The cool breeze produced by the ceiling fan was refreshing, creating a relaxing ambience as I lay on my bed, listening to the serenity of the birdsongs outside.
Suddenly, my cellphone buzzed in response to a call. Almost antiquated by comparison to other smart phones used today, it makes you wonder why I hold onto such an old piece of technology. Well, unlike other phones, it comes as a tiny piece of armored social technology, able to be dropped in water, run over by a semi-truck, and blown to bits by TNT and still works at optimum performance. All this, and I can open it with the push of a button just to answer a call. Picking it up, I sighed and pressed the button being just described.
"Hello?" I answered.
A female's gasp of relief rang in my ears. "Rylan! Thank goodness you're there!"
"Silvia?" I replied. "What's wrong?"
"Listen, I don't have much time." She paused, taking a breath. In the background I could hear boots slamming against wood, and I almost thought I could smell a bit of smoke. "There are these men. They broke into my house, killed my parents, and are trying to break into my room."
"I'm gonna store the coordinates in a safe. The number is nineteen, twenty-two, and thirty-six." She paused once more, then resumed. "If you get the note, find me at that location! I'll be waiting."
Then the door burst open. Gunshots rang through the air by the earpiece. She gasped, then followed by "I love you!" came a scream, and nothing but static filled the air.
I sat there on my bed, my mind reeling. Strangely, the only thing that I could think about were those last words.
I shook myself. Pull yourself together, your girlfriend has just been kidnapped! Shaken by the recent events I grabbed my switchblade and tromped downstairs, almost tripping over the fat cat that laid sprawled out on the bottom step, one of four cats that I have inside my rundown home. Opening the door to the garage, I hesitated, my head swimming with what I might see if I followed through with my plan. Finally my head cleared. I jumped into the blue SAAB 9-3 that sat in my parking spot, and, starting the engine I pulled out of the driveway and into the streets of the city of Orlando.
My name is Rylan Attesh. I am twenty-four years old, a senior at the University of Central Florida. Both Silvia and I are the same age, and we live in Orlando, Florida.
Silvia Feer, a gorgeous woman with hazel eyes, red hair, and a slender build. Which explains why she's my girlfriend.
Back to the tale, I drove up the street to a busy intersection, then turned left. After fifteen minutes of old buildings and great large trees, I saw a plume of smoke rising from my intended destination. I turned right onto a back road that led to a small mansion.
As I pulled into view I was greeted by not the liberating feeling of gazing upon incredible and beautiful architecture. Instead, my heart plummeted as my eyes laid their gaze on the chaos that had unfolded among the estate.
Once beautiful cypresses now lay in charred ashes and blackened stumps. Hedges didn't even look as though they had served as a fence along the premises. In the middle of it all sat a giant, blackened, smoking heap of rubble.
When I walked closer, I could see harsh red embers dancing along charred pillars that once held up the structure. Everywhere I looked, I saw nothing but smoke, ash, rubble, and a slight gleam of silver.
I stopped. Silver? I thought as I ventured nearer to the object in question. Peering out of the scorched earth was a small safe.
I stiffened. The safe! Crouching down beside it, I tried to remember the code. 'The combination is nineteen, twenty-two, and thirty-six'. Silvia's words drifted through my head, a ghost of what remained of her.
Inputting the combination, the safe popped open, revealing a note. Hastily scrawled on the note was:
63.396135,-100.883331
I sat there for a moment, then got up, walked to the car, and drove home. Sliding into my desk I booted up my laptop and waited for it to load, when the sounds of sirens reached my ears. Not a moment too soon, I thought to myself as I gazed out the window.
Finally, the login screen popped up and I unlocked my desktop. I opened my web browser and looked up the coordinates. What popped up looked to be a small peninsula jutting out into a small lake. The location registered in Nunavut, Dubawnt Lake.
