Chapter-3 Prologue

Joel resumed his action and unlocked the door. He swung it open and exclaimed "Home, sweet home. " He removed his shoes and went down to sit on his comfy couch.

"Home? I thought you said we were going to the northern tunnel hideout." she curiously asked as she stepped inside. J entered and locked the door behind him.

"We are at the northern tunnel, kid. " Joel said as he placed his bag down. J hinted at her to remove her shoes and like both of them did.

"But you just said home. " she was thoroughly confused now.

"It's his apartment, kid." he pointed at J who placed his bag on the adjacent wall.

"The Northern tunnel is in this building. Naturally, since all the well-known smugglers have access to it. The hideout is a shared common space. But we aren't your average smugglers now are we? We always remain 3 steps ahead of everyone. J took an apartment in the same building as the hideout. Since he lives with me, naturally we converted this into our exclusive hideout. "

"Rest up, we probably will have to leave as soon as Tess comes. J, prepare our gear. I'll take a shut-eye. Kid, you can hang with him or just do your thing or just you know, take a rest." he said as he lay down on the couch.

A few seconds passed as both of them watched him sleep.

'I guess he matches his definition of an adult. (¬_¬) '

'This guy...' he face-palmed while Ellie was standing beside him still watching Joel. He then walked forward his hands in his pockets as he raised his leg before hitting him beside his shin.

He suddenly woke up and looked at J (-_-).

"Do you have a death wish? You moron you just slept on the couch with dirty clothes one that has bloodstains on them. Tess will fuckin' kill us both. Get up have a quick bath and then go to sleep. (-_-)"

'Haaaaaaaaahh? He has a problem with him sleeping on the couch in dirty clothes but he has no problem with him just randomly coming in and taking a nap? AM I THE WEIRD ONE? Is this normal? (✿ ⊙︿⊙ ) '

He grunted before he opened a wardrobe grabbed his spare clothes and towel and went inside the adjoining room to access the bathroom, leaving him and Ellie alone.

"Place your backpack down somewhere and grab a seat. Don't keep standing." He glanced at her once before he took some spare cloth and sat near the entrance and started to clean his boots. She placed her backpack near his and sat on a comfy-looking sofa chair. She looked around it was a decent apartment, nothing too great but it looked clean and actually liveable. To her, it was almost on borderline luxury.

There was a high table probably a dining table, good enough chairs placed beside it. The living room had a good couch and two comfy sofa chairs, one of which she was currently sitting on. There was a bookcase but it had only 4 books. The point is, it was clean. There were two wardrobes placed adjacent to each other.

The kitchen part was almost empty but again clean. There were some utensils cleaned and placed in an organiser. There was a small compact gas stove one that was definitely portable. There was a big water filter next to the stove for drinkable water. The filter was very basic a plastic container with a knob and huge bottled water placed invertedly over the container. It was probably a 25 L bottle. It was an emergency water setup when water from the sink mixer wasn't available.

Even though she had called water a more acquirable facility it was still rationed off. Water was only supplied thrice a day, an hour each. A total of 3 hours of water, there wasn't 24x7 running water, not for anyone. Those who had intact plumbing got it in the usual way. Those who didn't were required to line up at the allocated time, bring containers, fill them up and take them back.

'And if you couldn't manage to get it any of the three times. Well, then pray, you have some friends or remain without a drop of water for the entire day.'

Then the place had light as well. There was a workbench on one end of the room near one of the windows.

"Man, this is truly a sweet place. How did you get this? Did you build this up? how'd you get the lights? Water, I can understand but the lights? "

'Light was not at all common in homes. The authorities in the zone are working on that, too many wires ripped out. Too many transformers were destroyed and just non-availability of required parts and tools. There were not one but multiple problems for the failure.

Currently, only major and big facilities like my preparatory school, residences of VIPs, drugstore, ration centre, broadcast and radio, etc might be the only functional ones having electricity.

Probably Marlene's base as well.'

*ugh* 'She asks too many questions.'

