Forums » Off-Topic
Running Time (story)
if he's immune, why would infected animals be bad for him?
he's not after the chemical, he's after the appendix
why did they want ralph? He's the only immune human on earth that they know of. they want that immunity for themself.
he's not after the chemical, he's after the appendix
why did they want ralph? He's the only immune human on earth that they know of. they want that immunity for themself.
My vote was for a virus instead of poison gas. A gas that killed humans would surely kill off a fluffy bunny first.
heh.. i wish i could change it, but it's turned in. there ar also some more detials i should have added. If you want i can post the turned in version. it's more detailed
I don't get why the doctor was gonna take a blade and open his chest, he is just going to kill him not get the chemical in his body. Also how did he get his water and food if there was everything contaminated and nothing to be found to eat or drink? And lastly, why did they want Ralph so much? He just had an immune system to the poison. They aren't gonna have enough of that to give it to everyone. Even if they did it would just be stupid because they can't buy anything to remake it. Otherwise I think it was a good story.
Ralph Roberts set up camp on the aged and cracked asphalt of the parking lot. It had been 15 years since the war, 15 years since the poison that infected the world, and this town had not aged well. Most of the buildings left standing were overgrown, and the few that weren’t were falling to pieces.
Ralph built a fire and began to roast the rabbit he had shot earlier. He was camping in a supermarket parking lot, but he didn’t trust any of the food left inside. He had heard somewhere that can food lasts forever, but with all the doctors in the world dead, he didn’t want to risk getting sick. Besides, it was getting dark and there was no electricity to power the lights. It would be pitch black inside and he didn’t have a flashlight.
As the fire burned low, Ralph drifted off to sleep. It felt right to be here. It felt like he was finally home. He had walked across the US for the past 14 years searching for other survivors like him. He had found survivors, oh yes. He still had the scar where the bullet had grazed his side from his first encounter with them. However, they were not survivors like him. They needed special suits to protect them from the poisons. Ralph could breath the air in without fear of dying. If any of the other survives tried it they would die within minutes, as millions had done before them.
As Ralph slept, he dreamed of the first year. It had been a sunny spring day. Everyone had been out shopping, playing with their pets and kids, or just enjoying life in general. Ralph had been mowing the grass and listening to the news on the radio. The meteorologist was saying that it was going to be a lovely week. High 70s, no rain in sight. Suddenly the weather was cut off and the emergency broadcast tone came on. A man was telling everyone to run into their houses, close all the windows and doors and turn off their air conditioning. A poison gas had been released into the atmosphere over several major cities in the US.
At that point, Ralph’s dream fast forwarded to several months after that. In the first month or so after the attack, the city Ralph lived in was dead. Ralph had gone door to door and never found a single survivor other than himself. He could not believe that he was the only survivor. How could that be? As far as he knew, there was nothing special about him. He felt he would be safer if he stayed at home, but at the same time he felt he needed to find other survivors.
By the second month alone at home, he made up his mind. He would have to leave. He took what he felt he would need from the local sport goods store and was on his way. He walked west. Because most of the attacks had been on the East Coast, he felt that his best hope for finding people would be West.
By the end of the first year, he had given up hope. It seemed the poison had spread to even the most remote places and everyone was dead. He had settled down in a little while in California. Power was out everywhere, and Ralph had generators running to keep the power in the house running. He had started to get life back together. He had come to terms being the only person left alive. He liked the silence. No cars zooming by, no loud, obnoxious music blaring. Ralph started to become happy.
Ralph lived there for seven years. During the middle of winter however, a cold snap came through and Ralph built a fire in the house’s fireplace then went out to kill something to eat. When he got back, the house had burned down, and the housed and trees around it were going up as well. Ralph fled, knowing that with the dry weather he had been having the fire would spread at an incredible rate, and there was no one to fight it.
After the fire, Ralph headed back East. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt the need to move on. He would stop in cities for up to a year some times, and by the thirteenth year, he had reached Washington D.C. It was there that he encountered the first group of living people. At first he had hidden, afraid. He hadn’t seen another person in years, and wasn’t sure how to act.
He noticed that all of them had yellow suits on to protect them from what ever poison was still in the atmosphere. This surprised Ralph. He assumed that because he was still alive, the poison had dissipated.
Ralph stepped out from behind the tree he had hidden by. “Hi!” He said, trying to sound cheerful. The group of people turned around. When they saw him without a suit, their jaws dropped.
“H-h-hi.” The leader said. “Where’s your suit? How are you alive?”
“I don’t know.” Said Ralph. “I’ve never needed a suit. I think I’m immune to the poison.”
As soon as the word “immune” passed Ralph’s lips, the leader shouted “GET HIM!!” and the men rushed forward. Ralph grabbed a think stick off the ground and when the first man reached him, Ralph swung. There was a twig on the stick, and it punctured the plastic suit. As soon as Ralph pulled the stick out of the hole, the man screamed and fell to his knees, clutching his neck.
