Another excellent hunt tonight with the boys. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to spend these days with. We all come from different backgrounds and different types of families, but we all click together like a well-oiled machine. After I left my family behind I wasn't sure where I would go. I'm not sure why I left them in the first place. I guess I needed to move on and take this new life for what I could. I grew tired of sitting around waiting for nothing, so one night, I never came back.
I came across a few other guys who were out looking for food one day and when I saw them struggling trying to catch a rabbit, of all things, I showed them how to set up traps and wait for something to come to you. I told them, why waste your energy running after your food when you could let your food come to you. I quickly became the group leader known as "The Unseen," and they now call me "The Spider" because of my fantastic skill at trapping prey and surviving in this wasteland.
We travel in groups for our hunts. It helps us cover more ground and stay safe from the predators that roam the wastes. The biggest threat out here isn't hunger or thirst. It's fear and confusion. To keep each other alive in times like these we must be cautious of anything we don't know. When walking through a ruined city sometimes you'll see old buildings and even some houses still standing. But if there are people nearby, then you have to assume the worst.
"Stay close," I tell my group and lead the way into the heart of the town.
There is no telling what kind of dangerous creatures might still lurk about in the remains of a once-great metropolis. New York City was once a busy city with people always on the go, now though it's home to mutants, gangs, and roving monsters. All of this makes for a perfect hunting ground not just for us but for everyone and everything. New York City, home to the first nuke dropped on America.
As we walk down streets and alleyways I hear movement in the shadows and I freeze. My group stays close behind me, ready to protect me. Some of them have their weapons drawn and others hold small lanterns to light our path. We stop at a corner where a broken building juts out over the street. The group moves closer together as they look around nervously. A few dark shapes dart between the shadows of the buildings, probably rats or feral dogs. The sound of claws scraping against concrete fills the air and my eyes grow wide when two prominent figures appear out from the darkness, more significant than any dog should ever be. They are covered in black fur and have long sharp teeth and glowing red eyes.
"Shit!" One of the guys shouts and steps back away from the creatures.
I step forward and pull my pistol out and cock it, aiming at the closest one who stands a head taller than me.
"Stay calm," I tell him.
It's hard to do that though with those things so close by. Even if they're not strong enough to overpower us we don't know what else is out here in this strange world. You never can really be too careful.
I aim and fire a shot straight into the chest of the creature closest to me. He lets out a surprised yelp before collapsing onto the ground dead. Its body falls limp on top of the other one but he doesn't move, only staring at me with his bright yellow eyes filled with hate. I keep firing shots into them until the last of them fall to the floor. One by one, the group stops screaming and we all stand still. Silence is deafening in this place. We wait a moment longer just to make sure nothing comes running out of the darkness. Nothing does.
"Alright everyone, let's get moving."
The rest of my team looks relieved. They hadn't seen anything like these creatures before and they were terrified. As for me? Well, there are plenty of people worse off than being hunted by mutants and dogs. There was a time I would have been scared as well. I'm human after all. But now I've come through the worst times I thought I wouldn't survive. This is just another challenge I need to overcome and win. And even though I still feel uneasy about how far down in the dumps I've gotten, it's a small price to pay for surviving right?
YOU ARE READING
Life After
Sci-fi**This is a work in progress. There will be revisions and deletions as seen for. More parts coming soon!** The world has been destroyed. What would you do How would you live You've read all the books, seen all the movies and shows - what is it like...
