I Am Alive 08: Let There Be Light

Mei didn't eat the meat they offered, and neither did I. We took rat instead. I followed the blood trail and found myself facing off two men, wielding machetes. Trouble was, they weren't your usual idiots. These had two men and a woman imprisoned behind a padlocked gate, and chainsaws and ribs that suspiciously looked anatomically correct. For humans.

I hoped Mei had closed her eyes, because I didn't spare any pity on them.

***

We now are standing literally on the edge of the chasm that used to be the location of the subway lines. One train seems magically lies across the chasm. I say magically because when the Event hit, it must've been in the middle of its run. Whatever caused the chasm must've impacted on the train as well, and here it lies hanging, becoming some kind of a death trap version of suspension bridge.

Told Mei to close her eyes as we are not going directly into that train. I spy, from our vantage lookout point, a lot of items glittering down there. Yup, all the way down. Several handholds later, we are at the lowest point of the crater. I say lowest, but the crater still seems to keep on going down, without end.

Mei doesn't like this, me getting to dangerous places to just get items, but these are essential if we want to have the best chances of survival. Several times she screamed as I either leaped too fast or caught a handhold too slow. "I told you not to open your eyes yet!" I said.

She just whimpered.

The same thing happens now, as we enter the train. It's now a long vertical tube, so I need to go down slowly in order not to fall straight down. Mei screams again, and I scold her again. But here we are, safely on firm ground.

"But we are going into the dark again," Mei observes when I said my thoughts aloud.

No shit, Sherlock, I think, but not without humour.

Within the swirling foggy darkness, I think I see a figure running in the distance. But as I wait, I can hear no footsteps. It might've been an illusion. Oh well.

To our right is an open door. To our left, a padlocked gate. I shoot the padlock, collect several items including a battery. Luckily it's a small one, the kind you'd find in a motorcycle. It may come handy.

To the right door. There is a small enclosure, locked now, but within is a first aid kit. A generator sits beside it, its fuel not full but enough. But it won't start. This is where the battery comes in. When I put it in, the whole area lights up.

I love lights. Wish I could bring this along, but it'll be heavy. Some more items within this room and beyond. I have to bow down to get past the hurdles and notices a lot of rotted food and aluminium cabinets. Was this a break room? Who knows. Time to get moving.

Only a few feet inside and we encounter bodies lying motionless. Like in bad zombie movies, three suddenly stand up and move toward us. I am taken by surprise at first - should I shoot in the head? Should we run? - but then one of them starts talking.

"It's your lucky day!"

We'll see who's lucky today, punk. And we'll see who's begging to get killed later on.

***

When I asked Mei about Henry, she inadvertently described her mother as well. Henry was hurt and her mom helped him. I presume her to be a nurse. She must've gone through hell during and after the Event.

We met four idiots, I despatched them all in the usual manner, and walked on. Found several items, and a woman who somehow is trapped behind strong bars. She needs two cans of foodstuff, but I have none at the moment. We walk on, her voice fading as we turn at a corner. 

As we run up a flight of stairs, the air becomes a bit easier to breathe, fresher, for the lack of a better word. None of the wet smell I associate with sewers, that kind of fresh. We come to a door that leads into an underground parking. The beam marker says '21'. I hope that's not the level we are in right now

I scrounge the area for any items, and find a can of fruit cocktail. It's better than meat, I tell ya. It goes straight down and the syrup gives high energy to me.

Okay, there's the door. Let's see where it will lead us.

***

Darn kid. Mei is jumping and singing again. Obviously she's at home. Or where she's familiar enough to feel safe. Safe enough to be singing, I guess.

The radio buzzes. It's Henry, telling me to get my stuff and leave, because I am 'an honourable man'. I want to ask his location, because Mei will be alone here. Will she be all right if she's alone, even if she feels safe?

Henry's apartment is a sight for sore eyes. Somehow feels warm and safe. After days walking in foggy weather and air, the room looks like a meadow of daffodils. It also has light. Beautiful light, and Mei is playing with her doll. 

"Well, there is something you can get for us," Henry says through the crackly static. "A radio transmitter."

This isn't a game. I am not a knight in shining armour and Henry did not just give me a quest. I feel rage. "Why can't you get it yourself?" Tight control is almost broken. Nearly screamed at a radio.

The reply comes not from the radio, but from behind me.

