Good Night: An Apocalypse Story

Stephanie had been on the road for days, her bike a constant hum beneath her as she pushed further toward her next destination. She had camped out in old cabins and small caves, barricading herself in for safety each night, the wilderness becoming her only companion. Each day brought her closer to the camp where she was supposed to deliver Mariana's package.

The landscape around her was desolate but familiar—overgrown fields, broken roads, and the occasional ruin of a town or home swallowed by nature. As she rode, the air smelled crisp, the wind cool against her face. Everything seemed as it should be, but her instincts always kept her on edge.

Suddenly, in the distance, she saw a woman waving her down from the side of the road. Stephanie's hand instinctively hovered near her rifle, her eyes narrowing, but something about the woman felt… different. There was no malice in her movements, no aggression. If anything, she seemed desperate.

Slowing her bike, Stephanie pulled up alongside the woman, keeping her guard up but deciding to hear her out.

"What's going on?" Stephanie asked, her tone direct but not unfriendly.

The woman glanced around nervously before speaking. “Did Mariana send you to the next camp?” she asked, her voice tinged with urgency.

Stephanie tensed slightly but nodded. “Yeah. Why? What’s the problem?”

The woman’s face darkened, and she leaned closer. “Don’t go. It’s a slave camp.”

Stephanie felt a cold shiver run down her spine, but she didn’t let it show. “What are you talking about?”

The woman’s expression was grim, her eyes filled with a mixture of pity and anger. “If Mariana finds beautiful girls, she sends them there in exchange for resources. They use men as labor slaves and women as... sex slaves. They even sell the women to other camps.”

Stephanie's stomach twisted. Her mind rejected the idea—Mariana, who had treated her well, who ran a disciplined camp, betraying her like this? It didn’t seem possible. She was about to pull away, dismiss the woman as some wandering conspiracy theorist, when the woman said something that stopped her cold.

“Do you have a package?” the woman asked, her voice softening slightly. “Wrapped in cloth?”

Stephanie’s brow furrowed. “Yeah… what about it?”

“Open it.”

Reluctantly, and with growing unease, Stephanie pulled the package from her bag and unraveled the cloth. Inside, there were papers, and as she skimmed through them, her blood ran cold. It was information about her—her name, description, skills, and… a list of potential uses. The words “best use as a combat or sex slave” burned into her mind, followed by a price Mariana had demanded in exchange for her.

Her hands trembled as she dug deeper into the package, finding a small box of drugs beneath the papers. “What the hell are these?” she asked, her voice hard, trying to mask the disgust boiling up inside her.

The woman’s eyes were full of sorrow as she explained. “They use those to break women’s minds. To make them compliant. Slaves. Mariana produces them and sends them to that camp… it’s all part of the deal.”

Stephanie’s breath caught in her throat, and the world seemed to spin around her. The betrayal hit her like a physical blow. Without warning, she vomited on the road, her stomach heaving from the horror of what she had just discovered. As she wiped her mouth, she noticed that part of the vomit had dissolved a section of the road, the acid from her body reacting violently with the dirt—but the woman, too focused on the gravity of the situation, didn’t notice.

For a moment, Stephanie just stared down at the package, her mind reeling. Mariana, the woman who had smiled at her, who had earned her respect, had planned to sell her. To enslave her.

She couldn’t afford to dwell on it. She had to move. She had to survive.

Swallowing down her rage and disgust, Stephanie looked up at the woman. “Who are you?”

The woman gave a small, sad smile. “I’m part of a small group spread along these roads. We warn others—victims like you—before they reach the camp. Mariana isn’t the only one who does this. There are others out there like her. We’ve saved a few, but… it’s not enough.”

Stephanie took a deep breath, her mind racing. She couldn’t undo what Mariana had done, but she could make sure the Mariana didn’t get what she wanted this time. Reaching into one of the bags on her bike, Stephanie pulled out a small handgun with some ammo and handed it to the woman.

“Take this,” Stephanie said, her voice calm but firm. “For saving me. Keep doing what you’re doing. Save more people.”

The woman accepted the gun, nodding gratefully. “Thank you. And be careful.”

Stephanie nodded in return, her expression hardening as she mounted her bike. The shock of the betrayal still lingered, but she had spent most of her life in this harsh world. She couldn’t afford to let it break her. She would recover. She had to.

Without another word, she revved the engine, the roar of the bike cutting through the stillness of the air. She took one last look at the road ahead—the path to the slave camp—before turning the bike sharply in the opposite direction. Cluj was still ahead of her, and that was where she would go.

Her thoughts raced as she sped down the road, dust trailing behind her. The betrayal stung, but she pushed the anger down deep.

After several more days of driving, Stephanie finally arrived at Cluj. As she reached the top of a mountain hill, she could see the city sprawled out in the distance below her. Cluj was a city of old-style European buildings, with their ornate facades, balconies, and rooftops that had once been bustling with life. Now, though, the years of neglect had allowed vegetation and trees to grow wild atop the roofs, creating a strange blend of nature and civilization reclaiming what had been abandoned.

