The Ultimate Deathmatch

Nothing In Vain

Mike woke up, covered in sweat and breathing heavily.

It was the same nightmare, the one that had been haunting him for the past 10 years. He got out of bed and rubbed his eyes for a bit and stared at the wall... For a while.

After that he quickly got dressed as he had no more need to sleep seeing that his drowsiness has worn off. He went to his calendar and tore off another page of the many dates listed on it.

August 15, 2030

He threw the page in the bin and went to make breakfast. He opened the fridge and not to his surprise, found that he had only a small amount of milk and small plastic cup with yogurt. He took the milk and took a plastic bowl from his kitchen drawer and poured the milk inside it. He then took a packet of cornflakes which he managed to find after thoroughly searching the entire kitchen 3 times... Behind the fridge.

Woof!

Mike looked behind him and saw a large Rottweiler wagging it's tail while it's tongue was hanging out. It started running around and jumping on him seeing that he was awake now.

"Down boy... I'm still a bit groggy" Mike replied in a tired voice.

The dog obeyed and moved to the side. He soon however started pushing a small bowl with the name 'Cerby' written on it. Mike saw it and sighed. There was no more food left in the house for his dog to eat and he didn't have much to eat himself.

"Aight then!" Mike suddenly said standing up. His dog looked at him eagerly. "We're going hunting today Cerbs! Wait while I change."

Mike ran to his room, which was basically the living room and looked for his gear. He usually just kept all his stuff in a pile on the sofa where he slept. He digged through it and soon found what he was looking for.

A moss green jacket and fern green shirt to wear inside it, a pair of camouflage pants, black gloves, a black kerchief to use as a mask, a pair of black boots and a green cap which he wore backwards.

He then crouched underneath the sofa and took out the main thing he was going to be using for the scavenging, a BY-15 shotgun and some ammunition in a box beside it.

He had acquired this shotgun from his dad. He turned it around his hand and inspected it a bit. There was no damage on it apart from a few scratches from throwing the gun under sofa. He always remembered one thing when he always held the shotgun in his hands.... An image of his dad smiling while teaching him how to hold it when he was young. He stood there thinking of the same scene, but he always forgot what happened next. The image changed into one where his dad's body was completely mangled and ripped in shreds while holding a woman's hand. His mother.

Mike suddenly fell on his knees clutching his head as he sweated profusely. He tried his best to shake away the pain and after a short while, he was back to normal.

He stood up and started making his way towards the door. Cerby followed behind him and they both finally went out of their house. It was then we actually see how the outside world truly was.

As Mike stepped out of the dilapidated building that had become his makeshift shelter, he was immediately struck by the desolate panorama that stretched before him. The once vibrant city now lay in ruins, its towering skyscrapers reduced to skeletal remains jutting out from the ground like broken teeth. Crumbling concrete and twisted metal littered the streets, a testament to the merciless destruction brought upon by the alien invasion.

The air hung heavy with an eerie stillness, devoid of the familiar sounds of bustling humanity. Nature had begun to reclaim its territory, with stubborn weeds pushing through the cracks in the pavement, reclaiming their space amidst the wreckage. The sky, once a vibrant canvas of blue, was now marred by a haze that shrouded the sun, casting an oppressive gray pall over everything.