Chapter One

It has been about twelve years since the virus first appeared in Sweden. Ninety five percent of the Earth's population has been wiped out. The world is on the verge of ending and the future seems bleak for all life forces. The virus has evolved and fortunately so has Earth's remaining survivors. The survival of the Earth depends on the residual humans outliving the virus.

I craned my neck over the widespread branches in front of me and tried to guess the distance to the nearest town. From my position on a tall beech tree, I could view my surroundings openly but the town before me seemed to be quite distant and farther than I could see clearly. I assumed the distance to be about a hundred meters and groaned in evident displeasure. I was exhausted but I needed to get to the nearest town in order to get hold of some food and supplies. The journey to the town, though not too far would be prolonged due to my load. My belongings consisted of a back pack containing my essential provisions, an M14 rifle and a stock pack for my meagre ammunition hung from my torso. It was mainly the rifle that gave me most of the stress because of its weight but it was indispensable and crucial to my existence.

I picked up my backpack and hung it over my shoulders. My stock pack was always strapped to my waist and I grabbed the M14 slinging across my backpack getting ready to climb down the tree. I adjusted my hand gloves which were worn out from frequent tree climbing and I slowly lowered my right foot to a lower branch. I held the tree bark and repeated the process with my left foot. A wasp hovered above me and I paused trying to appear as inert as possible. It seemed like it wasn't aware of my presence because a few moments later, it moved on to a nearby tree and I continued my flight down the beech tree. Finally arriving at the bottom of the tree, I stepped onto the forest floor and stood catching my breath. From where I sat on the tree, the direction of the town was westward so I would have to follow that route.

Humans were not the only ones affected by the Halmstad virus, plants and animals also suffered the effects of the virus. For some reason I cannot explain, the plants took on a withered look and were generally morbid. The animals were not left out as they died due to the environmental factors and the decline in plant life took its toll on them. Generally, animals were harder to locate and only a few plant life were healthy. The forest wore a gloomy look and I began my short trip to the town.

I walked carefully in the direction of the West and tried to detect any sound or movement that might be detrimental to my survival. Just a few minutes into my walk in the forest, I began to perspire with beads of sweat falling down my forehead. The forest floor was murky with mud owing to the heavy downpour of rain from the previous night. Together with the numerous fallen branches and leaves that clustered the floor, this walk was going to be a very rough one. A vine which was suspended in mid-air by two complementary branches snaked dangerously low and I lowered my head, moved under it and continued my walk. I wished I could just eat some of the fruits I could recognize here in the forest, but I didn't want to take the chance as it might be infected.

Moving at a steady pace, I was able to cover considerable distance from the tree and I felt optimistic for the first time today. However I perceived movement in front of me from under the cover of some bushes and I went back to my usual vigilant mode. Retrieving my rifle from my back, I steadied its grip in my hands and got ready to approach the source of the disturbance. I thought about calling out to enable the person or thing to materialize from the bushes but I quickly shook the thought away from my head. I decided on killing whatever hid behind those bushes as the safest course of action. I slowly walked towards the bushes and aimed my rifle. Whatever was behind the bushes had either not noticed my presence or had decided to remain immobile, though I was sure that it was still there.

The problem was that I couldn't pinpoint the precise location of the being and I had to estimate its apparent location. That meant I would have to fire about four shots at random points in the bush at close proximity to each other and hope that I would be lucky. If I didn't get it, then I would have to face whatever it was. I made up my mind on where I would fire the shots and I got ready to pull the trigger.

With serious focus, I aimed at the coordinates and quickly pulled off three shots. I couldn't afford more as I had to conserve my bullets. I heard a soft wail and I smiled inwardly, I had got my target. I approached the bushes carefully and I used the tip of the rifle to make an opening with the leaves, so that I could view my prey. I saw some fur and when I fully made the opening, I saw the victim of my bullet, a small raccoon. I loked it over for symptoms of the virus but it looked healthy to me so I decided to keep it. I smiled at my luck and dragged it onto open ground. I concealed the raccoon with some leaves I found nearby while returning the M14 to its position.

Hoisting up the raccoon on my shoulders, I looked forward, ready to continue my journey. My load had increased but with luck, I could trade the raccoon for something valuable or consume it as a last resort. I tried increasing the distance I would cover by jogging as I had wasted some time and I hoped I would make it to the town in record time.

A few hours later, I found the end of the forest trail and knew I was at the border of the town. I emerged from the forest and stepped into open ground. I could see the town up close now just a few meters away. It looked like the rest of other settlements on the planet, mostly decrepit and rundown. I sighed in relief and walked towards my temporary destination. With my luck, I hoped it would be a ghost town as I needed the luxury of rummaging the buildings without any disturbance.

Due to the virus outbreak, billions of people in the world had died. The global economy had vanished and with little or no civilization, the world was reverting back on its evolution and was quickly moving back to near primitive times. There was no existence of countries, states, provinces etc. Every remaining human either survived in solitude or lived in groups for protection. The victims of the virus in their senseless attacks of slaughter wreaked havoc on everything around them, including the buildings and settlements. This lead to all the towns and other places that survived having the dilapidated look.

I finally arrived at the town and didn't bother to look at the signboard on which the name of the town was inscribed. It didn't matter any longer, so I didn't trouble myself about it. The few buildings around the anterior of the town were in a sorry state and I made my way into the town. I t didn't look like anybody was around but I wasn't sure about that so I unslung my rifle once again.

Walking around for a few minutes, I noticed a building that looked like it had once being a convenient store and I decided to visit there first. A scruffy looking fox scurried past me but I left it to roam. I looked around me trying to discern how safe it was and finally pushed the doors open. I was greeted by a musty smell and dust that seemed to be on every surface. Coughing gently, I covered my nose and moved forward examining my surroundings. The shelves were obviously ransacked as some were lying on the floor and all seemed empty. All the electrical appliances in the small building were either broken or missing and the counter lay abandoned. I walked through the aisles still hoping to find something useful when I came to a corner of the store. A broken shelf lay on the floor and I caught a glimpse of something glistening under it and I decided to inspect.

Coming closer carefully, I looked under the shelf and realized it was some sort of canned substance. I reached under the shelf and retrieved the can, peering closely at it. It was dusty and I wiped the dust with my gloves as I looked at its caption, I recognized the can, it was a processed corn and I smiled again. I had been lucky a second time today. I detached my backpack and dropped it on the ground, along with my rifle, the can of corn and the raccoon parcel. I then decided to lift the shelf to see if I would find any other surprise.

Crouching down, I put my hands under the shelf and heaved it up slowly as it was quite heavy. The shelf was lodged in between other shelves around it and it took time before I could free the shelf I was holding. Finally, I was able to lift the shelf up and wedge it against the wall. A flurry of dust flew about and I covered my face coughing again, this time more furiously. In a few moments, I was able to recover and I got ready to scavenge for more items when my eyes caught a figure under the shelf I had just lifted. The figure was on lay on the ground with its back facing forward and I couldn't see its face. However I could see its mauve colored skin with bulging veins on the skin exposed from the rags it was clothed in as I froze, dread growing within me.