• [Note: I am submitting two chapters each submission. Be sure to check out the latest chapters.]

    PROLOGUE


    It was a night of the big storm. Lightening cracked its whip across the sky as thunder shredded the atmosphere. The rain pummeled the earth like rocks spewed from a volcano. Jack sat alone at his desk in his room, his lights flickering. He quickly snatched his book bag which had been lying under his desk and pulled it onto his lap. He then unbuttoned it and peaked inside, reaching his hand in and pulling out a small black leather journal, along with a small blue pen. He opened to the very first page, there had yet to be anything written in it. He clicked his pen, pressing the tip against the paper and wrote, “The diary of Jack”
    Jack then turned one more page and wrote, “01/21/2006”

    CHAPTER 1


    “350 years later”

    Matt lay on the cold, hard ground next to a dying fire. He stared blankly into the starless night sky, his mind beginning to drift elsewhere. He began to wonder as he always did about what life had been like before, before this darkness. He remembered stories he heard as a child of a great light, a light that once lit up all the land. If that great light still shown, maybe there would be no reason for fear, no reason for war. Matt then immediately snapped out of his fantasy world, coming back to reality. He quickly stood to his feet, hearing loud clapping noises which sounded like feet hitting the ground. Matt quickly kicked dirt onto the fire, putting it out. The flames were gone; all that was left behind was pitch darkness. He could see nothing, not even his own two feet.

    The clapping was getting closer. He wasn’t sure if it was friend or foe but he wouldn’t take his chances. So without thinking, he charged off in the opposite direction and almost tripped over a small stump sticking up from the earth but caught himself and kept running hoping he wouldn’t trip over something else or crash into a tree. The more he ran the more it seemed like he was running into nothingness, it seemed like there was no end. Starting to get tired and the clapping getting closer, he jumped to his left, ending up behind a large tree. He pressed his back up against it. The noise passed on by. Letting out a sigh of relief, he lied down on the hard earth. He didn’t want to think of who it was, but he had an idea. They were the Hunters. The Hunters had one purpose and that was to exterminate every last rebel in the dark lands. No man, woman, child, or elder would be spared. If they did not follow the beliefs of the world’s government then they were either executed or banished. It was all a game to them. They would banish people only to later hunt them down. For them it was some kind of sick idea of fun, a mere sport. Matt remembered when he was a child of nine. He and his whole family were banished. Shortly after they were thrown into the dark lands his mother and father were executed. Matt and his sister escaped. But somehow, in the confusion and chaos, they had lost each other

    Matt was growing tired, too many bad thoughts and memories rushing through his now throbbing head. He rubbed his head then realized there was a sharp pain in his back. He slowly reached underneath and grabbed hold of a rectangular object, pulling it out, and held it above him. He couldn’t make out what it was but the material felt like leather. It seemed like it was some type of book. He opened it, feeling pages. There were many.

    He brought the book closer to his face, trying to make out words, if there were any. It was impossible to read now, too dark. He would need some light, though he doubted it could be of much importance. He was growing curious as to what was inside the book. The only light he would be able to find is either with the electricity stolen by the rebels from the Empire, or by going to the Empire itself. He new the second choice was out of the question, so he would look for some sort of camp later, for now he was tired. He held the book out in one hand, closed it and dropped it beside him. Numb with exhaustion, he dozed off.

    Matt awoke to the loud slapping of rain hitting the ground. He felt cold sprinkles of water hitting his face and slowly sat up, brushing a few wet leaves along with some dirt from his hair. He was still tired but knew it would just waste time trying to go back to sleep. It was too cold and the rain was too loud. He was a light sleeper. You had to be in these times. Then he remembered about that book he had and felt around his side, grabbing it and standing up, sliding it into his back pants pocket, it was a perfect fit.

