Anyway, due to a couple of audio issues where the dialogue is rather quiet and because a whole world was created for this which couldn't be captured entirely within the above thirteen-minute timeframe, I have created a companion piece. Without further ado, read the Survivors Novelisation after the jump!
He thundered through the brush, heart pounding. A freak was on his tail. He could hear its distorted whispering and harsh howls closing in on him. Didn’t have time to turn. Up ahead, he saw some dense foliage. That was his best bet. He just needed to keep up the stamina to make it there. Closer and closer he got, his heavy boots pounding on the dead leaves and twigs that carpeted the ground. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he leapt into the tall bushes, crashing through the thicket as fast as he could. Emerging in a hollow, he dared a look behind him. The freak was gone. He slowly looked round, surveying the area, when something caught his eye. A hollow in the sand, with a fresh stream bubbling from it. Next to that was a black backpack. The lone traveller cautiously walked over to it and unzipped the biggest pocket. Inside was an empty water-bottle. Perfect. He undid the lid and filled it from the stream, before taking a long mouthful. After his escape from the amorphous creature earlier, he needed that. Leaving the rest, he put the bottle back in the bag and hoisted it onto his back.
He continued along what seemed to be an old footpath. The best thing he could do right now was to stick to the wilderness. The cities and towns were crawling with freaks ever since… Well, ever since what happened three weeks back that devastated the entire planet. The traveller remembered nothing. All he knew was that the world is not as it should be. It was broken. The smoke-like freaks swarmed everywhere, buildings were left windowless shells and everyday life had become a struggle to survive.
“Thief!” The shout ripped the traveller from his thoughts. He turned around to see two other men emerging from the thicket he had just left; one wearing a khaki jacket and the other in a thin grey hoodie. The traveller was immediately on guard. Nowadays it had become every man for himself, and after the incident when he had first woken after the apocalypse he preferred it that way. The khaki-coated man held up a hand to his accomplice, and began to run up the hill at the traveller. The traveller cast off his heavy leather jacket and ran down towards the khaki man, twisting to one side to avoid the searing beam of glowing green energy which narrowly missed his head. The traveller charged up his hands with his own blue energy and fired it off at his opponent, catching him in the chest. His opponent crumpled to the floor, and the traveller began to approach him. He needed to finish him off, the last thing he needed was to be followed and ambushed later.
Suddenly a foot hooked around the traveller’s ankle and spun him to the floor. The khaki man leapt up again and ran over to the unguarded backpack, which he grabbed and quickly donned. The traveller pulled himself up and prepared to continue the confrontation, but suddenly found himself face-first in the sand, a throbbing pain in his back. He’d forgotten about the khaki man’s accomplice. Spinning onto his back, he found himself confronted with two silhouettes standing over him.
“This is the choice we offer everyone. Join us - “ The khaki man said.
“ – Or die.” His friend finished.
The traveller had been face with a few life-or-death decisions in the preceding weeks, but this was the most literal yet.
*****
The khaki man, or Green as he called himself, based upon the colour of his powers, wandered into a clearing, closely followed by his accomplice, Red.
“This looks like a good place to make camp.” He said to his friend, who nodded.
“What do you think?” Red asked, directing his question at the traveller who was following a little way back.
“What do you care what I think? You two seem to know pretty much what you want to do yourselves.” The new addition caustically replied. Green shrugged and threw his newly reclaimed backpack onto the ground. He and Red then began to put in place the usual setup they operated under when setting up a new safe area. Red guarded the campsite, while Green set off to check there were no hives of hunters nearby. Their threat to the stranger, ‘join us or die’, was actually a bluff. This was only the third other survivor they’d come across in the three weeks. The other two, true, they had had to kill, but in battle, not while they were at Green and Red’s mercy. Still, it was better to let their new ‘friend’ keep believing they were serious.
Green returned to find Red sitting under a tree and the traveller sitting in it. Red had already explained the purposes of their names, and the traveller had adopted the naming system, taking the name Blue. Green threw his coat onto the ground and sat down. There was still an hour or two of daylight left, but they always ensured that they had a camp set up relatively early. It was better to be ready for nightfall too early than too late. Green looked up at Blue in the tree.
“What the hell are you doing up there, anyway?” He queried.
