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You awaken to cold winds and darkened skies. The pride of India is now no more than a desolate wasteland. The pungent and fear inducing smell of rotting flesh fills the air. The eaten bodies lie strewn on the side of the barn, with bits of flesh hanging off their skeleton.
You faintly remember encountering someone earlier, but have no recollection of what actually transpired. Steeling yourself, you decide to press on, hoping somehow that this nightmare will come to an end.
As you walk down the LHC road, you hear eerie noises originate from the Octagon building. Thirsty and confused, you decide to enter. You find the building as devoid of people as the outside world. You turn and head to the water coolers. While taking the first sip, you wonder how the water remains as fresh as it is in this apocalyptic world.
Suddenly you hear footsteps. The footsteps aren’t loud, as if whoever it is doesn’t want you to hear it.
“Who could it be?”
You look around in the direction the sound came from and see that a light is emanating from the Sun lab. You make your way there and slowly place your hand on the doorknob, turn it ever so slightly and proceed to open the door. A terrible smell amplified by the confined space of the room almost makes you nauseous for a moment but you fight the urge to throw up and step inside. You see a girl sitting on the floor in the corner of the room. You slowly approach her, not letting your guard down for a second. You realise that she’s scared and has barely any life left in her. As you approach her, she collapses. Barely able to breathe, she manages to mutter “the grass…goats…avoid”, before hemorrhaging, coughing blood and succumbing to her injuries.
Shocked and devastated, you slowly walk out of the room. You notice a pile of newspapers lying on the floor. You pick up the one closest to you. The headlines in bold read,
“Goat and Gore — Mutant Livestock Attack!”
The article goes on to talk about the strange appearance of a never before seen virus which led to the mutation of goa… your reading gets interrupted by a noise somewhere between a growl and a bleat right behind you. You turn around to see a red eyed, half mauled, devilish goat. Before you can react, the beast charges at you. You turn to run, but fail and trip over a Grewal math book. You remember how you always thought that book would be the end of you. Your life starts flashing before your eyes as you hyperventilate and try to crawl yourself away. You suddenly hear a loud, unearthly shriek. Startled, you turn around to see the fiend impaled by a long red iron rod.
Standing beside the dead body, is a tall, hooded figure. The mysterious figure pulls his hood away to reveal a gritty, bearded face of a man in his late 50s. He speaks out in a deep voice,
“Come with me. Time is of the essence.”
You decide to follow your him since you don’t really have another choice. Outside, you find two cycles parked waiting for you. He warns you not to make too much noise, but it’s too late! In your rush to get on your escape vehicle, you manage to topple over the entire line of cycles next to it. The demonic beasts start pouring in from all directions, attracted by the noise. You and the mysterious man hastily try to outrun the horde of undead goats. However, you soon realise that you’ve been surrounded from all sides and that escape is but a far fetched fantasy. It seems that this is the end.
The man suddenly turns to you and says “Gewahlt, you must get to the Jasper Hostel immediately. I’ll hold them off”, and gets off of the cycle while drawing his sword. The sword proceeds to extend to triple its size and transform into a sickle shaped weapon of death which makes him look like the grim reaper himself. With one powerful flick of his hand, he clears a pathway for you. Without hesitation, you cycle away as fast as you can. As you cross Coral, you take a look back and see your savior valiantly fight against a sea of the never ending undead. He glances at you and smiles for the last time as he falls and vanishes under the mountain of terror. You stifle a tear, turn around and cycle even faster, knowing that you can’t let his sacrifice be in vain.
As you arrive at Jasper, overcome with grief and shock, you kneel down and pass out in front of the main gate, with the last things you see being some blurry figures approaching you.
You awaken in a chamber, wrapped in a warm cloth. You don’t ache anymore. This almost feels like home. Almost. “It’s ok Gewahlt. You’re safe with us”, says a woman dressed in black. You’re disoriented but the events that took place slowly come back to you.
Confused, you ask her what is happening. You demand to know why she calls you ‘Gewahlt’ and why the man sacrificed himself for someone like you. She says, “He did it to save you.”
“You’re Gewahlt, the chosen one; the future of mankind. You chose the red, remember?”
