The Final Night | Teen Ink

The Final Night

May 15, 2013
By BTG06, Holland, Michigan
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BTG06, Holland, Michigan
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Favorite Quote:
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.


Author's note: .....

The four unarmed children cautiously approach the ruins of the former arena. It was here that hundreds of thousands of people were savagely murdered during the reign of the dictator Awais Cullouwaw. That was before the C1031 virus started to ravage the world, destroying most of the human population and leaving only about three million humans alive across the globe. Slowly, these three million kids were reduced to four, Shaloh, Kishoh, Bilkoh, and Shabeleen.

It never crossed anyone's mind that four kids could band together and walk 1,200 miles across their country, just to be forced into an abandoned arena, a place where the only exit was the gates that were barricaded in order to keep the undead out. The undead crawled through streets with a sickly green liquid dripping from their mouths, their large, blistered hands shriveled from overuse, their ragged shirts torn from the attacks of children, and the blood of the dead beings that were viciously sliced by the claws of these beasts before being savagely torn open and eaten. These sick monsters didn’t do these terrible acts on purpose, it was the C1031 virus that had infected the majority of the population turning these ordinary humans into crawling, ugly beasts. Now these monsters were a mere 300 feet from the last people on Earth.

As Shaloh dug his nails into the creaky wooden boards of the stadium benches, perfect wood for preparing a fire, Kishoh, Bilkoh, and Shabeleen broke off other pieces of wood from the benches, setting them in a circle around their supplies. This small ring was the last line of defense to stop the hideous beasts that were working on removing the barricades that separated them from their prey. Shaloh lit the campfire and then set fire to the arena. He threw a Molotov cocktail into the upstairs balcony and another one over onto the barricades below. He laughed as he heard an explosion, followed by the screams and hollers of the infected outside. He slowly walked back to the campfire and sat on a log, just in time to catch the first line in another one of Shabeleen's famous stories. That night, it was one he had never heard. He heard a crack, but blocked it out and watched Shabeleen opens his mouth to begin his story.

“The deafening roar of the crowd struck Eupo’s ears with a great intensity. He had never expected to be in an arena so large, especially after growing up as a slave worker. His shaggy brown hair reflected the sun, but at the same time burned his scalp. He remembered he was still a slave, just one that was sent here to be viciously killed. He was cuffed by the officer to his right, the officer to his left holding a dog. He walked out of the tunnel and into the center, hearing the boos of the crowd, being pelted with glass bottles, and even being sworn at by angry men in the front row. After being unchained, Eupo peered around the entire arena, hoping to see a familiar face. He was disappointed as his eyes finally reached the dictator and his wife, looking on with a smirk slowly creeping across his face. He wished that he could rush to the dictator and drive his long, balanced spear straight through his chest. He imagined the blood rushing from his chest, the dictator coughing on his own blood, then the blood seeping from his mouth, staining his lips a dark red before rushing down his neck and chest, dyeing his shirt scarlet and then pooling near his feet. Unfortunately, the guards would have killed him long before this occurred, prompted by his erratic movement towards the highly prized dictator. His thoughts were suddenly chased away by the loud booming of a gong. Suddenly, the entire arena went quiet as down the corridor a few lights flickered on, then a few more, this pattern continuing until all of the lights were eventually on and a dark-skinned man walked through. He was equipped with a knife in his sheath, a long sword, a tomahawk, and a bow and three arrows. Eupo mumbled sarcastically ‘Well, at least it's going to be a fair fight.’

The dictator stood up and hobbled to the microphone set before him. ‘Ladies and gentlemen’, he cleared his voice before approaching the microphone again. 'We have brought our most prized fighter, the two hundred pound, six foot fighter, Seeka Astroiwesafd. After ten years in the royal army, Seeka was appointed as the royal fighter of Africa!' The crowd erupted in cheers, lasting for minutes. Eupo took this time to sit down and ponder a strategy to defeat this foe. In the end, unfortunately, he was stumped. He stood up, dusting the dirt and mud from his pants. He looked over to the third and final tunnel and saw Kuda emerge, dressed in his striped uniform with a black whistle. He looked nervous, even though he had been officiating thousands of matches before. Then, he is stunned to see a flash of light, a reflection of the sun, then the same spot returns to a dull sheath. Kuda is armed as well! He backpedalled slowly, then hit the edge of the circle and stopped. His electric collar tingled, then stops as he approaches the center. A second gong sounded, and the match began. Eupo barely had time to react before a sword was sliced his way, hitting his arm and cutting his sleeve in half. He stepped forwards and blocked a quick swipe, meant to completely end the fight with a decapitation. Kuda stepped closer, watching carefully as the swords and daggers clashed against each other. He put his hand by his belt, but a wild swing from Eupo knocked his hand away. Eupo shot Kuda a dirty look, then took a stab at Seeka. He easily blocked it, knocking his dagger to the ground. Seeka removed his tomahawk and lifted it easily above his head, then took a large swing meant to split the head of Eupo. Eupo wildly dodged the tomahawk and kicked Seeka towards the blade that had been lodged in the ground. Seeka stumbled to the ground, giving Eupo a chance to regain his dagger. Eupo turned and saw Seeka grinning, tomahawk in hand, sword in the other.”

