which explains that there is a supply cache in the city, hidden under the biggest building there, the JPMorgan Chase building. According to the guide, it was once a bank, now turned into a shell of a building.

I drove up to the outer area of the city, they told me it would be filled with the wastlings and buildings on the verge of collapsing. However, I am met with empty buildings and no living being in sight. I hope that Houston cleared out, but I don’t think that is the case. I walk up to the first building I see. I open the door and I see nothing. I enter the building to see a person laying on the floor. I walk up to the person with a dagger in hand and try to wake it, I see a stab wound in the back of it, right where its heart would be. I know this was one of the wastlings because they taught us that they can only be killed by fire and by stopping blood circulation. I walk up the stairs carefully, praying to not see one of them. I see a door and I open it, what lies there is beyond belief. There is a wastling with a bite mark on its arm, it attempts to attack me but instead I stab it in the heart, releasing it of its urges to consume. I ran out of the building, shaking after what I just saw. I run towards the car and get in, praying I never have to do anything like that again.