Revolution: A Hyena's Story (Part 3)

<Previous

Part 3 on the third day in a row! I’m glad I’ve been able to stick to the schedule so far and I’m interested to hear your thoughts on the story. So read on quickly and let me know!

By Max Masen

A war is brewing. Can you feel it?

John straps on a parachute pack and so do Tim and Julie. Julie appears  almost reluctant upon tightening the straps. Tim notices and slides closer to her and helps her put the pack on her back. “It's alright,” he says soothingly. “In and out. That's all this mission is.”

“I know,” Julie replies. She feels that she’s just overreacting but can’t bring herself to calm her breathing. “It’s just-”

Julie is abruptly cut off by the pilot announcing, “It looks like our cover is just about blown. We’ve intercepted transmissions saying the local air base has scrambled fighters and they’re inbound for us. We’re going to let you three off sooner than expected.”

“What?!” John yells rabidly. “We’ll never make it to Virginia! We’re not even out of Georgia!”

Tim grabs John’s shoulder and thrusts him to the emergency exit door on the side of the plane. “It’s time.” Two men dressed in black gear covering the extent of their bodies from head to toe step forward and put their hands on the latch of the emergency exit door. They grip it with one hand each and with their other hands they give a thumbs up to Tim, Julie, and John. The three of them exchange glances and fix their packs accordingly and make one last check to ensure all of their equipment is in place. Camouflaged outfits cover their bodies and two packs rest on their backs: one for the parachute and reserve and the other pack for equipment to last them the duration of the mission. Once they’ve finished securing their gear, they give the two men thumbs up and the men lift the lever on the door and the air from outside of the plane starts to feel like a vacuum. John steps forward and grips the side of the door. He looks down below but the dark shrouds the sight of everything down below. Nothing can be seen save a few darkened clouds. He looks to the side and sees two approaching fighter jets. His heart sinks and he takes the hint and leaps from the plane. He feels his speed pick up at an almost unbearable rate but then he feels it level off. He takes a quick look above and sees that Tim jumped second and that Julie was close behind.

John cancels out the noise of the air around him and begins to feel at peace. He puts all of the thoughts of the coming war out of his mind and clears it completely. He no longer feels that he is falling at an incomprehensible rate but instead invites the notion in that he is floating down to Earth slowly, as if there might not be a need to deploy the parachute. He closes his eyes in the serene moment. It should end right here. I need to learn when to admit that I’ve made a mistake. I shouldn’t have pressured Marley. This is all going to be my fault.

John’s mind is suddenly spiraled back into the here and now. An explosion hundreds of feet above him sounds off and he takes a quick glance up. The plane that carried them is disintegrating and one last transmission goes through: “Bring him back home safe.” Debris floats all around and some of it rockets down to John quickly and hits the Earth before he does.

It already isn’t worth it. Is Peter’s life any more valuable than those people that just perished on that plane? I can’t justify this to Marley. I can’t justify this to myself....

“Don’t think about it,” John hears Tim say quietly through his earpiece. “They knew the risks. But it’s time to deploy the parachutes. Julie, you’re the highest up so you first.” Julie pulls on the chord and the parachute opens up abruptly and levels off her descending. “Now me.” Tim pulls on his chord. “John, before you hit the ground, you may want to consider joining in the fun.” John, distraught and lost in thought, finally comprehends what Tim is saying and complies. He pulls on his chord and it explodes into the air above and jerks on his body. The speed he falls at now feels almost like he’s stopped completely, almost like time has stopped.

John breaks through the clouds and can finally see the ground beneath him. He almost feels relief but a gust of wind cuts off any good feelings just in time to blow him closer to a tree canopy. He wiggles his legs around to help push him in the other direction but it’s no use. The wind is too strong and any effort he expends almost seems to detract from progress and pushes him further in the direction he wants to stay away from. John, without any thought, withdraws from fighting the wind and says, “I’m going in.” He braces his body and within moments the canopy gets closer and his body pushes through the layers of branches and leaves. He finds himself stuck halfway through, his legs dangling in plain view but the rest of his body hidden by the branches.

