Post-Apocalypse Earth: Age of the Lyken

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Caribe waddled along beside me as we walked carefully through the misty forest. Vines rustling like snakes had him retreating behind me every few steps. I inspected the trees nearest to us for moss, checking to see that we were moving in the right direction. The foliage around us looked incredibly tempting to lie down in for a few moments’ rest, considering that we had been walking for hours now, but we knew better than to touch anything. Most plants were coated in a toxin that could send animals, and humans, into bloodthirsty hysteria. I took great measures to cover Caribe’s paws and legs beforehand to ensure he would not touch them even by accident, which was likely to happen due to his considerable size. The size of a small pony, he was a welcome companion and tended to help me feel safe in places such as the city ruins, but I knew that should he even graze a leaf of poisonous flora, I would be doomed for sure. Caribe had been with me since he was just a pup; I'd found him abandoned and alone whilst exploring the great ruins of what was once called New York in the Plastic Age. Now a breeding grounds for some of the most dangerous creatures on the planet, it’s name was changed to Korka, Lykie for “Hell’s Occupants.” Ever since the Lyken race had found Earth in its broken state, they had taken up residence in some of the larger cities and colonized the areas, bringing over their practices, creatures, and alien foods. Not that this was all bad, the Lyken were a kind people and much more advanced than the humans that once inhabited the Earth ever were. They looked at what was left of the human race with sympathy, but also a bit of pity, as though they knew so much of what could’ve come of our young species.

All that was left of what used to be ‘human’ were a handful of mutants, descendants of the originals, one of whom was my great-grandmother, Alloy. She was tested on by corrupt human governments since she was a child and in the end, it did her some good. When all hell broke loose at the start of Armageddon, she and the other mutants found a way to break loose from where they were imprisoned and tried to save the humans despite what they had done to her. But in the end, Nature got her own revenge and they did not survive. So, Alloy settled with her wife and adopted daughter (all from the government facility) and tried to make a life for themselves. The world was different after. It was as though Nature had decided to rebuild against the humans. The world was not meant for our use anymore. All the ecosystems shifted to be able to protect themselves against the human race; plants were mostly poisonous, the meats of most mammals had become toxic, and even certain bodies of water, that used to provide fresh water, had turned sour or poisonous. Our mutations were likely the only reason any glimmer of the human race still survived.