"On my birthday Papa,can you please take me out beyond the wall to see the flowing rivers and high mountains?" The five year old boy whirls to ask,his azure eyes sparkling with plea and excitement.
"Only when you promise to stop being stubborn." The boy's father,a man with a huge body frame replies, ruffling his son's white hair as he moves near the great Wall to retrieve the piece of dry wood the young boy had dropped.
"I promise to behave well from now on Papa!" Young Omar quickly said earnestly. He then turns back to face the wall and at the same time was struggling with the weight of firewood he carried. Once more,the young boy was being mesmerized by the wall's magnificent tallness,for the wall was stretching so far up as though it were touching the cloudless sky.
"I wish I had wings like them," he tells his father pointing skywards at the soaring birds. " I envy their freedom."
Omar was a precocious child. Even as a young child,he dreamt of having the freedom many of the Vulnerables wanted. Everyday before sunset,he will insist on following his father to the woods to assist in picking firewood. Well it's not as though he really wanted to help,but the reason of insisting to come is to have the brief chance of gazing at the great wall that stood as a fortification for the kingdom.
The story of what made the wall rise is evergreen in the young boy's mind. Omar loved to listen to the rumors of what lay beyond the wall. Many rumored it was paradise; a vast land where the rain falls and the rivers flow and the trees grow tall and huge. Others still believe the predators were still living, lurking and trying to break through the wall to obliterate the little that was left if humanity.
"They are just being obnoxious." Omar silently mumbled as he walked nearer to the wall.
Nevertheless, neither did Omar believe nor did he care about the horrible things he heard of what lurks by the other side of the wall. All he wanted was to leave the outskirts;a crowded maze where the Vulnerables called home and lived agonizing lives.
Just as he was imagining what life will be like outside the fortification,his eyes suddenly alighted on something engraved in the wall.
Omar slowly motioned forward to take a better look,only to discover a large crack recessed in the wall. The crack was not that massive,yet it was just big enough for a five year old like him to perfectly fit and get through.
Just then series of guttural growls echoed, hurling Omar into freight. He barely restrained himself from screaming just as he saw something streak past from the other side.
The fear in him grew wild and he began to shiver just at the thought of what might emerge from the crack crossed his mind.
"P-Papa!" He called stammering.
Upon hearing his son's shrieking voice, John halted from what he was doing and immediately rushed to the young boy,only to discover something in the wall that nearly made his breathing seize.
There was a crack in the great wall,a huge one for that matter. Big enough for a five year old to get through,big enough to get them through.
John had been expecting something like this to happen for a long time now,he never believed the wall would stand forever. Everyday,the predators were evolving and growing stronger, strong enough to breach.
His eyes abruptly caught the swift movement. He reacted in an instant-mainly because he was fully prepared for something like this. He knew he hard to warn the Maronos before it's too late.
He drops the dry tree branches and quickly swoops Omar in his hands before beginning to run back to the outskirts through the dim woods and towards the Marono territory.
John sped up as he fortunately spots a Marono soldier standing by the gates. He no longer cared on abiding by the law that forbid the Vulnerables from going close to the Marono territory. He strongly believed the Maronos would listen to him.
But even when John narrated,the soldier didn't listen. Instead,he accused him of creating panick and for brazenly breaking the Duke's law.
"Ten lashes for your crime!" The Marono declared, smiling venomously as he withdrew a long whip.
John's facial expression remained unyielding. He raised his head to meet the soldier's gaze with sinister eyes,a look that made the soldier almost blench in freight.
"How dear you regard me with such disrespect!" The soldier bellowed with a blast of fury. He then raised his whip and gracefully brought it down across the man's body. John however,only groaned in response. The look in his eyes didn't fade away.
The Marono's face contorts, shocked by the Vulnerable's defiance. He then began to rain his whip down on the man's body,with each lash biting deep and corrosive. All he wanted was for the Vulnerable to yelp and cry for mercy, however there was not the faintest sound that escaped John's lips.
After striking the Vulnerable with more than a dozen whip lash,the Vassal finally drops his weapon. He the suddenly kicks John in the torso,causing him to fall back.
"Get out of here," The soldier's voice dripped venom. "I won't hesitate to cut your neck open when I see you here again."
When the soldier left, John scrambled to his feet and walks to meet his sobbing son with his body bruised all over with whip lashes.
"Why didn't you fight him back Papa? You are stronger than him, aren't you?"
A smile lit across his father's face as he wipes the tears off his son's face.
"Let's go home Omar, I'm sure your mother is already worried about us."
And with that, Omar burst into another round of tears.
***
The frigid night was peaceful. The crescent moon hung radiantly in the darkened sky showering its tamed light upon the broken earth of the outskirts,and the perpetual chanting of the wind was a great balm to the spirit.
A somnolent Anna was quietly snuggled into their mother's arms, listening to her croon a lullaby while Omar contemplated his father sharpen his sword using an old rock. John's eyes were glazing and clamouring for sleep, however Omar knew his father would only go to sleep after all the torches in the neighborhood are killed.
Just then,father and son's gazes clashed,hazel eyes piercing into azure and to Omar's greatest surprised,a promising smile lit up on his father's lips.
"One day Omar,the wall will fall and we shall be free from the king's torture." John said with a thick shroud of hope grasping his voice.
Omar was just about to respond when the earth suddenly rumbled beneath them causing objects to fall off their posts and smash onto the marbel floor. Not only that, but the quiet atmosphere was instantly invaded by guttural growls which was then quickly followed by the rattling screams of men and women.
The family flinched and reacted in an instant. John sprang to his feet, clutching his sharpened weapon to his side as he cautiously made his way to the wooden door.
Omar grew terrified as his heart was audibly thumping against his chest as though it was going to burst. He then quickly rushed to his mother's side covering his ears to muffle out the penetrating noises.