“I’m looking out for those freaks.” Blue responded, still a certain degree of hostility in his voice, “I ain’t taking my chances with them.”
“You mean those smoke things? That’s a bit of a stupid name…” Commented Red idly.
“We call them Hunters, it’s what they do.” Green said.
“I call them freaks, because I was there when one of them turned. I was with this guy, thought he was one of us, a survivor, but I saw him turn.” Blue elaborated, “That’s why I go alone; he nearly killed me.”
“One of us?” Green picked up on that sentence specifically. It was something he too had noticed. “So you’ve noticed only those with powers were the ones that’ve survived?” Blue nodded. Green had no idea what this all meant. Blue had been travelling alone for a long time, and he had also evidently not come across anyone without any powers.
“How did you know this guy, anyway?” Red pressed.
“I was with him when we woke up. We were just lying there… Horrible thing is, I don’t remember what happened before…” Blue explained. The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a coarse howl. Green and Red leapt up. A Hunter had entered the hollow. The creatures were strange looking things, great nebulous clouds of glowing blue smoke. Blue jumped out of the tree and landed in between Red and Green. They needed to run, but Green had an idea.
“Let’s all try blasting it… Go!” He ordered, and the trio unleashed a stream of coloured energy. The beams smashed into the Hunter, which began to slink back, blue sparks streaming through its body and emanating a crackling noise. Still it did not retreat, so the group began to focus more, their energy surging into the creature. The Hunter suddenly darted up the hill began to get away. Green could not let that happen. This was the closest they’d got to taking one of the beasts down, and they could be the key to finding out what was going on here. “It’s injured, it’s getting away, quick, we need to get it!” He shouted to the others, but they were already on the same thought track and were scrambling up the hill after it. The Hunter reached a flat crest on the hill and began to glide along it, the trio hot on its heels. They reached a wide sandy path which led uphill again, and suddenly Blue split off from the others.
“Where are you going?! It went this way!” Green shouted after him.
“I can flank it!” Blue yelled back, before disappearing over the hill crest. With no time to lose, Green and Red continued along the original path which the rapidly escaping Hunter had flown along. They ran along the small sand track as fast as possible. Green’s legs were aching, his heart pumping, but they were not going to let this one get away. Suddenly he felt his legs buckle, and he fell face first into the sand. Taking a second to regain his composure, he pulled himself up. Red had left him behind. Green took a second to stifle the rising anger, before continuing after his friend.
Red kept after the Hunter for as long as he could, but eventually it disappeared through some bushes and he had to stop. From a side path ahead, Blue sprinted down to him.
“Where’s Green? Where’s the bloody Hunter?!” Blue questioned. Red was about to respond before he heard a shout from behind him.
“I’ll tell you where I was – Back there, where I got left!” Green shouted angrily, catching up with the other two.
“What? You left him? What happened to, you know, ‘Oh, we’re team, we have to work together on this?’” Blue asked sarcastically. Again, Red went to reply, but was cut off. “What about if that Hunter had’ve got you cornered, and what about if it had’ve attacked you, what would you’ve done then?”
“You’d’ve been dead, that’s what would’ve happened. What about if it had double back and I hadn’t been able to get up? It would’ve killed me.” Green growled, hostilely. Red had had enough. Blue had left by himself too, but he hadn’t been treated like an idiot. Green was with Red first yet, suddenly he was siding with this newbie.
“Well, I’m sorry!” He shouted, “I just wanted to do something on my own for once, instead of letting you get all the glory.”
“Do something on your own? You can’t do anything on your own!” Green retorted, “I have had to stick up for you since day one! I found you two days after this happened. No memory, I don’t know anyone, I shouldn’t trust anyone, yet I’m kind enough to take you under my wing. And that’s what you say to me? You say I’m after glory?”
“Yeah, I could do – I could last on my own if I wanted to.” Red snarled back. Green was tired of arguing with him.
“Fine. You can last on your own? Then go.” He said simply.
“Alright, I will.” Red replied, turning to leave.
“Fine, go, and don’t bother come crawling back either.” Green shouted. Red didn’t reply, just kept going. Green didn’t honestly think Red would go. He’d turn around and come back in a few seconds. But his friend just kept walking off down the hill. Green suddenly realised his mistake. Red had only been eager to bring down that Hunter, just like him. And despite it all, Red had had his back all this time. “Red!” He called down, hoping to see him turn and come back. He saw his friend hesitate, then shake his head and keep walking.
