The Earth Online

5 Apocalypse: The Earth Online

“Dude, that’s exactly what James was describing,” Kedrick remarked as Thaleos finished reading the journal entry.

Haya just kept staring at the video footage, while nodding his head in agreement.

“I have to admit, Thaleos. That was pretty spot on, I think that The Apocalypse really is coming.”

“We can’t afford to attack it right now, we need more time to observe its behavior. Based on the journal, I think that the creature is terrified of the sun.” Thaleos piped in as he wanted to be as strategic as possible.

Seven Days Before The Apocalypse

To observe how strong the wolf-creature was, they tried putting incandescent lightbulbs and a stronger electric fence around the chicken coop. They made sure to test out only one sheep per night.

The first few nights, it seemed to be working, but after a week or so, the electric fence was basically useless. It neither harmed the wolf-like creature nor did it deter the creature from taking their sheep.

“That can’t be right, how is electricity not working on that beast. It’s almost as if the laws of physics aren’t working, which is impossible, or ugh, I don’t know!” Haya asked as if having an existential crisis right there and then.

“Do you think anything triggered it?” Kedrick asked as he saw how the wolf-beast was getting bigger and more terrifying.

Thaleos did notice that the skies were getting bluer and bluer these past couples of days. Each time he did his morning run, he found it weird how the sky’s color kept turning into a deeper blue — almost cerulean.

“I did notice the sky getting bluer than usual, almost as if a dark cobalt mist is covering it.” Thaleos said,

“That’s possible, is there anything in the journal that talks about a blue mist, forcefield, or whatever?” Haya responded as he tied his hair into a bun, signaling his seriousness.

“Right! Now that you mention it, James did talk about this magical blue mist in his earlier dreams. He said that this blue mist was designed by the ‘gods’ for the humans, then it ended there. How it helps isn’t clear, but I have a strong feeling that it’s to give human some magic.” Thaleos said while scratching his beard.

“What does that have to do with anything with the wolves?” Kedrick asked as he reached out for James’ journal, and read through the entry.

“I reckon that that magical mist primarily gives powers to humans, but some of the remaining essences might rub off on the creatures.” He responded.

“I don’t really understand all of it, but that sounds like bad news for us.” The gentle giant stated as he closed James’ journal.

“You’ve got that right,” Haya said, stressed, not by the beasts getting stronger, but because of all of his hard work going down the drain. “Stupid mist, stupid physics.”

“That’s alright, Haya. Now, you can relax and show your actual self, being a stupid idiot.” Kedric said, guffawing at the slimmer man’s pissed-off look.

“I want to try something out,” Thaleos exclaimed.

~

One Day Before The Apocalypse

“Are you sure about this, Thaleos?” Haya asked as they were walking straight to the chicken coop. After planning this for a couple of days, Thaleos made sure to foolproof the plan as much as possible.

“I gotta say, T, I’m not sure where you’re going with this,” Kedrick said as he tried looking around the area. It was currently 12:00 midnight — an hour before the wolf eagle comes — and everything was drenched in darkness.

“This is the best way to test how strong that beast is. Besides, I got you guys to cover me. Just make sure to hide in different spots, one on the left and the other on the right, okay?” Thaleos said in a serious tune as he fixed his black assassin suit.

As Thaleos took out a black katana, he secured his nunchucks on his belt and made sure that all of his weapons were in place.

“Okay, make sure that you get your weapons ready, and as soon as I give the signal, use it on the beast.” The other two nodded their heads, as they saw their friend swiftly going up the old oak tree.

They went and hide in one of the bushes and proceeded to wait for the creature.

An hour later, they started hearing heavy wings flapping and a deep growl. The three men were nervous but still prepared themselves for the attack.

The beast was slightly larger than what they estimated, but there was still a large chance of swiftly taking it down.

As soon as the creature landed near the chicken coop, Thaleos quickly jumped down its back and stabbed its neck with the katana. The beast immediately started thrashing around in pain. He took out his nunchucks and proceeded to choke the terrifying beast. It showed its knife-like teeth as it struggled to breathe.

