(Warning! There is mild violence and language in this story!)
Arc 1 – The Dawn of Heroes (Excerpt)
Prologue
When animals die, they are reincarnated into spiritual beings that take on their previous form. They reside in the heavens above, continuing their own business. One spirit, however, was not content with his death. This spirit was a gray wolf named Denbie. Denbie grew up in a pack, much like other wolves, but was suddenly separated from them when a group of hunters infiltrated their dens. Denbie was alone, scared, and lost. He had nothing. Denbie was eventually found by a man named Jerry, who adopted and took care of him. Despite Jerry’s efforts to protect Denbie, he despised Jerry. One day, Jerry took Denbie out for a scenic ride on the cliffs. When Jerry stepped out of the car, he took Denbie out as well. Not long after, Jerry stepped closer to the cliff, admiring the view.
Jerry was never seen again after this, and neither was Denbie.
Their bodies were never found… And the world moved on as always.
2 years later, something unnatural occurred on Earth. The animal spirits descended from their heavens and began to conquer the world. Their leader was Denbie. Militaries and militias were decimated, governments disbanded, and utter chaos spread globally. Eventually, the humans surrendered and attempted to make an agreement with Denbie; and so one was created.
The humans would still have the privilege to continue their lives on Earth, but with massive limitations. Weapons were taken away and were to be used for the now-created Animal Army. Humanity also faced a limitation on reproduction, in fear that if too many humans were reproduced, the animal spirits could lose another confrontation; if another should happen. Forms of transportation were controlled by the Animal Army as well. The people have tried to rebuild society to how it once was, but with the new age upon them, it would never truly be the same.
Precisely nine months have passed since the invasion.
Chapter 1: Enter, Daniel John Wilson, Jr.
Daniel trudged through the streets of a deserted neighborhood. His hands gripped tight on his belongings. In one hand, he held the strap of a worn-out blue backpack, and the other held an AK-47. Daniel wasn’t always like this. He had once lived a normal, happy life, just as any other young adult should have. He had no partner or kids, but he was okay with that. He was used to being on his own. Despite this, he still got the support he needed from his family. Ever since the invasion of the Animal Army, Daniel had begun his work as a thief, and partially a mercenary, to survive the now distraught world. However, working as both a thief and mercenary was not easy, and in no time, Daniel’s bounty began to increase by the day, further making his life more troublesome than it already needed to be. Now, you may be thinking that this Daniel guy seems like every generic protagonist so far, and I’m just gonna spoil it for you: he is, well, maybe, depending on how you look at him as a character. Anyways, it’s time for me, the narrator, to get back to my job, or else the studio is gonna dock my pay. Just please hear me out, I need the money.
Daniel stepped onto the creaky wooden step of a now somewhat abandoned house. He opened the door and peered inside. The interior looked surprisingly decent for a post-apocalyptic world. The couch had a few chip crumbs on the cushions, but nothing too major, and the shelves looked a bit dusty. Daniel looked to his left, where a hallway lay ahead. A young woman peeked out from a room. She had short, brown hair, a magenta vest with yellow lining, and small metal pauldrons that were lined with turquoise fur. She held up a crossbow for a quick second before putting it down. This was Daniel’s younger sister, Allie. She was the only one in Daniel’s family that had survived the attack, at least to Daniel’s knowledge, anyway. He had no idea if any other members of his family had escaped or survived, but that didn’t matter at the moment. Daniel knew that it was not the best time to get too caught up in family affairs and that it was best to lay low in the best way he could with Allie and try to survive, that is, if a rotten bounty hunter or animal soldier didn’t capture them. Allie stood up and lowered her crossbow.
“So, you weren’t lying when you said you’d be wearing your medieval armor from now on,” Allie remarked.
“I think it suits me,” Daniel said. “Besides, it’s all I have at the moment. You were lucky that I even managed to get you those shoulder pads.”
“When trying to survive in a world like this, you need to upgrade yourself with any useful arsenal to protect yourself. You have just downgraded with that armor. Massively.”
“Oh please, at least it’s better than wearing nothing,” Daniel scoffed. “Now, I know that we’re siblings, and we’re destined to disagree and banter, but I’m not in the mood to dispute about what we should or shouldn’t use in the apocalypse, let alone about my awesome armor.”
“Your armor looks very plain, it’s not awesome or anything. What did you think, you were an anime protagonist with fancy unproportionate armor?”
“No! I’m not a weeaboo! I touch grass!”
“Okay, then what about the sword?” Allie asked. “That has no use other than good money.”
“This was Dad’s,” Daniel said. “I’m not selling Dad’s sword. Furthermore, it does have a purpose. If it didn’t, then people in the Middle Ages wouldn’t use them.”
“Alright, whatever, but don’t expect me to not say, “I told you so” when you decide to make a dumb move. Now let’s see what you brought.”
Together, Daniel and Allie walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch. Daniel set his backpack down on the sofa table, unzipped it, and revealed the contents to Allie.
“I managed to find this today,” Daniel said. He pulled out a box of matches, a lighter, a small case of water bottles, two first aid kits, a bowie knife, and three boxes of Lunchables. (By the way, the Lunchables had chicken nuggets and Oreos inside.)
Allie inspected the Lunchables. “Two of them are expired.”
Daniel spoke up. “Yeah, by a day. It’s fine.”
“I’m not eating expired food!” Allie barked.
Daniel leaned in closer to Allie.
“You are gonna eat it, and you are gonna like it. Especially because we’re going to head out together after we eat.”
