In the year 2098, the Government released a virus called the Ripper virus as a way of controlling the U.S. population. Unfortunately, it led to their own downfall. And the downfalls of the other countries across the globe. What the ripper virus does is make people think they're the infamous killer, Jack the Ripper. The infected, known as the "Rippers," killed trillions of humans and animals alike, leaving the world lifeless. However, there are only two survivors. A former chemist and a she-wolf.
Tom James is a 20-year old chemist with a deep fear of the virus. Though he is calm at (very rare) times, he can be a real rage machine as well as a coward. He was indirectly partly responsible for the virus spreading through America due to the Government manipulating him into helping them.
Rachel the wolf is an 18-year old wolf. She is a mature, confident, and hardcore anthropomorphic she-wolf with white fur and long hair. Her home, a small post-apocalyptic city, was recently burned down by the Rippers. Origins of her family remain unknown. She met Tom at a forest nearby the lake of pollution. They both moved into an old, old house in between two large buildings in a post-apocalyptic city where the sun shines during a dark day.

Maryland...

Tom stared at his watch while sitting on an old rocking chair in his room and next to his bed. The hell is taking so long? He thought, minorly upset. This watch is not broken, so why is she taking so long to return?! It's almost sunset! The door slowly opened and an anthropomorphic she-wolf walked in. "Rachel." Tom said. "You need to be quick. It's almost sunset! They roam the streets at sunset!" "Relax." Rachel replied in a slightly emotionless tone, as she knelt on one knee in front of Tom. "I'm okay. The Rippers weren't anywhere in sight." "My god, I hope you're telling me the truth!" Tom said, slightly fearful. "Because if you don't, it'll be on you!" "I am telling you the truth, Tom." Rachel said, getting up. "Once the sun sets halfway under the city, we must prepare. We also must be vigilant." "I am aware of being forced to be vigilant!" Tom cried. "But, those psychos are carrying two machetes and two knives! Ugh, this would've been easier if the Government didn't lie to me!" "Be strong, Tom. We'll work together to fight for our lives." Rachel said gently and maturely. "Do you understand?" Tom couldn't respond. He was too scared to even think about "getting ready." "Do you hear me?" Rachel asked, a bit stern. "We're gonna be okay if you work with me on this. Trust me." ".......Okay, I guess I can trust you." Tom sighed. "But if we die, I'll be sure to make you suffer!" "Tom. Not okay." Rachel said, more stern. "Do not talk back." "You're not my Mom!" Tom cried. "We're the only ones on Earth not infected by the virus! How can we win?!?" "Tom..." Rachel said, placing her paw on Tom's shoulder. "You need to relax, okay? We're gonna be okay." Rachel walked out the door and lightly closed it. Easy for you to say. Tom thought fearfully. All you do is act like my Mom! I'll bet you're scared as hell on the inside!

Rachel sharpened an axe on her grinding machine in a small, empty room downstairs. She had a sad expression on her face, something that she tried to hide from Tom. She was concerned for his safety. Poor Tom... She thought. He's so worried... The virus really messed things up. If only the Government opened their eyes before even releasing the virus... She continued sharpening her axe until the Grandfather clock next to the door rang. Rachel stared at the clock in horror. "Dear God!" She whispered fearfully. "It's time...!"

Tom heard the clock all the way from upstairs. He jumped up from his rocking chair and looked out the window, slamming his nose and the palms of his hands against the window. He saw the sun set halfway under the several skyscrapers. Oh, fuck! He thought, his fear intensified. They're coming! He ran towards his bed and pulled out an axe with a rusty blade. He gripped the handle with his trembling hands. I won't let those monsters kill me tonight! Or any night! Or any day!! He slowly walked out his room and crept through the small hallway next to the old-fashioned balcony. "Rachel!" He whispered, praying that he was loud enough. "Damn it, Rachel! Where are you?!" Rachel walked out from under the balcony and looked up at Tom. "Stay calm." She said calmly, holding her axe. "They're not here yet. Get back to your room." Without saying anything else, Tom ran right into his room and closed it quietly and locked it. Oh, shit! He thought fearfully. Rachel is gonna kill herself! What am I gonna do?! I can't just STAY here! He dropped his axe and clenched his shaggy, red hair. Sometimes, I wonder if we'll survive our whole lives in a post-apocalyptic environment. He thought, stressing out. Good gravy, this is a nightmare! He slowly looked out the window and saw a bunch of zombie-like figures roaming the old city. Some of them killed each other with machetes while others lurked in the shadows. "Oh, god!" Tom whispered, as he rushed towards his axe and grabbed it. "Those savages are out! And, they're gonna kill us!"

