The Calamity

3 years ago, the world was perfect. The entire human population had finally come to their senses and made a change to the harmful way they had been living. Phones, computers, TVs, and other electronic devices were donated to local ‘Environmental Improvement’ storehouses to be used in other ways to benefit the ecosystem. Weapons of any kind were made illegal and destroyed, getting rid of drugs, alcohol, and other toxic items as well. Instead of cars, people walked or rode bikes to get from place to place. Animal species that had once been nearly extinct rose in numbers, and the forests that had been ruined were restored. Cancer had been cured, global warming had been put to a stop, the world was thriving, and mankind as we know it had never been more peaceful and united one with another. 

Yet, all good things must come to an end. 

Near the beginning of the year 2130, chaos erupted. The first round of disasters we now call the Calamity raged all over the world. Tornadoes ripped city buildings from their roots and tossed them away as if they weighed nothing. Enormous sandstorms had buried towns in mere minutes. Earthquakes split open the ground, leaving destruction in their wake. Massive thunderstorms accompanied by deadly lightning strikes brought even more suffering and loss. Families were torn apart by the uproar of tragedies. More than half of the entire population were killed by the horrific events. The world was in ruins and the people left living were helpless, fearful, and disoriented.

A few people who had been in higher status jobs, before the Calamity stepped up to lead the others. They automatically became the life source to the rest of the population. When another round of minor storms hit the leaders concluded that everyone needed to find some sort of shelter. Safe houses were constructed but had limited capacity. Anyone who was severely injured, sick, disabled, or elderly would often be declined entry for being flawed. People thought only the healthiest and strongest of people, the Faultless, should be saved. Small groups of rejected people found shelters and gathered together. Many of the so-called flawed people died not being able to fend for themselves.

In the end, it was the lack of supplies that caused the rejected people to go insane. When the supplies were running dangerously low a few brave souls would venture out to find more, only to realize that the Faultless had the items they needed. More and more fights broke out among people, often ending in serious injuries or death. Many started becoming mentally unstable from both their traumatic experiences and the actions of aggressiveness. They slowly turned into bloodthirsty monsters, desperate to do anything to keep themselves alive. With people acting this way, anyone who went out and braved the outside world would rarely come back. If the abnormal storms and weather conditions didn’t kill you the hardly human Prowlers would. Nevertheless, the human race was ready to fight for their survival no matter the cost. They believed the Calamity was over, but it wasn’t. It was only just beginning.

“He hasn’t come back yet,” Alec whispers worriedly as he looks through the makeshift peephole, “Why hasn’t he come back?!”

Harper glances up at her friend from her uncomfortable position on the floor. She studies the black-haired boy as he stares out into the distance. It’s only a few minutes past the time Miles said he’d be back from scavenging. Alec is quietly muttering something to himself, wiping his teary eyes as he does so. Sighing, Harper grabs her poorly made crutch from the floor beside her and slowly stands up.

“Hey,” She says softly as she walks up to Alec, “Everything is going to be fine.”

Alec flinches as Harper gently puts her small hand on his forearm. The boy turns to her, his eyes misty with tears. He sniffs, quickly rubbing his eyes, and then moves away from the blonde-haired girl.

“You don’t know that,” Alec states dejectedly.

Harper frowns as she leans forward on her tiptoes to brush a stray piece of hair out of his face. They make eye contact for a millisecond before Alec begins to turn back to the spot he had been standing at for at least half an hour. Harper immediately stops him by grabbing his wrist. 

“Listen to me, Alec,” Harper says.

Alec does nothing to resist. All he does is stare down at the girl, his green eyes brimming with emotion. For a moment Harper hesitates, getting lost in those mesmerizing pools of molten emerald. Harper realized she must have been staring for a bit longer than she would have liked when Alec shifted his gaze away, his cheeks tinted pink. Harper giggles quietly and gently lets go of Alec’s wrist, finally speaking up.

“Miles may not be able to hear as well as others, but he knows what he’s doing. He was living alone before we met him and doing just fine in that matter. He’s smart, Alec, there’s no need for you to underestimate his abilities.”

Alec nudged the ground with his shoe, wringing his hands nervously, “But what if something did happen? What if Miles is out there being ripped apart by a bunch of those Prowlers-”

A flash of movement from outside caught Harper’s eye. She cautiously makes her way over to the peephole. Even if it was Miles getting back from scavenging, you could never be too careful. Peering out into the bright sunlight Harper searches for what caused the movement.

“Alec…”

Alec snaps his head up, his eyes are wide with fear, “Oh my gosh, the Prowlers! We should have never let Miles outside. It’s not safe. We need to go find him-”

“Alec! Shut up!”

The rambling boy stops mid-sentence. Harper never yells at anyone, especially not him. Harper watches from the corner of her eye as Alec furrows his brow in confusion.

“H-Harper?” Alec asks, “What are you doing?”