"Because," Henry rolls in, on a wheelchair, "I cannot."

Goddammit.

I Am Alive 07: Into the Darkness

After descending into the dust again, I climb up to where the trams used to run. No risk of electrocution here; the power died a long time ago. As I reach a wide gap between the tracks, I hear a faint voice calling for help. I would help, but Mei's health may be in jeopardy the slower I get to her. Scratch that voice; Mei is important for now.

Using my grapple hook, I swing across safely. I don't go down because that'll be the death of me. Dust keeps coming into my airway, choking me faster than a drop of dew drying under the hot sun. Another long gap at the end of the tracks as I expected, and I swing over.

I climb up toward the mall entrance into a spot I did not notice before I went down earlier, and a man appears with a machete. He's threatening, but that's all. I back away and jump down to the next spot where four idiots come out, wielding machetes and a gun. I have no ammo left, but if I bait the one with the gun to come closer to me, I could catch him by surprise and have myself some ammo to frighten the rest.

***

Mei is still here, and looking better by the minute after I gave her the medicine. The little girl actually sings to herself. Wonders of the young...

Henry calls again, telling me we should move. Downstairs we'll find a way into the subway. If we keep following Line 4, we'll be able to meet him eventually. Sounds like a good idea. I strap Mei behind me and we set off downstairs. 

As we pass the empty elevator shaft, I hear that coughing sound again. Sounds even worse this time. Maybe all the person needs is a little help.

Mei asks me, as we descend to third floor to see the coughing person, if I had a child. "About your age," I say, as I land on the flat surface. "What's her name?" 

"Mary," I said, then quickly ask the old gentleman lying on a mattress. "You okay sir?"

Turns out he is asthmatic, and in need of an inhaler. I remember picking one up, and gave it to him. One shoot and he's better, or so he claims. He is the last member of a bunch of friends who came in here, and one by one his friends had gone out, but none returned. He seems to surrender his fate, and tells me to be careful if I am going to the subway.

In front of the shaft there is a padlocked store. Fortunately I have a bullet left. Shoot the padlock and inside I find quite a few useful things, especially a first aid kit. Nothing left to do but to go down into the subway.

***

Beside the escalator I find a bullet. That'll come useful. 

Mei's still strapped onto my back as we make our way deeper into the subway. We just arrived at the first landing when four idiots come forward. "I'm just bringing a child to a safe location," I plead, palms outward. I hear Mei moan faintly behind me. 

"Yeah, we got hungry children too," said the leader with a head covering. Under here? I doubt that very much. But the idiot head just pushes me twice as I draw him further from his men. Before his hand lands on me for the third time, my machete flies in an arc and catches his neck and the vital arteries there. He collapses, throwing the rest of his friends in a panic. 

One quickly takes out his gun but I am ready; I point my gun at him and whispered please do not miss. One on the chest. He falls down, lifeless, and with my gun pointing at the other two, quickly collect the fallen bullets.

But the last two are tough. They both try to fight me, probably trying to get my resources. Mei screams as their machete fall dangerously close to her as one of them try to hit me from behind. Dammit, I need to work fast, and decided to quickly kick one into the fire, and threaten the other into submission. 

Seeing his friend writhing and screaming in agony as the fire burns him makes a very good motivation to surrender. We leave the idiots and walk further down. 

I hear a woman and two men. The men seems to have found something, but I'm only interested in getting to Henry. As I walk closer, the men begin to raise their voices. It's not long before the two begins fighting. The woman asks for help, but the other guy takes out his machete. He looks ready to strike at the other man. I have three bullets. Should I waste it on a man who has a slip of judgment? Or just let whatever happen, happens?

***

Threatening, if done correctly, can subdue people properly, without the need for bloodshed. I point my gun at the man, and he slowly surrenders. I strike him on the neck for a good measure. Just enough for him to sleep on it.

Going further down, we come across two people sitting and eating. Eating meat. As I approach them, they offer the meat not to me, but to Mei because she looks hungry. Looking closer, I begin to have doubts. 

As far as I can recall, I never saw any animals running about, scurrying away in the darkness or out in the open. Trying to push away dark and disturbing explanations, I decide to have a short walk. A flight of stairs is on our left, so we walk that way, finding a bottle of water and bullets. 

