Chapter 1
The night is over, dawn is about to break. A man who calls himself Leion wakes up and from the ground covered with leaves which he has made as his bed, he stood up. The wind blows upon his face, chilly as it is still early. He carefully looked around to check for anything that is moving. He spent the night behind a big boulder which he barricaded with branches of trees, he made a little tent and made a campfire. He took a last bite of what he had last night, a meat of unknown creature which he had barbecued. He put out the fire and gathered his things and started walking. A sniper rifle, a handgun, a hunting knife and in his bag, a GPS device, a canteen (water bottle) and 2 shots of unknown medicine which he intent to use in case of emergency. As he walks, he checks for his ammo, he’s almost out. He checked his GPS, he didn’t look for his location, he peeked for the day.
"It’s Sunday. How long has it been? How many days have passed? What happened to this world? What happened to everyone?"
These are the questions lingering on his mind as he travels through the desert like place. It’s amazing how ones body adopts to the situation. He stopped for a second. He touched his calves and legs. It seems that he’s becoming stronger from all the running and jumping and walking, from all the fighting. Or maybe the creature’s meat really help. Ever since he stepped his foot to this land, that meat has been his staple food. At first he was hesitant, what if it’s poisonous, but for one who’s trying to survive, anything that can help will do.
He started walking again, he needs to find a safe place before the sun sets. He’s walking with great alertness, he can’t let his guard down. The world is at chaos and no, this is not the post apocalyptic world, it’s not like in the movies, this is different. People have become savage of reason still unknown. Before he came to this desert, he passed by a small city in which he has taken down countless lives, he has no choice, he has to survive. He fought alongside with other survivors who are also trying to find The Place. Many didn’t make it, some went along different routes. There was one person whom he considered his partner, it was Lesoh. Before stepping to this land, they agreed to track each other. Lesoh went southward looking for equipment and Leion went eastward looking for the next city were they can find a clue were The Place is.
As Leion travels this somewhat endless horizon, these creatures attack him. One jumped at him, he reacted by jumping sideways then he lunges forward, a deep stab to the back of the neck, that is their weak spot. The creature fell dead. Another creature attacked him from behind, Leion parried the attack by his sniper rifle then a quick dash forward, a deep stab to the back of the neck, the animal fell down. He fought these creatures like this ever since he went to this place. It will be easier if he just shoot them down but he’s conserving ammo.
He continued walking until he saw himself at the foot of a small valley, it will be quick just to go around it but he decided to go up. He wanted to have a birds eye view of what lies ahead of him. He saw a small camp. He looked through the scope of his rifle, the camp seems empty. He waited just to be sure. He looked again through the scope of his rifle, no one is in there. He decided to check what’s in there. He’s hoping he can get some ammo and more water or better, a map leading to The Place. As he gets closer to the camp, he heard a sound, motorbikes. Three motorbikes are fast approaching him. He looked through his rifle’s scope.
"Bandits.”
One can tell right away. They wear mask with distinguishing symbol. Three motorbikes with 2 bandits each, it’s one versus 6. If Leion is good at close encounters, he’s better at long range fighting, he’s great marksman. He took a quick look around the area before aiming his rifle. The bandits are coming from around the valley by his right side. The motorbike closest to the valley has no other room to go around but just to come straight at him, it will be an easy target later. If they bandits are smart enough then they would come at him at different sides. If he shoots the one farthest from the valley, it will give him just enough time to adjust before the motorbike at the middle decides to go around. He aimed his riffle and shoots the driver killing also the bandit behind it. One down. Just as he anticipated, the middle one decided to go around. This time he aimed for the one closest to the valley who is coming straight at him. He took a deep breath, fixed his aim and shoots. Two down. He now aimed for the last one. A deep breath. Just as he aims his rifle, he sensed that the air was different. He instinctively jumped to the right.
"Swoosh! Clang"
A sound of machete hitting a rock was hear. Leion managed to dodge the attack.There were two bandits who sneaked behind him. He quickly draws his pistol, he shot the attacker to the head. The other bandit has a gun. Leion quickly jumped and rolled behind a boulder. The bandit fired at Leion, good thing the boulder is thick enough, the bullets didn’t penetrate. Leion fired back, a shot to the knee, the bandit fell on his knees. Leion fired another shot, this time to the head. Leion then looked behind him but he was to late. The last bandits on the motorbike got closer. The one who is driving swung a machete which Leion had dodge but the other bandit managed to trip him using a whip. Leion fell down. The bandits attacked. Leion was ready to fire a shot.
"Click! Click!”
The barrel is empty, there was no time to reload. He quickly threw his gun at the bandit’s face but the bandit was able to block it with the machete. Everything happened so fast. The bandit took a large back swing, about to strike Leion.