    Now it was time for him to set off once again. He reached to his back and pulled a thin hood over his head. He knew it wouldn’t help much, but getting sick in these dark times would not be good. Not many doctors or medication were around to help. The only medicine left was that of which was held in the Empire of Earth. He made his way from under the tree and into the now pouring rain; his hood had already soaked up like a sponge. The mud gushed into his torn shoes as he walked. With every step he took he needed to pull hard on his feet for they were getting stuck. After a few hours of nothing but walking, he stopped, tired. Finally he collapsed from exhaustion. His vision became a blur. He thought he would drown in the mud before he blacked out

    Hours had past and Matt finally woke up. He looked around trying to figure out where he was. Bright lights were almost blinding. It took him awhile for his eyes to adjust, but when they did, he could see perfectly. The room he found himself in was small and windowless. He looked around and saw a small bookshelf filled with antique books. Matt gazed around from the small bed he lay upon but there was nothing else in the little room.

    Suddenly, a loud bang came from the other side of the door and in came a tall, skinny, eccentric looking man. He had white curly hair and big eye glasses, “Ah ha! You’re awake!” His voice squeaked in excitement. Matt looked at him in shock, it had been awhile since he heard someone talk.
    “Who… Who are you?” His voice was raspy from the lack of talking.
    “My name is Zeke, what’s yours?” Matt stayed quiet for a few moments as if his name had escaped him.
    “I’m Matt…”
    “Well then Matt, I’ll just find you some food! You look like a starved dog!” Zeke then ran out of the room, closing the door behind him. Matt was overwhelmed, he didn’t know if this were real or just another hopeful dream. But he just shrugged it off and decided to go with it. If it were a dream then he would surely wake up soon but if it were real, he knew this wouldn’t last too long. Then he remembered the book he had found and quickly reached into his back pocket to make sure it was still there. It was. He pulled it out of his pocket and laid it on his lap. There was mud dripping down from the cover and he wiped it off. The cover was plain and black. He opened it to the first page, it was unreadable, as were the second and third. Finally he came to a page he could make out. He looked closely and began to read. But before he finished reading the first word on the page, Zeke burst through the door,
    “I have food!” He yelled. Matt quickly looked up at him, startled, then he closed the book and put it to his side. Zeke handed him a broken plastic plate which had a sharp jagged edge. On the plate were hot baked beans. “Sorry, I don’t have any silverware.” Zeke said. Matt didn’t pay attention to what he had said and set the plate on his lap, looking at it for a bit, and then gorged himself. He hadn’t had anything really good to eat for a while. Zeke laughed, “Well eat up and get some rest.” he said, smiling, then left the room and closed the door behind him. After Matt was done eating he set the plate on the side of the bed and wiped his face. He picked up the book and turned to the page he was about to read before Zeke interrupted him.

    01/28/2006
    The power has been out for about a week, along with the phone lines. All the food in my fridge has mostly gone bad. The water has even stopped running from the tap and I can’t even take a shower, I stink! I tried calling my dad on my cell to see if he knows anything but I get no signal. What the hell is going on? – Jack

    Matt read over those words again. It was written in 2006, that was years ago. He flipped another page and started to read more.

    01/31/2006
    I’m sleeping with the axe from the shed now. I heard screams and gunfire; I don’t even want to know what’s going on out there. But I will not die like this; I will not die of starvation. – Jack

    Matt read the words over a few more times, wondering what could have been happening back then. He shrugged, laying back in the bed and dropped the book to his side. He was tired, thinking he would just rest his eyes but sleep pulled him down into darkness again.

    Hours had passed and Matt finally woke up. He stood up and made his way towards the door, opening it tiredly. He found himself walking down a short empty hallway. The blank walls didn’t even have so much as a portrait. He followed the hall into a larger room; two ragged couches were sitting across from each other. To the side of the couches was a small fireplace, cracking and burning bright. Zeke sat on one of the couches, keeping warm by the fire.
    He turned his head and looked at Matt, “Oh, hello. Come sit.” Zeke said, pointing at the couch across from him, “You almost startled me. I’m not used to seeing other people around.”

