《Swamp Wars》


 Chap #1 Spring of the Swamp

    Keneric felt great now that exams had ended. It was Sunday too. Still, a part of him longed to return home to his family after a long semester. Too bad Easter break was a month away. So, instead of roaming around Melbourne University, Keneric and a few friends played two-versus-two volleyball matches right after breakfast.


    And so it began¡­


    "Mine," Keneric yelled, diving for a receive. The ball bounced off his forearm at an unnatural angle before flying outside. Miko, his teammate, refused to accept this outcome. She chased the ball and caught up to it. Then she returned it to the court. Keneric wasn¡¯t idle either. He got back into position and, when the time was right, soared high and with a slap scored their first point.


    "I thought this was a casual game," Taha grumbled from the other side.


    "Hey," Keneric smiled like a shark. "If I''m playing, I might as well win, right?"


    A comment that made Taha more frustrated. In the background, Isse and Miko shook their heads. They knew Keneric and Taha were best friends off the court and rivals on it. Plus, they had seen this scene repeat over the last three years of college life. Jumping into the conversation now was like shooting yourself in the foot. So they let Taha do the talking, which was shouting at this point.


    The volleyball game began again as both teams scored left and right. Even Keneric stopped bullying Taha after Isse started playing seriously. Soon, the game became more about tactics than dominance.


    By afternoon, they had played five sets with twenty-five points in each round. Keneric and Miko won using their lead from the first few rounds.


    "I''m done," Isse said, collapsing to the ground. She blended into the scenery rather than the conversation in the middle of the court.


    "So next Sunday? Ken? Miko?" Taha asked with a towel on his shoulder.


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    "Sure," Keneric said, while Miko only nodded.


    The three put the volleyballs back into the equipment room. When they were about to leave, Keneric announced, "You guys go on ahead. I''ll use the showers here."


    "But you hate public showers," Miko turned around, raising her eyebrows. "What happened to the one in your room?"


    "Let''s just say someone tried lightsaber battles with the showerhead in their drunken wisdom."


    At this point, Taha was sweating. "Guys, I forgot I had classes later in the afternoon," he said before disappearing from the gymnasium.


    "Today is Sunday, you walnut!" Miko screamed after him, but Taha was gone. Not satisfied, she grabbed Isse (who was still on the floor) and chased after Taha, maybe to find out the complete lightsaber story¡ªwho knows?


    Watching this, Keneric laughed. Then he made his way to the locker rooms before entering a shower pod in a corner. Steam rose in spirals as Keneric got over his disgust for public showers and enjoyed the warm water drumming against his skin.


    Outside, though, things weren¡¯t calm. Keneric''s phone, now on top of a bench, buzzed. Rows of messages and missed calls filled the screen, drowned out by the sound of running water.


    The last message read: [Earthquake Alert: Heavy tremors expected. Find shelter.]


    When Keneric came out of the shower, the screen had gone dark. Like whatever happened in the last ten minutes was a dream. Suspecting nothing, Keneric got dressed.


    But before he could walk out of the locker room, the earthquake hit. It was mild at first, like the low rumbling of distant trucks passing on a quiet road. But within seconds, the tremors made the entire gymnasium shudder.


    Keneric ran toward the exit but never walked out. Instead, he took cover under its arch. On his left, glass shattered and rained down on the gymnasium floor. On his right, lockers fell and crashed onto the ground. Outside was worse. Trees were yanked out and lay flat on the solid ground.


    Soon, the earth cracked, and from the fissures sprayed green, bubbling water like sprinklers in farmland. And it didn''t stop. Whatever the water touched mutated. When it touched the land, the soil softened and aerated. When it touched the grass, it grew into long, spiky straws. When it touched the sky, it turned from blue to muddy green. Even the sun looked hazy, tinged with pink and magenta.


    But the biggest change was the terrain. The once-empty campus grounds became a wetland with green puddles, yellow patches, and grassland¡ªdancing in the wind.


    The earthquake stopped after twenty minutes. Somehow, the gymnasium didn''t collapse, but it felt colder, eerier, and darker without electricity.


    The world Keneric knew was gone. This was the day the world became a swamp.

