Mandala's Army Part 1

“It’s been 3 years, 5 months and 7 days since The Shift. The day the world as we knew it, ended.

If you’re like me, you struggle when you think of the way things used to be. I miss my home. I miss my bed, my hot showers, my fridge. And what I would give for some fresh, cold water. The comforts of life we all took for granted. Gone.

Our world leaders spent years and untold amounts of money preparing for this. They knew it was coming all along. They stole our money to build their shelters, hoarded our food while our children starved, and then disappeared and left us all to die.

None of them have been seen since. But we’ve been searching for them. Every day we find more survivors, and every day our army against them grows larger. Together we will get our revenge.

I have suffered tremendously. All four of my children have perished. My husband, murdered. They have taken everything from me.

I’VE NEVER BEEN MORE F***ING PISSED!!

And as I look out at all of you, I can see that you too have suffered. That you too have lost. THAT YOU TOO ARE PISSED! But we survived for a reason. And that reason is, JUSTICE!!

Our leaders, our politicians, elected and unelected officials, THEY LEFT US TO DIE! To fend and forge for ourselves. They took everything from us and then ran and hid like a bunch of cowards.

And now, their day of reckoning has arrived. Now, they pay for what they have done. Now, THEY SUFFER!!

With the help of this locket, we know how to find them. When the sun goes down tonight, the light of the full moon will turn this locket into a beacon. And our path to revenge will soon be stained with the blood of TRAITORS!!

For three years they have escaped their fate. Today I say – NO MORE!! United we finally stand. Under one important cause... VENGEANCE!!

WHO IS WITH ME!!!!”

Mandala backed away from the stage. Her whole body shaking from the rush of adrenaline flowing through her veins. The sound of a roaring crowd filling the air before her. She had given this speech three times today already. But every time it made her just as angry.

Today marked 2 years of her being alone and without her family. When the pole shifted, her whole life crumbled. Like most people, she was forced to leave her home and travel South. Desperate to escape the chilling blizzards of the incoming New Ice Age.

The path there was littered with dead bodies. Her youngest son the first to be added to them, dying in his sleep of hyperthermia. Her husband would be next, after being murdered defending off a scavenger trying to steal the little food they had. Shortly after, both her daughters would starve to death, one after the other. And just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse, she lost her oldest son and first-born child in a freak hunting accident. Mandala was all alone.

Alone in a world she loathed. Since the shift, everything had changed. The once blue sky was now a constant burnt orange. Trees and grass no longer grew green and instead stayed in their constant brown and dormant phase. A mixture of snow and soot fell from the sky relentlessly. The sound of birds was now far and faint. Wild animals a rare site. Other humans, even rarer. Life after The Shift was miserable. But life before wasn’t perfect either.

In the years leading up to The Shift, the world had already begun to crumble. Global markets crashed, the US dollar fell, fire and famine touched every part of the world. All while the global elite – world governments and corporate billionaires – prepared to save themselves from the final finale. Three days before The Shift, the sun didn’t rise, the power shut off for the last time, and all cell phone towers went down. Hidden in total obscurity, they fled their homes for their underground bases.

After three days in darkness, the sky lit up bright red as volcanoes around the world began to erupt. Earthquakes and tsunamis followed shortly after. Mandala and her family were lucky to escape these initial assaults. Or so they thought. Believing in being prepared, they had stored up on extra food, water, and supplies. This allowed them to stay in their cellar together for the first month after The Shift. Never having to leave their home.

But then came the winds. Winds so cold and bitter it could freeze the air in your lungs with a single deep breath. Leaving them no choice but to try to head South. Eventually concluding in Mandala laying alone, in the blackened snow, next to her son’s freshly dug grave. She had lost everything, and in that moment all she wanted was to leave the world and be with her husband and children.

But then, something unexpected happened. As she lay in the dark preparing to die, a bright flicker of light coming from the snow in front of her caught her eye. Curious, she reached for it, having to dig down deeper than expected. Out of the snow she pulled a gold-plated heart shaped locket with a bright pulsating light coming from its center. Engraved on the locket was the Eye of Providence. She tried to open it but was unsuccessful.

She decided to head back to her shelter to inspect it under the light of a fire. Upon her first step, she felt something hard and unusual beneath her. She brushed the snow away with her foot. Underneath it and now staring wide eyed back at her was the face of a U.S. Senator. Mandala couldn’t remember his name but was certain she recognized him. He looked as if he had been instantly frozen. The look of panic stuck upon his face. She brushed more snow off his body. In his right hand was a small wooden box. Mandala went to grab it, accidentally taking the man’s whole hand with her. Snapping it away at his wrist like a thin twig.