Rachel walked around the downstairs kitchen, which is next to the living room, and looked out every window in the kitchen, then the living room, and her grinding room. "Be strong." She told herself. "Be stronger than the Rippers. Much stronger!" POW!! A loud crash from the front door interrupted Rachel. She ran out her grinding room and saw the blade of a machete sticking through the front door. A Ripper! She thought. The machete was pulled away from the door. Then, it stuck through the front door again, cutting a medium-sized hole in the door. Rachel gripped the handle of her axe as a gloved hand stuck through the door and reached for the doorknob. "AAAAAAAAAH!!" She screamed, as she charged at the Ripper and sliced his hand off, causing him to wince and fall back. Rachel slowly walked towards the door and looked through the hole as the Ripper took off, leaving a trail of blood. Oh, fuck. Rachel thought fearfully. It's....starting!

Tom slowly walked out his room, shaking with fear. "Rachel?" He said over the balcony. "Those sick bastards are here, aren't they?" "Yeah." Rachel said, looking up. "I think.........they want me." "Wh-What?!" Tom cried. "Why?! Why would they want to kill YOU?!?" "........I was once kidnapped and used by the Government as a 'test dummy' for their Rippers." Rachel admitted, lowering her axe. "They made me act as bait for the Rippers to test the Rippers..." "...................I don't understand!" Tom cried. "I don't get what you're trying to SAY!!" "The Government was gonna let their Rippers kill me before they release the virus to the public." Rachel admitted again, a tear rolling down her eye. "In order to test the Rippers to see if the virus worked. And, if it failed, they would've exterminated all of us test subjects." Tom slowly walked down the stairs in shock. "You......were a test subject?" He asked. "And, the Government was gonna have you killed?!" "Yeah..." Rachel said, wiping her tears off. "I didn't want to die, so I escaped. The Government had the Rippers chase after me, hoping the Rippers will spread the virus. They did spread it, but a year later, the Government faced their demise as well. To this day, the Rippers tried to kill me." Tom couldn't believe what he was hearing. He tried to process everything until a lightbulb lit in his head. "If the Rippers were chasing YOU," He started, angry, "and if they tore apart the country looking for you, then YOU destroyed this country!!" Rachel dropped the axe, cupped her mouth with her paws, and gasped. "What?! No, no, no, no! I wasn't intended to spread the virus further into the world!" She cried. "I would never do such a horrendous thing!" "Well, you DID!" Tom snapped. "But, right now, we have some Rippers to rip apart!" Rachel picked up her axe with a guilty expression. She knew that lying to Tom made him very upset. POW!! A Ripper burst through the window in the kitchen with a machete and climbed in. He charged at Tom. "AAAGH!!" Tom screamed, as he swung his axe at the Ripper. He sliced the Ripper's head off and blood squirted out of the wound. The body fell on the ground. "Oh, dear god!" Rachel exclaimed fearfully. "We have to get out of here!" "What?! But, we'll be vulnerable to the Rippers!" "No, Tom. We're vulnerable just by staying here." Rachel insisted. "Please! Trust me!" "Why should I?!" Tom asked angrily. "You LIED to me about the whole story behind the damn virus!" "Please!" Rachel begged. "I admit, I lied! But right now, our lives our super important! Please!" Tom stared at her intensely. He didn't trust her anymore. "All right." He sighed. "Let's do this."

Rachel walked out the front door and Tom fearfully followed. He gripped his axe as hard as he could. "Oh....man." Tom said nervously, as he zipped his brown jacket. "Those suckers are everywhere. We're outnumbered for sure!" "Stay vigilant." Rachel said calmly. "If any Rippers come anywhere near us and are looking to attack us, we fight. Do you understand, Tom?" "Yes. I understand." Tom said, slightly less nervous. "Now, where are we gonna go? Huh?" Rachel didn't reply. "RACHEL?!?!" Tom shouted angrily. "WHERE are we GOING?!?" "You'll see." Rachel said. "And, please calm down." "Fine!" Tom grunted. "But, I know we're gonna perish!"