"Yeah, I was issued an apartment because I am qualified for it. The water is easy enough as you know. If the plumbing is okay, groundwater, rainwater you name it. There's a reason why Boston is flooding up with people they have the water treatment plant working. Not every city has that. Heck, not every state has that. 'Well most states are dead so go figure.' "

He got up and threw the rag in a bin. He went behind the bookcase shelf and pulled out a rolled mat and spread it open near it. He picked up his and Joel's bag and placed it against the wall near the rolled-out mat. Ellie followed him with her eyes. She had nothing better to do besides observing him. After all, they had to wait, wait till his friend showed up and they had time, more than enough time to kill.

While she could not make out the time because of the stormy weather brewing up she was sure an hour ago it was still sunny. Therefore, according to her estimation, there was still an hour till evening hit. Hence, it was still afternoon so to speak. But looking out one could only see dark clouds.

'It's gonna rain heavily.' she was drawn out of her thoughts by his voice.

"Furniture is easy enough. As for the lights, I found a solar inverter. The hard part was getting it to work but luckily I know a guy who has the 'scholar' blessing. Bastard, actually learnt some tech shit in the academy. Well, a friend of his friend was here in Boston regarding the overall problem of electricity so I approached him, had to do some ops for the favour but I got it done. He fulfilled his part of the agreement. "

He went to the other wardrobe and opened it. It had a lot of clean rags. There were three coat covers also hanging in it. He pulled out quite a few pieces of the clean cloth and placed them on the mat. He then removed the three coat covers and placed them next to his backpack.

"And voila let there be light. The good part is that it's solar. The extra energy is storable and you can have light at night. Since this is a hideout, that's barely used. It has light."

He went back to the wardrobe and started pulling out the shelves, placing them down.

'What's he doing? Why is he pulling out the shelves?' she was stunned as he saw him reach inside and slide the backside.

'That was a sliding cabinet! ' What was revealed to her, left her speechless to some extent. There were three rifles on individual shelves. He brought them out and briefly looked at her.

"You should see your face right now, 624. " he snickered and went on to place them adjacent to the mat. He was going back and forth bringing out containers having mags and containers having ammunition. He placed them on the other side of the mat.

"Woah, those are some cool rifles. Bet they'd be fuckin badass to shoot. How did you get those?" One could tell she was excited.

"Not your concern." a small frown made up on her face as she heard his brusque reply. He went back in to get small containers and a last big container and placed them with the rest of the stuff.

"Would it kill you to not be rude? You've been nothin' but unfriendly since we met. " she sounded somewhat disappointed and a tinge bitter to him. She looked elsewhere as she spoke.

"I do not function according to your whims neither I was informed that I had to be friendly to you. I am only tasked to smuggle you. " he said as he slid back the cabinet and started placing the shelves back.

*sighed* 'knew it. He would say something like this. Why did I even bother?'

"But you are right." she looked back at him. He was still busy placing the shelves back.

"I am right?"

"Yes, Being antagonistic towards you will be foolish on my behalf. It might create unfavourable outcomes while we are outside and it could bring harm to both you and us. So I apologise if you ever felt I was antagonistic towards you. Believe me, I never was. Was I Indifferent? Yes, did I indulge in banter with you? Yes, but throughout it, I had no intention to hurt you neither did I care to." He looked at her, he was finished with his work.

"You're a stranger to me. Our relationship is strictly professional. So understand me as well, I cannot be friendly to you. I'll tone down some of my behaviour so that you do not feel so uncomfortable." He said as he sat on the mat, he choose not to look at her expression and went to his work.

He first pulled the containers with the mags and open ammo. He placed aside the already filled mags. There were 12 in total, four for each person.

"You would be a joyful person to hang out with." she sarcastically replied to his serious words. "Also, with your explanation, you hurt me more than you ever could with your actions." she started to chuckle a little.

