I'm not the greatest writer, but here's my entry. Enjoy it if you can!
The year is 2011. The U.S. is in ruins following a massive attack by a mysterious militant force. The city of Colorado Springs is now home to a population of one, a boy of 17 years by the name of Kalphin. This is the story of that boy, as he fights to survive in a world that has gone through the apocalypse.
***
“Hello?” He called out, “Is anyone there? Is anyone alive?”
He had blonde hair and blue eyes, traits that were obtained from his mother, but the gifts of poor eyesight and glasses were from his father.
“Please, there must be at least one other survivor! I can’t be the only one!” He called out, scanning the ruins of homes and other buildings.
Kalphin, or Kal, as his friends called him, thought of himself as the average teenager. He got sufficient grades, mostly Bs with a C or an A every now and then. He had a small, but close, group of friends. But none of that mattered now. The schools were destroyed. Everyone he knew, friends and family, was dead.
“Please… I can’t be… the only one…” For all he knew, he could be. Not only in the city or the country, but maybe the world. Perhaps aliens showed up and rained their judgment upon the human race. He didn’t know.
He was about to end his search for other survivors and go find something to eat, when something caught his eye. At first he didn’t realize what was important about the scene he was observing, but then he saw it. A computer was sitting inside a half-destroyed house, untouched by the destruction that had consumed so much.
Upon approach, Kal didn’t think he would be able to use it to get onto the internet, but to his surprise, he needed no passwords, and there were no problems with the internet connection. His newfound glimmer of happiness was soon cut down. Although he discovered that there were indeed survivors, there was no real news, just theories on what might have happened from unknown sources around the world. But then he got an idea. One last, desperate attempt to find people that he might be able to form a community with. He typed up the following:
“Hello to anyone who may be reading this. My name is Kalphin Yaph. I am a survivor of the mysterious attack that occurred on February 8th, 2011. I send this message out in hopes that more survivors may join with me and create a new world from the ashes of the old one. If anyone is reading this, then please, come and join me in the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado.”
He knew it was risky. Whatever had attacked might see it and come to finish up the job that they had begun. But he couldn’t go on living alone like this. As soon as he finished typing the message, he sent it to everyone in his address books, he joined a few social networking sites and posted it up there, and he went to all the forums he frequented, including his favorite, Tales Collection, and left his message on those.
***
Over the course of the next two weeks, Kal discovered two houses with minimal damage in close proximity to each other. After a few minor touch ups, they were in good condition once again. He also stockpiled food, going into stores and homes and taking what was salvageable. There wasn’t much else to do, as there was no power for electronics, and no one around to do anything with.
Then one day while he was out gathering food, something broke him out of his mundane routine. He could hear a faint humming sound in the distance. As it got louder, he recognized what it was. An engine. Some kind of vehicle was approaching.
He got up as high as he could, up onto a pile of rubble that had once been the side of a building, and looked around for the source of the noise. After a few moments of searching, he found what he was looking for.
An old jeep was coming down a street in his general direction. It rolled to a stop, and the driver got out.
She looks familiar, Kal thought to himself, I’ve definitely seen her before.
And then it hit him.
That’s Ari, from Tales! He remembered looking at some pictures of her that she had put up on the forum.
She was looking around, searching the destruction.
“Hey!” He called, waving his arms, “I’m up here, hey!” He started to run down the rubble, but he soon found out that that was a bad move, as he stumbled, fell, and then rolled down the slope.
“Oooohhh”, he groaned, pushing himself with his hands.
“Hey, are you okay, Kal?” Ari asked, extending a hand to help him up.
As he took her hand, he said, “Yeah, I’m going to be fine, thanks.” He shook his head, trying to think. “So how was your trip?”
“Oh, it was alright, I guess.” She smiled, “No traffic. It’s nice to finally see someone who’s alive.”
“Yeah, it is. Anyway, follow me. I’ve fixed up some houses for us to stay in. I figured that we only need two at the moment, one for the guys, and one for the girls. Once enough people show up, we can fix up more houses.”
He led her to the houses he had prepared. He was proud of what he had accomplished alone. There was enough food and water to supply a large group of people for an extended period of time. Things were finally starting to look up.
***
Over the next month, 8 more people showed up: Zelos, Shiori, Busan, P-Chan, Kriven, Jukka, Moses, and Aleu. For everyone, life was good. With all the available resources, people were happy, and there was plenty of time for leisure. Everything was going good, until one day…
It was a warm, sunny day. The majority of the group was outside, sipping lemonade and enjoying life.
“I’m just saying”, Zelos continued, “it’s so cramped in the guys house, one of us should go live with the gals.”
“That’s not my call Zelos; you’d have to ask them. But I don’t think they’d agree, you don’t have the greatest reputation with the ladies.” Kalphin replied with a grin. It was nice to have friends again.
BANG! BANG! Gunshots, lots of them. Shrapnel was flying through the air, everywhere. Happiness was shattered along with windows, and chaos descended upon the group.
Then it stopped. Kalphin looked around; no one appeared to be injured. He turned, and that was when he saw him. A man who appeared to be in his 40s, who was holding an automatic rifle.
“Hello, members of Tales”, the man began, speaking in a gruff voice, “I bet you didn’t expect me to show up.”
“I don’t even know who you are!” Kal shouted, “Why are you doing this?”
“Oh, I think you do know me. My name is Goltar. As to why I’m doing this, it’s quite simple really. I enjoy the suffering of others.”
“Goltar?! We never did anything to you!”
“But you were kind enough to advertise your whereabouts in this new, lawless world. So now I’ll pay you back, by taking you out of it!”
With that, another round of fire erupted from the fun that was slung around Goltar’s shoulder. Kalphin, along with everyone else, hit the deck.
He crawled away from his attacker, trying his hardest to escape. But he soon realized that escape was impossible. He was just about to give up, when his hand touched something warm and metal. A gun. A little handgun, but a gun none the less.
Without hesitation, he picked it up, spun around, and fired. Goltar’s stream of bullets ceased with a cry of pain.
Kal had shot him in the shoulder, which he was now holding.
“You’ll rue this day, boy. Now I won’t just kill you, I’ll make you suffer.”
Goltar then turned and walked away, clutching his shoulder.
From there, life returned to its new norm. No one had been hurt in Goltar’s attack, and he had run, tail between his legs. Peace was restored, for now…
POst it up!!
