Hazard Lands Revenge

Chapter 5 - War

Author’s Notes –Sorry it’s really late. I did warn that there are no set schedules :P Thanks for reading!

Any similarities between this novel with the real world, other fiction and events are purely coincidental.

Enjoy!

--* The World *--

Wild roars pierced the air all over the world. Waves upon waves of monsters appeared, surrounding all major locations on Earth; any unprotected areas were quickly decimated, every person living there were killed and transformed. The sky was filled with crimson red as blood poured down, feeding the frenzy of mutated creatures. Among them, white eyed individuals were gathered; their skins were full of red. Mutated Humans.

The oceans rose and fell, wild storms were summoned, and the earth shook with great violence. Buildings fell, boats capsized, planes crashed. It was as if Hell had risen to Earth and the Heavens were falling down to the land. Panicked screams echoed across the few safe havens left: the massive armored cities the Superpowers have developed over the course of their reign.

Alarms blared as stampedes of citizens ran to the underground shelters. On top the walls surrounding them, were military personnel, wildly shooting waves of bullets down at the waves of monsters. The storm of metal rained down upon the creatures, yet they continued to be stuck in a stalemate. Loud bangs echoed as mounted turrets launched projectiles, explosions filling the air, yet the monsters held.

It was a battle of attrition. Who would fall first? The humans who have ruled over their world since the archaic times, or the frenzied creatures they have preyed upon before. Will the human strongholds last against the overbearing monsters? Or will they force them back, and outlive the Tribulations, as they had with all their troubles before? Only time will tell…

--* Fenlei City, Fenlei Military Brigade Headquarters *--

Stuck in the same position as the rest of the world, the Headquarters faced an army of mutated monsters, as well as many of their own kin, forced into frenzy by the rain of blood. Loud bangs and explosions echoed throughout the city as waves of lead fell down like a storm, Stage One and Stage Two creatures continuously fell as their bodies were pierced through by flying metal.

“Colonel, it has been an hour of constant gunfire, but the waves of monsters are not decreasing; in fact, they are growing in number. If this keeps going, I’m afraid our supplies will not last until the third day. Our total casualties as of now are 102 soldiers; by the next afternoon, we’ll have lost half of our soldiers,” a man approached the two men standing upon the walls, bearing dark news.

The Colonel’s eyes furrowed, as his face filled up with nervousness. A grim sigh escaped out of his mouth, “Once the first day has ended, unless the waves of monsters and mutated creatures lessen, all troops are to escape and evacuate the Headquarters into the underground Shelter,” a pained look flashed into his eyes.

“Sir!” the soldier replied and walked away to announce the colonel’s decision to the others.

“Are you sure? This is going against the orders of the higher ups,” the Lieutenant Colonel stared at the Colonel, his face veiled in a layer of surprise.

“I’d rather go against them than sacrifice my own soldiers in an impossible battle. Though we’d be a turtle keeping to its shell, I’d rather be ashamed than dead,” the Colonel responded, a chilling silence followed afterwards.

….

The soldiers who were not shooting were either running to supply the snipers hidden inside the walls, or were inside the Headquarters, their hearts filled with restlessness.

Currently, the three new recruits were inside of the headquarters, fear filling their minds. Having had faced a Stage Three monster, they felt traumatized after witnessing their friends and nine soldiers die to it. Their faces were as pale as the moon; it was as if blood was drained from their faces.

“Hahaha, don’t worry you three, there is no way that those monsters would have the power to break through the wall outside. It’s withstood armor penetrating tank shells before, yet only a small mark would be left behind. Claws and vines won’t be enough to pierce through the ten feet thick wall,” a man carrying a sword spoke, staring at the shaking youths with bemusement.

As he said those words, the three of them felt reassured and stopped being terrified, yet they could not push out the feeling of utmost caution in their heads. Suddenly, a voice sounded out, “As per the orders of the Colonel, all soldiers are to evacuate into the underground shelter if the monster waves do not lessen after tonight,” the soldier the Colonel had notified earlier announced through the Headquarters intercom.

Murmurs sounded out as the news reached their ears. Some sighed out of relief, feeling as if their lives were just saved, others grunted in anger, their bloodthirsty thoughts felt betrayed by the Colonel. In the end however, no one voiced any complaints. As for the three recruits, Nik stayed silent, as he had during most of his time spent in the Headquarters, the other two fervently discussed the announcement.

“Phew, I thought I would have to face one of those creepy monsters outside. I hope the day ends quickly…” Jasmine’s voice floated into the air, relief had filled her after hearing the announcement.

On the contrary, Hudsonn felt dissatisfied, “Cowards! This is the military, either we die of old age while serving or die in the hands of the enemy!” his head was red, as if it was boiling over.

“Hmph, I would rather live to see another day than face an enemy could potentially die to!” Jasmine yelled in response, her face tinted an equally intense red.

Hearing the two arguing, the people left on standby inside the Headquarters began to split into two sides, one that sided with Jasmine’s pacifist attitude and one that sided with Hudsonn’s bloodthirsty attitude. As the arguments continued to intensify, Nik felt a deep fear in his core, and inched away from the yelling groups of men and women.