Thinking that the beast was finally taking its last breath, it suddenly forced itself to fly up the tree. When it suddenly started flapping its wings, Thaleos loudly whistled, and the two other men took out their flamethrowers and aimed at the beast’s wings.

Thaleos promptly jumped up one of the tree branches and saw the wolf’s wings catching on fire. Kedrick quickly charged from the shadows, took the katana, and beheaded the beast.

“I hate living beings struggling to stay alive. Better to just get it over with.” He said as he gave the katana back to Thaleos. The bearded man chuckled at the irony since they’re struggling to survive as well.

Suddenly, Thaleos started glowing blue and a pop-up message appeared above him. It said,

“Congratulations! You are now a Level 1 Beast Tamer. Dragon Head Marking Unlocked. Increase 10 in Health Points, 10 in Magic Points, 10 in Strength.”

After flashing the level up, the screen then showed Thaleos’ status,

Race: Human

Name: Thaleos Fincher

Age: 30 years old

Job: Beast Tamer

Level: 1

Attack Points: 75 points

Health Points: 115 points

Stamina Points: 145 points

Magic Points: 95 points

Specialized Skills: None

General Skills: None

HP Armor: 0

Attack Weapon: 0                     

Intelligence Points: 0

Current Experience: 105 XP

“Dude, where did that pop-up come from? And why the hell is your chest glowing in red?” Kedrick asked in utter bewilderment. Haya’s eyes were almost popping off of their sockets, then he said,

“And I thought the wolf beast was weird. I’m not sure what the hell’s happening anymore.”

Thaleos shouted in pain as he felt like the left side of his chest was being marked by a branding iron.

“Yeah,” Thaleos grunted out, “Trust me, it’s just gonna get weirder.”

The Apocalypse

Today just felt like any other day for Thaleos.

All those sleepless nights and anxious-filled days just to prepare for today all suddenly felt so meaningless now. Maybe everything wasn’t sinking in yet, but suddenly, he felt numb.

A couple of weeks ago, the three of them discussed whether or not they should tell everyone to prepare, but they feared that the government might track down their location — flushing down the drain everything they worked hard for.

After devising up a plan, they finally agreed to tell close friends and loved ones who they can trust, and just hack social media platforms to show a video about The Apocalypse for about half a minute.

It caused a stir, with new sites reporting about the hacking left and right. The government tried reframing it, by saying that one of the countries they’re in a war with was just distracting them from the “real problem.”

This government was ridiculous, it doesn’t really care about the people. Thaleos felt empty because he knew, deep inside, that a lot of people were gonna die today.

He wanted to become a doctor and psychiatrist because he wanted to save lives. He felt numb knowing that he’ll have to see a lot of mental and emotional anguish over this war.

They were in one of the bunkers, patiently waiting for what’s going to happen.

“This feels way different than I imagine. It’s kind of anticlimactic, don’t you think?” Kedrick said as he was sharpening his axe.

“Wars get to you that way. They start out quietly, and suddenly, everyone’s just dead.” Haya said in a sad tone. Kedrick looked back in dismay and just proceeded to turn on the TV.

Through the forlorn silence, the panicky voice of a woman pierced through it,

“We are currently seeing translucent humanoids destroying thousands of homes in Ellis Town.”

Kedrick changed the channel to another news site,

“Please, we encourage everyone to stay in their basements or bunkers. This is not a drill, demon-like creatures are flying through the sky and taking human beings.”

As they changed from one channel to another, all they saw were massacres. Then, one of the channels panned through the sky, and Thaleos spotted something weird.

He immediately stood up and went outside. The other two followed suit as they saw the confusion in Thaleos’ eyes.

Once they got to one of the military towers, they just stared at awe at the sky.

“T-that kind of looks like a…” Haya trailed off.

“A floating city.” Thaleos finished the other man’s sentence. Kedrick felt his mouth opening up in shock as he saw dozens of modern buildings with ancient motifs floating in the sky — with mountains of clouds as their foundation.

Thaleos stared at the middle of the floating city and saw five modernized Ziggurats — an ancient architectural-type temple.

James vividly explained this part of his nightmare, as he was fascinated with the structure’s stark similarity to Mesopotamia’s, one of the first civilizations on earth, temples.

It was what he called, “Tower of the Gods.”