The world ended a few decades ago when a nuclear bomb destroyed everything. On the surface, everything is just a mist of toxic air. In the short term, it causes pneumonia, and in the long term, it leads to mutation; it's the cause of the monsters lurking out there, changing innocent, fragile bugs into sadistic killer creatures.
Humanity was pushed to a small island where an underground bunker protects the remaining humans, safe from the toxic air above.
A young man with a slender body and long black hair, around 23 years old, is running fast through the woods, not wearing any protective face mask. Is he stupid?
Another young man, Rod, slightly younger than him but much buffer, is chasing him, crashing through every branch that gets in the way.
Soon enough, Rod catches up and shouts through his gas mask, "Stop! Stop right there, Charles!"
But the one being chased isn't listening. His rebellious nature reminds Rod of himself, and it makes him sick.
Rod throws a broken branch, and it hits him right behind the back, throwing him off balance and causing him to trip onto the jungle floor, where fallen leaves have piled up.
This is his chance! Rod snatches the handcuffs from his back belt, and as soon as he sits on the man's body, he locks them in place—his wrist to the man's. When the man tries to escape again, he trips once more, falling back to the ground.
"Release me, Rod. You know it's not right down there!" he hisses, half begging. "They're fooling us!"
"I'm not letting you go, not in this damned world! Let's go back, Charles!"
Rod helps the man to stand on his feet and push him back to the bunker. Now that he cannot escape, the man can only growl, "My name is Steve!"
"Yeah, yeah...," the younger one replied while keep pushing Steve to one direction. Even though Rod is younger, his bones are well-developed and his muscles are buff, making them seem the same age.
"Ouch!" Steve stops and turns his body to face Rod , striking a sassy pose with his hand on his hip. He looks Rod up and down a few times, belittling him, then proceeds to protest, "Can you be more gentle?!"
Rod giggles, always finding this side of Steve hilarious. He pushes Steve forward anyway. "This is already gentle by your standards. You like it rough, move!"
"Geez! Why didn't you spank my butt instead?" Steve says sarcastically.
"Not here," Rod replies jokingly.
"If you care about me, you better release me. That old bastard is going to beat me up again," Steve warns, his voice laced with worries.
"No, Cezar promised me he won't hurt you."
"Hah?! You believe in his lies?! His promises are manipulation!" Steve stops walking and looks at Rod boldly, probably because Rod is still too young to see who Cezar really is.
In contrast to Steve , Rod sounds chill. "I won't let him hurt you. How about it?"
While they both are bantering each others, they did not realized a giant creature shape like a spider with a woman half body is watching from above. It had been following the two scout boys, and waiting for the right time to strike.
"What can you do, kiddo? You're just an 18-year-old who worships a dictator as a hero!" Steve snaps.
"He is a hero!" Rod insists. "He saved us all by building the bunker, so we can live safely from the toxic air. We owed him our lives!"
"What toxic air? It's all fresh here," Steve argues. He gestures his hand in a wide wave, as if trying to point in every direction.
"It might smell fresh, but in the long term, you'll get sick from it," Rod counters, recalling what he heard in school when he was a child.
"It's fresh, come, let me show you!" Steve tries to snatch Rod's gas mask off, but Rod freaks out, pushing Steve hands away from his face. "Leave my gas mask alone!"
The two end up giggling, chasing each other like kids again.
"Charles, stop! Stop! No joking! No playing!" Rod yells with a serious tone, and Steve stops fooling around.
Steve shakes his head as he continues walking toward the direction Rod pushes him. "Not only you keep calling my name with that cafeteria guy, but you're also blinded by the lies. You seriously need some brainwash cleansing, boy."
Suddenly, the giant spider jumps down from the tree to capture Rod , leaving him struggling against the tight body grip from behind. But Steve quickly notices this and, with superb reflexes, he kicks the spider in the face, releasing Rod .
"Go! Go! Go!" Rod drags Steve through their tied wrists to escape the scene.
The slippery wet soil, after the rain, mixes with the moss all over the ground under the dead leaves, making each step feel more dangerous than usual. At one point, Steve slips and falls, but Rod helps him stand up. Noticing the giant spider coming at them, Rod grabs a stone and throws it at the spider.
His throw is much stronger than a normal human's and becomes even more enhanced when his life is on the line. The stone hits the giant spider and embeds itself in one of her eyes, causing the spider to scream in agony.
"Oo... strong arms... I like that," Steve caresses his fingers on Rod's bicep, but Rod immediately pushes Steve to keep running. "Let's get out of here, quick!"
Knowing the spiders usually live in colonies, if one awakens, the others might hear the noise and join in. But it's too late. As they run together, struggling enough with their wrists tied, the noises from the woods send shivers down their spines.
The other spiders are coming at them.