Disgusted, she yanked the box from his fingers, shattering them into multiple pieces. She placed the items into her pocket and headed to her shelter, collecting any dry wood she could find along the way. Once her fire was lit, she began boiling some broth with the last remaining bones of her most recent rabbit kill. Taking the items out of her pocket, she was surprised to see the locket was no longer flashing – the source of the light remaining a mystery.

She turned her attention to the wooden box. It was a puzzle of sorts made up of tiny drawer like compartments. Every time you moved one it affected another seemingly random one. Mandala tinkered with it for a while, becoming frustrated in her inability to solve it. She was sure there was something inside. With persistence and luck, she finally pulled the drawers in the right combination to cause the wooden box to open from its center.

Inside was a folded-up piece of paper. Mandala carefully opened it, having to twist and turn the paper multiple times to not tear it. As she stretched it back to its original shape, she did her best to brush out the creases. Holding it up to the light of the fire, she read.

“Dear Senator Jones,

The Shift is upon us. The time to leave is now. You have been assigned to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. There you will find quarters for you and up to 10 other people. We have been preparing for this day for the last 7 years. We have enough supplies along with food and water for roughly 10-15 years, if needed. The enclosed golden locket is your key to entry and can be used as a guide to the complex.

Through the light of the night let it guide your way.

One Above All,

Corporal Marsh Blackburn”

Mandala took a moment to process what she had just read. They knew all along. She pondered. “THEY KNEW ALL ALONG!” she shouted out into the dark emptiness surrounding her.

Then it hit her. All the military movement before The Shift. The massive transfer of wealth from the pandemic and crashing of the US dollar. The sudden scarcity of precious metals. The food and freshwater shortages – worldwide famine. It was all a distraction. A planned distraction. All so they could escape and take as much food, water, and wealth as possible with them.

Mandala felt the heat rise within her. Her rage consuming her like the flames of a blazing inferno.

With newfound purpose, she would spend the next two years spreading the news of the Great Betrayal. Speaking to anyone who would listen. Showing them the objects she found. Rallying them to her cause. By the time she finally found her way to the Cheyenne Mountains, she had amassed hundreds of thousands of followers. Survivors of The Shift, they rallied. Everyone had a story similar to hers. They had all lost loved ones. All been forced from their homes, left to feel helpless and hopeless. And they all shared her lust for vengeance upon hearing the truth.

But now they had finally made it to the end. Under the full moon tonight, the light from the locket would once again shine, revealing to them the entrance into the underground base. And then her and her army would storm the base, kill everyone inside, and claim it for themselves. Two years of planning had led up to this moment. 3 years, 5 months, 7 days of living in utter hell. And now the gutless bastards who thought they could save themselves through the sacrifice of everyone else, would finally be judged.

As the moon rose, Mandala and her army waited breathlessly. She held the locket out as it started blinking slowly. She turned North and it started blinking faster. Then, right as she hit Northeast, a bright light flashed and from the locket projected a map. As they walked in the map’s direction it became clearer. Finally ending at what appeared to be a small bear cave. Clutching the locket, Mandala walked inside the cave. The moment she entered the light on the locket flashed bright red and loud alarms started to sound.

Startled, she ran back out of the cave. Her entire army – over one hundred thousand men, women, and children – lay slaughtered. Blood covering the snow beneath them in a blanket of red. Mandala’s heart sank to the floor. As she turned back toward the cave, a cloaked figure weightlessly dropped to the ground in front of her. In a violent blow to her chest, the air was forced from her lungs as a sharp metal blade slid beneath her ribs. Mandala tried to speak, but only blood met her tongue as she collapsed to the ground.

As she lay dying, she could see two cloaked figures talking amongst themselves.

“That was the largest group we have had to exterminate yet” said a man with a deep voice muffled by the thick shroud covering his face.

“It’s sad what The Shift has done to them” replied a softer, more feminine voice from beneath the other cloak. “Do you think they know what they have become?”

“It sure doesn’t appear so” answered the deep voice. “They believed they could kill us?” He laughed. “Look at them. With their mangled bodies and half rotten – half frozen flesh. The radiation has changed them from the inside out. I’m told it’s completely altered their DNA. Ex-Human, they are calling them.”

“How many more do you think are out there?” asked the soft voice.

“Too many” the deep voice replied. “Too many.”

As she watched them disappear into the dark distance, Mandala closed her eyes as the life left her body; finally reuniting her with the family she lost.