I still have that nagging, frightening thought riding upon me (no offense, Mei) like a lead weight. In the air, there is a certain smell. Hanging there, unwashed, stuck. Not filth. I play my flashlight upon the wall and it catches something red and sticky long since dried. More on the floor, and like grotesque breadcrumbs, the trail leads away from these men.

"What happened here?" I whisper to no one in particular. "Mei," I say to her, "close your eyes and stay very, very quiet."

I feel her nod against my back. I ready myself with either my machete or my gun. This can get ugly very, very fast.

Next Chapter

I Am Alive 06: The Tough One

The four didn't have much in them except for what guns provide them, thus reducing them to bullies. They went down except one, who surrendered. I go outside, found a bottle of painkillers (very useful, these things) and continue upward, where this time, there are three, but one of them is the leader.

The leader corrals the henchmen. In return, the henchmen feel a false sense of empowerment. They are just sticking to the leader to feel strong. It's a simple relationship, that ends tragically short today. At least for the leader. I have to use my gun, and now I'm out of bullets. But situation is under control, I hope.

Move on forward. Found a piton lying quite out of sight. Then I finally see it, my quarry. It's located high up in the sky. How it manages to stay there after one year or so is up for anyone to guess. But not going to wait for explanation. There's a gap that I will jump over and a machine of some sort that I hope will take me up there.

The machine turns out to be an elevator. It has no fuel so I need to look for it. Unlike the window washer, this elevator needs TWO jerrycans. Dammit. Where does one look for jerrycans?

There are two doors of the elevator. The other one opens to the other side of the building, where I find a runway of sorts. A pipe becomes my main of ingress to the higher level. Once inside, I realise that I am going to do a lot of climbing, jumping and balancing about. However it is not a bad experience at all.

The first jerrycan is after the sliding down, and the second can be found all the way down, where a small fire has been lit. Collecting everything as I pass them, I have the jerrycans and ready to go back.

As the elevator rises, I wonder if Mei is okay. But all I can do now is get the medicine. I'm halfway there now, and neither low stamina nor climbing a la French Spiderman is going to hold me down.

***

Talk about close calls.

Scaling the face of a building should better be left to the professionals. Not that there are a lot left in the world now...

However I made a promise, and Mei needs her medicine. Dear old pitons saved my ass a lot of times, letting me catch my breath, just hanging without really using my strength. Finally when I get to the crate, the last few moments are just exhilarating. Some are unusable, a lot had gone rotten. But I got what I came for... and then some.

Among the crate contents, I also found a grappling hook. This will make my trips up and down practically everywhere a safer route. Just let me test myself with it first.

As I grapple about with the new hook, I also find several items, one of which is the inhaler. I guess it's useful when I'll be 'down with the dust' again soon. When I landed on a strip of fragile-looking concrete, I feel the whole building move. 

I'm sure I landed myself pretty nicely, so this has to be another tremor. I will myself to stay motionless for the duration of the tremor, fearing even a pebble coming loose and undoing the whole massive unfinished skyscraper. The tremor passes, and I am still standing atop the unfinished project on 2nd Avenue.

Looking out to the north (I guess) of the broken building, I see another building, lying at the steepest angle a building could possibly be without tipping itself over. The unmistakable sound of air current whipping around me shoves another warning into my head: could another dust storm is coming? 

My way down will involve a lot of rolling over atop a dangerously steep surface. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

***

That was crazy. I had to roll over several times just in time to avoid those steels. I won't want to imagine how'd they feel piercing my body in places I'd rather not think. 

But I am back on terra firma. Or not. Gotta make a little detour before I arrive on terra firma actually. I hear voices talking, but no time for that now. My way out is clear, and that is my aim. And Mei, who is probably still feverish. I want her to wake up after I arrive there. 

I hope Mei is all right.

Next Chapter

I Am Alive 05: A Handful of Dust

That poem, that shitty, nonsensical, hateful poem my Lit prof hammered into my brain comes back with a vengeance when I hit the low part of the city.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

Why did T.S. Eliot write down things like that? And the title; is it no coincidence?

The Waste Land. God-awful freaking freaky.

Dust is all 'round me. I can taste it in my mouth, across my skin, in my eyes. It obscures my vision, and I start coughing. This might be the reason, I think as I slide ever downward upon the broken roads, why nobody ever wanted to venture to the building I saw before.

And now I come to the lowest part, where the dust is the thickest... and most dangerous. I need to make it to a higher ground right now, but before that, I need to grab that soda can behind the remains of a car.

