World War Three was disastrous; one country launched a nuclear bomb, then thousands followed. Almost every piece of land where humans lived was bombarded, wiping out everyone aboveground.

       However, some survived; one group of survivors were people in the subways. When nuclear weapons were launched, those people were protected by the tunnels. However, they were also trapped in the station, waiting for the radiation to decay.

       A 12-year-old boy named Tim was in the subway. Unlike the others, Tim was always optimistic, the one who always cheered people up.

       After about a week, some people organized to go aboveground and search for food. The trip was successful, they brought back canned food and fresh water. Since the tunnel was connected to a station near the police station, people also armed themselves.

       One day, the captain of the search squad carried out a large bag. He said, “We’ve found a monster, mutated due to the radiation.” This dangerous monster had killed two of their teammates. Tim noticed that there was a hole in one member’s leg, and it seemed like a bullet hole. The captain continued, “We’ve checked already, the meat of these creatures is edible. We are the only survivors in this city, maybe even this world, and we now have a constant food source. So we are going to eat better from now on!”

       As everyone cheered, Tim sensed something not right, but he couldn’t say what.

       Six years later, Tim was elected as a member of the meat-collecting squad. In those six years, the members of the squad had set up thousands of traps in the city designed to kill the monsters so no more hunting was needed. However, every member of the team still got a gun. Before they left, the head of the team warned them again:

       “Here are the things that you need to do while you’re collecting,” the captain shouted loudly. “Follow the road, and you will see a hanging bag. All you need to do is to take the bag down and bring the bag to the cooking room. Due to the radiation, the creature is radioactive, so remember not to open the lead bag. If the bag is broken, just leave the bag where it is, do not touch it! Also, remember to shoot anything you see. If they don’t have a headlamp, just shoot them.”

       When they went above ground, even though it was daytime, the heavy fog blurred their sight. With a nod, everyone separated. Walking along his path alone, Tim found a hanging bag hanging on a wall of an abandoned building. It looked like a huge cocoon. There was blood dripping out, the scent of blood floating in the air. On his way back, something skimmed through the fog, but Tim couldn’t see it clearly; by the time he raised his gun to shoot, he had already lost track of the shadow.

       When he got back to the subway station, he went directly to the kitchen. The chief, wearing a yellow exposure suit, nodded at Tim to bring the bag in. That night, everyone in the subway had an abundant meal. Even though canned food was served, compared with the juicy meat, it was a lot less appealing. Everyone was grateful for having this delicious meal.

       A week later, Tim needed to check the trap again. This time, when he came aboveground, he started wondering why the captain insisted on designating only certain people to set the traps, while others were not even allowed to discuss it. The captain said that those people were qualified to do the job, but he never says what that means. Tim arrived at the trap, but things were different this time:  there was nothing but some blood. The creature in it was still alive! Tim was surprised and scared; he didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know to deal with the creature. If he shot it, the hole might allow radiation to escape.

       At that moment, something raced by quickly in the fog. Tim pulled out his pistol and start shooting.

“OUCH!”

This was the sound of a human!

       “Who are you?” yelled Tim, rushing toward the sound.

       He found a skinny man, who was hurt because of the trap. Tim was shocked, and also afraid, wondering why there was still other human on Earth while he was helping the man to clean his wound. The man’s name was John, and he was captured while trying to eat the food in the trap. Tim learned from John that somewhere far away from the city, in the wild, the sun shone, some plants were starting to recover, and scavengers like John were able to survive. Tim was very surprised because in the subway, there were plenty of canned goods and meat from the creatures. He invited John to come back with him; after days of hunger, John agreed immediately. On their way, he told Tim that he had never seen any creatures.

       When Tim and John returned to the subway station, they were blocked at the gate. The captain forced John to go with someone qualified to set up the traps, then led Tim to a small, dark room normally used to imprison criminals.

       The captain asked, “Did John tell you anything about the world outside?”

       Tim wondered why he would be asked this kind of question. Then, to test Tim’s attitude, the captain pulled out a dish of meat. Everything made sense to Tim: for all these years, the traps had been capturing other survivors.

       The captain confirmed Tim's guess. Six years ago, when they found another survivor, they noticed that there were somewhere edible plants. If these were told to the rest people, even though those plants cannot ensure a stable food source, people would still try to catch this small hope. Right now, they are the ones with weapons, they are the ones ruling the people in the subway station. Why not let this system keep running? Of course, there are people on the team who disagree with the project. After furious gunplay, people disagree with the captain were killed, and become the first captured creatures, and this is where the hole on one member’s leg comes from.

       After telling Tim the news, the captain put the dish on the ground, and told Tim, Eat this, and I’ll let you out. You will be one member of the ruling party.”

       Tim started vomiting. If he did not know what the meat was, perhaps he would eat it, but right now, his mind changed. If Tim did not do what the captain said, he would be left in the room until he died of hunger. He wanted to survive, but he really did not want to eat another human.

       He put his hand above the meat and hung his hand there.