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[lifesci-grp1]

"ICE AGE" - SALEM

Part 3/3 of "Out of Africa and Into the Wood"

*Read author’s note first before reading! :)

  Author’s Note: This story follows the plot of Attack on Titan Ep. 5-7, I modified the dialogues to make it related to Human Migration across North America. Credits to Attack on Titan Anime and Isayama Hajime. I replaced Titans with glaciers because glaciers are the hindrances to the migration of humans to North America. Sorry if too many characters died here :P

  Characters

  Narrator

  Tribe Leader (whole tribe)

  Tribe 1:

Armin - Tribe Leader

Eren

Mina

Thomas

  Tribe 2:

Jean - Tribe Leader

Connie

Mikasa

Ymir

Krista

Tom

Hannah

  Narrator: 13,000 years ago… when walls of ice covered much of Siberia… sea level dropped by 300 feet...

It was the time when humanity stepped one step closer to journey beyond the walls of ice and conquer the Americas…

In the journey… many lives were taken by the fangs of frost…

  Tribe Leader: A land bridge is spotted at the east, we should journey beyond the walls. It is too cold to live here for long, we have no sources of food and no animals to hunt.

  Eren: Don’t you think this is a great chance? If we successfully crossed the land bridge, we will be able to find a better place to live!

  *A freezing wind went against Eren and Armin*

  Armin: Yeah! Without a doubt!

  Mina: Not to burst your bubble, but only few of our tribesmen are willing to cross the land bridge.

  Thomas: We’re not going to fail this time!

  Eren: That’s the spirit Thomas!

  Connie: Let’s have a contest to see which tribe will reach the other end first!

  Tribesmen: Let’s advance! We’re already at the Last Glacial Maximum!

  Eren: Right! Let’s go!

  Tribe 1: Yeah!

  Narrator: so 13,000 years ago… two separate tribes attempted to cross Beringia, the area that connects Siberia and Alaska… The first tribe crossed the land bridge… the second one crossed the sea… both tribes faced same danger… the raging glaciers…

  Author’s note: [I used two tribes to illustrate two theories of migration]

  Tribe 1 Point-of-view

  *tribe 1 walking on the land bridge*

  Eren: The glaciers already advanced this far ?!

  Thomas: The land bridge is closing!

  Eren: I expected the situation to be bad, but this…

  *Eren shocked*

  Eren: An avalanche! Watch out!

  *crash*

  Eren: Ugh…

  *Eren finds his tribesmen burrowed in the snow*

  Thomas: Huh?... *dies*

  *Thomas’ body was found lifeless, his body was crushed in the snow and was already dark*

  *Eren and his tribesmen watched Thomas’ dead body with fear and anger*

  but the journey must go on…

  Eren: How dare you?! *punches the snow*

  *Another wave of avalanche went crashing on Eren’s tribe*

  *Eren and his tribe were injured*

  Armin: Eren!

  Mina: Eren...

  *Mina was caught by the avalanche and dies*

  *Armin hopeless*

  Armin: Stop! Please Stop! *sobs*

  *Armin saw Eren on the other side, heavily injured*

  Armin: Why… am I… are we… doing this?

*Another avalanche burrowed everyone in the snow*

  Armin: Why… won’t my body… move?

  Eren: Armin!

  *Grabs Armin’s arm and pulled him out of the snow*

  Eren: You told me about it… the world beyond the walls of ice…

  Eren: So I’m going… to the new world…

  *In the other tribe, Mikasa gazes on the glaciers while travelling by the sea*

  Narrator: As the first tribe started to diminish… Eren, Armin, and the rest of Tribe 1 continued their journey… A huge animal was found on the horizon… called Mastodon…

  Eren: It is our chance! Attack that animal!

  *Eren and his tribe successfully killed the animal using their spears*

  Narrator: The Mastodon served as a food source for humans in Beringia… they upgraded their spears using its sharp teeth, used its skin as hide, and used its ribs as transport... It is a new hope for tribe 1…

  Eren: I found a cave! let’s stay here for a while…

  Narrator: The tribe lived in a cave, now called Paisley Caves in Oregon, and lived there for years… Today, scientists found fossilized human feces in the site… It is estimated that the specimen is more than 14,000 years old...

  Narrator: The tribe continued to use the inland route and went southwards… Today they were called as Clovis people who lived 13,100 years ago…

  Tribe 2 point-of-view

  Narrator: 13,000 years ago… two massive ice sheets, Laurentide and Cordilleran, blocked the entry to the new world… Tribe 2 decided to stay and to wait for the end of the Ice Age…

  *Connie found Ken, someone from tribe 1*

  Connie: You okay? Are you hurt? Your tribe?

  Connie: Come on pull yourself together. Why are you alone?

  * Ken is traumatized of the events that happened *

  Ymir: Give it up, Connie. They got wiped out… except for him. [A.N. This is a lie :) ]

  Ymir: We have no time to ask him. We don’t have any more time to waste on him.

  Krista: You two, stop it! The other tribe is decreasing so suddenly. It’s only natural!

  [A.N.: Climate and Geological changes are the main factors why humans need to migrate.]