Now we're talking. There is a long climb up but it's all worth it, because my lungs clear up immediately afterward. After passing two broken coaches, I spy an entrance which lies another block away. This also means I have to go back down. So it'll be touch and go, I hope. Just run like the wind.

***

Not only run, but climb I did, and like the wind I did, too!

I haul myself up, enter the building, climb up some more and slide down. But before the end, I grab the ledge and shimmy myself toward the other edge. Gotta time these moves correctly or you'll end up hurting badly... or just plain pissed. Nice warning on the opposite wall: 

YOU LOOT 

WE SHOOT

Some broken spots force me to slide carefully down, rolling sideways in the process in order to get to the next spot. Apparently the stairs have been broken during the Event, and some places need me to really use my environment. So there's very little to discuss here, just let me catch my breath, and see if the next level have more idiots or just empty floors. 

Let's be positive for now, after that freaky poem. I hate T.S. Eliot like one might his own brother.

I hear people talking. Their friend isn't doing well. A is wondering if they should try and save him, while B says too late for that. This friend's arm is starting to stink awfully bad. Then I slowly appear from behind the crates and it turns out, the three are idiots, sitting around a fire, playing cards.

Two have guns, the other a machete. One, presumably the leader, comes forward. "Everything you see here belongs to us," he declares, a gun pointed at me, "and since you are here, you too belong to us."

"So much for foreplay." I shrug, my palms toward them. Yet my brain makes my arm move before the idiot, walking toward me with that smug look, could even think to react. Then the cut is done. He lies bleeding to death, the others stand stunned for a moment. 

One other who has a gun, recovers quite fast and shoots me. I feel it gets through someplace vital, and I begin to see stars. But I still have control, and pointing my gun at the bastard, I put one between his eyes. He lies dead. 

While I shot his friends, the last idiot was not idle. He actually cut me from behind, maybe in the shoulder blades. Luckily the bastard had a poor aim and did not go for my head. I turn, point the gun at him, and he stops cold. Drops the machete, pleads not to shoot him.

I agree. I don't shoot him. 

I kick him into the fire they had built.

***

How long has it been the last time I saw a bird, or flocks of them?

As I left the area, I climb up and here is where I see something like a pigeon. Sitting behind a twisted piece of steel-reinforced concrete. I walk toward it, and it doesn't move. When I get close enough, I see why I didn't move. It is just a piece of the twisted steel. 

I keep on walking, and found a memory card. This is important if I want to replay my experiences. 

(Memory card is actually my way of saying a 'Retry'. A 'Retry' is important in this game because it works like 'lives' in arcade games. When you fail, you can either use your 'Retry' or replay the entire episode without using the 'Retry'. From now on, I call them Memory Card, just to make it seamless.)

Going over the tall stacks of pallets, I found myself in another area as four men emerge from the dusty fog. One of them has a gun. The rest have machetes. Dammit.

'Looks like we got company, boys!"

Ah, idiots. We should stop meeting like this.

Next Chapter

I Am Alive 04: Looking for a mirage

As soon as we enter the shopping mall, the noise from the storm is gone. I move my shoulder a bit, try to get some response from Mei. She's not responding, but there's breath fanning down my back, and it's warm. Not warm comfy warm, but 'something wrong' warm. She rouses a little and mentions that the 'good spot is on the fourth floor.' Mentions her mom again. That spurs me to move.

Pitons of various sizes

First to second floor is easy enough; just take the escalator. Then I find myself facing walls, literally, from all sides. In an outdoor sports shop I find a single piton.

What the heck is a piton? It's a very important tool in rock or mountain climbing. Clean climbers hate this because it spoils the rock surface. A piton is for resting in between climbs.

And after collecting the piton, I am faced with this wall of indoor wall climbing. At first I didn't notice this, causing me to walk to the LG floor, but I see nothing of interest yet, so I return to the sports shop again. Do I have to climb with a girl strapped onto my back?

Apparently, yes. Wish me luck - and stamina.

***

God, that little girl is not so little in weight! Nearly fell to our deaths twice!

But we got onto the fourth floor and now Henry contacts us, sounding worried. He should be: his little girl is coughing to no end. Medicine, Henry says, can be found in those packages the army sent falling days after the event. 