In truth, they did not actually believe in their words and arguments; each and every one of them would lay their lives on the line for the Brigade. That was how deep their loyalty was for their fellow family members. Yet they continued to argue. After all, one would get bored when held on standby during a war. They were the ones in charge of holding the monsters back once they reach melee range: the Tiger Battalion.

Many monsters had made it into the Headquarters already, but the battalion would not be of much use, considering as all of them were flight based mutated creatures. Currently, the only thing they could do was argue with each other for entertainment, a hint of amusement in their eyes as they spouted ridiculous statements.

….

After an hour had passed, most of the soldiers had stopped, yet the two new recruits continued their arguing. Nik had long since left, as he climbed the wall after pestering Personn about it. Many of the soldiers wanted to join him, but could not obtain permission to separate from the battalion of 500.

After entering the wall, he and Personn had quickly climbed up, and found an unoccupied window to look through. As Nik stared out into the battlefield, his eyes widened into the size of a tennis ball, a look of shock and surprise had filled his face. What he witnessed were mountains upon mountains of dead corpses of humans, animals and plants. Many of the humans he saw possessed reddish skin where muscles bulged in every inch. On certain parts of their bodies were pearly white bones that protruded from the skin.

Nik couldn’t bear to look any longer, as he shifted his eyes away from the corpses of mutated humans. Instead, he examined the bodies of the mutated animals and plants. Ranging from gigantic rabid dogs to treants, there were too many types of monsters to be identified. Even those in the same species looked greatly different from one another. It was as if the amount of rain absorbed changes how the creatures would mutate.

Just as Nik finished examining the creatures, Personn shoved a sniper rifle into his hands, “Your target is 100 kills. We’ve supplied you with 200 rounds. Make them count,” he said coldly, all semblances to his previous easy-going personality had disappeared. A glare came out of his eyes; a stern face stared at Nik, carefully evaluating the boy. This was the reason why he had allowed Nik to leave the headquarters and enter the wall: a test of skill.

Nik carefully grabbed the rifle, carefully placing his hands over the shiny black handle; he looked through the scope. It was as if the world had been magnified by over a hundred times. The monsters that he had been squinting at were displayed to him in their full glory; every detail was presented to him. Red eyes glared down; the eyes of death.

Holding his breath, Nik placed a finger on the trigger. As it pressed down, countless calculations occurred in his head. Wind speed. Gravity. Bullet arc. Velocity. Every factor concerning the route of his bullet was calculated at light speeds inside his head. In an instant, he saw an imaginary line run from the barrel to one of the monsters’ head.

*Click*

*Bang*

Mutated Report

The mutated beings that have recently appeared on Earth can be classified into four different types: beastial, plantkind, humanoid and ancient. Beastial mutated creatures are animals that have been changed by the Blood Rain through drinking. The more exposed they are to the rain, the more changes that occur. Most cases would result in a berserk of violence in exchange for a much more powerful body. Muscle mass increases, the creature would grow much larger than its previous species’ limits, and creatures will develop incredibly dangerous natural weapons, such as infinitely sharp claws or piercing horns.

Plantkind mutations are much more drastic than beastial mutations. Instead of a single plant species that develops mutations, they instead gather together and form a heart or brain. This coalition of plants are capable of using the surrounding nature around them, be it vines, thorns, trunks or branches; the number of mutations available to them are almost infinite. Some plants can even create and combine different mutations according to what their hearts are created with.

Humanoids are the results of humans who have been covered or drank ample amounts of the Blood Rain. They are characterized by the red tint in their skin and pure white eyes. Humanoids develop an intense increase in their muscle mass, and their organs are capable of working three times better than normal humans. In addition to their bodily augments, Humanoid bones start to heavily morph and pierce through the skin to act as natural weapons. They could grow everywhere, from the arms, legs, back or chest. Though some might be disgusted, humans are able to drink small amounts of rain, or bathe in it for short periods of time to augment their own bodies without losing their sanities.

Ancient beings are not mutated creatures, but are the Guardians for the Seven Keys required to end the Tribulations. As of now, these beings are only hypothesized, as none have appeared yet. We believe that there is an 80% chance of their existence however, as the Scroll of Larac has mentioned their existence multiple times, along with the current events as of now. According to the Scroll, there are Seven Ancients guarding the Seven Keys; all of them are infinitely more powerful than even Stage 10 mutated creatures. Do not aggravate them, unless you wish to die.

Aside from the Ancient Beings, the three mutated categories range from Stage One to Stage Ten, each stage up is multiple times stronger than the previous stage. There are currently only one Stage Ten presently, the Arctic Emperor, a titan created from ice that has developed conscience after absorbing large amounts of Blood Rain. Aside from the Arctic Emperor, who rules in the polar icecaps alone, mutated creatures have created a military ladder, in which the higher stage creatures command the lower stage creatures, though it is not strange to find a lone creature in the wild.