CALAMITY (#1) - The Lamb

Chapter One - Genesis

"It was when I opened my eyes in that familiar bed where I realized. That nightmare was not nearly as bad as what was going on out there."
- Lucile Kasstro, Autobiography of The Beast

Many centuries ago, two species ruled over Earth: Humans and demons. Together, they lived in harmony... Until one fateful year. Upon the dawn of the New Year, a war unlike any other before it broke out between man- and demon-kind. For an entire dark decade, there was constant fighting and opposition. Just as it seemed the battle would crack the Earth in half, humanity surrendered. Victorious, demon-kind became the new dominant race on Earth.

However, not all was well with the world.

The constant drop of bombs broke open a cavern long-forgotten, freeing a plague that immediately infested humans and demons. By the end of the first month alone, only one city stood tall. To prevent any further spread, they erected the Ward, a heavily fortified bastion that stood as civilization's final hope. Infected individuals were culled, and eventually twenty Zones were built, each one responsible for a specific utility to ensure the survival of intelligent life.

Tensions were still high between the two races. When livestock failed to survive, the King of the Ward passed an impossible act. Upon the dawn of each new year, ten percent of the human population would be selected to be butchered and served as sustenance for demon-kind, in a process which became known simply as the Lottery. Humanity became livestock. The Warden-Police were too powerful to defeat. Eventually, the subjugation of humanity was the norm. Thus was the way it has been since; an era of uneasy peace...

Until one morning in the 326th year of the Second Era, when the seeds for a terrible CALAMITY were sewn.

. . .

Mia sat alone in the train station, reading a book that was unfamiliar to her. Her mind had been drifting away from her again, floating away from her transfer like a dandelion in the wind. Her transfer... Yes, today was the day she would get on the train to Zone Twelve. It would be her final Zone transfer before her culling. The idea of death made her uneasy, but it was no use losing sleep over inevitabilities like that. The grief had passed four years ago, when the order first came to her.

She was only twelve back then.

She closed her book with a gentle sigh, reading the cover to herself. "The Brimstone Arrow..." It was another of Kasstro's novels, the title gave it away. She was by no means an avid fan of literature, only reading the bare minimum necessary to make it in the Ward. However, as her time was rapidly approaching, she thought it best to dabble.

This book was uninteresting. Another one of Kasstro's "Protagonist goes on a journey, learning of their own madness along the way" stories. Too cliché. She put it to the side. "Ten minutes until the train arrives," she muttered aloud to herself. Part of it was surreal, knowing her death was approaching so rapidly. Sure, she still had a week until they came for her, but... A week goes by quickly in Hell.

Mia stood after a few moments sitting in silence. It would be best to get her rations before the train's arrival. She left the book on the shabby wooden table; there was no point in bringing it. She carefully brushed her hair away from her right eye, but failed to avoid accidentally touching her burn. She winced at the sudden sting, moving her hand away from her face.

She hasn't looked into a mirror in a while. She pushed past the other denizens waiting for their respective trains, moving to the mirror leaning against the wall of the Ration Stand. Her white hair was messy and unkempt. Dirty, too. She hoped Zone Twelve had good showers. Her skin was pale... on the left side of her face, anyway. The right side had that familiar soft pink color. She wondered if the burn scar would deter the demons from keeping...