He remained silent unable to pick up whether that was sarcastic or the actual truth she wrapped in her sarcasm. He began to fill the empty mags with bullets. He had to do four types of mags. It was a simple but painfully boring process. 7.62 x 51 mm cartridge for Joel, 5.56 x 45 mm calibre for Tess, 7.62 x 39 mm calibre for himself and finally 9 x 19 mm calibre for their guns.

*sigh* 'Fuckin, Joel. Bastard took a bath and crashed on the bed inside.'

" Hey, I am bored is there anything to do around here?" she asked as she collapsed on the bigger couch.

"Well, the way I see it. There are two things that you can do to pass the time."

"And those are?" she asked as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Take a nap or go and take a bath. If it's the former, just ignore it if my work makes any sound. If it's the latter, there are extra towels in the wardrobe. "

"What's with you and baths? Jeez, I took one already when I was with Marlene. She may not have a personal sweet set-up like yours but even she has water at her actual place. Duh. "

"I was only recommending it cause you have a long journey ahead of you. Don't think you would be straight to another Firefly base once we hand you over. No, ma'am. You'll be hitting the roads. Probably a few months journey to their base. Your friends lost control of Pittsburgh. They no longer control it. Hunters took over it completely.

My guess is you'll make your way to Virginia. There are some strongholds of the firefly there. Then you'll probably go to North Carolina."

"How'd you know so much about where they will take me? And what are these hunters you keep mentioning? You mentioned it twice. The name doesn't sound nice at all."

"I know about it because it is almost known by everyone. Everybody knows it, the Fireflies have control over Charlotte in North Carolina. They run shit there, the entire govt. is controlled by them.

As for hunters, you'll get to know about them, fuckin heretics, all of them. But not all heretics are hunters. Don't worry they're just like you and me but evil."

"My head aches when I talk to you. What are heretics now? "

"Someone missed her Sunday school. " he chuckled. She rolled her eyes at his comment

"Whatever. Just tell me. "

"Simply put they are people who use their blessings to do bad."

"Wow, thanks that told me so much about them. I feel I really know all about them." she was being sarcastic.

"Better than nothin'. Since It's clear we're playing questions. My turn, I know Joel asked this before but why are you so important that Marlene would pay such a cost to try to get you out as soon as possible? What does she want from you?".

He asked as he got up and picked up the now-filled mags and went to the coat covers. He unzipped them and removed a vest from each, respectively.

A military vest had the capacity to carry 8 mags but carrying so much was sort of foolish as in if the vest was lost at any point or needed to be abandoned there would be too much of a loss. Hence, he placed 5 mags in the front pockets of his vest, 5 in Tess's and 6 in Joel's, as Joel had lesser capacity. Hence, an extra mag to bridge the gap.

He did the same for their secondary arms, 3 mags in total for each person. All the remaining mags went into their bags. Tess's portion was kept aside.

"I can't tell you that, that is a thing only reserved for a close friend. " she turned her body to look at him and called him. "Hey, guess what ?" he turned to look at her.

"Please understand me as well, I cannot tell you that since I cannot be friendly to you either." she had a full-blown smirk on her face.

'Got ya', finally. heh. Taste a dose of your own medicine. '

*tch* he clicked his tongue as he resumed what he was doing.

"So change question! " she said in a sing-song voice clearly quite happy with her brief triumph.

"Yeah, well then next question. Kinda more intrusive you can choose not to answer. What's your blessing? " He placed the four different types of calibre bullets into separate fabric pouches each labelled. He placed his own share in his bag, Joel's in Joel's bag and placed aside Tess's for when she came.

"Obviously, I won't tell you that. (^ _^ ). So, cha ~ (˃ᆺ˂ ✿)~nge question." she continued in her chirpy voice.

'She's really enjoying that she has one-upped me twice in a row, huh?' He went back to sit on the mat and pulled out a small kit.

"One more, is your blessing awakened? " he asked as he brought out a solvent spray, a lubricant bottle, a double-ended Toothbrush, a snake cord, round cloth patches and an applicator.