“John, I’ve landed on the ground,” Julie reports through the earpiece. “I understand you had some… trouble landing.” John can hear reserved laughing through the earpiece from both Tim and Julie. “Just tell us where you are.”

“Yeah, laugh it up,” John replies. “No need to tell you guys. I uploaded a tracker on your phones. Just follow it to me and I guess we can use me as a rendezvous point.”

“Good plan, John,” Tim chimes in through the earpiece. “How did going through the tree feel?”

“Hurts less than you’d like…” John looks down and picks out branches from his clothing and throws them down below. “But more than you’d hope.”

It’s not brewing. It’s already come. It’s already found us. Run. Hide. It’s here.

Next>

Are you like us and love post apocalyptic fiction? If your answer is yes, then feel free to subscribe at the top of the page there! For your convenience, we have two options: You can subscribe by email or just by hitting the other button! Either way, you’ll be following us and getting updates to free post apocalyptic fiction stories.

Let us know in the comments your thoughts on the story so far.

Revolution: A Hyena's Story (Part 2)

<Previous

Back for more? Good. Excited to see where the story takes us? We may not be seeing much more of Marley for a while (hope you’re not too disappointed). But we will be taking a closer look at John and his picks for his team to save Peter. And then we’re off. Without further ado, well… You know the saying.

By Max Masen

-The Following Morning-

John steps outside of the bunker, the one stashed away in the woods. It has its roots from the worries and threats of the Cold War. It’s old, rotted out, but best of all it’s forgotten. Forgotten by everyone that would have a reason to go looking for them for malevolent purposes. John looks carefully at the rising sun, the one casting shadows throughout the vibrant wilderness. Warmer weather brings new life in the form of new plants and young wildlife. And in front of John is a young coyote staring at him with little worry or concern, only wonder. John reaches for his holster without thought. He pulls the shining revolver from it and aims it at the coyote. The animal flinches upon hearing John cock the gun. John holds the revolver for a moment, an unchanging and uncaring expression plastered on his face. He breathes in a heavy breath, his finger hovering over and tightening on the trigger, his hand forming hard on the grip. He suddenly releases his grip and brings the hammer back to rest slowly and thrusts the pistol back into his holster.

John looks to the ground in disappointment. “Can’t… I can’t.”

-Afternoon-

“Alright, John. Here they are. All of the men and women from the files that you requested,” Marley says as he walks down the line of stone-faced warriors, each with toned bodies and packs on their backs stuffed with enough gear to leave immediately and last for at least a week. They each hold their arms tightly behind their backs and stare straight forward.

“Thank you, Marley,” John says graciously. “This means a lot to me.”

“It means a lot to me, too. That you’re willing to risk yourself to save him. We all appreciate it,” Marley says solemnly.

“It’s worth it too, Marley. I can save him before they get anything out of him. I promise,” John says, gripping Marley’s shoulder tightly and his head bobbing and his mouth almost trying to form a smile.

Marley brushes him off and replies, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Let’s just get down to deciding, shall we?” Marley puts his eyes back on the candidates and looks them over as if they were animals. “What about these two, John?”

“Sir!” the man shouts that Marley is close to. Marley becomes disoriented by the unexpected shout and grips his ear.

“Enthusiastic, too. I like this one,” Marley says. He uses the back of his hand to slap the chest of the candidate, a hit that doesn’t even faze the man. “This one probably is, too.” He moves to a woman and is about to slap her in the same place but quickly stops himself, the woman barely paying any attention to him. “But it’s your pick. Don’t let me make the decision for you.”

“I do have to admit that you’ve always had amazing intuition, Marley. I can’t not go with your picks. At least this way if something goes wrong, I can blame you, right?” John starts to laugh at what he said and grips Marley by the neck and holds him tight. Marley feels uncomfortable but won’t bring himself to say anything.

Marley thinks to himself while stuck in the headlock, I hope this is the right decision. If something happens… We’re done.

