Page 1 of Once Upon an Apocalypse

Prologue

Silence.ThatisallI hear as I approach the arena, walking somberly through a dim tunnel. There’s a light at the end, but not one of hope. As I take a step into the sunlight, I breathe in the fresh air. After years of being held captive, I relish every second I’m allowed on the outside. Even if my time is spent fighting for my life.

One more step and I’m surrounded in the light of the blazing sun, my bare feet sinking into the arena floor. Where there was once green grass, there is now dry, rusty sand, meant to look like the sandy fighting grounds of the mighty Roman gladiators. Though the stands are filled with cheering people, there is nothing but silence piercing my ears.

My mind and body have become numb to this routine, as if I have the ability to escape from my damaged body and become a temporary ethereal being, watching myself face death for the hundredth time.

Today, I will finally let myself die. I will no longer be the entertainment. I will no longer be his experiment. There is nothing left inside of me to fight for. Everyone I’ve loved is likely dead, or worse. I had hoped that I’d see them again. Spent years hoping I’d find a way out. Now I know. The only way out is through death.

When I think of my friends and family, it feels like I’m remembering faces from another lifetime. Have I felt love in this life? Was there ever such a thing as pizza? Did I have a mom? A dad? Did I fall in love? As much as I try to recall all these memories, they still fade away as if I had simply dreamed them. Everything I was in that past life no longer matters. Everything I am in this life is not who I want to be. I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to know what other horrors this life will bring.

Even if I believed my loved ones were still alive out there, somewhere, how could I ever hope to find them? It is better to believe they are dead. There is no way they could have survived this horrific world. If they have, they will die soon. Or Doctore will find them, a fate worse than death.

I cannot go back to my past life, so I must escape this one. Perhaps a better life awaits me in the next. A life where needles aren’t shoved in my veins every day. A life where the sun greets me with warmth and not icy dread. A life that brings laughter to my heart instead of fear. If that’s even possible, since the world has ended.

I allow myself to feel for five seconds, to remember a time when I felt love, joy, and hope, even if these feelings are from another lifetime. These few seconds give me all the courage I need to face this fight. To let myself die.

Pulling myself back to my body, I take a breath, and walk toward the middle of the blood-caked sand. As I reach the middle of the arena, my eyes lock on his. Doctore. His lips curl into an evil smile as he stares back at me with soulless eyes.My only regret is that I will die before killing you, I think to myself.

Chapter 1

4 Years Earlier…

Wearenevergoingto get out of here, I think to myself as my brother, Hayden, disappears into a secret room. The door appeared after I pulled a chair from the wall. We’ve been searching this bunker-like escape room for forty-five minutes. It is crunch time. There is no way we are failing, but I am doubting we can make it out within the next fifteen minutes.

My mom walks fearlessly into the darkness of the secret room, but I stay in the main area, looking for more clues.

A doomsday bunker equipped with everything we need to save the world from the apocalypse. How convenient. We just have to find all the pieces and put them together. If we don’t, the door will open to the sad realization that my mom, brother, and I have failed to save the world from this fictional apocalyptic event.

I walk over to what looks like a control board of some kind. Though I’ve scanned this thing a million times, I have found nothing useful. But I know there is something here. I know it. As I bend over to look closer at the controls, I see a symbol I hadn’t seen before.

“What do you guys see in there?” I yell through the wall to my mom and brother, who have been dead silent in the darkness of the secret room.

“Some sort of altar. Looks like it’s missing something though,” Hayden yells back to me.

“What are we missing?” my mom hisses under her breath. Her competitiveness is coming on strong in these last few remaining minutes.

“I think I know what we need to do!” I shout.

“What?” Hayden and my mom yell back in unison, rushing out into the main room.

I point to the symbol I thought was a smear on the otherwise symbol-less control board. Some sort of bird.A phoenix?

“Oh my god, I’m so stupid!” my mom groans. “Never overlook something in an escape room, Cathy.”

Without consulting us, my mom walks over to the pile of items she has been collecting from the room. Most of them have already been used to figure out the other clues. All accept one. A phoenix talisman. Hayden’s eyes light up in excitement as I glance up at the clock that says we only have three more minutes.

Hayden grabs the talisman from our mom’s hands, but instead of dashing back into the secret room, he gives it to me. “Let the birthday girl do the honors.”

I beam at my brother before rushing into the dark room. As soon as my eyes adjust to the dim lighting, I find the altar-like platform, scanning it for a spot to place the talisman. There! With my mom and brother behind me, I hold the talisman up to the matching symbol, slide it in place, and turn. The platform opens up, blinding us with a bright LED light before presenting us with a key. I grab it and run to the door we had entered fifty-nine minutes ago, but the door opens on its own.

Karl, the guy who locked us in here, greets us with a sad face. “I’m sorry to say that you were just five seconds shy of saving the world.”

Prick, I think to myself.I was just about to unlock the door!

“Fucking hell, man, you couldn’t have given us those five extra seconds?” Hayden whines.

“In a real-life situation, the world would have ended in those five seconds.”

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