The Way of the Future: Age of Machines(Completed)

A Smidge of His Past

"What's this?" Artemis opened his eyes and felt a tingling pain down his lower spine. He found himself in a tight space that surrounded his body and felt the air around him slowly dwindle.

"Shit, I am gonna suffocate!" He thought. He scanned his tight space for any tools or thing he can use to bust whatever he was in open. He came across a small cylinder that had a little button that flashed continuously. He tried lowering his body to grab it with his arms but the space was too cramped, he tried once more but to no avail.

The air around him was dwindling at a faster rate and he could feel the temperature rise by the minute. He didn't understand what was happening outside. He then felt his body slightly jolt forward and then back, he was being tossed around in his small compartment before a last but powerful jolt knocked him unconscious.

He awoke a few minutes later, his body mostly numb but he could feel his hands. The small compartment now had tiny little holes all around it, light shined through the holes. The temperature was back to normal and he felt heavier than usual. He gave himself a breather for two minutes before finally trying again to open the compartment.

The tool he saw was destroyed, he could feel the shattered remains of what he thought was the only thing out of this cramped space around the sole of his right bare foot.

"Shit,"

The compartment suddenly started rolling to the left, once again he was tossed and rolled around as the compartment rolled to the right in what could be described as the dizziest moment of his life. The compartment abruptly stopped and again he was jolted forward.

He then heard a loud explosion that rocked him.

"Where the fuck am I?" He had a vague idea of where he was but he didn't want to come so soon to a conclusion, he needed to get out of the cramped compartment or else whatever is happening outside may kill him before he knew it.

Suddenly, a sharp black tentacle pierced the hull in front of him, startling Artemis. The black tentacle slowly retracted before piercing another hole in the compartment, barely missing his right chest area by a few inches.

A powerful screeching noise then sounded before the compartment was torn open by the tentacles. What he saw that day would linger in the back of his mind till the day he would forget everything. A black and hideous creature lingered in the distance, ten long tentacles protruded from all over its body. It had no visible eyes and hundreds of sharp teeth on its mouth but judging by the direction which the tentacles were pointing at, it was staring at Artemis.

Without a second thought, Artemis decided to book it. He pulled himself up by grabbing the sharp edges of the torn metal wall. Both of his hands were cut and bled but his body did not have time to process the pain. No, he needed to get away from that creature. Fear took hold of him and fear would be his most driving factor for survival, just like any other human.

He felt his legs but only enough to feel the ground beneath his feet. He was dashing through a dust storm, he could barely see what was up ahead. He ran across piles of rubble, be it demolished cars or burning buildings. He found himself in-between a freeway full of tightly packed vehicles, he stopped for a quick rest since he was running for a few minutes tops.

He turned around to see if the creature followed him, he couldn't see it, to be frank, he could not see anything beyond a few metres. The dust storm was getting stronger and stronger and he knew if he stayed longer in this place, he would be chocked by the cloud of dust.