-That Night-

A plane previously used for commercial runs streams by over countryside and woodlands. A look through the windows shows dead livestock and rotting plants. The cloud of dust decimated any chance that farmers in the country could catch a break. And now they flee for the cities and hope for work. All they find is lack of work and an even greater lack of food and water.

John pulls his head back from the window and looks to his team, a man and woman; the man’s name is Tim and the woman’s Julie. They’re joking around with each other while John plans out the mission in his head, constantly going over what-if scenarios. He can’t stop thinking that he’d made a bad call by convincing Marley but he doesn’t let the notion linger in his head for long. He puts his mind back to work contemplating how the extraction will occur. Once they’re in, they will need a smaller vehicle to carry them out, one on wheels. Schematics of the base they are about to raid shows that there are a few SUVs by the exit. John is hoping the information is still accurate. If not, radios they brought with them are their only hope of calling for a rescue team.

“You guys almost ready?” John calls out to their team, catching them off guard and making Tim jump slightly. “We’re nearing the jump point.”

Tim nods and Julie replies, “Sure are. So this Peter was a close friend of yours. Is that right?”

John reluctantly says back, “That is correct.” He puts his head down in solemn contemplation.

“Tell me about this Peter. You two were in the Navy together?” Julie prods deeper with a softness in her voice. She walks closer to John and can see that what she is asking is starting to upset him.

“Navy SEALs. We worked together for quite a long time.” John notices that he is talking only of himself and quickly wishes to change the topic. “What about you two, though? How did you get involved in this whole thing?”

“Just had a want to protect my family. Found the government coming knocking at my door one day, a couple of police officers. I felt helpless to protect my family. They ransacked our house and said we had to keep quiet about it. They kept coming back and eventually… my wife…” Tim puts his head down and hunches his back. He shoves his hand to his face to conceal it and after a moment Julie and John can hear the muffled sobbing.

“I’m sorry, Tim. We’re going to make things right again,” John announces. He walks over to Tim and puts his hand on his back and softly pats it.

“There’s no making things right anymore. There’s only revenge that I’m after. I know I’m going to die. I accepted that a long time ago. Now I just want to take as many of those sons of bitches down with me as I can,” Tim says, a rabid look in his eye showing through.

John and Julie exchange perplexed glances and John says calmly, “Well, there’s going to be plenty of time for that as well.”

NEXT>

You know the drill. If that next button is live, click away. If not, you can finish up reading what I’m about to say. Thanks again for reading this portion of the story and we’d love to hear your thoughts on the progression of the story and how much you love post apocalyptic fiction in general (do that in the comments). You may be wondering why this story isn’t to the post apocalypse part yet. Rest assured, we will see that but do know that this story is mainly a build up to the novel (which is set in a destroyed America. Interesting, right?). Until next time, remember to subscribe and keep reading!

Revolution: A Hyena's Story (Part 1)

Hey, reader! Thanks for stopping by our story blog. I hope you’re going to like this one. The original novel that inspired this anthology was the first novel I had written. It’s a post-America trek through the ruins of the States. The novel, Marley’s Shadow, can be found right here.

This anthology, however, will follow the days before the time of the novel. It centers on the character of Marley, the unfortunate and sometimes reluctant leader of the revolution. That’s all I will say to avoid any spoilers.

Enjoy!

By Max Masen

-In An Underground Bunker-

A man looks over to his two advisors. They nod to him, giving him their approval and unspoken support. He nods back to them and tries to force a smile but none comes to his face. He's too nervous. He breathes in a heavy breath and pushes open the door in front of him. He steps into a dim room, the people in front of him wearing clean suits and other professional attire. In total there is twelve people in the room after the entrance of the man and his advisors.

The people hold mixed expressions. One of the men steps forward and says uneasily, “Marley, glad you could join us after…”

“After Peter was taken,” Marley says unapologetically, his head tilted down and his gaze locked on the table in front of them. “This obviously is going to speed up the process a bit. They're going to torture him.”

“We can save him!” a woman screams, fearing for what Marley is implying.