Tom and Rachel walked along the cracked sidewalk next to the remains of several buildings. Several Rippers suddenly charged right at them. "GAAH!!" Tom shouted, as he ran for it with Rachel catching up to him. "Rachel!! I TOLD you we'd be vulnerable to the Rippers!" Tom shouted. "And besides, NOBODY walks out in front of zombies during an apocalypse OR a post-apocalypse!!" "You need to stop, Tom!" Rachel cried. "And, you need to start trusting me more!" "I TOLD you why should I, didn't I?!" Tom cried. "Just FACE it Rachel! We're destined to die!" "Hurry! This way!" Rachel cried, running down a set of stairs. "Where are we going?!" Tom asked, following Rachel down the stairs. "Are we going to our deaths?!" "No!" Rachel called out. "We're going to the subway!" "WHY?! We'll be even more vulnerable!" Tom cried. "I mean, am I the only one with common SENSE?!" The Ripper horde ran down the stairs as well, catching up to Tom and Rachel. Tom looked back and saw their shining machetes and knives. The Rippers had top hats and masks. "OH, GOD!! RACHEL!" Tom cried. "THEY'RE CATCHING UP TO US!!" "Quick! This way!" Rachel cried, as she led Tom to the bottom, past the ticket booths, and down another set of (smaller) stairs. "Oh my god!" Tom cried repeatedly. "REALLY good idea! We're in a dead end! And soon, WE'LL be dead!!" "In the trains!" Rachel cried. "Hurry!"

Tom and Rachel ran into the train to the right. They ran through all the carts as the Rippers tried to pursue them. "Where in the world are we going?!" Tom asked fearfully. "To our deaths?!" "Tom, you've gotta stop!" Rachel pleaded. "You're only stressing yourself out more!" "So what?! We're gonna die anyway!" Tom whined. "There are more Rippers than.......just us!! We're gonna....!" "Tom!" Rachel cried. "Please! I'll get us to safety!" "You fucked up our country!! And, you never said ANYTHING!! What makes you think I can believe that you're trying to get us to safety?!" Before Tom could even expect an answer, Rachel jumped out the window of the locomotive and Tom looked out the window. "How did you do that without hurting yourself?!" He asked. "JUMP!!" Rachel cried out fearfully, as she saw the Rippers behind Tom. Tom jumped out the window and fell on his feet, wincing. "Run!" Rachel cried. She and Tom began running and running until they were out of the Rippers' sight.

Tom and Rachel slowed down and walked through the dark tunnel. "Good lord, we're alive!" Tom sighed in relief. "I thought we were dead... But thanks to you, everyone else is!!" "Tom..." Rachel said in shock. "I never meant for this to happen. I just didn't wanna face unjustly death." "Well, if you DID die, at least everyone would be happy!" Rachel gasped in fright by what Tom said. "Let's just get out of here." Tom grunted, as he walked ahead of Rachel. Rachel made another guilty expression as she caught up to Tom. Throughout the walk, Tom ignored Rachel and didn't even look at her. He was really mad. I wish I knew where we're going. Tom thought. But, I don't want anything to do with Rachel anymore! "Stop!" Rachel cried out, as she stuck her arm out in front of Tom. "What?! What's wrong?!" Tom cried. "Bottomless pit!" Rachel cried. "If you fall in, it's over!" Isn't it obvious?! Tom thought, staring down at the pit nervously. That's what a bottomless pit is!

Tom shook with fear as he backed away from the pit. "Now what?!" Tom asked, stressing out. "There's no way to escape now!" Rachel looked at her and Tom's surroundings. "Hmmmm.......wait, look!" She exclaimed, pointing to her right. "What?" Tom asked. "I don't see anything." "Look closely." Rachel said. Reluctant, Tom took a few steps towards whatever Rachel was pointing at. He faintly saw a doorknob. He took a few more steps towards the knob and saw a door. "The hell?!" He cried. "Why would this be here?!" "Let's check it out." Rachel said, walking towards the door and reaching for the doorknob. "Is it safe?" Tom asked. "Or not?" "I hope so..." Rachel said, pulling the door open. "It's...........a control room?" Tom asked in shock. "When did this get here?!?" "I don't know..." Rachel said. "Let's check it out."

Rachel walked into the control room with Tom reluctantly following her. The control room was small and had several flashing lights on a desk under three television screens. "What........the.............heck?!" Tom said, staring at a red flashing button. "What's this?" He held his shaky hand over the button. And then, pressed it. The screen in the middle suddenly turned on and showed a man with black hair, a mustache, and a white tuxedo. "Hello." The man said. "My name is Charles G. Andrews. And, I am the head of a small team of scientists from the United States Government."