"Nope, It's not awakened. My turn. " She flipped and now laying flat on her stomach. Her chin was supported on a pillow and her attention was on him.

"You're not gonna tell me your blessing so no point in asking that I'll skip straight to is your blessing awakened?"

"Nope, same as you. " he moved to his bag and pulled out a cleaning rod kit and brush kit. He moved back and grabbed his rifle.

'Let's start with the easiest one.'

"That was awfully short of an answer. So next one, you obviously know what you've been doin'. Were you also in the preparatory academy? and what's the name of these rifles?" she asked.

"Also? huh. So it's safe to assume you were in one too. " he spoke as he removed the empty mag from the rifle, clicked the safety off and pulled the bolt back inspecting the chamber, making sure it was empty. He pressed the locking button on the rear end and the back of the recoil spring to remove the dust cover.

"What never seen an AK before? " He looked up to her. She shook her head horizontally affirming she had never seen one.

"Well I've seen them from a distance but I didn't know their names. I know that one." she pointed to Joel's rifle. "I know that is a hunting rifle. Shooting training in the academy begins only at 14. I've shot guns and that too was very limited. Since we're not allowed to waste ammo in training when there's an overall lack of ammunition for units on active duty. Never shot a rifle before. Rifles are taught at 15. "

"I see. Well, this right here. " he pointed to his own rifle "is a Meridian Defence AK also commonly called Pestilence. That one, the one you just pointed is a sniper rifle. It's the American Ruger. See that scope on it. It's used to take out people from a very good distance. If you're faced with a sniper with talent having a vantage point and a clear line of sight, consider yourself a dead man standing.

and finally, that is an M4 Carbine, he pointed to Tess's rifle."

He had already removed the recoil spring and the bolt carrier group. He detached the bolt, he had also removed the gas tube.

'I really love AKs. It's so fuckin' easy to disassemble. Why can't ARs be like that? (T ^ T). AKs are the best. AK supremacy. Long live the AK, it doesn't really require cleaning, it works in sub-zero temperatures, it hardly malfunctions, the safety is huge and the trigger is good as well. Absolutely, zero complaints. ( ̄へ ̄)'

"Hey, you still didn't answer the other one."

"Oh right. No, I was not in a preparatory school. I am a smuggler." he used a dry rag to rough clean and wipe everything down. He then picked a cleaning rod and attached a threaded brush to it. He then roughly went through the barrel once. He did the same for the gas tube and then sprayed some solvent down the barrel, down the gas chamber and through the opening near the cartridge chamber and placed them aside for now.

He sprayed some solvent on the rag and started to clean the bolt carrier, the piston attached to it, he wiped down the recoil spring and then came in with the double-ended brush to remove any of the residues on it.

"Bullshit, c'mon you seriously want me to believe you weren't in the academy? I don't see other smugglers carrying rifles and vests." she pointed to the place where they were.

"Well, I guess you can call it a sort of preparatory school. Even though I wouldn't. But you're right, I am military. Also, you don't see smugglers at all. "

"Yeah figured you were in training. It's why you act so snobbish. ー( ̄~ ̄)ξ "

'Called me out for being rude, now who's the one going in on the other person here? Bruh...'

He picked up his cleaning rod and attached a grooved brush and started cleaning the gas tube and barrel. It would be easier to get rid of the filings since the solvent had time to work on it. He detached the grooved brush and placed a pointed needle end on it and attached a clean patch to it. He drove it through the barrel slowly. It came out of the barrel unclean. He removed the patch and attached a new one and now pulled back the rod slowly. He repeated it until it was clean. He followed the same procedure for the gas tube.

He then sprinkled enough drops of lubricant on the patch and then repeated the same process of going in and out of the barrel and tube. The lubricant was used in places to prevent wear and tear and ensure smooth action and really protect the gun from harsh conditions. He did the same for the piston and the bolt carrier and the bolt and wiped off any of the excess oil using the cloth rag.

