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Rena

With the Fallout, the great religions of the world came tumbling down. Their power had waned for some time, tested by the trials of the short but devastating Walker Virus. The Apocalypse, however, was the final nail in the coffin for many of the great ideologies and doctrines of the era. Gone were the days when Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, or Judaism ruled the philosophies and values of the human population. After the Fallout, there was nothing left to believe…

Most of the survivors clung to other hopes and beliefs while the orthodox practice of these religions dogmas ceased. Nevertheless, sentiments of their history remained, prevailing amongst the remnant human population despite their inability to prevent the devastation occurring in the outside world. Even today, some people—particularly within the older generation—still cling to their fallen principles and canons, praying desperately that their world would be restored, that they would weather this tumultuous tempest.

Amidst this wave of apathy rose a parallel and contrary response. Zealots, clutching their old creeds and tenets, strove to wipe the earth of the godlessness. They saw the horrible atrocities occurring in front of their eyes as the retribution of some higher power, a punishment for some past sin that the whole of the human race had committed. Given the complete devastation, the hopeless future, and the horrid standard of life, many found it easy to agree with their fire and brimstone assessment. This fanatical practice of the Old Faiths—mostly dead on the streets—still occurred behind the fortress walls.

But also amidst this endless turmoil, new philosophies emerged. Certain people claimed they had the blessing of real gods, gods they could see and address—gods they could offer a prayer and receive a response. Others, astray and despondent, converted to these faiths. Still others took up fatalism, positing that all was pointless, and nothing had any value but for the tepid and tenuous significance their fellows ascribed. These sects grew in number and in voice, and soon, many stragglers echoed those hollow words.

Quietly in this utter despair came a small hope. The surviving world ushered in, in hushed tones, the belief in a ‘Paradise.’ This world offered them all the amenities and security of the world before the pandemic. This Paradise escaped the bombings and the nuclear attacks, it survived unmarred by the Walkers and untouched by the chaos of the past score.

Some of the survivors hesitated to believe in such a thing. They cursed it as a gimmick, a hopeless fantasy that was bound to result in disappointment. Others, pushed to the brink, happily bought such a dream, hoping beyond hope they could find such a Paradise. Believers claimed the thought gave them hope in a dark hour. Skeptics felt pledging to this false desire was ignorant, that it was yet another trick to divert themselves from the truth. Lines were drawn in the sand; some desperately wished that there really was such a marvelous place, and others condemned it as folly.

Those who believed in a higher power agreed: man was undergoing a test, with perhaps more than their mortal lives at stake.