The World Of Steam

50

Jennix and I walked around the war-ridden city, on our way to The Great Tower, the final leg of our painful journey. After eight days of fiery hell, we were finally going to put everything right and stop the insane chaos once and for all. The war was quickly going to end with victory in our grasp. The council's comeuppance was nearing, but there was no sentence in history that would be enough to pay for their crimes. The Great Tower was the tallest structure in all of the United Kingdom and stood proudly like a demigod, looking down at all of us, judging us for what we had become. It was an apartment block, reserved only for the richest and held all of the perks that anyone could ever need in their life. I doubted that anyone even left the giant building and lived entirely inside until their deaths. After all, it protected them from getting cancer. I was thankful that the armies did not get the idea to blow it up. I did not like the idea of having to steal a plane to fly through a torrent of acid rain. We walked through the ashen streets, stepping on blackened bones and charred remains, cracking them underneath our feet like hardened paper. Incinerated bodies littered the place all looking almost identical. The air was filled with the ashes of industrial plants and burnt corpses that pelted us in the breeze, mixing together in a light swirl of black and grey. Buildings stood ruined and broken. The multiple years worth of painstaking work was destroyed within days. The war machines stood still and silent, wrecked beyond repair. The fear of the war was quickly dissipating, replaced with a tiny glimmer of hope that the country was heading in a new direction. The giant steam warship fought on, bombarding the city. The foundations of the buildings snapped and broke, toppling over. The British army quickly invaded the ship with no resistance whatsoever. Many of the sailors had deserted their posts, leaving it almost empty. Others surrendered immediately, seeing the weapons pointed at them. The soldiers spared them without thought, leaving them as they were, showing some mercy. They made their way down the corridors and into the engine room that let out a light, warm glow. Steam hissed through numerous cracked and rusted pipes. A giant furnace burned bright as the engineer shovelled the coal into it. Hearing their footsteps, he put the shovel into the furnace, letting it stick there, and turned to face the intruders. He was a large and burly man, almost a giant, towering over the soldiers. His muscles protruded out and his skin was covered in black oil. He only wore a pair of heavy trousers, large work boots and a pair of work gloves, leaving himself bare chested. Sweat poured down every bit of his body. One soldier stepped up to him cautiously, still keeping his gun pointed at his enemy.

"Stand down." The soldier ordered.

"Lads, lads." The engineer said to them casually. "There's no need for this. You can turn back now. Get away from this place."

"And if we don't?"

"Well then," He said, grabbing a large and heavy wrench from the floor. He spun it in his hand. "Raydan Aedan is going to have some fun. It gets quite boring down here."

The soldier still advanced and in a blink, Raydan smashed the wrench into his head. Teeth and blood sprayed onto the floor and the soldier collapsed, dead before he had even begun to make his descent. Raydan grabbed the shovel that was still inside the furnace and chucked the steaming hot coal onto his enemies. They screamed in agony as it scorched their faces. Raydan threw the shovel, hitting the blade into one soldier's neck. He gasped and choked, collapsing to his knees and then falling flat onto his face a second later. Raydan went to advance, but they all unleashed their bullets onto him. The engineer's body jerked and jarred as he was peppered with bullets. He fell to the floor like a toppled tower and bled out heavily. The soldiers made their way to the bow of the ship and aimed their guns at the old and bearded captain. Hearing their footsteps, he turned, immediately raising his hands.

"I surrender!" He quickly said. "I don't want to fight anymore! I'm done! The war's over!"

The soldiers lowered their guns and disembarked the ship, sparing the captain's life.

Jennix looked around at the sight as the civil war was nearing its end. Her eyes were filled with sadness as they looked around at the scenes in front of them both. One man sitting against a wall shook his head, looking down at the ground, refusing to fight his enemy. His enemy, with a face of pity, threw his gun down onto the ground and held his hand out to him. Looking up, he grabbed it after a couple of seconds of hesitation, letting him haul him up. Other people chatted to each other, sharing their brutal experiences of the war. Two men threw down their rifles and shook hands. One man with long, frizzy, greying hair sat cross legged onto the ground, warming his hands by a small fire. His eyes were wild, his skin had started to become wrinkled. He had given it his all and the war had rewarded him nothing for his efforts. His mind was completely shattered from the fight. Some buildings still burned, others cindered, glowing with a faint red. The rest of the buildings stood blackened and charred, nothing but empty shells of what they once were. Some people crowded around a burning barrel, heating their cold, scarred and war-weary hands. They chatted away, sharing their experiences. One of them laughed and lightly punched one of them on the shoulder. Foe had quickly turned to friend once more. Jennix grabbed a fallen motorbike and hauled it up. She climbed onto it and I did also. She reached down her coat and pulled a mask over her mouth and nose, shielding herself from the toxic fumes. Pressing a button, she turned the motorbike on and began speeding her way down the road, leading us both to The Great Tower.