?Seven billion humans had been reduced to a few hundred thousand ragged ghosts, scurrying like rats beneath the stinking, subterranean ruins. The Crustaceans didn't even bother deploying troops to hunt them anymore; this meager flock of "wild cattle" was too sparse to even be worth the effort. Now, they only descended to Earth to hunt humans as a cheap pastime, gunning down fleeing survivors just to enjoy the music of their screams.

  ?The air in the underground base was thick with the stench of death and utter despair. Stone collapsed to her knees on the ground, sticky with mud and blood. Tears mingled with the grime, streaking down the gaunt, emaciated face of the lowly janitor.

  ?"Believe me... Please, believe me..." she rasped, her voice hoarse as she crawled on her knees across the dirt.

  ?Her only answer was the lifeless, vacant stares of humanity's remnants. From the crowd, a man staggered forward. His clothes were caked in blood. In his arms, he clutched the corpse of his little girl—or rather, the mangled half of a corpse that the Crustaceans had chewed up and spat out into the trash.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  ?The man's eyes no longer held any pain. They were the shattered eyes of someone whose soul had been bled dry by the apocalypse.

  ?"Believe you?" He smirked. Then, he burst into laughter. A manic, shrill, and blood-curdling laugh echoed through the dim bunker.

  ?"Seven billion people are dead! For six years you've been babbling that same bullshit! You're insane, Stone! Everyone is exhausted. Humanity is out of hope!"

  ?He stumbled closer, pulling out a rusted, foul-smelling knife and pointing it straight at Stone's face, screaming maniacally with bulging veins:

  ?"You want to be a hero? Fine! I'll crown you the greatest lunatic! I'll make you the 'Ruler' of this garbage dump, how about that?! The Ruler of Trash! Go on! Finish your babbling so I can slit your throat myself! I'll put an end to your stupidity, because only a psychotic pig would think humanity still has a chance!"

  ?The freezing tip of the blade pressed against her throat, drawing a thin line of blood. But Stone didn't back down.

  ?Her bloodshot eyes stared wide, piercing right into the man's despair. She raised her trembling, scraped, and mud-caked hands high. Between her bleeding fingers, a strange necklace emitted a faint, pale glow.

  ?Stone's tears fell in streams, shattering against the pendant. She screamed, a sound that tore through the darkness, tearing through the resignation of hundreds of thousands of people just waiting to die:

  ?"BELIEVE ME! GO MAD WITH ME! PLEASE!"