And someone's coughing up pretty awful below us. Good thing Mei's tired and also a bit feverish, because at least the fever keeps her silent, but that won't be good for both of us. We need the package. 

It could be anywhere, or maybe all gone. But Mei needs medicine, and I don't think there's anyone else here beside us. I can safely leave her up here and go look for the medicine. Leave with a candle burning so she won't be alarmed when she wakes up later on.

Off I go looking for things that might not be there.

***

I was pretty well off than these poor sods. Here at the lookout point (after another death-defying acts of amateur rock climbing and thanks to a piton) these people must've tried to set up some sort of treatment facility, or a triage, maybe. From the looks of messed up beds, soiled stained linens, bleached, brittle bones, and dried-up IV poles, things didn't work out well in the end.

The dust storm has passed for now. I have to remember that these storms whip up pretty nasty, and they are nasty to any living thing. Breathe in the dust, you'd choke. Breathe in long enough, and you'll end up dead. Sometimes the limpid sun shining through all that shady whiteness is a sight for sore eyes, like now.

Found painkiller behind a counter and a food can in the far end of the lookout point. There's a telescope still standing. I hope I don't need a coin to operate it because I have not a penny. The sky is clear enough to scan the skyline for places scavengers may not be able to reach.

And I got it. It's a tall building. Actually a semi-finished building, still in construction when the Event suddenly hit. Tall enough to probably deter scavengers, open on the topside so that the emergency crates may have fallen and still be inside. Let's hope for the best.

I won't climb down this time. There's a generator that moves the window washer, and I think I can get it moving down. Just hope nobody is curious about the sound it makes.

All right, here we go.

Next Chapter

I Am Alive 03: Destination Unknown

Goddamit, she surprised me. Okay, you don't share! I'll back away, you miserable miser.

Find too many blocks and unfriendlies, and the only friendly gave me back nothing, except the will to push on. Yeah, I gave up my first aid kit to the mother and son. Expecting nothing back.

Then I came upon that miser with a banner over her door 'We Don't Share!' Hard to read since it's all dusty and heck. Well, time to move on.

Cars litter around the city, as far as the eye can see. Can find nothing in them, though. Except for dust. The damned dust is everywhere, blocking the sun, making me hard to breathe, and the furthest I can see is probably 50 feet. Beyond that is just dusty skyline. That's what I'm thinking as I cross a broken stretch of road upon a fallen traffic sign. And before you know it, there she is. The apartment.

I go in, and find the apartment... empty.

***

They are not in the apartment.

I checked the apartment once, twice. I did, however, find a can of fruit cocktail, and the fact that they both had left in a hurry. The bedroom upstairs had suitcases that were not fully packed in, and clothes strewn everywhere. 

I sit at the livingroom, facing the fireplace. Hang my head between my legs, feel the heaviness of my backpack for the first time. It pulls me down, and I want to stop, but something draws me to the mantelpiece. It's our picture of a very happy day. I walk toward it and take it, look at it, and notice a letter beneath it. 

I won't say what Julie wrote, but it's enough for me that they both are safe, relatively. However, the date.... it was almost a year ago. Goddamit... 

Turn on the cam, talk a bit, then a tremor passes. Throughout the building. I don't think it safe to stay any longer here. So I walk out, and either too much dust screwing up my brain or I'm dreaming in broad daylight, I hear a girl calling for her mommy. Coming from the playground, where Mary used to play with her mother.

Dammit, it's Mary!

***

She wasn't Mary. But she is real, though. Her name is Mei.

What a chase she led me to, and dammit. Another bunch of idiots, what do you know... And what do they want with a child? Practically a baby? I don't want to think too much. Besides, that makes cutting them down much more bearable. I'm ridding the city of its idiots.

She came out when I showed to her the camcorder. I let her use it for a while, even made myself look stupid. When she gestured at the dead (and one unconscious) idiots, I should've sugarcoat it more, but I just said 'they won't hurt you anymore'. 

That kid had a walkie talkie with her. Now I understand why the men wanted her so bad. Her father, Henry, was wary at first when he talked to me. I said I want nothing. I just want information, like now, storm's coming. He guided me to a shopping mall where Mei and me can weather out the storm safely. 

Before I strap her onto my back, Mei utters something about her mother. I caught earlier on that 'Mommy is never coming back.' 

If I don't hurry, she may follow wherever Mommy has gone and never come back, too.

