The start of Book Three of Clown World…unedited…

For as long as I can remember, man has always been man. The thirst for power has always dragged man under the waves for as long as humankind has walked on two legs. Man is the most vicious animal in the world, far exceeding bloodthirsty lions, or even the gigantic dinosaurs that roamed earth and sea during the Jurassic Age. Meteors and Ice Ages wiped out the dinosaurs; greed and hate did away with the humans.

Or so we thought.

Scientists, religious leaders, enlightened thinkers, and academics of all stripes, all said that racism, systematic and individual, would lead to a war that would clean the slate. It didn’t. Instead, the political jackals of the aforementioned time used instances of racism to create a rift that America never recovered from. So, it wasn’t much of a surprise that a pink-haired, gender-neutral millennial launched a container of biohazard onto the docks of a studio set in Hollywood California. In a matter of weeks, the biohazard had crossed America and it inflicted a heavy toll on humanity. Crosswinds blew it into Europe, Asia, and South America, even the Canadians got hit, and soon humanity was barely two million strong. 

Ted and I set out for a so-called haven in Estes Park, Colorado. We’d heard about it over the radio waves. “There is safety in Estes Park. Join us.” This phrase kept getting blasted across the airwaves without fail. In a world gone to hell, you look for hope wherever you can find it. So, we set out and promptly ran into the very celebrities we were trying to avoid. We met Emily and B.D. but they wanted to do things their own way. We left them to it. It wasn’t long before we had to rescue Emily. B.D. didn’t make it. Things would get worse. 

Strange beasts emerged from the wastelands. We called them Lurkers. Skeletal fleshbags with heavy scabs, guttural groanings, and an undying hunger. These creatures retained their eyesight, and they closed with amazing speed. We’ve lost many fighting these mindless creatures, but just when we thought things couldn’t get worse, they evolved.

Now, they’ve morphed into ‘true’ Lurkers. They’ve acquired adaptive camouflage and Chieftains. Lurkers with the ability to strategize, lead them into battle. We’re on the wrong side and the odds are against us. The Council of Humanity, a ragtag bunch of political wannabes, decided to use the remains of the national nuclear stockpile to eradicate the Lurker threat. It didn’t work. Moments prior to launch, the Lurkers attacked the councilmembers and changed the coordinates to every major city stronghold. 

Hello, New Dark Ages.

Now, with smart Lurkers, radiation, and despicable humans, we’re closer to the end of humanity than at any other time in our troubled history. We had no trouble discerning the Lurkers. Their cries would echo on the soft breezes of wind, a cornucopia of anguished despair, given expeditiously, and devoid of any humanity. There is a passage of Scripture that perfectly describes our situation: Cast into eternal darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. 

Maybe hell isn’t a place as much as it’s a state of mind. Either way, the end is upon us, and no one is coming to save us. 

It’s on  us.