Episode 1

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Slickest:
Episode 1

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Episode 1 (WELCOME TO THE WALL)

Its been 19 years, so i heard from dad and every other adult who has lived on the outside before the so called foray. I have spent 18years of my life behind this walls, subjected to seeing the same old faces, burying some old folks i never spoke to till they died, witnessing sad moments when some fathers don't return to their families, waiting for the old to die and the young adding to the already decreasing population. The elders think we are fools, they think we can never know if we are not told, others might not be aware but i know the human race is going extinct.

The population in the walls are grouped into segments, we have the soldiers majorly our fathers and anyone in their thirties, we have the collectors, those are people accompanied by the soldiers to collect what is left on the outside that might still be useful. We farm and try to produce but sometimes its not worth it. I heard tales about tvs and electricity but all i know right now are lamps, wooden torches and hand made everything. Life before the attack must have been easy, i hear stuffs about porn and movies, soccer competitions and the beach but its all in my imagination as it falls out as words.

Funny thing is i dont even know what is out there, i dont know what took away our freedom and made us prisoners on our own land, all i know is most times soldiers never return, and those that do eventually dies. I see the fear in their eyes when they return from outside the walls, i know there is something out there and i will get to see it on my first day as a collector.

I am 17 years old and in a day i would be 18, already getting prepared to being a collector, from the 100meter dashes to the speed at which i respond to stimuli, the clarity of my sight and my ability to think fast. I came out tops in my group and my father is happy about it but not glad i will have to go outside these walls. I will love to know what is going on, i believe i can find a solution to all these even if i dont know what we are fighting against but one thing i know is we are fighting for survival.

I have been at the dinning for more than an hour now waiting on mom and my little brother Emeka, mom is on duty at the kitchen this week and she usually goes with Emeka if dad is also on duty. I havent seen them but i am so willing to wait so i can get my dinner on time. While i waited Peter tapped me from behind and said "...how far na guy...you dey collect tomorrow ba?... birthday boy..", i stayed mute and focused on my nails as i bit them slowly. "... your popsy say make i call you ooo..." Peter exclaimed and walked away, I ignored him and stared at my mom as she cat walked and smiled at me. I knew why she was smiling and i was already feeling embarrassed even before she got close at all, Emeka shouted "...birthday boy!!!" as he ran past me for our quaters which was just less than 50 metres away.

Mom handed over the bag she was holding while we strolled home, she talked about how she and dad weren't happy about the new development but there was nothing they could do as the whole community was helping on reminding them of my age yearly. Little did she know how braced i was for this new phase, i will get to see what was obliterating mankind's existence.

I walked in right after mum and dad was getting equipments ready for the next day, i greeted him while i dropped the bag i was holding on the table, i sat down and asked dad how tomorrow was going to be, he responded briefly by telling me we new recruits will be briefed by the General in the morning.

The General is the leader of the community, he has so many aids and like i was told he was a general in the army before threat on mankind's existence. I don't like him, his discipline has earned him even more enemies in the community, sometimes i wish i could kill him the way he shoots at people they tag as infected, he once shot a nursing mother right on the forehead infront of the crowd, he claimed his utmost priority is to protect us and he deems himself successful at it. He makes the rule and part of the rule is making sure that everyone contributes to the community, its a good idea but the way he and his aids go about it is totally wrong.

Its morning, am dressed up amidst other new recruits and we are waiting for the general to come for his briefing and get it over with so people like me can explore a new experience i have long waited for...

Some errors, but continue.

festwiz:
Some errors, but continue.

Please do highlight

U have got me enthralled....


now I am wondering if it was a killer virus or the fear of a cosmic demon possession that got them holed up and under the despotic control of the General.

let's hope you would put a more creative spin to this.

The theme is already beaten by many but then you can surprise Us.

Consider the Auschwitz situation in the '40s

Episode 2: (OTHER WALLS)

The old Chevrolet galloped on the stone filled road, shaking us in response to potholes the driver tried avoiding, the crashing noise from the rotating tyres mixed with the icky fireworks from the engine made us conspicuous to what ever was out there.
The excitement i felt just before we embarked on the journey was short lived, fear had covered me up even better than the clothes i had on. The sight of the empty streets and lifeless bodies littering the ground like paper suppressed my burning agitation, the huge blood spatter on the walls of buildings were horrifying, crows and vultures petched on corpses as we could almost hear their strong beaks tear out the rotten meat of their meal.

My heart raced accompanied with sweat all around my neck, "...what happened here?..." i murmured, it was a thought i couldnt help but amplify with my voice, "...welcome to the real world son..." my father responded with a whisper, "hope you haven't forgotten your training and briefing?" he continued, i stayed mute and allowed my self be taken on a ride by my wild imagination. I panned round to see if i could see or hear a breath of life but ruins, odour and flies was the only reality that beckons

The truck came to an abrupt halt with dad giving orders to his other colleagues, i alighted from the vehicle immediately after my dad, i joined the others as they converged around my dad to take their final orders, there were just four new recruits including me on this mission accompanied by four soldiers including my dad and four old collectors. We were to pair in to four groups with a group made up of a soldier, a collector and a new recruit, i was in my father's group which was clear enough that he wanted the best protection for his son. The decision heaved eyebrows but nothing could be done than to obey the commander's order. The soldiers got their guns ready and nodded to father's bespeak, "get behind me..." father said with his confident voice. ..."this use to be ikeja, where hundreds of thousands of people roam for survival, i worked here as a civil servant... we are headed to shoprite to see what we can scavenge... son, you have to be quick, they are attracted to sound and two times faster than a human, please stay close..." my dad spoke as we matched towards a huge building holding just the letter S and P, i wondered what took out the rest of the letters.

My long awaited nightmare has just turned the knob of reality, i could hear very deep groans coming from a distance but from different directions. I once saw a video on a device they called a phone, it was a lion groaning as it fed on a dead antelope, that was the exact groan i heard in the ruins they claimed used to be a shopping mall. The groaning was deep and fierce, it echoed all around the vicinity we were hiding. My heart raced synchronously with my shaking hands, my father placed his index finger on his lips passing the "keep it quiet" message as sweat dripped all over him like he just took a bath. Father is scared, the whole crew is frightened, confusion rained in silence, and it dawned on me that we are in trouble...

We hid behind a wrecked vehicle in between another car which concealed us, "get under the cars..." my father whispered to the others, i did that quickly without waiting for any lead, father slowly crawled beside me under the vehicle breathing heavily, one of the recruits crawled slowly under the vehicle beside us to join the soldier in his group, the recruit laid on his back and tried raising his right thigh to be in a comfortable position, there was a protruding metal dangling just inches above his knee, paying less attention to the metal he raised his knee hastily straight into the metal, the metal drove into his knee like a nail into a weak wood, the metal dashed out from the other side of his knee making a cracking sound. The recruit screamed, the pain was obviously excruciating causing tears in his eyes, in no time blood had shown us how severe the situation is, the leg is stuck in the metal and we all were already panicking. Dad hurriedly crawled out from beneath the car, telling us all to do the same, " everybody run back to the truck !!!" He shouted, "they are coming..." he continued. My father breathed heavily staring at me " follow the rest Lucky!!! he ordered me loudly, dad only calls my name when thing are way beyond him or when he gets angry, "i cant leave him here alone, he's my responsibility..." he proceeded summarizing reasons why he couldn't come with me, i was confused but reluctantly accelerated behind the rest leaving my father kneeling just beside the new recruit who was in touching pain.