Next Chapter

I Am Alive 02: Be Defensive or Be Dead

I am in the city now. I gotta get to my apartment. As soon as I enter the sewer, I hear a voice.

"What are you doing here?! Get away from here!"

I show my palms to him, saying, "I don't want any trouble, man, I'm just passing."

But no way I am gonna show my back to him. So I back away slowly, face still on him, walking backwards. Then when I can no longer hear him, I turn, and start my journey.

Who says anything about straight journey? My first path is already gone. According to the surroundings, I am not getting to my apartment in the shortest time possible. Roads caved in, streets gone or blocked by impossibly tall debris, and I gotta be very careful. Like the man I met earlier, there may be more like him. He didn't seem sick or anything, just defensive. That could lead to a potentially deadly situation for me. Tread carefully, buddy.

Of all the things that go down, a parking meter still stands. Heh.

Suitcases, a teddy bear, a shopping cart with remains of a skeleton lying beside it. And that leads to another impassable road. Guess I have to take the alley. At the end of the alley, I climb over a fence and get on the other side. According to my map, I should be a block away. Keep walking...

(Later)

He had a machete. He was about to slay me alive. So I took out my gun, pointed it at him, and forced him near a gaping hole. When he was trying to talk his way out, I kicked him in the chest, and down he fell. Heard a crack when his body met those steel pipes. Now he's quiet. His machete that he waved so haughtily at me now lay useless on the ground. Picked it up, keep it ever since.

I'm lucky he didn't know my gun is empty. Machetes are not only sharp, but surprisingly sturdy as well. It has a thick blunt edge as well as a sharp one. I can use mine to pry open locks, or fend off attackers. Speaking of locks, here's one. The chain'll snap easily enough, and I'll be through.

A voice calls out: "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Never a good sign.

***

It was a tough choice. I killed all three, though, and spared the one who surrendered.

The idiots who tried to kill me had to be disposed of. They weren't satisfied with just harassing, they would've wanted to see my blood flow from my slit throat. So I gave them that treatment, let'em feel what they expected me to feel.

Now I should be closer, after going down into a mini crater and up again, where I found a semblance of a first aid kit. There are so little things to be found here. Looters probably got all of them within the first week of the Event, maybe.

There are two bespectacled men inside a building on my left as I exit the crater. They look, strangely, well-fed and safe. But they just sit behind the glass door and mumble. Spook me out, and immediately leave.

Next I meet a mother and her son, who is stabbed. The wound is festering, and from the sound coming from the son, he is not doing well. I need the first aid kit. Who knows what will I find next?

Next Chapter

I Am Alive 01: Arrival

*Finished installing. Now on to the Start button. I chose NORMAL MODE since I am a chicken.*

Dark room. The shadows do not lend enough light to outline a figure sitting amidst the rubble. She's fiddling with a small box. It's a camcorder, a relic from days before the Event. It's still working, though. Probably a testament to the product quality. She turns it on. A man talks from within the screen.

The man talks about his gears which are not much. How he has to really be careful on using everything.

*Takes control of the man*

The sign says 'Welcome to Haventon'. It means nothing. Like everything else around here. Lives, that's worth something.

I pass by what used to be the main highway into Haventon. Read the signs and where to turn. Names and things that really don't mean anything any more. Turn right, a dead end. I go left. There's a gap that opens to a long way down. Jump over it and done. Huh, never fancied rivers before, and after the Event, they just rush faster, like they wanna suck your life along with wherever it ends. Only way is up.

When climbing, I gotta be careful. I'm an amateur climber at best. The climb upward takes a lot, and when I finally get where I can stand, I'm already weak. I need to rest a moment. And wow, so that's where all the water's gone.

Enough sight-seeing. Time to drop down. Down here, it's clearer. The world seems to have been split into two. The great river that lies underneath this bridge looks like what the Egyptians must have seen thousands of years ago when the Israelites escaped through the Red Sea.

(Later)

Goddamit! I almost fell!

I pushed myself to press on, and fatigue comes calling.

From the top of the bridge, the city seems like a huge battleship, immobile yet daunting. Ghostly in the whitish fog. Are they there? Because that place doesn't look fit for the living. We'll soon find out.

I can see something burning in the distance. Just hope that friendlies are there, and not - whatever that still linger in there.

Now I am in the sewer. This is probably the only way into the city.

Next chapter