Suddenly, a large crack sounded and the children turns to see the wooden barricade explode into a mess of splinters and chunks. A large mass of the undead enter. Hundreds enter the arena, shuffling and crawling towards them, blood streaking from their stomachs onto the ground below them. Some have splinters of bone sticking out of their bodies, while others have wood stuck in their stomachs, causing a blue liquid to ooze to the ground. Bilkoh sets the final barricade on fire and removes all of the weapons from their holding place. Suddenly, the fire started from the Molotov cocktail burns the edge of the arena, nipping at the back of the infected beasts. This drives the undead into a trap between the arena fire and the ring of fire, sending some flying into the fire blindly. This sends the smell of burning flesh into the air, choking out the normal smell of oxygen. The four children settle back down around the campfire, each handling their weapons carefully. Shabeleen finishes prodding the undead that come into the fire, making sure they don’t manage to break through the ring of fire. Shabeleen retreated back to the campfire and sat down. He was about to continue his story when suddenly he saw Shaloh's forehead. He saw a locket of hair with wet blood in it.

“Tripped on a log, hit my head on a rock. Nothing major.” Shaloh said, knowing exactly what Shabeleen was thinking.

“Alright, well, I do believe we have time to finish our story. Let's continue, shall we?” And with that, he continued his story.

“Eupo charged Seeka, spinning his dagger wildly towards Seeka’s midsection, but his efforts to harm Seeka only angered him more and more. Seeka blocked the thrust of Eupo's dagger, then jabbed his side with his knife. His knife stuck into Eupo's side, causing a large amount of pain to shoot through his body with every movement. Eupo ducked to the left to avoid another swing from Seeka’s tomahawk, pulled the knife from his side, and finally sliced across the leg of Seeka in a swift movement. As Seeka fell to the ground, Eupo pounced on him, putting the knife to his throat.

‘I could kill you right now if I wanted to. That's what I have to do to keep myself alive.' Eupo whispered, pressing a little bit harder on the knife, opening up his neck just enough for a small trickle of blood to escape. 'So, what would you like me to do? Kill you, or spare your life?' Eupo asked in a serious tone.

'Please, I never wanted to fight. Let me live. Please.' He gasped, his breath caught in the edge of the blade. He watched wide-eyed as Eupo raised the knife, it's edge glistening in the sun. Eupo then grimaced, a look of pain in his eyes as he reached for his back. Then, the knife fell to the ground, battering against the dusty soil. He then fell too, right onto his knife, slashing his cheek. As blood flowed from his back and cheek. He saw the bloody hilt of a knife in his back. The initials were KC, and Seeka instantly grabbed behind him, fixed an arrow on the string, and loosed it. It flew directly into the heart of Kuda, dropping him on his face and sending the arrow through his back, blood oozing from his lifeless body and pooling on the dusty ground beside him. He fixed another arrow and loosed it, sending it directly through the eye of the dictator. Another shot seconds later flew through his left eye before he sent Kuda's bloodied arrow through the heart of the dictator. After he released his final arrow, he looked and saw the rise and fall of Eupo's chest, and grabbed the weapons near the duo. He handed Eupo a sword and sat with him on the ground, using his own sword to protect him from the crowd. Suddenly, a rock caught the center of Seeka's temple, knocking him unconscious. The last thing Seeka saw before the crowd closed in on the duo with swords and spears was the heart of a crowd member, falling to the ground after coming free from Eupo’s spear.”

Shabeleen opened his eyes after finishing his story, only to see the hand of an undead freak emerge from the stomach of Shaloh. He looked on as the blood trickled from Shaloh’s jaws, ripe from the young veins of the boy. Shaloh coughed and drew in his final breath, then collapsed forward into the fire ahead, his blood kicking up a disgusting smoke. He looked over and saw what remained of Kishoh. His head had been torn off of his neck and was laying on the ground next the rest of his body. His eyes had been gouged, his face torn completely apart. His nose was broken, blood had dried along the meat of his former face. His arms were mangled and limp. His elbow had been broken with enough force to completely push the bone out of his arm. His shoulder was pinched at an awkward angle. He had several holes in his chest, holes from the claws punching through his body. His legs were missing, likely already consumed by the monsters. He saw Bilkoh, but the sight of his body made Shabeleen vomit. Shabeleen rose to run, but only got a few feet before he tripped over a log and hit his head on a rock. He looked over and saw that he had obviously attracted the attention of the beasts, and scrambled away as he saw them crawling over to him. He ran over to the barricade and stepped over the rubble, trying to avoid as much pain as he possibly could. He turned to wave a sarcastic goodbye to the zombies, and turned back into the evil red eyes of the undead. He saw a claw come to his throat and ducked out of the way and ran. Suddenly, he felt a tickle in his back, then a sharp pain in his chest. He felt a warm fluid coming from his chest and put his hand over the wound. the claw grabbed him, bringing his own hand through his body before he passed out from the blood loss. His last thought was the satisfaction of knowing he was the last person that was alive on the Earth. He knew his story, as well as Eupo's, had drawn to a close.



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