“Be my guest,” Marley says quietly and waves his hand to the door. He waits for a response from the woman but all that comes from her is a terrified, knowing glance.

“As I was saying, we don't have a choice. We  have to move things along quickly. They're going to torture him and get the information out of him in no time. The only way Peter lives is if we give our friends in the government an even bigger distraction,” Marley says. He raises an eyebrow and waits for a response. His eyes circle the room.

“No, we have more time than you think. We can save Peter. Give me a team. We can do it,” a man announces suddenly. He steps into the light and stares into Marley's eyes, hoping it will help prove he is serious.

Marley contemplates and tries to find a reason to disagree with him but nothing comes to mind. “Alright, John, you have my attention but not yet my approval. Explain.”

“I don't need your approval! You're a kid! I was a Navy SEAL for twenty years! Peter is my friend. I'm going with or without  your ‘approval,’” John says stubbornly, hoping to irritate Marley as much as he was by Marley's comment.

“Relax, John. I didn't mean to offend you or your service. I just want to make sure we're thinking this through as much as possible. I don't want rash decisions.” Marley steps back from the table and doesn't break his eye contact with John. “We're starting something huge right now. A revolution. We don't know how long this thing is going to last. If we lose, everyone in this room dies. Does that make sense to all of you?” Marley's face becomes stern and serious. He slams his hand on the table and yells, “I need answers!”

A unanimous yes sounds throughout the room. Many people cannot bring themselves to look Marley in the eyes.

John remains unmoved and says, “I do understand, Marley. But we can’t leave Peter behind. I’ve been thinking about how we can do this. It will be quiet. It will be safe. And most importantly it will be fast. The government will not know. Do you understand that?”

“I know you’re serious, John. Yes, it makes sense. We’ll discuss it further so that you can try to convince me. But for now, I approve,” Marley says definitively, turning to his advisors and signalling for them to leave the room. “Meet with me tonight at eight, John. I’ll be in my room.” Marley walks out of the room and slams the doors behind him.

-Later that Night-

Marley sits in a dark room with only a desk light shining on his hands. He holds a broken-apart pistol that he seems unsure about how to put back together. He attempts to clean out the barrel while also prodding for points to snap the receiver back on. A knock on the door takes his attention away from the pistol and he gets up to answer it. On the other end is John staring cold-faced at him.

Marley holds a serious expression and steps aside and motions for John to enter the room. He complies and brushes his shoulder against Marley’s as he enters.

“Small room you have here,” John says to Marley to agitate him.

“It wouldn’t be fair if I got to live in a mansion,” Marley jokes back. “Not that we have the budget or resources for that.” He laughs to lighten the mood but John still looks unamused. “Let’s get down to business. Shall we?”

“You want to start?” John prods. He raises a single eyebrow and scrunches his eyes together skeptically.

“You want to save Peter. I’m unsure about our chances of success. What else is there to say?” Marley says. He stands up and parts his hands and holds them at his side. “I want to save Peter as much as anyone else out there, including you, but if risking our lives for this endangers everything we’ve worked so hard for, then is it worth it? We don’t know if we can save him. We don’t know if you would get caught saving him. And if you do, that’s just another casualty and even more of our people that they will have captured and will be able to torture.”

“There’s nothing to lose. I’m only asking for five days. That’s not enough time for Peter to break and to reveal anything about our operation. I have my team ready to go. We can’t let Peter die alone. Please.” John breaks his eye contact from Marley and looks down to the ground. Images flash through his head of nights together with Peter, their families spending time together and enjoying a barbeque together. He repeats, this time more weakly, “Please.”

“I can’t say no. But if I felt that this would unnecessarily endanger us I would try to convince you against it. And I do feel it unnecessarily endangers us. But Peter was my friend too.” Marley waves John off, a relieved and almost excited smile appearing on John’s face.

“Thank you, Marley.” John hugs Marley tightly and Marley squirms uncomfortably during it. He backs off of him and stands back up adjacent to Marley.

Marley shakes his head, his eyes focused on the lamp on the desk. He reiterates, “Like I said, I can’t say no.”

