WorldFall: Echoes of Extinction

Specks of dust filled the air as the skinny teenagers dug the body out. They had long abandoned tools and resorted to using their bare hands.

Above them, the clouds turned purple, signalling the approach of an acid rain.

“Almost there.” Neemo breathed heavily as he flung a scoop of dirt out of the three-foot hole. The oversized shirt he wore revealed his collar bones while dust caked his face.

“I don't know, guys. Should we really be doing this? It's a body!” Alessia said skeptically.

Just then, a scream erupted. One of the teenagers scrambled out of the hole. Instinctively, the other two followed.

“Elias, what was it?” Neemo turned to the short, wavy-haired boy after they reached a safe distance.

“The face." Elias swallowed, horror written all over his face, "it’s fresh."

The others turned pale. Until now, they had assumed they were digging up a long-dead body. They would scavenge what they could off it and secure tomorrow’s meal, if lucky, food and supplies for a week.

That was what they were, wasn’t it? In this long collapsed world, they were called Scavengers. All because they had to survive.

Silence hung between them.

Alessia ran her hand through her shoulder length blonde hair, her dark eyes fixed on the spot they had been digging. “But… but it’s dead anyways and we… we need whatever is on it.”

Neemo sighed. That was part of why they were regarded as lowly lives. They had to scavenge anything and everything just to survive.

“We should be fast about it. The rain will start soon,” Elias said, gradually regaining his composure.

A few minutes later, they finally dragged the body out and their horror gave way to astonishment.

“It’s like the person is asleep,” Alessia mouthed.

Fresh didn’t qualify. It was like the person was still alive. Every feature of its face stayed intact, delicate and undisturbed. There was no visible sign of decay.

“But it’s not possible. Look at the uniform,” Neemo said, poking a badge on the rotting uniform with a stick.

“What does it say?” Elias and Alessia leaned over his shoulders.

Neemo squinted. His reading skill was only a little above five words proficiency.

“Cap… Capta… Captain… Elver… Everbi…”

He struggled for several more seconds before finally piecing the words together, “Captain Everbridge. Strom Army.”

The other two patted him on the shoulder, pride etched on their faces. How many people could read in the settlement? You could count them on one hand.

Then their faces contorted.

“Strom Army. Like from the Science Collapse Era,” Elias asked excitedly, his fear gone as he started ransacking the dead soldier’s body for anything valuable.

Excited, Neemo joined him. They had hit a jackpot. Almost everything on the fallen soldier was valuable.

“Neemo. What’s this?” Alessia’s voice cut through their excitement. She was staring at a metal plate beneath the rotting fabric.

He picked up the small, hexagonal plate. It was attached to a necklace. On it were words that taxed his reading proficiency.

The pride from earlier still warm in his heart, he squinted and ran his finger over the pendant, which was surprisingly cold.

“Property of Strom. System V9. Under Review.”

For a moment, their breath caught.

“A System User,” Alessia mouthed excitedly. It was like looking at a celebrity. Even if the celebrity was dead.

Just then, the coldness climbed up Neemo’s fingers, numbing his hand before he could pull away. Within seconds, his entire nervous system seemed to freeze under an invisible layer of numbing frost.

He could see Elias and Alessia, but he couldn’t utter a word. Then a string of words appeared before his eyes.

[Compatible Host Detected]

[Syncing Host to the Mother Wave]

[Searching Database for Appropriate System]

[Apocalypse System Dispensed]

[Apocalypse System Online]

Then the cold receded, but Neemo’s reading ability couldn’t keep up with the string of words. He only understood fragments.

“Nee” Alessia called. “The acid rain!”

He pulled his eyes off the last string, confusion swirling in his mind. He decided to keep quiet.

The purple clouds had grown dense, threatening to release their water of punishment at any moment.

“We should hide the body and come back later,” Elias proposed. He had already taken some valuables — a watch and a baton.

With a nod, Alessia grabbed the two side daggers. Neemo snapped the pendant off the soldier’s neck. They dragged the body to a safe spot.

“Let’s go,” Elias said after dropping the last leaf on it, scattering dirt to make it look natural. He had the most sturdy build of the three — he was still skinny — so he did most of the dragging.

[Mission: Race the Rain.]

[Definition: Reach shelter before the rain starts.]

[Reward: 10 Exp]

[Failure: 1st Degree Burn, -20 Exp]

The words flashed before Neemo’s eyes as he took off after the other two.

Their settlement lay east of Crystal Stronghold. From how deep into the Radlands they were, they would need at least fifteen minutes of sprinting.

Their skinny figures weaved through the forest, twigs and branches whipping against them but they didn't reduce their speed, cuts and slashes were way better than acid burns.

Minutes later, their breaths were ragged. Their impoverished bodies couldn’t keep up, and their speed dropped.

_Perhaps we should have looked for shelter in the forest,_ Neemo thought as he slowly fell behind. They hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the settlement.

_No. That wouldn’t have worked. Acid rains are unpredictable. It could fall till nighttime, and then it would be too late to return to the Stronghold._ He gritted his teeth and kept going.

Branch slashes were painful, acid burns were harsher, but both were better than being eaten by the beasts of the forest.

“I see it! The settlement!” Elias shouted happily.

“Almost there, Nee.” Alessia looked over her shoulder.

Neemo couldn’t reply. He could barely see. Even Alessia's physical capability was better than his.

Almost as if Elias’s shout was a trigger, the first drop of rain fell.

“Ahh!” Elias yelped as it sizzled.

With each drop that fell, a tiny wisp of smoke rose from their exposed flesh.

Alessia raised the daggers above her head in a futile attempt to shield herself. Elias swung the baton at the fallen droplets. Neemo was already having difficulty breathing, but he didn’t dare stop.

[Mission Failed]

[-20 Exp. 1st Degree Burn]

Torturous minutes later, they stumbled into the settlement, each fleeing into their respective shacks.

Neemo paused by the cloth door in the rain, his tired eyes sweeping the interior like it was a dream. For a moment, he could only stare unable to process anything.

His knees struck the ground. Every corner was empty.

"Bastards!"

He had been robbed!