Humanoid-Nuclear (Humanoid Trilogy #1) [ON HOLD]

5

"So as you can see," I sighed tiredly, talking to my camera, "I'm not in the shelter. Which is bad." I shifted my position in the tree I was in. "I forgot to close the shelter doors when I went to scavenge, and when I came back, the entire place was infested with zyrites. I swear, it was almost like the Walking Death. So now, I have to survive with the things I have. This camera may run out of life soon--it's only at sixteen percent--but I think I'm going to make some stops at some houses, so I'll try to charge my things when I'm there." I ran my fingers through my hair, sore from my panicked run. "If this is the last video I make, it's probably because I'm dead, or I just haven't been able to charge my camera. So, until then, I guess."

I turned off my recording and closed my eyes, resting against the trunk of the mutated tree. For the first time in a long time, my stomach growled, ordering me to give it something to eat. Slothishly, I opened my backpack and ate, gazing around. A few radioactive song birds tried to sing in the trees, their voice more like a shriek of despair. Thankfully, only the blue jays were the aggressive birds. At least so far. A herd of deer walked below me, ignoring me completely. I didn't get any sleep last night; I was too scared to even close my eyes. But even with that knowledge, I needed to keep going.

I shoved an empty food wrapper in my backpack, then carefully climbed down the tree. I walked at a steady pace, keeping my eyes on what was in front of me. My mind wandered, jumping from thought to thought until one stuck: What if there were others like me?

It wasn't that crazy to think, was it? I mean, sure, it was a slim chance, but it could happen. People could have predicted the explosion, just like mom and dad did. And they could have built a shelter just like mom and dad did, too. I could find them... I had to. And that was now my main priority: find the rest of the normal people. I'll call them... 'normals', for short.

But the only way I'll find normals is by going from town to town, city to city, state to state, country to country. How would I get to the countries that are separated by bodies of water?... I could try to fly a flyer, but that would be really dangerous, especially without proper training. The explosion must've done a number on them, too... I could try to find one that was sheltered, and then fly on autopilot so I didn't actually have to fly that much. Still, I'd have to take off and land.

Then there's the other thing: I have to live in order to find them. Zyrites and dangerous mutants could be crawling everywhere! And who knows what zyrites are capable of? Sure, I've got my two guns and knife, but I only have so much amo and energy. How do you even stop one of those blue sombrero-wearing-rainbow-clothed-freaks anyway? If I were one of those blue jays, it would be so much easier to fight those things because the birds' acid is so powerful. Then the seasons change, so I have to keep warm in cold season, which was right around the corner, and keep cool in hot season, which was coming to its end.

But right now, I need to sleep. Desperately. And I don't think sleeping in a pile of radioactive leaves is a great idea, especially out in the open. I checked my holographic map, sighing as I saw the nearest town was only seven or eight miles away. I'll find a house there, where I can sleep and find some stuff. Then I should keep going. I closed the map and stuffed it in my pack, keeping my radiation tester close.

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I almost collapsed because of the wave of relief after I saw the town of... I squinted at the grimy sign. What does that say? I couldn't tell because of all the rust, dirt, and bird shit covered over it. I kept my eyes peeled as I ventured into the abandoned place, trying to make sure there were no dangers of any sort out to get me. I entered a neighborhood, eyeing the area as I walked. There was a lake behind many of the houses, serving as a backyard for the previous home owners. Tiredly, I entered a house, checked the area for radiation, and locked the door when I didn't find any.

I went up the surprisingly steep stairs, then entered a room and just fell on the bed. I didn't even bother taking off my backpack because I was just too tired to care. The bed was surprisingly cozy, too. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, enveloping my world in black.

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When I opened my eyes, it felt like I had gotten the best sleep in my entire life. Granted, I was still really sore, but it felt good to just relax. After I laid in bed for awhile longer, I decided it was time for me to get up. I stretched and slipped my backpack off my shoulders, falling on the decision to stay here until I healed more or until something found me. I finally got a good look at the place, my eyesight refusing to work before because of my tiredness. The room was a dirty white, and the windows were covered in blown around dirt from the outside.

The bed could fit two people, its comforter messed up due to me falling asleep on it. There were a few pictures here and there, none of which I truly cared to see. It was too depressing to look at the old world, knowing it would never be like that ever again. There were two small bedside tables on each side of the bed, both with a lightsphere stand on them, plugged into an electric surger. I left the room and entered a tiny hallway, which was only a few feet long and wide. So I guess it would just be a small space between the stairs and another room. I limped down the steep steps, holding onto the rickety banister for support, and gazed at the used-to-be family room. Or lonely room, if this guy had no family. The ceiling was high above, making me think that the only way to change a lightsphere up there was to get a really tall stepper-upper. There was a small image-projector sitting on a space in a shelf, collecting dust as it had been for who knows how long?

There was a short table in front of the couch that was angled just right so it faced the image-projector perfectly. Some model flyers sat on a desk behind a couch, all of which were covered nose-to-tail in soft, grey, powdery dust. To the right of the family/lonely room, a backdoor was on the left, while a kitchen was on the right. To my left were windows and a glass door going out onto a neglected wooden porch. A perfect view of the lake was beyond that. Maybe there's a radio somewhere. I went into the kitchen, looking through the cupboards and everywhere else I could think of. Sadly, there was nothing.

I scratched my chin, glaring at the microwave. At the time, I wasn't exactly sure what had happened that caused mom and dad to die other than an explosion, but I did re call that it had to do with things that used radiation, or at least made the radiation levels go higher. If not, then just a bit. Like that stupid rusting microwave in front of me. The front door was straight ahead and then left out of the kitchen, and a side room was simply straight ahead, while the family/lonely room was to the right. I decided to explore a bit more and went to the side room, hobbling as a pain crept into my legs.

There wasn't really much in there but a couch and a red-stained cement floor. Disappointed, I went back upstairs and entered the last room in the house. "Whoa!" My eyes widened as I saw the exterior of the room. A massive projector covered an entire wall. A shelf full of video games was to my right. A couch sat in front of the projector, along with a small table. Controllers and a video game player sat patiently on the table. "I wonder if this still works..."

I pressed the power button on the projector, hoping nothing happened to the solar panels on the house. Cheering when it beeped and turned on, I chose a game, flopped down on the couch, and began to play.

Okay, so sorry about the wait! (tiredwitchykid super sorry XD) As I was typing this out, the chapter either deleted itself, or crashed because I type way too fast. But... yeah! Next chapter gets exciting, sorry for the wait, don't forget to vote and/or comment, and feel free to ask my book characters questions in my cringetastic book, "Q&A With The Book Characters". Later, dudes!