"Can you... throw stones again... at them? Maybe they would... get scared and... leave us alone..." Steve says between panting breaths.
"Just run!" Rod replies.
Every once in a while, Rod would stop and grab a stone to throw at the group of incoming giant spiders, but it only hits one of them—or misses the target completely—and there are still the entire swarm of spiders coming at them. So, Rod and Steve keep running back to the bunker where they will be safe.
"I can see it... woo!! We're saved! Without rifles or protective armor!" Steve sounds happy. "And only stones!"
As they get closer to the bunker, the security guards stationed above the guard tower, above the bunker's iron gate, notice two humans trying to escape from the swarm of giant spiders. The guards ready the gatling gun, and at the right distance—when Rod and Steve are close enough to the bunker—they begin the barrage, shredding the front lines of incoming giant spiders, ripping their body parts apart and spilling blood across the forest floor.
There's no way the spiders could handle the mighty gatling gun. The spiders begin to retreat when the bunker's gate opens, letting Rod and Steve back into the safe zone.
When they return to the bunker, they enter the purification chamber, and sterilizing steam sprays all over their bodies. Since Steve isn't wearing a face mask, he can't help but cough as he inhales the steam.
"I'll be getting pneumonia from the sterilizer at this rate," Steve sighs.
"No one told you to go out there without a gas mask," Rod replies, unbothered.
"You can... lend me your gas mask. A little sacrifice as a gesture of love won't hurt," Steve winks playfully, only to receive a lazy glance from Rod .
Steve is thrown into the jail, and they lock it tight.
"Nice," Steve sighs. He tries to bargain. "Mind giving me a little light? A small, tiny candle won't make you poor, right?"
But he is only met with the sound of the bars shutting, leaving him completely in pitch darkness. Rod , who watches it all happen from behind Cezar, looks on with the terrified eyes.
"Let's leave him for a week," Cezar says, walking away and leaving the dungeon with his two guards.
"You promised no jail time!" Rod chases Cezar, his tone filled with worry.
"I promised no torture. Leaving the bunker out of rebellion is a violation of humanity. In this era, we only have each other. Just being accepted back is mercy enough. He's lucky I didn't hit him in the face!" Cezar answers coldly while continuing to walk.
"But... who will I go scouting with if he's in jail?" Rod still doesn't give up. He respects Cezar, but he can't stand seeing his partner locked away like that. "All he did was escape the bunker, right? Why does he deserve such punishment, as if he tried to murder someone?"
Cezar stops walking and grabs Rod's collar. "If you don't shut up, I'll put you there with him!"
***
The next moment, the bars open, and Steve screams happily. He stretches his arms wide to embrace the incoming light. "Finally, ....light!!"
But after throwing Rod in the jail, the door shuts again, leaving them in complete darkness with a cruel, cold slam of iron door.
Steve sighs. "Well...hello, darkness, my old friend...thank you for granting me a companion."
Rod growls and snuggles himself into the available bunk.
"Why were you here again?" Steve asks.
"Never mind that," Rod answers briefly.
"You didn't followed me here, do you? Why? Can't stand spending a week without me?" Steve teases, in which Rod only answers with silence.
"How cold!" Steve keeps talking, as he seems happy now that he got companion, "well then, following you, I'll take a nap also. Don't do anything pervert on me while I'm sleeping, you hear me?"
"You're the pervert one!" Rod complaint.
"You're bigger than me!" Steve slaps back.
Silence occurs not long after both of them are tired of bickering. Not even once does Rod tell him that he punched his idol, Cezar, in the face for breaking his promise to not give any punishment, including jail time, which is what got him thrown in jail. Now, for Steve , he would spend a week in the dark, confined room. The food is not good, and after someone does some toilet business, the smell will be all over the space.
"So stink! What did you eat?!" Rod closes his nose tightly, about to throw up.
"The same thing you ate! I don't know what they gave us; it's pitch dark, and all I know is it's not delicious," Steve argues.
"Close the toilet lid, for fuck's sake!" Rod flips the toilet lid, and the smell is reduced.
"Now, do you regret following me to this black pitch? We still have six days to go," Steve says.
Rod giggles. "Nah... it's worth it. It's worth every boring moment, it's worth every bad food, it's worth every stinky toilet smell."
Steve answers with another giggle. "Gotta admit, you're too cute to resist sometimes. Too bad you're idolizing that old pervert!"
"You're wrong about Cezar," Rod says, sounding serious now. "I know he's sometimes mean, but he means well."
Those words immediately change Steve's mood to sour. "Why are you here? Why? If you idolize him so much, you're supposed to be following him, not me!"
"Don't get me wrong. Cezar is a great man, but... it's you where I want to be with, Charles," Rod confesses. In this pitch dark, Steve can only judge by the voice, and Rod sounds genuine, despite his naivety.
"I'm "Steve "... gosh!" Steve sighs.