I hopped up out of my chair, grabbed my duffle bag, and filling it with tools and rations found in the pantry, mostly toaster pastries, water bottles, and crackers, and enough clothes to last me three days. Throwing the bag over my shoulder and grabbing my lightweight jacket, I double checked to make sure I had everything, and remembered I hadn't grabbed my wallet. I quickly ran back upstairs, grabbed it off of my dresser, then tromped downstairs and got in the car. I drove to the airport, then purchased the cheapest plane ticket they had to, made my way through security, and departed. The plane ride was quite enjoyable, but as I walked off the landing strip at Taduole Lake, I had a strange feeling that I might not be going back home.
To my surprise there was a car rental dealership in the small town of Taduole Lake, so thankfully I wasn't trekking through the barren tundra on foot. I purchased a 2010 Ford Ranger, tossed my bag in the backseat and purchased extra food from a nearby general store, and with the heat blasting I drove into the most uninhabited country in the world to face the unknown dangers that lie ahead.
The terrain views were stunning. Imagine a winter wonderland overlooking a frozen lake, ice shimmering like needles of crystal as the tundra sun hits them. All around me where the sun touched ice the world shimmered and sparkled, making it seem like a massive diamond. On and on this went, for miles upon miles. The scenery started to blur with time, and I became more focused on the mission of rescuing Silvia.
Finally, I reached the Dubawnt's shore; yet another expanse of frozen, crystallized liquid. Exiting the truck, I gazed across and saw several islands, hard to discern from one another.
I grabbed my phone and activated its GPS feature and, glancing at the paper inputted the coordinates. I looked up and saw that thankfully I was on the right trail; a path of small islands leading to the mainland that held my destination. Taking a deep breath, I slowly walked forward and waded through the freezing lake.
The water swirled around me in a searing vortex of icy needles, threatening to impale me with every stroke that brought me closer to the nearest island. After what felt like hours of battling the looming threat of exhaustion, I finally staggered onto the shore of the first island, drenched in icy water. The sheer wind seemed to blow straight through me as I stood shivering on the wet sand. Then when I gathered the courage to press on, I exhaled into the wintery night and slipped into the water, heading for the next island. The pain struck me like a hammer, and blackness started to close in on my vision. I squeezed my eyes shut tight, fighting back the urge to give up. Moment after moment passed like this, until finally I crawled onto the shore of the second island. This land was larger than the first, with a few trees growing in several areas. I laid down under one of them and rested for a second, catching the oxygen that had been robbed from me in the swim. I pulled out my phone and looked to my relief that there was only one more island left- my destination.
As I stared at the screen I began to hear the sounds of humanity, and the faint sound of helicopter rotors as one lifted up and into the night. I finally got up from my temporary refuge, pocketed my phone and continued to trek beneath the trees. I reached the end of the island and plunged once more into the inky blackness of cold water and waded through to the last island. As I swam nearer I began to hear more noises, some less human than I would've liked them to be. I reached the island a couple minutes later and stared into the deep dark forest of creatures unknown to man. Unsheathing my switch blade, I continued into the woods of pine that would surely spell certain doom for me.
As soon as I stepped off of the beach and into the shadows, the forest went silent. It was as though the whole world was holding its breath in anticipation of events to come. Slowly I crept though the undergrowth, making sure not to make a sound. Suddenly, the sound of a helicopter's rotors filled the air as a military grade Chinook cargo craft landed off in the distance, its twin rotors slowly coming to a halt. While I still had the chance, I quickly made my way towards the clearing- only to find my path blocked by an enormous wall.
It stretched off in both directions about two miles, and rose as high as one mile. Its dark gray concrete barely visible in the glare of the moon, I noticed that there were spotlights on both corners- I guessed there would be the same on the other side.
Men dressed in brownish yellow uniforms patrolled at the top of the wall, switching from looking inside the walls to the outside. As I observed the uniformed men, I saw a spotlight beam sweeping towards my location. I quickly dove back into the shadows of the pine trees as the light swept over where I had just been standing. I let out a sigh of relief, then examined the spotlight sweeps and guard rotations carefully. After careful planning, I waited for the beam to sweep back over my location, then made a run for the safety in the shadows of the wall, then sidestepped my way to the closest edge of the wall. From there, I began looking for a way into the fortress. My gaze fell on a small vent at the bottom of the wall, almost concealed by the brush growing around it. The vent itself was about two feet by one foot, big enough for a small person to wriggle through. I quickly ran over to the vent, and realized that hot air was blowing through instead of an icy breeze. Suddenly I thought, How could a deciduous plant could grow in such a harsh environment? I removed the grate covering the vent using my knife as a screw driver, and peered inside.