For Stephanie, who had spent most of her life navigating the wilderness and passing through small towns and villages, the sight of the city was overwhelming. To most, Cluj’s buildings might not seem tall, but to her, they loomed like towers. The city felt both foreign and dangerous—its crumbling grandeur haunted by the silence that had fallen over the world fifteen years ago.

She pulled her bike to a stop at the top of the hill, staring down at the city as she contemplated her next move. Her heart beat steadily, her instincts sharpened by the road she had traveled. From here, Cluj looked like a relic of a forgotten time, but she knew better than to assume it was empty.

After a long moment, she descended the mountain, her bike weaving through the rugged paths and overgrown roads that led her closer to the city's edge. The wind whipped through her hair as she navigated her way down, but as she approached the outskirts of Cluj, she felt the familiar chill of danger settle over her.

Stopping just outside the city, Stephanie took a deep breath and scanned the streets. Hundreds of Freaks lingered in the shadows, huddled in places where the sunlight didn’t reach. They were clustered in the shady parts of the city, moving slowly, their eyes adjusting to the darkness of the alleys and overhangs. The streets themselves were silent, but the Freaks made their presence known with the eerie sounds of their low, guttural growls and the scraping of their limbs against the pavement.

Stephanie clenched her jaw. There was no way she was going to try to enter Cluj like this—not yet. The city was overrun, and she didn’t have the numbers or resources to fight her way through a horde like that. No, she needed to wait, observe, and plan her entry carefully.

For now, she would need to stay outside the city and find somewhere safe to rest until nightfall. With her mind made up, she revved her bike again, turning away from the dangerous streets and heading back toward the forests surrounding Cluj. If she could find an abandoned cabin or even a hidden cave to barricade herself in for the night, she’d be able to prepare for the next day.

The forest around Cluj was dense and quiet, the tall trees casting long shadows across the ground. As Stephanie drove deeper into the wilderness, she kept her eyes sharp, looking for any sign of a suitable shelter. After about an hour of searching, she finally spotted what she was looking for—a small, rundown cabin, hidden among the trees and overgrown with moss and vines. It looked abandoned, the windows shattered and the door hanging loose on its hinges, but it would do for the night.

She parked her bike a short distance away and approached the cabin cautiously, her hand on her knife as she pushed the door open. The inside was damp and smelled of mildew, but it was otherwise empty. No sign of Freaks or other dangers. She stepped inside, giving it a quick sweep before deciding it was safe enough for now.

Stephanie took a deep breath, letting her mind settle. Tomorrow, she would need to figure out how to enter Cluj without drawing the attention of the horde, but tonight, she would rest. She barricaded the door with a broken chair and some fallen planks, setting up a small UV lantern to keep any potential threats at bay.

The night would be long, but she had survived worse.

After resting for a while in the abandoned cabin, Stephanie realized her ration was nearly finished. She sighed, knowing she’d need more food if she was going to stay sharp for whatever challenges Cluj held. The sun was still high enough in the sky, so she grabbed her bow and slung it over her shoulder, ready to head into the forest.

It wasn’t long before she found herself moving silently through the dense trees. The forest surrounding Cluj was thick with vegetation, but she had spent enough time in the wild to know how to navigate it with ease. Her footsteps were light, almost soundless, her eyes scanning the ground for signs of prey.

Before long, she spotted a few rabbits, their small forms darting between the undergrowth, unaware of her presence. Stephanie stilled her breath, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow in a single fluid motion. With her enhanced vision and reflexes, she took aim, focusing on a rabbit that had paused to nibble on some grass.

Thwip!

The arrow sailed through the air, striking the rabbit cleanly. It collapsed instantly, and Stephanie quickly moved to retrieve it. She repeated the process with two more rabbits, her movements efficient, years of practice guiding her hands as she cleaned the kills and prepared the meat to take back.

By the time she finished, the sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows over the forest floor. The light filtering through the trees was turning a deep orange, signaling that she didn’t have much time before nightfall.

With her game secured, Stephanie hurried back to the cabin, her bike still hidden nearby. The last thing she needed was to be caught in the open when the Freaks emerged from their hiding spots. The eerie quiet of the forest was beginning to thicken, the familiar weight of danger pressing in from all sides.

When she returned to the cabin, the air had already cooled, the forest becoming still and ominous. She quickly barricaded the door again, setting up her UV lamp as the final barrier against the night. As the blue glow of the lamp filled the room, she sat down and began preparing the rabbits, cutting the meat and roasting it over a small fire she built in the cabin’s old fireplace.

Tomorrow, she would figure out how to enter Cluj without drawing the attention of the horde of Freaks she had seen earlier and also how to traverse it with out getting killed by the hordes of freaks in the city. But for now, she would rest. The UV light kept her safe, the fire warm, and for the moment, her mind was at ease.