    Matt sat on the couch across from Zeke, staring into the fire. “So how did you end up way out here anyway?” Zeke asked. “You’re far from the empire and far from any camp.”
    Matt stayed quiet for a few moments before he finally spoke. “When I was nine I was banished from the empire, along with my family. I watched my parents killed before my eyes. My sister and I escaped but we split up and never found each other. I’ve been wandering ever since then, on my own.” He never liked talking about it with anyone. It brought back too many horrible memories and nightmares.

    “I am sorry to hear that.” Zeke sincerely said.
    “I need to leave, they’ll come here.”
    “Who will?”
    “The Hunters…” Matt started to explain, “They work for the empire, and they hunt people like us.”
    “I’ve lived here for years, Matt, and I’ve never seen anyone come here.”
    “They will eventually… You can’t just stay here forever with out ever being found out.”

    “So then you’re not going to stay long?” Zeke asked.
    Matt stood up and shook his head, “Not if I wanna stay alive.”
    Zeke frowned at what he said, he didn’t want to be alone again, “Well what if I came with you then?”
    Matt thought about it then smiled and nodded, “Alright, after all it seems like you have supplies to make fires and you have some food.”
    Zeke smiled, “That’s great!” He yelled, jumping to his feet, “I’ll go pack!” He then quickly walked out of the room and started to pack things. Loud banging’s could be heard in the background. He soon came running back with two large duffle bags. “Alright, are we ready?” Zeke asked.
    Matt nodded and stood up, “I obviously don’t have anything to pack, I just need something from the other room.”
    He walked over to him and lifted one of the bags Zeke was holding and put it over his shoulder, “Let me get one.” As soon as he took the bag, a loud smash was heard and shards of glass came flying out from a nearby window.

    A small black circular object came flying through and hit the ground rolling. It came to a complete halt in the middle of the two. Matt took a few steps back, eyeing the object in horror as a bright red dot started to blink in the middle of it. Zeke had no idea what the object was, but Matt did, “Don’t make any sudden movements.” He said slowly, his lips barely moving. Zeke looked at him confused. “It’s a weapon.” Matt started to explain, “Used by the Hunters. The red dot in the middle will shoot a beam at the first thing that moves, killing the person instantly. But also destroying the weapon, it’s a one use thing.”
    Zeke shifted his eyes to the weapon then back to Matt, “Then you go.” He said, “I’ll let it get me then you can live.”
    Matt shook his head.
    “Listen Matt, I would just slow you down anyway.”
    “We can find a way for both of us to survive.” Matt said.
    Zeke shook his head and smiled, “Bye Matt.” Before Matt could reply Zeke ran passed him, pushing him into the hall.
    “Zeke!” Matt screamed. There was a loud zapping sound and that was that. Then there was a loud crash as if a side of the house had caved in. He was angry and devastated at the same time. For such a short time he had a friend, now that friend was particles of nothingness, vaporized by the weapon. Matt knew he had to escape, the hunters were there. He hurriedly made his way to the room he had woken up in; he wanted to get the book before he left. Once he got into the room he leaped at the bed and grabbed the book. He quickly turned around but to his horror he saw a dark, black clothed figure standing in the doorway. The person wore all black. It looked almost like a uniform. The person wore uniform-like clothing with black boots, black gloves, and a black jumpsuit covering the rest of the body except for a hood which covered the whole face. The gender seemed impossible to identify. The person held out its hand in a five and something shot out of its wrist, aimed toward Matt. It was a wire; at the end was a sharp looking needle. The needle stabbed straight into his chest and he could feel electricity surging through his whole body before he fell unconscious.


    CHAPTER 2



    Jack jetted down the empty street being chased by a hooded figure. “It ends here boy!” The figure called after him, “We cannot let you live, not after what you know!” But Jack kept on running, he didn’t even look back. All he could think about is what he knew and most of all, what he saw. Jack turned sharply into a dark alley. But his eyes grew wide once he saw what lay at the end, a brick wall. It was over for him, there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. He turned around and looked at the entrance to the alley, the figure was standing there. He got himself trapped, what a stupid move. The figure walked closer and closer, “You are hereby sentenced to death by the Empire of Earth. Are there any last words before you die?” The figure pulled out a small circular object and clicked a button on it. The ball started to glow bright neon blue.
    Jack stared at the ground, then looked back at the figure, “One day…” he began, “A group will rise up against your empire and you will fall, this earth does not belong to you!”
    The figure laughed and shook his head, then tossed the glowing object at him.

    Matt shot up, his hands covering his eyes, “That was one weird dream.” he said as he uncovered his eyes and looked around. The brightness of the room blinded him. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust. He was sitting on a small white bed, surrounded by four white tiled walls, ceiling, and floor. There didn’t seem to be an entrance or exit. He got out of the bed and slowly walked to one of the walls, knocking on it. “Hello?” His voice echoed through out the room.
    Then suddenly the wall behind him vanished, “Hello.”
    Someone answered. Matt quickly turned around to see a uniformed man with short black hair and a small black goatee. On each side of him were Hunters. They looked exactly like the one that had shot him except they wore small black circular helmets instead of hoods. The helmets had neon blue glowing eyes in the shape of triangles. The man in the middle continued after he saw the look of confusion on Matt’s face, “I’m sure you’re wondering why we decided not to kill you.” The man took out the small black journal that Matt had found, “Where did you find this?”
    Matt’s face showed even more confusion, “What does it have to do with you?”
    The man sneered, “Don’t answer my question with a question. Where did you get this?” Matt stayed quiet for a few moments and was about to speak, but before he could an alarm sounded. The man growled, “What now?” he asked himself and walked over to Matt, grabbing his arm, “You’re coming with us!” he started to pull Matt along and out of the room, the Hunters followed. He let go of him and faced the two Hunters, “Don’t let this scum out of your sight.” He ordered and handed the journal to one of the Hunters, “and don’t let this leave your sight either, or it’ll be your head! If you see any intruders then kill them.” The man scurried off. Blades immediately extended from the top of both of the Hunters arms. One of them pointed a blade at Matt and spoke in a deep robotic voice, “Don’t try anything or you’ll find this in your chest!” Matt nodded slowly and the Hunter stopped pointing the blade at him.

    “Give them all you got!” A man yelled from behind them. The Hunters and Matt turned around. There came a young man with long flowing black hair. He was leading four others. Three of the men had blades of different types, one man had a shovel and the leader held a lead pipe with both hands. One of the Hunters took out a small circular object which was hanging from his waist. It was the same weapon Matt had seen in his dream.
    The Hunter quickly clicked a button on it and it glowed neon blue, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Said the Hunter, “Is this all you got?” The Hunter was about to toss it but Matt quickly kicked him in the knee cap; the crack of bone breaking was audible, making the Hunter fall to his knees. The orb rolled from his hand and Matt grabbed the journal before quickly escaping toward the group. The object exploded behind him, the Hunters were vaporized by their own weapon.

    The group stopped running once they reached Matt and the leader scratched his head, “Dude that was awesome man!” He yelled in excitement, “You vaporized their asses!” Then he gave Matt a hard smack in the arm.
    Matt rubbed his arm, “Who are you guys?” He asked.
    The long haired leader gave a heroic pose, “Just call us the liberation force! We have come to free some captives here. Woo, rebels for life man, yeah!” The men behind him held up their weapons and cheered, and then the leader held up his hand to stop them, “They call me Crazy!” He said and extended his hand to shake, “I can’t imagine why!”
    Matt took his hand and shook it twice before releasing it, “I’m Matt.”
    Crazy smiled, “Ok, enough talking guys, we need to get going. We don’t want to have another unsuccessful mission. Let’s go!” He started to run down the long hallway, followed by his men. Matt slid the journal into his back pocket and followed.