Instead of giving the boy an answer, she quickly stumbles over to him. Harper could barely walk with how bad she was shaking. Her mind was screaming at her to say something, but she couldn’t. The shock was too much to handle. She frantically tugs on Alec’s shirt sleeve, trying to get him to move.

“What the heck? Is something wrong?”

A deafening screeching fills the air, coming from outside the wall of rubble. It echos through the tunnel, making their ears ache almost instantly.

“We need to get out of here,” The terrified girl cries, “NOW!

As if on cue a bloody, calloused hand claws its way through the small hole in the tunnel wall. More hands begin to protrude from the debris, each as gruesome as the first. The bloodcurdling screeches getting louder as the insane remains of the human rejects dig their way toward Harper and Alec. Harper pulls on Alec’s arm, begging him to follow her. A look of pure terror plasters itself upon the boy’s face as he finally registers what the horrible creatures are. Prowlers. He stumbles backward, letting out a short yelp. Harper helps balance him the best she can as she grabs his hand.

“Alec come on!” She screams as small pieces of rubble start raining down on them.

The pair start making their way down the tunnel as fast as they can, Harper falling behind quickly. Behind them, the Prowlers are beginning to squirm their way in. The screams of the insane humans making Harper’s heart skip a beat. She looks back to see the creatures gaining on her. She turns to keep moving but her leg catches on an old wire. She cries out in agony as she tumbles to the dirt-covered floor, slamming her head against the ground. Harper groans in pain. Her vision goes fuzzy and a loud ringing pulsing in her ears. She faintly hears a boy’s voice yelling her name. A warm liquid drips down the side of her face. Dazed, she lifts a hand to her head, pulling it back to see it covered in blood. Her own blood.

An abrupt movement snaps Harper out of her disoriented state. Alec is standing next to her attempting to help her up. The boy glances up and then quickly stops his actions, grabbing her crutch from the ground a few feet away from them. 

“Harper look out!” He screams.

Harper turns to see a Prowler lunging toward her. She screams as the monster rips its claw-like nails into her exposed skin. The Prowler lets out a deep, gurgling growl as it tears into Harper’s already injured leg. Harper shrieks, trying to kick the ugly creature away from her. A sudden force sends the Prowler tumbling off of Harper. She turns to see Alec holding her crutch, his green eyes wide and face pale.

Harper looks up at the taller boy as he hurries toward her, dropping her crutch. He hesitates as she softly says to leave her and save himself. Tears pool in her eyes as the pain gets worse. The adrenaline beginning to slip away. She groans again leaning onto Alec for support.

The boy quickly shakes his head his eyes determined as he wraps his arms under her torso and legs to lift her up. He takes off, barely fast enough to stay away from the screaming Prowlers. Harper grits her teeth, whimpering as Alec runs, the harsh motions sending flares of pain through her leg. She looks to see the Prowlers still chasing after them, their gruesome faces scarred and bloody. Harper’s body feels like it’s on fire, every bone, and nerve aches. Her vision slowly begins to blur as her adrenaline leaves and exhaustion sets in. Alec was saying something but she couldn’t hear him. The ringing noise fills her ears once again. Spots dance in front of her eyes, temping her to lose consciousness. She tries to resist, but it’s no use, she’s already drifting off, the darkness overcoming her.

Harper awakens to pure agony. Her head is pounding so hard against her skull she swears it would shatter into tiny pieces. She attempts to move her leg but she can’t. She can feel the burning pain but the muscles aren’t responding. She turns her head to see her friend sitting next to her, working on making a new crutch. The boy glances up at her from his work, a wave of happiness washing over his face.

“Oh my gosh!” Alec huffs out a breath of relief, “I was scared you weren’t ever going to wake up.”

The blonde girl groans in response, reaching out to smack the taller boy on the arm.

“Death would have been better than this,” She says gesturing to her leg and head. Alec laughs and leans over to help her sit up. After a few minutes of struggling, Harper finally ends up sitting against a rock. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

 “Harper?”

Harper opens her eyes to look at Alec. He’s looking down at the ground, fidgeting his hands in his lap. A clear sign that he’s scared about something.

“Yeah?”

He looks up, biting his lip nervously. His eyes shift to stare at something behind Harper. When she turns to look he leans forward to grab her hand. She stares at the boy, her brow furrowed. He takes a deep breath, his eyes fluttering shut.

“I’m so sorry.”

Something stabs Harper in her upper arm. Confused, she looks down to see a needle filled with a dark liquid injecting into her bloodstream. She quickly spins around, ignoring the pain from her wounds. She can feel the consciousness leaking out of her body. All her energy draining instantly. Everything is numb and fuzzy. Harper is finally able to focus on the figure that had snuck up behind her. A surge of heat makes its way through Harper’s body. Her body convulses violently, slumping weakly to the ground.

“M-Miles?” She whispers, “W-what?”

The boy grins.

“Don’t worry,” He coos softly, “You’ll know soon… very soon.”