SurviveALEC BOTROS

RIP PROJECT

1I woke up. The room I was in was pitch black, cold. Beginning to crawl, I achingly felt my way around the room. There was nothing. I became more and more desperate as time progressed; I kept feeling around, hoping to find something, anything. There was nothing. Suddenly, a creaking noise, but no light. I sat, still as night…waiting. Waiting for whatever monstrosity would present itself. Waiting for it to kill. Waiting for something…anything. Again, nothing. As I sat, I wondered what my fate would be. Will I get out? Escape? Food? Death? Torture? Only time will tell my fate.

2I woke up. The harsh sunlight struck my face as I struggled to awaken.

As my eyes cleared, I picked up my rifle and backpack, and proceeded along the grassy path. Where was I going? Goals? Stay alive, by any means necessary. No friends, no contact, no people. My surroundings were forest like, naturesque. Animals still inhabited, but still no contact since the day I escaped. Maybe because I wandered through the wilderness – a place no one dared to be. Perhaps because of the isolation, the fear. The fear of the unknown, the fear of death. ZEWP. . Instant prone. Contact.

3ZEWP ZEWP ZEWP.. I rolled from the middle of the path into a ditch on

the side. The assault had me pinned. Dirt and debris flew around me. I reached for my rifle and returned fire. Blind fire. Where are the targets? Contact fire was coming from an unknown, unfindable location. The firing stopped, I heard footsteps. Closer, closer, closer. What should I do? Kill? There were many footsteps; decision made. Stay completely still, no sound. Outsmart my opponents – hide then escape, just like first contact. The footsteps began to fade, successful evasion. I cautiously started down the path again.

4Time passed, and passed. The room remained soundless, dark. I

painfully stood up, felt the walls for an escape. The walls were harsh, cold. No luck. I stood for seconds, minutes, hours, waiting for something, anything, to happen. BOOM. Welcome to the outside world. ZEWP ZEWP ZEWP, BOOM. Constant gunfire, warfare, combat. I stumbled through the crumbling wall into the destruction. Low profile, stealth. A dead body with a rifle, armor, ammunition, food. I scavenged the body mercilessly. Low profile. ZEWP, BOOM. I fell to the ground, thrown by the explosion. Stealth. I regained myself, and continued through the destruction.

5Escaped. I examined my new belongings. No regrets, no emotion. After

the outage, there was no time for thought, only survival. Survival. The rifle felt smooth, looked slick. Silver, black with icy lights glowing along its length. Lights: off. Stealth. The armor is heavy, but protective. Protective? Of what? Life? Clearly not – it only delivers a feeling of protection. It was dark grey, with battle scars all over. It delivered a false sense of comfort, a necessary comfort. The daylight fades. The clearing around me drained of light, of life. I noticed a grassy path. The last flicker left. Purpose.

6As I walked, I contemplated everything. Everything before the outage.

Family, kids…technology was at an all time high. Streets were bustling with energy, with people. We were in a time of great prosperity before the outage – everyone had their own gadgets for seeing their world. Glasses, for example, were picking up speed in the tech market; these glasses were very useful, showing its users all the necessary information about his/her surroundings. Information flowed. Then, there was war, a new kind of war. Guns were more powerful; bullets traveled faster and full body armor protected veterans, something I happened to be.

7I continued walking along the path, daydreaming about the past. I

avoided all the negative memories; capture, death. I remember my service clearly. Despite the seemingly depressing subject, serving was actually enjoyable. I loved the weaponry – all the gadgets had me entertained for hours. They still do in this ominous world. Wandering along this path was a nice experience, the nicest I’ve had since the outage. I appreciate every moment of the serenity, the uneasy calmness. There was always a chance of contact, and it kept me on edge… ever so slightly. Something I enjoyed, I craved.

8Easy does it, easy goes. The pathway to nothingness…eternal. I

disdained the rest of the technology we had before the outage. The tech caused the outage. We used too much power., way too much power.. Power plants could not sustain the surge for long…no one seemed to understand. The tech we had was unsustainable. Enormous, densely lit buildings, electric cars…constant use of electricity was bound to send us into the darkness. Of course, no one wanted to believe, to know, to think… The outage brought out a savagery in people, the necessity to survive. And…that’s where I was. Necessary survival.

9The sun set. I started ending my day’s journey. Rustling bushes, trees.

Wind blowing…it was all nice, something to put me to rest. So I did.

Some rustling in the bushes. Nothing, don’t worry about it. More rustling, cracking twigs, whispers. Contact, dead of night. Surprise attack, looters? Good thing I had my weapons. I shuffled in my bag. The noise stopped. Time passed... I heard nothing. The waiting game was upon us. I heard footsteps – louder, louder. They were next to me. This is it. Death or survival. I reached for my gun – no avail. I welcomed eternal sleep.