Ark - Survivors Lost In Time Book 2- Time of Thieves

Day Thirty-Nine

I coughed, dust covered my face and seeped into my mouth. I rolled onto my side and attempted not to retch on the dust, the smell overcame me, blood, once the dust had cleared from my nose and mouth it was all I could smell, the coppery taste absorbed my tongue, my beacon burned in pain, my heart stopped, was someone in my tribe dead, no this pain was too intense, it felt like every death I had ever felt in my time on the Ark, dozens. Had what I had just seen really happened or had it just been another delusion of my addled mind. Where was I, I tired to get my bearings and attempted to move but I heard the rocks over my head shift and shudder, dust poured down over me, I froze. I was alive in the rubble of the colosseum, how was that even possible, I had felt the fire consume me, I had felt the pain. Now I only felt the pain in my beacon, I only felt the dust on my skin and I could only smell the blood. I shivered in terror in my little haven, how had I survived where no one else had, I called out, for anyone to help me, no one answered, I was alone I was trapped, I had survived the blast just to starve to death in the rubbled, I glanced up at the rocks overhead as they shuddered again, if I was not crushed by debris first.

The rubble shifted around me, I was sure I would be crushed and slowly suffocated, two small blue lights rolled out of the darkness near me. Great, I thought, another hallucination, they are getting more vivid by the second. The bright blue lights seemed to blink at me, staring down at me from a rock. The rock around the blue lights rubbled and began to split apart, I was about to die, but instead a face seemed to be forming, the lights blinked again and a guttural grinding sound rumbled from the rock, like the sound of rocks sliding down a mountain.

"Good little one you survived," It said, I narrowed my eyes at it, why was it always his voice, even with it being the sound of rocks I could still hear Cradix's voice in the air. An odd rumble slid through the air, I thought that now the rubble would finally fall and kill me, but I realized the monster beside me was laughing. "I am not the maker young one, and he would be sorely aggrieved if something were happen to you. The Maker shaped me to protect you and to help you through the times ahead, you may call me Apocalypse." The rocked moved around me and I felt the ground shift, I was enclosed within the monsters stony grip, I could hear the stones around us crumbling away as I was lifted up, I was safely closed within his giant hands within a few moments we were outside in the debris strewn grounds of the event complex. He opened his grasp causing dust to rain down on me again, I began to cough all over again, Apocalypse stood still holding me in his palm like I would hold a berry, or an egg, he stood easily twenty feet tall and had to weigh as much as a rex if not more. More gentle then I would have ever thought possible from this creature lowered me to the ground. The rocks that formed him began to break for and roll back to the pile that was what remained of the colosseum. Piece by piece it grew smaller until it was no taller than my knee.

"I am sure that no one else survived that explosion if they were in the building, I will be close by if you need me, just call for me and I will be there to protect you." He said, strolling away on stubby legs, he saunter reminded me of someone, the little creature began to dig at the ground until only what appeared to be a single rock was left of him. I ran to where he had buried himself and attempted to asked him questions. No one answered me not even the voice in my head. I bent and picked up the rock before me, it was just a rock, I stared at it for a moment before the heat boiled up in my chest and up my throat, I screamed and threw it as hard as I could at the pile of rubble that smoke and ash drifted up into the sky from.

"I am going insane," I said, "great now I am talking to myself," I muttered, only angering myself further. I turned to look at the remaining building around me, the aviary was still intact, could Firewing be alive in there waiting for me to take her home. "At least that I can try to be normal." I whispered. "You are an admin nothing is normal anymore," I muttered, tears rolled from my eyes as I made my way to the gate and pushed it open.