Shadow of Utopia (Vol. 1 - The Mutants): Shadow of Utopia, #1

Shadow of Utopia

Volume One: The Mutants

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Once, long ago, the world was a happier place. It was beautiful and rich with life. There was music and laughter, pictures that could move, objects that could sing. When a life was born, people celebrated and hosted parties. When a life was taken, people were overcome with grief. There was light everywhere, and hope could always be found in the darkest of times.

That world was called Earth.

Earth is no more. This is the dead Earth, a shell of what once was. Here there is darkness and death, sickness and turmoil. Music is fragments of memories contained within the oldest people. Laughter is for fools. Life is misfortunate, death is celebrated. There is no hope. There is no hope.

When the old Earth became too over-populated, the governments decided upon a way to eradicate the swarms of people who lived on the streets, who could not find jobs, who were taking up space, who were consuming food meant for those of higher society. They called this solution The Cure and slipped it into the hands of the homeless and the sick.

At first it worked. The Cure destroyed hundreds of people worldwide. But then it turned into something unpredictable. Those who were immune to the virus started to develop strange symptoms. They could hear planes landing miles away, see the grains of sand upon a beach from their hotel room, or swim underwater without holding their breath. Others were not so lucky with their newfound traits. They grew extra fingers and toes, lost their eyes, or became crippled.

Hospitals could do nothing for any of these people and soon they began to diverge into two routes: death or mutation.

Death was the ideal solution to the leaders, though mutation was a frightening sight and uprisings became the new trend for the common people. While mingling down on the streets with the infected vessels in their attempt to protest, the disease began to spread amongst the higher society.

The governments were forced to make another decision.

The sky kingdom was built. It was called Utopia. Leaders fled to this paradise, along with all those who could afford such a luxury. Fueled by the Earth’s collected reserve of oil, the sky city left the contaminated Earth below, leaving the sick to struggle on their own and eventually die off.

For a very long time, that was exactly what the sick did: die. Yet they also struggled, and many managed to overcome the accursed illness. Others went insane. Some built cities upon the ruins of old cities. Some ate their neighbours and fled into the wilderness, never to be seen again. After years of reproduction and suffering through life, babies with little signs of The Cure (which was at this time called The Death Mark to the Earth people) were born. Infants with peculiar abilities and little sickness gave hope to the mutants, but hope was easily quashed.

The Utopians saw that the mutants were not dying as planned. Following their ancestors’ guidance, they began the raids upon the dead Earth, killing off as many mutants as they could without spending too much time amongst them. They wore suits to protect their skin from the mutants and if a suit was ripped, that person was left to the mercy of the monsters.

There was one Utopian, however, that had survived the onslaught of the mutants when his protective gear had been torn. His name had been Christophe, and he was Cora’s father.

And this is Cora’s story.

Earth was not a pleasant place, especially at night when the giant eight-legged creatures would crawl up your legs in an attempt to suck your brain out through your ears. Cora was not a fan of those mutants. Twice now this month she had awoken to the deep stillness of the night and found dozens of beady eyes gleaming at her in the darkness. Then she would have to grab the nearest object (usually a rotting board or her makeshift club) and whack them away with a few good swings. They would shriek and crawl away into the ground. Sometimes they felt the need to go for a second round, though Cora was fully awake by then and if any attempted to come near, she would beat them into the dirt until their eyes glowed no longer.

Such was a peaceful night on Earth.

Sleep was a luxury and Cora knew her sleep was over this night. Her resting patterns were not quite like the others within her small village. She slept from sunset to early morning and awoke in the early hours of the night to begin her day.

Cora was a mutant. She was also gifted. When she had been born, the pupils of her eyes expanded farther outwards than most normal babies. Sunlight had caused her to cry, and darkness allowed her to see. During the hours of the sun, Cora remained in the shadows, hooded and concealed from the bright light. During the hours of the moon, she roamed the village and took care of her chores.

Though, Cora grew afraid as the years passed. Her eyes were becoming weaker and weaker every time they glimpsed a bit of sunlight. Even when all she saw was darkness, they ached until she closed them. She feared that one day the sun would take her eyesight completely and leave her like the mindless mutants that roamed outside the village.

Yet she still had to stay focused. There were many things to do in the run of a night: hunting, foraging, mending, trading, and – most importantly – surviving. Food was essential, as it had been since the beginning of time. Cora had never met a mutant who did not feel the need to eat. Though, hunting required one to travel outside the village and that was very dangerous.

On Earth, hunting during the night was safest. Any creature edible enough to hunt down slept while the moon was up and a large portion of those creatures were also blind in the dark. Cora had a slight advantage in this, as others required fire to travel at night. Fire attracted the sharp-tooths and the quick-claws and you didn’t want any of those on your trail.

Foraging was easier. Many things could be found around the village, either discarded or lost. Cora hoarded those things whenever she saw them. Blankets were valuable. The biting mites liked to chew on them. Blankets never lasted more than a few weeks at best before they were covered in holes. Foraging outside town was still easier than hunting, but also risked the chance of being discovered by the Wildfolk. They were bad news.

After the hunting and foraging was over, Cora usually returned back to her little hiding place under the statue of an ancient ruler. No one liked to go near it because of the Earth’s history with leaders, and that was exactly why Cora chose it as her home. Some knew – of course – that was where she lived, but they avoided her because of her lineage. Her father had been a Utopian soldier a long time ago, spared by the people on Earth through some stroke of luck. After she had been born, he passed on to death due to his susceptibility to The Death Mark. Utopians could not survive something they had avoided all their life.

Cora’s mother was a mystery. Some said she ran off into the wild with the rest of the insane mutants after her child’s birth. Others said she killed herself for loving a Utopian. Cora preferred not to think about it.

After returning home, mending was the next step on the list of things to do. Mending was important. Without good protection, the eight-legged mutants would be always around, trying to suck out your organs. Cora usually kept a wide nailed-together board across the entrance of her home (which was a hole only large enough for her to fit through) and stuffed burnt rags into the gaps in the ground. The smell of smoke usually kept the creatures away. Her clothes always needed mending, too. Once the mites got through the blankets, they liked to snack on your pants and shirt. Cora kept her sun-blocking hood tucked safely away in a metal box she had luckily found one day. Mites couldn’t bite through metal.

Trading came last and was only acceptable when hunting and foraging went poorly. There were some days when even Cora’s eyes could not help her out, and she was forced to bring special trinkets she had found to the vendors in exchange for food or clothes. Sometimes she was turned away. Some merchants didn’t like her smooth skin and natural hair. They said she was lucky to be born.

In those times, Cora felt a great amount of shame wash over her. It was her father who had been Utopian, though it was her who suffered for that. Despite having her mother’s mutant blood, she was still branded an outcast by many. Half of the village hated her. The other half tolerated her. Very few embraced her as a member of their community. Though, she had a few friends she could rely upon in times of need, and she was very grateful for that, for without friends you would find arrive at death’s door much faster than usual.

Footsteps could be heard outside of her home and Cora peered through a small hole in her wooden door to see a pair of ragged boots outside. She smiled