 Chap #2 Bark and Wood

    The earthquake ended. Keneric stood up and looked around. A buzzing noise filled his ears, but his mind was clear. He patted his body, checking for injuries. A few scars here and there, but he was unharmed. Thank God.


    Next, he searched for his phone in the rubble. Before he could pick it up from the pile of dirty clothes, the earthquake had hit. Now, dust, dirt, and debris covered everything. After a minute of searching, he found his phone buried under glass shards from the shattered shower panels. The screen was cracked, but it still worked.


    Rows of missed calls from friends and family filled the screen. Shocked, Keneric saw the emergency alert and realized why they had tried to reach him. He quickly dialed his mother, but the call never connected. Worried, he tried his father, then his friends on campus. Nothing.


    Then he figured it out¡ªno signal. Even the college Wi-Fi was down. He couldn''t check the internet for more information.


    "Maybe the earthquake took out the cell towers?" That was the only explanation. Keneric had no idea how big this disaster was. Without the internet, he couldn''t tell if only Melbourne was affected or if all of Australia was in chaos.


    Waiting for help was a bad idea. The disaster felt more like an apocalypse than a natural event. And Keneric had watched enough movies to know¡ªyou don¡¯t wait around in an apocalypse. If the worst had happened, if the country had fallen, who would come to rescue them? It was better to collect supplies and search for law enforcement (if they still existed) rather than sit here and die.


    He turned on his phone''s flashlight. Under the beam, he saw the real damage. The gymnasium still stood, but shattered glass and broken ceiling tiles lined the floor. Cracks ran through the tiles like confetti. The situation was bad. Keneric didn''t want to stay here longer than necessary.


    But there were still useful things inside. Instead of leaving, he went back into the locker rooms, opening any lockers that hadn''t fallen face-first to the ground. Within minutes, he found a backpack, a first aid kit, some chocolate, and a metal mop. He broke off the plastic head, turning the mop into a makeshift spear.


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    Just as he debated whether to check the fallen lockers, a sound stopped him. It came from outside.


    A dog barking.


    Keneric relaxed. He knew that sound.


    He walked toward the gymnasium''s broken glass entrance, careful not to step on anything sharp. When he stepped outside, a new world greeted him¡ªgreen, wet, and barely walkable.


    The barking came from a few meters ahead. A fallen tree lay there, and Bear was barking at it. Not a wild bear¡ªbears don¡¯t bark¡ªbut Bear, the dog adopted by university students years ago. Yes girls loved him for his brown fur, and the teachers tolerated him. His most unique feature was the area around his eyes. Darker than the rest of his body, the circular markings made it look like he had dark circles¡ªfitting for his name.


    "Bear¡­ come here," Keneric called.


    The dog ignored him, growling and clawing at the uprooted tree in a frenzy. Confused, Keneric used the straw grass as stepping stones to reach him.


    "Ugh¡­" Water seeped into his sports shoes, making him uncomfortable. He had just taken a shower, and now his shoes were waterlogged, and his body was covered in dirt. A bad day indeed.


    Using his makeshift spear to test the ground¡¯s depth, he struggled forward. Finally, he reached Bear.


    "What''s the matter, boy?"


    Bear kept clawing and barking at the tree. When Keneric reached out to stop him, but something changed.


    The tree¡­ shivered.


    Keneric stepped back, startled. Before his horrified eyes, the tree shrank in length and expanded in height, cracking as it grew.


    Fear surged through him. He grabbed Bear and ran for the gymnasium, not caring about his soaked shoes or dirty clothes. The dog squirmed in his arms, barking at whatever was behind them. The sound of dripping, cracking wood never stopped.


    Reaching the gymnasium entrance, Keneric turned around.


    His stomach dropped.


    A one-story-tall wooden humanoid stood there, unmoving. A single eye, half the size of a human, sat in the middle of its face.


    Keneric held his breath.


    The golem remained still.


    Keneric struggled to quiet the dog but failed. Bear leapt from his arms onto the gymnasium floor and barked even louder.


    That was all it took.


    The golem¡¯s head¡ªshaped like an avocado¡ªmoved. Its single eye locked onto Keneric.


    Fuck.

 Chap #3 Mushroom Infestation

    The giant finally moved.


