A technomancer's journey in an apocalyptic world

Michalina stood on top of the highest branch of the tree as she looked forward towards the unknown with her bloodshot eyes.

Today was the third night since her brother had been kidnapped, she had quickly gathered a task force to rescue him but alas her luck was not on her side, the motorcycles her brother had created ran out of fuel, as such she had to wait for the alternative.

An alternative that was provided by Ylerias, as Celanna one of her honour guards could tame animals as such with her help they had managed to travel this far.

Now they had taken shelter atop a tree, just like the last couple of days, the animals were let loose to roam nearby to rest before they would be put to work again sometime tomorrow.

"Michalina you should rest."

A voice came to her ears as she turned to look at Dasyra who had volunteered for the mission as she shook her head as she spoke, "Sorry but sleeping is nowhere near my mind now."

Dasyra sends a sympathetic look towards her as Michalina continued, "How can I sleep when I do not know anything about my brother is not safe."

Dasyra mentally winced at that, her orders that she had received from her Lady was to simply help Michalina gain a closure, she knew that by now Ryan was already dead.

As Michalina glanced to the night sky for a moment she felt a bit amazed, she always had a thing for the astronomy, the best time of her childhood was when she would go on a camping trip with Ciara and Ryan, they would venture far away from the civilization and spend hours looking at that night sky with a telescope.

'Brother, are you watching the sky as I am now, it has become so much beautiful without the pollution covering and the lights of the civilization overshadowing it, so many stars are now visible to the naked eye.'

"What is that?"

The awe and fear in Dasyra's voice drew attention towards the horizon which seemed as to be lit aflame with an orange glow.

Michalina herself could not help but whisper out loud, "What is that?"

Then the ground shook for a moment as Michalina quickly gripped the tree trunk to prevent herself from taking a fifty-foot fall, which was soon followed by a large boom.

Jessica was awoken by the shaking and the large sound as she could not help but shout out loud, "What the hell was that?"

Michalina turned towards her sister in arms as she retorted back, "How the hell will I know what was that."

Nikita bit her lips as she spoke, "Do you think it might be a nuke?"

Michalina narrowed her eyes for a moment as she spoke, "No idea, though should it not be a mushroom cloud."

Celanna send a blank look towards the speaker as she spoke, "What do you all mean by that?"

Michalina sighed as she spoke, "Well a Nuke …"

Meanwhile, a few minutes back Ryan was at his wit's end, he was driving in a circle he was sure of it otherwise why would he encounter zombies that looked like roadkill or why did he pass by the same cake shop, and then the broken streets from whence the serpentine creature had slithered out of.

But that was not the worse the creatures had tried to block him and even if he had the Goliath he was not sure that it could withstand so many assaults from such powerful beasts.

A few of the lights at the front had stopped ramming through different creatures and sometimes buildings seemed to have taken its toll.

A ruined structure exploded as Goliath punched through it moving at over a hundred kilometres per hour, ramming through any obstacles in his way he found himself on what seemed to be railway tracks.

As he raced through it he saw something in a distance that somehow gave him home, 'Those are oil tankers and if I am not wrong they lead straight to the oil terminal, and bingo Navalach City Oil terminal, it is by the side of the river, and if follow downstream, the dam will be there and I will be able to get out of the city.'

As he neared the terminal his hopes were dashed as something collided from the side, he looked with horror as the claw of the creature dug deep into the side of the goliath.

"Not you again!", he could help but shout out in anger as he managed to take control of his car.

The creatures creepy smiled returned full force making Ryan suddenly feel sick, which turned to horror as the creature's fingers seemed to pierce through the thick steel door as it began to slowly rip it off.

The steel door groaned as it was being slowly being bent by the creature, and it then made the mistake of opening its mouth to make a sound, only for Ryan's rifle to be shoved into its mouth.

"Bye Bye", with that Ryan pulled the trigger, of his latest addition to his rifle, a grenade launcher.

~thuk~, a soft sound came from the launcher as it launched grenade that was inside it directly into the creature's throat towards its destination the windpipe.

The creature choked onto the grenade as it let go of the Goliath before it fell back, clawing on its throat before it exploded ripping apart a part of its chest as well as its throat in the process.

"It worked", a smirk appeared on his face as he looked forward it morphed into that of panic as he quickly turned the steering wheel as he narrowly missed an oil tanker.

'I have to fix the door', Ryan sighed as he looked at the door that was somewhat still attached to the vehicle.

He held the steering wheel with his left hand as his right hand glowed as he tried to fix the door, only for him to stop as the second one of the pair came towards him with a snarl.

Ryan aimed his rifle as he pulled the trigger, his ammunition had a small upgrade, unlike the normal bullets this one was a bit different in the way that it had two stages, first one was when Ryan pulled the trigger the bullet it left the muzzle of the gun flew and hit the creature, and upon hitting it the outer shell broke as the inner content was fired in, and coincidently it was an explosive round.

No matter how strong a creature might seem to be, it always had a weakness and the weakness came in the way of its eyes, the round hit the eyeball as it pierced and exploded blinding the creature, the pain was so great that it failed to grip on to the Goliath but it did manage to crash and make a dent on to the side not to mention for a split second Ryan thought it might cause the Goliath to simply turnover.

But what he did not see was that when he fired the bullet a couple of them missed and hit one of the oil tankers that was standing innocently nearby, it hit the tanker puncturing a hole in it before it exploded inside it.

'Damn I need to get my door fixed ASAP.'

It was the last thought that passed through his mind, before a terrifying explosion tripped through the tank, setting off a chain reaction as the nearby tankers began to explode.

Ryan let out a scream of fear as he pressed his foot on the accelerator as sounds of explosions came from all around him.

He took a sharp turn to the right before he let go of the steering wheel as he went on to fix the door of the Goliath.

Navalach City Oil Terminal was so big enough to store enough oil to supply the entire country for a year or two easily by itself and now because of Ryan's action it had been lit aflame.

Normally if the oil is left around in the open it tends to vaporize but along with the change in the world oil had a change in its properties overnight, it was now sticky, highly flammable, explosive not to mention many more times difficult to extinguish and no longer does it turn to gaseous form under normal temperature.

Since that day, after the earthquake, many of the tanks had ruptured and its contents had spilt over, but luckily it had yet to find a single spark of fire, and that was the case until Ryan came into the picture.

The door for a moment turned a bit holographic before it was once again spanking brand new, but Ryan had other things to worry about namely the flame and trying to keep the Goliath under control as it slipped on the oil that was lying on the ground.

As the explosions went on behind him he spotted the exit, the exit that guided him towards the dam, and the road that would take him across.

It was then it happened one of the largest tanks that were still somehow in shape exploded, in a colossal explosion.

An explosion that even Michalina who was at least a couple of dozens of kilometres away from the dam heard loud and clear.

An explosion that lit up the horizon like it was the sun itself, and it was the same explosion that gobbled up the Goliath in its fiery hot jaws, as the sound destroyed Ryan's eardrums turning him deaf, as Goliath found itself airborne as it somersaulted in the air.