The Shadow Realm
Leader of The Shadow Realm
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How Humanity Fell
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When our world finally reached its end, nobody knew for certain what it had in store for us. Guesses over the centuries ranged from volcanoes, catastrophic meteoroids, to even God playing a hand in it all. However, whenever the end came nobody was prepared. It was amongst the likes of a predator stalking its prey, waiting for a moment of weakness. Unfortunately for humanity, instead of the predator failing to land a blow, the strike was timed to utmost perfection, and it clamped right on their jugular.
The end of humanity initially began to clock down with a simple discovery, and unlike in the movies, the world didn't give out overnight. The thing that started it all was just a newly mutated strain of the flu, Type E they called it, however for most of society, nobody honestly cared for this "amazing" discovery. For many, including me, our eyes were glued to what was going on across the Pacific. The main object of attention was the ever pressing nuclear arms research by a “rocket man on a suicide mission”, Mr. Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Over the advancing years, research by the country had been leading to increasing tensions between the U.S and nations, Asian in origin or not. With pressure being pushed on the U.S to maintain peace, the U.S was unable to make moves to help remove the nuclear arsenal from the regime. That was the very first step in our path to destruction.
As years passed in a nuclear deadlock, North Korea's research continued in secrecy, until they managed to strike the U.S territory of Guam, the San Franciso Bay Area, and Los Angeles Area with ballistic warheads on the night of December 18, 2023. This day, noted as "The Blinding" marked the most devastating blow to America ever since its initial founding. Millions of innocent lives vanished in the blink of an eye, passing onto the next life with the onset of the nuclear eruption. The day following the nuclear strike, the U.S retaliated, launching over 50 nuclear warheads into the nation of North Korea, leaving the area clouded in nuclear radiation and death. Altogether, 25+ million lives were claimed, including the leader himself. This incident dubbed, “The Midnight Clock”, led to the U.S being viewed as an enemy to various nations, including Russia, China, and Iran. Thus concluded the second step to our annihilation.
As time passed on following the annihilation of North Korea, trade from many former allies began to slow to a halt, and the U.S’s economy soon collapsed into dust. The deflated economy led to 40% of all Americans being jobless, homeless, or starving. For a majority of Americans, it was often a mixture of the three. Tired of the U.S's failed attempts to revitalize the economy, many states began to split off from the U.S. Without the support of the military, the nations left the former union peacefully, and many began to rack up more wealth than the U.S ever had before. One such country was The Fallen Star Federation.
This nation was made up of the former states of California, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and Louisiana, and was the most technologically advanced nation before the fall of man. The nation rose to power by selling wares unlike the world had ever seen, and soon rose to the tops of economic power, even beating China in this game of economic chess. Built on the ruins of a once powerful nation, T.F.S.F rose like a phoenix from the ashes of despair. This idealistic utopia would soon become one of the last bastions for humankind, and thus begins the end of our world.
Overseas, Flu Type E had begun to inflict damage to various nations, Surprisingly enough, it wasn't us humans that were dying by the millions, but other animals in the mammalian family. The virus was said to destroy the respiratory system in the majority of those infected, and that as of now humans couldn't exhibit symptoms. They said humans could however still harbor the disease, and for the betterment of mammalian species alike, they would Quarantine all the national parks in the EU to keep humans out. This, unfortunately, didn't halt the spread of the infection, and it wasn't long until it finally reached the nation T.F.S.F, and killed off 70% of all its animal life. Starvation began to erupt worldwide, and the world began to give way to the stench of rotten flesh.
However, for humankind, it was our turn up next.
Flu Type E, now dubbed “Respiratory Decay Virus” was spreading like wildfire in the middle east, and marked the first humans to exhibit symptoms among the likes of other mammalian species. Despite the quarantines to stop it from leaving Arabic nations, it still broke through none less than wear. The reason why it broke the barrier so easily is that the virus managed to act like a simple cold, with it keeping up the act to the point of it eventually going away. However, unbeknownst to the host, the disease lived on until it activated in full a week later. Upon awakening, the disease initially causes bloody discharge from mouth, ears, and nose from lacerations in the lungs, throat, and sinuses. This soon gives way to more serious symptoms, with the hosts' eyes filling with blood in the sclera region of the eyes, and further internal rupturing in the lining of the internal tissues. After a few initial days of exposure, the host soon begins to hallucinate, viewing others as “Demons”, or by wanting the others to share in on their pain. These sights and thoughts cause the host to viciously attack others around them, even biting them in some cases which spreads the virus further. This may be based on the input of the virus inside their frontal lobes, as some are able to refrain from attacking others by some volume of measurable willpower. The infected also seem to gain a hike in strength, and in athletic ability. Most infected die within a week of exposure, however, some had been shown to not die at all due to the clotting of the lacerations.
As time passed, riots fraught with infected began to take down cities across the globe. The poorer nations were knocked down the fastest, however soon even nations along the likes of Britain fell into the pits of destruction. With The Fallen Star Federation being one of the few nations left unafflicted, it soon became a refuge for humanity, an alone savant in a world devoid of hope. As cities across the Globe became entangled with forestry and overgrowth, The Fallen Star's cities prospered. Cities became gargantuan, the economy flourished, and the future soon became reality. The world ahead gleamed happily at the survivors of the disease, and the future looked bright.
However in 2040, after a new influx of survivors from countries across the globe, the disease finally escaped quarantine. The one bastion left for humanity soon became a prison of death, with hundreds of cities falling overnight. Despite this, the Fallen Star didn’t go down without a struggle. Despite the overwhelming odds pushed against them, The Federation laid down a plan to attempt to save whoever could still be saved. Their goal was to protect an area in a region of Texas as walls were being built around it and to give their lives in order to save the innocent. No sacrifice would be too big as long as there were innocents still left worth saving, and they prove that night and day. As the years passed, hundreds upon thousands of soldiers laid down their very lives protecting the city as its walls were being finished - until finally, they were. After years of a bloody struggle, it was completed. The walls around its gleaming skyscrapers gave a bastion of hope to those still alive following the fall of humanity, and to many was a new chance at normality.
Its name was, “The Last City”.