He used a brush and cleaned up the spring and then used a few drops of oil and wiped it down to make sure it was clean. He used the rag and wiped the trigger and the cartridge chamber. He then repeated the same process with oil in places where it was required like the rail contacts and any part that had a shine to them. Those were the parts that should have a very light film of oil to protect them.

He placed the gas tube back, placed the bolt back in the carrier group aligned it with the rails and pushed them back. He inserted the recoil spring and then popped the dusk cover back. He then did a final wipe-down and checked the action, the trigger.

'Yup, this is done. I know. I know. Nyet, the rifle was fine. But guess what? Nyet, rifle even better now.'

*ugh* "Two more to go and those are worse. Well the sniper is easy enough. The M4 is just a fuckin pain." he stated to, particularly no one.

Ellie had been watching him work all this while. 'It's kinda relaxing to watch him work and clean.'

"Cool tattoos. Do they mean anything or just somethin' you got with your girlfriend? "

"Huh? " he looked at his right arm and then proceeded to pick up the M4 and return back to his spot.

'Yeah, those...'

"Yeah, they hold some meaning not much but it's still way better than having a matching tattoo out of some absurd puppy love. It's so fuckin corny, I'd never do that shit. " he chuckled and started to disassemble the M4.

"So what do they mean? I can see a wolf, a shark, an eagle, a really weird turtle and then this really terrifying type of insect. What's that?"

"Yeah, I agree it kinda looks terrifying even though it is the smallest one out of them. It's a praying mantis.

As for the meaning behind them, it's no rocket science. It's different types of animals. The perfect balance. Forming an ecosystem. I am surprised you recognised them, not many recognise them besides the eagle." he said.

"I have a hob-hobby of collecting things of the outside world. So I read this very fascinating book about some animals. I got to know about them from there." she added with a slight reluctance.

"I see." he said as he started to clean the rifle. It was the same steps all over just different ways of disassembling and more, way more parts to clean and oil. There was complete silence as he silently worked and she just observed. The silence however wasn't bad, it was sort of good. A companionable silence. It continued until he cleaned the rifle and assembled it back. He picked up the sniper and started disassembling it. Un-screwing the pins using a hex key.

"Hey, we ran out of topics. How much longer until your friend comes back? " she quietly said.

"You do realise. It's now evening. We would be lucky if she's back before night. Even if she comes back we can't go out before it's dark. Way dark, when the perimeter is slightly easier to breach through. " he said as he started to clean the last rifle.

"Yeah, I was just asking. Anyways how long is that partner of yours who's secretly just a sloth using illusion and tryin' to pretend as a human, gonna sleep for ?"

"As long as the food isn't prepared. " He replied with a sigh.

Her stomach gave a low grumble as the topic of food came up.

"And looks like he isn't the only one that could use a meal." he looked up at her.

"What? You got any problem with that? 〳✿ ᓀ ﹏ ᓂ 〵" she sounded defensive.

"I was tallkin' about myself. I am fuckin starving." he said as cleaned the rifle and set it aside.

'Don't need to clean the guns I just did them yesterday. Just the one I got today from that body.' He said as he retrieved the sig P365. He did the standard field strip.

'Wow. No wonder that dude ended up dead. The actual reason why they killed him might have to do more with how filthy this gun is, more than him being a Firefly. Like seriously dude, how did he even shoot without malfunctions.'

"So who's gonna make the food? Truth be told, I am quite hungry as well." She said as she stood up and moved to sit on the empty workbench to look outside the window. It had already started to rain the weather looked gloomy.

"Take a wild guess? " he said as he cleaned the gun.

"You can cook too?"

"No, I can make edible food. Believe it or not, Joel is a cooking master out of the three of us. But he won't, he cooks only on good days. Days where he is quite happy. Sadly, you're stuck with me for today."