“Maybe this is it. I thought I could find The Place. Is this where it all ends?”
In Leion’s mind, he did what he can. He heard another vehicle sound, fast approaching. This is really it.
"Thud!!"
He felt nothing. He once heard that a person who is at the last seconds of his life experience no more pain, it’s true then. Suddenly he heard a voice.
"Yo, get up!
He didn’t know what happened. He’s trying to understand what is going on. He then smiled. It’s Lesoh. Lesoh ran over the bandits saving Leion.
"Get up, you can’t die yet. You’ll still help me find The Place!"
"Ha! No, you will help me find The Place. And why are you late!?"
They both laughed. Leion got up. They searched the camp and found some ammo which they loaded to the armored vehicle that Lesoh got when he traveled to the south. They checked their GPS and located a nearby city. They headed to the city’s direction. They must reach the city before they ran out of fuel. They saw the city from afar, it’s like a fortress. The city is heavily gated. Before they reached the city, they saw another small camp. Lesoh looked through his binoculars and made sure that no one is in that camp. It’s empty. They searched the camp and except for the creatures that they easily killed, no one is there. They also found nothing except for two statue like items with rubies embedded to it. They can easily spot that these items are of high value. They took it but not for it’s value but because it might be useful. Survivors like them have no time to think about wealth or treasures, their goal is to find The Place. They continued to travel until they reached the front of the city.
"City of Karu"
They got off the vehicle and headed to the front gate. The city not only heavily gated but also heavily guarded. Leion and Lesoh introduced themselves. They are survivors trying to locate The Place and asked the guards if they can find shelter in the city. The guards didn’t respond. Both survivors again asked the guards if they can enter the city and that they are not bandits. No response from the guards. Leion whispered something to Lesoh. Lesoh went to the vehicle and took something. Lesoh handed to Leion an item. Then they both presented the items to the guards, the statue like items that they got from the small camp.
"Welcome to the City of Karu! Feel free to explore the city but before you do that, both of you must talk to the Elder first."
One of the guards escorted them to the Elder. They were brought to the Elder’s office. They saw the Elder which is weirdly, a kid. Before they get to say something, the Elder spoke.
"Welcome to the City of Karu. I’m Elder. I was informed that you are looking for The Place. Unfortunately the city’s satellite connection was cut off due to the chaos that is happening and I cannot update your GPS. However, I can update your GPS so you can locate the next city and maybe they have information about The Place."
They both thanked the Elder and handed their GPS to the Elder. The Elder smiled.
"Uh uh! Information is not free. Remember the statue-like items that you gave the guards before they let you in? Those are the city’s treasure. Long time ago, bandits were able to enter this city and took our treasure. Little did they know that those items are useless if you do not know how to use them but they are great treasures if you know the city’s secret. Upon realizing that they cannot use the items, they dumped our treasure every where outside the city. These items have tracking device. I will update your GPS so you can locate there items and once you find enough, I will update both of your GPS to locate the next city and for the information that you need, I will ask you to bring me 5 of those items."
Before Leion and Lesoh left the Elder’s office, they were given some kind of an ID card which serves as a pass so they can enter and leave the city freely.
Both of them started the scavenger hunt. It will be faster if they will split and just meet at the front of the city once that they have gathered enough items. After almost an hour of searching, Leion got 3. He called Lesoh which also found 3. They meet at the front of the city then they headed to the Elder’s office. The Elder smiled with delight.
"Hmm you got me an extra one. For that, I will give you access to our armory. Give me your GPS and I will update it so you can have a map of the next nearby city.”
Finally, their GPS are updated. Next thing they want to go is to the armory of the city. They are being escorted to the armory when Leion heard a sound.
"Beep! Beep! Beep"
Leion checked his surrounding, no, there’s no bomb. There are no enemies but suddenly he started running. He shouted to Lesoh.
"I’ll meet you in the next city!"
Lesoh acknowledged. Leion keeps on running, he’s looking for something.
"Come on, every city has that thing."
And then he found it. A some kind of device similar to a computer. He pressed the blue button. After a few seconds the monitor displayed a message.
"Game saved..."
Then the man got off the couch and shutdown his game console. He looked at his phone that is still beeping. It’s 9 pm. He dismissed the alarm that is beeping “Bed time”, he has work tomorrow. He went to his kids’ room and saw his two boys peacefully sleeping, he kissed their forehead. He went to another room and saw his wife just finished putting the baby to sleep. He kissed their baby girl, he kissed his wife and held her hand and went to bed. His wife smiled at him. Before the closed his eyes he took another look at their baby and his wife and then he said to himself...
"This is The Place."