    Its one-story-tall body stepped toward the gymnasium, and Keneric ran again.


    The stupid dog followed as Keneric entered the locker rooms and back to the public shower pods he hated so much.


    There he wedged himself into a corner and waited. What else was he supposed to do? Try running in this swampland? Laughable.


    Outside, the giant closed in on the gym, its waterlogged wooden body taking one step at a time. But because of its size, each step covered dozens of human steps, so it reached its destination damn fast.


    Still it didn¡¯t stop there.


    With a loud boom, it walked through the front door, its massive body nearly reaching the height of the building. Miraculously, the structure held. Then, with a groan, the small white mushrooms on the giant''s back glowed. Next, they multiplied over a minute.


    The golem raised its hands, tore off many mushrooms in one quick swoop, and threw them to the ground. There they slammed the wall before hitting the floor.


    But they didn¡¯t stay idle for long.


    Each white mushroom sprouted tiny feet and scattered through the gym like they had a mind of their own. Some entered the equipment room, others moved toward the chairs encircling the volleyball court, and some entered the locker rooms.


    They looked like tiny white rats scurrying through the area while the giant waited at the center of the operation in silance.


    However, using this move had its own costs. From the giant''s back, dark green liquid gushed out like blood. Clearly hurt.


    Meanwhile, Keneric stayed hidden in his corner, holding Bear in his lap. Little light reached the room, and it was evening too, but he could still see the glowing, moving mushroom battalion roaming around.


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    Keneric would have been more curious if there wasn¡¯t a wooden golem waiting outside. Instead, he stayed silent, but the dog in his arms struggled to move while coating his hand with saliva.


    The small mushrooms closed in on the shower pods, and Keneric stopped breathing. The privacy glass kept them out, and Ken knew something terrible would happen if they got in.


    But then, the creatures started climbing the tinted glass wall like slugs. This was bad. Very very bad. The privacy glass surrounded the shower area but left an opening up top for steam to escape.


    ''Why? Just why?'' Keneric couldn''t help but question this. He tried to move further back, but there was a wall behind him.


    One mushroom finally made its way up top and fell in front of Keneric. With no other choice, Ken used his makeshift spear to push it away, but this triggered an unpleasant change.


    The mushroom stopped and rooted itself. Its head shifted from soft white light to a copper color¡ªthe same as the makeshift spear. That wasn¡¯t the end. The closest mushroom in succession glowed the same color and a chain reaction started, spreading through the locker room, out to the giant.


    When Ken heard the giant move outside, its footsteps closing in, he stabbed the nearest mushroom. But the others still glowed copper, and the giant kept coming.


    Keneric finally put the dog down, and it ran outside, barking again. He didn¡¯t care anymore and focused on destroying as many mushrooms as possible with his feet and spear. His reasoning was¡ªif left alone, they would cause more unknown problems, and he already had his hands full. When he was almost done, Bear cried for help.


    Keneric looked through the entrance and saw the giant lifting the dog with one finger before swallowing it whole.


    He, however, had no time to feel bad. He knew he¡¯d be next if things kept going this way.


    Also now, seeing the mushroom army outside and the giant finished up with the dog, he gave up on running. There was no quick way to escape through the glass and debris without causing self-injury. And even if he made it out, an endless swamp waited, and he had no confidence in outrunning the golem.


    So he went back to his favorite corner and hid. This wasn¡¯t giving up. This was the best option his mind could come up with.


    The golem moved again, reaching the locker room entrance in two steps. But it didn¡¯t barge in like it had with the front door.


    Keneric understood why in the next moment. It wanted to capture him alive¡­ like the dog¡­ and eat¡ª


    The giant got down on one knee with a thump and carefully widened the entrance. Then it sent a hand inside, searching for Keneric.

 Chap #4 A Crack Above

    Keneric was alive but trapped.


    Previously he had wedged himself into one corner to escape the golem''s reach, but this strategy was turning into a fatal mistake as minutes passed.


    The giant continued dragging things out one by one. Its large hands worked like an excavator, digging toward Keneric. Most of the lockers were yanked out, the benches were long gone, and even the underground plumbing was ripped away with the tiled floor.


    Now the whole place looked more like a hollowed out cave than a college locker room.


