The Unnaturals Prequel - Cataclysm
Time continues to march on. It becomes clear that there is no rescue team coming to free you from this underground prison. Perhaps there are no people left alive in the world above you. The tunnels are your world now.
Your new world has shrunken even further, essentially only the 100 yards or so that is illuminated around the small platform. People are terrified about going out into the darkness now. It's hard enough to even find people to go out to the water source.
The food begins to run out. Desperation is clear on everyone's faces. You know that your chances of survival are dwindling.
That is when salvation comes from the most unlikely source: Rats.
As you and the rest of the group are sitting around on the tracks, the platform, against walls and pillars, silence reigns. The type of defeated silence that leaves all those within it feeling like little more than human husks. But through the silence, suddenly there is the pitter-patter of tiny footsteps, accompanied by small squeaks.
From out of seemingly nowhere, dozens of large rats begin sprinting through the illuminated portion of the tunnel. At first, most people are stunned, some even cry out in fear, but within moments, people begin running back and forth, trying to collect the little furry bundles of flesh. In seconds, the pack has disappeared beyond the light, where not even the most desperate members of the group would chase them. However, as you try wrangling the two rats you have caught, you see that many people have also caught some. You watch as one man raises the squirming creature to his mouth.
"STOP!" You yell at him. He freezes with the rat just inches from his face. "They could carry diseases. We should at least try cooking them." The man nods in agreement as he shakes the feverish hunger from his eyes.
"What if we try breeding them?" One person offers. You think that is a good idea. If you all just consumed the rats now, you would be hungry again within days. You take the collected rats to the back of the food area and lock them inside a pantry where they cannot escape. A few of them you cook using the small oven. You ration out a few bites of meat to the group and even though it is not exactly a great taste, nobody gets sick from them.
As time goes on, the rats do in fact breed. It is a disgusting, yet stable, source of food for now. The water continues to trickle through the crack in the ceiling. The cannibals in the tunnel do not venture into the light and as the group mostly refuses to explore the tunnels further, they become less of a concern. Perhaps they have died off. Regardless, for now, you and the others seem to be able to survive.
The lights remain on, the food and water continue to sustain you, and yet, you know that you will be trapped down here for the rest of your life. You have survived the cataclysm, the extinction of most of the planet, but is it worth it? Each time that you awaken from a fitful sleep, you feel yourself becoming less and less human. You don't know how long you will be able to endure this, you don't know if you even care anymore. You are alive, for now, and that will have to do.
Your new world has shrunken even further, essentially only the 100 yards or so that is illuminated around the small platform. People are terrified about going out into the darkness now. It's hard enough to even find people to go out to the water source.
The food begins to run out. Desperation is clear on everyone's faces. You know that your chances of survival are dwindling.
That is when salvation comes from the most unlikely source: Rats.
As you and the rest of the group are sitting around on the tracks, the platform, against walls and pillars, silence reigns. The type of defeated silence that leaves all those within it feeling like little more than human husks. But through the silence, suddenly there is the pitter-patter of tiny footsteps, accompanied by small squeaks.
From out of seemingly nowhere, dozens of large rats begin sprinting through the illuminated portion of the tunnel. At first, most people are stunned, some even cry out in fear, but within moments, people begin running back and forth, trying to collect the little furry bundles of flesh. In seconds, the pack has disappeared beyond the light, where not even the most desperate members of the group would chase them. However, as you try wrangling the two rats you have caught, you see that many people have also caught some. You watch as one man raises the squirming creature to his mouth.
"STOP!" You yell at him. He freezes with the rat just inches from his face. "They could carry diseases. We should at least try cooking them." The man nods in agreement as he shakes the feverish hunger from his eyes.
"What if we try breeding them?" One person offers. You think that is a good idea. If you all just consumed the rats now, you would be hungry again within days. You take the collected rats to the back of the food area and lock them inside a pantry where they cannot escape. A few of them you cook using the small oven. You ration out a few bites of meat to the group and even though it is not exactly a great taste, nobody gets sick from them.
As time goes on, the rats do in fact breed. It is a disgusting, yet stable, source of food for now. The water continues to trickle through the crack in the ceiling. The cannibals in the tunnel do not venture into the light and as the group mostly refuses to explore the tunnels further, they become less of a concern. Perhaps they have died off. Regardless, for now, you and the others seem to be able to survive.
The lights remain on, the food and water continue to sustain you, and yet, you know that you will be trapped down here for the rest of your life. You have survived the cataclysm, the extinction of most of the planet, but is it worth it? Each time that you awaken from a fitful sleep, you feel yourself becoming less and less human. You don't know how long you will be able to endure this, you don't know if you even care anymore. You are alive, for now, and that will have to do.
