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Aftermath Chapter 2



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Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:36 am
noninjaes says...



2. Matt
I sat on the cold stone of a crumbling window ledge. I looked out onto the expanse of nothingness around me. I can just see the remains of a city on the skyline. Everything is bleak and brown everywhere I look. I will have to move soon, this place is almost out of food, but there's a problem. I have already been through the whole town, and there isn't anything in miles. No signs of survivors, buildings or even wild animals. I don't know what I'm going to do; all I know is that my life may soon be hanging in the balance.
The soft rays of the sun spread a gentle glow out across the landscape. I dread the arrival of the harsh midday sun that will soon come and bake the land. The shelter that I have been living in for the past few years has been moderately adequate in providing a safe haven from the heat of the day, but it lacks access to water. I have to spend two hours every few days going and collecting water from the one working tap that I found. I was quite surprised when I found it. At that point of time, I had convinced myself that I would die of thirst in less than a few days. That moment of pure sparkling water and hope is something that has been imprinted into my brain. If I ever find civilisation, I will never complain about bad-tasting water ever again.
I look out over the landscape again, seeking a sign of change. Something glints brightly in the light. What is that? Is it a sign of life? Hope fills my heart. I swing my legs out over the ledge and drop down from the window. I start pelting towards the direction of the shiny glint. I wouldn't describe myself as overly muscular or athletic, but my time living out here alone has improved my fitness. I used to be pudgier, and my blonde hair neatly cropped, but now, I am scrawnier from rationing food, and I am sure my hair is quite unruly. I have cut it using an old pair of scissors that I found, so I am sure it is all uneven at the ends. My hair stops just under my ears. I have yet to find a new pair of scissors since the pair I originally found broke a few months ago.
Thinking about my old life, a thought that often crosses my mind comes to attention. How did I get here? This place is nothing like my old home. I remember hiding in the local hurricane shelter with most of the town when the bombs went off. I'm sure they were bombs. Nothing else could have caused an explosion like the one that we experienced. I remember hiding in the shelter for a few days after our shelter violently shook. The last I remember of that shelter is falling asleep on the fourth night of hiding. The next thing I remember is waking up here, all alone and only fifteen. All the things I had taken for granted: gone. Oh how I wished I had joined boy scouts then. All the skills I could have learnt that would have helped me survive.
I wipe the beads of sweat off my forehead and focus on the ground ahead. I am panting now, the heat mixing in with my hunger, sapping away my strength. I am almost there. I see the shiny object sticking out of the ground. Its surface is silver coloured with no sign of rust on its smooth surface. What is it? My heart is pounding away in my chest from the vigorous run across the gritty sand. I kneel down when I reach it. I inspect it and scrape away some of the sand around it. It looks like a lever. I pull on it a bit.
At first, nothing happens. I wiggle it a bit more, then, a creak escapes from an unusually flat section of ground. I stare in amazement as an object rises from the ground. It looks like a table. No. A knocked over door. I step up towards it and pull on an indentation that looks like a sort of handle. It isn't heavy. In fact, it's a bit light for something that looks like silver. I pull up. A section of the object rises away from the main structure. The door glides smoothly on the hinge. I enter the doorway and see some stairs. The hall I am in is silvery and bathed in bright white light. I go down the stairs, curious as to what lies below.
When I reach the bottom of the stairs, my mouth drops open in shock at what lies before me. I cannot believe my eyes. This must be some sort of dream. Maybe I need to go take a drink of water. Maybe I should just lie down a while. I trace my hand along the wall and refocus my thoughts on what I'm seeing.
Computers: lots of them. This sort of technology had already been stripped from most places when I awoke here. No Exo-Net, no Viral, no Digiplayer, no TouchSystems for what I think to be over five years makes this place look like something out of a cheesy 2030's holo-program. Man, there's even an 8-gen Hypernet hook-up here; that kind of tech was for the real rich people. We were lucky to even have a 5-gen hook-up.

I walked over to one of the screens. It was a traditional set-up; no touch screens or Viral systems. I taped the space-bar and the screen blinked to life. Displayed on a green background was the American seal. Under it were the words: press enter to continue. I pressed enter and watched as text filled the screen. Right at the top was a picture of the current American president: Marcus Steeln O'Kair. I scanned the lines of text and flinched as the horror unfolded. 2051: Islamic bombing approved -20073 Civilians' dead -3927 casualties, 2053: California Quake- 3billion dollars transferred from quake relief to military efforts, 2054: Orders attack on the world's current superpower: Australia - over 3 million dead, 2055: Puts 2 million dollars towards the Church Of Our Lord World Conversion project, 2057: Pays two ex-Navy Seals to assassinate three uncooperative world leaders. I continued down the page, stopping when I saw that there were seventy-eight pages to go. Blinking my eyes, I turn away from the bright screen.
A soft but consistent tapping catches my attention. It's coming from the entrance. I walk up the stairs and look out the doorway to see many droplets of rain cascading from the now grey sky. I put my right arm out into the rain and quickly pull it back as a sharp knife of pain cuts through my arm. I quickly wipe away the droplets of water with my shirt. 'Acid rain.' I think to myself. Nasty stuff it is. I've seen this rain before. It's way stronger than the rain that I remember from before the bomb. The only problem with the rain from back then was that it'd kill off all the plants. I head back down to the room full of computers. I begin exploring all the equipment in the room for something to do until the rain dies out.

* * *

I hear the rain come to a stop. I have explored the entire abandoned bunker - well all of it that I have access too. I scowl at the locked door that stands before me. The thick, titanium padlock seems to taunt my misfortune. I haven't been able to find a key anywhere in this damn bunker. I wonder what hides behind the door. Maybe it's a stack of paper records or secret passwords. What would they want to keep secure in a hidden bunker in the sand? The thoughts pull at my imagination. I won't be able to get rid of them until I find out what's in there.
I pull the bent paperclip out of my pants pocket. I have already tried using it to pick the lock, failing miserably because of my lack of knowledge on how to pick a lock. I snap it in half at one of the weakened joints then sigh. I start tracing a pattern along the cold, stone floor. Maybe I should just forget about the stupid door. If only I had a loaded grenade launcher... I closed my eyes and put my face in my hand. This is going to drive me crazy 'till I figure out how to open the door.
Last edited by noninjaes on Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:37 pm
WebzTycoon says...



Okay, don't get me wrong, I love your story that you are presenting to us. However, I found many grammatical errors and contredicting descriptions. Just read the first paragraph again. You'll understand what I'm talking about. However, all and all, I love these kinds of "after the end of the world" stories. (yes, I love doom and gloom) I just wish more people wrote in the genre. However, with the new release of hunger games, the genre seems to have been revived. I'm excited for this new age, though most of the stories aren't all that great. But again, good story, can't wait for more!
  





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Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:31 am
Shadowwriter1 says...



Hey, it is a really good story but you need to work on your grammer. I am slightly confused though, is the chraracter you are using the same one in the previous or are they differen? If they are different you should tell us. Other than that I believe that the story is really interersting and worth continuing on. Good luck and good writing to you.
  








'They are afraid of nothing,' I grumbled, watching their approach through the window. 'Together, they would brave Satan and all his legions.'
— Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights