Chapters The Fall of the Human Race
Chapter 1: Valar Morghulis
"Listen to my voice. You are now in great pain. Excruciating pain. Pain. A universe of it, your world is nothing but pain."
"Demand to See Life's Manager, Make life rue the day it gave Cave Johnson Lemons."
.o0O0o.
I remember the end so well, it could've happened yesterday. The entire world went topsy turvy and we had no one to protect us. No one to save us, but ourselves. We went from the top of the food chain to the bottom of the endangered species list. And when all was said and done, when we wanted nothing but to be left alone, those who fought and killed us thought it was their right to help us. When we didn't want help, they forced it onto us. We just wanted it to end, for our suffering to cease, but they kept the wound open, and let it fester. Our destruction was inevitable, but that for a later time.
Please, allow me to take you back, to the time of man, to a time, of peace...……
.o0O0o.
October 26th, 2025
"...….ma look, I know she said I was vaping in the house, but you know Aunt Christy. She gets those notions in her head and she believes them to be true. Let the film on my windshield stand against my character. I'm gonna lay down at a nearby rest stop, if I can't convince her, I'll drive home in the morning...……….yes all the way back to Ohio...……….no you and dad don't have to come down, I can make it on my own. Look its late. Tell Jackson and Chris hey for me. I'll call you in the morning." I finished the call and sighed as I set my phone back into it's clip holder, managing to keep the tears out of my eyes long enough to get to a rest stop.
I had just had my life ruined. In a span of two weeks, I managed to go from employed man with little money and a vacation ahead of him to a man fired for visiting a hospital, and evicted for vaping when he hadn't done so in his uncle's house for years. It was honestly the worst moment in my life at the time, but as I sat low in my car and let the tears fall for a bit in a cold parking lot outside a glorified restroom, I couldn't help thinking to myself one stupid and idiotic thought.
'At least things cannot get any worse'
And how mistaken I'd be.
.o0O0o.
October 26th, 2025
I woke with a start, as if I had been riding on a roller coaster and suddenly hit a brick wall. My phone had died overnight and other than that, nothing had changed. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I looked around. The parking lot was empty, which was strange. Usually you'd see a couple vehicles parked around, but nothing today. I scratched my head gently and looked out the back of my old Chrysler 300 and saw that some bozo had written "Suck a Dick Fatty" across the filth on my back windshield.
"Welcome to America...…" I sighed heavily as I looked over to the highway itself. That's when I got really confused. The whole Texas Turnpike was empty, not a single car, truck or even a motorcycle seemed to be out today. "What happened while I was asleep? The fucking Rapture?" I muttered gently as I got out of my car and walked over to the restroom. I grabbed a simple plain Green Monster. I took a quick shit and walked back to my car within 20 minutes. Highway was still barren and devoid of life.
I didn't focus on it too long. I needed to charge my phone so I started my car and started down the road with only a general direction in mind, North. As I waited for my crappy old iPhone 6 to charge, I lost focus just driving and occasionally looking over to my huge CD holder I got in the early 2010s and filled with my personal mixtapes and old CDs. I Finally decided on the Harry Potter Audiobooks and just started to listen to the Sorcerers stone when my phone finally awoke from the dead.
"Fucking finally, I have to call.....come on, 40 missed calls this morning ma?" I asked as I put the CD on hold and called up my mother. The phone proceeded to beep loudly and the call never went through. I look away from the road to star at my phone. "N-no signal? What the actual hell?" I was beyond confused, and I proceeded to begin scrolling through my messages. The only one I got other than the missed calls was from my dad.
'Niko, stay safe. Don't trust them, don't look at them Try to avoid them if you can read this. They are lying. Try to get home soon. We will be at the UT Safe zone. Gonna head to Canada if we can. We love you. Stay alive'
"Ok dad, What creepy shit are you telling me now? We got a crackhead zombie population or something? Did the crazies from Detroit and Monroe decide for world domination?" I said to myself as I looked up and nearly crashed as I stomped hard on the breaks and curse as I came across a huge fucking pile up of stomped and seemingly trampled cars. It looked like a stampede had rolled through and crushed every vehicle. They were on the sides and left a decently clear path down the middle, but the carnage was heavy.
"Holy shit...…..fucking hell." I whispered as I killed the engine and pocketed my keys. Human Curiosity was flowing, and maybe I could help someone, even though the landscape was eerie and quiet. I shivered in a non-existent breeze as I got out of my vehicle and began to walk up the slew of cars, occasionally peeking in at a few cars newly cramped interiors.
About 50 cars down, I was beginning to think maybe everyone got to safety, when I spotted a pale hand poking out of a flattened F-150. "Jesus Christ are you ok?!" I shouted as I rand over and grabbed the hand. My blood chilled to a temperature colder than the served limb that I was holding, and the Monster that had been in my stomach launched out my mouth as I drooped it. I fell to the ground, heaving and spewing bile all over.
Upon regaining my senses, I cursed and began to back away from the cars and over to mine, I wasn't having this shit and things were going from bad to batshit insane. "What the hell had happened while I was asleep?" was what I kept asking myself as I walked over to my car, not wanting to look at them anymore. I got back in and buckled up as I began to drive gingerly down the path, my car sounding louder now more than ever, hoping and praying that whatever was out there wouldn't come back for me.
"Alright, maybe the world did go to shit. I'm only a couple miles from Texarkana, I'll stop there for some gas and maybe find out what happened. God willing I can find a payphone and I'll make a call to UT, dad works there and he said there was a safezone there. Perhaps I can call them." I say to calm myself down as I continued to drive and listened to Jim Dale's sultry voice. What I'd Find in little old Texarkana would completely change everything, though I had yet to know that yet.
Author's Note
Basically a first draft of the first chapter. Definately want to work on this some more but im gonna focus on more chapters before I revisit the first.
The Fall of the Human Race
Chapter 2: Cancerous Festering
October 26th, 2025
I passed by occasionally wrecked cars and empty roads and gas stations as I drove across the land. But was running low on gas at this point. I was decently close to Texarkana when my old bucket finally began to slow down due to insufficient fuel. I sighed heavily as I pulled to a empty patch on the side and began to look around. I took my only wad of money out of the middle console and pocketed it. I was going to hope to god someone could help me get a can of gas full and then I could maybe get to the city.
"I'm not taking any chances though...…" I whispered to myself as I got out of the car, locking it quietly from the inside to avoid the horn going off. I proceeded to the trunk and pulled out a 2023 standard civilian Glock, not sure which number but I bought it for the screen that told the bullet count on the chamber. I had 3 loaded clips and knew there was one in the chamber from the last time I went to the range when dad came to visit me. I loaded a magazine and like the typical Midwestern thug I was, I hid the Glock down my ass crack with the grip high enough for me to grab. I tucked it under my hoodie and closed the trunk gently. Before I began my trek to the nearest gas station, I took the time to check what oil my car took and made a mental note to grab some 5w-20e if I could, never knew when I was going to be able to find any again and I just had the feeling I should get it if I had the chance.
As I walked, nothing, no human or animal, came out to greet me. It was eerie, and I thought insanely that I may have partied too hard or done too much weed with my dealer my last night in Dallas before reminding myself I only picked up an ounce for the road before wiggin'. But god the paranoia had been sitting with me in the car and it was only worse on foot. I met nothing as I walked onwards.
It took me 30 minutes to reach a turn off, and at the top of the ramp I could see a BP that looked somewhat locally managed, with BP just offering the fuel at a Mom and Pop. I sighed in relief as I began to walk up the ramp and was soon out front of an abandoned Station. Not a single car or soul was around, but I wasn't concerned with that anymore. I walked up to the door and found it locked. A quick peek inside showed me nothing special, just a plain and empty store. I began to circle the building and I found the back door opened slightly.
'Alright, are we about to break in here with a loaded weapon? Am I just super cracked out and don't remember what drugs I took, or is the world really ending and I can justify coming in?' I thought to myself as I opened the door slowly. After a few minutes of talking myself into it, I eventually called out. "Um, hello? I-is anyone inside? My car is out of gas, I just need some fuel....." When I got no answer, I sighed and walked inside. nothing seemed weird inside, other than a gun cabinet being empty and hanging open as if someone had grabbed stuff in a hurry to get the hell out of here. That didn't do much to ease the tension, but the back was just as empty as the front and I walked into the store proper without getting gunned down. I walked over to the cash register and looked over the computer that allowed the attendant to allow fuel to the pumps. It was locked but a note behind the PC told me the number to punch in.
I felt guilty as I gave pump 3 as much fuel as I could. I didn't want to fucking stop again with the world empty and barren as it was, so as I walked to the Car Accessories area I grabbed the largest fuel can they has and some of my car's oil. I proceeded to grab a few water bottles and a couple of energy bars before guiltily walking out the back. I had never robbed a place before and I felt dirty as I headed back to the pumps and began to fill the gas can. As I fueled, gunshots reached my ears, followed by a few soft booms, like thunder. I set the bag of water and food down before heading to the side of the highway and looked out over Texarkana, the best of both worlds. Smoke rose above the buildings as if it were the beginning to the walking dead. "Shit, maybe Detroit really is taking over...…" I said quietly as I turned back to the pumps. The cannister had finished filling and it was leaking out and onto the pavement. I ran over and stopped the fueling process, but it was now too heavy for me to carry in one hand.
I was weighing my options, take fuel and come back, or grab a smaller cannister and come back for the big one and take to food and drink? I sided with the big can and left the food for the time being, there was still some fuel at the pump since I didn't holster the nozzle and I could just put enough in to get me here in the car and fill her up completely. That and I didn't want to steal anything else until I knew what was happening. I began to carry the heavy ass thing back to my car, but I kept the pace up, as a chill set in as I neared my old piece of crap that made me deadly nervous. The feeling of being watched. Nothing stopped me as I got back to my car and I got the fuel cap off, but when I lifted the can and began to fuel up the car, something caught my eyes.
A bush on the other side of the ditch was rustling ever so gently, as if something had just lay down in it to watch the road. The sight sent me crippling fear, but I kept my composure as I stopped fueling the car. Barely enough to get me to Texarkana, but I would worry later. I put the rest of the can in my trunk and pulled out my gun as I walked slowly to the driver door. If they weren't gonna fuck with me, then I wouldn't fuck with them. I unlocked the car when the bush shifted and something rushed me.
"Hold the fuck up and stay the fuck back!" I screamed and I raised my firearm, turning the safety off quickly as the blur rushing me halted quickly. I had 3 seconds before I realized I was looking at a...…..
"Pony? What the fuck is a fucking pony doing out here of all places? And why are you running at me you little freak?" I say with a sigh of relief. The thing looked mad but it was a normal dapple grey pony, so what could it do? Eat some grass at me? Ooooooo, scary. I chuckled and was about to lower my weapon when it spoke.
"Could say the same to you human, why are you not in captivity with the rest of your kind?" It had the gall to speak at me. It Took me a few seconds to comprehend its words, before I finally had to believe it had spoken.
"A-alright fuck this, what the hell is going on and why the fuck can you speak?!" I shouted in fear as my gun began to speak.
The horse looked puzzled and stared at me intently. "We are your reckoning, The Father has sent us down because you polluted his great Earth, we are here to fight the cancer your kind had plagued the land with. Look, we dont have to do this, I can take you somewhere you can be safe. Father doesn't want those who don't fight to be harmed." Then it hit me. My dad told me not to trust them, and I wasn't about to.
"Ok bro, look. Just back away from the vehicle. I-I wont shoot if you stay back" I said as I opened my door, the gun not leaving the small horse's head as I climbed into the vehicle and started her up, but as id rove towards the station, I watched him begin to follow me at a slower pace since I wasn't following a speed limit anymore.
I pulled back into the gas station and flung my gas cap off as I jammed the nozzle in, fueling my car to full as I grabbed the little food and water I had stolen. When the car finished filling I threw the nozzle away from me, causing more fuel to spill onto the pavement. As I opened my door, I watched as a huge, green and transparent barrier slowly making its way across the land. I stared in awe as it slowly passed me and I watched the computer and monitors in the car flash to life before going out, as if something had powered them up.
A shout from behind me caught my attention. Grey boy had caught up with me and was currently lying on the ground of the ramp, crying out as something on is bac was undulating and it looked like he was growing something. I didn't stop to ask questions and got in the car and started her up. as I peeled out I watched him thrive and toss around, crying in pain as his muscles rippled and clenched. I was done with that shit. I drove quickly down the high way and towards the city. Not caring about stopping anymore as I drove along the highway, on into Arkansas and past the best of both worlds. I just wanted to get home at this point, and I wasn't about to let some freak ponies or weird atomic radiation in the sky to stop me.
The Fall of the Human Race
Chapter 3: Unfound Freindship
October 26th, 2025
I drove, I drove as far and fast as I could, the road became impeded with cars about 5 miles in and the city was in full combat. There was no reason to stop, but I couldn't help but watch as the animals, ponies mostly, wiped troop after troop with crude weapons and speed beyond our knowing. I realized what the wave did for them now. They used it to mutate, some began to fly high in the air and dropped metal and rocks into crowds of soldiers. They also dive bombed quick with their crude weapons, but were clearly killing more than the humans were able to do.
I'm getting sidetracked, I have to explain what I saw. There were others, far many others. The other type of mutation I saw with the ponies happened to be what I can only explain as a unicorn, but unlike in Harry Potter, in which they are pure white and embodiments of pure good, all I could see was death and destruction in a higher caliber than the other ponies were able to commit. They turned tanks into flying hunks of metal that proceeded to take out full battalions of troops with ease, and stopped bullets from daring to get even close to the ponies. I shudder and stopped myself before believing in magic, but then again, what the absolute hell else could it be?
That was enough for me, I continued to drive until I passed a small rest stop with a group of people and no ponies around in sight. I was surprised to see them, as I was sure the rest of the human civilians were locked up either in military or pony containment. I pulled into the rest stop and smiled softly as I killed the engine with the group looking over to me.
I walked up to the group with a smile on my face. In the group was 2 latino men around my age who looked dead tired and a little scared. They were each holding each others hands and occasionally whispered gently to each other. Also in the group was a middle-aged black man with what I could only assume to be his daughter, who looked to be around 12-14. She looked terrified as I approached and her father was patting her on the back and talking quietly to her. The other 2 people were older white folk, they seemed to be the leaders and looked upset, but were also very warm in nature. They had faces that looked like they had seen worse, but were equally scared of what was going down. The man was holding a simple hunting rifle while his wife was carrying a shotgun. They clearly seemed to be the leaders of the group.
They were the ones who talked to me after I approached them. "Howdy young man, what's your name, where you from, and where are you headed? That is, if you are comfortable letting us know" The old man asked me as I joined them.
"My name is Niko, I come from Ohio and that's where I'm heading to, but my old home was near Dallas. I was out of there before anything crazy happened. I passed out in my car at another rest stop and found, well whatever is happening out there in the world. I passed empty and barren towns and saw complete and utter death in Texarkana. Do any of you have an explanation as to what is going on? Has the world gone mad?" I asked as I looked at the group.
The older woman was the one who answered me. "No idea son, we were at our farm in Fort Worth when all this started happening, and our animals just went crazy and destroyed the fences and vehicles other than our old pickup. We grabbed what we could and got out. We ran into Mark and his daughter Melanie there, and Jesus and Jose followed us here. My name is Genevra darling, and my husband is named Greg. Its nice to see a friendly face in these troubled times."
After waving softly to the other groups, I looked back over to Genevra and Greg. "So, where are you guys planning to go? All I really can see here is FUBAR and I don't know where is safe anymore. I'm just heading north to find my family, but should we go there if we don't know what we are dealing with?" I said, starting to feel tense and worried. I didn't want to travel alone after everything I witnessed, but where was there to go?
"There ain't nothing else better I've heard, since all people was talkin' 'bout was that the North had less horses so there wouldn't be as much of a problem up there. The camps the Army set up for civilians have gone to shit and there ain't a safe place for miles. We were just about to leave when you pulled in, so if you are willing to follow and help us, we would appreciate it, and help y'all in return." Greg said softly, while a few members of the group nodded in agreement, and others, like Jose and Mark, didn't look as sure.
I sighed as I left back to my car and the others to theirs. We started our vehicles and started making our way north. We couldn't have understood the horrors that we'd view or the people we'd meet and lose at this time, or we might never have left together, much less the rest stop. We should've accepted and relented, but as was human nature, we trudged onward. Into the deepest and darkest pits of the unknown
Author's Note
Hated to leave this, but I had a lot to deal with and also started to stream on twitch more as well as made a few songs with my brother. We started to test our skills and dont hope to do much, but express ourselves in our craft as time goes on. Please check it out and give us as much feedback as you give us on our stories. We hope to encite and bedazzle you with our tales.