Justine

I have completely lost track of how long I have been huddled in this cold prison of a bunker. I had stopped keeping track around six months into this nightmare when it became clear to me that help was never coming for me. Justine used to make fun of me for having this safe house in the first place. “You’ll never use it.”, she used to say, "It's just taking up space.” Oh, how I wish she had been right. I long for the days when even I had wondered if this whole thing was a mistake, but there's no use in making myself sad over the past.

In the beginning this situation was never meant to be this devastating, it had started as a noble attempt to end one of the world's most pervasive blights on humanity; hunger. “New breakthrough in gene splicing allows for creation of a new species set to end world hunger!” the report had said in a hopeful tone. “Containing the genetic material of the Chianina cow,the Yorkshire boar and the North American Bison, this new animal is set to be the largest meat producing herd animal in agriculture history. As these miracle animals are being sent to farmers all around the world, it is believed this could be a major step towards ending the horrors of world hunger.”. I was one of the many farmers to receive a small herd of these “blessings”, I was even provided a new electric fence around my property towering at nearly 20 feet. Everyone had thought this was going to be the best thing to ever happen to our farm, but oh how wrong they were.

They were correct that these beasts would be gigantic, in fact they ended up being over 10 feet tall, and approximately 8 feet long, their front legs rippling with muscle that ended in hooves that could rip through the almost any material, and their back legs cold bulldoze with such force that could put any battering ram to shame. No one had anticipated how ungodly aggressive these beasts would be. They had started out docile enough, but they slowly turned into what seemed like demons sent straight from hell to deliver nothing but pure destruction and chaos onto this world. The scientist had also underestimated that the thickness of their skin had made them virtually invincible. Once they had reached maturity they rampaged the entirety of my farm, destroying anything that stood in their way. The only thing that seemed to slow their rampage was the large electric fence that had been installed around my property, this had also meant I was trapped in here with these monsters. I tried to stop them, but any firearm I owned only seemed to annoy them, not even slowing their stride. They had decimated all my equipment, my barn, even my own house. I could live with all this carnage, but they took from me the one thing that I couldn’t live without. Those unholy beasts took my sweet Justine.

She had tried to run with me to the bunker, she even ran at a speed I had never thought would be humanly possible, but alas it wasn’t enough. She had been further from the house then I had been when these beasts had set their sights on us. She tried with all the might she could muster, but in the end those monsters were just too powerful for her to outrun. The only piece of her I have left is a cold golden heart shaped locket that hangs around my neck. It was a beautiful gift she had given me on our first wedding anniversary. “I got you this necklace, so you’ll always have a piece of me, even if I’m far away my love.” she said to me. She even had her name engraved into it in the most beautiful cursive I had ever seen. The picture inside, a beautiful portrait of her smiling in the flowery sundress I had always loved to see her in, is the last remnant of her I will ever have till the day I die and we’re finally reunited. The warm happiness radiating from her picture in the locket only highlights the cold, icy stab of sadness I now feel when I look upon this locket. Her sweet smile in the locket a far cry from the memory of the pain contorted expression she had as she expired. Even though I had made it to the bunker relatively unscathed, I believe part of me died with her that day.

I know those things are still alive out there. I can hear their blood curdling cries through the walls. I can even hear them trying to burrow out of the fence, only to be detoured by the electricity. It's likely that whoever oversaw the labs that made these creatures decided it was easier to let these creatures die out on their own than to try and intervene, no matter how many people were harmed on the farms they were sent to. Despite my best efforts to ration as much of my supplies as possible, I’m now at the end of my stockpile. I can almost laugh at the sick irony of it all, starving to death at the hand of animals engineered to end hunger. Even if I had bountiful resources, I could never imagine living in this world without my sweet wife by my side. I guess I have a choice to make, I can stay here and slowly starve to death, or I can go out and face those monsters one last time. Deep down I know which answer is best for me. As I stand at the door to my bunker, I stop to look at my locket one last time.

Don’t worry my sweet Justine, I’ll be joining you soon.