    Meanwhile, the mushrooms outside made their way inside, hoping to discern Keneric''s immediate location. But Keneric didn''t let them linger for long. As soon as the mushrooms crossed a threshold, he killed them mercilessly. The drawback was alerting the giant outside, but he couldn''t risk the mushrooms getting too close.


    From an outsider''s perspective, this might look like a stalemate, but the giant was making steady progress.


    Also, Keneric knew the golem could have crushed him in one quick swoop by breaking the sidewalls, but it didn''t. Instead, it moved with care.


    The conclusion was clear. It wanted him alive. It wanted him in one piece.


    Finally, all the lockers, benches, and debris blocking the path were dragged out of the long-room-turned-cave, and the giant reached for Keneric. Its hand moved straight to grab him, but at the last second, Keneric jumped sideways, saving himself from a cruel fate.


    The same couldn''t be said for the spot he had just stood on. The shower pod was yanked outside, leaving only broken privacy glass and a crater behind.


    But Keneric felt relieved. Because he instantly saw a light of hope.


    Above the shower area, there had been a closed vent, sealed with a strong metal cover with holes only for air and steam to pass. Now though, after the giant''s attack, the cover was damaged and half torn from the ceiling.


    Two problems still remained.


    First, the vent cover was still half attached and needed to be dealt with.


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    Second, the ceiling was too high after the giant had dragged everything out and deepened the bathroom floor.


    Keneric had a crazy idea, and in this desperate situation, it felt better than sitting like a dumb duck, taking the onslaught of attacks.


    Nevertheless, the golem outside didn''t give Keneric time to think and attacked again. He dodged by a hair''s breadth. The giant''s attack felt faster than before.


    Keneric got up and killed the new batch of mushrooms that had walked inside again. The uncovered wet floor was now lined with deflated mushroom corpses.


    But he let one mushroom live.


    Using the sharp end of his spear, Keneric yanked the mushroom from the ground and launched it toward the half-open vent. He failed at first, and the mushroom landed on the ground, glowing with silver light.


    The giant attacked again, and Keneric dodged. The dodging was becoming harder as time passed. The golem seemed frustrated too, and its attacks grew fiercer and smarter each time.


    The attacks also changed mannerisms.


    The first time, it struck in a straight line. The second time, because Keneric jumped to the side, it tried to cover both corners in one swing. The third time, Keneric ducked, letting the golem''s smelly, rotten hand pass over him.


    This time, however, he finally sent a mushroom flying to stick on the vent on the ceiling, where it started glowing. Keneric also didn''t kill the other mushrooms walking inside. So when they reached the right distance, they glowed like the first mushroom, alerting the giant.


    Just as Keneric had figured. These mushrooms worked as the giant''s eyes or ears where it couldn''t see directly.


    As if proving Keneric''s guess, the giant''s hand attacked the ceiling vent, ripping apart the silver piece blocking the way.


    As the smelly wooden fist retreated in defeat, holding mashed wall and glass pieces, Keneric ran at full speed and jumped. He was athletic to begin with, playing volleyball for years. Instantly, he closed the distance, using the giant hand as a launching pad with his right leg. He jumped¡ªgrabbed the vent entrance with one hand. With the other, he pushed his makeshift spear inside.


    The giant, startled, tried to grow more mushrooms on its hand. But by then, Keneric had already pulled himself up, leaving the locker room, and was now crawling through a large duct leading to a junction.


    The right path led back to the volleyball court where the giant''s main body had stood in the beginning. The left led to the parking lot behind the gym. Obviously, Ken chose the left path and crawled through the narrow space to the end.


    Instead of a vent cover like before, Keneric found a blower pushing air out, blocking his way this time. A vent cover would have been more troublesome, but it only took two kicks for the ventilation fan to break, clearing his path.


    Meanwhile, the giant inside the gymnasium couldn''t wait any longer. It broke the sidewall, and looked inside with its perplexed yellow eyes, but never found Keneric where it last sensed him. Because of the height difference, it missed the small vent opening (small compared to its size) on the ceiling.


    Frustrated, it spread mushrooms into adjacent rooms, searching for Keneric in a frenzy, but never found him.