Anthony Wacholtz - Can You Survive in a Dystopia?

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YOU are living through a dark and dangerous time. It's a bleak and desolate world where only pockets of humanity remain. Will you be one of the few who survive? Do you have what it takes to survive life after doomsday?

Start on the next page, then follow the links at the bottom of each page. The choices YOU make will change your outcome. After you finish your path, go back and read the others to see how other choices would have changed your fate! Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice to make a different decision.

YOU CHOOSE the path you take through a dystopia.

THWIP!

Your arrow whizzes through the air before striking a tree. Pinned to the tree is a large squirrelthe first animal youve caught in weeks. You pull on the arrow, but it went too far into the wood. Snapping the arrow in disgust, you pull the squirrel off and put it in your backpack. Youll get to add meat to your canned beans tonight, but now youre down to your last two arrows.

You walk through the woods, checking the traps you set earlier in the week. You cant believe your lucktwo of the traps contain rabbits!

The sun is starting to set, so you decide to call it a day. After walking a mile, keeping the sun at your back, you push aside some heavy brush and step through to find your cabin.

A smile spreads across your face. Although youve only been staying at the cabin for two weeks, its the first time youve felt at home in a long, long time. After traveling 50 miles over six days of scavenging and looking for shelter, you couldnt have asked for a better place.

You walk up to the front door, but before you grab the door handle, you hear muffled voices from inside the cabin. You ease around the side of the cabin as the front door swings open. You peek around the corner to see three rugged-looking men emerge.

A tall man with black hair and a goatee saunters off the porch, a long-handled hatchet slung over his shoulder. Another man with a leather jacket eyes the trees warily, his right hand resting on the pistol sticking out of his jeans. The third one, a short middle-aged man with broad shoulders, struggles to carry two overstuffed sacks.

You made the right call once again, Raven, says the tall man.

Whatta find! the short man exclaims, digging his head into one of the sacks. This is tha bigges haul weve come cross since that group we robbed las month.

You can look at the loot later, Bulldog! says Raven, smacking him on the back of the head. Lets get moving. Wolf, grab one of these sacks before Bulldog hurts himself.

The couple you ran into a few weeks ago told you about a ruthless group of thieves with animal nicknames. They call themselves the Stalkers. They steal food, suppliesanything they want. You shudder, remembering the stories of the methods they use to collect things.

Your first instinct is to stay hidden until they leave, but the rumble in your stomach makes you think twice. Theyre walking off with all the canned food youve over the last month. Besides the squirrel and two rabbits in your backpack, youve got nothing to eat.

But what good is food if youre not alive to eat it? You have a bow and two arrows, while they have a hatchet and a gunand theyre much bigger than you. Theres no way you can take them on now, but maybe you could follow them and steal back the food when their guard is down.

Youre not willing to give up on your food stash. Over the years since the wiped out most of the worlds population, youve learned to move without being seen. If you stay behind the trees, you might be able to follow them without them knowing.

After about a mile, youre no longer worried about being heard by the Stalkers. Bulldog has talked the entire time.

Im telling ya, the monster scared me to death. That Echo was twice my size, he says. I could barely see it in the dark.

Will you just be quiet? sneers Wolf, eyeing the path ahead watchfully. I can't hear anything lurking in the woods with all your yammering.

The Stalkers continue on in silence, and youre left wondering about the creature Bulldog was talking about. Surviving in this post-apocalyptic world is hard enoughyou dont need any other dangers to deal with.

As darkness descends over the forest, the Stalkers walk through a small grove of trees to a secluded house. Raven enters first, followed by Bulldog and Wolf. You hunch over and scurry to the side of the house. You dont relish the thought of staying outside in the dark, but youd likely get caught if you tried to enter the house now.

You tuck yourself into the corner between the porch and the house to block the cool night wind. The from your long day sets in, and you pass out with your head resting awkwardly against the wall of the house.

SNAP!

You jolt awake at the sound of a branch cracking. Your heart pounds, but you try to hold your breath, straining your ears for another sound. Within seconds, another branch breaks, then another. Whatever is moving in the brush is getting closer.

You stand up and ease your way to the porch, trying not to make any sudden movements. You walk up the steps backward as you scan the trees for movement. As you reach the top step, you see two small glints of light amongst the trees ahead. With a shudder, you realize the lights are the reflection of two beady eyeseyes that are staring right at you.

The creature emerges from the trees, its head low. Although its hard to see in detail, you can tell the sleek beast walks on four legs. From its spiny head to its long, slender tail, its scaly skin shimmers in the pale moonlight.

The beast advances slowly, its bright eyes gleaming through the darkness. You jump nervously as your back hits the front door with a thud. As the creature rears back to pounce, the door clicks open, and a hand grips your jacket. Wolf pulls you inside, slams the door, and drags you to the basement cellar, closing the door down over your heads.

Why did you save me? you ask.

A shrill shriek from outside makes Wolf pause before responding. Raven has other plans for you, he says, his eyes on the cellar door.

Indeed I do, says Raven, stepping out of the shadows. But were not cruel men. Well let you pick your fate. A group of survivors are living in the nearby city. They have tons of food and supplies, but they also carry weapons and ammunition. You can their group and help us borrow some of their goods.

Whats my other choice?

Although Echoes hunt in packs, they are territorial creatures. One whiff of a fellow Echo, and the others scatter. Thats why it pays to have an Echo nearby. And because those things shriek like banshees to communicate, its safer to have a dead one. Youll be our bait, and if you survive, we may even let you go.

Some choice. Id never survive as Echo bait, you say.

Then get some sleep, Raven replies. Youve got a big day tomorrow.

Wolf throws a wet, moldy pillow at you. Sweet dreams, kid, he says as he grabs a shotgun from the corner. Cmon, guysthe Echos shriek will have signaled others. If we fire a few warning shots, they wont risk trying to enter the house.