Mr. Postman (Prologue)

Meet Caleb, he's not the main character.

Audio Version:

Mr. Postman (Prologue)

As the prison gate closed behind him, Caleb saw something waiting for him. It shuddered in the shadows that bounced from the lights of the streetlamps. He was stepping into a new life, into a new world. There was nothing left for him in his old life; before the embezzlement charge, before he became the fall guy, before he even took that job. He wasn't some hardened criminal, he just made some really stupid mistakes that caused him years of loss and heartache. Now, he was going to have to start from scratch and hopefully survive long enough to track down anyone he might have known. 

Everything was gone. He only walked out of prison because the final court date was canceled after the incursion of monsters destroyed the planet. That might sound overdramatic, but it was pretty well true. The government always made a way to make things work, almost like they had anticipated this happening. Still, so many people were dead. Communication was...old school. He found out through a letter, delivered by an actual postman that he was going to be freed. The corporation he worked for, and their entire staff, were completely destroyed in the original attack. 

Now, this postman was different from the mailmen you are probably used to seeing. This one had armor, and his name was Eddy, and his story is the real story. More about that a bit later though. For now, survive, find the mail truck, and hope for the best. The shadows moved again, and he could feel himself sweating already. It wasn't hot, but that isn't the problem here...no, it's the monsters. He took a few steps forward and then looked back at the towers above the prison gates. The sharpshooters and guards were looking, but not at him. Their eyes were locked to the treelines and anywhere else except the human that was walking away. 

Anime figurines. If you were wondering what got him into this whole situation, it was a start-up company that began mass-producing figurines based on different anime. Only, what they hadn’t told Caleb, was that they did not own the rights to make any of them. It was a get-rich-quick scheme, and it worked. The real problem was that Caleb joined the company way too soon, and the cease and desist orders weren’t ever brought up to them. By the time the lawsuits happened, the company started its liquidation while throwing Caleb under the bus. Then, off he was carted to jail to experience constant mediocrity. Honestly, he found prison rather boring. Once the word got to the prisoners about the monsters, followed by the downfall of society, everyone started keeping to themselves. 

He was pretty ticked off that they decided to release him after dark, it was a joke to them. A few more steps, and he already wanted to turn back. The shadows moved again, shifting and making the lights flicker. He had no idea what to expect, what they would look like, or how long it would take them to kill him. He took two more steps and heard the screeching of nails being dragged across the pavement. He clutched his fists as if it would make any difference. He started to feel the dread well up within him until he nearly screamed. Just as he thought he was about to meet his end, he saw headlights. After a moment, he heard the loud blaring lyrics of Creed’s “Higher”. He took a deep breath and knew he was going to be okay. The shadows shifted and everything became a bit brighter as the mail truck pulled up in front of him. The door squeaked open and a large, masked, armored man stepped out. Caleb nodded at him. 

“Glad you could make it, lil bro,” Caleb said.

“Get in, we have some deaths to deliver,” the surprisingly squeaky voice responded. 

“Ugh,” Caleb said, shaking his head in disgust at the awful pun. He slid into the back of the mail truck, the engine cranked, and they took off into the darkness.

To Be Continued?