Humanity (RSWC)

I wrote a short story similar to this a while back, but it doesn't fit the "radio script" theme of this month's contest. So, here's the radio script version. If the story appears incomplete, that means I didn't have the time to finish it up, and I'll finish it later today or tomorrow. Using a shared computer right now.

It's not gonna be as long as the original, and frankly I'm not sure where to take this story, because I'm not used to writing screen play... and this story was intended to be a regular short story. Not sure how this one is gonna turn out. Its not gonna be very long.

Probably won't be much speech either. This story is mostly events taking place.

Right, so here we go;

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War/SciFi

Year 2134

In a red, futuristic world, societies begin to crumble underneath an unforeseen attack. Homes burn, citizens die, and the attack commences, and the new world's society begins to die under the sinful deeds of the wicked people who've targeted it.

......



Oh, humanity.

I rush out of my home, examining my environment frantically. Explosions erupt, bombs descend from the sky, and many of my own people begin to die before my eyes. My people fall to the ground, crying in fear... some of them dead before they hit the cracked pavement.

ME: (Foreign) Oh my God...

I spot tanks rolling down the street, the government of the people shooting off missiles and destroying homes, right before my eyes. One of the nearest explosions rattled the ground so hard it nearly knocked me off my crooked feet.

I begin to think about my older brother, who was stationed at his military defense base just miles away... I hadn't seen him in nearly a year. Since the two of us were without parents, his work alone supported the two of us, and it was my job to take care of the home. Well, it used to be, before a maniac government decided to destroy my neighborhood...

ME: #...

I dash forward, darting through the rubble and bodies of my neighbors lying in the street, hoping the tanks would not spot me. I flew between two half-destroyed homes, landing myself on the next block.

Oh, the humanity.

The two suns blazed as I ran at top speed, and as I did, my eyes drift to the sky at the whooshing sound, and whizzing above my head were great, shiny drones, gliding through the red sky... still, this didn't slow me.

The drones were headed the opposite way, towards the city. I didn't stop to watch them

They were going to be after clusters of civilization, not lone survivors like me.

ME: (pant pant pant...)

I continue to run. As I do, time seems to pass me by almost as quickly as the blurred visions of the crumbling homes around me, and eventually, I drew farther and farther from my residential area, and closer to the sandy plains, which, I knew, lead to my brother's military base.

ME: (Halts suddenly)

I stop, my feet making a SKISH-ing noise against the cement. Something just yards down the road catches my eye.

A young girl is sobbing madly, sitting on her knees, cradling an adult in her arms. The adult is almost entirely coated in fresh, metallic-smelling blood. The sight of it both shocks and revolts me.

ME: (almost lurches)

I repress the urge to vomit at the sight of the body. Easefully, I begin to approach the crying girl.

The dead adult is the child's mother.

I stand over them for a good few minutes, looking darkened. The events of the past hour or so have taken me quite by surprise, and it was now when the world around me began to seem dream-like.

GIRL: (looks at me, her glistening orange eyes shining with tears)

ME: (returns stare)

I kneel beside her, placing a hand on the small of her back, stroking her.

ME: We have to go.

GIRL: (shakes head)

ME: (takes a moment) We have to get out of here, before more of them show up. Come on...

GIRL: (shakes head violently, grasps her dead mother's corpse)

I let her sob for a moment longer, then place my hands upon her shoulders and attempt to carefully pry her from her dead parent. She cries more loudly, but surprisingly, she does not fight against me.

ME: Let's go. You'll have to run, okay?

GIRL: (says nothing)

The two of us make our way east, towards the direction of the military base I've so rarely visited. I ran, dragging the young girl behind me as I did.

I knew that east of my home, somewhere in the sandy plains, was the base. I'd last visited the place six years ago, at the age of eight. I knew that, if we could just make it there, all would be well... it was a military defense base, for God's sake. Our attackers wouldn't stand a chance there.

ME: (pants)

The both of us seemed to run for hours.

The red sky began to dim into a crimson-purple. More drones flew in from northeast, and tanks were visible on streets miles away.

How could grounded tanks be here? This attack must have been an inside job. Pondering on this, I continue to run.

ME: (exhausted) Okay... (pants) we need a place to sleep.

GIRL: (gazes at me, says nothing)

After looking around for a moment, I locate an in-tact shed behind a freshly demolished house. I lead the two of us into the cramped shed, then close the door. The two of us curl into a single ball, sharing one another's warmth. The girl began to cry softly once more, and I held her until the tears stopped. We eventually drifted into a disturbed sleep, our dreams invaded by the traumatizing sights and sounds of war we'd recently come to experience.

We awaken a few hours later, and the suns had started rising again, illuminating the sky in a new, brilliant red. The two of us departed the shed, then I began to lead her though the remains of our society, speed-walking east.

Nothing had changed. Our attackers still swarmed the sky and ground, exterminating my people. Anger rose in me as my eyes rested on the distant drones, as the sound of far off screams entered my mind. How dare they kill my people.

Oh, the humanity.

ME: We're almost to the military base, don't worry.

GIRL: (looks up at me from behind)

ME: My brother works there, he'll make sure nothing happens to us. Hell... he always did. Ever since our parents died a few years back.

