INFINITE NIGHT

4. How world ended

The war was brutal. Today, no one probably remembers what it started with. Knowing life, one guy with too much power offended another or wanted something he had. Why does the male world always revolves around who has the bigger balls? World would be so much better place if women were in charge.

Anyway it wasn't the obvious act of terror like killing the Archduke in Sarajevo or attack on Westerplatte that started the Third and the Last World War for mankind.

It all started quietly. The media was silent about the embargoes imposed on each other by nations. We have heard about shortages in the supply of products, but actually only that. Simple, plain man had no idea what exactly was going on internationally. And that was when we made our first mistake. We trusted those who were in charge sealing our own lips.

As political conflicts escalated, the problem began to become apparent. Humanitarian missions were lost without a trace, and civilian migrations reached their peak, forcing some countries to close their borders. Armed aggression between various groups of interests, cultures and religions began to take its first harvest.

The whole world turned into chaos. European countries began to denounce membership of the United Nations after the incident of killing a French Nurse by an American soldier in the Middle East. Soon after this European Union broke from internal quarrels, and NATO existed only by its name. In a matter of months, those who were once friends and allies became enemies, turning their backs on the needs of weaker neighbors in fear for their own wellbeing. Lofty words like 'Friendship' and 'Cooperation' have lost their meaning. Everyone became alone. That was our second biggest mistake and the way we lost our legs.

Pushed by our own prejudices and fears, we started a technological war by knocking down the military satellites of our opponents. One by one, they fell from the sky, cutting us off from everyday things such as communication, GPS, information. Airplanes stopped flying, ships stopped sailing, even most of modern cars stopped driving, suddenly our great world shrank tremendously. We blinded ourselves, by reversing progress by at least forty years. That was the third mistake, and the one whose effects we felt the most acutely.

The last straw in the cup of bitterness was nuclear war. The first blow hit Japan, and within two days the next hit the Crimea, Washington, Silicon Valley, Paris and Cape Town. Discharges and shock waves wiped out the terrestrial antennas changing the world we know in a distant memory. Nothing worked. Most of our electronics like phones, computers, even microwaves stopped working. Already obstructed communication became virtually impossible. And that was our last mistake, by which we shut our ears.

People started taking things to the streets, riots and public executions of those whom civilians found guilty began. Blood, sweat and tears streamed down the streets of every city in the world. Never before has so much anger and terrorism occurred in the entire history of our species.

And then they came and Infinite Night began.

Preoccupied with our own, irrelevant disputes, we did not notice what was in hiding. Cut off from communication and most military power, we have become weak and unable to defend ourselves.

First, they neutralized all known military bases and all those trained for combat. We have lost millions of soldiers, and with them our shield in just a few days.

Then they started tracking down our leaders. Nobody cried after a few politicians, but when all those who could lead people and make difficult decisions were gone, we became like sheep. Easy to track down and brought to the s*******r.

Lastly everyone else was locked up in camps, and it was then that we met our true enemies. The beast of that world. Monsters we only ever heard about in myths and children stories. Vampires, witches, werewolves, werebears and a lot more.

They divided the world among themselves, creating a new order on the ruins of what mankind has been building for thousands of years.

Vampires settled in Europe and Asia. Witches and sorcerers chose the cradle of mankind because of the power flowing from African lands. Both Americas had been annexed by the werewolves. The remaining monsters that led a solitary lifestyle or were too few could choose where they would live. Australia has become a free zone for everyone, with the exception of humans of course, we have been degraded to the rank of things, a property.

Even with the lack of military support, there were too many of us and we posed a potential threat. Mass extermination began. First, the men in their prime, who were the greatest threat, disappeared from the camps. Then the sick and old, who were just a burden and more mouths to feed. In the end women and children were separated.

The children were placed on farms run by vampires. They lived like peasants in the Middle Ages. Without education, electricity, working hard for their own maintenance and food, knowing they are nothing more than cattle, which sooner or later will end up on the vampire plate.

Women who were able to reproduce ended up in brothels run by werewolves, where they were r***d and infested by those who were the strongest, forced to give birth to a new generation of wolves, bears and others who could breed with humans. Those who couldn't were either helping running those brothels or were taking care of children on the farms.

Unfortunately for her, my mother was a healthy nineteen-year-old girl and ended up in one of the many brothels, where for a year she suffered a trauma that she cannot overcome to this day. After a year, she became pregnant, which resulted in me. But before she gave birth and I was taken away from her, Pops found her. She and four other women, who he managed to safely transport away and hide were the first ones he helped. Then we came. Pops helped deliver and raise all of us, he is kind of real father to all of us. Cause it's not the blood that makes family.

Pops or actually Eugene Eston, was already a retired Alpha by then, but Infinite Night cost him his only son. He did not agree with the new order and with what other werewolves were doing to humans. He grew up with the old belief that this world is the place for all of us, that we are children of one planet. Beautiful ideals, but too few shared them unfortunately. For the sake of these women and children in their wombs, he chose the life of a fugitive, away from the glitz and power to which he was used all his life. For this and for many other things he has my loyalty forever.

In the spring of 2025, the children of the rescued women were born. The oldest of us is Ruby, then Ink, me, Aby and Dennis. Pops knew immediately what the potential was passed on to us by the rapists. He helped our mothers to name us and ordered that, for safety reasons, each of us should bear surnames like other children conceived in brothels, that is, those that reflected our ranks. This was to ensure our safety in case someone in contact with us sensed a human in our family tree. So mine and Ruby's last name is Alson, Aby and Ink's is Betson and Dennis is a Wolson named after Alpha, Beta, and the Warrior who begat us. That constant reminder of who I am and where I came from is enough to fuel my rage and keep me going.

Now, after 25 years of Pops' training and tutoring, I can show the world that even the weakest are not losers as long as they fight. So the fighting back is what I'm going to do.