As the man fell, the others backed off, afraid that their suits would rip. Ralph saw his chance. He turned and ran away. Before he could get away, he heard a loud bang behind him and his side suddenly felt like it was on fire. He kept running, ignoring the pain.
By the time night fell, Ralph was well out of D.C., and his side was killing him. He settled down and did his best to clean the wound. The bullet had just grazed him, and was nothing serious. Ralph cleaned the wound and put some gauze he had taken from a CVS over it.
The next two years had been hectic. Ralph had been on the run the entire time, and was almost caught several times. He had seen the men in a building right next to the one he was sleeping in, and if he hadn’t woken up the get something to drink they would have found him.
Ralph woke up as the sun came over the trees. A lovely morning to find a place to stay. He felt like he had finally lost his pursuers, and if he hadn’t, all he would have to do is find a place to hole up till they passed him by.
As Ralph walked down the deserted streets he used to know so well, he paid no attention to what was going on around him. He never knew he was surrounded until a shadow fell across him. He looked up, right into the face of a man in a protective suit. Before he could react, he heard a loud bang and felt a sharp pain in his neck. He turned and saw a man standing to his left with a rifle pointed at him. Ralph reached up and felt a dart sticking out of his neck. Before he could say anything, his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell onto the ground.
When Ralph woke up, he was staring directly into blinding lights. He tried to tried to head, and all he could manage was just a slight turn. What he did see made his blood run cold. He was shirtless and tied to a hospital table. In the corner of his eye, he could see a man dressed like a doctor arranging a set of surgical instruments. Ralph moaned and the doctor looked up. A look of happiness seemed to cross his face.
“Ah! Mr. Roberts! You’re awake! Do you know why you’re here?”
Ralph was too afraid to speak, so he did his best to shake his head.
“No? Well let me remind you. While we waited for you to wake up, I took the liberty to read your medical files. I don't think the government will care, do you?” An evil smile crossed his face. “I found that at age six, you were brought in for a checkup, which revealed something very interesting. You had an unusual chemical in your blood that was traced to your appendix. To this day, doctors never could figure out what people’s appendixes did. But yours was doing something very clear. It was pumping a chemical in your blood. The doctors saw that the chemical was doing you no harm, so they felt no reason to remove it. But I think i know what your appendix and that chemical is doing.”
The man bent down and picked up a scalpel and walked over to Ralph. As he touched the blade to Ralph’s chest he said, “Now, Let’s see what makes you immune.”
Ralph began to scream.
Ralph built a fire and began to roast the rabbit he had shot earlier. He was camping in a supermarket parking lot, but he didn’t trust any of the food left inside. He had heard somewhere that can food lasts forever, but with all the doctors in the world dead, he didn’t want to risk getting sick. Besides, it was getting dark and there was no electricity to power the lights. It would be pitch black inside and he didn’t have a flashlight.
As the fire burned low, Ralph drifted off to sleep. It felt right to be here. It felt like he was finally home. He had walked across the US for the past 14 years searching for other survivors like him. He had found survivors, oh yes. He still had the scar where the bullet had grazed his side from his first encounter with them. However, they were not survivors like him. They needed special suits to protect them from the poisons. Ralph could breath the air in without fear of dying. If any of the other survives tried it they would die within minutes, as millions had done before them.
As Ralph slept, he dreamed of the first year. It had been a sunny spring day. Everyone had been out shopping, playing with their pets and kids, or just enjoying life in general. Ralph had been mowing the grass and listening to the news on the radio. The meteorologist was saying that it was going to be a lovely week. High 70s, no rain in sight. Suddenly the weather was cut off and the emergency broadcast tone came on. A man was telling everyone to run into their houses, close all the windows and doors and turn off their air conditioning. A poison gas had been released into the atmosphere over several major cities in the US.
At that point, Ralph’s dream fast forwarded to several months after that. In the first month or so after the attack, the city Ralph lived in was dead. Ralph had gone door to door and never found a single survivor other than himself. He could not believe that he was the only survivor. How could that be? As far as he knew, there was nothing special about him. He felt he would be safer if he stayed at home, but at the same time he felt he needed to find other survivors.
By the second month alone at home, he made up his mind. He would have to leave. He took what he felt he would need from the local sport goods store and was on his way. He walked west. Because most of the attacks had been on the East Coast, he felt that his best hope for finding people would be West.
By the end of the first year, he had given up hope. It seemed the poison had spread to even the most remote places and everyone was dead. He had settled down in a little while in California. Power was out everywhere, and Ralph had generators running to keep the power in the house running. He had started to get life back together. He had come to terms being the only person left alive. He liked the silence. No cars zooming by, no loud, obnoxious music blaring. Ralph started to become happy.