NEXT>

Thanks for reading and if that Next button is linked above then that means the next part of the story is up and available for your viewing pleasure! Don’t be shy on our account! If you like what you’re reading so far, the original story that inspired this anthology is up and available for those of you interested. Just click here. Max has many more apocalyptic stories available on Amazon Kindle, but if you’re cheap like us and appreciate the free stuff, the content on this blog will always be free so feel free to follow us for more amazing short stories, anthologies, and full-length novels!

Four Corners Studios Newsletter Update 10/04/15

By Max Masen

News: Russian Scientist Claims Invincibility

Source

Literary device to consider: invincibility and its consequences.

We might as well start the newsletter with the news section.

The secret to living an ageless, eternal life is right around the corner it would appear. A Russian scientist claims to have just discovered bacteria that has enabled him to avoid aging and has allowed him to stave off a cold for a hefty two years. He claims it's been tested on animals, with the obligatory mouse included. Only time will tell if he and the plethora of animals tested upon will survive an inevitable apocalyptic scenario.

While this Tuck Everlasting story may not last forever as hoped by this scientist, it is neat to think that medical breakthroughs are around every corner that will lengthen our lives.

New Title Available On Kindle

Find Revolt on the Amazon Kindle store here, available exclusively as an eBook. This title is free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. For others, you will find the title for $0.99. If you are interested in reviewing titles, contact us by leaving a comment on this page or emailing Max at msonnyl23@gmail.com for a free copy of the selected title.

Revolt follows the adventures of Dustin Parker, a boy at the onset of a full-scale revolution set in the United States. He is forced to care for his younger brother, a duty that will dig him deep into a lie that will take him years to climb out from. Following years of turmoil that the revolutionary forces protect him from, he emerges a man with a new set of beliefs. On his way through a cross-country trek, he meets and befriends many people with wavering allegiances, some to the revolutionary Hyenas and others to what remains of the government forces. With betrayal and survival on everyone's minds, Dustin takes it all head-on in a last attempt to get to safety.

Other Titles To Read

In addition to Revolt, Max has released three other titles: the first in the Adventures of Little Peter series, a new addition to the post-apocalyptic series Nautical Nomads, and Motivation Compilation. For information to receive these titles for free in exchange for review services, contact us by comment or email us at msonnyl23@gmail.com.

Short Story

Adventures of Little Peter: March On Part 1

By: Max Masen

Little Peter followed the sounds of trumpets and trombones. The marching band was practicing for their performance during the football game on Saturday. Little Peter knew something else was happening, something far more sinister. The coach of the marching band had left his mistress' house in a hurry. Little Peter had been in a hurry to reveal him for what he was: a cheater. In every marching performance, he had requested that his band go first. Little did every other band know that he had secretly recorded their sessions and taught his band the other groups' routines. He was a cheater in the worst way.

Little Peter cornered the coach when the rest of the band had marched to where they could not see the coach. It was then that the coach tore off his shirt and hat to reveal his evil costume: a leather tunic with a Native American headpiece. The coach pushed Little Peter up against the wall and superglued him to it. He laughed maniacally and marched to meet up with his band, ready to give a performance he had not convoluted himself, a performance stolen from another coach.

Little Peter wiggled hopelessly on the wall. He could not even budge.

Is this the end for Little Peter?

To be continued...

Final Note

Four Corners Studios is a group of writers dedicated to bringing readers quality content in the form of stories filled with heart, humor, and recognizable, recurring characters. In addition to this, we occasionally comment on social situations, review movies, books, and other forms of media. If you have a story you would like reviewed or edited, feel free to contact us.

We encourage, support, and attempt to form a community of creators and idealists. Support us by following us and commenting your opinions. Thank you for reading.

Find us on Twitter @fourcornerstuds and check out our friends at writerspouch.wordpress.com for more amazing short stories.

5 Animals With Awesome Superpowers

By Sonny Long

You've seen all of the new movies that came out. Surely at least one or all of them featured either a superhero, talking raccoon, talking tree, or all of those. After seeing countless movies about athropomorphic animals that can sing, dance, and kick the crap out of anything in their paths, it can be easy to take for granted the fact that our animals can't actually do any of that, and our cats are lazy pieces of shit.