*****
The wounded Hunter slunk through a thicket and slid down into a small hollow. A shadowy figure watched it approach. The Hunter began to whisper its indiscernible whispers, hovering just in front of the figure. However, the figure understood every word.
“I guess you’ll have to go kill them then, won’t you?” The figure smirked. The Hunter gave a howl.
*****
Green and Blue continued along the cliff. Green was still annoyed at himself for taking out his anger on Red, and Red’s consequential desertion.
“I can’t believe he left us…” Green thought allowed.
“To be fair, you did tell him to go if he wants to.” Blue reminded him.
“Shut up.”
“So, you don’t remember anything before… This?” Blue asked, changing the subject.
“No, nothing.” Green replied solemnly. He wondered every day what had happened. He just remembered a bright light. He knew the basics – That the world had been devastated, and that their powers were abnormal – But he couldn’t remember a thing from before that bright light.
“At least I’m not the only one.” Blue dared a light-hearted response.
“I wonder what happened…” Was Green’s only reply.
“Haven’t a clue… It must’ve been pretty bad.” Blue answered, and the two continued moving. They’d decided to keep moving as their old campsite wasn’t safe now, and between their current trek and their pursuit of the Hunter earlier had made it nearly a mile away from that area. The two walked in silence for a little while, left to their own thoughts. Neither was sure where they were going, but they kept going anyway. Their thoughts were interrupted by a familiar howl from the cliff top. Green turned to see a pair of Hunters barrelling toward them. He and Blue took off running. They came across a track down the hill and took a sharp turn onto it. At the bottom was a cluster of bamboo, and Green indicated at it. The Hunters still following, they entered the thicket.
Green wasn’t sure how long they ran, or when he lost Blue and the Hunters, but when he stopped he suddenly became aware he was on his own. He uttered an expletive under his breath and began to call out for his friend. There was no response. Green was about to give up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and turned round with a shout.
“Sorry, man.” It was Blue. “What happened to you?”
“We got separated. Where are the Hunters?” Green asked him.
“I don’t know, I think we must’ve lost them.” Blue guessed.
“We need to get out of here,” decided Green, and the two began to head toward the thinnest area of the bamboo. They trudged out and their feet found dusty sand. Green smiled at their escape, and look up to see where they were. They were standing in the shadow of a large tree, and ahead stood a man in a dark coat, watching them. The last thing they needed now was a stalker or a follower.
“So who the hell are you when you’re up and dressed?” Green queried, standoffishly.
“I was wondering when you’d turn up.” Was the figure’s only reply.
“Alright, look, quit with all the mystery shit, who are you?” Blue asked directly. He never did like to beat around the bush.
“I don’t have a name. The closest word you have for me is entity, so that’s me, the Entity.” The figure answered stoically. Green and Blue shared a look and discarded their heavy jackets. There was a fight coming, they could feel it.
“I take it that means you’re something bad?” Green asked, more rhetorically than anything.
“Evil is a point of view. On one hand, people may see me as evil, because I caused the apocalypse. On the other hand, you may see me as good, because I created you.” The ‘Entity’ said. Green was speechless. Were the words of this mysterious stranger true? Or was he merely another survivor, trying to intimidate them? Luckily, Blue provided the response.
“Bullshit.”
“Not actually. Why do you think you can’t remember anything? I created you as sleeper agents. It was actually your powers which caused the apocalypse. And if you don’t believe me, how come I can do this?” The Entity answered with a smirk. He raised his hand, and a black glow emitted from it. Green felt his body seize up, and he began to rise upwards, as though suspended like a marionette. He could see out of the corner of his eye the glow was having the same effect on Blue. The Entity lowered his hand again and the two collapsed to the floor, weakened from the hijack on their body.
