Speed Is King

“Hawk, dump my remaining points on Summon Wolf and upgrade it to level three.” Elliot said.

“How many hours do I have left before the aliens smash the cities and unleash hell upon this world?” Elliot asked.

[Based on the previous timeline, you have thirty hours, twenty minutes and six seconds.]

“Hmmm. If I remember correctly, their energy beams would come and totally level all our large cities, leaving only the minor towns and villages. After that would be the announcement in the sky. And then’¦ the mad rush for resources and shelter, and the Great Culling by the beasts and the alien fugitives.” Elliot shuddered lightly as he recalled the horrifying things that happened in the previous turning of the wheel of life.

It wasn’t pretty. The one hundred million survivors went through a week of absolute hell. Most fell to the ferocious and hungry beasts unleashed by the aliens. But a significant number died to each other when the strong preyed on the weak, stealing their resources and their shelters.

Not a small number committed suicide, preferring to die a quick death rather than the slow torture of living under the shadow of a horrible death by the monsters, both man and beast alike.

At the end of the first week, one hundred million survivors became ten million.

Out of the ten million, one and a half were in North America and became Elliot’s direct competitors to be the top survivor of the continent.

“Anyway, the first race for people living in my area will happen at the end of the month. It would be a straight up mega drag race for 10km along the Pacific Coast Highway. I’ll need a hypercar with a high top speed… Uhh where will that Bugatti Jirzon drop again?” Elliot scrunched up his face as he tried to recall where the previous winner of the first race said he got his Jirzon.

The aliens would drop a few thousand cars one week before the end of the month at random locations, and these locations would become hotspots where the most brutal fights and killings would occur.

Players, fugitives, and later beasts would congregate at these spots of a monthly session of blood, gore and mayhem.

Only players with these cars would be able to participate in the monthly races where amazing prizes await the winners.

“It’s near some hypermarket… Like the one Jessica and Jennifer used to work…”

Suddenly a realization struck him like thunder.

“MY SISTERS! THEY ARE STILL ALIVE RIGHT NOW!!” Elliot screamed ecstatically. “MY SISTERS!!!”

Tears began to flow down his cheeks as he fell to his knees, sobbing and screaming lightly in happiness as the full realization that he could save them this time struck him.

“Oh God, thank you thank you thank you’¦”

A new burning desire bloomed in his heart and spread throughout his soul and his heart like wildfire.

“This time. AT ALL COSTS! I will save them.” He clenched his fist so tightly that his nails drew blood. But he was totally oblivious to it. “I WILL win this damned game, and I WILL make sure they survive!”

He sat there on the floor of his tiny cottage for a minute, revelling and basking in the fact that his sisters were still somewhere in town, probably Christmas “shopping” and preparing another awesome present for their “Big Fat Bro”.

Elliot was eighteen years old at that time and he was a middle school dropout.

His parents died when he was twelve, leaving him alone with his adorable twin sisters who were only six at that time. An “aunt” had moved in to take care of them, but she was too busy selling away their stuff one by one to do much caring.

“For your daily expenses.” She had claimed.

Elliot was forced to quit school and work part-time to pay for their daily necessities. His “aunt” had claimed that she would be too busy cleaning and cooking to work, so he had to “be the man of the house” and bring home the money.

It was tough at first, nobody wanted to hire a scrawny twelve year old. But he finally found a job as a cleaner in a car mechanic shop. It was a dirty and hard job, but at least he brought home a little bit of money every Sunday.

“A mere pittance compared to what I am doing for you all.” His “aunt” had grumbled everytime she shamelessly took the money from his hands every week.

And after two years of doing the bare minimum, she had finally run out of things to sell. She took the car and disappeared, leaving him alone once more with his sisters.

However, for all the bad things his wretched “aunt” had done, she had at least given him the most precious resource of all – time. By the time she left, Elliot was already fourteen and worked at two part time jobs.

He made just enough to keep himself and his two sisters alive in a town where nobody really cared whether they lived or died.

Being completely alone without any lifelines, he knew it was all up to him. He took up the responsibility of taking care of his two sisters seriously, making sure that they were clothed, fed and warm every day, even at the cost of his own comfort and well-being.

He made sure their blankets were stuffed and warm during winter. He made sure that their room had good ventilation during summer, and had no leaks during the rainy season. Even if he couldn’t afford meat everyday, he made very sure that they would at least have chicken once a week.

He would save every spare bit of money he had so that he could get them presents for Christmas, no matter how small and cheap they were.

He completely ignored his well being just so that his sisters would have a semblance of normalcy in their lives.

He was their strong pillar, their shelter from the harsh realities of society. Come wind and storm, he stood strong, refusing to falter for even a single day.

His sisters knew how hard he worked, and tried to make life as easy as possible for him. At only eight years old, they learned how to cook, clean and do minor house repairs.

They pretended to sleep when he tucked them in for bed before he went for his night shift, and then got up after he was gone, continuing to clean the house and doing a little bit of sewing for their brother’s extremely worn clothes.

Elliot was so tired all the time working his two jobs to notice much of what his sisters did. He subconsciously attributed the lack of issues at home as good fortune, and the fact that his clothes were so durable even after years of hard use as something normal.

He was, however, extremely grateful that his sisters had learnt how to cook.

“I have such amazing sisters.” He thought as he worked himself to the bone.

“We have such an awesome brother, make sure we do our part as well.” Jessica said to Jennifer.

“En.” Jennifer replied seriously as she scrubbed Elliot’s clothes gingerly to avoid ripping it.

In that way, brother and sisters helped each other survive their most difficult years.

Until the aliens came and unleashed their beasts.