Rachel stood next to Tom and watched in awe. "We worked on a virus to control the population in our country mainly due to what we call World War IV." Charles continued. "World War IV was a biological war that nearly destroyed our world. Our country fought with Iran for 5 years and ended with our plans to exterminate the population of our country and ourselves. The President never revealed any other reasons for this, but we were to follow every order he gives us. We began looking into the story of the infamous killer known by many as Jack the Ripper." The screen to the right turned on and showed black and white footage of several dead bodies. "We've been researching about the people he killed, the crimes he's committed." He continued. "We created the virus with chemicals stuffed with toxic substances that are fiercely deadly to any organism on the planet. We were able to figure out how to remove the substances from the chemicals and place them in our test subjects." The TV screen on the left turned on and showed a group of scientists studying a young woman in a cage. The woman screamed and begged the scientists to let her out. "How...........awful!" Rachel cried in shock. One other scientist opened the cage and two other scientists grabbed the woman as she tried to run out. Another scientist walked towards her, pulled out a hypodermic needle and poked it on the woman's shoulder. The scientists forced her back in and one of them threw in a knife and closed the cage as the woman laid there unconscious. She woke up, picked up the knife, and got up. She slammed her face against the bars, screaming and sticking her arm out, swinging the knife. "We needed to use a 'puppet' to help us spread the virus." Charles continued. "So we chose a wolf with a very anthropomorphic appearance. Her name is Rachel. We used Rachel to spread the virus across the country and, once that was done, we would all let ourselves die. And, as for me......" He held out a boning knife and held it against his neck. "I no longer will live my life in this world." Charles concluded. "So for any of the possible survivors, you now know what really happened. Our deaths were intentional. I will not tell you about why we took our own lives as the President is keeping this a secret. Our world is no longer a planet with life. Or hope. Farewell.....Tom." Charles slowly slit his neck with the knife, causing blood to drip from his neck. All three TV screens turned off. Tom stared at the TV screens in horror.

"The..............Government's death was suicide?!?" Tom cried out in shock. "And, you were their only hope in...........spreading the virus!" "I swear, Tom. I had no idea that this was their true motive for kidnapping me!" Rachel assured. Tom didn't say anything. He just continued staring at the screens. "Tom?" Rachel said, waving her paw in front of Tom's face. "Are you...okay?" Tom fell on his knees and the palms of his hands in fear and confusion. "The Government really fucked up everything..." He said, quiet and confused. "Why......why did I listen to them? They really used me...like I was there puppet." "Tom... You're not a puppet." Rachel said, squatting down next to Tom and placed her paw on his back. "You didn't know the Government's plans. It wasn't your fault." "Yes it was!" Tom shouted, looking up. "They manipulated me and let even themselves die! We don't even know why!" "It's not just you the Government manipulated." Rachel said sadly. "I had no idea that they were using me to help them. They manipulated both of us, but we have to be strong and try to survive." Suddenly, Tom and Rachel heard loud footsteps coming from the tunnel.

Tom ran straight at the door and slammed it shut. "Oh, god! They found us!" He cried. "And, I'm sure there's TONS of them! What are we gonna do?!" "I.....don't know." Rachel said. ".........I don't know if there is any other option." "What?!!?" Tom asked fearfully. "What does THAT mean?!!" "I'm...sorry." Rachel said, quiet and tearful. She took the chair in front of the desk, opened the door, and slammed it shut. "Rachel?!" Tom cried. "RACHEL?!? RACHEL!!" He ran up to the door and tried to push it open. It wouldn't budge. "Rachel, noooo!!" Tom screamed tearfully, banging on the door. "I'm gonna kill you if you don't get back in here!! RACHEL!!"

Rachel stood right behind the bottomless pit as the horde of Rippers got closer towards her. Rippers would do anything to kill their soon-to-be victims. Rachel thought tearfully. Even if it means....jumping into a bottomless pit. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists as she teared up even more and the Rippers charged right at her.
"Rachel!!" Tom cried, tearing up uncontrollably. "No, no, no!! RACHEL!!!" Suddenly, it got quiet outside. No Ripper sounds. "Hello?! Rachel?!" Tom cried. He turned the knob and pushed his shoulder against the door even harder, even banging on it to the point where he almost breaks his collarbone. He burst the door open and the Rippers and Rachel were gone. "Rachel?! RACHEL!" Tom cried, frantically looking around. "RACHEL, NOOOOO!!" He looked at the bottomless pit and called out, "Rachel?! Hello?! No-oooo!" He fell on his knees. "She........gave up her life....for me." He said, wiping his tears off his eyes. "Man....... I was wrong about her. You....saved my life!"

Tom returned to his house and sat on his rocking chair, looking down at the axe on his lap. He was overwhelmed with depression and guilt. Rachel was like a mother to me. He thought. Even though she was a wolf. She told me to never be afraid. She told me to always be strong. I never listened. I should've listened. He got up and walked towards his bed. I will have to fight for myself. He thought. I will....have to be strong. For Rachel. He knelt down and slowly placed his axe under the bed. I'll always remember you, Rachel.

The End.