MIST: AFTER THE APOCALYPSE

Prologue;

Prologue- The Beginning

Year 2289, 4th Sun

200 miles south The Catidal of the Demons Countess

The people went inside the lift, which elevated them past the aging rocks before their eyes. Ancient bedrock gave way to younger basalt and finally dirt the closer the lift approached the surface.

The surface... It sounded like a rather strange hope to see the surface again after four hundred years of hiding underground.

According to physicists, the atomic radiation would have lasted for approximately two centuries; therefore, the survivors shut down this very lift that had brought them down, and the means to the surface were hidden away from people. Decades passed. People thrived with what the city provided them with, and all they needed was to keep their kind alive.

To the people born underground, Earth was in pictures or old granny's songs.

The men reached the surface at last. Much to their surprise, it looked nothing like the pictures. They couldn't believe their eyes. These structures that stood tall and provided the green shoots on the ground with shade, what were they called? Trees? And the sky, it was not the bleak snowy-white they were taught about.

The leader slowly took off his mask, took a deep breath. He beamed at his men; the air rushing into his lungs rejuvenated him in a way that their underground stench of petroleum and burning carcasses could not. They couldn't wait to bring everyone up.

People fought against the crowd to exit the lift onto the outside. They looked around in disbelief, their excitement limitless, but none of them knew what they were going to do next. A short man with stern features, whom the leader called Senia, tapped the leader's shoulder whilst holding a thick book he called the book of life. This book was written to the survivors by those who ruled the surface before them to pass on the knowledge of living above ground, or so he claimed.

"Sir, we need a shelter, fire for warmth and water," Senia said.

"And what do you stand around for? Go, command five of your best men to head to the woods." The leader called another man. "Demailo, get your damn cousin and get over here!"

As the short man gathered a group, Demailo approached the leader with his cousin following. He bowed in respect. "Find a water stream," ordered the leader, "don't stray, take what you think can make some clothing. Dawn shouldn't race you, you race the dawn."

Senia asked the leader if they should gather some wood for the fire while they await the hunt. When approved, the former underground dwellers thus made their way to the lands filled with trees and tried to cut some down.

A series of screams cut through the air as they worked down a few of the weakest bushes. It was quickly made clear that some of them were getting attacked in the woods. Those who could, started running back towards their shelter. Once the leader heard the screams, he ordered those who remained with him to open fire and scare away everything that moved. Most of the offenders were hit, some of them fled in every direction in the woods. But all the group could see was their kinsmen who took some of their inexperienced, bad-aimed shooting with horrified faces.

After the leader deemed it safe to move, he pulled the survivors into the woods to investigate the cause of the chaos. He found himself staring at big red eyes, massive, black-furred creatures with bloodied teeth that could have been chewing on half a dozen men at once.

Roars echoed through the forest, causing the men to jump. All too soon, a pack of the creature's surrounded them, blocked every path to freedom. The survivors had no hope; it was too late for them to run away or go back to their shelter.

A few miles far south, people continued to chase after freedom blindly, not knowing what was waiting for them.

The few who survived the attacks cursed their leader for feeding his greedy curiosity to discover the surface rather than keep them safe. Already he felt the weight of their words on his chest. The insults and threats so adamantly cornered his mind that he jumped into the mouth of a beast to find silence.

Just as the animals lunged for the trapped survivors, a booming call froze them mid-leap. The survivors wasted no time ducking out of harm's way only to stumble into a group of strangely-dressed men. One of them carried strange jewels in his palms; he was the one who stepped forward to greet the shaking survivors. "Humans! My word..."

Upon hearing such a booming voice, the wounded men recoiled. Their oldest stepped in front of them in a protective stance, trying to iron the fear out of her voice. "Stand back! Who are you?"

"Oh dear, I would not wish any harm upon my brethren. Men, lower your weapons."

As the rest of the strangers ceased their hostile positions, so did the survivors of the beasts' attack. Their apparent leader offered a hand to help them up, which they refused.

"General One is the name," he announced, "and my fellows and I have been searching for humans since the climax of the Final World War."

This did not sit well with the younger men. "You lot survived the war? And lived for four hundred years afterwards?"

"We were captives, you see. The nation of Tocredal performed confidential experiments on war prisoners. They tried to induce immunity to atomic radiation in us... a concept beyond our conceptions of science then. The results strayed from their expectations quite a bit. We did not age, our bodies sucked up radiation like sponges."

"How?" one of the children asked.

"I do not know to this day, son, but somehow we lived for centuries. And until today, we thought we were the only ones who lived past the war."

A short silence followed General One's comment. It was a mother of three who broke it. "That sounds fair, but General, I must ask; what will happen moving forward?"

"Have a look, come." General One procured a scroll from his colorful garments, unfurling it to reveal a dominant blue that encased patches of yellow and green. Not one of the survivors recognized the contents of the scroll, but General One regarded it with knowing eyes. "This is what the Earth looks like today."

"What?"

"How is this possible?"

"Where did the land go—"

"Be calm."

General One frowned at the man who spoke curtly. "Duke Cress, adjust your tone."

"...yes, sir."

Upon feeling that he was gaining their trust, General One told them about his plans for Earth and showed them a map that looked nothing like the original map from the book of life; the General had divided the Earth into twelve different Vicinities distributed across the land mass, and he told the people that his main motive was to rebuild civilization, where each Duke would rule over his Vicinity.

"But General, where are we going to go?" The General gave them a reassuring smile before telling them that he would take them with him to the enormous Vicinity One, where he and two Dukes resided. He would teach them everything he and his men knew.

That day marked a new beginning.