The beautiful beast.

Chapter 28

 The rays of the sun had just started peeking out of their covers while the dark was being chased away. The skies were still purplish an indication of how early it was.

  Before the apocalypse,early no mornings like these were usually the most hectic time of the day. From taking your bath to grabbing a bite to the early morning rush hour,it was undeniable that mornings were the most fast paced time of the day.

  Then came the apocalypse and everything changed. All the early morning rushing that characterised people's lives became pretty useless. There was no school,work or function to rush to unless you wanted to rush into a monsters mouth that is.

 Thus most mornings for the survivours was usually a matter of finding something to eat while trying to avoid getting into the sight of a monster.

  But not for the Raisin camp!

As soon as the first streaks of purple broke through the skies the camp was already alive. Everyone was already up and running with the camp bustling with activities. Everyone was already doing their thing like it was a natural process. It was just like a single gear in a transmission system. 

   It might look like it's minute rotation was useless but multiply that a hundred times and you have a pretty substantial result.

     Standing at the entrance of his wooden cabin/ex military dorm Ethan wasn't able to cover the expression of surprise on his face. Today was the fifth day since he arrived at the Raisin camp and the efficiency with which everything proceeded was still amazing to him.

   “Truly one of the greatest gifts of humanity is our ability to adapt." 

  Looking at the bustling atmosphere,Ethan could bet that this was not how things were at the beginning of the apocalypse.

  It came suddenly and without warning,not even giving anyone a chance to react. There was no warning signal or anything essentially destabilizing the lives of a lot of people as they weren't prepared for such an extreme,world changing event.

  The only set of people that still had it easy were those in the military and some other weird people like those doomsday enthusiast. The rest were pretty much unprepared hence the high casualty rate at the beginning.

  Now though,everyone had pretty much settled into this as the new norm.

   Step! step! step!

  Walking down the wooden stairs in front of the cabin,Ethan headed towards an open field in the middle of the camp. Since it was previously military property the structures were built in a compartmentalized style.

  Administrative buildings were on one side,residential on another, and it went on like that. This left an open space in the the camp with only a watch tower standing there. The rest was free space which was converted into a training field.

  Both those who were powermasters(P.S: Note at the end) and ordinary civilians trained there. The training was mostly just to keep in shape nothing much.

  “Just like I guessed." 

Arriving at the field he could already spot some members of the Stinging Nettles most obvious among them being Dave who was currently lifting a scrapped car as a makeshift barbell.

  He was surrounded by people who were watching him exercise. The occasional ‘ooos’ and ‘aaas’ were not absent as they gasped. His rippling muscles were also not helping out too. As they say abs make a man or what was it again?

Amused by his own thoughts,Ethan shook his head before entering the training field. Instantly Dave spotted him,he tossed the scrapped car to one side causing the poor thing to become more destroyed before calling the others in his usual loud voice.

  “Hey guy’s look who just woke up.”

  “Hey, hey, hey, I didn't just wake up you see,I was just doing some reps in side.”

  Raising his hands up he pulled his sleeves up before showing off his muscles which were pretty toned for a teen his age.

    “Yeah,yeah,all those baby muscles aren't muscles you know.”

 With a mocking expression,Dave said causing Ethan's face to scrunch up. However he really had a point as compared to Dave his muscles really were small.

  It was like comparing a chicks thigh to a cow's. They simply were incomparable!

   “Alright that's enough Dave stop making fun of him. I remember when you were still in high school. Your muscles weren't even up to his, right?”

   “Hahahahah.”

“Hahahahah, now that’s true!”

  Hearing the laughter, Dave's face turned red from embarrasement. Truly when he was in high school he was what youkld call a nerd with the typical glasses, small muscles and awkwardness. Unlike his twin brother James who was literally a bodybuilder.

 However all that changed when the apocalypse came and he became a powermaster. 

“Alright,but he still has baby muscles!”

  Seeing that he had been dealt a critical hit he had no choice but to surrender,but not without making a comeback causing another round of laughter.

  After everyone had stopped laughing,Thomas glanced at his watch for a while.

  “Okay,guys let's go grab something to eat first we have a long day ahead of us. Remember that we have a to get to the AADAF base before the end of today." 

  " Yeah that's true!" 

 " I almost forgot.”

 “Let's go eat then, time's not gonna wait for us."

 Dropping their equipment they had just stepped out of the training field when suddenly…..

   BLARE! BLARE! BLARE!

  WOOOO! WOOOO! WOOOO!

….. the sounds of the emergency alrams went off. Instantly the eyes of the joking members of the Stinging Nettles changed to become one of apprehension.

  Seeing this Ethan's face also changed. He had an inkling of what that alarm might mean but then…

“What's going on?" 

  Turning to Greg who was beside him he asked. However it was Tracy that answered.

  SWISH!

 Drawing out the twin swords on her back she started in in the direction of the gate before saying.

  “A monster attack!"