    “Ok.” Crazy said as they ran down the plain white hall, “There has to be prison cells around here somewhere.”
    “I think the cells are camouflaged to look like apart of the wall.” Matt started to explain, “When one of the guys took me out, before they came in the wall vanished.” Before Crazy could reply, one of the men suddenly started to bleed from the throat. It looked like it had been cut open with a blade. The man fell to the floor, dead.
    The rest of them looked at the corpse wide eyed but kept on running, “Don’t stop!” Crazy screamed. Another man screamed in agony and fell to the floor. He had fresh stab wounds in his back.
    “What the hell is going on?” Matt asked as they kept running.
    “Let’s just get out of here!” Crazy replied. The four of them started to slow down once they came to a dead end. All that was in front of them was a large window.
    Matt quickly grabbed the shovel from one of the men and ran at the window, “Think this could break it?”
    Crazy shrugged, “Just swing hard.” Matt ran towards the window and swung as hard as he could. The window did not even chip and the shovel had snapped like a twig. Matt looked at the broken part he held onto, “I think we’re screwed.” He said and turned around to look at Crazy. But before anyone could speak, the man who had the shovel before Matt, screamed in pain. He had a fresh stab wound in his chest and fell to the floor. Crazy looked at his fallen partner, wide eyed and then noticed blood was dripping from thin air. He swung his pipe at the dripping blood, there was a quiet groan and sure enough a Hunter was lying before them. The camouflaged had disappeared. The Hunter looked back at them, “There is no escape. Even if you did manage to break that window, there is still water. And things in that water.” Crazy kneeled down and ripped off the Hunter’s belt.
    On it contained gadgets and weapons of different kinds, “I guess we’ll take our chances.” He said then took off an orb, “Let’s try this, come over here guys.” Crazy stepped over the Hunter. Matt and the other man followed. Crazy clicked a button on the orb and it became neon blue. They were at a safe enough distance so they wouldn’t be harmed, Crazy tossed it. The Hunter screamed in anger before the orb hit the ground, vaporizing him. He became particles of nothingness, and with the Hunter went the window. “Ha, you did it!” Matt said.
    “Right.” Crazy replied, “Now we jump out the window.” He dropped his pipe, “Don’t die guys!” He hooked the belt on himself and ran toward the window, jumping out.
    Matt shrugged and dropped the half of the shovel he still held, “Well, here goes nothing.” He ran towards the window and jumped out. The other man looked hesitant but followed.

    “This is awesome!” Crazy screamed right before he hit the water. The others hit the water with out saying a word. Matt and the nameless man both found there way to the surface. However, Crazy did not.
    “Where’d Crazy go?” Matt asked. The man shrugged. Matt felt something grab his leg, it was Crazy. It looked like he was struggling.
    He grabbed his hand and pulled him up, “I forgot I can’t swim!” Crazy laughed, taking big breaths.
    “How is that funny?” Matt asked, shaking his head. Before Crazy had time to think about what he would say next, the nameless man screamed in pain. He was dragged into the water.
    “What the hell?” Crazy said. Matt pulled on Crazy, swimming toward land as quick as he could. Lights from the Empire reflected off the water, guiding the way. Something was chasing them, but it didn’t get to them in time.

    Once they made it to shore, Matt and Crazy were numb and fell to the hard ground. They were soaked.
    “Ok, well I think we’re going to have to go naked.” Crazy said and stood up, starting to take off his clothes, “Just don’t look.” He laughed.
    “Why do we have to take our clothes off? And it’s not like I can really see you.”
    “Well you don’t want to get sick, do you? And you can’t see out here?”
    “No.” Matt said confused.
    “Well where I come from we all have devices implanted in our heads. The device allows our eyes to adjust automatically to anything. You could probably get one.”
    “That would be awesome.” Matt said and started to take his clothes off. Crazy turned around before he saw anything.
    “Alright, lead the way.” Matt said and pulled the journal out of his pocket, almost forgetting it. Crazy grabbed his arm and they started their long walk.

