Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 21

It was late. Xun wasn’t sure how late, and he knew that he had to be at the auditorium early the next morning to receive his job from the leaders, but he was dying to go to the library, so as soon as he could excuse himself, he did. The other three guys had arrived only a short while ago, so Trudy and Max were busy talking to them. Xun had it explained to him that going to Bob’s bar wasn’t cheap, so until he had earned enough to be able to go back, it was a treat he wouldn’t soon experience again. That was fine to him, he wasn’t here for treats like that.

The library was quiet, but thankfully had lights everywhere. Xun made his way over to the section that Max had pointed out earlier that day, that focused on vampires and werewolves.

The first thing he noticed, was a section of newspapers that had been preserved in a type of plastic film that left them thick and unbending. They had obviously been looked at many times as the plastic was discolored from many hands touching them. He settled down in the chair in front of them, and began to read.

“April 1st, 2136. This morning a widespread alert was carried over the internet, flooding emails and social media. An unknown enemy had infiltrated the top most secret organizations of the government, and they had just been discovered. Very little word is actually getting out about the circumstances, but reports are showing a bioweapon may be involved. Initial response to this threat were met with humor and criticism because of the date of the incident, but it is now believed to have been an actual attack.”

“April 3rd, 2136. Last night orders were issued for people to evacuate certain areas, mostly highly populated areas throughout the country. While most of the areas involved are along the coast, mass panic was widespread as confirmation was received earlier yesterday that an unknown bioweapon had been released on the first. Reports have not come in on what kind of effects this bioweapon might have on people, but it is believed to have originated on the East coast, near Atlanta. Today there is a huge number of reports of fights breaking out, looting is rampant, and all major highways are clogged as people attempt to leave.”

“April 7th, 2136. Bombs fell along the Eastern and Western seaboards late last night, killing untold numbers of people who still had not managed to escape the evacuation zones. It is not immediately apparent who is at fault for the attacks, but the president has stepped forward to inform us that he is not going to rest until everything has been exposed and made right. Apparently, the United States is not the only country to have suffered major casualties, as reports flood in from major cities all over the planet, claiming to have been attacked at the same time.”

“May 25th, 2136. The vampire attackers have suffered major casualties in the daytime raids along the Western coast. Very little has been discovered about them, other than that they cannot handle the daylight. All authorities still remaining in power are cautioning people to stay in their homes, find places to hide, and only travel during the day if they have need. Europe has fallen to flames, as no one seems to have survived the fires left over from the bombing run their government used to suppress the vampires discovered there. China has fallen silent and Japan is facing a major crisis after a huge tsunami took out one of their nuclear power stations. The station suffered damage many years ago to an earthquake, and had been refurbished to withstand future earthquakes, but due to the vampire attacks they don’t have the manpower left to handle the situation. An attempt was made to safely shut the station down when the tsunami hit. Word has not been made on what the situation is currently.”

“June 5th, 2136. New information has been released concerning the vampires this morning. According to sources, on top of their problems with the sun, they also have a hard time with water. It is unknown to what extent this problem is, but it seems that they are unable to handle large bodies of water such as lakes and the ocean. Many people who have survived both the vampire raids and the numerous attacks on the coasts have taken to the seas to avoid the monsters.

Other information has surfaced that there may now be other creatures to be worried about, as reports are coming in about sightings of wild beasts similar to werewolves. While we would have discredited these reports in the past, there is sufficient data provided to prove the truth of these accounts. These creatures do not seem to have any of the disadvantages of the vampires, sunlight and water, yet do not seem to have much intelligence. Despite their low IQ, those who have avoided conflict with the vampires by way of boat, may need to worry about this new threat as they swim very well.”

A journal page was tacked on the end, instead of a newspaper: “July 18th, 2136. People have been disappearing at an alarming rate. I am not sure how much longer I can keep going. I hope those of you who are reading this, have found a safe place to hide and have a sufficient method to survive. The vampires seem to be capturing people in mass quantities, killing those who oppose them and utilizing the werewolves as daytime threats. Other weird monsters are showing up in large quantities as well. No where seems to be safe anymore, and all signs of aid from anywhere is long gone. No one from the government has stepped up since the last guy disappeared after his debut. No word has been received from any other countries in the world. How could we have sunk so low? The internet crashed yesterday, and no matter how hard I tried, it would not come back up. The electricity has been shutting down all over the countryside, and no attempts to fix it seem to be happening. Is this the end? God save us!”

Xun rubbed his eyes. There were words he couldn’t understand, but he got the general idea of it. The dates made no sense to him, nor did the places listed, but he could tell that the end of civilization as everyone knew it had happened very quickly. The way they were used to living didn’t work anymore, and only those who were capable of hiding well, and learning how to survive made it. He already knew about the sunlight hurting vampires, but the water was new to him. Did that mean there could be people still out there who lived on some big boat somewhere, safe from the vampires?