The Unnaturals Prequel - Cataclysm
You decide that water is more precious than food. You know that you can survive up to a few weeks without food, but barely a few days without water.
You lay down near the steady dripping. In the pitch black, you can do nothing but think. You feel anger, frustration, and sorrow well within you as you think back on all the death and destruction you have witnessed. Everything that you thought about the world and your place in it has been burned away. You have no way of knowing if you will ever be found down here... or if the firestorm that consumed your city also consumed the rest of the world. The thought of living in never-ending darkness is almost more than you can bear.
As you lay there, you hear the sound of shuffling footsteps approaching you. Someone else must have heard the water. Fierce jealousy and protectiveness take control of your mind. You grab the hammer and begin beating it against the walls. You snarl in the dark and scream in a hoarse voice, "AWAY! AWAY!".
The shuffling stops... then begins to retreat. Animal satisfaction washes over you, cooling you just as the water did.
You drift off into a light sleep but are awoken before long by a different sound. It is very faint, barely audible above the sounds of the water but you note that your hearing seems to have improved after several days without sight. It is a light pitter-patter of footsteps, much too small to be a human. Then you hear a high pitched squeak. 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘴
Rather than being afraid, your mouth waters. The hunger in your stomach rumbles. You wait silently until the soft footsteps are right in front of you. With amazing accuracy, your hand darts out and seizes a soft, furry body. At once, there is a sharp pain in your finger as the rat tries to defend itself. Once more, the animal within you roars in rage and you bring your hand to your mouth. You savagely bite where you think the rat is in your hand. The taste of its fur is awful but you feel bones crack under your teeth.
The rat stops moving and since you already have it in your mouth, you bite, chew and swallow it. At this point, your hunger is so severe that the taste means nothing to you. You continue biting and swallowing until the entire little carcass is gone. It hits your stomach and you feel brief satisfaction.
But as the hours pass, you begin to feel sick. Your stomach twists in knots and heaves until you are forced to vomit. You slowly become delirious and fade in and out of consciousness. You can only assume you are dying.
However, you awake a few days later, still sick and dizzy but alive. You feel different though. The thoughts in your mind are jumbled and in disarray. Anger, hunger and thirst are your only tangible feelings. You continue drinking from the dripping water and resting nearby.
Laying there in the dark, you know that you are being consumed by madness. You wonder if perhaps the rat carried rabies. You find it hard to care. All that you know is that you are alive and that the darkness and the water have become your gods.
The last coherent thought you have before being consumed by the madness is wondering what might have happened if you had made other choices.
You lay down near the steady dripping. In the pitch black, you can do nothing but think. You feel anger, frustration, and sorrow well within you as you think back on all the death and destruction you have witnessed. Everything that you thought about the world and your place in it has been burned away. You have no way of knowing if you will ever be found down here... or if the firestorm that consumed your city also consumed the rest of the world. The thought of living in never-ending darkness is almost more than you can bear.
As you lay there, you hear the sound of shuffling footsteps approaching you. Someone else must have heard the water. Fierce jealousy and protectiveness take control of your mind. You grab the hammer and begin beating it against the walls. You snarl in the dark and scream in a hoarse voice, "AWAY! AWAY!".
The shuffling stops... then begins to retreat. Animal satisfaction washes over you, cooling you just as the water did.
You drift off into a light sleep but are awoken before long by a different sound. It is very faint, barely audible above the sounds of the water but you note that your hearing seems to have improved after several days without sight. It is a light pitter-patter of footsteps, much too small to be a human. Then you hear a high pitched squeak. 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘴
Rather than being afraid, your mouth waters. The hunger in your stomach rumbles. You wait silently until the soft footsteps are right in front of you. With amazing accuracy, your hand darts out and seizes a soft, furry body. At once, there is a sharp pain in your finger as the rat tries to defend itself. Once more, the animal within you roars in rage and you bring your hand to your mouth. You savagely bite where you think the rat is in your hand. The taste of its fur is awful but you feel bones crack under your teeth.
The rat stops moving and since you already have it in your mouth, you bite, chew and swallow it. At this point, your hunger is so severe that the taste means nothing to you. You continue biting and swallowing until the entire little carcass is gone. It hits your stomach and you feel brief satisfaction.
But as the hours pass, you begin to feel sick. Your stomach twists in knots and heaves until you are forced to vomit. You slowly become delirious and fade in and out of consciousness. You can only assume you are dying.
However, you awake a few days later, still sick and dizzy but alive. You feel different though. The thoughts in your mind are jumbled and in disarray. Anger, hunger and thirst are your only tangible feelings. You continue drinking from the dripping water and resting nearby.
Laying there in the dark, you know that you are being consumed by madness. You wonder if perhaps the rat carried rabies. You find it hard to care. All that you know is that you are alive and that the darkness and the water have become your gods.
The last coherent thought you have before being consumed by the madness is wondering what might have happened if you had made other choices.