"Hey, edible food. Way to go... Yeah, somehow your description of your culinary skills doesn't comfort me at all. (✿ዕ ﹏ ዕ). I'll help you, I know how to cook a little. "

"Yeah, me neither" he got up as he was finally done with his work. He rolled the mat and placed it back. He started to pack the things he required in his bag and then did the same for Joel. He removed the baseball bat he had got and dropped it in Joel's side pocket seeing he did not have a melee weapon on him

'Anyways, I can't carry it. I have that. Also, I still have the machete.'

" Hey, rest up for a short while. Don't touch anything. You can read a book if you want to. I am fuckin dirty, I'll be back after cleaning up. Then we can get on to cooking and finally have something to eat. "

"Sure. (✿◠‿◠)"

'Let's see what option I am provided with for reading.' She merrily hopped to the bookcase to get a better look at the book titles.

The Sign of four by some Arthur Conan Doyle, Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome, The New World by Joseph Seed and Handbook of the Dead by R. Siegfred, is this a booklet? It's so thin.' She picked the first one.

"The Sign of the Four is the second of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels. In it, the detective and his companion Dr Watson unravel a mystery of hidden treasure and murder. "

I see it's a murder mystery novel. She placed it back. 'Not a big fan of horror really. If you want real horror you could just live in this world. Still might be an interesting read but not in the mood for it right now. '

She picked up another book, the one named 'New World'.

"In the darkest night that shrouded the world. The great prophecy of collapse breathed life. Humanity's downfall to their own avarice, abandoning the All-father and being tricked by the vicious son, the Devil poisoned the very world. Festered by the poison it bloomed the curse, one that turned humans into hideous creatures overwhelmed by madness and desire of gluttony. Society led astray devoid of virtues. The world was on the brink raging with silent screams bringing forth the devastation and the fury of angels to curb the curse.

It is when the All-father granted us mercy. Showed us the path of faith and blessed every being, giving us the strength to fight the devil and re-forge the kingdom of Paradise..."

'Wow, that is one fanatic devout. Even the church has some real psychos. This dude is probably brainwashed but I guess that's what happens when divinity has proof. Even though most of the stuff is actually unconfirmed but the blessing is indeed an undeniable truth.'

she placed the book back and picked up the 'Handbook of the Dead.'

"I see so you decided to give it a read. Well, all I have to say is a good choice! You did well in picking a book that gives you a crash course on how to handle yourself in a post-apocalyptic world. But first I need you to tick these three points off and only continue reading after.

1. Are you in a safe place with no signs of the infected?" 'check'.

"2. Do you have enough food and water?" 'check'.

"3. Do you have a method to defend yourself." 'check.'

"Well then good, let's continue otherwise this book would literally be a handbook of the dead. Haha...I know, silly joke. Before I give you rules that'll help you survive a little bit better. Let's talk about why you need them ?"

'Duh. To not end up dead. '

"Let's talk about some history and what really changed. After all, for you to understand some rules you will require context. I hope my experiences help you. "

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The number of confirmed deaths has passed thousands.

The governors all over the states have called a state of emergency...

The President has initiated a total lockdown. Travel ban both international and local has been placed. Citizens are requested to isolate as much as possible and defend themselves.

All are requested to corporate and those with no refuge are requested to move to rescue centres in the states.

Possible Source identified, WHO predicts the outbreak of a massive pandemic.

Confirmation of similar outbreaks of a possible virus all over the globe.

Critical situation National Emergency has been imposed. Various cities are placed under quarantine zones. Citizens are advised to move to different quarantine zones in every state.

The situation is extremely precarious. Panic spread worldwide after a leaked report from the World Health Organization showed that preliminary vaccination tests have been an utter failure.

Confirmed deaths have almost reached a staggering million within the eight months of the outbreak.

Complete world disruption, massive pandemic. All countries are afflicted with the same virus. A lower penetration rate is predicted in isolated islands and extremely small countries.

Various presidents, government officials, specialists, researchers and high-status VIPs retreat to fallout shelters and highly secure bunkers.

After Canada's President Steven Joseph Sharper falls victim to the virus. The US President Barrage Obana is the latest President to take shelter in a Doomsday Bunker.

