The Life of a Tunneler (Prologue)

Prologue:

                War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death are the four horsemen of the apocalypse and mankind’s own self-destruction. Through War, Pestilence thrives from the many slain corpses helping to spread its seed of destruction and Famine grows as livestock and crops are destroyed leaving many to hunger. Through Pestilence, Famine finds the diseased too weak to eat or drink bringing more under its shadowy wing and War drives man to kill one and other in the hope of finding a cure. Through Famine, War whispers into the hearts of man to steal and kill each other for what food is left and Pestilence spreads its disease through the bodies of those too weak to fight back. And in the end Death takes all, reaping in their souls and adding them to his count.

                And so what happens when these agents of mankind’s destruction become too strong for mankind itself to fight against? I will tell you what did happen to not just mankind, but what happened to all that lived on planet Earth. In the decade of 2070 new diseases emerged causing mass pandemics as they were unlike anything doctors and scientists had ever seen before. As thousands after thousands died every day, famine set in with no one ready to harvest the fields of crops and livestock leaving them to wither and die. Now, edging ever closer to the brink of anarchy, governments attacked one and other in a desperate attempt to seize what few precious resources were left. Then one country, in fear of total loss began an all out bombardment on its neighbors hoping to put them into submission. Others responded by bombarding each other with their own weapons, starting a mass chain reaction until all was left was ashes and craters.

                Luckily, two things prevented the total destruction of life on planet Earth. The first was that a worldwide nuclear disarmament had occurred earlier in the century leaving countries to develop explosives that were more powerful but did not leave any nuclear fallout in their wake. And the second one was the creation of a vast network of underground tunnels connecting enclosed cities called Battlements, each numbered in order of their creation. The network of tunnels became called the Castle Network since the battlements were part of a castle’s construction. Millions spent their life-savings to get a ticket into one of the many Battlements and fled to them as the world erupted into fire. And millions more fled into the tunnels where they were at least safe from the bombardment but still had to survive with what was left of the world while those in the Battlements lived a safe and cozy lifestyle.

                We now flash forward 50 years into the future were our story shall take place. People have adapted to life underground with villages and towns now appearing around valuable resources like food, water, and minerals. They each have named themselves after a different country as a way to cling onto the life they once had. But, many of the tunnels remain unmapped and many animals and plants have evolved into creatures more suited for this dark, underground world. There is much reward for those that can go out and map these areas; finding new resources and artifacts that the towns and villages could use. But with this great reward comes great risk, there are many tales and rumors of cannibalistic albinos, ghost-like apparitions, and people with strange armor and weaponry looking for “subjects”.