Ralph lived there for seven years. During the middle of winter however, a cold snap came through and Ralph built a fire in the house’s fireplace then went out to kill something to eat. When he got back, the house had burned down, and the housed and trees around it were going up as well. Ralph fled, knowing that with the dry weather he had been having the fire would spread at an incredible rate, and there was no one to fight it.
After the fire, Ralph headed back East. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt the need to move on. He would stop in cities for up to a year some times, and by the thirteenth year, he had reached Washington D.C. It was there that he encountered the first group of living people. At first he had hidden, afraid. He hadn’t seen another person in years, and wasn’t sure how to act.
He noticed that all of them had yellow suits on to protect them from what ever poison was still in the atmosphere. This surprised Ralph. He assumed that because he was still alive, the poison had dissipated.
Ralph stepped out from behind the tree he had hidden by. “Hi!” He said, trying to sound cheerful. The group of people turned around. When they saw him without a suit, their jaws dropped.
“H-h-hi.” The leader said. “Where’s your suit? How are you alive?”
“I don’t know.” Said Ralph. “I’ve never needed a suit. I think I’m immune to the poison.”
As soon as the word “immune” passed Ralph’s lips, the leader shouted “GET HIM!!” and the men rushed forward. Ralph grabbed a think stick off the ground and when the first man reached him, Ralph swung. There was a twig on the stick, and it punctured the plastic suit. As soon as Ralph pulled the stick out of the hole, the man screamed and fell to his knees, clutching his neck.
As the man fell, the others backed off, afraid that their suits would rip. Ralph saw his chance. He turned and ran away. Before he could get away, he heard a loud bang behind him and his side suddenly felt like it was on fire. He kept running, ignoring the pain.
By the time night fell, Ralph was well out of D.C., and his side was killing him. He settled down and did his best to clean the wound. The bullet had just grazed him, and was nothing serious. Ralph cleaned the wound and put some gauze he had taken from a CVS over it.
The next two years had been hectic. Ralph had been on the run the entire time, and was almost caught several times. He had seen the men in a building right next to the one he was sleeping in, and if he hadn’t woken up the get something to drink they would have found him.
Ralph woke up as the sun came over the trees. A lovely morning to find a place to stay. He felt like he had finally lost his pursuers, and if he hadn’t, all he would have to do is find a place to hole up till they passed him by.
As Ralph walked down the deserted streets he used to know so well, he paid no attention to what was going on around him. He never knew he was surrounded until a shadow fell across him. He looked up, right into the face of a man in a protective suit. Before he could react, he heard a loud bang and felt a sharp pain in his neck. He turned and saw a man standing to his left with a rifle pointed at him. Ralph reached up and felt a dart sticking out of his neck. Before he could say anything, his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell onto the ground.
When Ralph woke up, he was staring directly into blinding lights. He tried to tried to head, and all he could manage was just a slight turn. What he did see made his blood run cold. He was shirtless and tied to a hospital table. In the corner of his eye, he could see a man dressed like a doctor arranging a set of surgical instruments. Ralph moaned and the doctor looked up. A look of happiness seemed to cross his face.
“Ah! Mr. Roberts! You’re awake! Do you know why you’re here?”
Ralph was too afraid to speak, so he did his best to shake his head.
“No? Well let me remind you. While we waited for you to wake up, I took the liberty to read your medical files. I don't think the government will care, do you?” An evil smile crossed his face. “I found that at age six, you were brought in for a checkup, which revealed something very interesting. You had an unusual chemical in your blood that was traced to your appendix. To this day, doctors never could figure out what people’s appendixes did. But yours was doing something very clear. It was pumping a chemical in your blood. The doctors saw that the chemical was doing you no harm, so they felt no reason to remove it. But I think i know what your appendix and that chemical is doing.”
The man bent down and picked up a scalpel and walked over to Ralph. As he touched the blade to Ralph’s chest he said, “Now, Let’s see what makes you immune.”
Ralph began to scream.
bump
someone pitch and feather zam
Ya... I almost didn't get to read it BECAUSE OF HIS SPAMMING!!! >.<
soooo.. anyone gonna post thoughts?
Ummm... I like it? :P
Pretty cool. A few thoughts: How did the men know his name, and knowing his name, how did they retrieve his medical records from another state (presumably) with all the power out? You could probably fix that by having him caught returning to his parent's home in a town he grew up in or something. Would a rabbit or other game not have succumbed to poison gas? A virus might be better. For that matter, wouldn't a rabbit living in a poisoned area be more suspect than canned foods? Okay let's say it WAS a virus release, but he didn't know that and for all he knew the food supply had been poisoned. It seems to me that he wouldn't deliberately approach a large group, seeing as he had negative experiences in the past. Perhaps they observed him and tracked him. I liked the bit about the fire very much. Death by suit-tear was pretty good too.