Seriously Mr, Whiskers, do something with your life.

So we're gonna tell you all about the animals with insane powers you've never heard about that shame even the coolest of superheroes (sorry, Daredevil, blindness isn't a power). So let's get started with...

5. Water Bears Are Immortal

Despite sounding like it, water bears are not a concoction from a top secret lab of the world's shittiest supervillain. Water bears are actually about a millimeter long and nearly impossible to destroy. Although they don't live up to the physical representation of water and bear, they are the hardest creatures on Earth to kill.

As if this wasn’t bad enough.

Water bears are known to be able to survive in extreme conditions, from scorching heat to much below the acceptable freezing temperatures (think -328 degrees F). Beyond this, they are known to be able to survive in outer space as well as go without food for over a century.

4. Planarians Are Pretty Much Immortal Too And Can Duplicate

If there was one superpower you could pick, a lot of people would say immortality. If one immortal animal wasn't enough, we'd like to introduce you to the cute and cuddly worm, planarian. Upon seeing it and being surprised by how adorable it is, you may instinctively cut it into a few different pieces. Well, if you were to do that, the joke's on you: cutting a planarian into different pieces actually will cause the different pieces to regenerate the missing parts. Kind of like another superhero we know.

At least it’s not as big of a smartass.

Every piece cut off of a planarian grows into a different planarian, much like the hydra in Hercules. So not only is the planarian immortal, it's able to clone itself into more immortal planarians. We only hope they have a long gestation period, or else the Earth may be covered in them in no time.

3. Plumed Basilisks Can Run On Water

Walking on water isn't generally the first superpower we hear people say they would want. Nonetheless, it's shown up in popular culture, with The Flash being able to run on water, as well as in ancient text (Jesus walked on water). What your Catholic school teachers never taught you was that Jesus wasn't the only one walking on water back them. Meet the Plumed Basilisk, a lizard capable of running on water on its hind legs.

Psshh. That’s soooo 2,000 years ago.

Aside from that, you may want to know more about this little guy. He's capable of running on land at an amazing 7 miles per hour, as well as being able to remain submerged underwater for up to 30 minutes. We don't really know our lizards, but we're gonna go out on a limb and say that's not par for the course for lizard abilities.

2. Rhodesian Ridgebacks Hunted Lions

What's a Rhodesian Ridgeback? you're probably thinking. It's a breed of dog, but don't worry, we'll have the video down below. For now, let's just talk about how difficult it was for the poor European travelers coming into the wilds of Africa, what with the rough landscape and new people they just couldn't get used.

Should have stayed in England.

The dogs the Europeans brought along were used to hunting small game like foxes and rabbits, not the likes of lions and, well, anything that hunted back, really. Therefore, they used their pups and cross-bred them with the various wild-dogs of the local Hottentos. That's how we got the Rhodesian Ridgeback a.k.a. African lion hound.

There is no video.

1. Dragons Breathed Fire and Ate Hobbits

Dragons, living thousands of years ago, roamed the landscape and owned the world. They forced humans into hiding and ate whatever they pleased. They were large, scaly beasts that could breathe fire and could destroy an entire village in a single swooping motion.

Contrary to popular belief, not all of them were named Smaug. Meet Greg.

Dragons actually did face off against hobbits on the likes of the islands New Zealand and Australia. Constant clashes led to the foundation of the Fellowship of the Ring, and eventually the Return of the King. Other stuff happened, such as various battles with Andy Serkis, Saurumon, and orcs. Dragons went extinct, but not before this epic battle caught on film a milennia ago featured below. Enjoy.

Follow Sonny on Twitter @fourcornerstuds or check out his book about the struggles in the apocalypse here.

Thanks for reading and check out our other articles by amazing authors on our page. If you like what you see, we’d appreciate it if you would follow us by e-mail. Leave us comments to tell us how our writing is and what you think about stuff. We always respond.