    “So, how did you guys get the technology to see in the dark?” Matt asked.
    “We take it all from the Empire. Our technology is all stolen.” He laughed. But his laugh was cut short by a rumbling in the ground. Matt looked around blindly wondering what was happening as Crazy stopped in his tracks making him almost fall over. Then suddenly the ground beneath them started to sink in. Crazy and Matt quickly ran to the part of the ground that wasn’t sinking. Dirt and rocks flew from the earth. Luckily they weren’t hit by any big rocks, just pebbles. Matt was scared but not as scared as Crazy. Crazy looked up at the beast that stood before him. The whole body looked like that of a dead man; it had no sexual organ to tell if it was male or female, though the face looked like a male human with sharp jagged teeth. It was tall, seven feet when it stood. Its hands weren’t normal, the fingers were long and the claws looked like sharp knives. Its feet looked human but bigger with nasty looking toenails. What waved behind this creature was a long spiky tail, longer than the creature it’s self. At the tip was a large silver spike.

    The creature hungrily looked down at Crazy then let out an ear shattering screech. Matt covered his ears, “What the hell is that?” He couldn’t see it, but he knew whatever it was, wasn’t friendly. Crazy turned around and started to run, pulling Matt along. The creature quickly got on all fours and started to chase after them. It was starting to catch up, letting out hideous growls, wanting its feast. “What’s chasing us?” Matt asked, scared. Crazy was too scared to reply and just kept pulling him. The creature was now less then ten feet away. It lifted its tail and it shot toward Crazy, wrapping around his arm. He screamed in agony and was pulled away. Matt let go of Crazy and fell face first into the dirt.
    “Run Matt! Run now!” Crazy screamed. Matt quickly got up and noticed something on the ground. There was an orb. It must have fallen off of Crazy, “I’m not leaving!” He yelled, grabbing the orb, and clicking the button. The orb turned neon blue; it was bright enough for him to see the creature. He resisted the urge to scream once he saw the thing.
    “Come on, big ugly creature! I got something shiny for you.” The creature stood up on its feet, Crazy was dangling from the tail. It let out another screech and started to charge, dragging Crazy behind. Matt quickly tossed the orb, not thinking, not having time to think and it exploded. The creature was obliterated.
    Crazy screamed louder then Matt had ever heard him, “My arm! It’s gone!” Matt walked closer to him. Crazy’s arm had been cauterized at the elbow and he was bleeding all over.
    “Are you okay?” Matt asked, concerned.
    Crazy started to laugh hysterically, “Oh yeah, I’m great! I lost my arm, got dragged naked through dirt and sharp rocks! I’m perfectly fine!” Matt was about to speak but was interrupted by stomping feet.
    “Come on, we got to go, the Hunters probably heard the commotion.”
    Crazy slowly stood to his feet, “Let’s go.” He said, weakly, and pulled Matt along. “Losing my arm won’t stop me.”

    They had been traveling for hours. Off in the distance they could finally see a bright light.
    “There it is.” Said Crazy. Once they reached the entrance, Crazy banged on a big wooden gate, “It’s Crazy!” The gate then immediately slid open to let them through. Upon walking in, dozens of people crowded around them, Men, women, and children were gasping, whispering to one another. Crazy raised his one arm, “Now, I know we’re naked, but don’t look. I don’t want any naughty thoughts running through your heads.” He laughed and looked at a few girls, staring and whispering to each other, “Ok, you may look.” He winked and the girls started to giggle. With that, Crazy pushed his way through the crowd, followed by Matt.




    © 2009 Zakary Shupe