  Narrator: After the end of Ice Age… tribe 2 decided to cross the land bridge… but after the ice sheets melted, sea level rose and our tribe needs to travel by boat…

  *while travelling by boat*

  Jean: It’s no good. We won’t get close to the other side… unless we’re prepared to make sacrifices…

  Jean: Damn, the second boat got destroyed!

  Tom: Stay away! *trying to repel sharks under their boat*

  Hannah: Tom! I’ll save you!

  Jean: Stop! You can’t!

  *Jean and others in his boat went to the other boat to save Tom and others*

  Random Boat 1 guy: Stop!

  *Random guy was caught by a shark*

  Jean: Why couldn’t I stop them? *pause* Stop! I don’t want to die!

  Mikasa: The world is merciless, and it’s also very beautiful…

  *A shark tried to grab Mikasa*

  *Stab*

  Mikasa: Why am I standing? Why am I struggling?

  [A.N. It is for the future of humanity! To have a more suitable and stable environment and to have a constant food source! ]

  Mikasa: We must get going!

  Narrator: Tribe 2 managed to cross Beringia by boat… unlike tribe 1, tribe 2 took a longer time to go to North America… tribe 2 followed the coastline and reached South America…

  Narrator: This are the two popular theories that explained how humans reached the Americas… The first theory, is illustrated by the journey of the first tribe… they used the land bridges to go across Beringia (or Alaska)... The second theory, is illustrated by the journey of the second tribe… they waited for the end of the Ice Age before going but sea levels rose… they have no choice but to travel by boat… They reached the coast of North America and travelled southward to South America...

  FIN

  Sources:

https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/land-bridge/

http://ows.edb.utexas.edu/site/hight-kreitman/land-bridge-theory

http://www.nature.com/news/ancient-migration-coming-to-america-1.10562

http://www.nature.com/news/485030a-i2-0-jpg-7.4207?article=1.10562

https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/human-journey/

http://www.livescience.com/7640-humans-migrate-americas.html

[lifesci-grp1]

"THE GRAND EXODUS" - OPISO

Part 1/3 of "Out of Africa and Into the World"

“But I don’t want to leave, moeder!”

Sule was in so much distress. It was so hard for him to imagine leaving the grasslands he calls his birthplace. It was in this small hut that he was born. It was near the tree beside their house that he got his first injury. His neighbors, his favorite animals, his first arrow shot – it was all here, in the grasslands of Africa.

“But, seuntjie, son, it will still be as it has always been! We’re just going to transfer to a better place, that’s all.”

“No! There is no other place better than Africa!”

 “– but Sule –”

“– how are you even sure that there are places outside Africa? How are they any better than this?”

“You remember, Abejide? The boy whose sister was trapped when the fire caught the grasslands?”

“Yes, ma.”

“They left the lands two full moons ago. Some said they have probably reached a safer land by now.”

But the young boy would not have any of it. The twelve-year-old kept to himself most of the time. While other kids would run outside and chase one another in the grasslands, Sule, at the tender age of six, contents himself with the silence of the jungle. He was fascinated by how the creatures he found can live without a bed to sleep on or parents to guide them. He loved Africa.

And he has heard of different groups of people moving out of the lands. The Zulus were one of the first ones in recent memory to pick up their sticks and walk. Then Abejide’s family and several others. Sule and his parents are one of the few ones left. And that was because Sule’s father was one of those who got lost in the fine soil nobody dared to even look at.

The fine soil has been there for as long as anyone can remember. However, it is only recently that the people have noticed that their food supply started depleting. And while generations had come and gone, the food available has only gone. And the microwave oven that was Africa got even hotter, if that was possible. By the time Sule was born, 40% of the supply was gone and the heat has increased so much. Such conditions caused an alarm to this small community, so out of fear for their lives, some men – including Sule’s father – went to the fine soil to see for themselves what it really was.

“Please, asseblief, Sule, please,” his mother pleaded, “There are a lot of things out there for us to discover. Maybe you can learn new skills other than handling the bow and arrow. Perhaps you will be able to observe more creatures out there. Who knows?

“We are the last line of people left in Africa. The lines of others from the time before had been erased. You know that story don’t you, seuntjie?”

“Yes, ma.”

“We have to do what we can to protect our line, our family. Understand, seuntjie?”

Sule finally relented. He picked up his stick and walked between his parents, casting a longing look to the direction of their hut every now and then. For a long distance there seems to be nothing around, and Sule felt a sense of triumph. He knew it! There was nothing else out there, nothing outside African grasslands. Nothing!

“Oh, Sule, look!” his mother suddenly cried, “That’s what they call oseaan, “the ocean”! Oh, it’s beautiful! Look at how blue it is!”

It was very breathtaking. No words from the language known to mankind back then, even now, can accurately describe the color of the ocean or how it feels like to be standing near it. One can smell the saltiness in the air. It was a very different environment from the one Sule grew up in.

Different creatures were out there in the ocean for him to discover and observe again. Different sights to see, different skills to learn in order to survive. But it did not make the place any less beautiful. What a sight it was to behold! Sule suddenly became excited.

And for the first time since their journey started, Sule took each of his parents’ hands and did not look back.

Sources:

http://www.billbrouard.com/

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/the-real-eve.cfm

Plot: Andrew Mencias