He took a gulp as the road lighted up to reveal yet another wall. This had been the 21st time that this happened, yet there were still no signs of civilization in sight. He pulled the lever on the side backwards and reversed back to try another route, with hopes that this time he will be more successful. Chrissy Cody, or at least what he thinks his name is, had been driving in the dark underground tunnels for nearly a year, alone.
It all started as scientists realized that their sun was running out of the gas it ran on, and would explode and consume their planet in less than a few decades. In desperation of avoiding their fate the population sent astronauts to investigate other planets, a plan which went south very soon, as when a researcher returned with what he thought to be a rock sample to be examined. The ‘rock’ turned out to be an egg that unfortunately hatched just as they found out its true nature, revealing a monster capable of murdering them in a matter of seconds and grew into the size of a mountain in a matter of days. Now the people are forced to live underground as their only defense against becoming this predator’s meal. When it seemed that things could not get any worse, ceilings of Base 13 fell apart as its dense population created too much and attracted the alpha predator to attack the base. As the thin layer of flooring crumbled under the weight of the alien, citizens of Base 13 tried to escape through the underground tunnels, unfortunately all were unable to come out alive. All but one, however, and it was Cody, who was nearly ten . He woke up right outside of the rubble the next day, with no one else in sight. He was knocked on the head during the incident, causing him to become unable to remember who he was, and only had a teddy bear keychain connected to an emblem labelled ‘CC’. He walked for days alone, starving and cold in the dark tunnels, until he came across a vehicle stopped at the side of the road. The vehicle appeared to be a bus, carrying boxes of supplies. The supplies were edible cubes which were made from dubious products however was incredibly nutritious and filling for the consumer as it prioritises the efficiency of feeding over taste as the lack of resources underground had made taste a luxury. The driver of the vehicle was nowhere to be seen, a phenomenon which is not uncommon in the underground tunnels. The tunnels are often so convoluted, crumbled down and filled with so many unknown creatures created by the nuclear meltdown which occurred during the predator’s attack that it is near impossible for a singular person to navigate safely without proper equipment as it is often likely that they would become lost or attacked by the unknown creatures, which may also be what had happened to the bus’ original driver. However Cody was only too happy to find the sustenance to care. After replenishing himself with the dubious foods and water in the bus, he attempted to start the bus. Pressing the button beside the wheel, the lights lit up and the engine roared alive. The screen in which the navigation and communication systems were unfortunately down and beyond repair to a crack. Regardless he stepped on the pedals and started his journey to find a settlement to live in.
After another few hours of driving on end, Cody stopped to take a break and consume some of the nutrition cubes. As he opened the door and sat on the stairs for some wind, he heard noises coming from outside. He looked around, and noticed the noise coming out from a crack in the wall. The crack was just large enough for him to crawl through, however he could not see what was inside. As the noise slowly died down, Cody convinced himself that there was no knowing what was inside, and walked away from it. Yet just when he was starting the bus, he heard a scream. He was quite shocked by it, and he was sure it came from the crack in the wall. He peered through the hole and heard the sound of crying from within. He panickingly rummaged through the back and the trunk of the bus, but all there was were food and water. He snapped off a branch growing out of the ground, then snapped it again to reveal a sharpened end. Cody held the stick in one hand and cautiously crawled through the crack. As the noise came louder and louder, Cody saw feral rats in front of him. They were nearly as large as a child of his age through mutation, and was comparatively even closer to his size as he was so skinny from malnutrition. He was able to reassure himself, and swung his spear at them, successfully scaring them off to burrow themselves away from him. As he shooed the rats off one by one, he founded the crying girl at the end of the tunnel. She was in a fetal position, sobbing from fear. Cody shook her lightly, and tried to comfort her. She finally opened her eyes and found her attackers gone, which gave her courage to follow Cody out of the crack. He led her to the bus and gave her some of the cubes and water, which she ate quietly. Seeing the girl a lot calmer, Cody started the bus and continued his endless journey.
Hi! Thank you for reading my short story. This story was actually a writing practice I had which was made up from me and my classmates giving their own different input on aspects of the story. Therefore while there could definitely a continuation on the story, this only started as a practice, hence I might not do so. However if you really liked this you could leave a comment! Do consider following me as well!
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