Novels2Search
Apocalyptic Paradise
Chapter 1 - How to begin?

Chapter 1 - How to begin?

How to begin to describe what I was feeling?

Maybe I should ask our friend over there!

Oh...he's trying to chew through the barricade I made...What a cutie.

...

Somebody HELP ME!

********

Going back a few hours ago...

In a damp one-bedroom apartment in NY Brooklyn was a man in his early twenties lying on top of a mattress on the floor.

He was white-ish tending more to the brown side of the shade of skin. He had brown eyes and messy brown hair. He was 1.85 cm tall and weighed around 80 kilograms, he was in ok shape, but currently, he was exhausted.

He had a blank look on his face while looking at the rain hitting his window apartment. This apartment was not big, but at least it was clean-ish and organized.

It had one bed on the floor near the window, an old brown looking sofa across the room with a tiny rat table to eat, a kitchen with necessary electric kitchenware that was 10-ish years old and a small bathroom with a shower and toilet uncomfortably close together.

This apartment was the first one of this person; his name was Adam Jackal, an orphan boy who just finally got his first apartment after years of working on low-pay jobs.

Today was the date that he finished paying his apartment, but his idea of living was not this — working almost 14 hours a day, every day, without stopping only to survive barely. That was NOT being alive! But what he can do? He's an orphan with no-one else to aid for help, here in the U.S. if you don't have money, you are nothing.

You are worse than scum, the hospitals only have the obligation of stabilizing your condition if you have life-treating wounds and then they left you on your own.

Education? Sure they were a public college, but the cost of the study materials, transportations and such...not to mention the poor quality of those colleges...all of this made Adam frown.

Besides...What could Adam study? He didn't find anything he was good at; sure working on a farm out there and live pretty it was possible since he was comfortable being outdoors and all that. But that was not his passion; that's the main point.

He was trying to formulate a plan to enrich his future. He does this every night trying to come with new ideas. This first apartment was the fruit of years in planning and timely execution, he barely reached in time to seal the deal before they offered to another more wealthy person.

Anyhow, he sighed and stood up. He was thinking about going out to refreshen up a little bit. He grabbed his keys, wallet with just enough money in case of an emergency and his old umbrella and went outside.

He lived in a damp apartment on the 5th floor in a noisy and old building; he dodged kids screaming and running on the hallway like it was an everyday thing.

He arrived at the stairs and began to descend, carefully looking for bottles between the steps on the stairs...since one time he ended with stitches on his head for stepping on a fucking glass bottle and falling head-on.

He finally arrived at the bottom of the stairs and began walking on this shady neighbourhood. He looked at a few familiar faces and made nods as a way of saying hi. These people recognized him and left him alone to continue their business.

This was a few of the good things about living in a poor neighbourhood, everybody knows everybody, and they don't steal for already poor people...If you are not for this hood...well, let's say you are going to get lighter each step of the way around here.

I arrived at my usual thinking spot, an old bench in a central park, this bench was surely going to be discarded soon, and that made me sad. It was my thinking spot for years. Looking at the little of green space on NY while thinking about what to do with my life was one of the few things I enjoyed doing.

While I was doing that a creepy old man with a strong urine smell was walking in front of me and he slipped and fell on the ground.

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I stood up and quickly helped him stand up. I acted on pure instinct since I helped a few older people to stand up and even carrying their groceries to their homes. Maybe because I wanted to feel like I was useful to someone instead of being a nuisance like they told me on several jobs begore firing me. He smiled and thanked me. After that, I smiled and said:

"Hey, if you are fine you can sit with me and chat a little bit?" I asked since I was bored, and this will surely make the old man forget about falling and remember the conversation.

He made an even wider smile and said: "Thanks for the proposal, but I have places to be and people to help fulfil their destinies! Destiny is a fragile and changing thing if you don't grab it will vanish forever...Tell me, don't you think that your life is miserable right now, Adam?"

I was shocked and cautious while I grabbed more firmly my umbrella and thinking of using it as a weapon if needed and asked the old man "Who are you?! Why do you know my name? What do you want?!"

He slowly opened his trench coat, I made a few steps back cautiously, and he revealed a massive amount of wrist-clocks on both sides of his jacket, then he slowly opened his mouth and recited a poem:

"Down the road of destiny

you see your future life

you see your future children

and you see your future wife

Walking down your path of fate

you lose grasp of all your dreams

you can't find your accomplishments

you lose sight of everything

Which path to take, you can't decide

but now you have to choose

on one its what you gain that counts

and the other its what you lose

...

So Adam, which one will you choose?"

He said while pointing at the wrist-clocks.

It was getting weirder and weirder by the minute; I realized that this old man was just crazy. And also, Adam was a common name; it was not odd that he got it right. I relaxed a little bit and just played along while saying "My path is mine to take, destiny or not, I will walk on the road I choose with the head up and strong steps. Hear me now, old man, that my path is the chosen one!" Oh man, I was bored at hell to recite that HAHA.

I randomly began looking at the wrist-clock and cathed one that I thought was gleaming for a second, so I chose that one.

The old man extended his hand and gave it to me while closing his coat. He then said "An interesting choice indeed, a difficult but interesting path. May our fate bring us together another time...Adam Jackal..."

I was frozen for a second hearing him saying my full name, and when I came back to myself, the old mand was walking under the bridge that was near. I stood up and began sprinting toward that bridge but when I arrived...there was nobody there...

Who was that old mand? How much did it know about me? What was the deal with all this destiny, fate and wrist-watches talk?

I began to think those questions while looking at the ordinary watch. A simple old-school looking watch with black leather to attach to the wrist.

My body shuddered, and then I realize that I left my umbrella on the bench and I was standing on the rain looking at a watch like a moron. I quickly went to pick my umbrella and came back to my apartment.

...

Once there, I hang my clothes on my bathroom in an attempt to dry them. I changed into warm clothes and sat on my bed while looking at the watch with my arms interlocked together...

I began looking at it from all the angles and touching all the bottoms that it had, but nothing happened...

I was frustrated and looked at the back on the watch again. And at the bottom of the metal was a small inscription. It was in English but with very worn out letters. So I began to say it out loud to make it easier to read...

"Destiny is farted...no,..fated! Fated to come...to me? Destiny is fated to come to me?"

After saying that there was a blinding light and when I opened my eyes, I was in my same apartment but waaaay more rotten and mouldy than it was before. All the windows shattered, and there was a cold and eerie wind coming through them with growling sounds surrounding me.

I began to sweat and put my hand on my mouth to not scream. IDK what is this situation, IDK where the fuck I AM! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!

I began to grab my hair in despair with both of my hands while looking around...I slowly approached a shattered window and looked through it; the sight shocked and froze me into the spot. On the street, they were dozens on human-looking rotting flesh wandering...when they bumped into something they growled and looked at it and then continued walking.

I knew this sight; I play on an arcade before; these things are zombies! Shit shit shit! I'm not dreaming I am? I pinched myself so hard that I almost screamed on pain...Shit...this was real...

I need information...ASAP!

I began cautiously looking around my rotten apartment and found a piece of newspaper...

'Date 20/09/2078

The military is down! Please save yourself and your family! Run and keep running!'

That was the front page of this newspaper...

Shit shit SHIT! That was not possible...How? Why???

I punched the floor in frustration, and I made a hole into it...Also, it caused considerable noise...

...

I quickly got up and put a wardrobe across the door while leaning against it to keep it in place. Idk if this was secure or not...but is my only choice now...

I began to hear something creeping across the stairs, and something or someone started slamming my door...

SOMEBODY HELP ME!

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