“It’s a shame. Your powers have so much potential. Without me though, you can’t tap into them properly without dying. Not that it matters, you’ll die anyway.” The Entity continued, smiling that evil smirk again, “It took a lot of my energy to put those powers in your bodies. Left me too weak to be in my true form, so I hid away in this body. That’s why my Hunters have been tracking you down and killing you, so that I can take my powers back and return to how I was.” He finished explaining, before raising his hands again. With a jerk, streams of lightning began to radiate from the Entity’s fingertips, striking both Green and Blue. The lightning was a strange colour, black cored with a white glow, and it burned Green like nothing he’d felt. Not on the outside, mind, on the inside, and he felt a strange feeling in his chest, as though something was being pulled out of him. He looked up at the Entity through the blinding light, and noticed that his body was flashing every few seconds. In the flashes, the figure had a different face. Not human, not human at all. A twisted monstrosity, horrific and mangled. Then the flash ended and he was back to his human form. Green suddenly realised he was going to die.
“Stay the hell away from my friends!” A familiar voice shouted from an indiscernible position on the cliff. Red. Green saw the Entity look around in confusion, before another flash lit up. This time not from the Entity. Just in front of him, in fact. A red glow, just a split second, and out of it appear Red. Their friend hit the ground fist first, and a shockwave emanated through the ground. The Entity was thrown off of his feet, the lightning stopped, and Green felt an impact in his chest as if that something which was being pulled out had snapped back in like elastic. They’d been saved.
*****
The teleport was easier than Red expected. He’d been listening nearby for a while, and when he heard the Entity mention these new powers, he decided to experiment. Make an impact. And it had paid off. Red stood up, and felt a pain in his chest. That teleport had damaged him slightly. He didn’t let it show.
“You didn’t really think I was going to leave them, did you?” Red asked blasé, dusting himself off. The Entity looked up in surprise. “So, these new powers we can tap into.” He continued nonchalantly.
“If you use them, they will – “
“- Kill me, yeah, I heard.” Red interrupted the Entity’s repeated statement on the new powers. He knew he was going to die sooner or later, so he may as well make it sooner and take this… this… whatever it was with him.
“Red, the hell do you think you’re doing?” Green asked weakly from the floor, lifting himself up slightly.
“Something worthwhile.” Came Red’s answer. And he was. Green leapt off the ground and ran at him. Red wasn’t sure what he was hoping to achieve, but decided it was better for Green to not reach him. He threw up his hand and pictured a shield, and sure enough a swirling red bubble appeared around him. Green stopped where he was. Blue suddenly was off the floor too, and ran at the bubble. He thundered into it and hit it. There was a flash, and Blue was thrown back to the floor too. Red could tell he wasn’t hurt, or at least not badly, so turned back to the situation at hand. He raised a hand and a stream of throbbing red energy hit the Entity square in the chest. The Entity began to glow and writhe in pain. Red felt himself waning, the energy required to maintain the shield and blast the Entity taking their toll. The glow from his target was increasing, and Red, too began to cringe in pain. As the light became blinding, he felt a strange feeling, as though his head were being coated with feathers, before it all went black.
*****
Green awoke with a start. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was and what was going on, before he remembered what happened. He pulled himself up and looked in front of him. The Entity was gone. And Red’s lifeless body lay strewn across the floor. He lost sight of everything else, his vision focussed on his friend’s body. He was vaguely aware of Blue pulling himself out of a bush to his left, but all he did was stumble over to Red.
“Red!” He wasn’t sure the point of his shout, but still his friend’s name escaped his lips. He collapsed onto all fours next to him and surveyed the body. “Oh Christ…” He grabbed his friends wrist and felt for the beat, to confirm what he already knew.
“Is he – Is he okay?” Asked Blue, who Green became aware was standing next to him. He struggled to get the words out, but they came:
“He’s dead.”
But as soon as he’d said it, Red stirred. He began to sit up, and shake himself off.
“No he’s not!” Blue smiled. Red looked around blinkingly. “What did you go and do that for?!” Blue asked him, half angrily and half joking.
“We did it!” Green was ecstatic. They’d escaped certain death and gotten away with all three of them intact. “Come on, let’s get you up.” He took Red’s arm and helped his friend up. He was shaky at first, but after a few steps found his balance. “You going to be okay?” Green made sure before he and Blue went to gather their belongings. Red smiled and nodded, and Green grinned. He grabbed his coat and bag, and Blue picked up his jacket.
“Come on then guys, I guess we should get going.” Green smiled, and he and Blue began to walk. Red stayed behind for a few seconds and looked around, a triumphant gleam in his eyes. He opened his hand and a slither of black cored, white glowing electricity shimmered across it. The triumphant gleam became an unearthly glow.
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