With the President now completely off the radar the current Chief of Staff of the United States Army Mars A. Rilley has taken control and enforced complete Martial Law.

The pandemic continuously proves to be unstoppable.

The Chief of Defence takes the bold decision to evacuate cities and bomb them to create a defendable perimeter around quarantine zones. "You may hate me for committing an unforgivable sin of sacrificing the lives of many innocent by this action. But know this it is inevitable. We have no other options. This is our only chance at survival. Remembers your leaders abandoned you, I will not. I will stay and fight, fight for my people, fight for my land and fight for the soul of my country. FOR THE SURVIVAL OF OUR PEOPLE AND FOR HUMANITY!GOD BLESS AMERICA !"

"It...It's unexpl...unexplainable. The world census shows a drop of a billion lives in the first year of the virus."

Major Research Findings WHO identifies the virus and claims it is not a virus but a Fungal infection gone wrong. After identification, some hopes arise among the researchers to find possible solutions in the direction of the problem.

The UN completely gets dissolved, with no sign of world leaders. Every country is now officially under Martial law. The newly reformed UN is now termed the United Congregate of Humanity (UCH).

Food supply and Countless other resources continue to fall under a downward trend. World Economy is at the point of complete collapse.

WHO fails in synthesizing possible solutions. However, has advanced further in the analysis of the pandemic. Releases guidelines. States the epidemic as a level 8 Threat: An imminent threat to humanity with respect to survival as a species.

Containment masks become 'THE' demanding need.

IMF statement released: "The epidemic is the straw that broke the camel's back. The economy has gone obsolete. We must find a new way of ensuring equal trade. Possible introduction of a credit system based on rankings of contribution. Currency holds no longer any value in the world we find ourselves in now."

Another year, another new low on supplies. The most terrifying threat faced by humanity: WORLD POPULATION DROPS TO THREE BILLION.

China and India are on the brink of collapse. Pakistan violates the UCH treaty of absolute peace. Attacks India over land & resource disputes.

Two days after Pakistan's shocking launch of nukes, India retaliates back and goes completely suicidal. A complete war on both ends.

Three weeks in: " Pakistan no longer a country. "

China the recent one to violate the treaty claims: "Pakistan was an ally. We cannot let these actions go unpunished." China launches nukes on India.

Half a year later: "Pakistan, India & China, no longer countries in an unofficial sense. Due to war and the present scenario, they no longer can be considered areas of survival. " A huge nuclear winter, possible adverse effects on climate.

WHO releases guidelines on the level of stages of infection and identification. Researchers claim that "We can only work towards a cure when we have 100% analysed what we are dealing with. How much it can mutate and what exactly is the expected life cycle of this infection? " New stages of infection include wild animals getting infected as well.

Violent killings and un-human behaviour of the military incites massive rage from the survivors all over the globe.

WHO overwhelmed. The infection polymorphed into an even more aggressive version. The abilities of the infected enhanced from fungal dispersion to body strength.

Mass spread hysteria all over.

People in shocking events have turned over to faith and religion in hopes of finding refuge. The pope states: "The lord will not fail us".

The Head of UCH states: "Humanity cannot lose. This is not how we end up. WE WILL PERSIST. "

Crops get completely harmed by another virus, codenamed 'the blight'. The WHO is unable to balance problems.

1 week later: the Head of UCH commits suicide. The letter states: "I could no longer carry this burden of the lives of so many on my shoulders." A new leader, the US head of Defence takes over the mantle.

UCH is on the brink of dissolution as the world is hit by another virus named 'covid-19' from the family of SARS virus. The global population falls to a staggering billion.

WHO produces results: vaccines for covid successfully designed.

IMF releases statement "Starvation level at a shocking index of 9. People are more likely to die out of hunger than infection. The entire world is crashing down."

A leaked report from UCH indicates the world's global population is down by half. Possible estimate between 500-600 million.