I stop, realizing that talking to a child about dead parents after she witnessed her mother being blown apart was probably not the most tactful and reassuring thing to do.

ME: (quickly changes subject) Uh, anyway... we'll be alright. (softer tone) Don't worry, okay?

GIRL: (nods doubtfully)

The two of us head off again, and soon after, my feet were marching upon sand, indicating that the military base was not far off now.

More time passes.

After not speaking for about an hour, I decide to stop, sit under a tree, and stare into a small, nearby creek. The girl sits at my side.

I look her way, and she appears serious... apathetic, even. It looked as though she'd gone completely cold... the fact that her mother was dead, and her world was being--not destroyed--but brutally slaughtered around her--didn't help.

ME: Are you okay?

GIRL: (stares at the creek silently)

ME: (takes a moment) You'll be okay, alright? I promise.

GIRL: (ignores me)

ME: (places a hand on her head, petting her.)

GIRL: (looks at me, her expression painful)

ME: I swear. You'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?

GIRL: (pauses) .... (nods)

More time passes, and the two of us watch the shimmering cerulean water coast down the creek, as miles away we hear explosions and destruction. The sounds begin to infuriate me, though I do my best to bottle up my angry feelings. It was not the time to be vengeful... I had a little girl in my custody. Her safety mattered more than anything right now.

Both us us scoop up some of the water, attempting to drink it out of our misshapen hands.

ME: (stands slowly) Well... we should head out now. We don't wanna wait around too long.

GIRL: (says nothing, stands)

I lead her away from the creek, and we both walked upon the sand for a while longer.

More time passes.

ME: Are you okay? Do you feel better now?

GIRL: (nods, appears mistified)

ME: Come on, you'll be okay. (places hand on her back again, petting her tenderly.)

We walk for a while longer, the sound of destruction seeming to mold with our minds, almost as though it was the norm, as though we'd heard it all our lives, and it was nothing odd to us.

Then, at long last, something comes into sight.

ME: Look!

GIRL: (squints ahead)

Ahead of us was a great, grey building, equipped with monstrous guns pointing at the sky, the latest in our people's latest technology. Big military trucks and tanks surrounded the place, along with a twenty foot barb-wired fence.

I yelped with joy, and the girl beside me beamed. It was the first time I'd see her smile.

We had finally reached the military base.

ME: We're here! WE'RE HERE! Let's go!

GIRL: (nods happily)

We bolted forward, sprinting towards the great base... he was there, my brother, my only family. My people. My people's defenders. My people's suited and armed saviors.

We rushed forward... it was only a matter of seconds before we were within a rock's throw of the fence...

Just as I had promised, the girl would be safe. I saved her.

And myself.

Here we were.

BANG.

ME: (halts, almost stumbles)

I peer around, wondering where the ear-splitting sound had come from.

A man stood outside of one of the military trucks, holding a very large firearm, aimed at me. No, not aimed at me... behind me.

My hand gripping the girl's wrist suddenly tightened as the girl's body flumped. The girl hit the ground just beside my feet.

I stared down in direct disbelief.

The girl's chest spurted blood like a fountain, quickly drowning her clothes. Her expression was bayond shock--disoriented, horrified. She knew that she was dying.

I hit my knees, cradling her, ignoring the blood staining my arms.

ME: NO! No! You... you're not gonna die. You're not... you're NOT gonna die!

My eyes filled with tears before I could stop them.

I glanced upwards, eyeing the man who shot her... man, human man, decked out in foreign military armor. Bodies littered the ground within the fence, bodies of my people... the military had anihilated my people. Destroyed my people's military defense base.

It hit me, my head began to spin... my brother was long dead... I look down, just in time to see the life leave the innocent girl's orb-like eyes.

I clutched her close, wishing dearly her body would spring back to life... but, no.

Our people were dead.

Exterminated.

MILITARY MAN: (snickers)

As the man's laugh entered my cluttered and dillusioned mind, rage sparked within me, my anger reaching its boiling point in an instant. I looked up once more, face twisted in fury, glaring at the man with a cobra-like leer.

Two other military men appeared from behind the big truck, laughing.

ME: AAAUGH!

I released a wail of vengeance, entirely overcome by animalistic rage.

I let go of the girl's lifeless body, letting it hit the ground, and I charged towards them.

Each of the men raised their guns, aimed, and--

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

Bullets tore through me like tissue, though I didn't feel it. I kept forward.

Soon, my body began to fail, unable to keep up... why can't I move?

My body slumped, falling into the sand, blood squirting about.

No... I was so close... I was lying at their feet... I need to kill them.

Hurt them, kill them, torture them, maim them, anything... please.

MAN: (laughs)

I blinked, anger fueling me completely. My green, scaly, triangular hands groped at their feet... come on...

The men began speaking to one another in a language I did not understand.

MAN: (stands above me, looking over me pitifully) Ugly damn things, ain't they?

MAN #2: Yep. This ain't war. It's freakin' pest control.

MAN #3: (chuckles sadistically)

It was over. Death had befallen my world... these wicked, merciless creatures from a blue planet had invaded, and successfully at that... my peace-loving people didn't stand a chance. Those ugly, evil pink-faced devils... my people... my dear people...

ME: You... MONSTERS!

I knew they didn't understand my bellowing. The man above me placed the hot metal barrel against my forehead.