“What? Are you crazy? How far do you plan on going out?” Allie asked, flabbergasted.
Daniel smiled. “I overheard a gunsmith saying that there was a cave that was rumored to have a lot of supplies inside. I want to see if he’s lying or not.”
Chapter 2: Enter Liam, former bounty hunter
“A cave with a gold mine of supplies? That’s got to be one of the lamest fibs anyone can come up with nowadays,” Allie scoffed. “Besides, isn’t this the same cave where people were reported to have gone missing?”
Daniel nodded. “Yes. That is why we must remain cautious at all costs when going down there.”
“Like we already don’t have to stay off the grid, ” Allie mumbled. “Why is it that back when we were kids, you were always the laid-back, vigilant one, and now years later, you’re suddenly spitting out places to go where we would meet our fate?”
“Listen up, Allie. If I weren’t vigilant when I was working as a mercenary and stealing other people’s crap, I’d be dead right now, hell, I might not have even had a bounty on my head! So next time, save your advice on being careful in a post-apocalyptic realm for another.”
“Hey Guys, I hate to interrupt your compact quarrel here, but I, the Narrator, have to barge in. You see, I’m not getting paid enough to narrate the entire bickering scene anymore so…Can we please transition to the next act?”
Daniel and Allie looked up at the Narrator (Oh hey, that’s me!), breaking the 4th wall in the process.
“Alright, Allie. I’m sorry if I’m being harsh on you, but we need this, okay? What happens if those rumors about the supplies are true? If we find the essentials, we’ll be the Elon Musk of the world right now!”
Allie sighed. “Fine. But if anything petrifying or treacherous happens, I’m bouncing!”
“Woohoo! Now let’s get to the next scene!” The Narrator narrated. “Oh wait…I just narrated my narration…”
Daniel and Allie packed their backpacks with their equipment, and together, they set off to the ominous cave…
“What do you mean you can’t repair my bayonet?” A young man with short blonde hair and glasses questioned the Gunsmith.
“Sorry, but I can’t help ya, kid. I don’t have any replacement parts. The least I could do is look if I have anything similar in the back,” the Gunsmith responded. “Otherwise, will this be all?” He pointed to a box with a pack of 9 millimeter bullets on the counter.
“I suppose,” the man uttered, grumpily. He took out a wad of cash and placed it next to the box of bullets. The Gunsmith counted the dollar bills.
“This should do.” He lit a cigar. Abruptly, a voice called out.
“Hey, Geronimo! Are you there?” Daniel shouted. “Where’s that cave we were discussing earlier?”
“Jeese, you don’t need to be so loud,” Allie remarked.
“I agree,” The Narrator narrated. “Now, proceed to the next scene.”
The young man turned around and stared at Daniel. There was something about his round face and strawberry-blonde hair that made him recognizable. Daniel found that the young man also looked familiar. He wore a black tactical vest, with padded shoulder protection, blue plated gloves, blue pants padded with small orange plates, and red combat boots.
“Excuse me, but…Do we know each other?” Daniel asked. “There’s something about you that looks familiar.”
The young man knew who Daniel was right away. “Boy, do we know each other? Daniel…You don’t remember?”
Daniel looked again at the man. “Wait, you’re…”
The young man nodded. “That’s right.”
“L-Liam? Liam, is that you? Where’ve you been? I-I thought you were taken by the Animal Army…” Daniel asked.
“Ha! I thought the same had happened to you too, Daniel, well, that was…Until you made quite the name for yourself at this time,” Liam chuckled. “You’ve changed over the years, pal.”
“Yep…That’s me…The crazy mercenary in the black top hat…” Daniel smiled, awkwardly.
“Alright, look, it’s nice to see you two reunite again, but what’s going on with this cave, Daniel? I don’t want to be too far away from our haven. What happens if an animal soldier spots us?” Allie inquired.
“Your sister is right, Daniel,” Geronimo said. “Lately, the soldiers have discovered that this has been a hotspot for where we get our gear, so it isn’t as safe as it was before. Now, what is it about this cave that you wanted me to talk about?”
“You told me that there was a cave that allegedly had a lot of supplies stored down there? And those people that were looking for it went missing?” Daniel asked.
“Ah, so you’re talking about Deep Water Cave, eh? Yeah, that’s the place. It should only be about 20 minutes away from here if you walked, maybe about 15 if you drove. But you shouldn’t go down there. I have a theory that the reason the townsfolk are disappearing is that there’s an animal soldier down there. But that’s just a conspiracy, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if something like that is happening.”
“Cool, thanks, Geronimo! Now let’s go, Allie!” Daniel gleamed.
“What? You’re just gonna ignore Geronimo’s warnings? You’re asking for a death wish!” Allie scolded.
“Now, now, Allie, remember, we need to get this story going along, so just please cooperate. And that is why you, Liam, are also going to join Daniel and Allie for plot convenience!” The Narrator narrated.
“I am?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun, Liam!” Daniel said. “Besides, we’re the main characters! It’s not like we’re gonna die so early in the story!”
Allie pointed her finger at Daniel’s chest, the tip of her finger touching the shiny metal of Daniel’s cuirass. “I swear if you jinx us…”
“Okay, time to progress the story, now go! I don’t get paid enough to do this…” The Narrator sighed.
Daniel, Allie, and Liam stood at the edge of Deep Water Cave.
“Well, it’s now or never,” Daniel said. “Let’s see if the stories are true.”
The three of them took a rope, tied it around a spike in the ground, and descended into the depths of the darkness…