After the Demise

Chapter 1

Imagine being trapped in a void of darkness, but not knowing about it, not knowing you can't escape. Then imagine being ejected out of it, into cold, harsh reality. I coughed vigorously, every breath hurting my lungs. I laid there for who knows how long, trying to recover. I started to stand, but fell to the ground.

I tried to scan my surroundings, try to figure out where I was. I came out of this weird, cylindrical capsule and at the bottom in a blue tint, where these words saying,"Radiation low, area stable." Under that had a name, Brandon something, the last name had to much damage to read.

"I guess my name is Brandon," I said. There where two other capsules to my right, but they where empty, no light, and the glass smashed to pieces. Light started to shine through the broken windows behind me, broken and jagged. I used what stamina I had and walked outside through an archway.

I was in a city, if you could call it that. All the buildings were remnants of their once greatness. Most where just frames of metal, though some still had walls that only went up a few yards. Dust and grits of sand where everywhere, in piles even. The sun was now fully in the sky and it hurt my eyes at the sight of it.

I went to my right to where the sun was rising and looked father on. The city only stretched a few more blocks until it stopped. I walked over there to find tons and tons of sand, as far as the eye can see. I decided to head to the center of the city and try to find someone, anyone.

"How could this happen?" I asked myself. As I got deeper into the city, the buildings got progressively worse. Entire blocks just rubble or dust.

As I pushed on I heard a noise, some kind of weird machine. I ducked behind some rubble and waited. I looked through a hole in my barrier to find a man walking through the streets, had a strange contraption in his hands, it looked like if someone had put a nuclear reactor core in an old refrigerator.

"Hey!" I shouted. "I don't want any trouble, can you please tell me what's going on?"

The man responded by nearly shooting me with the nuclear fridge. I ducked behind the barrier and waited yet again. I heard footsteps coming closer. I grabbed a rock and got ready. When he came near I shot up and just about got him with the rock but grabbed my hand.

"Nice try, punk," he said then he flipped me onto my back and held the nuclear fridge to my face. he pointed the gun over to an old truck, with a cage attached all around the bed. I was reluctant to move.

"Now!" He shouted and I got up. We walked over the truck and he locked me in the cage. He then got in the front and started to drive, launching me into the bars.

"Ow!" I shouted. I heard the man start to laugh. We rode out of the city to more sand. Except this time it wasn't endless, there where mountains in the distance and what was left of roads. We rode for about an hour when I had a visitor.

This mysterious person wore clothes draped in sand and broke into my cage. The person cut the lock off and kicked the door off. This "Sand man," nudged its head out the truck and jumped, disappearing from sight. Rather then be trapped with this lunatic, I jumped as well. I had now escaped the truck and Mr. Nuclear refrigerator.