It slowly occurred to him...it could be them...the predators.
Responding to the sudden compulsion,Omar darted his eyes across the room and just as he did,a bloody face suddenly thumped against the window.
They all cringed back in freight as they stared at the man's shredded face. Omar would have screamed if his mother's hand hadn't covered his mouth just in time.
"Please help me!" The man suddenly cried out, rapping fiercely on the window. But the very next moment,he was abruptly yanked back by a tremendous force. The man's screaming voice echoed,only to be quickly followed by eerie silence.
Sarah drew Omar closer,forcing him to look away from the unpleasant scene. Out in the street a plague prowls,a bloody massacre of men, women and children.
There was a fraught silence and the family froze in place not daring to make any attractive noise. John however was calm and collected with his weapon raised to descend on the intruder.
What happened next occurred in an instant; Anna's eyes suddenly flings open and her blubber obtrude the dreaded silence. Simultaneously,John-alerted by the sudden movement, immediately repelled himself from the wooden door, narrowly escaping its maiming weight as it came knocking down with profound force.
A grotesque old man stood by the door step. He had cloudy eyes and a terrifyingly huge frame that exuded heavy reek of blood. Beneath the man's old tunic,dark bloated veins engulfed his huge body alongside horrendous wounds.
Then it took a shuffle forward as it sniffed the damp air. As soon as the predator perceived life,it bared its bloody mouth exposing venomous sharp razor fangs and began to drool and growl in hunger.
The predator suddenly charged in, closing in at John with its gnarled claws sweeping through the air. But with a calculated step,John evades the attack and counters it with an aggressive slash against its unprotected thigh.
The predator reeled back from the impact,poising as the black blood rushed out the open wound. It then suddenly swivelled around and locked into John's eyes without flinching.
It moans and growls with its face contorting into something sinister and killing intent radiating from its milky eyes.
John reacted,wielding his claymore above his head as he surged to deliver the final blow. But the predator reacted faster than he had expected; it dodges the oncoming attack and at the same time hurled a furious fist at his stomach. The blow landed so strong and aggressive that it made John spout blood and topple to the ground. And just as it smelt the blood,it began to growl more and shot out for the finishing blow.
Sarah knew that every second of this situation mattered. She immediately sought for the closet object she could use as a weapon and to her luck,her eyes alighted on a piece of burning wood in the fire place, where as she quickly made her way for it.
But the predator was one step a head of her. The moment the predator sensed the abrupt movement,it whirled instantly and began to pace after her.
"Leave us alone you monster!" Omar heard himself holler imperiously.
Yet the zombie kept advancing and when it was close enough for a strike,it lashed out its claws at Sarah.
Sarah screamed in freight, barely able to move. However, before the predator's claws could descend,a sharp sword blade came protruding from its chest.
Initially,the predator was frozen in place, opening its mouth to drool black blood. It was stolid and not at all reacting to the attack. But once the blade was retrieved from its body,it rapidly twirled and pounced on the last person that attacked it.
The predator was soon on top of John,clawing his body to draw blood and struggling to bite. The smell of blood that seeped from the open wound only made it screech and double it's attempts to chomp off John's face.
Even with the zombie's weight on top of him, John still struggled for life. Right when he got the chance to retaliate,he immediately raised the hilt of his sword and bash in into the predator's face. The blow was just strong enough to knock it off him.
Despite the infliction of pain,the zombie wasn't hesitant to spring up back to its feet. Although it was clearly hurt,it still didn't show any sign of abating.
John turned and bellowed:
"To the celler, now!"
Sarah obeyed almost immediately. She clutched her two kids to her side and began to usher them towards the celler. Omar peered over his shoulder for the last time,only to discover the predator kicking and tossing his father around like a ragged doll.
John looked at him and gave him a faint smile. And then there seemed explosion of light from John's chest,so bright that it covered everything in the room and rendered young Omar in a dazed state.
***
The three had been in the hidden in the celler for a long time now,only willing to unlock the door if John's instructive voice tells them to. But as they waited and waited and could no longer bear the waiting,they cautiously opened the door and stepped out of their hiding place.
To their greatest delight,the chaos was finally over and only the wailing voices of survivors lingered in the morning air.
Omar found the predator laying lifeless in the living room with its head completely mangled and crushed. However,John was no where to be seen.
When Omar stepped into the crumpling streets of the outskirts,he witnessed a lateral scene from hell. Houses were engulfed in flames, sending rows of thick smoke into a crimson sky. Devoured bodies littered the ground and the soil was drenched with blood. The predators were finally gone,only after massacring half the Vulnerables.
After an endless search, Omar found his father laying alongside bodies of dead near the broken wall.
John was dying,his skin was shredded and was now a shade of pale purple and his right eye had been gouged out by claws. Young Omar dropped to his knees,his eyes brimming with tears.
"Papa..." Omar managed to stammering amid the sobbing.
John opened his one good eye and saw him. A drop off tear rolled down his father's hazel eyes mingling with the blood on his face.
"O-Omar..."
"Papa stay down,I'll get help."
"No stay " John's hand quickly grabbed him and pulled him down. He then brought out a shard of glowing metal and thrusts it into the boys hand.
"What's this?"
"My last gift to you," John told him, coughing blood.
"Keep it safe. One day it will prove to be useful."
Omar hated to admit,but he knew his father's death was near and there was nothing he could do to stop it from taking his father away from him.
And so he spent the next moment holding his father's hand, wondering how cruel life could be and wishing he was never a part of this cruel world.
John coughed a handful of more blood,he whispered the testimony and then his eyes slowly pulled shut.
Omar knew,his father would never open those dauntless eyes of his again.
***
Fifteen years later...