The sudden blast of sweltering heat burst into my face, and I recoiled against the sudden change in temperature. The ventilation shaft continued for about ten feet, then opened up into a bright light. Covering my eyes, I knelt down and began to crawl through until I reached the end. To my dismay, the exit was blocked by another grate. Pausing for a moment, pooling out gallons of sweat, I took a breath and then began to saw through the bars holding me back. Thankfully the metal was soft due to the constant exposure to the hot air. The metal stood no chance against my tempered steel knife, and the grate gave way a few minutes later.
Blinking to adjust to the sudden light that flooded the shaft, I looked out and gaped at what I beheld.
The whole complex was composed of trillions of species of tropical plants, thriving in the heat that was pumped out by many more vents like the one I was concealed by. Along the far wall I noticed were six short rectangular pyramids, with a path leading underneath the shorter side; a trench dug out of the earth only to lead into the dirt it was made from.
To my left was a large circular pit, with a round pedestal rising from it to come only a couple inches short of the main hole. The particles around the pedestal quavered, probably because of the heat surrounding me, but I couldn't be sure. To my right was a big cement building, connected to the outer wall and rising about five stories high. Above the building I saw the Chinook take off and rise out of sight from beneath the trees.
I crawled out of the shaft and claimed a large shrub as my hiding place, checked through my minimal inventory, then waited for a clue as to the whereabouts of Silvia. The same question kept going through my mind, over and over again, thinking, What the heck is this place?
That's when I noticed the inhabitants.
Hundreds of creatures of all shapes, sizes, and colors were lying around the complex, eyeing each other with desperation, hunger, and hatred. A pack of huge wolven creatures were prowling around, snarling at anyone who got in their way. A couple of enormous creatures almost three times my size bumped into each other. One growled at the other, and then blood started to fly as they ripped each other to shreds. The victor stooped over his fallen victim and started to devour his corpse hungrily. Several skinny pallid creatures perched in the trees eyed the carcass hungrily, waiting for their turn to strike at the feast.
Suddenly, a reinforced door on the building opened and a short, slender red haired girl toppled out as though shoved by unseen hands. As she looked up, I noticed her eyes were red as though she had been crying, a blood streamed out of a fresh wound on her right arm. Her clothes were practically shredded, showing more of the torture she endured. She glanced toward my hiding place behind the shrub, but didn't appear to see me. She slowly limped away from the building, leaning heavily on her right leg. With each slump, we both winced in pain, me horrified by the thoughts of what her captors did to her to leave her in such terrible condition.
Suddenly, searing pain shot up my spine as something large and hairy cannoned into my right leg, ripping it off completely. I toppled to the ground, blood spurting out of the fresh wound. Then several more of the things tackled me and started ripping the rest of my limbs off one by one. I moaned as I writhed in pain, and Silvia continued to scream. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a guardsman peer over the wall, holler for assistance, then took aim and fired. The bullet hit one of the creatures and it slumped to the ground, blood pouring out of a fresh wound in its head.
Finally one of the creatures jumped eagerly onto my chest, jaws aimed to tear at my throat. My heart racing in terror, I watched the beasts rip their claws through the soft skin, I thought This is the end of Rylan Attesh. I shut my eyes tight, not wanting to see the gore that would follow.
Suddenly, the pain lessened. I felt a set of claws leave my stomach, then another set. I opened my eyes just enough to see a guard dragging and throwing the creatures off of my blood-soaked body.
"Are you okay, son?" the guard asked as he lifted me off the ground.
I tried to answer, but my tongue couldn't form the words. Blackness crowded rapidly at the edge of my vision; the world began to blink in and out, until everything faded. I felt my heart slow to a dead stop, my throat convulsing as I tried to breathe.
Then everything was silent, and I felt myself slip away and vanish.