UCH dissolved completely. Shocking statement of the current head: "It's over. I have failed you. But I can only request you for one thing. Fight till the end. Fight to live a second longer. Do not forget what makes you, you. As long as you could live as a human for a mere second more it is your victory. I can only pray to the Gods to save us. FIGHT !"

The 'Great Seven' religious heads release their sermons unto the world. The description of abdication and the possible salvation brings a glimmer of hope.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

(November 2018:) UCH re-formed, now renamed the United Congregation of New Dawn (UCND). The US head of Defence and former head of UCH is re-elected as the new head of the UCND.

The UCND head gives the speech 'Dawn of Salvation.' "I do not know how to explain the event that had happened six months prior. Only that, It is true GOD DID REALLY SAVE US.

I have never seen the sun and moon rise parallelly and be so evident. I had never witnessed the entire world actually bathed in beams of divinely gold and pitch black. Or for that matter, for it to take 7 days to dissipate. I had never witnessed anything like that but my heart tells me It was an act of god. There is no such power in the world that can do that. The sacrifice of the 'Great Seven' shall be remembered and marked in the epoch of history. They'll be inducted to the UCND posthumously and honoured with the title of 'SEVEN SAVIOURS'.

We all have witnessed the effects. We have struggled, we have endured and now we fight. We all are 'blessed'. "

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oi! Reading time is over. " he called out.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Additional Reading Navigation:

1. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx – a) stream of 'x' indicates scene break (Narration or Flashback.)

b) Indicates a major lapse in time from a few minutes to hours. It's a dynamic allocation of time. I trust the readers are sensible enough to create practical time frames. As 'within 5 min, within 2 min, within 20 min' every few lines would be just ugly writing (Previously it was ' = ' sign).

2. letters in Italic - used for actual Narration

3. "letter in double quotes that are bold and in Italics" - denote actual quotes in Narration

4. ... - stream of vertical dots indicates a lapse in time or shift to a concurrent view of a different character within the same time-lapse.

5. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz – stream of 'z' is only meant for text styling. It holds no significance whatsoever besides decorating text or data.

Reading Navigation:

1. 'Bold and single quote' - inner thoughts or inner monologue of person/ keywords or made-up words by any character.

2. "simple text in double quotes " - words spoken aloud i.e. normal conversation

3. " Bold and double quotes" - words spoken by non-factoring characters + minor characters that belong to a different group. (coz I don't want to do - J said, Joel said, Tess said, Marlene said. It will annoy you guys)

4. * * - indicate sounds

capital letters - indicate an increase in the voice intensity of characters. (so I have used ! as well i.e. to indicate the character is really trying to put pressure and is being very vocal.)

Meta-data about the story:

1. The narration of the prologue is to be imagined in the same way the actual narration of TLOU was done. Granted it was broken up by Joel suddenly waking up from the nightmare. I did it by breaking the flow by making J interrupt at the end.

2. The narration is done for the viewer's purpose. In actuality, it is just Ellie reading aloud the Introduction of the Handbook of Dead. So the actual book's chapter 1 was written this way.

3. About J's tattoo. Don't worry I didn't forget them and only added them now to make him look cool. You'll realise as you read more that J is a slightly unreliable narrator. He would notice things more but sometimes won't put it into words or more obviously try to mislead with white lies. ("That's just an excuse for you to avoid being called lazy. (¬_¬) " )

4. Some of the names used in the Prologue section are actual ones. I just twisted their names because I do not wish to disrespect actual real-life figures. So, if you were to search for the Chief of Staff of the US Army in 2013, you'll notice how close I have kept it to the name.

Author's Note of Elation (ᗒᗨᗕ):

"Told you I would give you guys the prologue. ( ̄︶ ̄) "

"Since the prologue is from a ' made-up ' book. How come it is this small ?"

"Uh...because I cut it (づ ̄ ³ ̄)づ? please, don't beat me up. Please...

Look I promise to give you more world lore but this was already a huge chunk. I am saving more of it as we further progress. But I hope you have a clearer perspective of how I am bringing the RPG elements in."